susceptible of improvement, to 3,454,000 acres; and the totally unprofitable land to 3,256,400 acres*. Its principal products are wheat, barley, oats, rye, beans, peas, tares, clover, sainfoin, potatoes, and turnips. Hops, hemp, and flax, are partially cultivated; and a great variety of other articles, in a smaller degree. Almost every species of fruit is brought to great perfection; apples and pears are raised in large quantities for making cider and perry; and plums, cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, figs, grapes, &c. for the table; to which may be added every variety of vegetables.

The Forests are now few, and of small extent; but timber grows abundantly in many parts of the coun try, especially on the southern and western side; the principal trees are oak, ash, elm, beech, alder, chesnut, aspen, poplar, larch, and fir. The wild animals were formerly numerous, and the ancient forests gave shelter to the bear, the wolf, and the boar; all these have long disappeared; and the only wild quadrupeds now met with, are the fox, badger, wild cat, various species of the weasel, hare, rabbit, hedgehog, squir rel, &c. The domestic animals have been brought, by diligent cultivation, to a degree of perfection unknown in other countries, and comprise the horse, almost unrivalled for strength, speed, and beauty; horned cattle of great size and excellence; sheep, hogs, and goats; the dogs are also, as they were in the time of the Romans, famous for their strength and courage. The birds of England are numerous, comprising the eagle, falcons of various sorts, peacocks, owls, ravens, crows, rooks, swans, herons, plovers, curlews, cuckoos, nightingales, finches, redbreasts, wrens, larks; the grouse, partridge, pheasant, pigeon, stock and ring-dove; water-fowl; turkeys, geese, ducks, and poultry; and a number of other species. The rivers and adjacent seas abound with fish, of great variety; and lobsters, crabs, and oysters, are the well-known product of several parts of the coast.

The Minerals of this country are numerous and important; coal is found in great abundance in the northern, midland, and western counties; iron abounds in Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Derby, Lancashire, * Report of the Emigration Committee of the House of Commons.

and Cornwall, and is found in smaller quantities in many other counties; tin is exclusively met with in Cornwall and Devonshire; and black lead only in Cumberland; copper occurs in the western, midland, and northern counties; and lead is found in Cumberland, Durham, Derby, and Cornwall; in the latter of which, silver and gold, in small quantities, are met with. Marble, freestone, and granite, abound in various parts of the country; and mines of rock salt, pits of fuller's earth and potter's clay, alum, lime, and various other valuable productions, occur in several districts.

The Manufactures of England are of vast extent, and have been estimated to produce £100,000,000 per annum: theyprincipally consist ofthose of wool, cotton, linen, hardware, leather, silk, hosiery, hats, earthenware, china, glass, vitriol, copperas, white-lead, ropes, and gunpowder. Sugar is also refined, and beer brewed in great quantities, as well for home consumption as for exportation; and cutlery, jewellery, cabinet work, carriages, clocks, watches, &c. are manufactured in London. which is also the principal seat of the book trade. The Commerce of this country is immense; the number of vessels employed amounting to nearly 18,000, whose burthen is considerably more than 2,000,000 tons, and their crews about 140,000 men. The exports, which consist principally of the various manufactured articles, are estimated at about £50,000,000 annually, and the imports, from all parts of the world, at nearly £40,000,000: the Newfoundland and Whale fisheries, as well as those on our own coasts, also employ a great number of hands, and a large amount of capital.

When this island was first visited by the Romans, it was inhabited by a variety of tribes, each ruled by its peculiar sovereign; on their subjugation the conquerors divided it into four provinces, the first of which, called Britannia Prima, included all that part of the country south of the Thames, from Kent to Cornwall; Britannia Secunda comprehended the tract westward of the Severn, including Wales; Flavia Cæsariensis lay between the Thames, the Severn, and the Humber; and Maxima Cæsariensis extended from hence to the Tyne and the Solway Firth: a fifth province, called Valentia, comprised a part of Scot

land, and the present counties of Northumberland and Cumberland. Between the fifth and the seventh centuries, the Saxon invaders obtained possession of nearly the whole of this country, and formed it into seven kingdoms, called the Heptarchy: the foundation, extent and duration of these kingdoms will be found in the History prefixed to the counties which formed a part of them; and it is merely necessary here to state, that in the year 800 they were united into one state by Egbert, and continued under the government of his descendants, (with the exception of the three Danish sovereigns, whose joint reigns did not exceed 24 years), until the Norman Conquest in 1066. From this period English history demands a much more particular detail than could be afforded by any practicable extension of this sketch, and we must therefore refer the reader to the pages of Hume or of Lingard.

