avert their minds from these delusive phantoms of imaginary happiness and unattainable perfection, I am as yet unable to foresee; I am willing to hope for the best; but there are symptoms in the public mind and in the conduct of some of our most eminent public men, that make me tremble for the worst."

Allusions were made in the course of the debate to the number of place men and pensioners in the house, to whose votes the triumphs of ministers over their opponents were of course ascribed. These reflections drew a short reply from Mr Perceval, of which the following passage places this famous topic of declamation in a very luminous point of view. "He had no objection to the lists of the majority and minority being dissected. If this were done in order to leave none who were biassed by interest in favour of government, all the place men would be at once struck off as a

dead weight. But if they struck off from the list all who were in possession of places on the one side, he hoped they would not object to strike off all who were in expectation of places on the other. And they would give him leave to couple with this consideration a request that it might be remembered, that a place could be possessed but by one, but it could be expected by more than one. Let them then take away those who possessed places on the one side, and who expected them on the other, and he would be perfectly willing to go to a division with the rest." Besides its intrinsic merit, this passage will not be without interest to many readers; the words were among the last which were spoken by Mr Perceval in the House of Commons. The speech, of which this forms a part, was pronounced on Friday the 8th May, 1812, and on Monday the 11th this great and virtuous man was assassinated..

THE increase of population has, in general, been considered by statesmen as a great advantage in itself, and an unequivocal symptom of the prosperity and happiness of the state. The researches of an able and original writer of the present day have thrown new lights on the subject; they have shewn that a proposition which was once almost universally received, must be taken under important limitations; that the increase of population is not in itself a positive good, but may in some cases be a very strong symptom of misgovernment, and that it is only when the means of subsistence are increased in the same ratio with the numbers of the people, that the rapid growth of population ought to be desired. The general principle which pervades the Essay on Population must command the assent of all who are capable of understanding the subject; but, like many other excellent principles, it is often forgotten amid the complication of details, and the variety of aspects which every great political question presents in its application to practice. But when we find that population has been increasing, while the comforts of the great body of the people have, at the same time, been improved; that the losses inevitably sustained in a course

of protracted warfare have not been felt, but that the energies of the coun. try have risen superior to the difficulties with which it has been surrounded, the advantages of an increased population are at once unquestionable and unmixed; and the reasons for congratulating the country on such a state of things may be deduced from the most enlarged and liberal principles of political, philosophy. Such was, in fact, the state of England, after twenty years of general warfare, in which she took so great a part and made so conspicuous a figure.

A comparative statement of the population of the several counties of Great Britain in the years 1801 and 1811, together with the returns under the act passed in the last session of parliament, were laid before the House of Commons. It may be proper to mention here, that no regular census had been taken of the population of England, Scotland, and Wales, until the year 1801, when Mr Abbot's bill was passed, which was followed up in the last session by Mr Rose's act, under which the late enumeration was completed. When the accounts were presented, Mr Rose made some excellent remarks on this important subject.-From the papers on the table,

it appeared, that, in the course of the last ten years, viz. since the census of 1801, an increase of population, to the amount of more than one million and a half, had taken place. In England that increase appeared to be in a ratio of fourteen per centum, in Wales twelve, and in Scotland thirteen. This increase of population exhibited an extent and duration unexampled in the history of the country: and what was still more surprising, the increase of the males had been as great as that of the females. The total population of England, Scotland, and Wales, in 1801, was 10,472,048; it now amounted to 11,911,644, making an increase of 1,439,596 persons actually resident in the country; which, added to 170,000 serving in the army and navy abroad, made a total amount of 1,609,498. It is a singular proof of the energies of the country, that the population should have increased so fast, when the drain of men for the army, navy, and mercantile service is considered. It might be said, that at a period when the country exhibited such an increased population, employment for the lower orders had diminished; but in the manufacturing counties, and there only, had a temporary failure occurred. Every where else, the demand for labour kept pace with the increase of the population. But taking the whole circumstances of the country into consideration, it was of great importance to the empire that the population exhibited this progressive increase. Some persons were of opinion, that the apparent increase in the present census arose, in some measure, from the imperfect execution of the former act; but the census of 1801, which was entrusted to the same persons who were employed on the present occasion, was very nearly correct. A subject of very grave importance stood connected with this increase of population the facility of supplying

the people with food. The high price of provisions at home, and the uncertainty of a supply of grain from other countries, called upon the legislature to devise means to enable the country to sustain its population independently of foreign aid.-The amount of the importations of grain was placed in a clear point of view by an account produced about the same time with the returns of the population. By that account it appeared, that during ele ven years, from 1775 to 1786, the average quantity of grain imported annually was 564,413 quarters; from 1787 to 1798, 1,136,101 quarters; and from 1799 to 1810, including three years of scarcity, 1,471,003 quarters. The average prices were 30s. per quar ter, in the first period, 40s. in the second, and 60s. in the third. During the last year not less than 4,271,000l. went out of the country for the sustenance of the inhabitants-a matter of most serious importance to the public interest. By another account, it appeared that the consumption of wheat and flour imported from foreign countries, had been progressively increasing from 1775 to the present time. In 1810, the quantity imported was 693,000 quarters, which clearly proved that the increase in the consumption of wheat was greater than that which had taken place in all the other kinds of grain; and that those who did not formerly consume wheat, now made it a principal part of their food. To meet the growing wants of the population, without having recourse to foreign countries, formed one of the great objects of an enlightened legislation. The inclosure of commons and waste lands had been carried to a great extent; but had not kept pace with the necessities of the country. All the lands fit for the growth of barley, oats, &c. Mr Rose observed, should be continued under that species of tillage; and every en

