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are uniformly let at a fixed money rent. Wherever, on the contrary, estates and farms are small, and wherever the latter are let on the métayer system, agriculture is either stationary or declining; and is said by Hugo and other writers to make peu de progrès, and to be fort arriérée.

We subjoin the following official statements with respect to the distribution of the soil of France; the produce of the crops, and their consumption; the average produce of the crops per hectare in different years; and the average prices of wheat in these years: —

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ESTIMATED PRODUCE of the Crops in 1818 and 1835; and of the Consumption in 1835. (From the Official Tables

for 1837.)

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AVERAGE PRODUCE of Grain per Hectare throughout 30,349,340 kilog. of raw sugar, or about a third part
France at five quinquennial Periods (in. Hectolitres,
Litres, and Centilitres).

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Wheat Maslin

Rye
Barley
Buckwheat
Maize and
Millet
Oats -
Pezse and Bears
Other small
Grains

Average Price) of Wheat per Hectolit. throughout France

1830. 1835.

h. l. c. h. 1. c. h. 1. c. h. l. e. h. 1. c. 8 59 40 9 46 83 12 57 38 10 53 17 13 43 14 9 52 99 10 51 9212 82 19 11 39 30 14 4 70 7 64 53 6 41 97 9 79 93 9 96 88 12 50 40 12 11 55 14 29 58 11 77 115 36 21 13 98 59 8 11 87 12 0 98 9 79 35 11 32 73 7 38 48

10 39 85 9 94 48 11 52 94 12 61 40 11 71 76 11 58 41 16 31 11 12 95 4 19 1 0 17 41 33 8 18 13 9 40 17 7 90 44 11 64 28 10 46 63

9 79 15 10 67 18 10 50 34 14 41 95 14 36 82 fr. c. fr. C. fr. c. fr. C. fr. C.

19 53 19 13 15 74 22 39 15 25

The best wheat is said to be that of the S. and S.E. provs.; but Flanders, Picardy, Normandy, the district of Beauce in Eure-et-Loir, Berri, Touraine, and the vicinity of the Puy-de-Dôme, furnish the greatest quantity. From 1797 to 1835, the price of wheat varied from 36 fr. 18 c. to 14 fr. 86 c. the hectolitre; for 32 of those 39 years it was under 23 fr. Rye, like wheat, is grown in almost every part of the country; but it is principally cultivated in the N.E., in Isère, and on the thin soils of Puy-de-Dôme, Creuse, HauteVienne, Allier, Loire, &c. The culture of maize, though it extends as far N. as the banks of the Loire, is most prevalent in the S. W., where the grain is of the best quality. Barley and oats are raised principally in the N., buckwheat on the worst arable lands of the centre and S. The potato is not yet an article of so much importance as in England or the Low Countries; but within the last twenty years its cultivation has increased very rapidly. It is mostly grown where corn is the least cultívated, as in Lozère, the Vosges, &c., and in the déps. Meurthe and Moselle in the N.E., Aube, Côte d'Or, and Eure-et-Loir in the centre, and Bouches-du-Rhone, Vaucluse, and Ariége in the S. of France. The culture of bect-root for sugar, is chiefly pursued in the neighbourhood of the capital, and the déps. of the N. and E., and a part of the centre; but the two arronds. of Lille and Valenciennes in the dép. du Nord furnish one-third of the whole quantity made. It is sometimes grown on the same land for several years in succession, though, most commonly, wheat is sown alternately with it every third year, when it yields as much as if the ground had been previously fallowed. The produce of beet varies from 12,000 kilogrammes per hectare to double that quantity; in the déps. du Nord and Pas-de-Calais, from 25,000 to 30,000 | kilogrammes are reckoned an average crop. At present not more than 6 or 64 per cent. of sugar is obtained from beet-root by the processes in use, though it is said to contain a much larger quantity; the pulp serves as food for cattle. In 1828, there were 58 beet-root factories in operation, producing about 4,000,000 kilog. of sugar; but so rapid has been the subsequent increase, that, in 1835, there were 581 factories at work, requiring a supply of 668,986,762 kilog. of root, and producing

