itt R. PORTER'S PROGRESS OF THE NATION. '

IN tl.e fulness and distinctness of its facts, as well as in the com- pleteness of the conclusions to be drawn from them, the present volutne is perhaps inferior to the first. It surpasses it in the variety and general interest of its subjects, and we think in the greater ease with which they are treated, as well as in being better fitted for continuous reading.

The two leading sectioos of the work are devoted to Inter- change and Revenue and Expenditure. Under Interchange, are embraced many subjeets that strictly relate to it, and some that are rather artificially placed there. Of the more legi- timate class are, 1. Direct Intercommunication; whose history and statistics, with some generally successfal attempts at investi- gating the principles, are expounded under the subdivisions of roads, canals, and railways, steam navigation, the coasting trade, the trade between Great Britain and Ireland, and foreign com- merce: 2. The means by which Intercommunication, or rather Interchange, is facilitated— namely, the currency, the coinage, and weights and measures. Under the less legitimate class may be ranked wages, embracing their floctuations and average rates during the present century ; a brief, but clear and sufficient ac- count of the Prussian Commercial League ; the statistics of the progress of trade in foreign countries: a short view of the mea- surement and classing of shining, and a sketch of the history of the warehousing system.

To follow Mr. Poirran through all these chapters, would be tiresome and unnecessary ; but we may give a few extracts, to show their character, and make one or two tinnutations on some of his facts, to mark the uses to which they may be turned. Here is an extraordinary statement regarding the facilities of 'water-carriage in England— If we examine the map of England, we shall find, that as regards one mode of public communication, there is not any spot south of the county of Durham at a greater distance than fifteen miles from water conveyance. In the largest part of the area thus described, that distance is not greater at any spot titan ten miles; while in that portion which is the principal seat of our manufactures, canals have been constructed, or rivers rendered navigable, so as to provide means for cheap and easy communication front the very heart of each town to every other part of the kingdom, and to our chief commercial ports. By this means, the raw materials of tuanutictutes are delivered, unencumbered with heavy charges, at the doors of our fActories; and finished goods are carried away from them with the utmost facility and economy, fur distribution to the dif- ferent markets of the civilized world.

STATISTICS 01, ENGLISH II0A DS.

At the time (1818) to which those returns have reference, there existed,

Miles.

Is England and Wales, paved streets and turnpike-roads

to the extent of 19,723 Other public highways 93,104

Total 114,829

If we suppose that all the turnpike-roads then existing were of the statutable breadth of sixty feet, they would have covered 212 square miles, or about wi& [perhaps too wide all average,) they would have covered :7)40 square miles, or 106,000 acres. If all the other public highways were on the average thirty feet Z10,000 acres; making altogether, in 1818,489,000 acres. We further find, front the report of the Lords' committee upon Turnpike Trust,. that in the year 1829 the extent of turnpike-roads, In England, was 18,244

2,

Wales 631

20,875

Ssodand 3,666 Total in Great Britain 24,541 "The public railways of England," says Mr. PORTER, " are st:ictly creations of the present century." The first was begun in 1801, and was that insignificant horse-track from Croydon to Wandsworth. Others, we believe of a similar description, gradually followed ; but only twenty acts of Parliament for this purpose were passed in the first twenty years of the present century. In the next ten years, (1820-30,) forty-nine railway acts were passed. In the last seven years, one hundred and nine bills have been procured, and others are still in contemplation. The length of railways actually finished is nearly six hundred miles. Mr. PORTER does not state the length of those now in progress; but Mr. W IsHAW, in his Analysis of Railways, estimated them, in 1836 or 1637, at upwards of eight hundred and forty miles, and those in contemplation would extend considerably beyond that distance when completed. The .turnpike-roads in England and Wales reach, we have seen, to upwards of 20,060 miles ; the other public highways to 9,000; the navigable canals exceed 2,200 miles in length, the rivers naturally navigable, or made so, 1,800, giving a total water navigation of 4,000 miles. If alt these works had been constructed with the durability of the Roman roads and aqueducts, (some few of them may have been,t)whautrl monument they would have remained of our national ganile Yet it may be questioned whether they will be allowed to .iow. de

whether any nation vigorous enough to conquer us I, fallen, could become other than civilized, with such an important

e acYv—c r. element of civilization at hand. But as long as we do endure what sources of wealth and stimuli to proluction, if the industr; of the people bad but a fair field and no favour—no monopolf. protective taxes on the necessaries of life and the materials of manufacture I Some of the tables under the subdivision of foreign commerce have a relation to this point, and are suggestive or further reaps. lions. From a tabular statement of the real value of commodities exported to foreign countries and colonial possessions, from 1805 to 1836, it appears that, in the last-named year, we sent, in round numbers, goods to the value of ten millions to Northern Europe, of nine millions to Southern Europe. and of twelve millions and a halt' to the United States. Asia, chiefly India and Chnot, took oft' a value of six millions and three quarters; the American and \Vest Indian possessions six millions and a half; Central and South America six millions. Now, meal the moral of this, first as regards colonies, next as regards free-trade. -The populatim of the British American possessions is stated by M ACGREGOR at 2,400,000 : the trade with them, though cramped by restrictions, is so far free, that we receive their staple prothictions ; awl this two- atal-a-hall millions of people, most of' them in a backward sccial condition—many of them Negro slaves—take tiff more than one- third as many goods as the two hundr—I millions of Europe, allot whose staple commodities we e.rJul . The population of the United States is some fourteen or fnleen millions : with the Southern half of the country the trade is free in one of their staple productions—cotton, and free after a Ershion, or at least not exclusive, in tobacco and rice. The chief commodity of the Northern people is excluded. Yet this handful of people, with the tastes, habits, and prejudices of the Avglo-Saxon me, and half a free trade, are customers to tao-thirds the amount of all the nations of Europe, though thirteen tinies as numerous. Our former colonies and our present possessions together, lake off as much, or nearly as much, as all the rest of the world.

