But we must not continue the subject in anything approaching detail; suffice it is to say, that among other articles from abroad, we had meat in the shape of bacon, beef, and pork, to the extent of about 1,000,000 cwt. in quantity, and £3,000,000 in value. Of butter and cheese we had 2,000,000 cwt., of the value of £9,000,000. The use of coffee among us is diminishing. In 1852 it was 42,000,000 lbs., in 1866, it was 10,000,000 lbs. less; but the home consumption of Tea has risen in the same period from 54,713,000 lbs. to 102,265,000 lbs.,[25] nearly double; but on the other hand the duty we paid for the lesser quantity was more than double what we paid for the larger, £5,900,625 in 1852, but happily only £2,658,716 in 1866. Of foreign corn we received, for home consumption, 23,000,000 cwt. of wheat, 8,000,000 cwt. of barley, 9,000,000 cwt. of oats, 14,000,000 cwt. of maize, and 5,000,000 cwt. of wheat flour, the aggregate value of corn amounting to £30,000,000. Of the important article of sugar, we received 10,500,000 cwt. The strong beverages came to us to the value of 2¼ millions for spirits, and not far short of five millions for wine. We are fond of spices and seasonings also, 130,000 cwt. of pepper, and 24,000 cwt. of cinnamon, cloves and nutmegs, and 1,100,000 cwt. of raisins and currants. But the article of all others in the list, the importation of which, in 1866, seems the most marvellous is that of eggs, 438,878,880! 14½ per annum for each inhabitant of the kingdom, ranging from “the infant mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms” to “the last scene of all that ends this strange eventful history, second childishness and mere oblivion, sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything,” and all these, independent and exclusive of all the eggs that all the true born English, Irish, Scotch and Welsh hens lay all over the kingdom. Truly we must be the most egg-eating nation in the world. Housekeepers of Great Britain! we wish you to know that the President of the Board of Trade assesses the value of each egg, when brought into the country, at a little less than 2⅖ farthings, or about 7¼d. a dozen. The difference between this price and the minimum of “16 a shilling warranted” constitute the charges and profits upon them between the time of their landing and their arrival in your kitchens. Fifteen years ago (1852) our importation of eggs was not a fourth of its present amount—it was 108,281,233. CHAPTER IV. RAILWAYS AND THE POST OFFICE—SPEED ON RAILWAYS. Passengers, luggage, horses, carriages, dogs, merchandise, minerals and live stock constitute the whole of the traffic, as well as the whole of the receipts of railway companies, with one only exception. That exception is an important one: it is the conveyance of mails by railway.