sumption, a disease more common perhaps in England than in any other country. To the moist and foggy climate, in conjunction with the great use of animal food, may likewise be ascribed that melancholy, which, by some foreigners, has been considered as a national characteristic, as well as the general prevalence of the rheumatism and scurvy. In a climate, so mutable, it is difficult to speak with precision on the commencement, duration, and end of the seasons. Frosty nights are not uncommon in the middle of June; summer often exhibits an appearance of winter; and the month of December is not unfrequently tinctured with the mildness of May.

England has mostly been regarded as a country extremely fertile in grain; but, from the present system of farming, the progressive increase of population, and other accidental causes, it does not, at this time, produce a sufficient quantity for the supply of its home consumption.

The inadequacy of the supply of corn, produced in England, to the national consumption, from whatever cause it proceeds, seems to have commenced since the peace of 1763, and to have become more perceptible since A. D. 1767. From that time the evil has gradually increased, and, in 1795, it arose to an alarming magnitude. From 1782 to 1793, the annual deficiency amounted, on an average, to 587,165 quarters,* and that of the year 1795, was increased to 1,764,163 quarters. This extraordinary deficit, appears to have been chiefly owing to the failure of the two preceding crops; but it is somewhat more difficult to account for the uniform, or rather constantly increasing annual deficiency, especially when the large tracts of waste lands, lately brought into cultivation, are taken into the estimate of productive agriculture. The grazing system of English farming is generally assigned as the principal cause; but a variety of others undoubtedly concur to produce this effect. A growing population, and increased luxury may be allowed to have their due weight; but perhaps no existing circumstance has a greater share in causing a scarcity of grain, than the almost incalculable number of horses kept for a va

* Middleton's View of Middlesex, p. 481.

riety of purposes. If any credit be given to Mr. Middleton's computation, scarcely less than one fourth of the arable lands in Great Britain, is destined to their support.

Amidst the modern improvements of husbandry, the extent of waste land is still astonishing. The first report of the committee, appointed by the house of commons, to inquire into these matters, stated the cultivated lands of England and Wales at 39,000,000, and those, yet in an uncultivated state, at 7,888,777 acres. Of the latter, no more than 500,000 are considered as wholly unimproveable.

Almost every production of every clime is found in English gardens and hot houses, where, the deficiency of solar heat is so amply supplied, that many of the tropical flowers and fruits, especially pine apples, are successfully cultivated. The kit chen gardens abound in all sorts of greens, roots, and other productions of horticulture. The general and successful cultivation of clover, saintfoin, lucern, and a variety of other grass seeds, must be considered as an important branch of British agriculture.

Among the vegetable productions of England, its timber, especially its oaks, merit particular notice. With the exception of the live oak of Carolina and Georgia, these are not excelled in any country of the globe. It is scarcely to be doubted, that the quantity of timber in England has, from time immemorial, been decreasing, but this is a circumstance common to all cultivated and well peopled countries; and, it is equally evident, that this must still continue to be the case, wherever population is increased, and agriculture improved. If we extend our views into futurity, it may be presumed that a time must come, when public regulations, for the preservation and the planting of timber, will be found indispensably necessary. In regard to Great Britain, it is to be observed, that, while she maintains her commercial and naval superiority, she can easily procure supplies of this necessary article; and the inexhaustible abundance of her coal will prevent her timber from decreasing so rapidly, as in those countries where wood is the only fuel that can be procured.

The gloominess and moisture of the atmosphere of Eng

Tand, exceedingly contribute to that almost perpetual verdure which clothes the fields, and produces abundance of sustenance for man and beast, This, perhaps, is the principal cause of that perfection to which its various animals so easily attain. Its climate is peculiarly adapted to pasturage; for while the clear summer skies of several continental countries present no obstacles to the operation of the solar heats, an unclouded atmosphere is seldom observed for any length of time in England. For the most part, even in the finest season, a canopy of clouds affords a shade to the pastures, and the cattle with which they are covered. This physical cause of animal perfection, has been admirably seconded by the laudable exertions and judicious management of the English gentry, and opulent farmers, in improving the different breeds, by every mode of intermixture. The general solicitude which has been manifested, and the incredible industry and expense that have been bestowed in improving the breed of that noble and useful animal the horse, have been recompensed with a success, corresponding to those endeavours. The English horses are superior to any others in the world, as they now unite all the beauties and perfections of the Persian, Arabian, Spanish, and other foreign breeds. The period of time, at which horses were first introduced into this island, is wholly unknown; but its deficiency in that noble animal was never more conspicuous, than when the Spanish Armada appeared upon the coast, A. D. 1588. One of the reasons, which induced the Spaniards to assure themselves of success, in case they made good their landing, was their knowledge of the weakness of the English cavalry. In that moment of extreme danger, the ministry, after making the strictest inquiries, found, that in the whole kingdom, no more than 3000 horses could be relied on as fit for military service.* This circumstance is one of those striking particulars, which strongly mark the change that, within the space of little more than two centuries, has taken place in the state of this country. At that time, tolerable horses could no where be found, but in the stables of the

