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FISHER, SON, & CO.

NEWGATE ST. LONDON; RUE st. honoré, paris.

PREFACE.

THIS Work is an attempt to bring from general history, ancient and modern, a few passages to bear upon the peculiar condition of the British empire, in its political, fiscal, commercial, and colonial relations, but particularly on those circumstances which affect the comfort and happiness of the great mass of the people.

This attempt may be compared, or likened, to the action of a man, with a sounding-staff in his hand, who walks over the surface of history, and endeavours to indicate where danger exists beneath, in consequence of the hollowness of the ground, or of the collection of materials in a state of fermentation, which will work into an explosion. The conclusion, or result of the investigation and comparison, is, that there is at present, in this country, the excited action

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