COMMON THINGS MAN. 



those which govern the motions of the solar system. Thus we 

 find, that in the same country, in a series of successive years, the 

 same average number of marriages are contracted, the departures 

 from the average being, like the planetary inequalities, small and 

 self-compensatory. If there is a small excess in one year above 

 the average, there is sure to be a corresponding deficiency in 

 another. 



Thus, for example, in England and Wales during the five years 

 from 1845 to 1849 inclusive, the average number of marriages 

 was 142800, and the actual number in each year varied from this 

 average by not more than a few hundreds. In 1851 and 1852, 

 with an increased population, the average number was increased 

 to 156000, from which the variations were equally inconsiderable. 

 In countries, however, where statistical registers are kept with 

 more circumstantial precision than in England, results affording 

 more striking illustrations of these principles may be obtained. 

 In Belgium, for example, to the statistics of which the labours 

 and talents of M. Quetelet have been directed, some very remark- 

 able circumstances bearing on this question have been developed. 

 Thus, it appears that, for a series of years before and after 1840, 

 the average number of marriages contracted in that country was 

 29130. How completely obedient the population was in the 

 fulfilment of this statistical law, may be seen by the following 

 exact number of marriages contracted in the five years succeeding 

 1840 : 



YEARS. MARRIAGES. 



1841 29876 



1842 29023 



1843 . 28220 



1844 29326 



1845 29210 



Thus it appears that in '1841, 1844, and 1845, the number of 

 marriages exceeded, while in 1842 and 1843 they fell just as far 

 short of the average ; just as the velocity of a planet near its 

 perihelion exceeds, and near its aphelion falls short, of its mean 

 motion. 



83. But this is neither the only, nor by any means the most 

 remarkable, example of the play of general laws in human actions, 

 which, of all others, must be admitted to be the most completely 

 voluntary. Thus, for example, when a man of 30 chooses a wife 

 above 60, he can scarcely be imagined to be controlled by the 

 influence of parents. Yet it appears that the frequency of such 

 marriages is as regular as the annual motion of the sun. Take 

 the following examples. In Belgium, the average number of men 

 not above 30 marrying women above 60 annually is 6, and the 

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