ABSTRACT
In the seventeenth century the preparation of numerical estimates and demographic analyses of national populations had been largely left to the curiosity of private enquirers, such as Graunt, Sir William Petty, and Edward King. In the study of social phenomena the eighteenth century carried on the work done in the preceding period, and made considerable progress. Montesquieu tries to show how differences in climate produce differences in character, and consequently differences in social customs and laws. Interest in population statistics for the sake of their bearing on the problems of social philosophy began to be widely manifested in Britain towards the close of the eighteenth century, the tendency being illustrated by the activities of such men as Malthus. It is particularly noteworthy that whereas Jean Bodin and Montesquieu emphasized the need of adapting laws and forms of government to national character, David Hume insisted that it is just through the laws and forms of government that national character is shaped.
