200 REPORT — 1855. 



strength. It lies chiefly in the numbers, in the youthfulness, and the industrial 

 qualities of the people. 



The population of (iicat Britain in 1651 was computed to be 6,378,000. 



In 1751, 7,392,000 ; equal to 1,014,000 increase in a century. 



In 1851, 21,185,000 ; equal to 13,793,000 increase in a century. 



Between J 801 and 1851, the population of Great Britain increased 93"5 percent.; 

 that of Ireland, however, only 36 per cent. 



The increase in the United Kingdom from 1841 to 1851 has been 3 per cent, only, 

 making it less than that of some of the old states of Europe. 



There is a view to be taken even less satisfactory than this. Between 1831 and 

 1841, there was no county in England which exhibited a decrease in numbers. 

 Between 1841 and 1851, twenty-seven counties in England and Wales, and sixty-six 

 districts of those counties, showed sensible diminutions, which extended more or 

 less over the greater part of Ireland, the north of Scotland, the north of Wales, and 

 the west of England. 



In England and Wales there are said to be 55,110 square yards to each house, 

 and 10,077 square yards to each individual; in Scotland, 262,024 square yards to 

 each house, and 33,589 square yards to each individual. 



The absolute density varies very considerably in different localities, from 18 to the 

 square mile in the district of Bellingham, Northumberland, to 185,751 in the dis- 

 trict of East London. From the map of Scotland, we see how thickly the hives of 

 industry are clustered around the Firths of the Clyde and the Forth, and the plains 

 and coal-fields between the Cheviot Hills and the Grampians. In England, the 

 banks of the Mersey, the Severn, the Thames, the Humber, the Tyne, are thronged, 

 and along the centre of the country population passes like a tide. 



The tendency of the people to increase in towns, and to remain stationary in point 

 of numbers in the rural districts, is very remarkable, and deserving of especial atten- 

 tion. In the towns, taking them as a whole, there are 5*2 persons to an acre — in 

 the country, 5'3 acres to a person. In the former, there are 3337 persons to a 

 square mile ; in the latter, 120 only. The growth of the population throughout the 

 United Kingdom is principally in the manufacturing and maritime, not in the agri- 

 cultural districts. 



There is a close but not inseparable connexion between numbers and strength. 

 The people of Great Britain are neither infirm nor impoverished, yet the effective 

 portion of the population seems at first sight small. Of 21,185,000, the males, at 

 the soldier's age, in 1851, amounted to 3,193,496. Infancy and age, with all the 

 ills that flesh is heir to, affect the national strength. 



Great Britain contained, in 1851, — 



Under 1 year of age 578,543 



15 „ 7,458,080 



20 ,, 9,558,114 



Between 20 and 40 6,555,954 



40 and 60 3,526,342 



60 and 80 1,414,798 



80 and 100 129,483 



Above 100 319 



The Commissioners state in their Report, that there can be now no doubt that 

 some of the twenty-one millions of people in Great Britain have lived a century, 

 " which may therefore be considered the circuit of time in which human life goes 

 through all the phases of its evolution." The probable lifetime of a male at birth 

 is nearly 45 years. The mean lifetime, or the average number of years that males 

 live after birth in England, is rather more than 40 years (40"36 years), so that the 

 majority of us live only about two-fifths of the years others attain to — or, may we 

 not rightly say, two-fifths of our appointed time ? Could the full period of existence 

 be survived by all, that prolongation would be tantamount to more than doubling 

 the present population. But while the average duration of life is 45 3'ears in Surrey, 

 it is only 25 in Manchester and Liverpool. It appears, too, that the populaiion is 

 now younger than it would be by the natural standard, younger probably in England 

 and Scotland than in any country in Europe. 