of the entire quantity of sugar annually consumed throughout France. (Encycl. des Gens du Monde.) In 1837, 41,000,000 kilog. of beet-root sugar were. made, and the anticipated produce of 1838 was estimated at 55,000,000 kilog. But it is, notwithstanding, extremely doubtful whether this branch of industry will be able to maintain its ground. The beet-root sugar establishments were first introduced into France during Napoleon's anti-commercial system, when the price of colonial sugar was extravagantly high. When the restrictions on the importation of foreign sugar were removed, subsequently to the downfall of Napoleon, the establishments for the manufacture of beet-root sugar were in imminent danger of being destroyed; and to avert this contingency, the duty on foreign and colonial sugars was increased, while beet-root sugar continued to be admitted for consumption duty free. In consequence principally of this encouragement, but partly also of improvements in the manufacture, the production of beetroot sugar latterly increased, as has been stated above, with extraordinary rapidity. But as this increase, by proportionally narrowing the demand for colonial sugar, was exceedingly injurious to the colonists, the latter loudly complained of the injustice that was done them by subjecting their produce to a heavy duty while that of the beet-root growers was admitted duty free. The truth of this statement being undeniable, and it being at the same time obvious that the exemption of indigenous sugar from all duty entailed a burden on the consumers equal to the difference between the price at which it was sold and that at which foreign or colonial sugar might be bought, were it also exempted from the duty, it became necessary to adopt some measures on the subject. And after lengthened discussions, a duty of 10 fr. per 100 kilog. was laid in 1838 on indigenous sugar; and in the course of the present year (1840) this duty has been increased to 25 fr. Colonial sugar, however, still continues subject to a duty of 45 fr. per 100 kilog., but it is doubtful whether this will be sufficient to support the business; and the general opinion is, that were the duties equalised, and the people of France allowed to supply themselves with this important necessary in the cheapest market, the manufacture of sugar from beet-root would totally disappear!

Kitchen vegetables are universally grown, and are of excellent quality. In the N. and E. the wild cabbage, rape and poppy, and other oleaginous products, are extensively cultivated; the former especially in the dép. du Nord, where oil is a principal article of trade. Chicory is also raised in this part of France; truffles are cultivated in several parts, but especially in Dordogne, where they enter into the composition of the celebrated pâtés.

Hemp is grown in 57 déps., flax in 40; but, together with hops, they are principally confined to the N. The manufacture of tobacco is a government monopoly; its culture is restricted to the déps. du Nord, Haut and Bas Rhin, and Lot-et-Garonne. The average annual quantity of tobacco purchased by the government is about 5,733,800 kilog. A clamour has long been raised against this monopoly, but apparently without any good foundation; for, were the culture free, it would be impossible to assess the duty. The better way would be, to grub up the tobacco plantations, and to collect the

in 1834 their number in the same 18 deps. had increased to 14,879,400, being an augmentation of 5,269,730, exclusive of new plantations made in no fewer than 12 additional deps. The increase was greatest in the dép. du Gard, in which, and those of Drôme, Vaucluse, and Ardéche, the rearing of silkworms is the most extensive. The quantity of silk cocoons obtained in 1835 amounted to 9,007,967 kilogr. Dr. Bowring mentions that, in 1780, a worm was imported from China, whose silk is of peculiar clearness and fineness. It is chiefly raised at Bourg, Argental, and Sorbère. Its silk is employed in the manufacture of blonde, and usually fetches about 50 fr. per lib., but has sometimes brought double that price. (Of ficial Tables; Statistique; St. Fargeau, Aperçu; Encyc. des Gens du Monde; Berghaus; Allg. Länder und Vol

revenue by a customs duty on foreign tobacco, as is done
in England.
Madder on the Rhine, woad, saffron, and some other
dyes, castor oil in the S., &c., are among the other kinds
of produce.
Wines. The growth of these forms a distinctive
feature in French agriculture, and would become a vast
source of national wealth, were it not for oppressive du-
ties, commercial prohibitions, and other restrictive regu-
lations which tend to check the growth of this as well as
many other branches of industry. The wines of France,
While they possess body, strength, flavour, and aroma, are
without a superabundance of either sugar or alcohol;
and not only rival, but, generally speaking, surpass the
wines of all other countries. The vine is cultivated more
or less throughout the whole kingdom, to the S. of Brit-kerkunde, vol. v.)
tany, Normandy, Artois, and Flanders; with the excep-
tion of the dép. Creuse, in which, owing principally to
the poverty of the rural pop., it is little or not at all
grown. According to the Encyc. des Gens du Monde,
the total annual produce of wine in France may be esti-
mated at about 38,000,000 hectol., of which 16,000,000 are
absorbed by home consumption; the remaining 22,000,000
hectol. are either exported or used in the distilleries and
vinegar factories. In 1827 (and it has not varied ma-
terially in the interval) the quantity of vineyard land in
France was estimated at 1,736,056 hectares, equivalent to
4,265,000 English acres. The growers of wine were esti-
mated at 1,800,000 persons; and the quantity produced at
36,945,800 hectol., or about 813,165,200 imperial gallons,
worth 21,615,5701., or about 64d. a gallon. The cost
of wine to the people of France is estimated at about
12,000,000l. which supposes it to cost, at an average, each
individual of the pop about 8s. a year. The duties paid
on the wine consumed at home amount, at an average, to
2,900,000l. a year. Hence of all the products of France,
next to wheat, wine is incomparably the most important.
The vineyards occupy, at present, more than 1-26th part
of the entire surface; at the same time that the duties
laid on wine amount to nearly 1-3d part of the land tax,
and to 1-10th part of the entire public revenue. The
average export of wine is estimated at about 1,000,000
hectol. or 22,000,000 galls. worth nearly 2,060,0001.

