The following is a comparative statement of the population of Great-Britain in the year 1801 and 1811; shewing the difference between the two returns. The English language is probably diffused to the extent of 30,000,000 of people. Army. The British army, in 1808, consisted, Infantry 101,003 Total Regulars 203,287 Whole No. 279,446 The British forces in the East-Indies, in 1809, 242,000 Total 521,446 Navy. The great rampart, defence, and glory of Great-Britain consist in her navy, in size, strength, and number of ships, far exceeding any examples on record, as may be judged from the fol lowing catalogue formed in February, 1811. NAVY LIST, February, 1811. Statement of the British naval force, exclusive of the hired armed vessels, which are chiefly employed in protecting the trade of Great-Britain. coasting } 35 6 6 5 1 53 Total 254 34 280 199 190 This number has since been increased to upwards of 1200. 40 79 13 1089 For this immense fleet the number of seamen amounts from 100 to 120,000, a number which no other country ancient or modern could have supplied. Revenue. The excise forms one of the most productive branches of the revenue. Next stand the customs, and after them the stamps. The land-tax has recently been rendered perpetual and sold to proprietors of estates and other individuals. But, instead of the land-tax, now appear those on sugar, tobacco, and malt, amounting to near 3,000,000. The other supplies arise from the EastIndia Company, lotteries, &c. The amount of the revenue for the year ending January, 1810, was 76,805,450. The amount of expenditure for the same year, was £82,027,288. Of this sum £20,956,052 was for interest on the national debt; £10,904,450, interest on debt redeemed and sinking fund, applied to the reduction of national debt. For the navy £9,791,408. the army 18,463,094. The unredeemed funded debt of Great-Britain was On the 1st of February, 1810, Increase For £ sterling 541,957,854 545,662,698 3,704,844 To alleviate this growing burthen, a sinking fund was instituted in 1786, by which upwards of 12 millions sterling are annually redeemed. The national debt began in the reign of William, and grew into what are called the funds or stocks, only synonymous terms for the public debt. The civil list, from which are defrayed the salaries of officers of state, judges, ambassadors, &c. together with the expences of the royal family, amounts to 1,000,000 annually. Character. The cold restraint, which some foreigners have ascribed to the English, has been candidly-judged by a recent traveller, to exist only in appearance. A more genuine attribute of the English is integrity, which has carried their credit and commerce to an extent before unknown in the history of nations. Their liberality and exertions in the establishment, and support of good institutions, and particularly in the diffusion of Christian knowledge, surpasses those of any other nation on the earth. Language. Most European languages are derived from the Gothic or the Latin. To the Latin origin belong the Italian, French, and Spanish; to the Gothic, the German, Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian. From the situation of the country, and other causes, the English participates of both those grand sources; and unites in some degree the force of the Gothic with the melody of the Latin dialects. Literature. English literature is a vast and inviting field; but a few fugitive remarks must here suffice. Of the traditionary verses of the druids, a few relics still exist; but the Roman conquest does not appear to have inculcated letters with much diffusion, for no author of those periods claims a British origin. The country was seized by the Saxons, before British literature faintly dawned in Gildas, A. D. 560. Irish literature commenced about the same period, and continued for some centuries to supply numerous writers in the Latin language; while England remained almost destitute. But Beda in the eighth century redeemed this defect, in himself a host, and, like Chaucer, the wonder of his time. The Danish invasions were ruinous to literature, both in GreatBritain and Ireland, and the great Alfred was obliged to exert his utmost endeavors in order to restore some degree of learning even among the clergy. That admirable prince himself translated some works of merit and utility, as the histories of Orosius and Beda, into the Anglo-Saxon. Of the interval between the age of Beda and the year 1100, the Saxon chronicle is a noble but neglected monument, being the only civil history of England, for a space of 400 years. About the year 1100, English literature commenced a firm and steady pace; a numerous train of historians, poets, and other writers, fills the pages of biography. In the fourteenth century, Roger Bacon aspires even to the praise of eminent genius. In the following century, the civil wars between the houses of York and Lancaster were destructive of literature and the arts; nor will it be easy to name an illustrious author of that period, though the intreduction of printing