Ch. xii. Restrictions upon Importation. 201 



the soil, and retards the natural increase of that 

 great original source of revenue — the rent of 

 land.* 



Now it is certain that, at no period, have the 

 manufactures, commerce and colony trade of the 

 country been in a state to absorb so much capital 

 as during the twenty years ending with 1814. 

 From the year 1764 to the peace of Amiens, it is 

 generally allowed that the commerce and manu- 

 factures of the country increased faster than its 

 agriculture, and that it became gradually more 

 and more dependent on foreign corn for its sup- 

 port. Since the peace of Amiens the state of its 

 colonial monopoly and its manufactures has been 

 such as to demand an unusual quantity of capital ; 

 and if the peculiar circumstances of the subse- 

 quent war, the high freights and insurance, and 

 the decrees of Buonaparte, had not rendered the 

 importation of foreign corn extremely difficult 

 and expensive, we should at this moment, ac- 

 cording to all general principles, have been in 

 the habit of supporting a much larger portion of 

 our population upon it, than at any former period 

 of our history. The cultivation of the country 

 would be in a very different state from what it is 

 at present. Very few or none of those great im- 

 provements would have taken place which may 

 be said to have purchased fresh land for the state 

 that no fall of price can destroy. And the peace, 

 or accidents of different kinds, might have cur- 

 tailed essentially both our colonial and manufac- 



* Vol, ii. b. iv. c. 8. p. 495. 



