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which prevailed in 1848 and 1849 were fabulous; and in Australia 
the rise of prices in 1851 was equally striking. From facts so ex- 
ceptional no sound inference can be drawn. 
A more difficult, and to us a more interesting and important sub- 
ject of inquiry, is the action of the new gold supplies here at home- 
in the gold-receiving countries. 
The price of grain, although the best available basis for institut- 
ing a comparison of prices from century to century, is perhaps the very 
worst on which to found such a comparison from year to year, or even 
for a period extending over a limited number of years. We may 
notice it, however, for what it is worth, during the period we are 
considering. Taking the average price of wheat in England for the 
“ farmers’ years,” ending at Michaelmas, as given by Mr Willich, 
the Actuary of the Tithe Commutation Commissioners, the prices of 
the last eight years ended Michaelmas 1859, exceed those of the 
previous eight years, ended Michaelmas 1851, by nearly 12 per cent. 
In provisions and butchers’ meat, the rise in the London markets 
(as in those of Paris) has been continuous and progressive, exceeding 
at present the average prices of 1851 by from 20 to 30 per cent. 
In colonial and tropical produce, tea, sugar, coffee, tobacco, silk, 
and cotton, there has likewise been an advance, although not to so 
great an extent; while in most of the materials of our manufactures — » 
flax, timber, wool, and especially in metals, tallow, and some kinds 
of oils and dye-stuffs — there was a general and progressive rise, until 
the prices of 1857 exceeded those of 1851 by from 30 to 60 per 
cent. Consequent on the crisis of 1857 there was a sudden fall, 
but in very few instances to nearly so low a range of prices as pre- 
vailed in 1851 ; while since 1858 there has again been in most 
articles a continuous rise — in some instances to the extent of from 
40 to 50 per cent, over the prices of 1851. 
In July 1853, Mr Newmarch, in his able brochure “ On the New 
Supplies of Gold,” gave a list of the prices of 38 leading articles 
from the London Prices Current, selected impartially for the pur- 
pose of showing, that while many of the articles quoted had advanced 
in price, several of them, and these of great importance, such as 
sugar, tobacco, cotton, and silk, had either declined or remained 
stationary. I have since then kept a copy of this list, with blank 
columns, in which I have continued to fill in the prices every quarter 
from the same Price Current, in the same way as had been done for 
