The quarterly official returns of revenue continue to indicate general
prosperity , and the monthly returns of the Board of Trade are equally cheering. There is an increase both in the receipts of the Customs and Excise as compared with the corresponding quarter of last year, althqiigh the reductions of the duties on sugar, timber, and coffee, have'ome into play during the rear, and the importation of corn has abated, and although the duties on bricks, which swelled the returns for the October quarter of 1850, have been abolished. There is also a substantial increase in the Post- office receipts. The returns from taxes of all kinds continue sta- tionary. That Providence to which the proverb attributes a spe- cial care for the helplessness of children and drunken men, would seem to watch over our Chancellor of the Exchequer. The value of exports for the eight months of the year that are past ex- ceeds that of 1850 by more than three millions; of 1849 by more than seven. The amount of duty paid on sugar in 1850-1 slightly exceeds that of 1849-50, which was considerably higher than that of the preceding year. There is an increase of 41 per cent on the eight months' consumption of tea, and nearly as much in that of coffee. Tobacco, on the other hand, is stationary ; while wines and spirits show a slight decline.