Campbell's Polit. Survey, vol. ii. p. 193.

nobility and principal gentry, who were far from being numerous. This, however, was the æra from which the im. provement of English horses dates its commencement. The first circumstance, to which it owes its origin, arose from that formidable armament, which threatened the subjugation of the kingdom; for, after the defeat and dispersion of the Spanish Armada, a great number of their horses came on shore. The English horses, which in 1588, were beyond comparison inferior to those of France, Spain, and Italy, have now gained a decided superiority over every breed on the continent.

Horned cattle and sheep have undergone a similar process of improvement. Of late years, not only the opulent farmers and country gentlemen, but many of the principal nobility have vied with each other, in their laudable exertions for carrying the breeds of the most useful domestic animals to the highest possible degree of perfection. English oxen unite all the qualities that can be introduced by a judicious intermixture, and the various breeds of sheep have been so much improved that, in the fineness of their wool, they yield only to those of Spain. It has, by some, been supposed that twelve millions of fleeces are annually shorn, worth; on an average, 5s. per fleece. If to this, we annex the immense profits arising from the manufacturing of the wool into cloth, and reflect on the numerous population employed and supported by the various branches of this trade, the value of sheep, as a source of national opulence, will be obvious.*

Few countries are better supplied with fish than England. The fisheries, particularly of herrings, pilchards, salmon, and mackarel, contribute in no small degree to the employment and support of considerable numbers of the inhabitants.

England contains several natural curiosities. Those of the peak in Derbyshire are the most distinguished, especially the celebrated cavern at Castleton, which extends nearly, in a horizontal direction, 750 yards under the base of the mountain.

* These facts, in connexion with the recent importation of merino sheep, hold out brilliant prospects to the United states. Their fleeces, on an average, are in this country worth two dollars, and their number may easily be increased to fifty millions before the present century be ended.

A clear torrent, issuing out of the ground at its extremity, runs the whole length, almost to its mouth, and then loses itself in a subterraneous channel. The entrance, at the head of a narrow valley between perpendicular rocks of about 200 yards in height, is singularly noble and majestic. Middleton Dale is also a grand feature of nature, being a deep valley or vast chasm, extending with little curvature near two miles, between almost perpendicular rocks of 150 yards in height, and in several places presenting the appearance of towers and ruined castles.

The lakes of Cumberland are a grand scene of attraction to summer tourists. It would be to no purpose to attempt, in a narrow compass, a description of beauties on which volumes have been written.*

The submarine relics of a forest on the coast of Lincolnshire, and the immense number of trees found at the depth of from three to six feet, under the surface, throughout the great Yorkshire level, are worthy of notice. Some of these trees appear to have been overturned by the winds; others hewed down by the axe, and not a few bear evident marks of fire. A great part of this subterraneous timber consists of oaks, perfectly sound, except on the outside; and some of them of a very large size. We cannot omit the remarkable cavern near the village of Berrington in Somersetshire, in which are seen a number of human bones, gradually incorporating with the limestone rock. There is a continual dripping which deposits a stalactitic sediment on the bones, and several nodules contain perfect human skulls. This cavern was discovered only a few years ago; but at what time, or on what occasion these bones were deposited there, is unknown.

Almost the whole country of Wales will, to an eye that delights in contemplating the magnificent scenery of nature, be considered as an assemblage of curiosities. The beautiful scenery of Wales has been celebrated in the picturesque descriptions of Gilpin, the sober narrative of Pennant, and the

* Vide Espriella's Letters from England, which contain a most masterly description of its romantic scenery.