GREAT BRITAIN. breadth (from Peterhead to Ardnamurchan Point) about 182 miles; elsewhere, however, the breadth is much less. Between Alloa, on the Forth, and Dumbarton, on the Clyde, it is only 33 miles; between the head of Loch Broom, on the west coast, and of Dornoch Firth, on the east, only 26 miles; and north of Inverness, the average breadth does not exceed 70 miles. The entire area is about 31,300 square miles. The greater part of the surface of Scotland is irregularly distributed into mountain and valley, a very small proportion spreading into level plains. The eastern coast forms a waving, continuous, and rarely broken line; but the western is extremely irregular, being deeply indented with bays and arms of the sea, and exhibiting steep promontories and mountainous islands. The whole country is physically divided into Highlands and Lowlands-the former comprehending the north-west, west, and central portions; the latter, generally speaking, the east coast, and the country south of the Forth and Clyde. St Islands. The island of G. B. is surrounded by the Isle of Man, Anglesey, the Scilly Isles, the Isle of Wight, the outlying Channel Islands, the Shetland Isles, the Orkneys, and the Hebrides, each having generally a mainland encircled by small islands and rocks, bare or scantily covered, which sea-fowls inhabit, fishermen in their boats visit, and shepherds sometimes dwell in during summer. The coast against the North Sea has few islands, except Thanet, Sheppey, and some lowlands, which are isolated at high water. Coquet, Staples, Holy Island, May Island, Inchkeith, and Inchcolm, are the only ones inhabited. The Orkneys and the Shetlands lie to the north. Michael, Looe, and the Isle of Wight, are the only islands on the south coast, except those sometimes connected with the land, and the Channel Islands off the coast of Normandy. All the other islands lie on the west coast, extending from the Scilly Isles, through Anglesey and Man, to the Island of Lewis. According to the census of 1851, there were about 500 of these islands and rocks, of which only 175 were inhabited; but in 1861 a more careful enumeration was made, when it was ascertained that Scotland alone had 787, of which 186 were inhabited. The returns for England have not yet been published. For administrative purposes, G. B., with its surrounding islands (excepting the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, which are under peculiar jurisdiction), is divided into 84 counties or shires. The following tables exhibit their several areas and populations: ENGLAND. Edinburgh,. Elgin or Moray, Fife. Forfar, Inverness, 176.103 170.065 Kirkcudbright (Stewarty), Lanark, Linlithgow, Nairn, Orkney & Shet land, Peebles, Perth, Durham,. 622,476 84,877 509,018 390,997 GREAT BRITAIN. Most of the subjects which would enter into a complete account of the United Kingdom are treated under separate heads. We can only afford space here for the following brief indications of a general kind: undertaking was not continued beyond 1857. In that year there were 3,556,572 acres under rotation, the chief crops being grass and hay, 1,459,805 acres ; oats, 938,613 acres, yielding 32.750,763 bushels; wheat, 223,152, yielding 6,154,986 bushels; barley, 198,387, yielding 6,564,429 bushels; turnips, 476,691 acres, yielding 6,690,109 tons; potatoes, 139,819 acres, yielding 430,468 tons. The total number of live-stock in Scotland in 1857 amounted to 6,989,368 and 146,354 swine (see also IRELAND). The amount of corn and cattle raised in the United Kingdom, however, is not nearly equal to the consump tion of the population. The average importation of grain during the last fifteen years amounted to 10,100,000 quarters. Butter to the value of £4,902,394, and cheese to the value of £1,636,799, was imported in 1861. Of cattle for consumption there were imported from foreign countries in 1861, 104,569; sheep and lambs, 320,219; and swine, 24,452-the value being £2,117,860. The farm capital employed in the United Kingdom has been estimated in a widely different manner by various authorities. Agriculture.-The soil of G. B. is almost exclusively devoted to the production of the two primary necessities of society-bread-stuffs (chiefly wheat, barley, and oats), and grass, roots, &c., as food for domestic animals. For this purpose, both the soil-viz., 185,409 horses, 974,437 cattle, 5,683,168 sheep, and the climate are admirably suited. It is much to be regretted that with regard to the southern part of the island no agricultural statistics have ever been obtained, so that the amount and value of the products can only be guessed at. M-Culloch estimated the number of acres in England under grain crops in 1852 1853 at 63 millions (wheat, 3 millions; barley, 1; oats and rye, 2; beans and peas, ), and the total produce at 27 million quarters-valne, £37,000,000. The produce of potatoes, turnips, rape, and clover, is estimated at £26,000,000. The annual value of the pastures and meadow-hay is immense. The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland began in 1856 to collect careful statistics of that part of the island; but owing to a misunderstanding with the Treasury, the l'er cent. incrense from 1838 to 1856 Manufactures.