1862.] A Plea for Cotton and for- Industry. 515 



and limited extent of land only exists to afford thena the means of 

 labour and to yield them its fruits w(jich supported their predecessors. 

 Even in Elizabeth's reign the people were deemed to be too numerous 

 for the extent of land in her British dominions, and restrictions upon 

 the building of dwellings in proportion to the areas of districts were 

 enacted. If, therefore, the augmentation within the period now men- 

 tioned, of from five to thirty millions of people, be considered, it is 

 self-evident that new sources of industry have had to be developed to 

 supply increasing wants. Mineral and agricultural products have, in 

 past ages, furnished scanty exports to pay for foreign articles of neces- 

 sity and luxury ; but, with a constantly increasing population, the yield 

 of the soil has been absorbed by the enlarged consumption at home ; 

 and now foreign supplies of corn, of other food, and of luxuries are re- 

 quired for, and may be equal to the subsistence of one-third of the 

 entire population of the United Kingdom. But whilst supplies of food 

 have been needed for this increasing population, the other concomitants 

 of comfort have also been required, and all these necessaries of life 

 could only be obtained in this country by the magic power of skill and 

 labour. 



A sea-girt land with navigable rivers, thus possessing egress and 

 ingress, seems to invite foreign intercourse, and to be the first essential 

 to a great mercantile and manufacturing district ; but when such a 

 country is found to be immeasurably rich in its mines of coals and 

 metals, when it possesses a temperate and healthy clime, and, above all, 

 when its inhabitants are hardy, sagacious, toil-loving, free, and untiring, 

 we may infer that the decree of Providence has ordained that the people 

 with these advantages shall be blest with plenty, and shall contribute 

 of their abundance to the families of mankind. To no country, how- 

 ever, has exclusive advantages been given ; but, wisely, mutual depend- 

 ence appears to be the pacific bond intended to promote the welfare of 

 the common brotherhood. Probably beyond every other people the 

 British possess the elements of successful trading and commercial in- 

 dustry ; but beyond the direct necessaries of life, which their labour 

 ought to enable them to buy, they need raw materials whereon that 

 labour can be employed. Sheep's wool and flax. Great Britain can, in 

 part, produce towards the demand for them ; but still large quantities 

 of them are required from foreign countries, and silk, cotton, and other 

 productions of the warmer regions must always be imported as contri- 

 Jbutions in aid of the manufacturing industry of the United Kingdom. 

 Textile fabrics afford in their production the most extensive means of 

 employment, and have become the indispensable clothing comforts of 

 the people of every country. The fabrics and manufactures of cotton 

 are, however, among the most useful, convenient, elegant, and econo- 

 mical productions of labour. From the quilt or bed-cover to the finest 

 and most filmy muslin, from the fustian garments of the poor to the 

 decorations of lace worn by the rich, and in the snow-white gift of the 

 bleacher to the rainbow colours of the printer, cotton is prolific of com- 

 fort and of ornament. 



