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WILLIAMS' CASE. 233
formed by Mr. Simpson from the bills of mortality for London for
ten years, from 1759 to 1768; and as these gave the values of
lives among a body of people taken, in the gross, in one 0f the
worst of all situations, they are by no means fit for common use;
and are therefore, now never resorted to as a means of ascertaining
the value of a life even in London itself, (d)
The next set of tables are those formed by Dr. Price from bills
of mortality kept in the parish of All Saints in the town of North-
ampton in England, during the years 1735 to 1780. Northamp-
ton stands on a high region in the midst of England, and con-
tains at present about eight thousand four hundred inhabitants.
It is situated on the river Nen, and is chiefly built on the slope,
and near the top of a hill, and is generally clean and pleasant.
The parish of All Saints embraces about half the population of the
town, (e) The next table is that which has been formed for Car-
lisle, one of the most northerly towns of England. The situation
of Carlisle is extremely beautiful; it stands on a gently rising
ground in the midst of extensive and fertile meadows, terminated
by distant mountains, and watered by the Eden, the Caldew, and
the Peterill. The two former of these rivers flow on different
sides of the city; and their banks, and contiguous meadows, afford
a number of pleasant walks to the inhabitants. Carlisle contains,
at present, about ten thousand inhabitants. The degree of salu-
brity of these two places, Northampton and Carlisle, and the
diseases arising from the climate, with which they are visited, may
be considered as sufficiently indicated by these concise descrip-
tions of their situations. But it is not stated whether the popula-
tion was stationary or not at those places when those tables were
formed; and yet it is evident, that the migrations or shiftings of
the population must necessarily affect all observations of the dura-
tion of life made from accounts of births and deaths alone, (f)
The Carlisle tables were formed from the results of observations
made during the years 1779 to 1780, upon a population of eight
thousand persons in that place. But it does not appear whether
the parish of All Saints in Northampton was inhabited exclusively
or disproportionably by rich, or by poor; nor is it said of what
class the eight thousand persons of Carlisle were composed. Both
of these last mentioned tables are however, evidently formed upon
(d) 1 Price Obser. 211; Bee's Cyclo, v. Life Assurance and Mortality.—(e) 2
Price Obser. 94—(f) Ree's Cyclo. v. Mortality.
30 v.3
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