-The following table exhibits the condition of the textile manufactures: 1838. 1850. 1856. 1856 82.555 97.132 330,921 13.84 20,617 22,144 25.901 25 62 54 808 74 443 379.213 Worsted, 416 501 525 26-20 7,176 11.089 The foreign merchandise transhipped from British ports in 1861 amounted in value to £4,419,762; and the computed real value of foreign and colonial merchandise exported from the United Kingdom amounted to £35,694,297. Coffee, cotton, indigo, rice, silk, tea, tobacco, and wool were the largest items in this total. Gold and Silver Bullion and Specie. The computed real value of the gold and silver bullion and specie brought into the United Kingdom in 1858 was £29,493,190; in 1859, £37,070,156; in 1860, £22,978,196 ; and in 1861, £18,747,045. Of this quantity, Australia sent by far the most-viz., in 1858, £9,066,289; 1859, £8,627,854; 1860, £6,719,857; and 1861, 16,331,828. Mexico, South America, and the West Indies were the next largest exporters, then the United States and France. The exports from the United Kingdom during the same period were 1858, £19,628,876; 1859, £35,688,803; 1860, £25,534,768; 1861, £20,811,648. Coinage. The amount of gold coined at the royal Mint in 1861 was £8,190,170; silver, £209,484; copper, £274,624, giving a total of £8,674,278. Shipping. To carry on this vast trade, G. B. had, in 1861 (exclusive of river-steamers), 19,288 registered sailing-vessels, with an aggregate tonnage of 3,918,511 tons, and 997 steamers, carrying 441,184 tons, making together 20,285 vessels, of 4,359,695 tons burden, and employing, exclusive of masters, 171.957 seamen. During the same year, there were built and registered in the United Kingdom 1186 vessels, 215 of them steam, of an aggregate burden of 310,900 tons. The total tonnage of vessels entering and clearing British ports in 1861 was 26,595,641 tons, 21,924,983 tons representing cargoes, the rest being in ballast. The coasttrade of G. B. during the same year amounted to 17,355,235 tons, all but 93,000 tons being carried by British ships. Railways.-The total length of lines open for GREAT BRITAIN. traffic in the United Kingdom in 1860 was 10,433 payments for collection of revenue) received by miles. During the year, 163,435,678 passengers the Exchequer in 1861 from the chief of these travelled, of whom 20,625,851 were first class, sources: Customs, £22,765,338; excise, £17,266,586; 49,041,814 second class, and 93,768,013 third class. stamps, £8,307,287; taxes, £2,927,573; property The amount of money derived from these travellers and income tax, £9,687,750; post-office, £1,351,669; was-first class, £3,170,935; second class, £3,944,713; crown lands, £293,479; old stores, &c., £1,019,516. third class, £4,162,487. Luggage, mails, &c., brought The following are the great items of expendiup the receipts from passenger-traffic to £13,085,756. ture in the same year: National debt, funded and The goods-traffic in the same year amounted to unfunded, £26,090,260; civil list, and civil charges of £14,680,866, making a total income of £27,766,622. all kinds, £11,712,491; army, including ordnance, The total amount invested in railways by shares £15,709,299; navy, £12,608,042) and loans in 1858 was £325,375,507, on which was paid interest to the total amount of £6,653,166. The average rate of dividend on the ordinary share capital over the whole kingdom in 1858 was 306 per cent.; the proportion per cent, of expenditure to total receipts in 1860 was 47. In 1860, the rolling stock of the various companies consisted of 5801 locomotives, 15,076 carriages of all kinds, and 180,574 wagons of all kinds. National Debt.At the end of the financial year 1861, the national debt of Great Britain and Ireland amounted to £799,949,807, of which £784,420,007 was funded, and £15,529,800 was unfunded. See DEBT, NATIONAL Army and Navy.-See BRITISH ARMY; and NAVY, BRITISH. Form of Government. - The government of G. B. is of the kind known as a Constitutional Monarchy,' in which the sovereign accepts of his dignity under an express agreement to abide by certain prescribed conditions. See CORONATION OATH. The sovereignty is hereditary in the family of Brunswick, now on the throne, and in the person of either a male or a female. The sovereign (king or queen) is the directing power in the executive of government; while the legislative function Further information is exercised by parliament. regarding the British Constitution and Laws will be found under the heads PARLIAMENT; MINISTRY; COMMON LAW, COURTS OF; JUDGES, &c. Money, Weights, and Measures. See POUND; MINT; WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. Religion. The United Kingdom is a Protestant state, but all religions-not offensive to public or private morals-may be professed, and their different forms of worship practised, without interference from any quarter whatever. There are two churches established' by special acts of the legislature. In England and Ireland, the established church is Episcopal in its government, and called the United Church of England and Ireland' (q. v.). In Scotland, on the other hand, the established church is Presbyterian. See SCOTLAND, CHURCH oF. According to the census returns of 1851 (in the census of 1861 