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necessity, involve increased density, with an increase
of mortality; but the probability is that this result,
when it occurs, would not long continue, seeing that,
from the value of property in this neighbourhood, the
inferior tenements will in time be replaced by houses
of a better description, containing fewer inmates.
Indeed, it is not unlikely that we may see in St. Johns,
what is taking place in the central districts of the
Metropolis, viz., a decrease of population, arising not
from the same causes, the incursion of railways, the
opening up of new streets, &c., but from that already
stated, the wealthy displacing the more numerous poor.
In St. Mary's District, owing to its situation, and
the character of its streets and of many of the houses
already erected therein, we may expect to see eventually
a very dense population, with houses constantly
deteriorating, and with an influx of a lower class of
inhabitants,—the counterpart of much that we are in
the habit of associating with the Parish of St. Giles.
During the 52 weeks, 2,927 births, and 1,992 deaths
were registered in Paddington, the excess of births over
deaths being 935.
This excess constitutes the natural increase of
population, and together with that which the other
parishes unitedly contribute, has made London in the
matter of population a self-sustaining city, adding
annually to the number of its inhabitants upwards of
41,000 souls. This increase, which is equivalent to the
population of such provincial towns as Cheltenham,
Oxford, or Ipswich, does not include the number
contributed by immigration, which is not very large,