ly, talks about "the absurdity of comparing the
fecundity in the small towns alluded to with that in the counties of
Warwick and Stafford, or in those of Lancaster and Surrey." He proceeds
thus--

"In Warwickshire, far above half the population is comprised in large
towns, including, of course, the immense metropolis of one great branch
of our manufactures, Birmingham. In the county of Stafford, besides
the large and populous towns in its iron districts, situated so close
together as almost to form, for considerable distances, a continuous
street; there is, in its potteries, a great population, recently
accumulated, not included, indeed, in the towns distinctly enumerated in
the censuses, but vastly exceeding in its condensation that found in the
places to which the Reviewer alludes. In Lancashire, again, to which
he also appeals, one-fourth of the entire population is made up of the
inhabitants of two only of the towns of that county; far above half of
it is contained in towns, compared with which those he refers to are
villages: even the hamlets of the manufacturing parts of Lancashire are
often far more populous than the places he mentions. But he presents
us with a climax of absurdity in appealing lastly to the population of
Surrey as quite rural compared with that of the twelve towns having
less than 5000 inhabitants in their respective jurisdictions, such as
Saffron-Walden, Monmouth, etc. Now, in the last census, Surrey numbered
398,658 inhabitants, and to say not a word about the other towns of the
county, much above two hundred thousands of these are WITHIN THE BILLS
OF MORTALITY! 'We should, therefore, be glad to know' how it is utterly
inconsistent with my principle that the fecundity of Guildford, which
numbers about 3000 inhabitants, should be greater than the average
fecundity of Surrey, made up, as the bulk of the population of Surrey
is, of the inhabitants of some of the worst parts of the metropolis? Or
why the fecundity of a given number of marriages in the eleven little
rural towns he alludes to, being somewhat higher than that of an equal
number, half taken, for instance, from the heart of Birmingham or
Manchester, and half from the populous districts by which they are
surrounded, is inconsistent with my theory?

"Had the Reviewer's object, in this instance, been to discover the
truth, or had he known how to pursue it, it is perfectly clear, at
first sight, that he would not have instituted a compari