the same as those of England: it was once extensively covered with forests.

153. The manufactures of Great Britain are unrivalled in their extent, variety, and value. The cotton manufacture (since 1760) is the greatest: its grand seat is Lancashire; after that Cheshire, Derbyshire, and Yorkshire; also Lanarkshire and Renfrew in Scotland. The woollen manufacture, the oldest in the kingdom, ranks next in value: its chief seats are the West Riding of Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Devonshire, Lancashire, and Somersetshire. The other chief manufactures, in order of value, are those of iron and hardware, whose head quarters are Sheffield and Birmingham; also of leather, silk, linen, glass, and earthenware. To these may be added watches and jewellery, hats, paper, and lace. The manufactures of Scotland are thriving. Linen is manufactured in Ireland.

154. The commerce of Great Britain surpasses even that of Carthage and of Tyre of old, of Italy in the middle ages, of Holland in the seventeenth century. Our own manufactures are our chief articles of export; our imports chiefly consist of the peculiar productions (mostly natural, and in their raw state,) of the several countries we trade with. London, "the great emporium of nations," is peculiarly the seat of British commerce with India and China. Liverpool and Bristol are the great seats of the American and West-Indian trades. Bristol, Hull, Newcastle, Whitehaven, and several other towns, are largely engaged in the trade with Spain and Portugal, and the Mediterranean. Hull, Newcastle, Plymouth, Sunderland, and others, are the chief seats of the Baltic trade. Ipswich, Boston, Wisbeach, and others, are the chief ports for corn. Hull, Newcastle, London, Whitby, and Berwick, are engaged in the northern whale-fishery. London, Sunderland, Newcastle, and others, are the great ship-building ports. Scotland shares to a considerable extent in the general trade of the country; she exports largely the manufactures of Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, and their neighbourhoods. The Irish exports consist chiefly of agricultural produce. Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Belfast, and Newry largely participate in the valuable provision trade.

155. The turnpike-roads and canals of England and Wales

are numerous and excellent; but railways are rapidly becoming the most important means of internal communication. Some of the greatest of these are the London and Birmingham, the Great Western, Manchester and Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, Grand Junction, London and Brighton, Eastern Counties, and many others; but the slightest details of these gigantic undertakings would exceed our limits. Scotland now possesses good roads; but the country is not adapted for canal navigation: several short railways are in progress. Good common roads are still the chief means of internal communication in Ireland.

156. Constitution and Government.-The three estates of the realm are the Nobles, the Clergy, and the Commons. The King (Queen) of England is an hereditary limited monarch; the succession being determined by the Act of Settlement, passed in the reign of William III. "The King's Majesty hath the chief power in this Realm of England, and other his dominions; with whom the chief government of all estates of this realm, whether they be ecclesiastical or civil, in all causes, doth appertain; and is not, nor ought to be, subject to any foreign jurisdiction." (Article xxxvii.) The King of England is, according to his just title, "Defender of the Faith, and Supreme Governor of the Church within his dominions." But he is not a 66 spiritual" person. "We give not to our princes the ministering either of God's word, or of the Sacraments;" but only the prerogative to "rule all estates and degrees committed to their charge by GoD, whether they be ecclesiastical or temporal, and to restrain with the civil sword the stubborn and evil-doers." (Ibid.) The only HEAD of the Catholic Church, of which national churches are members, is our Lord and Master, JESUS CHRIST.

157. The legislative power is vested in the High Court of Parliament, which assembles under the King; who possesses, according to the theory of the constitution, a veto upon any bill which has passed the two houses. The House of Lords is composed of the Lords Spiritual and the Lords Temporal. The Lords Spiritual are the Archbishops and Bishops of the Church of England; together with one Archbishop, and three Bishops of the Church of Ireland, who sit by rotation. The Lords Temporal are the Hereditary Peers of England and of the United Kingdom, 16 representative Peers of Scotland, and 27 Peers of

Ireland. The House of Commons consists of 658 members, elected periodically, chiefly by the middle classes of Great Britain and Ireland, as their representatives. The members sit for the universities, for counties and boroughs. It is the duty of Parliament, "under our most religious and gracious King (Queen) assembled," to consult the advancement of the Divine Glory, the good of the Church, the safety, honour, and welfare of our Sovereign and his dominions; "that all things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavours, upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us for all generations." The Convocation of the Province of Canterbury, (that of York has never been important,) consists of two Houses: the Upper, of the Suffragan Bishops of the Metropolitan; the Lower, of the Deans, Archdeacons, and Proctors for the Cathedral and Parochial Clergy respectively. Convocation is formally summoned by the Archbishop's writ, under consent of the King; but it has been practically prorogued since 1717. The laws made by convocation, in common with those made by ecclesiastical synods and councils, are termed Canons.