Pasturages, Cattle, &c.— The mountainous districts of France, especially the Vosges, the mountains of Ardennes, Argonne, the Côte d'Or, and the central mountain system, have extensive natural pastures; the déps. Ardéche and Corrèze, and the entire prov. of Limousin, form together one continuous prairie, subdivided by mountain ranges, and interspersed, often sparingly, with fields of buckwheat and rye. Some of the best natural pasture grounds are in the maritime districts of Normandy and Flanders, and in the isle of Camargue at the mouth of the Rhone. It has been already remarked that artificial pastures have greatly increased of late years; the plants sown are chiefly lucerne, sainfoin, trefoil, and vetches.

At no very distant period France possessed various superior breeds of horses; but, from want of attention, many of them have deteriorated. Government, however, has latterly been making active efforts to obviate this defect, by the establishment of haras, or studs, for the improvement of the breeds, in different parts of the country; and the expenditure for this object is about 1,500,000 fr. a year. Normandy furnishes the best carriage and cavalry horses and hunters. The horses of Brittany are the next in order: the Breton is not so handsome as the Norman horse, but it is stronger and hardier. The dép. du Nord furnishes a good breed for farm labour, and other heavy work; those of Anjou, Maine, Touraine, &c., are also especially suitable for draught. Proceeding southward, the breeds diminish in value, till we come to Limousin, which prov., with those of Auvergne, Périgord, Guienne, and Navarre, produces the best saddle horses. The purity of their blood and their excellence increase, the nearer we approach the Spanish frontier. Alsace, and some of the other E. provs., have a large breed of horses, analogous to those of the N. In Lorraine and Champagne there is a small breed, capable of resisting fatigue for a lengthened period, if well taken care of. Asses and mules are reared chiefly in the deps. of the centre, the W. and S. Those of Deux-Sèvres and Vienne are the best, and many are exported to Spain. The mules used in France are bred

The deps. in which the greatest extent of land is occupied by vineyards are the Gironde, Charente-Inférieure, Herault, Charente, Dordogne, Gers, Gard, Lot-et-Garonne, and Var; but the deps. of Marne, Aube, &c., forming the ancient prov. of Champagne, and those of Côte d'Or, Saône et Loire, &c., comprised in Burgundy, though yielding a less quantity of wine than many others, are highly distinguished for the superior quality of their products. Gironde, which furnishes the wines known in England by the name of claret, yields about 2,500,000 hectols. annually; Charente-Inférieure about 2,500,000 hectols., Charente 1,700,000 hectols., and Herault upwards of 2,000,000 hectols. A fifth part of the Bordelais wines is used for the distillation of brandy, exported chiefly to the U. States, Eng-chiefly in Auvergne and Provence. land, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark; but they are inferior for this purpose to those of the Charente which supply the famous Cognac brandy. For more minute details respecting the growth of the French wines, we refer to the arts, devoted to the several deps.

Fruits, &c. With these France is abundantly supplied. Where the culture of the vine ceases, that of apples and pears becomes of considerable importance; in the N. déps. orchards replace vineyards, and cider and perry are the ordinary beverages of the inhab. The cider of the déps. la Manche and Calvados is the best, and some of it is drunk even in the wine deps. The Pays de Cauz (Seine Inférieure) is noted for its numerous and excellent apple-orchards; and the dép. Eure, in which almost all the roads are bordered by a double or treble range of apple trees, exports large quantities of apples to England and elsewhere. Cider is sometimes used in the distillation of brandy. Several of the central and S. deps. are famous for their dried pears; Aveyron, the Basses Alpes, and Indre-et-Loire for their prunes; and the Limagne (Auvergne) and the valley of Montmorency for their cherries. In the Vosges a small cherry abounds, which is extensively used in the manufacture of kirscherwasser.