Let us follow the subject into a detail. France, where English cottons are esteemed almost to a passion, and English hard-ware and iron are almost necessaries, is our nearest neighbour, ana cuntaias a nopulation of thirty-two millions. A duty of five hun- dred per cent., partly retaliatory, partly proteetive, is put upon her brandy ; and heavy duties upon her winos, silks, awl gloves. Our trade with France amounts to one million and a half ; being about the same as we carry on with Africa, and not very much more than the commerce with the " Foreign West Indies," which it would puzzle our readers to enumerate, and whose population does not reach one million and a half of souls with coloured bodies. Yet this trade, small as it is, is the result of a relaxation of pro. hibitive duties on our part. In 1827, the exports to France were only 440,0001., having nearly quadrupled in ton years ; and the !greatest increase has taken place since the equalization of the wine-duty.

The second division of this volume, devoted to Revenue and Ex- penditure, takes a view of our financial history from 1793 to the present time ; with statistical expositions of the subject during the present century. The chief subdivisions are the Produce of Taxes, the War Expenditure, the Miscellaneous Estimates, and an account of the National Debt. The narrative is neat and clear; the tabular information is lucidly arrange], and sufficient for gross facts. But the subject of economical expenditure is either cautiously avoided, or did not fall into the plan of the writer: neither Income nor Expenditure is treated as a whole, nor are the materials given by which it can be got at; and we suspect that many of the facts which are given would often be found too gene- ml to be available for the purposes of the economical inquirer. The following table, for instance, is useful, as showing the gross ex- penses of war and " preparations for war " during the present century ; but, not specifying what amount was for dead-weight, and what was for effective service, a very important and curious feature of comparison is shut out. Mr. PORTER is not greatly to blame for this. Such a return does not exist; but the Votes, we imagine, would furnish materials for an approximate account, In fact, we believe this table is nut an acc.amt of money expended, but of money voted ; the Treasury being incapable of making up an account of' actual expenditure.

Years. Amount Expended from ISOlotiohl„,8,..

1101 A rmy. 1102 17,N26a6v,y1.35 12,037,162 17,752 947 2,197,1811

1803 8 072.878 111;13,18q,(18007 1,142.•,' 9 „..),Toomia.14.08

17,216,264 •)'1,590,737 1804 11,921,331

18800.6) ......14.493,843 /17):0712)(7),11821 .... 254,0°:.11:t:i , •-' ;12: ; i ...... a;3'693'1Y27

16,143,641 19,404,1184 lo,8906u1

18f.1 19,:373,101 54,:.:56t01,:_1j9i ... 341k638898,945860

5,14'4,852 17,613,390

11680098

10,674,061 21,916,198 23910,242 4,925 674 2:3,038,479 1810 20,021,512 4,608,713 40,599,841 1111 19,202,679

20,370,n9 29,163,5:10 4,495,816 44,750,440

1812 5,240.537 48,210,937

47,8418,736

31,004,7,11 1613 21,833,524 5,241,618 44,241,285 4,302,893 43,259,377 32,859,023

1814 • "4,124,4:37 ISE& 3,2 48,739

1816 1817 16.073,870 9,516,325 33,321,544

15,027,898 2,748,841

1,417,641 '6.615,577

71,316,425 6,473,063 9,718,066 71,686,707 1818 6,521,714 7,783,979 1,247,197 54,644.173 27,293,064 1819 ...... 6,393,553 8,998,037 17,608,777 1,243,639 ...... 1156,556374,6929

Army. Ordnance.

8,944,814 1,092,292 9,138,845 1,183,727 7,698,974 1,007,821 7,351,992

1,364.328 ......

7.573,026 1,407.308 7,579,631 1,567,087 8.297,361 1,869606 7,876,682 1,914,403

8.084,043

1,446.972 7,709,372 1,569,150 6,991,163 1,613,908 7,216,293 1,472,944

7,129,874

7 , -,- 14,995,837 16,707,601 16.205,612 15,198,9&3 15,180,861 13,914,677 14.379,096 lasoa,o:Iii

6,590,062 1,314,806 ......165,103

6,493.925 1,068,223 12,066,057 6,496,143 1.151,914 11,657,487 6,473,133 1,434,059 12,112,963

As a supplement to this section, Mr. PORTER has given two chapters—one containing a short exposition of the revenue and expenditure of France and America, another an account of the

narochisi and county expenditure in England and Wales : both

r- ' curia . and useful for conveying a ?general notion of the subjects.

Vi m

Navy.

igaa ...... 6,387,799 1821 ...... 6,107,280 1822 ...... 5,042,642 1823 ...... 5,613,151 1824 ...... 6,161,818 1825 ...... 5,849,119 1826 ...... 6,540,634 1827 ...... 6,414,727 'see ...... 5,667,970 1829 ...... 5,902.039 1830 ......

1831 ......

5,009,606 5,689.859

1832 ......

4,882,835

1833 ...... 4,060,235 1834 ...... 4,503,909 1835 ..... . 4,099,430

1836 ......

4,205,726 15,142,152 his hair