and directly depend upon, manufactures for their | tity of iron produced in England and Wales is support; and they supply the materials of that not supposed to have exceeded 18,000 tons a commerce for which this empire is so peculiarly year; but the application of pit-coal to the prodistinguished; and which extends to, civilises, duction of iron having soon after become pretty and enriches almost every country of the globe. general, the manufacture began gradually to in We regret our inability to lay before the reader crease, the produce in 1788 being estimated at any accurate accounts of the value of the gross 68,000 tons, in 1796 at 125,000 tons, and in 1806 annual produce of any of the great departments at 250,000 tons. Since this last mentioned period, of manufacturing industry. The following the progress of the iron trade has been such that estimates must, therefore, be regarded as mere at this moment (1845) there are certainly not approximations; though we are disposed to less than from 1,100,000 to 1,200,000 tons of iron think that in most cases they come pretty near annually produced in England and Wales, and the mark: about 420,000 tons in Scotland. The business has now become of the very highest importance. Iron is employed with the greatest advantage in many ways for which it was formerly supposed not to be at all suitable: so much indeed is this the case that iron steam-boats have been constructed for crossing the Atlantic! And it is to the cheapness and abundance of our supply of iron, as much as to any thing else, that the superiority of our machinery, and consequently of most branches of our manufactures, is to be ascribed.

Cotton

Woollen

Iron and hardware
Watches, Jewellery, &c.
Leather

Linen

Silk

Glass and earthenware
Paper
Hats

35,000,000

24,000,000 20,000,000 3,000,000 13,500,000 8,000,000 10,000,000

4,250,000

2,000,000
2,400,000

The value of the above articles amounts to a gross sum of 121,750,000l. But exclusive of these, there are other departments of manufacturing industry of great value and importance; such, for example, as the manufacture of spirits and beer, cabinet-makers' goods, &c. In point of fact, however, but a small part of the value of spirits and beer is derived from the labour expended upon their preparation, or upon their extraction from the malt used in their manufacture; and there are no means by which to form any estimate, how rude soever, of the value of cabinetmakers' work. Some information will sub-ence of the general causes already specified, but sequently be given in regard to shipbuilding. But these statements, how imperfect soever, are more than sufficient to evince the vast extent and importance of our manufactures. It would be desirable, on many accounts, to be able to separate the sums mentioned above as constituting the gross annual value of our principal manufactures into their constituent parts, that is, to show how much of the total value of any branch of manufacture is made up of raw produce, or of the value of some other branch of manufacture embodied in it, and how much consists of the wages of labour and superintendence, and how much of the profits and wear and tear of capital. But to do this is, in many cases, next to impossible; and in all cases, the greatest care and circumspection are required to avoid falling into the most serious errors. It is necessary also to observe, that considerable care is always required in drawing conclusions from the gross value of any manufacture in regard to the addition really made by it to the aggregate wealth of the country. Thus, assuming the gross annual value of the woollen manufacture to be about 24,000,000l. a year, we should fall into the greatest imaginable error, if we supposed, as is commonly done, that it made an annual addition of that amount to the gross produce of the country. Of this sum of 24,000,000l., nearly a half, or about 11,000,000l., may consist of the value of the wool; and the value of the British wool, which is by far the largest portion of the whole, being already included in the estimate of the annual produce of agriculture, would be reckoned twice over, were it also included in the estimate of the produce of the woollen manufac ture. The same caution must be used in almost every case; and unless it be carefully attended to, none but the most misleading inferences need be looked for.

The progress made by Great Britain in manufactures since the middle of last century has been quite unprecedented. At that period the quan

But the progress of the British cotton manufacture since 1760 is undoubtedly the most extraordinary phenomenon in the history of industry. In 1764 the consumption of cotton wool did not amount to 4 million lbs., whereas it now exceeds the prodigious amount of 540 million lbs. It is difficult to give any very satisfactory explanation of this astonishing progress. Much, no doubt, must be ascribed to the influmuch also has been owing to what may be called accidental circumstances. The cotton manufacture may, in fact, be said to be wholly the result of the inventions and discoveries of Hargreaves, Arkwright, Watt, Crompton, and a few others. And the fact of Hargreaves, Arkwright, and Watt being Englishmen gave us that early priority and superiority in the manufacture which our favourable situation in other respects has since enabled us to maintain. It is seldom an easy matter for new rivals to come into successful competition with those who have already attained to considerable proficiency in any art or manufacture; and they rarely succeed, unless they have some very material advantage on their side. But in this instance, besides having the start of foreigners, the natural and moral circumstances under which our manufacturers have been placed have given them advantages not enjoyed in any thing like the same degree by the manufacturers of any other country. Were any change or revolution effected in machinery that should admit of coal being advantageously dispensed with, it is difficult to say what effect it might have in the long run on our manufactures. We believe, however, that our advantageous situation, the magnitude of our capital, the industry of our workmen, and the determination of all classes to advance themselves in the world, would, under any circumstances, insure our continued prosperity as a manufacturing people. While, however, coal continues to be as indispensable in industrious undertakings as at present, and while we preserve our free institutions without the alloy of popular licentiousness and agitation, there is but little ground for supposing that our manufacturing prosperity will be impaired. On the contrary, it is reasonable to expect, seeing the increasing wealth of our foreign customers, the greater competition at home and abroad, and the

