191 REPORT — 1871. 



Gilderoy, or wlioeA'er it was that wrote the Lament hearing that name. The verse 

 I refer to runs thus, and is expressed in rery good " braid Scots " and very fair 



metre : — 



" Wae worth the loons that made the laws 

 To hang a man for gear : 

 To reave of life for sic a cause 

 As stealing horse or mear ! 

 Had not their laws been made sae strick 



I ne'er had lost my joy ; 

 Wi' sorrow ne'er had wat my cheek 

 Por my dear Gilderoy." 



There is another matter of a different kind on ■which the language of statistics 

 is also <ambiguous. The relations of the sexes constitute a most important branch 

 of economical science, and in no point is information of more value than where it 

 refers to female purity or to the circumstances affecting marriage. We have now 

 generally in our registers a good enumeration of the legitimate and illegitimate 

 births that occur among us, but I wish to point out some of the hazards or uncer- 

 tainties by which these are surrounded. In Scotland, as a whole, there is ira- 

 doubtedly a considerable proportion of births that are illegitimate ; but the propor- 

 tion varies much in different localities. Ten per cent, is not by any means the 

 highest proportion ; but let us suppose two districts, A and B, where the proportion 

 is much smaller, say 5 per cent, in each. "What does this indicate? It may pro- 

 ceed from a greater degree of moral purity, as fewer examples of unman-ied cohabi- 

 tation will, of course, diminish the number of illegitimate births. But the small 

 proportion of those births may possibly be produced by a totally opposite cause ; 

 for it is equally certain that extreme licentiousness of morals, and especially any 

 professional profligacy among women, has a tendency to diminish the number of 

 children born. So that district A, with a small percentage of illegitimate births, 

 may be a very moral district, and district B, with the same small percentage, may 

 be full of prostitutes and other dissolute women, who, from that very character, 

 seldom or never give birth to children at all. 



I mention these fallacies in statistical studies, not with the view of discrediting the 

 science, but in order to show the necessity of looking below the surface, and of pausing 

 in our deductions till we are sure that we have all the necessary materials forjudging. 



The subject I have just touched upon is intimately connected with the habits of 

 a population as to the contracting of raan-iage. Early marriages have necessarily 

 a tendency to check illicit intercourse, and are often encouraged with that view. 

 The Catholic clergy are supposed to recommend, if not to enforce, such marriages 

 ■with a view to the moral purity of their flocks. But it ought to be remembered 

 that the remedy involves other evils of its o-wn ; and it may be suggested that, if 

 female chastity can oulj' be preserved by the marriage of young persons when little 

 better than children, this is not a very high tribute to the prevalence of good prin- 

 ciples, nor a result that is a just subject of pride. I suspect, indeed, that other 

 ecclesiastical bodies besides the Catholics have the same tendency to encourage 

 early mai-riages. A Presbyterian minister in Ulster told me that in the first 

 marriage which he celebrated in his congregation, the united ages of the parties 

 were under 30, and he baptized a child for them a year afterwards. No groat good 

 can come of a system such as that, particularly if it be accompanied, as it often is 

 in Ireland, -with a further subdivision of the ipatemal farm for the support of the 

 young couple. A healthy opinion in a people to discourage early marriages, and 

 at the same time to enforce good moral conduct, is a manifest cause of prosperity; 

 and it is said to explain in a great degree the thriving condition of the NorAvegian 

 peasantry. But artificial restraints on marriage, without a high standard of 

 morals, do no good. In Bavaria, it seems, from local and partial interests, various 

 legal checks arc imposed upon marriages. But, as has been said, " they do not 

 care to check concubinage ; and thus the number of illegitimate births in Munich 

 is nearly as large as that of legitimate." 



Deductions from the Registrar'' s lieturns. 

 In connexion with this subject, I feel called upon to say that I consider our 