religious statistics were not included), the number of places of worship, together with the sittings provided, in England and Wales, and the estimated number of attendants on a particular day, were as follows: 14,077 11,207 3,244 2,789 937 161 539 570 Total, Education-England. -In England, the chief | utmost dissatisfaction, and even indignation; but institutions for education are the ancient national universities of Oxford and Cambridge; the more recent institutions of London, Durham, and Lampeter in Wales; the classical schools of Eton, Westminster, Winchester, Harrow, Charter-house, and Rugby; the various military schools; the colleges of the dissenting denominations; the middle-class schools, either started by individual teachers, and hence called adventure' schools, or by associated bodies acting as directors, to whom the teachers are responsible; the schools of design; and the various elementary schools and training colleges in connection with the different religious denominations. The number of day-schools in England and Wales in 1851 was 46,042, of which 15,518 were public-i. e., schools deriving a portion of their income from some source besides the scholars, and 30,524 privatei. e., sustained entirely by the payments of scholars. The total number of scholars was 2,144,378, of whom 1,422,982 attended the public, and 721,396 the private schools. As the population then amounted to 17,927,609, this gives a proportion of 1 scholar to every 8 of the inhabitants. The education statistics of England for 1861 have not yet been published. Scotland. Scotland possesses four universities for the higher branches of education-viz., those of Edinburgh, Glasgow, St Andrews, and Aberdeen, besides a variety of minor colleges connected with the Episcopalian, Free Church, and other nonestablished churches; a complete system of parish schools (see NATIONAL EDUCATION); grammar schools or academies in the chief towns, which serve as preparatory gymnasia for the universities, and a large number of denominational schools.' In 1851, the number of day-schools was 5242, of which 3349 were public, and 1893 private. The number of scholars was 368,517, of whom 280,045 belonged to the public, and 88,472 to the private schools. Out of a population of 2,888,742, this gives a percentage of 1276, or 1 scholar to every 7 of the inhabitants. According to the education statistics of 1861, the number of children from 5 to 15 years of age, attending school in Scotland, were 441,166, which, out of a population of 3,061,251, gives 1 scholar to every 6 of the inhabitants. History. On the 1st of May 1707, during the reign of Queen Anne, the union of England and Scotland was formally accomplished. In the latter of these countries, the terms at first excited the the progress of time has shewn it to be one of the greatest blessings that either nation could have experienced. The last years of Queen Anne's reign were marked by the triumph of the Tory party, headed by Harley and St John (Oxford and Bolingbroke), who kept up a constant intrigue with the Pretender, for the purpose of procuring his restoration. This treachery was defeated by the sudden death of her majesty in 1713. According to the Act of Settlement, she was succeeded by the Elector of Hanover, who took the title of George L. The Whigs now regained their ascendency, and, under the guidance of Walpole (q. v.), now rising to eminence, at once proceeded to impeach the more important of the Tory leaders. Other severities drove the more impatient of that party to attempt bringing in the Pretender by force of arms. In 1715, the Earl of Mar in Scotland, and the Earl of Derwentwater in England, raised the standard of rebellion; both efforts, however, proved abortive, and were speedily crushed. Five years later, occurred the frightful catastrophe known as the South Sea Bubble, when the nation was saved from anarchy mainly by the exertions of Walpole. The latter now became premier and chancellor of the exchequer, and under him the commerce and manufactures of England continued steadily to advance, though little improvement was as yet perceptible either in Scotland or Ireland. George L. died in 1727, and was succeeded by his son, George II. An attempt was again made by the Tories to oust the Whigs from power, but was frustrated by Walpole, who still continued the prime mover of public affairs. In 1739, after a peace of extraordinary duration, he was forced by popular clamour into a war with Spain, on account of some efforts made by that country to check an illicit trade carried on by British merchants in its American colonies. This war was feebly carried on, and ingloriously terminated but the attention of England was speedily drawn towards the Austrian War of Succession, in which it was involved through the anxiety of the king for his Hanoverian possessions, and the strong antipathy of the people to the French. Walpole, disapproving of the war, was driven from office in 1743. George II. appeared on the field of battle himself, and at Dettingen proved himself a man of courage and spirit. But the success of the French at Fontenoy in 1745 paralysed the efforts of England during the rest of the campaign; and in 1748, after nine years' |