Chesnuts are very abundant in some of the central and S. deps., where a portion of the rural pop. live almost entirely on them for half the year. The chestnut crops in Ardeche form a large part of its agricultural wealth. In Haute Vienne, chestnut woods occupy more than 1-14th part of the whole surface. The olive was formerly more cultivated than at present; the hard winter of 1789 destroyed many of the trees, and the climate even of the most favourably situated parts of France seems not altogether suitable for the plant. The oil of the neighbourhood of Aix, and of the dép. Bouches-duRhone, is the best. The culture of the mulberry tree, for the sake of the silk worm, is chiefly carried on in the S. In 1820, the total number of trees in the 18 deps. in which they were then planted, amounted to 9,631,674; and

Throughout a great part of France, and especially in the mountainous regions of the country, the ox is preferred to the horse for farm labour; and as it furnishes besides the principal supply of animal food, the rearing of horned cattle is every where pretty general. Many cows are kept along the banks of the Marne, Yonne, and Seine; in the mountains of Franche Comté (where they yield a great deal of milk, from which cheese similar to that of Gruyère is made); in the Forez mountains; and in Dauphiny, where also the cheese is much esteemed. Flanders, Normandy, Brittany, Alsace, Limousin, Auvergne, and the S.W. provs., are those in which the greatest number of black cattle are reared: many are sent out of Artois and Picardy to be fattened in the two first-named provs. The oxen of Gascony are the largest ; their weight varies from 600 to 900 lbs. the city of BorIdeaux and the navy are entirely provisioned from this species. Paris is in a great measure supplied from Anjou. The best butter is made in the N. of France, and from Brittany, Normandy, and the vicinity of Boulogne, considerable quantities, both fresh and salted, are exported: the best cheese is made in the S.

According to Berghaus, the live stock of France amounts at present (1840) to 1,872,600 horses, 3,350,000 mules and asses, 6,793,400 head of black cattle, 39,000,000 sheep, 900,000 goats, and 4,500,000 hogs.

But it would appear from the estimate in the official tables that the stock of black cattle, in 1830, amounted to 9,130,600; so that if Berghaus's estimate be nearly accurate, it follows that the stock of black cattle must have decreased during the last ten years about 2,337,000 head, or about one-fourth part of the total amount! And we are inclined to think that this statement is not very wide of the mark. The truth is that France has, till lately, always been a large importer of cattle; and down to 1814 they were exempted from all duty. In that year, however, a duty of 3 fr. was laid on each head of cattle imported; and had the duty been allowed to continue at this reasonable rate it could not have been justly objected

to. But in 1822 the duty of 3 fr. was suddenly raised to, market annually, and the inhabs. on the coast live in
55 fr. an increase which has well nigh put a stop to the great part on fresh pilchards during the season. The
importation of cattle, and been productive of many mis-pilchard fishery is also a branch of industry of some con-
chievous results. It is affirmed that the effect of this sequence along the coast of Charente-Inférieure and La
impolitic regulation on the price of butchers' meat has Vendée, as that of the anchovy is on the Mediterranean
been such as to reduce its average annual consumption in coast, especially in the dép. du Var. Great numbers of
Paris from 31 kilog. in 1826, to 25 kilogs. in 1836; and in oysters are sent to Paris, from Cancale Bay and the
the other parts of the kingdom the reduction has been mouth of the Seine. Except those already named, the
still greater. If these statements approach nearly to ac- fisheries on the French coast are of comparatively trifling
curacy, they will sufficiently account for the decline that importance, and have only a local interest. The French
has taken place in the quantity of stock, and set the per- cod and whale fisheries in distant seas employed in 1836
nicious influence of the high duty in the most striking
point of view.

The entire slaughter of cattle in France in 1830 was estimated at 483,349 oxen, 635,662 cows, and 2,250,219 calves. Now, as many of these are not half fed, it is immediately seen how miserably small the supply of butchers' meat must be for a population of about 34 millions indeed, a large proportion of the people of France rarely, if ever, taste butchers' meat. In Great Britain, with a pop. of about 18 millions, or but little more than half that of France, the annual slaughter of full-grown cattle is certainly not under 1,300,000 head, or considerably more than the number slaughtered in France; and it is sufficiently established that, speaking generally, the weight of the British cattle materially exceeds that of the French. It would therefore seem that it may, on the whole, be concluded that the people of Britain consume, at an average, twice as much butchers' meat as is consumed by the people of France !

