And yet, in spite
of Beauchene's sneers and Constance's angry remarks, Mathieu outwardly
remained very calm. Constance and Marianne had never been able to agree;
they differed too much in all respects; and for his part he laughed off
every attack, unwilling as he was to let anger master him, lest a rupture
should ensue.
But Beauchene waxed passionate on the subject. That question of the
birth-rate and the present-day falling off in population was one which he
thought he had completely mastered, and on which he held forth at length
authoritatively. He began by challenging the impartiality of Boutan, whom
he knew to be a fervent partisan of large families. He made merry with
him, declaring that no medical man could possibly have a disinterested
opinion on the subject. Then he brought out all that he vaguely knew of
Malthusianism, the geometrical increase of births, and the arithmetical
increase of food-substances, the earth becoming so populous as to be
reduced to a state of famine within two centuries. It was the poor's own
fault, said he, if they led a life of starvation; they had only to limit
themselves to as many children as they could provide for.
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