The above table exhibits a condensed and most satisfactory exposition of the progress of the British mercantile navy in the period of transition from a restrictive to a free commercial policy in this country. It appears to have increased uniformly and steadily throughout the whole period; and if anything in accelerated ratio since 1840-1. An estimate, moreover, of the comparative tonnage of British and foreign shipping in British ports in 1814, the last year of the war,-1824, the year of the first reciprocity treaty, and 1845, when 27 of those treaties were in existence, gives the following results:— showing an excess of 1,233,254 tons, or 69 per cent., as respected protected shipping, but of no less than 2,578,976, or 135 per cent. as respected unprotected shipping. In 1827 there belonged to the ports of the B. empire 2,460,500 tons of shipping; in 1830, 2,531,819 tons; in 1833, 2,634,577 tons; in 1836, 2,729,646 tons; in 1838, 2,890,601 tons; in 1844, 3,637,231 tons; and in 1848, 4,052,160 tons. And this, be it observed, was beneath the real tonnage; because it included steam-vessels, which are registered-the room occupied by the machinery not being included-at only about half their real tonnage. In 1838 the registered burthen of British steam-vessels was 82,716 tons; in 1846, 144,784 tons, of which 130,240 tons belonged to the United kingdom; 1,016 tons to the Channel islands; and 13,528 tons to the Colonies. The increase in our shipping involves, of course, a corresponding increase in the number of our sailors. In the periods given above, the numbers were:-In 1827, 151,415; in 1830, 154,812; in 1833, 164,000; in 1836, 170,637; in 1838, 178,583; in 1844, 216,350; in 1846, 229,276. But not only had the number of our sailors increased, but, owing to the apprenticeship enactment of William IV., they have become, and are daily becoming, more efficient than formerly, and the war-marine may depend more securely than ever upon being recruited from the mercantile navy. The vessels, however, from which the above amounts are taken were entirely exclusive of the small craft, which stir like swarms of bees about our coasts. This craft comprises fishing vessels under 30 tons, and coasters under 15 tons, which are the nurseries of the larger ships, just as the larger ships are the nurseries of the navy. It is impossible to mention accurately the number of hardy fellows who pursue a calling so useful yet so obscure, and who, in the event of invasion, would be defenders of the coasts round which they have hovered from infancy, but it has been estimated at upwards of 150,000. This gave, in round numbers, in 1846, a marine force, available in case of necessity, and not including the war-navy, of 380,000 men. The following table shows the total increase of tonnage, inwards and outwards, at each of the undermentioned ports, between 1816 and 1845. Foreign. 5. Newcastle: 599,287 tons 759,541 1,735,079 3. Bristol:1816, 1845, 1845, 89,062 18,373 45,701) 107,4355 197,451 116,330 clusive of yarns, was £15,282,447; that of yarns and 58,888 thread £6,781,451, independent of the immense quantity consumed at home. "The history of the cotton manufacture in England," says Dr. Taylor, "is without a parallel in the annals of any age or country. In the beginning of the reign of George III. it gave employment to 40,000 persons, and the value of the goods produced was £600,000; it now employs not 52,288 less than 1,500,000 persons, and the value of the goods produced exceeds £31,000,000. It is difficult to form a conception of the extent of such a manufacture; but the following calculations may help our readers to an intelligible idea of its vastness. The cotton-yarn annually spun in England would, in a sin 29,695 68,734 Arranged according to their respective amounts of gle thread, girdle the globe 203,775 times; it would tonnage the twelve ports stand as follows: Total tonnage tonnage since 1816. 