Next to corn, wine, and silk, wool is the most important article of rural produce; and, according to Berghaus, its average annual produce for the last 10 years has been 42,000,000 kilogs. It has, no doubt, become of greater value since the native breeds have been crossed with the Merino and others; but this improvement has hitherto proceeded to only a small extent, so much so, that it has been alleged that not more, perhaps, than 1-10th part of the entire stock of sheep has experienced its effects. Most of the French wool is coarse and inferior; for the finer sorts the manufacturers are obliged to have recourse to Germany, and the value of the quantity imported into France from that country amounted in a recent year to upwards of 8,000,000 dollars. (Berghaus, v. 60.)

Goats are most abundant in the Pyrenean and Alpine deps. In a small district near Lyons a great number are kept in troops of perhaps 60 each, and fed in winter on vine leaves plucked after the vintage, and preserved moist for the purpose. An attempt has been made to acclimate the Tibet goat (Capra Egagrus), for the sake of its wool, so valuable in the shawl manufacture; but it is not possible, owing to the greater moisture of the French climate, that the experiment can succeed. Hogs are largely reared in the N. and E.; in Aisne they furnish almost the only animal food used by the rural pop. They are numerous in most parts of France, and in the E. deps. a considerable trade is carried on in them.

Poultry of all kinds is also plentiful, especially in Maine, Normandy, Guienne, and Languedoc. Geese are salted like pork: in the dép. Tarn there is a very large and fine species. Turkeys are also almost every where plentiful; and the dindes aux truffès are important articles of commerce in many towns of Dordogne and Lot. Ducks and fowls are very common: the value of the eggs exported to foreign countries, in 1835, amounted to 3,829,284 fr. The importation of French eggs into Great Britain, that is, into London and Brighton, amounts to the enormous quantity of about 80 millions a year. Bees are reared, especially in the deps. of Calvados, Basses Alpes, Aude, some of those on the Loire, Sarthe, and Jura. In the deps. on the Loire it is a common practice to move the hives from one district to another, which is supposed both to augment the quantity and improve the quality of the products: this process is effected in the night, and in vehicles built for the purpose. The distance travelled over at a time is often upwards of 30 m., "and it is not unusual to see in the autumn as many as 3,000 strange bee-hives collected in a little village, where they remain for perhaps two months." (Aperçu, 69) The best honey is that of Narbonne; but in several deps., as those of Jura, Basses Alpes, and Calvados, the honey is but little inferior.

Fisheries. From Dunkirk to St. Valery, the inhabs. of the coast derive a considerable part of their subsistence from the fisheries for sole, ray, turbot, mackerel, herring, &c. The sole and ray fishery lasts from about the beginning of January to that of May; the mackerel fishery then commences, and continues till about the end of July the herring fishery, the head-quarters of which are at Dieppe, begins early in October, and ends towards the 20th of Dec. The pilchard fishery of Brittany employs, during its continuance, a large number of fishermen, besides a number of hands in curing and barrelling the fish. About 8,000 barrels of salted pilchards, the produce of this fishery, are sent into the

the former 406 vessels, with a united burden of 51.915 tons, and 10,172 men, and the latter 35 vessels of the burden of 14,813 tons, having 1,183 men. (Official Tables; Hugo, &c.)

Mining Products. In 1834, the respective quantities, value, &c. of the principal of these are stated to have been as follows:

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Mining industry in France is placed in a great degree under the control of government: for this purpose France is divided into six departments, each under an inspectorgeneral, which six inspectors, together with the Minister of Public Works, compose the Council-general of Mines. There is a school of Mines in Paris, and a practical miners' school at Saint Etienne. The instruction in the latter is wholly gratuitous. (Hugo; Géog. de Saint Fargeau.)

Manufactures.-As respects the extent and value of her products, France ranks as a manufacturing country next to Great Britain. But a great part of her progress n this department is wholly factitious; and her natural and acquired capabilities for carrying on manufactures are very inferior to those enjoyed by this country. Speaking generally, there is a great want of capital in France, so that most establishments are conducted on a comparatively small scale: the means of internal communication, though very considerably improved, are still far inferior to what they are in Great Britain or the U. States. Coal is found in many parts of France, but the supply is notwithstanding insufficient for the wants of the country, and is comparatively dear; and iron, a cheap and abundant supply of which is so indispensable to manufacturing eminence, has mostly to be prepared by means of wood, and is much higher priced than in England. In fact, with the exception of silk and a few other branches, manufacturing industry in France is in the most unsatisfactory condition. No doubt innumerable tables and statements are put forth to show its progress; but they are all, or mostly all, fallacious. The real question is, not whether a manufacture makes a progress when all competition is prevented, and a certain extent of market provided for its products by custom-house regulations, but whether it could withstand the competition of foreigners, and increase were it exposed to an open competition? In the latter case only is it an advantage: in the former it is obviously maintained at the public expense, and its increase occasions a corresponding increase of the burdens laid upon the public, without its bringing along with it any corresponding advantage. Now we believe that a very large proportion of the French manufacturing establishments are in this last predicament.

