Mr. King’s modesty has been so far overruled as to suffer us to communicate these his excellent computations, which we can the more safely commend, having examined them very carefully, tried them by some little operations of our own upon the same subject, and compared them with the schemes of other persons, who take pleasure in the like studies.

What he says concerning the number of the people to be 5,500,000 is no positive assertion, nor shall we pretend anywhere to determine in that matter; what he lays down is by way of hypothesis, that supposing the inhabitants of England to have been, A.D. 1300, 2,860,000 heads, by the orderly series of increase allowed of by all writers they may probably be about A.D. 1700, 5,500,000 heads; but if they were A.D. 1300 either less or more, the case must proportionably alter; for as to his allowances for plagues, great mortalities, civil wars, the sea, and the plantations, they seem very reasonable, and not well to be controverted.

Upon these schemes of Mr. King we shall make several remarks, though the text deserves much a better comment.

Scheme D.—­A scheme of the income and expense of the several
                   families of England, calculated for the year
                   1688
Number of Ranks, Degrees and Heads per
 Families.  Qualifications Family.
      160 Temporal Lords 40
       26 Spiritual Lords 20
      800 Baronets 16
      600 Knights 13
    3,000 Esquires 10
   12,000 Gentlemen 8
    5,000 Persons in greater offices and places 8
    5,000 Persons in lesser offices and places 6
    2,000 Eminent merchants and traders by sea 8
    8,000 Lesser merchants and traders by sea 6
   10,000 Persons in the law 7
    2,000 Eminent clergymen 6
    8,000 Lesser clergymen 5
   40,000 Freeholders of the better sort 7
  120,000 Freeholders of the lesser sort 5.5
  150,000 Farmers 5
   15,000 Persons in liberal arts and sciences 5
   50,000 Shopkeepers and tradesmen 4.5
   60,000 Artisans and handicrafts 4
    5,000 Naval officers 4
    4,000 Military officers 4
  500,586 5.33
   50,000 Common seamen 3
  364,000 Labouring people and out-servants 3.5
  400,000 Cottagers and paupers 3.25
   35,000 Common soldiers 2