2,176,951 1,441,024 1,158.816 6. Greenock, 210,866 116,330 197.451 reach 51 times from the earth to the sun; and it would encircle the earth's orbit eight times and a Increase of half. The wrought fabrics of cotton exported in one year would girdle the equatorial circumference of the globe eleven times. The cotton manufacture furnishes one-half of British exports, employs oneeleventh of our population, and supplies almost every nation of the world with some part of its clothing. The receipts of the merchants and manufacturers from this single branch of industry equal two-thirds of the public revenue of the kingdom." The various machinery now used in Great Britain, in manufacturing cotton, has enabled one man to perform the work of 150. The lowest computation supposes 280,000 men, some say 350,000 men, to be employed in it: hence the work now performed in this single branch would, half-a-century ago, have required 42,000,000 men, or, according to some, 53,000,000; that is to say, at the lowest computation, more than twice as many men, women, and children, as now people the British islands. Supposing the labour of each of these men to cost, at this hour, the moderate sum of one shilling per day, or £18 per year, the pay of 42,000,000 of labourers would be £756,000,000, or a little more than thirteen times the annual revenue of Great Britain. Deducting from this sum the pay of the labourers now really employed at the above annual rate (280,000 × £18 = £5,040,000), and allowing the enormous sum of £50,000,000 sterling for the wear and tear of machinery, buildings, and incidental expenses, the result is, that the machinery employed in the cotton-manufactories saves £700,000,000 sterling to the British nation. Again, the power employed in the cotton-manufactories alone of Britain, exceeds the manufacturing powers of all the rest of Europe collectively. The annexed statistics of the cotton machinery at work in 1846, were collected by Messrs. Du Fay and Co., of Manchester:Engld. & Wales. Ireland. Mills. Spindles. Mills. Spindles. Mills. Spindles. 11,364,584 114 1,476,083 26 159,333 4,190,035 48 253,795 18 56,170 162 1,729,878 44 215,503 2,185 Years. Vessels. Tonnage. 380 41.669 600 67,969 1,001 129,693 Of 870 steam-vessels registered in the ports of the United kingdom in 1844, 10 were of from 1,000 to 2,000 tons burthen, and from 400 to 1,000 horse-power; 3 of from 900 to 1,000 tons, and from 450 to 520 horsepower; 3 of from 800 to 900 tons, and from 400 to 520 horse-power; 3 of from 700 to 800 tons, and from 320 to 500 horse-power; 5 of from 600 to 700 tons, and from 260 to 400 horse-power; 6 of from 500 to 600 tons, and from 240 to 460 horse-power. Of the 1,001 steamers registered on 31st December 1845, 411 were under 50 tons, their united tonnage being 10,444 tons; and 590 above 50 tons, their united tonnage being 119,249 tons. Of these 1,001 steamers, 694 were English; 139 Scotch; 79 Irish; 5 belonged Mule spindles, to the Channel islands; and 84 to the colonies. Manufactures.] The principal branches of British manufactures are the cotton, woollen, silk, linen, and hardware manufactures. The total number of woollen, worsted, flax, and silk factories within the united kingdom in 1850 was 4,330, containing 25,638,716 spindles, and 298,916 power-looms; with a steampower equal to 108,113 horses, and water-power equal to 26,104 horses; and employing 246,867 male, and 349,215 female operatives. Of the operatives, 157,864 were males above 18 years of age; and 329,577 females above 13 years. Cotton manufacture.] The period when cotton was introduced into Great B. is not precisely known: but it is certain that in 1430 cotton was imported from the Levant. In 1787, the value of the cotton-goods produced in the kingdom was estimated at £7,500,000; in 1800, at £15,000,000. In the year ending 5th Jan. 1845, the declared value of cotton-goods exported, ex 12,516,247 14,119,970 12,163,513 11,500,630 12,451,060 The declared value of British cotton manufactured goods exported from the United kingdom, in 1840, 1843, and 1846, embracing white cottons, printed or dyed cottons, hosiery and small wares, twist and yarn, was as follows: I. NORTHERN EUROPE. Countries to which Exported. 1840. 1843. Russia £1,151,798 1,274,786 75,564 58,267 6,328 30,369 1,961 7,393 3,551,439 3,327,343 Sweden, . Norway, Denmark, Prussia, Germany, Holland, Belgium, 66,350 28,000 1846. 71,762 65,381 49,080 58,572 £24,668,618 23,446,972 25,599,826 Mr. John Baynes, of Blackburn, in calculating the probable consumption of cotton a few years hence, supposing the past ratio of increase to be continued, thinks it very probable that the future development of the cotton trade will be more retarded by an insufficient supply of the raw material than from any other cause. "The consumption of cotton," he says, "for the last 30 years has increased at the compound ratio of 6 per cent. each year, thereby doubling itself every 12 years. The consumption in the year 1817 was estimated at 110,000,000 lb.; in 1829, at 219,000,000 lb.; in 1834, at 303,000,000 lb.; and in of cotton on the continent since 1834, has been in 1846, at 612,000,000 lb. The increased consumption the same ratio as that of Great B.; whilst in the United States the increase has even been greater, at the