Quiz: An Essay on the Principle of Population

10 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. How long does Malthus think Godwin’s system of equality would survive if established in its utmost perfection? Not thirty years Myriads of centuries About a century Until the earth’s waste lands were all cultivated
2. In Malthus’s florist metaphor, what has “burst the calyx of humanity”? The rapid spread of manufactures and machinery in England The American War of Independence and its republican ideas The English poor laws The forcing manure used in the French Revolution
3. In Malthus’s illustration for Britain, how many people would be left unprovided for at the end of the first century? Seven millions One hundred and twelve millions Seventy-seven millions Thirty-five millions
4. What clause of Pitt’s Poor Bill does Malthus criticise in Chapter 7? Compulsory emigration of paupers to Canada A shilling a week per child above three A tax on bachelors Fixed prices for bread in times of scarcity
5. What personal experience does Malthus cite to argue that the mind only diverts attention from bodily pain rather than curing it? A broken arm from a riding accident Seasickness on a voyage to Norway A toothache he had while writing A fever he suffered at Cambridge
6. How does Malthus propose to view the world and this life, instead of as a state of trial? As a machine that runs on without any divine involvement As an illusion of the senses As a mighty process for creating and forming mind As a punishment for original sin
7. What is Malthus’s objection to Adam Smith’s treatment of the funds for the maintenance of labour? Smith ignored foreign trade, which alone can feed a growing manufacturing people Smith underestimated how fast population grows where land is plentiful, as in America Smith wrongly followed the French economists in calling all manufacturing labour unproductive Not every rise of revenue or stock adds to them, only what can become provisions
8. What does Malthus consider a greater evil than hard labour? Luxury Emigration Idleness Dependence on the rich
9. What does Malthus give as the true cause of the barbarian migrations against China, Persia, Italy and Egypt? The decline of Roman military discipline Religious zeal for conquest and conversion The ambition and love of glory of chiefs such as Alaric and Attila Population outgrowing its food
10. What does Malthus call “the great error” of Godwin’s whole work? Ascribing nearly all vice and misery to human institutions Ignoring the role of foreign trade Overestimating how much more food the soil of England could yield Defending the institution of marriage

0 of 10 answered