POSTSCRIPT
The most singular portion of Political Justice is that which deals
with Population, and some notice of it, by way of postscript, may be
pardoned, for it cannot be neglected in our estimate of Godwin, and
it is a curious instance of the futility of attempting to comprehend
character without searching into corners and examination of facts
which, judged by external bulk, are small. These small facts may
contain principles which are constituent of the man. The chapter on
Population occupies a few pages at the end of the second volume of
the Political Justice.
Godwin would like to see property equalised, or common, and he tries
to answer the argument that excessive population would ensue. He
quotes (ii. 862) a reported conjecture of Franklin's that 'mind will
one day become omnipotent over matter.' If over matter, which is
outside us, thinks Godwin, why not over our own bodies, 'in a word,
why may not man be one day immortal' (ii. 862). He points out that
the mind already has great power over the body, that it can conquer
pain, assist in the cure of disease, and successfully resist old
age.
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