First, it may be questioned whether the fact of the depreciation of paper, while it enhanced the money price of articles made of gold and silver, did not also occasion many persons, as a measure of prudent precaution, so to invest a part of their wealth, and thereby to secure the possession of a certain and tangible property of immediately convertible value. It may be objected that persons so acting were prudent overmuch, and, judging from the course which events have since taken, such an opinion appears well founded; but any one who can recall to his recollection the dismal aspect then offered by the political horizon-when every power in Europe was leagued against us, and the necessary expenditure of the country was carried forward upon a scale which it would have been altogether impossible to have continued for even a few years longer-will hesitate before he pronounces such a precaution unwise. Even when the ambitious designs of Napoleon had detached from him and converted into enemies the allies who had pursued with him the object of destroying the power and resources of England, there came no intermission of efforts and sacrifices on our part; but, on the contrary, every ally that we gained in the field helped still further to exhaust our financial means. Let us suppose that the battle of Waterloo had been lost, or even that it had been less decisive in its results, could the public expenditure have been continued on anything like the scale of preceding years, while at the same time faith had been kept with the public creditor? Under such circumstances he would have been looked upon as a man of forethought and wisdom who should have provided himself with a species of convertible property that was independent of the stability of public credit; and as it is well known that many persons did at that time entertain very gloomy forebodings as to the future condition of this country, it is not unreasonable to suppose that some would be led to the precautionary course that has been here suggested.

There was at the same time another circumstance in operation altogether opposite to, but not incompatible with, what has been stated, and which probably led to the same desire of investing money in the purchase of gold and silver plate. The gains of persons engaged, either as owners or tenants, in the cultivation of the soil, had been out of all proportion great, and that for a length of time, which gave an appearance of permanency to their prosperity. It has been already stated in how great a degree the rent of land had advanced during the progress of the war, at the same time that the worldly condition and habits of the occupiers had undergone the most marked improvement. There are no classes of men so remarkable in this country as its nobility and country gentlemen for the importance which they attach to the possession and transmission of family plate; and with respect to the farmers, the alteration in their circumstances and character must have caused a great demand on their part for such luxuries. In those days it scarcely required the passing

away of a generation in order to see in farmers' dwellings, on the same estates, spoons of wood or of horn give place to others of silver. It must further be considered that luxuries of this class are not of a perishable nature; that, except for the indulgence of ostentation, they are provided in the same family once for all, and we must not therefore expect that any sudden increase in their quantity will lead to further and equal additions when that immediate demand shall be satisfied. The improvement that has been made in the manufacture of plated wares has had a further influence in diminishing the sale of articles subject to the plate duty, although it may have led, and in all probability has led, to the increased consumption of the precious metals. Except in very wealthy families, it is now usual to see many articles, such as candlesticks, plated, where formerly they were seen of silver, or, if the expense of such was too great, of brass.

The combination of these various causes may probably be thought sufficient to account for the fact exhibited by the following table of the comparative decline experienced in this branch of consumption. The years 1824 and 1825 are well remembered as years of great commercial excitement and apparent prosperity, and it is curious to observe the degree in which that excitement acted in promoting the desire of possessing gold and silver utensils. The increased quantity retained for home use in the year 1825, as compared with 1823, was equal to 29 per cent. on gold, and 50 per cent. on silver plate; the difference in favour of 1825, as compared with 1824, was 10 per cent. on gold and 24 per cent. on silver plate.

Number of Ounces of Gold and Silver Plate upon which Duty was Paid, and for which Drawback was Allowed, showing the Quantity retained for Home Use, in each Year, from 5th January, 1800, to 5th January, 1850.

Number of Ounces of Gold and Silver Plate upon which Duty was Paid, and for which Drawback was Allowed, &c.-continued.

CHAPTER IV.