Coal in France is obtained from between 40 and 50 different coal-fields; but of these the greater number are extremely unimportant, and those in the deps. du Nord and Loire are the only ones of any considerable magnitude, or, at all events, they are the only ones that are wrought to any considerable extent. On the whole, it appears that the entire produce of the different coal mines of France amounted, in 1836, to about 2,545,000 tons, that is, to less than 1-12th part of the produce of the British mines, and to less, in fact, than the produce of the coal-fields in the single county of Lanark in Scotland! To suppose, after such a statement, that France can be distinguished generally in manufacturing industry, is to suppose what is all but contradictory and

L

absurd. Not only is coal thus deficient in quantity, but it costs more than double its price in England. Iron-works are carried on in various parts of France, and the total produce of pig iron is supposed to amount at this moment (1839) to about 350,000 tons a year-that is, to little more than 1-4th part of the produce of the British iron-works. About 4-5ths of the fuel consist of wood; and as it is comparatively scarce and dear, the price of the iron is proportionally high. In fact, a large quantity of foreign is annually imported into France; and as iron is certainly one of the most important means and instruments for the prosecution of manufacturing industry, it might be supposed that a country anxious for the increase of the latter would admit fron duty free. But such is by no means the case: on the contrary, a high duty is imposed on the importation of foreign iron into France; and the interests of the manufacturers and of the country in general are sacrificed to that of the forest proprietors, who are apprehensive, were foreign iron largely imported, that the price of timber might be reduced. In all, about 44,000 hands are supposed to be employed in the different departments connected with the production of iron in France. The other metallic products raised in France, consisting of silver, lead, copper, manganese, &c., are of inconsider-cotton goods produced in the latter at 34,000,000Z. sterable value and importance.

Arms are principally made at Tulle, St. Etienne, Klingenthal, &c. Bronzes of a very superior quality are principally made at Paris. The trade in cutlery, which employs a great many hands, is principally carried on at Paris, Langres, Nogent-le-Roi, Chatelherault, Thiers, &c. French cutlery is, speaking generally, very inferior to that of England. The ornamental jewellery trade centres chiefly in Paris; and there, and in other parts of the kingdom, about 10,000 hands are supposed to be employed in watchmaking.

The number of steam engines in use in France has greatly increased of late years. At the close of 1835 there were in all 1,448, of the aggregate power of 19,126 horses. Of these 1,112 were of French manufacture. Most of them were employed in yarn factories, mines, foundries, and beet-root sugar establishments. There were besides in the same year 100 steam-boats of the aggregate power of 3,863 horses. In 1834 there were upwards of 80 iron suspension bridges in France, though the first was erected no longer ago than 1824.

The silks of France are unrivalled among those of Europe, and are probably, indeed, superior to any produced in any other part of the world. At the close of last century, it was ascertained by a series of accurate experiments, that French organzined silk was 25 per cent. superior in elasticity to the best Piedmontese, and its tenacity as 26 to 21 or 20. (Bowring's Second Report, p. 4.) But besides this the French silks are distinguished by superior taste and elegance, and their excellence is sufficiently proved by the fact that 4-5ths of them are exported. According to the Encyc. des Gens, &c., the number of silk looms is now (1839) estimated at 85,000, employing 170,000 workmen, and producing silks worth 211,500,000 fr. a year. Lyons, Nimes, Avignon, Tours, Saint Jean-du-Gard, Alais, Le Vigan, Saint Etienne, Paris, &c., are the principal seats of this important and truly national manufacture, which will be found more particularly alluded to under those separate heads. The silk manufactures of Paris have received a great augmentation of late years.

