BRITAIN. 



Table of Population tlu-ougliout the laft Century. 



SCOTLAND. 



Ill Ihc Year 



1700 . - - 



I710 • - - 



1720 ... 



1730 - - - 



1740 - - - 



1750 - - - 



1760 . . - 



1770 - - - 



1780 - . - 



1785 . - - 



1790 - - - 



1795 - - - 



1801 - - - 



Populali. 



1,048,000 

 1,270,000 

 1,390,000 

 1,309,000 

 1,222,000 

 1,403,000 

 1,363,000 

 1,434,000 



i,4;,8,oc.-> 

 1,475,000 

 1,567,000 

 1,669,000 

 1,652,370 



fum is raifed by a variety of taxes, m aid of th* rfven f. 

 arifMiff from the excife and culU.ms. The ability of the 

 country for bearing the burden which Us exigences impolc 

 upon it, confills in the produce of its land and manufadureH, 

 and in the circulation of property, occafioned by its domelbc 

 trade and foreiRU commerce. Thefe fources of national 

 N^ealth have been improved to an aftonilhuiK degree in the 

 couife of the lad century and a half. Ava.lmg ourfelves ot 

 the eilimatc of the national wealth of Grest Bnlam, furmni- 

 cd by Mr. Grellier, an ingemouB writer, inone of our periodi- 

 cal publications (Monthly Magazine, vol. x.) ve fliall fub- 

 ioin the following llatement of its vail increafe during the 

 period above mentioned. In 1^64, iir W Uham 1 elty efti- 

 matcd the wealth of England at the fum of two hundred 

 and tifty millions. His coir.put:ition is fi^jointd. 

 Value of the hnd ; being 24 millions of^ 



acres, yielding 8 millio.is per annum y^^. 144,000,000 

 rent, worth at 18 years purchafc -J 



The population of Scotland, in iSoi, compared with 



that of the beginning of the laft century, appears to be as 



000 to 634, or near!y as 10 to 6h which, as the 09 panlh 



regifters were received from the manufaciunng parts of 



Scotland, gives too high a Aateraent of the incre.Je of popu- 



^'Tthe year 1695 a poU-tas was levied in Ireland; and on 

 tWsoccafion it was calculated, that the number of inhabi- 

 tants was i,o34>ooo; but die ufual evaRon of taxation may 

 be fuppofed to have conf.derably kiTened thyeal numoer. 

 About the year I795> Ireland contained, at leall, 4 coo,ooo, 

 and f.nce that time the number has uotmcreafed. However, 

 it may not be very erroneous to cftimate the population ot 

 Ireland at ,,500,000 in the year 1700, and at 4,000,000 

 in the year 1801. If this be granted, the population be- 

 longing to all the Brltifti ifles has increafed during the laft 

 century from 8,100,000 to 15,100,000. 



Of the population of Great Britain, the arn^y has, of late 

 years, engroffed a confiderable fliare It confifts of regtdars, 

 fn cavalrf, and infantry, and the mihtia.exdufive of artilkiy 

 and engineers. The 'volunteer corps ,n Great Britain and 

 Ireland amounted in December, 1803, to 43°>°oo ^ ^"'^ °" 

 the ift of January, 1805, the fecretary of war made the 

 following return of the ilate of the Bntilh forces at home 

 .ndon foreign Rations viz. ^-^'"3 of cava ky -df 

 I,o83 horfe artillery; 8,559 of artillery' ; 124,8,8 oiin- 

 flntry, including 20,747 men for limited fervice, and 21,20b 

 men belon-in- to foreign and provincial corps in Bntilli 

 pay ; and 8^ 809 of militia : fo that the whole BritiHi force, 

 in regulars, mihtia, and volunteers, amounts to 674,469 men. 

 To thefe we may add the royal regiment of artillery, the 

 horfe brigade,- the brigade of gunners and drivers, and com- 

 panies of^reign artilkry, amounting on the ill of January, 

 ^So< to i6,6?o ; and the corps of royal artillery, artihcers 

 and labourers, including, at the fame period,, 704 men. 



