ESSAY 



ELEMENTS OF BRITISH INDUSTRY, 



&c. 



BRITAIN, on the arrival of the first emigrants 

 from the Continent, exhibited no evidence of 

 human art all was wild and solitary. She 

 presents a very different appearance in 1848. 

 The value of property, added to her soil by 

 the industry of her people, is great. For the 

 first period of her history, the principal, if not 

 the only, branches of industry pursued by our 

 ancestors were, the tending their flocks and 

 herds, hunting, and the manufacture of warlike 

 implements. On the landing of the Romans 

 agriculture had made some progress, and before 

 they finally left our shores, large quantities of 

 corn were exported. The progress of industry 

 since that period has been very various. Some- 

 times the arts and sciences flourished rapidly, 



B 



