marriages have not been less than 37,155 in number.
Nothing probably indicates more accurately than these
figures the condition of the people, or the view which
they took of their prospects in life during the last eleven
summers. The rate of marriages is still high in London,
and the marriages were 7109 in the last, 7345 in the
previous September quarter, whereas they amounted
only to 5747 in the corresponding quarter of 1848. The
marriages increased in all the south-eastern counties. In
the south midland division the marriages were nearly
stationary. In Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, the
marriages also increased. In the south-western division the
increase of marriages was greatest in Devonshire and
Somersetshire; was particularly conspicuous in St.
Thomas, Newton Abbott, Plymouth, Taunton, Yeovil,
and Bath. The marriages increased in each of the west
and the north midland counties, particularly in Stroud,
Cirencester, Ludlow, and Clun (where a railway has
recently been carried), Shrewsbury, Dudley, Worcester,
King's Norton, Birmingham, Coventry, Warwick,
Caistor, Leicester, Nottingham, where manufactures are
actively carried on. In Cheshire and Lancashire
marriages are much more numerous than they were in 1848,
but less numerous than they were in 1850; in Manchester
and in Liverpool the marriages are declining.
Yorkshire is nearly in the same condition as Lancashire; the
marriages in the West Riding have not increased to any
extent since 1850. In the northern division the
marriages decreased; they increased in Wales.

The Births registered in the last quarter of the year
were 152,066, whereas the numbers in the quarter
ending December, 1851, were 149,155. The births
in the last quarters having been 152,066, and the deaths
99,946, the natural increase of population was 52,120.
The number of emigrants who sailed in the quarter
from London was 12,322; Plymouth, 1,676; Liverpool,
41,317; from the three English ports, 55,315. The
total numbers who sailed from the ports of the United
Kingdom at which there are government emigration
agents amounted to 57,913. Many who sailed from other
ports are not in the return, and it is well known that a
large proportion of the emigrants who sail from Liverpool
are by birth Irish. At present it is probable,
taking all circumstances into account, that the emigration
from England is not equal to its natural increase.

The number of emigrants who sailed during the year
1852 from the ports of the United Kingdom at which
there are emigration agents, amounted to 350,647, or
certainly not less, taking the year through, and other
ports into account, than 1000 a day.

The average rate of mortality has increased; 99,946
deaths were registered during the last quarter of the
year 1852. In the corresponding quarter of 1851 the
deaths were 99,248. The annual rate of mortality in
the last quarter is at the rate of 2·197 per cent., which
is higher than the average rate, or than the mortality
in the corresponding quarters of 1842-45, in 1848, in
1850-51, but much lower than 2·545 and 2·389, the rates
of mortality in 1846-47. The mortality has been
greater in the towns than in the country. To every
four deaths out of a given number living in the country,
five deaths occurred out of an equal number living in
the towns during the last quarter; and on an average,
out of equal numbers living, four die in the towns
during autumn to every three who die in the country.
In those districts and places where the mortality has
been greatest, it is ascribed to the wetness of the
weather, to crowded habitations, unhealthy nuisances,
bad drainage, and (especially in Wales) neglect of
vaccination. The comparative healthiness of some
places (as at North Bradley) is ascribed to the larger
command of the necessaries of life now possessed by the
very poorest; and (as at Barnsley) to the active
employment of the labouring population.

A crowded meeting of the working classes who
support the proposed Opening of the Crystal Palace on
Sundays was held, in St. Martin's Hall, on the 26th ult.
The meeting was called by the trades' delegates, alleged
to represent 92,520 working men; the delegates
themselves mustering about one hundred strong. Mr. Henry
Mayhew was in the chair. He read a declaration,
averring that the working men do not question the
authority of the decrees upon which the institution of
the Sabbath is founded; that it is a social institution
designed especially for the benefit of the labourer; that
they are anxious to guard the day of rest from unnecessary
encroachment, and desire no infringement upon it
more than physical and intellectual necessities require.
A resolution adopting the declaration was carried with
cheers. Some disturbance arose out of an attempt of
the Reverend Mr. Bailey, Secretary of the Lord's Day
Observance Society, to address the meeting; his intrusion
was objected to, and he was not allowed to be heard.

A Conference of the Peace Society was held at
Manchester on the 27th and 28th of January. The Meetings
were in the Free Trade Hall, which on the second day
was densely crowded. Mr. George Wilson occupied
the chair, and the speakers were Mr. Cobden, Mr.
Bright, Mr. Milner Gibson, Mr. Joseph Sturge,
Mr. I. Smith, Mr. Brotherton, and several other
gentlemen. Letters, expressing adhesion to the
principles of the society, were read from Lord Goderich,
Mr. George Combe, Lord Radnor, Mr. Leigh Hunt,
M. de Girardin, M. Athanase Coquerel, and M. Carnot.
—It was announced from the chair that the
subscription towards the fund of £10,000 for carrying out
the objects of the society had already reached £4,525.
The usual topics were handled by the speakers.
Mr. Cobden ridiculed the cry of invasion;
commented severely on the conduct of the press in
echoing that cry, and traducing the French emperor;
and engaged that if a certain local journalist would pay
a shilling a week to a school, he (Mr. Cobden) would
pay him down £10,000 on the invasion of this country
by France. Before the meeting broke up it was agreed,
on the motion of Mr. Sturge, that a Conference should
take place on the Continent. The above challenge,
thrown out by Mr. Cobden, was declined by the journal
(The Manchester Guardian), for which, it appears, it
was intended; but it was accepted by Major-General
Brotherton, and gave rise to a correspondence. Mr.
Cobden offered to give his bond for £10,000 in case of
the French ever attempting an invasion; but General
Brotherton declined to take the bond, having only desired
to test Mr. Cobden's sincerity; but he stated his intention
of paying the shilling a week to the Manchester
Infirmary.

Propositions for establishing Cheap Colonial Postage
were lately issued by the Colonial and International
Postage Association; and a special meeting of the
Society of Arts was held on the 8th inst. to consider
them. Sir John Boileau occupied the chair. In the
course of his opening speech, he read an extract from a
letter from Sir John Pakington, expressing his great
desire to see a system of cheap postage established
between this country and our Colonies; saying that, if
he had continued in office it was his intention to have
used every exertion to effect it; that he should be happy
to cooperate with the committee; and trusts the present
government may be induced to attach as much
importance to the subject as he did. The Secretary of the
Postage Society, detailed some of the existing
grievances:—At present, the postage on a letter to our
foreign possessions varies from 8d. to 1s.10d., the
average being about a shilling. There are two rates to
each colony, according to whether the letter be sent by
private ship or by packet. In some cases the letters
must be prepaid, in others it is optional, while from
some of the Colonies letters cannot be prepaid under
any circumstances; and, lastly, whatever the amount
paid on this side, a writer knows not how much his
correspondent will have to pay before the letter will be
given up to him. The total gross income from Colonial
correspondence is less than £200,000 per annum. Thus,
supposing the average postage to be 1s, we have less
than four millions of Colonial letters, or only one-
hundredth part of the total number of letters passing
through the Post-office during the year. Consequently,
many letters must go by other channels. The main
resolution agreed to was, that the penny postage system
should be extended to "the whole of the British Colonies
and Possessions."

A public meeting of the British Freehold Land and
Building Companies was held at Exeter Hall on the