THE CUSTOMS REFORM. 171 



herself almost all the meat, and nearly all the wheat, of 

 the two islands, leaving to the great majority of the 

 Scotch and Irish population only barley, oats, and pota- 

 toes ; and yet, in spite of the greatly superior production 

 of the English lands, and notwithstanding the large im- 

 portation of cattle and corn from Scotland and Ireland, 

 the demand for alimentary substances in England is such, 

 that prices there are generally a good deal above what 

 they are in France ; and they would have been higher, 

 had not foreign importations kept them down. 



Under these circumstances, the question of a supply of 

 provisions has always been one of primary importance 

 with English statesmen. In a country where population 

 is so condensed that about a third of the people are 

 reduced to the strict necessaries of life, and the other two- 

 thirds, although the best off of any in the world, still do 

 not consider that they have enough, the least deficiency 

 in the harvest is apt to cause serious embarrassment. 

 This has at different times happened, especially during 

 the height of the war with France. Corn then rose to 

 extreme prices 4, 5, and up to 6 per quarter. 

 Since 1815, the progress in farming and importation has 

 gradually brought the price of wheat back to something 

 under 60s. the quarter, and in 1835 it even fell to 40s. ; 

 but since 1837 the tendency has been to rise, and it has 

 already several times passed the rate of 70s. per quarter. 



It was at this price when the blight took place, which 

 threatened the existence of one of the chief articles of 

 the national food; I mean the potato disease. This 

 blight, which produced a grievous famine in Ireland, 

 had even in England disastrous effects ; and it was 

 shortly followed by serious apprehensions for the corn 

 crops, fears which were too truly realised in the bad 

 years of 1845 and 1846. 