The Government of Great Britain is vested in the Parliament, consisting of the King, Lords, and Commons, by whose concurrence all new laws must be enacted, or old ones repealed; and in the King alone, as the executive power. The House of Lords at present consists of four Princes of the royal blood, two Archbishops, 19 Dukes, 18 Marquises, 102 Earls, 23 Viscounts, 24 Bishops, and 164 Barons; to whom are added 16 Representative Peers for Scotland, and 28 for Ireland. The House of Commons is formed of 489 Members for England, 24 for Wales, 45 for Scotland, and 100 for Ireland. All legislative measures must originate with the Lords or Commons, and must receive their joint consent before they are presented to the King, whose concurrence establishes the enactment as a law, but who has also a negative voice, which is now very seldom exerted. Bills for the imposition of taxes, and the appropriation of public money, must originate with the Commons, and the King and the Lords have no more than a negative on the subject. It is thus evident that, if properly constituted, the House of Commons affords one of the best checks on tyranny or profligacy ever devised; while, if corruptly influenced, it becomes the most powerful instrument in enslaving and plundering those whom it pretends to represent. The qualifications of electors are various, some obsolete and some

absurd; and it appears now to be generally agreed that some measure of Reform is absolutely necessary, by which a more effective and real representation of the great body of the people may be secured. The executive government is lodged in the hands of the King; the Judges (whose number has been recently augmented from 12 to 15) are his deputies, but are bound to act according to law; and the inestimable privilege of trial by jury, if properly exercised, would prevent any gross infringement of the liberties of the subject, even were the Judges disposed to it. The King is called the "fountain of honour," because with him rests the gift of all titles and dignities, the appointment to offices in the state; the power of granting charters and patents, of coining money, of sending ambassadors, making war or peace, and disposing of the naval and military forces of the nation; over which, however, the Commons have a check, the granting of funds for the maintenance of the army and navy being entirely at their discretion, and given only from year to year. The King is also Head of the Church, and has the exclusive nomination of Archbishops and Bishops, beside the appointment to a large number of benefices; and it is a constitutional maxim that he can do no wrong, it being supposed that he acts by the advice of his ministers, who are responsible for the measures he may adopt in consequence.

The Laws of England are derived from various sources; the Common Law (a very indefinite term,) rests upon no positive enactments, but on ancient practice, and the decisions of former judges; Statute Law is derived from Acts of Parliament; Civil and Canon Law, from the Roman institutions and the decrees of Popes and Councils; the use of the two last named is confined to the Ecclesiastical Courts, of which there are several; while the Common and Statute Law are the guides of the King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer; in which the jurors are the real judges, since they pronounce on the guilt or innocence of the party accused, and award damages in civil cases, under the direction of the judges, which, however, they are not bound to regard. The whole country is divided into Six Circuits, which include all the counties excepting Cheshire and Mid

dlesex; the former has been recently annexed to one of the Welsh Circuits, and the latter is the seat of the Supreme Courts. Each of these Circuits is visited twice a year by the Judges, excepting a part of the Northern, which, from its distance, has only an annual Assize: and in every county Quarter Sessions are held by the Magistrates for the trial of minor causes. The Court of Chancery is the principal court in the kingdom, and is now divided into two branches, over which the Lord High Chancellor and the Vice Chancellor respectively preside; the Master of the Rolls also holds a court in some measure connected, and the decisions of all these rest solely on the equitable feelings of the Judge, guided, however, in most cases, by the judgments of his predecessors, and subject to an appeal from thence to the House of Lords, and to the King in Council.

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The expenses of the public service, and the maintenance of the monarch and his family, are provided for, almost solely, by grants of the House of Commons, the hereditary revenues of the Crown, which were anciently very considerable, having been alienated at various periods, until they have become inadequate to the support of the royal dignity: but, in addition to the civil list, army, navy, &c. a vast sum is annually raised for the payment of interest on what is called the National Debt, the principal of which amounted, at the close of the war in 1815, to about £850,000,000 sterling; but has since been reduced to about £780,000,000. The revenue is derived from the customs and excise duties; the land, malt, house, and window taxes; the post office, licences, crown-lands, and various smaller sources; the amount thus raised, varies considerably in different years, but may be stated in round numbers at about £50,000,000.

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The established Religion of England is the Reformed, or Protestant Episcopal Church, of which the King is the Head; and the dignitaries are two Archbishops; 25 Bishops; a Dean, with a number of Canons and Prebends to each Cathedral; and 60 Archdeacons the inferior clergy are, the rectors, vicars, and curates of each parish. The prelates, deans, archdeacons, and delegates of the inferior clergy met in Convocation, and made regulations for the govern

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VOL. I.

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