FOOD. Want of Information concerning the Quantity consumed of chief Articles of Human Subsistence-Evils resulting from this Ignorance-Means employed for ascertaining the Produce of the Soil in Belgium. SUGAR. Quantity consumed at various periods in England and Ireland, and Revenue thereon-Consumption easily affected by PriceDiminished Shipments from British Colonies-Necessity for enlarging the Market of Supply-Cost to the Nation of the protecting Duty, and consequent Loss to the Revenue. COFFEE. Quantities consumed-Effect of Reduction of Duties-Consumption checked by Protective Duties - Contrivance for lessening their Amount. TEA. Quantities consumed-Past History of the Tea Trade, and Effect of Duties upon Consumption. MALT. Consumption at various Periods-Checked by Duties and by Monopoly of Home-growers of Barley. SPIRITS. Consumption of Home-made Spirits Temperance Movements in Ireland-Foreign and Colonial Spirits consumed-Excessive Duties and their Consequences. WINE. Quantities consumed-Rates of Duty-Consumption of Wine in France. BEER. Quantity consumed, and Produce of Duty.

THERE are no means provided by which the consumption of the prime necessaries of life in this country can be traced at different periods. It is only with respect to those few articles of native production which have been subjected to the payment of duties that any provision has ever been made for ascertaining their quantity; and as the chief articles of food and clothing, when of such production, have never been directly taxed in England, we have always been ignorant in this respect regarding the quantities produced.

The want of this information has been found greatly inconvenient, both by statesmen and by writers on subjects of social economy, the latter of whom have frequently had recourse to the expedient of computations founded on insufficient data, and which have therefore given an unsatisfactory character to their writings. In estimating the growth of wheat in England, it has not been possible to assume as data the breadth of land appropriated to its cultivation, and the average produce of the land per acre, both those elements of the computation being unknown; but the number of the consumers being known, the average consumption of each individual has been assumed, and the total quantity consumed has been thence deduced. This average consumption has been variously estimated by different writers at from six to eight bushels during the year, exhibiting a difference of one-third in their calculations. The population of England and Wales is probably at this time (1850)

17,700,000, and the difference in the provision needed, according as the consumption equals one or other of the quantities named, would be 4,425,000 quarters per annum. In former times a still further degree of uncertainty attended the estimate, from the fact of a considerable, but unascertained, proportion of the people not being habitual consumers of wheaten bread. Unless in years of scarcity, no part of the inhabitants of England, except perhaps in the extreme north, and there only partially, have now recourse to rye or barley bread, but a larger and increasing number are in a great measure fed upon potatoes, and it must be evident that any computation which assumes an average quantity in a case liable to so many disturbing influences, must be at best only vague and unsatisfactory.

The importance of knowing accurately the provision made for the sustenance of the people is surely not less than that of knowing the yearly produce of some of the less valuable articles of commerce. The condition of the crop of indigo in Bengal is accurately communicated to the merchants in London at the earliest moment when it can be known, and through its influence upon the price has an immediate effect in checking or in promoting the consumption; but as regards the staple article of our food, no systematic attempt has ever been made to ascertain its sufficiency or otherwise. It is well known that the produce of the harvest of 1837 was so far below the average consumption of the people, that before the grain of 1838 could be brought to market the stock of English wheat was all but exhausted, and, but for the supply of foreign corn stored in our granaries, there would have been a most distressing scarcity before any fresh importations could have been received. If by any means the fact of this deficiency had been ascertained when the harvest of 1837 was got in, we should certainly not have seen, as we did, an actual fall in our markets immediately following that harvest, nor a continuance of comparatively low prices up to the middle of 1838. If a timely warning could have been given, a moderate but still an adequate rise in price would have been the immediate consequence, and the consumption would have been by that means so influenced that we should, in all probability, have avoided in a great degree that excessive rise in the cost of bread, which was then productive of much hardship to our labouring classes, and which, but for the abundant demand for labour throughout the kingdom, would immediately have occasioned general and wide-spread distress.

There is among the people of this country a most unaccountable prejudice against the adoption of any organized plan on the part of the Government for obtaining this knowledge. It would be difficult for our farmers to point out any mischief that could result to them from such a course, and, on the other hand, it must be quite unnecessary to explain the kind and degree of advantage which the country generally, and