286 Statistical Notices, 



. It must be confessed, however^ that the present kingdom 

 of the Netherlands, as established by the congress of Vienna 

 contains, in proportion to its extent and population, more 

 large towns than any single state which now exists, or perhaps 

 has ever existed. With an extent of territory and number of 

 inhabitants scarcely exceeding one-fourth of the British domi- 

 nions, that kingdom has one city of the first class, Amsterdam ; 

 two of the second rank, Rotterdam and Brussels ; and probably 

 as many of the third class as Great Britain herself. But the 

 Kingdom of the Netherlands is in itself too insignificant to 

 enter into any competition with such a state as Great Britain 

 for any objects of general comparison. The various states 

 comprehended under the common geographical appellation of 

 Italy, if that superb country was united under one head, is the 

 only one of the European nations which, under the view we 

 are now considering, could sustain any parallel with Great 

 Britain. But this union, so desirable in many points of view, 

 ■yvould probably diminish its pretensions as a nation of large 

 cities. Many of these have reached their present grandeur 

 and extent by having been long the seat of a court or a govern- 

 ment, and would perhaps decline considerably if reduced to 

 the rank of mean provincial capitals. But even under any 

 circumstances of territorial union, Italy could not be held to 

 comprize more than one city of the first class, viz.^ Naples, 

 and six of the second, viz., Turin, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Flo- 

 rence, and Rome ; whereas, as we have just seen, Britain has 

 two of the first and seven of the second, and these superior in 

 size and number of inhabitants. 



The third peculiarity which I have to remark in the actual 

 situation of the British dominions is, that no nation ever had 

 so great an urban population, or so large a proportion of its 

 inhabitants residing in towns. This peculiarity is intimately 

 connected with that which I have just described; but it is 

 nevertheless a very different characteristic. Great Britain is 

 not only distinguished for the number and size of her large 

 cities, but for having so great a number of them on so small 

 a territory. By the census of 1811, it was found that nearly 

 half our population resided in towns, and at present, I ap- 

 prehend, the proportion will be found still greater. In this 



