, and resolve it into its elements, we may well bethink ourselves of
the cost of our board on the planet, and of the value of the articles we
are daily consuming. To help you to a clearer idea of this, in regard to
the article barley alone in the form of malt, let me commend to your
attention the following statistical statement:--

A Parliamentary return of 1876 shows that the quantity of _malt_ charged
with _duty_ during the year was--

BUSHELS. DUTY.
England, 54,655,274 L7,412,621
Scotland, 2,927,763 396,241
Ireland, 3,346,606 453,883
---------- ----------
Total of United Kingdom, 60,929,633 L8,262,746

The quantity of barley imported into the United Kingdom during the year
was equivalent to 2,736,425 quarters. See how great a fire a little
spark, hodge-podge, kindleth!

So much for the quantity of malt produced, and the revenue derived from
it, in a year in the United Kingdom. I have spoken of this malt as being
convertible into a form which possesses, among other virtues, the power
of quenching our thirst. I wish it did not also quench our thirst for
the knowledge we all ought to have of its production and really
serviceable qualities; that it would stimulate inquiry after such
things, and not smother it, as it is too apt to do; and, in general,
prompt us to a wiser study of our social wants, and the means at our
command for further social improvement; which we might prosecute with
less and less recourse to the stimulant virtues of malt in such forms as
whisky. And this we may do, if we limit our indulgence in it to the less
potent form of it in beer, which, while it is calculated to quench man's
bodily thirst, is equally calculated to quicken his mental. How much it
contributes to allay the former, and how many thirsty souls are
refreshed by it, we may estimate from the statistics of the sale of it
furnished by a single firm in London. I refer to the firm of the Messrs.
Foster, Brook Street, who are friends of my own, and to whom I should be
glad to refer all who may be in want of a wholesome beer, for theirs is
so good and genuine. The Messrs. Foster are among the most extensive
bottlers and exporters in the country; and I find from the information
they have kindly supplied me, that the beer bottled by them for export
purpose