At least 100,000 tons will be added to this quantity in the course of the next twelve months!

greater attention paid to scientific investigations, | foreign countries. Duties being laid on most that it will go on increasing, and that the discoveries and progress to be made in the next age will surpass those made in the present, wonderful as they have been.

articles imported from abroad, it is necessary for fiscal purposes that their amount should be ascertained with as much accuracy as possible; and it is believed that the declarations of Commerce. Neither the commerce of Tyre the real value of the exports made by the exor Carthage in antiquity, nor that of Italy in the porters do not differ materially from the truth. middle ages, nor of Holland in the 17th century, The trade carried on with colonies, or the could compare, for the variety and value of the colonial trade, though conducted under different products which it distributes, and the all but un-regulations and duties, is substantially the same limited range which it embraces, to the existing with the foreign trade; and may be, and indeed commerce of England. Our products are found generally is, considered as a branch of the latter. in every country, and our flag floats over every sea. We subjoin a few statements respecting the Quæ regio terræ nostri non plena laboris ? principal articles imported from and exported to the countries with which we have the greatest intercourse.

Russia-Imports from :-Tallow, corn, flax and hemp, flax and linseed, timber, bristles, ashes, hides, iron, and coal, hardware, colonial products, &c. wax. Exports to:- Cotton twist, woollen fabrics, salt,

Sweden and Norway- Imports from: -Timber, iron, and bark. Exports to:- Cottons and cotton yarn, woollens, earthenware, hardware, coffee, indigo, tobacco, sugar, &c.

Denmark - Imports from :-Corn and rape-seed, butter, bristles, wool, hides, and bark. Exports to: - Coal, salt, iron, and steel, earthenware, machinery, coffee, indigo, &c.

bark, bristles, wool, spelter, flax, &c. Exports to:-
Prussia- Imports from: Corn, oak and fir timber,
Refined sugar, salt, cottons, hardware, earthenware, &c.
Our trade with Prussia is principally carried on through
Hamburgh.

on German account.

Netherlands Imports from: Butter, cheese, corn, madder, geneva, flax and tow, hides, linens, seeds, toys, &c. Exports to:-Cotton stuffs and yarn, woollens, hardware, earthenware, salt, coal, and colonial produce. France Imports from:- Brandy, wine, silk (raw and manufactured), gloves, madder, eggs, skins, and fruit. Exports to:- Wool, linens and linen yarn, brass and copper manufactures, machinery, coal, horses, &c. Large quantities of Nottingham lace are smuggled into France, and brandy into England.

And as all commerce is bottomed on a principle of reciprocity, and is sure to stimulate the industry and to add to the wealth of all who engage in it, we may safely affirm, that while the people of Britain are pursuing only their own interests, they are contributing in the most effectual manner to diffuse the blessings of civilisation and a taste for luxury and refinement. It is impossible, indeed, to overrate the beneficial influence of that commerce of which this country is the centre and mainspring. No one aware of its vast extent can have the smallest doubt that it is by far the most important means of civilisation and improvement ever brought into active operation. And we may unhesitatingly conclude, that instead of having approached, or, as some suppose, passed, its zenith, it will continue to ter, linens, hides, clover, rape-seed, smaltz, spelter, Germany- Imports from: - Wool, corn, wines, butincrease with the increasing wealth, and conse-zaffre, furs, wooden clocks, &c. Exports to:-Cotton quently growing wants, of the various nations it stuffs and yarn, woollens, refined sugar, hardware, is now rousing to activity and enterprise; and earthenware, iron and steel, coal, salt, indigo, coffee, rum, that it will derive new vigour, and have its founda- tobacco, cotton wool, spices, &c. A good deal of the tions widened and consolidated, by every circum-imports from and exports to Holland and Belgium are stance calculated to promote the industry and to add to the riches of those with whom we deal. When we look a little narrowly into the matter, we find that at bottom society resolves itself into a series of exchanges; that every individual is in some sort a merchant; and that the principal business of life consists in the exchange of one sort of service or article for another. Hence in all countries the mercantile transactions carried on at home, or in the home trade, infinitely exceed in number and value those carried on with foreigners, or in the foreign trade. The latter, however, is not on that account the less important or valuable. But for the intercourse we carry on with foreigners we should be wholly destitute of many most desirable products-such, for example, as tea, coffee, wine, the precious metals, &c., as well as of the raw material of many of our most important manufactures, including those of cotton and silk. Generally, too, manufactures are improved and perfected according to the scale on which they are carried on; so that an extensive commerce is at once a consequence and a cause of manufacturing pre-eminence. The cotton mills of Lancashire and Lanarkshire could not have been constructed had the demand for their produce been confined to the empire only: they have not been built to supply the limited consumption of Great Britain and Ireland, but the unlimited consumption of the world!