in the reign of Edward the Fourth forms a memorable epoch. The writers of the sixteenth and following centuries are numerous and well known. The grand feature of English literature is original genius, transmitted even from Roger Bacon to Shakespeare, Lord Bacon, Milton, Newton, Locke, and Berkeley; not to dwell here on claims more minute, but equally firm. In scientific department, England does not yield even to France. In the various branches of mathematical knowledge, she has surpassed all nations. The English clergy have always cultivated classical lit›erature with distinguished zeal and predilection. Education. The education of the lower classes in England had become extremely neglected, before the benevolent institution of the Sunday schools. Schools on the Lancastrian plan have lately been instituted in almost every village. Probably the next generation will be almost universally acquainted with reading, writing, and arithmetic. The middle and higher ranks of English spare no expence in the education of their sons, by private tutors at home, or at what are called day schools and boarding schools. The most eminent public schools are those of St. Paul's, Westminster, Eton, and Winchester; and from them have arisen some of the most distinguished ornaments of their country. The scholars in due time proceed to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge; foundations, of an extent and grandeur that impress veneration; the former embraces no less than seventeen colleges, the latter sixteen. Cities and Towns. LONDON, the metropolis of England, is situated in an extensive plain watered by the Thames, and only confined on the north by a few small elevations; being a place of great antiquity and first mentioned by Tacitus. It now includes Southwark, a borough on the other side of the Thames, and Westminster, another city on the west. The noble river Thames is here about 440 yards in breadth, crowned with three bridges, crowded with a forest of masts, and conveying into London the wealth of the globe, forming an excellent port, without the danger of exposure to maritime enmity. It is, however a great defect, that instead of open quays and streets on the banks of the stream, the view is obstructed on both sides by irregular masses of building, which do not even admit of a path. London presents almost every variety which diversifies human existence. Upon the east it is a sea-port, replete with mariners and with the trades connected with that profession. In the centre, it is the seat of numerous manufactures and prodigious commerce; while the western or fashionable extremity presents royal and noble splendor, amidst scenes of the highest luxury and most ruinous dissipation. London requires in one year 1,762,100 quarters of grain, 101,075 beeves, 707,456 sheep, with calves and pigs in proportion: the vegetables and fruits annually consumed are valued at 1,000,000sterling. The population of London has by some been exaggerated to a million of souls; but by the enumeration, in 1801, there were males 393,369, females 471,476; total 864,845. If to these be added the regiments of guards, the militia in London, and the seaman on the Thames, the population would exceed 900,000. The number of houses was 126,414. Its length from Hyde-park corner on the west, to Poplar on the east, is about six miles; the breadth unequal, from three miles to one and less; the circumfer ence may be about sixteen miles. The houses are almost universally of brick, and disposed with insipid similarity; but in recompence most of the streets are excellently paved, and have convenient paths for foot passengers. Few of the public edifices in London can pretend to much magnificence. The cathedral of St. Paul's forms one of the chief exceptions; the exterior architecture of this principal cathedral of the Protestant faith being majestic to a degree of sublimity, but the interior is defective in decoration. The churches and chapels exceed 200 in number, and a few are of beautiful artichecture. Some are the productions of Inigo Jones; as is also the noble banqueting-house at Whitehall, with a masterly ceiling, painted by Rubens, representing the apotheosis. of James I. YORK. Next to the capital in dignity, though not in extent nor opulence, is York; which is not only the chief of a large and fertile province, but may be regarded as the metropolis of the North of England. This venerable city is divided by the river Ouse; and the Gothic cathedral is of celebrated beauty, the western front be ing peculiarly rich, the chief tower very lofty, and the windows of the finest painted glass. York divides with Edinburgh the winter visits of the northern gentry. Its inhabitants, according to the enumeration in 1801, amounted to 16,145, and its houses to 2,000, LIVERPOOL Liverpool, in Lancashire, at the beginning of the last century, was merely a village. By the enumeration in 1801, the number of inhabitants was 77,653. The number of houses 9,925. BRISTOL, a large and flourishing city, is pleasantly situated at the |