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land mnto the sea. Now he reaches one of the ships which lie, packed like pilchards, 1n the channel. Poor fellow! Perhaps he may never more behold the happy land of his child-

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THE STRAND MAGAZINL.

person of the lower middle classes, who is possessed of a family of no less than thirty- secven. That man is certain of a carecer; he has only to cxpress a wish for any public

office, to rcceive 1t at once; and see, even now the meet- RN oo 1N suggcests the Bl creation of a new

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office in the Minis- try on purposc for / Jones — the office of ‘Encourager of the Bith-rate,” at a salary of five thou- sand a year.” “Dear me, that is very unfortunate!”

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ing the increasing e cxclaimed William. tendency of young _ = = .= = g “What's the men to remain e matter 27 asked bachelors, nstead tjoNes.” James.

of marrying and “’T'hat mecting, bringing up large familics. This state of just when about to hit upon a practical plan

things is deplored as very serious and regret- table, and as a very unfortunate omen for the futurc of the population; and they proceed to suggest and consider means for imducing young men to marry at as carly an age as possible. It 1s a very sad meeting 1”7

“Yes,” said James; “you sce they are beginning to fear that the race 1s dying out. That person speaking 1s a celebrated — statistician, who has made a calculation, show- ing that, should the birth-rate continue on the same meagre lines, in the course of one hundred years cveryone would find space to sit down ; In two hundred years folks would be obliged to stick out theirelbows in order to touch one another continuously over the whole 1sland.

“What a terrible picture ! Tears come into the eyes of the orator as he draws it : Where,’ he asks, would bethat compact- ness and unity which are the only safeguards of a nation? How could man keep touch with man ? Think of that cold, hopeless, terrible void be- tweenone beating human heart and another !

“Sce——they are pre- senting a testimonial to an extremely deserving citizen, onc Jones, a

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for arresting the decline of the birth-rate, have been all smothered by the pressure of numbers! Ha! What is that? Surely the sound of a trumpet! Sec—-look ! That nation which 1s so filled with envy of the msular nation is about to make war upon it.”

“Ha!” cricd James, triumphantly. “ Now we shall sce how the birthrate tells! Now we shall cce how the nation with the largest population has the incalculable advantage over the one which—-— What 7s the matter now 2?27

“Why, the envious nation with the low Dbirth-rate has completely conquered the insu- lar one, and i1s jumping on its flag 17

“Pooh! All a mistake!” scrcamed James. “Impossible. How about its vast population, ready at the call of its native land to risc against the foe?”

“Why,” replicd William, “the vast population ready at the call of 1ts native land somchow smothered and crushed tself to death in the attempt to get to the foe; and, as 1t was a-dense mass, the foc’s cannon had greater effect upon 1t; and then the foe, having a lower birth-rate, and conscquently more elbow- room-————"

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1Y, SUILLIVAN.