iH i l
n POPULATION.
frequent, and which is not-so far distant' from Java' as Russia} is from
England, might be-included in-the circle,-and'colonies of-Javan,s~settled
on the north, might-meet'‘with the British spreadirigfrom.the.'south,'over
that immense and now uncultivated'region* If we could indulge'ourselves
in such reveries -with‘propriety, -wevmight:contemplate the 'present'semi-
barbarous condition, ignorance, and poverty of•’ -these innumerable-islands,
exchanged for a;state. of refinement, prosperity, and happiness;--
I formerly alluded to th,e oppressions t of «government, - as the principal
-checks to the-inerease of-.population"on Java. £ There are many.'others,
such “as the small-pox, and other diseases, \which are common >to - that
- country with the rest’of-the t-worlds From the scattered state of ».the .popu*
lation, any contagious-.distemper, such. the-sraall-pox,> was formerly leSs
= destructive on Java, than -in countries where the . inhabitants ,:ate. more
crowded into large towns, and it- is 'hoped-that, from the establishment Jo?
• vaccine - innoculation which, the British government ereqt.ed, and .endea*
voured tourender permanent, its ravages may, in time, be. entirely, arrested*
The diseases most peculiar to the-country, and most^dangeuous -at all. ages,
•are fevers,and dysenteries:: epidemics are.-rare. There .are- two moral
causes which, on their first mention, will i strike every. one - as powerfully
calculated to counteract, the principle of population : I mean the. facility of
• obtaining divorces,' and the practice of polygamy. A greater wefghhshauld
not, however, be given-them, than they-deserve after a'consideration iff
■ all-the' circumstances. It is true, that separations often take7place anPtK'e
slightest grounds, -and new connexions are formed with equal frivolity-and
caprice j but in whatever, light morality would view-this practice,-and -bow
. ever • detrimental it* would be to population jiifW different- state-of ^society, -by
leaving the children o f the .litarriage so dissolved to neglect and want, it has
no such consequences On Jaya. Considering the age at which -marriages
are usually contracted, the^choice of the parties cannot be always expected
‘fbvbe ^ considerate or jildicious. It may-be-observed also .that the,women,
although they .do attot appear old at twenty, as Montesquieu remarks,
certainly sooner lose that influence over their husbands, ..which depends
upon their beauty and personal attractions, than they do in colder climates.
In addition to this, tBere'us .little moral .restraint among many classes
of the community* ;and the -religious maxims and indulgences acted upon
by the priesthood, in regulating matrimonial -sanctions, have no tendency
to produce constancy or. to repress inclination. Dissolutions of marriage
Checks to po-
pulation.
MARRIAGES. 73
are, therefore,- very, frequent/ ahd‘'ohtaihed.’upbro the slightest1 pretences';
but,-as’■children are .'always ivamable? and ‘a^cithere i$ very little'trouble in
rearing -oivc,providingr/for -them, no change- dfIt irlate; in neither' party,
leads tbf.their abahdontnent ore neglect! Indeed,' the-'ease of supporting
children,' which.ireiftl^s'jthe' practice' lesse dMmentaM$ptkinWe&^fof- population,.
may ■&&•.; orret of-.t-he^-paineipal causes' why i t : is-l generally:folfovfedi
and sq litije; checked. :>[ Morprofessed prostitutfon^o^ promiscuous 'intercourse'
is>tho fconsequenceiqft thisjweakhess‘,df.tfee mujptiakiKgfJl It is father», brittle-
thaftjXoosejj^iHis^asily^ssolye^j-j'butT'while it remains it ■ generally insures!*
fidelity;; •;
- Polygamy,- though 'M>, all cases itumu^t'.'be injjariotfs.rtor population and Pofymigy.
happiness,t-so-far as iti:goes",rris- permitted1 bn-Jav'a, as in^other’Mahometan
qc^lgi^ipby religion andjaw, .but; not.’practiced!to any greatife-Xtgntti- Per-
haps;,.thd'ease of obtaining matrimonial;separ-atibns,-'b^ admitlfogfof success
siye^fiphanges of 'wives* '.diminishes the.'desire ■of, possessing, rhore thanfone -
. at a time.'
, sfltiisi plain, Jikewise,-.that,.-.whatever be’Mie-Iaw, the+great’ bodyt'^f' the
P4©piei,musti hayeiojily-one wife.; and that, wherfothercifi§"jiearly an equality
Of numb'er'i between the 'ibexes?-, -inequality/ of-Wealth or ’ power1' alWe’ cam
ccoate^dnijunequal^distribution of women.' On Java,-accordingly, only the
chiefs and 'it^sovereign marry more than onfe;.wifeH ? All the7chiefs,j'fr6fcf
tiMregent^vdownwardsrrcan only,-by the custom 'ofn&e''country, 'haVc
two;;.;;the;)sover.eign- alorie-haSi four. •{Ther.regents, however;: hav^.'g£fc$
rallyf^hree - or .jfour' concubines, and thp. sovereign, eight or ten. '- ' Shnie
of Jh'ej1..chiefs have „an extraordinary number;' of .chiMreh?j!hth'e late
Itegent]of Tuban is. reputed to have been the father'of mr'fewerVthan
sixty-eight. "-.^Uch appropriations ,of numerous' women as^ wives or'confeuf
bines^.yere^owing.to the political Powersoft native''afitlfotities: oyerfthe in-
%E0J|Slas&es 51' and. as, by the new system, that power, is destroyed, the evil
may to ascertain extent-bq checked.' • If wewere-ito depend upon.the state»'
writer whom Montesquieu^r^er^tOiVthat in Bantam therevwere
t„qn women to, jggf man,, we shguldfoe led to, conclude with him, that here-
was a case particularly favourable to polygamy, and that‘such, an institution
was heret an appointment of nature,' intended for the multiplication of the
species^rather than an abuse- contributing to! check-; it.w There' is^not,
the least foundation, - however, for the report. The proportion-of males'
and females born in Bantam, and over the whole of Java, is nearly the same
L as