Till the accession of William III. in 1688, the materials for this are not altogether accurate; but they are not far wrong, and indeed, the low state of the revenue, previous to that period, is such that it is a matter of little importance whether or not they are very exact. It is represented here rather as a contrast to the present high revenue, and a matter of curiosity, than as being of much importance. The pale red part expresses the free revenue, or what is over, after paying the interest of our debt. This free revenue has not increased so fast as the value of money has decreased, previous to the year 1793; and certainly, at that time, the annual sum of 7,000,000 L. was no equal to 4,000,000 L. in the reign of Queen Anne. The green part shews the annual interest of the national debt, and proves, beyond contradiction, that, under such a system, expenses of war (for the whole debt has been contracted for wars) augment in much more than a simple proportion. The yellow part, bounded by a curved line, shews the manner in which the sinking fund will increase in its operation of paying off the debt, on the supposition that the nation continues to borrow as it has [end of page #214] done for the last twelve years; setting apart one per cent. on every new loan, for its liquidation. As comparative views are the great object of these charts, a yellow dotted line is made, representing the amount of the revenue of France during the same period, till 1789, when the revolution stopped its progress; since which its amount has not been regularly known. {173} --- {173} The author published an Atlas, containing twenty-seven charts of the different branches of commerce, revenue, and finance, of England, which was translated into French. The fifth edition, much improved, and brought to the present time, is now printing, and will be published in November. -=- [end of page #215] CHAP. III. [=sic=--error in printer's copy, should read II.] _Of Education, as conducted in England.--Amelioration proposed.-- Necessity of Government interfering, without touching the Liberty of the Subject_. The importance of education has been already mentioned, as it in general regards all nations, and certainly when we have examples to shew what are the lasting and terrible consequences of degradation of national character and manners, it is impossible to pay too strict an attention to that subject. The natural tendency in a nation, while growing richer, to alter its character, owing to the different manner in which the children are educated and brought up, applies particularly to England, and to every nation getting rich by trade or manufactures. In another part, it has been observed, that where the wealth of a country circulates amongst the labouring classes first, it alters the manner of living more than when it originates with the higher; it produces, also, a greater change on the education of children.