compound rate of 7 per cent. each year, thereby doubling itself in 10 years. As it may be many years before India will be able to produce any con895,150 siderable quantity of cotton, we shall of necessity be 68,619 in a great measure dependent upon that grown in the 64,794 United States, which is chiefly the produce of slave127,884 labour. Notwithstanding the vast extent of that country yet uncultivated, the vitality, energy, and repro402,851 ductive power of the coloured race is so decidedly inferior to that of the Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, 167,282 and other fair branches of the Caucassian race, that 612,726 they cannot, under the most favourable circumstances, 35,785 keep pace with them in the onward march of im2,419 provement, much less when in a state of slavery; and 29,094 when we consider, too, that a larger proportion of 398,293 slave-labour will be employed in the cultivation of 1,889,433 sugar than heretofore, and the white population be 125,564 engaged for raising grain for Europe, we cannot expect so abundant a supply of cotton as we have had. High prices will undoubtedly stimulate production, but they also re-act in curtailing consumption, and render it very probable that prices will permanently range higher than they have done during the last five years, and the future development of the cottontrade will be retarded in consequence of it." The calculations on which Mr. Baynes rests his opinions are the following: 3,517,458 2,244,373 1,921,632 1,935,039 206,530 170,892 Description of cotton consumed by Great B. in 1846. individuals in this department of industry, we shall get 546,000 as the total number of workmen, and at least 1,200,000 are supported by the woollen manu. facture. The average annual importation of foreign wool, for the 10 years previous to 1819, amounted to about 11,000,000 lbs. ; in 1834, the import of foreign wool was 46,490,720 lbs.; whereof 31,766,194 lbs. was from Germany, and 3,008,022 lbs. from New South Wales. In 1824, the number of pounds of foreign and colonial wool imported was 22,564,485; and the price of Southdown wool 1s. 2d. a-pound. In the following year the duty upon colonial wool was removed, the import increased to 43,816,966 lbs.; and the price of Southdown wool simultaneously rose to 1s. 4d. a-pound. During the next 20 years the price fluctuated from 6d. to Is. 8d. a-pound, and in 1843 it was at 114d., with an import of 47,785, 061 lbs. In 1844, the duty upon foreign wool was entirely removed, the quantity entered for consumption increased to 65,079,524 lbs., and the price of English wool rose at once to 1s. 2d. In 1845, the amount Of United States cotton, 1,285,440 bales = 24,720 bales per week. imported had further increased to 76,828,152 lbs., Brazil, East India, Egypt, West Indies, &c. 106,800 do. = 2,054 do. do. do. do. do. Total, 1,594,200 do 30,658 do. do. Average of yarn spun per spindle per week, 9.567 oz. Which would give the average numbers of yarn at 39. The average quantity of cotton annually consumed in this country between the years 1836 and 1842 inclusive, was 1,153,219 bales; and between 1843 and 1849 inclusive, 1,449,399 bales. The quantity consumed in 1849 was 1,586,608 bales, being the largest consumption of any year on record. The total importation of cotton into Great B. in 1849 was 1,905,426 bales; of which 1,477,688 was American, 182,086 East Indian; 163,149 Brazilian; 72,727 Egyptian; and 9,776 West Indian. If the consumption of cotton continues to increase in the same ratio that it has done during 12 years all other things being the same-the cotton required for the year 1858, will be:- Or upwards of 5,000,000 bales of cotton from the and the price of domestic wool had risen to Is. 4d. England still continues to enjoy by far the greater part of this fabric. Scotland has attempted the manufacture of broad-cloth, but without success. One kind of coarse cloth, however, is successfully manufactured at Galashiels, in Roxburghshire; and good duffles are likewise made; but the carpets of of its woollen manufactures. Kilmarnock and StirScotland seem to be more successful than any other ling are the principal seats of this manufacture. Silk manufactures.] The silk manufacture was introduced into England in the 15th cent.; its early progress was, however, far from being rapid. The silk-throwsters of the metropolis were united in a fellowship in 1592, and incorporated in 1629; and in 1666 they had no fewer than 40,000 individuals in their employment. The revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685, drove about 50,000 refugees to