THE QUELER

“ Why-—upon my word, yes! I scem to be conscious of a most hideous hubbub, discord, babel, and confusion—of an anssant

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““ALL STRUGGLING AND KICKING.

wrangling, recrimination, and crumbling. It's perfectly bewildering and awful. I scem to see masses of forms, all struggling, and kicking, and rending one an()thu—(m“lmg over and treading on cach other, hat a horribly unpleasant state of affairs !

“TPThat's it!” cricd James, with excited enthusiasm. “That’s one of my worlds'! Those are my human beings ! You perceive it all perfeetly ! Now I wish you to tell me what strikes you most forcibly amid the confusion.”

“Why-—-well-—here are a group of human beings screaming with acute lamentation all in one key. lhgy appear to be screaming for “babics’: they are calling upon the to rain down babices on their land, and upon the sca to wash up babics on the shore mn shoals, like herrings ! What can they require all those habics for ? Surcly not to cat?”

“Oh, no: not to cat. To merease the population. You will recall our touchmy upon the mania of these human creatures for increase of population, in our last talk on the subject ? Well, this group of creatures are

the legislators of one of the nations, and they arc frantic with gricf because the does not increase with sutheient rapidity.”

“ Ah, yes,” said William, “1 perceive that they have temporarily ceasced their shricks of lamentation in order to discuss various wild projects for increasing the population more rapidly. They arc proposing taxes on bachclors, and premiums on large families, and other cqually strange expedients. What

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very eccentric fellows, to be sure ! What can they require all these babies for?” “To—er—Kkill! Not to kill while babies, but after they are grown up Into soldicrs. The beautiful philopro- genitive Instinct 1s verystrong in thesc human beings of mince; their tender- ness towards child- ren is really touch- mg. There arc many societies for the protection of children; and human Govern- ments are very severe upon vio- lenee to children. You sce—er—1f an infant 1s killed it s -er - disqualified for being cubsequently slaughtered on the field of battle. “Infanticide 1s regarded as amost heartless crime. You now percelve that that group of legislators are glaring at an adjacent i1sland containing another nation, and are shricking with anger and envy ! That 1s because that insular nation has so many more babies, and increases so much more rapidly in popula-

tion.” “Oh, ah, yes! T perceive the sland you mention,” said William. It appears to mc

to be mconveniently crowded already ; n fact, 1t scems unable to produce food cnough to support its population.”

“Oh! it is—it 1s! It 18 a most happy island ;3 the happiness of a given district being always measured by 1ts population. A large tract of land filled with the beauties of inanimate nature, but having a population imsufficient to pollute the air, 15 considered very sad sight ; and carnest cfforts are always made to crow d it with immigrants.”

“1 pereetve an enormous congregation of your human beings on this 1sl‘md-— a dense mass of them, all pushing and squeezing for want of space, and seething over cach other as 1f they were boiling,” said William.

“Yes,” explaimmed James, “that i1s the capital of the island, and the largest city in this particular world. It 1sso crowded that the air 15 unfit to breathe, and 1s full of sulphur and other poisons from the fires made by the inhabitants. Perfect health 1s unknown within its bounds. Everybody suffers perpetually from his liver, and has te