as 185,751 in a similar area. A very curious and interesting
illustration has been furnished of the increased proximity of the
inhabitants, in consequence of the increase of population, during
the present century. A messenger to deliver a thousand letters, at a
thousand houses of average proximity, in 1801, would have to travel
two hundred and six miles; but in 1851 he could perform his work by
travelling only one hundred and forty-three miles. As the people were
no longer serfs of the soil, but free to rove as their interests or
pleasure dictated, a wonderful readiness to change the locality of their
homes had displayed itself during the first half of this century, and
especially the last decade of it. In this way large additions were made
to the population of certain great centres of trade. It was found that
the disposition to settle in London was greatest in the Metropolitan,
Southern, Eastern, and South Midland Counties. The people to the north
of Nottingham, Leicester, &c., were less inclined to live in London.
Their tendency, strengthened by the opportunity of finding employment,
was to resort to the great manufacturing districts of Yorkshire and
Lancashire. The census led incidentally to considerations connected with
the general progress of Great Britain. Its material and social interests
kept pace with its population. It is a law which operates with the
increase of the people, that the increase of the means of supporting
them augments in a superior ratio. The masses realized the advantages
of progressive science and art, the variety of manufacture, division
of labour, freedom of commerce, and freedom of thought. They were in
possession of many luxuries as well as comforts not known even to
noble and royal persons in previous ages of our history. The 3,647,611
inhabited houses of Great Britain, from the palace of the monarch down
to the humble dwelling of the cottager, presented a striking contrast to
the miserable hovels of the poor, and the inconvenient magnificence
of the great, in the bygone periods of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman
history, and of the Plantagenets, the Tudors, and the Stuarts. Great
improvements had began in the domiciles of the lower classes; in the
sanitary condition of cities and towns: and in draining, lighting, and
paving. The progress of the arts and manufactures in Great Britain
had been then very great. Coal and iron, which lie at the base of
our manufacturing industry, were appreciated,