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O form a correct estimate of the finances of any

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country' it is necessary fully to appreciate its strength and resources. Burdens oppressive beyond measure to one nation may be most easily borne by another. What may have proved a great barrier to national progress at one period may operate as a healthy stimulus to valuable energies in another. Witness the alarm prevailing in England during the first era of her national debt as compared with the ease with which its burdens, so immeasurably increased, are now felt. The unbounded prosperity of the nation has, in fact, quite neutralized the evils which seemed impending on Britain from her excessive national expenditure, and frustrated the realization of the most gloomy forebodings of the wisest British statesmen. Nor can we charge them with any want of foresight. Little could they anticipate those discoveries of science which have so altered the aspect of society, and con

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tributed so powerfully to the increase of wealth. Steam power was then unknown. Navigation was in its infancy. Internal means of transport were but scanty; and British produce and manufacture, chiefly the fruit of manual labour, were far behind those of other European countries. In process of time a sudden revolution took place in the commerce and industries of the United Kingdom. Wealth increased apace, and as the nation grew in opulence and resources, so the national debt and national expenditure ceased to act as the nightmare of financiers and economists.

At the outset of our inquiry into the finances of the United Kingdom, it may be advantageous, therefore, briefly to glance at the principal sources of our national wealth, and to consider how far the economical condition of the people stands in relation to its fiscal arrangement. But how difficult it is to form a proper conception of the extent of British wealth. How shall we estimate the value of the millions of acres of land under cultivation, or dedicated to pasture; of those wonderful strata of the earth which so abound in minerals the most useful and valuable; of those rich manufactures, and those industries which administer to the wants of advancing civilization, and provide for human comforts in every region and clime? We wish we could carry our readers with us to explore these immense laboratories of British riches. We could promise them an ample reward; but we much fear lest our own powers of digesting and explaining millions and thousands of millions may fail us; and we prefer avoiding any exact calculations which, after all, can be

but nominal and imaginative. The economical progress of the United Kingdom in later years has, indeed, been great, and far beyond the ratio of any former period. In agriculture, the first and most essential of all human industries, we have made rapid advance; and, notwithstanding all the disadvantages of our soil and climate, with a large capital invested in land, with a provident system of farming, with the application of scientific principles, and proper knowledge of chemical affinities, and with abundance of stock, we succeed in obtaining greater produce than France, Austria, or Russia.

Where shall we find a nation better favoured than Britain in mineral resources? Iron and coal form the chief staple of British industry. Tin and copper have, from the earliest times, been sought after in English ground. Of coal alone we yearly extract 65,000,000 tons, and of iron upwards of 3,000,000 tons. But neither quantity nor value adequately represent the importance of our mining industry. What could we do without iron and coal? Where would be our noble railways? What would become of our machinery? It is, indeed, to our mining industry that we owe our position as the first industrial and commercial nation in the world. We shall say nothing of our manufactures, which attract universal admiration. We import cotton-wool from America, raw silk from India, China, and Italy, oil from Africa, tallow from Russia, woods from America, and a hundred other articles from distant countries; and by means of our capital, skill, and machines we

convert them into woollen, cotton, and silk manufactures, which we export to almost every country on earth. Visit our hives of industry. Manchester will offer you millions of pieces of coloured and printed goods; Leeds has her flannels, Birmingham her buttons and ironware, and Sheffield her knives and forks. Whilst France and other Continental countries excel in articles of luxury, and in such as form the delight of the opulent, British industries are directed to making useful articles, or articles which diffuse substantial comforts among the great body of the people. In everything, in fact, appertaining to the comfortable and scientific branches of industry the superiority of Britain in quality is great, and in quantity boundless.

Our foreign commerce alone exceeds 300,000,000l.* in amount, fully one-third of the entire commerce of the world. There is not a nation but contributes its quota to the commercial power of Britain, and the British merchant may be seen everywhere exploring, experimenting, and advancing, ever intent on furthering enterprise, and on realizing practical benefits from those scientific discoveries and ingenious contrivances which, with the aid of capital, have all but changed of late the face of society. With a mercantile marine

* The computed value of the total imports of merchandize, in the year ending 31st December, 1858, was 164,583,832l. ; and the declared value of exports, including foreign and colonial produce, 139,782,779l.: total, 304,336,611. The declared value of British and Irish produce exported in 1858 was 116,608,756l. The computed real value of merchandize imported in the year ending 31st December, 1859, was 179,334,98 17.; and the declared value of British and Irish produce exported, 130,440,427.