C 708 ] 
Sir William Petty likewife fays, that he was in- 
formed there were 84000 houfes tenanted with- 
in the bills, in the year 1682, in which he wrote; 
and if fo, the number of houfes feem to be increafed, 
near one-third fince that time. And, according to 
our way of computing, to fuppofe fix to a houfe, 
empty and full, there could not be more than 
504000 people at that time ; which is lefs than the 
number we found above for the prefent time, 748350, 
by 244350. But now, inftead of increafing, we are 
decreafing j for fince the year 1743 the inhabitants 
have been annually diminifhed ; by which it appears 
that this great city is paft its height, and is rather 
upon the decline with regard to numbers. And 
hence we fee how far Sir William was mif- 
taken, who imagined that it might increafe continu* 
ally till the year 1800; when the number of people 
would be five millions, that is near feven times as 
much as they are at prefent. 
Now, to account for this decreafe there may be 
various conjedtures : I think three caufes may be af- 
figned, that may all operate jointly. One may be 
the vicious cuftom that has prevailed of late years, 
among the - lower people, of drinking fpirituous li- 
quors; another the falhionable humour of living 
fingle, that daily increafes ; and a third may be the 
great increafe of trade in the northern parts of Bri- 
tain, that keeps the people there employed at home, 
that they have no occafion, as formerly, to come 
hither for bufinefs ; and it were to be wifhed that 
this caufe was the moft prevailing. But whatever be 
the caufe, it feems plain to me, that it could not be 
the late French war, as fome imagine. For by what 
was 
