Value of The first element is the value of land, and of its pro- BOOK duce. Here the different productions of the three kingdoms XXIII. of nature are classed according to their usefulness as articles of life, and their value as articles of merchandise. land. The government itself knows, only by approximation, the value of what agriculture, the fisheries, and the mines produce, and what is the exact proportion between the commodities which the nation sells, and those which it buys. Governments beside, do not often publish even the imperfect information of this kind which they possess. Political geography, therefore, cannot absolutely warrant the accuracy of the lists of productions, of exports, and imports, which it is obliged to collect with so much trouble. To render these details as useful as possible, it is necessary to know the proportional values in which lists of this kind are made up; the monies, the weights, and the measures of each country. This subject, which presents a different aspect in every state, will come to be considered in our particular descriptions. commerce, In the second rank, amongst the elements of the national Industry, resources, should be placed commercial and manufacturing manufac industry. It was this which accumulated on the rock of tures. Tyre, on the barren coasts of Attica, and on the flat sandy shores of Alexandria, the treasures of the ancient world; and it was it which, in modern times, raised Venice and Holland to greatness. Here political geography should consider the situation of the coasts of a country, the number and nature of its ports, and the state of its great roads and canals; circumstances, all of which directly influence the progress and prosperity of national industry. It is likewise necessary to attend to the various commercial institutions, such as the great national banks, which accomplish the rapid exchange of the signs that represent the value of merchandise, and the commercial and trading companies, amongst which there are some that possess in sovereignty vast provinces beyond the boundaries of Europe. BOOK XXIII. Popula tion. Proportion tion to the extent of territory. The population of a state forms the third element în its resources. We have seen in a preceding book, that the proportions between the deaths, the births, and the number of living inhabitants, enable us to approximate nearly the population of a country; but it is a census alone which enables us to ascertain it with exactness. Even when we have an authentic census, we should beware of trusting to it with implicit confidence. The same individuals are often counted twice, which happens every time that the inhabitants of the country are numbered in summer, and those of the towns in winter. The number of inhabitants is the foundation of every good system of finance; the more individuals a country contains, provided they have the means of subsistence, the greater progress will commerce and manufactures make; and consequently the greater the increase of the revenues. The number of inhabitants ought equally to determine the number of the troops. It is computed that the men capable of bearing arms, form about the fourth part of the whole inhabitants. The greatest effort, however, that the most warlike state can make in a case of extreme necessity, is to arm the eighth part of its population. No example even of this bas occurred in modern history. Let us observe also that the more a mass is concentratof popula- ed, provided that it has free space sufficient to move in, the more energy it will acquire. A small populous country, therefore, is, in proportion, more powerful than a state of vast extent thinly peopled. A country is looked upon as populous, when it contains about 100 inhabitants to the English square mile. England is peopled at the rate of 198 to the square mile; but Ireland and Scotland present a less favourable proportion; the former being 122, and the latter 56; Wales has 80 to the square mile. Holland had, before the troubles of 1788, and the revolutions which followed them, 212 inhabitants for each square mile, which makes 1908 for each square English league. The Island of Malta is probably the most thickly peopled country; it had more than 6000 souls to the square league; XXIII. but these are to be regarded only as rare local exceptions. BOOK And it is common enough to find, in European Russia, governments which have not more than 20, or even 10 inhabi tants, to each square mile.* of the state. the state. The attempts which political arithmeticians have made Revenues to compute the value of the aggregate revenue of a whole nation, arising from the employment of its capital in the cultivation of the soil, and in the various branches of commerce and the arts, have hitherto produced only proximate results, more or less accurate according to the correctness of the data from which the calculations have been made. Political geography merely exhibits the sum of the revenues at the disposal of the government of each state, and the principal sources whence they flow. In many countries this information is furnished by the annual budget, which is the name given to the table of finances laid before the aristocratic or democratic body, sharing in the exercise of the supreme power. As the budget, however, is sometimes in- Debts of tended to neutralize the unfavourable impression which may have been made by the increase of the