The woollen manufacture of France is also of great value and importance; and is one of those that seems well adapted to the country. The total value of the woollen fabrics annually produced in France, has been estimated, by French writers, at 420,000,000 fr.; but Berghaus reduces this estimate to 265,000,000 fr., and we have little doubt that his estimate comes nearest the mark. The chief seats of the woollen manufacare Sedan, Louviers, Elbeuf, Rouen, Bernay, Caudebec, Darnetal, Clermont l'Hérault, Lodève, Carcassonne, Châteauroux, &c.; for carpets, Paris, Aubusson, Abbeville, and Amiens.

ture

Most of the statements that have been put forth with respect to the progress of the cotton manufacture in France since 1815, have been fallacious. That the manufacture has rapidly advanced in the interim is most true; but this advance affords no proof of its being in a really flourishing condition, or of its being suitable to France. During the latter years of the war, the difficulties in the way of importing raw cotton into France were such that its price in Havre was usually twice or three times as great as its price at Liverpool. When, therefore, the return of peace enabled the French manufacturers to obtain supplies of cotton at the same rate that was paid for it by others the manufacture could not fail rapidly to advance; and foreign cotton goods being excluded, it necessarily went on increasing till the home demand was pretty well supplied. But beyond this limit it has not been, and, it is most probable, it will not be, advanced. The French excel us in the brightness and durability of their dyes; but,

with this single exception, they are immeasurably behind us in all that is indispensable to success in this depart ment. Their machinery is at once more expensive and less improved, as coal, which may be said to be the nerves and sinews of the business, costs double in Rouen what it costs in Manchester or Glasgow. It is idle, therefore, under these circumstances, to suppose that the French cotton manufacture can be really prosperous, or that its increase is any evidence of a proportional increase of wealth and employment. Previously to the Revolution little cotton yarn was spun by machinery; but since that epoch, or rather since the peace of 1815, machinery has been imported from England, and cotton spinning has become a principal branch of industry; and, excepting some of the highest numbers for the muslin factories of Tarare and St. Quentin, and the lace manufactures of Calais, Douai, &c., the country now supplies sufficient yarn for its own demand. The total annual value of the cotton manufactures of all kinds has been estimated by some French writers at no less than 600,000,000 fr., or 20,400,000l.; but there can be no doubt that this is an absurd exaggeration. The consumption of raw cotton in France does not amount to a third part of its consumption in Britain; and if we estimate the value of the ling, those produced in France cannot be reckoned, on any hypothesis, at above 10,000,0007. or 11,000,000.; and as the French are unable to produce yarn of the finest quality, and a large proportion of their imports is appropriated to the manufacture of coarse fabrics, even this is, we believe, too high.

Linens are manufactured principally in the N. provinces, and in Brittany, Maine, Dauphiny, Auvergne, &c. Latterly there has been a very great increase in the imports of linen yarn spun by machinery from Great Britain; this has raised an outcry in France on the part of the spinners, but it has been found that while the importation of yarn has increased, that of wove fabrics has diminished, and that consequently the weavers, as well as the public, have been benefited by the introduction of English yarns. The best cambrics and muslins are made, the former at St. Quentin, Valenciennes, Cambrai and Solesmes; and the latter at Lyons, Alençon, &c. St. Quentin, Lille, Calais, Tarare, and Douai, are particularly noted for their tulles and broderie; but this latter branch of industry has been long in a very depressed state. Valenciennes, Lille, Dieppe, Alençon, St. Lô, and Avranches, are noted for their lace; and Caen, Bagen, Bayeux, Chantilly, and Le Puy, for their blondes. Kid gloves are made principally at Paris, Grenoble, Chaumont, Blois, Vendome, &c. Other leathern articles, as shoes and saddlery, are, of course, made in large quantities. The French saddlery exported is worth about 2,000,000 fr. a year. The china of Sèvres, and other fine kinds of French porcelain, are much and justly esteemed. There are, in all, 12 manufactories of fine porcelain,-at Paris, Sèvres, Limoges, Toulouse, &c., producing goods to the value of from 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 fr. a year, 2-3ds, perhaps, of which are exported. Glass to the value of above 20,000,000 fr., with bricks, tiles, furniture, mineral acids, and other chemical products, glue, sail-cloth, cordage, soap, musical instruments, liqueurs, paper, paperhangings, hats, &c. are important articles of manufacture. Ships are built principally at Brest, Rochefort, Cherbourg, Toulon, Marseilles, Bayonne, Bordeaux, &c.

We subjoin a table given by Berghaus, in which he gives an estimate of the value of the manufactured articles produced in France in 1839, and an account of the principal seats of each manufacture. We do not pretend to vouch for its correctness; but the statements in it are, speaking generally, a great deal more moderate than those in the greater number of French works, and appear to us to be, on that account, more deserving of credit. A tendency to exaggerate is, in fact, the besetting sin of most writers on statistics. [For Table, see the next page.]

