keepers, fundholders, &c. behold 400,000 soldiers,* 55,000 placemen,† and 200,000 electors! Such is the population of France--its total revenue is estimated at about 8 milliards frs.—‡ Of this there is only 696,282,132 frs. (1832) exported, the principal exports being stuffs, and felts, and drinks; and the principal countries exported to * The standing army in France of 1833 consisted of 406,399 men fit for active service, and 93,509 horses ;-thus divided: staff, 2,586 officers; gendarmes, 622 officers, 15,277 subalterns and privates, and 12,260 horses; 89 regiments of infantry, 9,864 officers, 263,077 subalterns and privates; 52 regiments of cavalry, of which 24 are heavy-2,885 officers, 51,043 subalterns and privates, and 45,665 horses; 11 regiments of artillery, 1,190 officers, 32,594 subalterns and privates, 29,689 horses; 3 regiments of engineers, 247 officers, 7,803 subalterns, and privates, and 769 horses. Baggage train, 127 officers, 4,364 subalterns and privates, and 5,126 horses. Veteran corps, 466 officers, 12,841 subalterns and privates. The naval force of France afloat in 1833 consisted of 289 vessels of various descriptions; namely, 33 ships of the line, 39 frigates, 17 corvettes, 9 advice boats, 54 brigs, 8 bomb-ships 6 gun-brigs, 18 galliots and cutters, 36 flotilla-boats, 17 steamships, 52 sloops, transports, and yachts. + I have a curious statement of these places now before me. M. C. Dupin. During the empire, France with its various additions and dependancies, was estimated at a revenue of 7,035,600,000 frs., of which 5,031,000,000 was the product of the soil. being, England, the United States, and Switzerland.* The imports in the same year amounted to 652,872,341 frs. The principal articles imported being, skins, other animal matter, and farinaceous aliments; the principal countries imported from being, the United States, Sardinia, and Belgium. The commercial shipping entering and leaving the ports of France, for the year 1832: The duties levied were-export duty, 1,421,477; import duty, 133,174,809 frs. The manufacture most natural to France, and for which the French are the most suited, is perhaps the manufacture of silk. We find from the Archives Statistiques of the Department of the Rhône, the average of raw material employed in the silk manufactures of Lyons amounts to 55,000,000 francs of which 30,000,000 francs are imported, and 25,000,000 francs are home grown. The following * See Dr. Bowring's reports for a great variety of information respecting the commerce of France, and more especially its commerce with this country. VOL. I. b have been the vicissitudes in this manufacture during the space of forty years. In 1786, there were in Lyons and the neighbourhood, 15,000 looms; in 1789, there were 7,000; in 1800, there were 3,500; from 1801 to 1802 there were 10,720; in 1827, there were 30,000. This manufacture, then, seems to have been reduced by the Revolution more than one-fourth; and augmented during the Restoration, by two-thirds.* There has been an exposition this year of the industry of France, the details of which are in every way interesting to those who trace the character of a people even in their manufactures. But this is not the place where I can enter at any length into a consideration of the facts connected with this subject. Neither have I space here to add many the interesting details relative to French commerce, which are to be found in Dr. Bowring's reports. of The expenses of the country (according to the budget of 1832)† amounted to about 1,106,618,270 frs.; of which ordinary expenses 962,971,270— extraordinary 143,647,000; out of this there are the public debt, amounting to 344,854,303, and the expenses of collecting, &c. 114,759,433. * In 1831, when the sale in this manufacture decreased onehalf, i. e. from 45,835,257 frs. to 26,981,303 frs., its export sale remained the same. † 1834-1,058,080,547, frs. I have taken 1832, since I happen to have all the details by me for that year, and there is no very great difference in the amount. There are charged upon the debt pensions to the amount The public departments cost 586,786,672 frs.; that is, The expenses of religion as apart from the minister of public instruction, are 33,507,600 frs., i. e. 65,000 frs. to the Jews, 750,000 frs. to the Protestants, the rest to the Catholics. The Catholic religion alone cost before the revolution of 1789, 135,000,000 frs.; 100,000,000 frs. more than all the religions cost at the present day.* of 56,038,500 frs. The journal Statistique de Paris gives the following calculation for 1833: * The analysis of the French budget, and its comparison with our own, is a subject too interesting for me not to intend to return to it, while I am glad to find this occasion of saying, that some very able articles which appeared in the Spectator, and also a very interesting book, lately published by Mr. Wells, afford much greater facility for doing so than formerly existed. The direct taxes of France amount to 353,136,909. These taxes are, on the land, which alone amounts to 244,873,409 frs., on the person and on furniture, on houses and windows, and on patents for the exercise of trade. The indirect taxes are estimated at Customs 171,000,000 198,225,000 The post brings in a revenue of 34,290,000 frs. : the lottery 8,000,000. The total amount from different resources 1,116,323,058. According to a calculation given in the Journal Statistique, the proportion which certain of these taxes bear to the population of France, taking her population at 33 millions,* and the superficies of her territory at 53,000,000 hectares, i. e. nearly 27,000 square leagues, (French,) would be; * It was in 1833-about 32,600,000-as I have said. |