2!f ON Bir^rsoFMOsTALitr. May li 



have been, it no fucb inf!u:< had happened; and the 

 greater that influx is, the greater mult be that difpropor- 

 tion. 



Hence it naufl necelTarily happen, that if we are to 

 judge of the increafe or decreafe of population from the 

 bills of raortality only, our conclufion will be always 

 cxaftly tlie revcrfc of what it would be, if we take an 

 actual enumeration : For wherever, from an aflual 

 enumeration, we find that the population is augment- 

 ing iu a very rapid manner, we would conclude from 

 the bills of mortditv, that they were decreafing very 

 faft. 



Iri like manner, if people are emigrating faft from 

 ;tny. country, could we obtain an accurate lift of the 

 births and the deaths, we fliould fay that the birtlis 

 fo far exceeded the deaths, as to afford the clearelt 

 proof of a rapid incr'eafing population ; whereas, were 

 we to take an actual enumei-ation, we would be for- 

 ced to draw a conclufiion direftly the reverft;. 

 - Thefe few obfervations may ferve lo fliew how lit- 

 tle reliance is to be had on thofe general and vague 

 declamations that have been often repeated with fo 

 much confidence on this fubjedl. Many other fources 

 of fallacy refpcfting this fubjeft, might be pointed out ; 

 but this might tend to perplex fome. It is enough at 

 this time to have developed this fingle particular, as 

 it may ferve to mfpire. thofe with a fmall degree of dif- 

 fidence, who begin to fpeculate upon fuch matters. 



I (hall only' add, that it is not here intended to inf;- 

 nuate that the occupations of a country life are not 

 more favourable to (he augmentation of tlie human 

 fpec'cs, than thofe of large towns ; but merely thrrt 

 the proof of this fact arifing from a comparative view 

 of the bills of mortality is entirely fallacious. Much 

 falfe reafoning, and many erroneous conclufions have 

 been founded on thefe data by political writers, ■^Vi1fh'■• 

 iji t!ic prcfent century. 