But the great rampart and fupreme glory of Gieat l.ri- 

 tain confift in her navy, in fize, ftrength ^"J "umber of 

 fhips, far exceeding any example on record In ibo5, the 

 otal of ihips in commiffion amounted to 684, confift.ng of 

 lU of the line, 19 fifties to forty-fours, 150 frigates, 

 and 404 fhips of various kinds ; bef.des feveral repairing, 

 hi ordinary, and building: amountmg in the whole to 

 80° For this immenfe fleet, the number of feamcn, 

 aminally voted, amou.ts from a hundred to a hundred and 

 t . nty thourand ; a number which no other countiy ancient 

 or modern could have lunplied. To fupport the expendi- 

 tuir occafioned by the army and navy of Great Bntam, 

 to defray the other charges of government, and alfo to 

 difcharge the intereft of the national debt, a very large 

 VolTv. 



Houfcs ; reckoning thofe within the bills'! 

 of mortality,equalinvalue to one-thiid j- 



of the whole " ' *"i 



Shipping ; 500,000 tons, at 61. per ton, I 



including rigging, ordnance, &c. -\ 

 Stock of cattle'on the 24 millions of acres' 



and the wafte belonging to them, ■ 



eluding parks, fidicnes, warrens. 

 Gold and filver coin, fcarce _ - 



Wares, merchandize, plate, furniture 



30,000,009 



acres'! 

 n, in- > 

 , &C.J 



3,000,000 



36,000,000 



6,000,000 

 31,000,000 



£. 250,000,000 



But fince the time when this computation was made, a 

 great difference in the value of money has taken place, 

 which difference appears from the table of fir George Shuck- 

 buro-h Evelyn, in the Philof. Tranf. for 1798, part i, page 

 177° to be in the proportion of about 5 to 14; and, there- 

 fore, the total wealth of England and Wales, m 1664. 

 would have amounted to 700,000,000/. according to the 



prefent value of money. ^ , . r , • r 



The value of land has progreffively increafed, in conle- 

 quence of improvements in cultivation, and the increafed 

 confumption of its produce, from 18 years' purchafe, at 

 which iir William Petty ftatcs it, to fiom 28 to 3° jef * 

 purchafe. The whole landed rental of England and Wales, 

 and the Low-lands of Scotland, was ftated by this writer at 

 about 9 millions ; and if he had included the High-lands of 

 Scotland, it is reafonable to fuppofe that he would not have 

 made the whole rental of the ifland more than 9,5co,oool. 

 G King and Dr. Davenant, in the reign of queen Anne, 

 ftated the rental of England and Wales at 14,000,000.: 

 about 25 years ago, it was generally reckoned at 20,0^,000! ; 

 but at prefent it confiderably exceeds tlwt fum- The cul- 

 tivated land appears, from the ftatement of Axr. M'ddl^on, 

 in his " View of the Agriculture of the County of Middle- 

 fex," to be 39,027,000 acres, and the commons and v^-afte- 

 lands to be 7,889,000 acres; and, therefore, the total ot 

 acres in England and Wales amounts to 46,016,000 acres. 

 If therefore, we conllder the commons and walte lands as 

 equal in annual value to only one million of cultivated acres, 

 th- whole may be taken at 40 millions: and taking the 

 average rent, which, at 15s. per acre, appears to be a 

 moderate computation, at a tenth lets the rental amount, 

 to 2 7,oco,oool. and the value at 28 years' purchafe t« 

 7c6ooo,coo!. The number of cultivated acres in Scot- 

 land is upwards of 12 millions, and of uncultivated acre? 

 upwards of 14 millions, which, being of little ufe, may 

 be wholly excluded ; and the cultivated part, being rated at 

 an avera'-'-c of los. per acre, yields the fura of 6,ooo,oool. 

 X X P"' 