public debts of the state, it occasionally exhibits fallacious details: in absolute monarchies this device is superfluous. But the correct estimates often remain buried in the ministerial bureaux, until some lucky chance, or the will of an enlightened sovereign, ushers them into useful publicity. As it is only in Europe that there exists a regular system of finance, it is in the description of that part of the world that we shall point out the different species of taxes and customs, and all the ingenious artifices by which civilized governments force money out of the pockets of their subjects; while the chiefs of barbarous nations carry off, in kind, and most frequently in an arbitrary and irregular manner, the articles which they require. forces. An armed force, naval and military, is unfortunately, Armed but necessarily, an object of the first importance to every government. Busching, Introduction a la connaissance des Etats de l'Europe. VOL. I. 75 XXIII. BOOK Savage tribes, and even some half-civilized nations, are accustomed to march against their enemies all the males fit to carry arms. Nothing prevents them from doing so, as fishing and hunting are occupations which a horde of savages carry along with them. In other circumstances, the women may be sufficient for the employments of agriculture and the tending of cattle; but as soon as labour is multiplied, and, in consequence of this, comes to be divided, that is, as soon as the agricultural, manufacturing, and commercial classes, have each a separate existence and place in society, it is impossible to arm and to bring into the field the entire mass of a nation, without completely suspending the exercise of those trades and occupations on which its subsistence depends. It therefore becomes necessary to form a class exclusively devoted to the trade of war; such was, in the middle ages, the design of the order of nobility and of chivalry; but the invention of gun-powder and artillery, the introduction of a new system of fortification, and the perfection to which tactics have been brought, have converted the formerly simple and almost mechanical art of war into a profound and extensive science, to the study of which many years must be devoted. This consideration, strengthened by motives of ambition and policy, gradually paved the way for the establishment of standing armies. The European powers have had, for more than a century and a half, a certain number of troops in a state of perfect discipline and equipment, ready to march at a moment's notice. In supporting these troops, one-third, and often one half of all the public revenue is consumed. The land force, or the army, is composed of four principal parts, or arms, with their subdivisions; namely, the infantry, or combatants on foot; the cavalry, or combatants on horseback; the artillery, whose province is to work those engines of destruction, on the skilful management of which the issue of battle frequently depends; and the engineer department, which conducts the defence and attack of fortitified places. In the description of a kingdom, not only should we point out the number and situation of the for Land forces. tresses, the passes and defiles of greater importance, as well BOOK as the number of troops which it maintains; but it is farther XXIII. necessary to mention, whether these are regular troops, or bands without discipline or military science, and also to specify the physical advantages and disadvantages of the frontiers. In like manner, it is not enough to know the number of Sea forces. ships of war of which the navy of a state consists. We must also ascertain whether it possesses an adequate number of skilful officers and experienced sailors. We must observe whether it comprehends in its dominions extensive coasts, furnished with safe and commodious harbours, or touches the sea only in some insulated points. According to cir cumstances, a state requires a fleet of ships of the line, and Fleet and frigates to fight on the open sea, or a flotilla of gun-boats to defend its coasts, its straits, and its ports. flotilla. Finally, states have also, besides their own peculiar for- Force arising from ces, a force of situation depending upon their external rela- external tions; and particularly, on the alliances, whether diplomatic relations. or natural, which render them the friends or enemies of each other. The equilibrium resulting from the alliances of the different European nations, is called the balance of pow er." This political equilibrium has frequently been subverted; but it is notwithstanding of importance to examine the principal bases on which it rests, as shall be done in our description of Europe. state of a The moral state of a nation is the result of all these poli- Moral tical and social relations we have been specifying. This state is indicated by various signs, of which the political geographer ought to notice the most striking. Dress. The mode of dress is more than a simple object of curio- Garments. sity; the loose flowing habit of the orientals, and the tight clothing of the European, exert an influence on their physical and moral constitution. The nudity of certain nations procures to them corporeal advantages, an agility, a strength, and a robustness of health, unknown to nations whose limbs are encumbered with garments; but this superiority is more than counterbalanced by extreme indolence and feebleness, |