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1,000 as that which is natural to this country, and
comparing it with that of 30 in the 1,000 which
occurs in some parts of the City, you will perceive
that the death-rate is exactly doubled; and if, in
pursuing the inquiry still further, we ask what has
been the mean duration of adult life among those
who have passed away from us, we shall find that
every man who dies in this City has been robbed of
from ten to twelve years of his existence. I have
brought this class of facts prominently before you
in the fifth table of the appendix. You will there
see that while in England generally the mean
duration of life with men who have reached the
twentieth year of their age is forty years, in the
City of London it is but thirty, and in the western
divisions of it it is only twenty-eight. What a
contrast is this to the Divine intention, that at
least three-score years and ten are allotted to man ;
and what a commentary is it on the boast of civilization,
that one of its noblest objects is the preservation
of human life, of which it would have us
believe it entertains the highest appreciation. To
think that here in the very heart of civilised society,
where the influences of wealth, and industry, and
knowledge are exercised to their fullest extent,
there should be such a disregard of human life,
that if it be not sacrificed openly and by foul means,
it is rarely made the subject of serious consideration.
Who would imagine that in this City the natural
mortality of the place is not only doubled, but that