It is plainly impossible, from the nature of the thing, to form any estimate of the extent of the home trade carried on in any great country, or of the exchanges effected amongst its citizens. Formerly, accurate accounts were kept of the cross-channel trade between Great Britain and Ireland; but, with the exception of corn, no official account is now kept of the products con

Portugal and Spain- Imports from: - Port and sherry wines, barilla, wool, raisins, dried fruits, lemons, oranges, woollens, linens, hardware, and cutlery, iron and steel, olive oil, quicksilver, &c. Exports to: Cotton stuffs, soap, candles, leather, and cinnamon.

Italy Imports from: Thrown silk, olive oil, straw for plaiting, straw plait and hats, currants, lemons, oranges, wine, barilla, shumac, bark, cheese, lamb-skins, hemp, &c. Exports to:- Cotton stuffs and yarn, refined sugar, woollen manufactures, hardware and cutlery, iron and steel, coffee, indigo, tobacco, pimento, &c. madder, figs, raisins, valonea, oil, cotton, currants, senna, Turkey, Greece, &c.- Imports from: Silk, opium, &c. Exports to:-Cotton manufactures and twist, linens, hardware, iron and steel, cordage, woollens, earthenware, indigo, and coffee.

Egypt and Africa- Imports from: Cotton wool, Cotton manufactures, iron and steel, arms and ammuniflax, linseed, senna and other drugs. Exports to:tion, and machinery.

Foreign West Indies - Imports from: Sugar, coffee, cotton, cigars, &c. Exports to:- Cotton manufactures, earthenware, linen manufactures, hardware, iron and steel, woollens, glass, machinery, &c.

United States - Imports from: Cotton, tobacco, wheat flour, wheat, rice, skins and furs, hides, staves, &c. Exports to:- Cotton, linen, and woollen manu factures, hardware, cutlery, earthenware, salt, brass and copper, apparel, books, &c.

South American States-Imports from :-Cotton wool, sugar, coffee, bullion and precious stones, cocoa, hides, fruits, bark, dye-woods, furs, &c. Exports to:- Cotton, linen, and woollen manufactures, earthenware, hardware, soap, candles, &c.

African British Colonies - Imports from: - - Cape and Constantia wines, hides, ivory, skins, aloes, palm-oil, teak, timber, wax, dye-woods, sugar from the Mauritius, &c. Exports to:-Cotton, woollen, and linen manufactures, apparel, earthenware, hardware, iron and steel, candles, stationery, fire-arms, salt, machinery, &c.

veyed from the one to the other. Luckily, how-soia and Australia - Imports from: -Tea, indigo,

ever, this is not the case with the trade with

article, and extraordinary abundance of cotton | within the last fifty, and still more the last thirty fabrics, have given the poorest females the means years, will at once be sensible of a vast imof greater comfort, neatness, and display in dress, provement. Essential as glass windows may than were enjoyed by the highest classes in the now appear, in the 16th century they were first half of last century. And any one who com- luxuries, all but unknown, in the castles of pares the old farm-houses and cottages, or the the principal nobility in England; and in Scothouses in the old narrow streets and lanes in any land, in the early part of last century, glass one of our great towns, with the farm-houses, was seldom seen in the windows of the first cottages, and town lodgings for the poor, built class of country houses, and never in cottages. II. Account of the real or declared Value of the various Articles of the Manufacture and Produce of the United Kingdom, exported to foreign Countries during each of the Six Years ending with 1843; specifying the Countries to which they were exported, and the Value of those annually shipped for each; and showing also the average Amount of Exports during the said Six Years to each Country, and to each of the Five great Divisions of the Globe; and the average Proportion exported to each, supposing the whole Exports to be 1,000.

III. Account of the Quantities of the principal Articles of Foreign and Colonial Merchandise imported into, exported from, and retained for Consumption in, the United Kingdom, with Nett Produce of the Revenue accruing thereon, during the Years 1842 and 1843.