England, of whom those who had been engaged in the silk-manufactures of France established themselves in Spitalfields, which has continued ever since the principal seat of the British silk-manufacture. At this period foreign silks were freely admitted; but in 1692 the refugees obtained a patent, giving them an exclusive right to manufacture lustrings and a-la Woollen manufactures.] Among the manufactures of Great B., that of woollen goods was, as we have seen, long accounted the most important; though now greatly surpassed by that of cotton. Sir F. M. Eden estimates the value of the manufactured woollen goods annually consumed in Great Britain at £11,000,000; and if to this we add £7,000,000, which is about the average value of those exported, the total value of the annual produce of this manufac-modes; in 1697 the importation of European silks ture will be about £18,000,000. Mr. M'Arthur, in 1803, valued the whole at £25,560,000; another respectable manufacturer had stated in evidence before the house of commons, in 1800, that the total annual value might be £19,000,000; but both these calculations were certainly much too high at the time. Adopting Sir F. Eden's statement, and estimating the value of the raw material at one-third of the value of the goods, a sum of £12,000,000 is left as the aggregate amount of profits and wages. Estimating the profit of the manufacturers, and the sum necessary to indemnify them for their outlay, at £18 per cent. of the £12,000,000, or £1,160,000, the total amount of wages paid in this manufacture will be £9,840,000; and taking £15 as a fair average of the annual wages obtained by the various descriptions of was prohibited; and in 1701 the same prohibition was extended to Indian silks. In 1719 the famous Derby silk-mill for preparing organzine or thrown silk, was erected by Sir Thomas Lombe, after models clandestinely obtained in Italy. From this period the manufacture advanced gradually though slowly; but the prevalence of cottons over silks after 1785, gave it a considerable check. In 1798 the trade began to revive, and has made great progress since, chiefly owing to the facility with which raw silk can be obtained from India. In 1824 the duty on the raw material was reduced from 4s. a pound on Indian silk, and 5s. 6d. on silk from other parts, to 3d. a pound; a bill was also passed repealing the laws for the regulation of wages in the silk manufacture. Aggregate quan All sorts. 585,906 3,608,872 19,409,023 tities entered Raw. for consumption. Waste, Years 1814-1823, 15,214,245 1824-1833, 32,916,905 2,891,515 3,872,828 1834–1843, 37,425,114 11,924,815 2,657,189 Average annual consumption. Years 1814-1823, 1,521,424 58,591 1824-1833, 3,291,690 289.151 1834-1843, 3,742,511 1,192,481 360,887 Consumption of the single year 39,681,248 derably above £8,000,000, and the smelting of which consumes more than 9,000,000 tons of coal. The lead mines of the country in 1847 produced nearly 90,000 tons of ore, which gave 56,000 tons of marketable lead, and 450,000 ounces of silver. In the year 1848, 3,788 tons of pig and sheet lead were imported into the United kingdom, together with 1,298 1,940,902 tons of lead-ore, and 64 tons of white lead. The 3,968,124 total export of lead-ore from the United kingdom 5,200,711 was 134 tons; of pig and rolled lead, 4,977 tons; of white lead, 1,168 tons; of red lead, 842 tons; and of pig and sheet lead, 3,747 tons. The copper and 1844, 4,021,808 1,775,855 410,358 6,208,021 tin mines of Cornwall give employment to nearThe raw silk alone entered for home-consumption ly 30,000 persons. The value of the copper in 1849 amounted to 4,991,472 lbs. Taking all sorts produced in 1847 was £890,000, and of the tin into account, the consumption of 1844 exceeded the about £350,000. The quantity of copper ore imconsumption of 1833 by a greater sum than that ex-ported, in 1848, amounted to 50,053 tons, and the ceeded 1823. The object of prohibition was to pro- value of the copper manufactures imported to tect our manufacturers from France; and its partial | £9,200. Of this copper the greater portion (30,679 repeal was expected by many to leave us utterly tons) was imported from Cuba, and the rest, for the unable to compete with that nation: on the con- most part, from Australia, New South Wales, Chili, trary, immediately after that repeal, we began to and Peru. The quantity of copper-ore retained for compete successfully with France in the market of domestic use was 51,307 tons, yielding a duty of the world, and even to carry our silks into France | £10,227 net. The total quantity of British copper itself. From nil, our silk goods exported to France exported amounted to 13,466 tons. The total exhave gradually mounted to the value of £172,424, port of British copper from the port of London, in being nearly as much as we export to all the rest of 1848, amounted to 6,502 tons, and the total value of Europe, or to all our colonies put together. Mean- the copper manufactures exported from the same while the consumption of foreign silk-manufactures port to £5,989. The quantity of British copper exhas been slowly and steadily, but, as we have seen, ported from Liverpool, in 1848, amounted to 4,892 harmlessly increasing. From 115,278 lbs. in 1827, tons.