the town population of England is computed at four-fifths of the whole, in France it is about two-fifths of the whole.
Land is very equally distributed among the bulk of the population, and the same is the case with personal property. The funded debt of France, 540,000,000/. sterling, in round numbers, was held, on January 1, 1867, by 1,095,083 persons, giving a share of about 500/. to each. On the other hand, the national debt of Great Britain, 770,000,000/. sterling, was held in 1865 by only 126,331 persons, giving a share of more than 6,000/. to each on the average. There are fully 6 million houses in France, the greater number of them freeholds, with plots of land belonging to their occupiers.
Official documents recently published show that from 1836 to 1861 the rural population underwent a diminution of 1*18 per cent., while that of the towns constantly increased, but in very different proportions. In the towns of from 5,000 to 10,000 inhabitants, the augmentation was little, while it was more than 60 per cent, in the towns of more than 20,000 souls. The following was the progressive increase in the population of the four principal towns of France, from 1820 to 1866, date of the last census:—
Town
Population in 1820
Population in 1861 Population in 1866
Paris Lyon Marseille Bordeaux
713,766 115,841 101,217 92,375
1,696,141 318,803 260,916 162,750
1,825,274 323,954 300,131 194,241
The subjoined table gives the result of marriage in France as compared with other countries:—
Countries
Period of
Births to each
observation
marriage
France
1851-60
3.07
Switzerland
1856-60
3.90
Norway
1851-60
3.92
England
1862-64
3.94
Austria
1861-63
3.95
Belgium
1857-64
3.97
Bavaria
1858-62
4.02
Saxony
1860-62
4.10
Netherlands
1860-62
4.23
Russia
1858
4.46
Spain
1858-61
4.47
Prussia
1859-61
4.48
Greece
1861
4.49
Italy
1863-67
4.95
