It is very sad for those who walk through this great town or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags and asking the passers-by for alms. These mothers, instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time to beg food for their helpless infants.
I think it is agreed by all parties that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom a very great burden on society; and, therefore, it is important to find a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children sound, useful members of society.
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I have been assured by a very knowledgeable American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I do no doubt that it will go well in a fricassee or a ragout.
I do therefore humbly offer the following solution: of the currently hundred and twenty thousand children, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only one-fourth should be males (which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle or swine) since one male will be sufficient for four females. The remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered for sale to persons of quality and fortune throughout the kingdom. The mothers must be told to let their children suck plentifully in the last month, so as to make them plump and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at a dinner party with friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled, especially in winter.
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