-The quantity of zinc or spelter imported, in it has risen to 310,152 lbs. in 1845; and there is 1849, was 13,529 tons, duty free. The quantity of good reason to believe that as much again finds its zinc exported was 562 tons of British, and 3,766 tons way into the United kingdom without passing through of foreign.-In addition to these, our islands produce the British custom-house. It is difficult to form any large quantities of zinc, antimony, manganese, and precise estimate of the present value of the British several rarer and valuable metals, together with silk-manufacture. Mr. Wilson, a well informed and plumbago, sulphur, and arsenic, which are extenextensive manufacturer, in his evidence before the sively employed in the arts, and the last largely exhouse of lords' committee, stated, that 40,000 hands, ported. Mr. Tennant, professor of mineralogical whose wages would amount to £350,000, were em- geology in King's college, estimates the total annual ployed in throwing silk for the weaver; that £300,000 value of the mineral productions of Great B. at were consumed in soap and dye-stuffs used in the about £25,000,000. Of this £9,100,000 is from coals, manufacture; and £265,000 paid to 16,500 winders. £8,400,000 from iron, £1,200,000 from copper, The number of looms he estimated at 40,000, afford- £920,000 from lead, £400,000 from salt, £390,000 ing employment to 80.000 persons, whose wages from tin, £60,000 from manganese, £35,000 from would amount to £3,000,000. If we include infants silver, £22,000 from alum, £8,000 from zinc, and and dependents, about 400,000 mouths will be fed £25,000 from the various other metals, as antimony, by the silk-manufacture, the value of which Mr. bismuth, arsenic, &c. Wilson estimated at £10,000,000. British silk goods are in general higher priced than those of France; but the prejudice in favour of the latter is wearing out, and in fact the greater proportion of silks, professing to be brought from Lyons and Marseilles, are direct from Spitalfields and Manchester. Iron.] From the abundance of metallic ores and of coals in this country, we are entitled to hope that our hardware manufactures are on a very secure foundation. The whole cast or pig iron made in Great Britain in 1740, was 17,350 tons, from 59 furnaces. In 1796 it had increased to 125,000 tons, Linen manufactures.] The value of linen produced from 121 furnaces; and in 1827 to 690,000 tons, in Great Britain in 1800, was estimated at £2,000,000. from 284 furnaces. Of these 690,000 tons, three The official value of British and Irish linen cloth tenths were cast-iron, and consumed principally in exported from the United kingdom in the year end- Great Britain and Ireland; the other seven-tenths ing 5th January, 1828, was £2,859,503, of which were converted into wrought iron. In 1839 the £769,192 was Irish linen. In 1837, the export of number of furnaces was 417, and the average prolinen amounted to £2,542,732. In 1849, the quan- duce of each furnace 70 tons per week, being a total tity of manufactured linen entered for exportation annual produce of 1,512,000 tons. In 1848, the numwas 106,889,558 yards, and the declared value ber of furnaces was 623; the produce, 1,998,568 tons, £3,073,903. The declared value of linen thread and [viz.:small wares was £291,910; and that of linen yarns £737,650; making a total declared value of £4,103,463. Probably the gross produce of this branch of manufacture is £8,000,000. Minerals.] Iron-mines have been wrought in Britain from a very early period: those of the forest of Dean in Gloucestershire are known to have existed in the year 1066. The iron ores which are found in different localities under the characters of clay iron stone, black-band, and haematite, produce annually an amount of metal the present value of which is consi Scotland, Staffordshire, Northumberland,. The following was M. Virlet's estimate of the amount of iron annually produced in Europe in |