couragement should be given to the planting of potatoes, which would grow in soils unfit for the cultivation of grain. The fisheries constitute another important source of supply; although it is a singular circumstance that in a maritime country, such as this, fish is rarely to be seen, except at the tables of the rich, the poor receiving little or no benefit from so nutritious an aliment. There may be some prejudices against it; but the exertions of gentlemen in the different districts of the country, if rightly directed, might remove them. Mr Rose concluded, by remarking, that every encouragement was due to any plan which promised to introduce a variety of nutritious food amongst the lower orders, to save a sum of 3,500,000l. annually to the country, increase its agriculture, and, by extending its fisheries, employ 100,000 persons in that way, which, more than any other, tended to uphold the naval greatness of the empire.

In a committee of supply, Mr Wharton moved that a sum, not exceeding 554,4411. be granted for the expenses of the barrack department for the current year.-In the proposed grant, a sum of 138,000l. was included as the estimated expense of a new barrack to be built in the Regent's Park, for the second regiment of Life Guards; and various smaller sums for new buildings of the same kind to be erected at Liverpool, Bristol, and Brighton. Strong objections were made to some of these grants: in consequence of which, a debate of a very singular character arose, of which it would be impossible to offer an abridgement without doing injustice to all the speakers. Mr Whitbread seized the opportunity for attacking the government; and with the ebullitions of his patriotism, mixed some personal reflections on the character of the chief minister. The mildness and dignity

of this eminent man formed a fine contrast to the violence of him who aspired to be his antagonist.—In answer to some objections which had been started by preceding speakers, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, "that there was a real necessity for erecting new barracks for the Life Guards. Government had been actually ejected from the possession of the present ones, and was obliged to make a new agreement with the lessor, paying an annual addition of 9501. for the convenience of remaining in them two or three years longer till others were built. The system of having the men diffused over the metropolis, away from their horses and accoutrements, he thought a very reprehensible one. What might have been the consequences, had such a system been in practice during the late disturbances? Might not the men have been intercepted by the mob from reaching their stables, and the peace of the capital have been most seriously endangered?-The honourable gentleman imagined, that it would be a work of bad taste, but he could assure him, that he was not conscious of any unnecessary expense. With respect to the barracks at Bristol, it would be hard to ascertain what sort of building it should be which was to last during the war, if that was a principle of limitation which the house would be inclined to adopt. If a barrack was to be built there, considering the extent and population of the town, considering also the accommodation it would afford to the military passing to and from Ireland, he thought it should not be built upon any parsimonious scale. The money that was thrown away under this denomination of expenditure, was chiefly applied to the purchase of temporary barracks, which were now in want of repair. As to Liverpool, it was considered to be a great inconvenience that there should be no bar

rack there; and with regard to the expedient of hiring the warehouses for that purpose, he hardly thought that government would be justified in taking advantage, as it were, of the temporary suspension of trade in that place."

Mr Whitbread said, "that the right honourable gentleman appeared to him to have adopted erroneous views upon the subject, when he thought it of such little consequence to separate the soldiers from the people, as to be surprised at any objection to a grant for that purpose. The right honourable gentleman had not argued that general question; the time was gone by; but he would declare it as his sentiment, that he was extremely jealous, and he was sure the country at large was jealous, of the separating system. It had been said, that great advantage was likely to be derived from the labours of the commissioners appointed to audit General Delancey's accounts. Perhaps at the end of four or five years, if the country should exist so long under such financiers, that advantage would greatly increase with the practices that rendered it necessary. But whence did the advantage arise? What was the necessity under which this boasted saving was made? The want of care in the controuling power; the negligence and mismanagement of those who, by proper application, ought to have prevented the occurrence of evils instead of leaving us to be obliged to the commissioners for the ascertainment of their extent. was expected that if the commission. ers proceeded, many other defalcations would appear. To him this was not consoling. An honourable gentleman had stated once, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the victim of the departments, and the public were given to understand that the honourable gentleman had left the treasury through disgust at the want of a suffi

It

cient controul.But did the right honourable the Chancellor of the Exche quer think that he wanted military controul over the people of this country? Even at the end of the war, which the right honourable gentleman seemed to think would last long, and which he was sure would last as long as the career of the right honourable gentleman, would it be necessary for us to look forward to the prospect of overawing them? Was this a principle to be maintained? Did any one ever hear a minister coolly assert it? But the right honourable gentleman disapproved of the idea of applying any of the warehouses of Liverpool to the purpose of accommodating the military. He who had made the loom useless, and the warehouse idle, who had spread starvation and discontent, had disapproved of that which to him appeared a natural course of proceeding-that of filling the warehouses with soldiers for the purpose of controuling the people under the inflictions he had brought on them and on the country.

But even although the right honourable gentleman had been endeavouring to make the revenue come up to an hundred millions, did he think, or could he think, that for three years more the country could go on as it was now going? If things proceeded as they were now proceeding, if expenses continued to accumulate, and means to diminish, they must look for relief to a peace with the enemy, a peace which his measures had rendered unavoidable. In the transactions of past years he saw many great and glorious opportunities of ending this war neglected and lost, while, at pre sent, the system of the right honoura ble gentleman was calculated to produce the necessity of peace by submission. But why was it necessary that the horse and the soldier should be more together now than at any other time? Did any reason exist now,