158. The English Courts of Justice are either general or local. The general courts are those of Common Law, Equity, Bankruptcy, the Insolvent Debtors' Court, the Ecclesiastical Courts, and Courts Maritime. The Common Law Courts are those of the King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer. The Court of Chancery administers Equity. The Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts administer the Canon and Civil Law. The principal ecclesiastical courts are the provincial courts of the two archbishoprics, diocesan, and archidiaconal courts, and peculiars. Our limits forbid us to enumerate local courts. To the general courts, however, may be added the courts of assize and gaol delivery, the courts of quarter and general sessions, county courts, &c.; local in sphere, but general in principle.

159. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge stand at the head of the educational institutions of the empire. The leading Grammar Schools are those of Eton, Westminster, and Winchester; Charterhouse, St. Paul's, Merchant Taylors', Christ's Hospital; to which may be added Rugby, Harrow, and Shrewsbury schools, and others of varying reputation. The Church administers national or primary education, chiefly

through the agency of a valuable incorporated society, by means of parochial and diocesan schools; but probably her most valuable instrument is parochial catechising, brought to bear upon families. There are several other educational establishments in the empire of a mixed and inferior character.

160. The laws of Scotland are administered by two supreme courts the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. Ireland was legislatively united to Great Britain in 1801. The executive government is vested in a Lord-Lieutenant, assisted by a Chief Secretary, who hold their offices during the royal pleasure. The administration of the law is conducted under the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, assisted by the Master of the Rolls, and the Judges, for Ireland, of the Courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer; upon the same principles as the English system of judicature. The Universities of Scotland are those of St. Andrew's, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, now in the hands of the presbyterians; and that of Edinburgh. Scotland possesses a system of parochial schools, established in 1696. Trinity College, Dublin, stands at the head of the colleges and schools of Ireland; but various discordant systems exist in that distracted island, and the Church maintains her unbefriended ground with difficulty.

161. Civil Divisions of England and Wales.-England is divided into 52 counties, 12 of which form the Principality of Wales. London is the capital; situated in 51° 30′ N. lat., and 5°48′ W. long. Population, 1,465,268.

SIX NORTHERN.

NORTHUMBERLAND.-Alnwick;* Newcastle, celebrated for coal; Berwick-upon-Tweed.

DURHAM.-Durham, an episcopal city; Sunderland, noted for ship-building; Stockton on the Tees.

YORKSHIRE.-York, the seat of an archbishop; Leeds, famous for its woollen trade; Sheffield, for cutlery; Hull, for shipping and commerce; Bradford, for cotton and woollen manufacture; Huddersfield, Halifax, and Wakefield, engaged in the woollen trade; Doncaster, a place for horse-races; Whitby, where Captain Cook was born.

CUMBERLAND.-Carlisle, an episcopal city; Whitehaven, whence coals are largely exported.

*County Towns are printed in Italics.

WESTMORELAND.-Appleby, Kendal.

LANCASHIRE.-Lancaster; Manchester, the great seat of the cotton manufacture, and about to be raised into an episcopal city; Liverpool, the second commercial town in England; Bolton, Preston, Blackburn,-all engaged in the cotton manufacture.

FOUR BORDERING ON WALES.

CHESHIRE.-Chester, an episcopal city; Stockport, Maccles field, both manufacturing towns.

SHROPSHIRE.-Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Oswestry, Ludlow. (Shropshire is also called Salop.)

HEREFORDSHIRE.-Hereford, an episcopal city; Leomin

ster.

MONMOUTHSHIRE.-Monmouth, the birthplace of Henry V.

FOUR EASTERN COUNTIES.

LINCOLNSHIRE.-Lincoln, an episcopal city; Boston. NORFOLK.-Norwich, an epispocal city; Yarmouth, a fishing town for mackerel and herrings; Lynn Regis.

SUFFOLK.-Ipswich, the birthplace of Cardinal Wolsey; Bury St. Edmonds.

ESSEX.-Chelmsford; Colchester; Harwich, a Dutch packet

station.

FIVE NORTH MIDLAND.

DERBYSHIRE.-Derby, Chesterfield.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE.

Newark.

Nottingham, lace and silk trade;

STAFFORDSHIRE.-Stafford; Lichfield, an episcopal city; Wolverhampton, iron manufactures; Burton.

LEICESTERSHIRE. - Leicester, lace and stocking trade; Loughborough; Melton Mowbray, head-quarters of foxhunting.

RUTLANDSHIRE.-Oakham, Uppingham.

ELEVEN SOUTH MIDLAND.

WORCESTERSHIRE.-Worcester, an episcopal city; Dudley, hardware and coals; Kidderminster, carpet manufacture; Droitwich, salt-works; Malvern, medicinal springs.

WARWICKSHIRE.-Warwick; Coventry, an episcopal city; Birmingham, hardware manufactures; Leamington, mineral waters; Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of Shakspeare.