The-papacy-its-history-dogmas-genius-and-prospects-wylie

;484 INFLUENCE OF POPERY ON NATIONS.guisli both.Last summer M. Raudot published a work entitled" The Decline of France," of which an analysis appearedin the " Opinion Puhlique^''* to which we are indebtedfor the following facts. The first element of power ispopulation. France had a population of thirty millions in1816, which had risen to thirty-five millions in 1848, Russiahad risen in the same period from sixty to seventy millions;England from nineteen and a half to twenty-nine millionsand Prussia from ten to sixteen millions. France duringthese years had added only a seventh to her population,while the other countries named had added about a thirdthat is, their rate of increase had been more than doublethat of France. Were a war to break out, the conditionsof the struggle would be changed.France, an essentiallyagricultural country, has become unable to mount her cavalrywith her own horses ; and while the other countrieshave increased in thisrespect, France was obliged to purchaseupwards of 37,000 in 1840. It is obviously unnecessaryto compare the shipping of France with thatof England.In 1788 the French tonnage was 500,000 tons, andthat of England 1,200,000 tons. In 1848 the tonnage ofFrance amounted only to 683,230 tons, and that of Englandto 3,400,809 tons. These figures speak volumes. TheEnglish shipping, which only measured somewhat more thandouble our tonnage in 1 789, is five times greater at present.When a nation buys more than it sells, its wealth diminishes.In France, from 1837 to 1841, the excess of itsimports over itsexports was 71 millions, and from 1842 to1846 it was 573 millions. M. Raudot, by calculations foundedon the income tax, finds that the landed property ofFrance, though its area is greatly larger and itsproductivepower higher, yields a smaller revenue than that of Englandand Scotland. It is also to be taken into account, thatthe funded property in France is dreadfully overloaded withdebt. M. Raudot finds also that there has been a diminu-• " Opinion TuUlque" November 4, 1849.