Previously to the reign of Philip Augustus, there were very few manufactures in France, other than domestic. But about that period the linen and woollen manufactures of Laval, Lille, Cambrai, Amiens, Rheims, Arras, Beauvais, &c. began to be established. Louis IX., Charles VII., and Louis XI. endeavoured to improve the commercial resources of the nation; and in the reign of the latter monarch, the culture of the mulberry was introduced, and the manufacture of silk established at Tours. The silk manufactures of Lyons date from the reign of Francis I.; under Henri IV. several other manufactures were introduced, and many pre-existing ones improved; and under Louis XIII. most branches of in. dustry received a rapid extension. But the grand impulse to manufactures and commerce was given in the succeeding reign. Colbert, minister of finance under Louis XIV., invited numerous foreign artizans to settle in France, improved the great roads throughout the kingdom, excavated the canals of Languedoc and Burgundy, constructed several harbours, and gave a

ESTIMATED VALUE of the Goods manufactured in France in 1839. (Berghaus, Allgem. Länder and Folker

kunde, v. 87--90.)

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powerful stimulus to industry. But, notwithstanding his great merits, Colbert wanted sagacity to perceive that industry can make no really beneficial progress, except under a system of free competition; and that all attempts to bolster up manufactures are injurious to the general interests of the nation. Hence, it is not easy to decide whether the stimulus he gave to industry by the measures now alluded to, and the order and economy he introduced into the finances, was not more than countervailed by the regulations he established for the conduct of manufactures, and the numerous restrictions that he introduced. Colbert was, in fact, the Achilles of the mercantile system. Had he acted on the maxim, Laissez-nous faire, of the merchants he consulted, though his measures might not have been equally successful at the outset, they would have been incomparably more so in the end. The prestige that has attached to the name of Colbert has tended materially to prolong the mania for regulating in France; and consequently to enfeeble and paralyze the industry of the country.

the S., there is now little externally to distinguish the artisans and their families from the bourgeoisie, or lesser trading families. There are considerable differences in the condition and habits of the work-people in the different manufacturing towns; but on the whole they are, both physically and morally, vastly improved.

Commerce. Though of great extent and value, the commerce of France has not attained to the magnitude which it might have been expected to reach from her admirable situation; the great diversity and excellence of her silks, wines, brandies, and other products, and the number, enterprise, and ingenuity of her people. This depressed state of trade appears to be principally ascribable to an erroneous system of domestic economy; or to the attempt made by successive governments to render France independent of other countries, by bolstering up and protecting industry at home, and excluding foreign products. But a nation that adopts a policy of this kind, necessarily, by so doing, lays her foreign trade under the greatest difficulties. All commerce is founded on a principle of reciprocity; and those who will not buy, need not flatter, themselves with the delusive idea that they will, notwithstanding, be able to sell. The prohibitions and heavy duties imposed on many descriptions of foFrance; and by consequence lessen, in a corresponding degree, the demand for the French products that must otherwise have been exported in payment of the imports. Luckily, however, the public seems to have become to a considerable degree aware of the mischief entailed on the country by a perseverance in this anti-social system; and, despite the powerful interests engaged in its support, it has already undergone several material modifications; and there can be little doubt that, in the end, it will be replaced by a more liberal and beneficial policy.

In 1698, Marshal Vauban estimated that, of the total pop. of France, 1-10th was in a state of mendicancy, and of the remaining 9ths in a condition but little above it. He at the same epoch estimated the wages of the weaver at 12 sous a day, or about 108 fr. yearly (excluding fast-reign produce, proportionally lessen the demand for it in days, &c.). Arthur Young, 90 years afterwards, found that wages had risen to about 19 sous; but provisions had also increased in price. In 1827, M. Dupin estimated the average gains of an artisan in a town, and his wife, at 783 fr. a year; and in 1832, M. de Morogues estimated their united wages at 800 fr. The condition of the artisans has of late greatly improved. Rye flour, after supplanting buck-wheat and oatmeal, has in its turn been superseded, in many parts by that of wheat; and but for the absurd regulations already alluded to in respect to the cattle trade, there can be no doubt that the consumption of butchers' meat, instead of being diminished, would have been increased. The dress of all classes has been much improved by the more general use of woollens, cottons, &c.; and in most large towns, except those of

The revolution was of signal advantage to the internal trade of France. Previously to that event, the fiscal systems and duties in many of the provinces were peculiar, and differed widely from those in others; and their frontiers were, in consequence, as vigilantly

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