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No actual dependence is to be placed on any except the last four; viz., 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831, as previous to this, there was no accurate mode of taking the census, as it is called.

The following table shews the population of the principal towns of England.

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When we see this immense population up to 1831, and which will be much greater when the population for this year (1841) is taken, we could not wonder at seeing bridges, churches, hospitals, or any thing else built, as a few shillings from every one would raise a sum of money of large

amount.

The following number of acres of ground is the probable quantity in England and Wales, as stated in the third report of the Emigration Committee laid before the parliament.

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So that if it were requisite to lay a direct tax immediately to raise a large sum of money upon any sudden occasion, it might be readily done in two ways, either by calling upon every living human being in England to pay one or two shillings per year each, or to let the owner of land pay a shilling or two for every acre per year; at the first appearance it would seem a hardship to tax the owners of the land but it would not in fact be a tax upon them but upon all the people who consume the produce of the land. For if a man now is about to hire a farm of land, he calculates so much for rent, so much for poor rate, so much for church rate, and then sells all his corn, or bullocks or sheep at prices to bring him his outlay back, with profit to live upon. And as it is necessary to raise a great deal of money in England for taxes, and for revenue in a duty paid upon timber, cotton, and every thing that comes into England, which is expensive in the collection, we think as much as could be laid upon land should be, as it is easy to collect, the produce would be certain, and but little expence to receive

it, and as wheat and other corn is not allowed to come into England from abroad without paying a very high duty to protect, as it is said, the English Landowner from the competition of the Landowners of Poland, Prussia, and America, it is no more than right that the Landowner should bear a great proportion of taxation; yet we see that upon looking at tables, that wheat has varied very much in price notwithstanding they have a fluctuating duty, in 1792 a quarter of eight bushels of wheat sold for 43s., in 1800 for 1138., in 1801 for 118s., in 1803 for 56s., in 1810 for 1068., in 1812 for 1258., in 1822 for 438., in 1827 for 568., in 1840 for 80s., and this variation in the price of wheat, has no doubt been produced by the fluctuating duty to be paid for all wheat imported into England, which is as follows;

The duty to be paid for every quarter shall be

Whenever wheat is 62s. per quarter of eight bushels and under 63s. in the markets as declared by an average of the prices of all sold at all the £. markets in England

Whenever 63s. and under 64s. per qr.

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And whenever above 73s. per quarter

Now as by this mode of paying duty great inducements were held out to persons to speculate largely, and by selling from one to another on each market day large quantities of wheat at a nominal high price, to be purchased back again on the next market day, at a much higher nominal price, the wheat in fact never being really sold at all, the average prices which govern the duty are got up to above 73s. per quarter, and then hundreds of thousands of quarters of foreign wheat are liberated from bond at only one shilling per quarter duty. The revenue of the country is not materially benefited, and the growers of corn are seriously injured, as the holders of foreign corn, their speculation having been carried out, sell their corn which is very fine, and prevent the English grower from selling his, until prices have fallen by so much corn being in the market.

If therefore it is necessary to protect the English wheat grower by any duty, it should be a permanent fixed duty of a few shillings per quarter; and then it will not be worth while for the rich capitalists to speculate in buying up corn, and the prices would be more equal at all times.

CHAPTER VI.

WAX WORK-MADAME TUSSAUD.

Soon after our arrival in England we went to pay a visit to an exhibition of Wax-work Figures, in what was formerly a great horse and carriage bazaar in Baker Street, Portman Square, where there are a great many figures as large as life, dressed exactly in the costume that they are, or were, in the daily habit of wearing, and in all respects so exactly resembling living men, that when the room is crowded with visitors it is very difficult, at a very small distance, to distinguish the living real man from his waxen representative. Queen Victoria had been crowned as queen of England on the 28th of June, 1838, and in the centre of the room there was an exact representation of the group that actually surrounded her Majesty at the time. We have, since that time, had the honor and pleasure of seeing her Majesty, and we can bear testimony to the very strong likeness. A very venerable and good-looking old man, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the head of the English Church, is just about to place the

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