360 



GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 



tricts, and 2 representing universities, together 

 60 members from Scotland ; and 64 represent- 

 ing counties, 39 representing cities, and 2 

 representing the university, together 105, from 

 Ireland; making 652 members altogether. 

 There are 658 constituencies, but six have been 

 disfranchised for bribery. At the beginning 

 of the term the House was divided as to par- 

 ties between 203 Conservatives and 286 Liber- 

 als from England, 8 Conservatives and 52 Lib- 

 erals from Scotland, and 24 Conservatives, 19 

 Liberals, and 60 Home-Rulers from Ireland ; 

 together 235 Conservatives, 357 Liberals, and 

 60 Home-Rulers. 



The House of Lords consisted in 1881 of 537 

 members, of whom 5 were peers of the blood 

 royal, 2 archbishops, 21 dukes, 20 marquesses, 

 128 earls, 32 viscounts, 24 bishops, 261 barons, 

 16 Scottish representative peers, and 28 Irish 

 representative peers. Only 12 of the peerages 

 are older than the seventeenth century, and 

 341 are not older than the present century, 

 165 having been created during the reign of 

 Queen Victoria. 



The Prime Minister is William Ewart Glad- 

 stone. Upon forming his Ministry in 1880 he 

 took the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer 

 in addition to his regular duties as First Lord 

 of the Treasury. After the close of the extra 

 session in the autumn of 1882, the Cabinet 

 was reconstituted. Lord Derby entered the 

 Cabinet as Secretary for the Colonies, Lord 

 Kimberley taking Lord Hartington's place in 

 the India Office, and the latter Mr. Childers's 

 place as Secretary of War, while Childers re- 

 ceived the Chancellorship of the Exchequer, 

 relinquished by Gladstone. Sir Charles Dilke 

 obtained a seat in the Cabinet as President of 

 the Local Government Board, Mr. Dodson re- 

 ceiving the Chancellorship of the Duchy of Lan- 

 caster. 



AREA AND POPULATION-. The total popula- 

 tion of the United Kingdom in 1881 was found 

 at the census taken on April 4th to be 35,246,- 

 562, of whom 17,253,947 were males and 17,- 

 992,615 were females. The area and popula- 

 tion of the separate divisions were as follow : 



The population of England increased from 

 15,002,443 in 1841 to 16,921,888 in 1851 ; 18,- 

 954,444 in 1861 ; and 21,49d,131 in 1871. The 

 increase between 1871 and 1881 was 1-35 per 

 cent per annum. The population of Scotland 

 increased from 2,620,184 in 1841 to 2,888,742 

 in 1851 ; 3,062,294 in 1861 ; 3,360,018 in 1861 ; 

 and at the rate of 1-05 per cent per annum in 

 the last census period. The population of Ire- 



land decreased from 8,196,597 in 1841 to 

 6,574,271 in 1851; 5,798,967 in 1861; and 

 5,412,377 in 1871. The rate of decrease be- 

 tween 1871 and 1881 was 0-48 per cent. The 

 density of population in 1881 was for the 

 United Kingdom 291 to the square mile, being 

 between that of Holland (320) and Italy (248), 

 and exceeded only by Belgium and Holland 

 among European countries. The density of 

 population in England and Wales was 445 to 

 the square mile, being inferior only to that of 

 Belgium (486). The number of inhabitants to 

 the square mile in Ireland was 161, being more 

 than in Hungary (125) and Denmark (136) and 

 less than in France (178) and Switzerland 

 (178). The number to the square mile in Scot- 

 land was 121. England contained 53 - 6 per 

 cent of the population of the United Kingdom 

 in 1831 and 69-8 per cent in 1881 ; Scotland, 

 9-7 per cent in 1831 and 10'6 per cent in 1881 ; 

 Ireland, 31 -8 per cent in 1831 and 14'6 per 

 cent in 1881. 



The population of London proper in 1881 

 was 3,814,571 ; of the suburban districts, 949,- 

 741 ; total population of the metropolis, 4,- 

 764,312. 



The average rate of increase in the last dec- 

 ade was 16'9 per cent. 



The soil of Great Britain and Ireland is in 

 fewer hands than that of any other country. 

 The number of owners of land in the three 

 kingdoms is returned as follows, the lands of 

 the metropolis being excluded: 



The proportion of owners of property to the 

 total number of inhabitants is 1 in 20 in Eng- 

 land and Wales, 1 in 25 in Scotland, 1 in 79 in 

 Ireland, and for the whole United Kingdom 1 

 in 24. The average quantity of land held by 

 each owner is 33 acres, the average rental 

 102, in England; 143 acres, rental 141, in 

 Scotland; 293 acres, rental 195, in Ireland; 

 and 61 acres, rental 112, for the whole coun- 

 try. 



The number of electors in 1879 was 2,999,- 

 229 in the United Kingdom, against 2,748,985 

 in 1874; in England and Wales, 2,459,999, 

 against 2,245,108; in Scotland, 307,941, against 

 280,308 ; in Ireland, 231,289, against 223,569. 



The proportion of male to female children 

 born in England is 1,048 to 1,000. At about 

 the age of ten years the two sexes become 

 equal in numbers, while in the whole popula- 

 tion the females outnumber the males in the 

 ratio of 1,000 to 949. In the total population 

 of England and Wales, numbering 25,968,286, 

 there were in 1881 803,126 paupers. The 

 number of persons convicted of crimes in 1880 

 was 11,214. The number of births in 1880 was, 



