previous years, excepting 1834, 1837 and 1839; and the year 1839 may be left out of the comparison, as, in the returns for that year, are included many banks which did not pay specie. In May, 1837, the banks suspended specie | banks was greater than it had been in any payments. In May, 1838, the New-York banks resumed specie payments, and the other banks attempted to follow their example, so that by January, 1839, there was what was called a general resumption of specie payments, though in many parts of the Union this was merely nominal. In October, 1839, the banks of Philadelphia again suspended specie payments, and were imitated by the banks of the South and West. 1842. Specie payments were not fairly resumed by the banks of Philadelphia till March, The banks of the South and West imitated their example; but in September, 1842, there was a tremendous bank convulsion at New-Orleans, the effects of which were felt throughout the country. The consequence was, that by the 1st of June, 1843, the current credits of the banks were reduced to a very small amount. They continued small till May, 1843, when an expansion began, which was at first very gradual. The great increase in the amount of specie and bank credits in 1848 over 1847, was in consequence of the demand for our bread - | stuffs in Europe. In January, 1850, the banks were more expanded than they were in January, 1848. The small amount in which the specie in the vaults of the banks varies, when compared with the amount of their circulation and deposits, is not unworthy of observation. The greatest amount of specie in the banks was in 1844, when it was $49 898,269. The smallest was in 1842, when it was $28.440,423. Difference, $21,457,846. The circulation was lowest in 1843, when it was $58,563,603; and highest in 1837, when it was $149,185,190. Difference, $90,621,582. The deposits were lowest in 1843, when they were $56,168,623; and highest in 1837, when they were $127,397,185. Difference, $71,228,562. The current credits were greatest in 1837, when they were $276,583,075 : smallest in 1843, when they were $114,732,231. Dif In January last, the circulation of the ference, $161,850,844. BANK CAPITAL OF THE SEVERAL STATES. TABLE SHOWING THE POPULATION IN THE YEAR 1850, THE NUMBER OF BANKS, BANK CAPITAL, BANK CIRCULATION, AND COIN OF EACH OF THE STATES, DECEMBER, 1851. In those states marked with an asterisk (*) the amounts are, in part, estimated, but it is believed that they approximate the respective amounts at this date. In Illinois a free banking system has been submitted to the people, and, at a popular election this year, approved by them. In this state there will probably soon be established several banks of circulation, based upon state stocks. In Florida a law was passed last winter authorizing the establishment of a bank at Tallahassee; but we do not learn that it has been yet organized. In the states of Illinois and Arkansas, the circulation of the Kentucky, Missouri and Indiana banks, is generally used.-Bankers' Magazine. Total. .23,144,000. BRITISH COLONIAL EMPIRE: WHAT IT EMBRACES.—The following graphic sketch of the British Colonial Empire, on which, it has been well said, the sun never sets, we extract from the first number of that able London publication, the Colonial Magazine, which we commend to the reader. We will start with British India. With that Hindostan will we begin, which, out of a population of one hundred and forty millions of human beings, has ninety millions subjects of Great Britain, forty millions of the subjects of allies, protected however by the British Government, and greatly dependent upon British support, and with but ten millions of subjects of independent states. 100,000. 100,000 .921...$248,803,961...$150,152,000....$50,000,000 gions that bask beneath the brightest rays of a tropical sun; and others, than which the most awful depths of the polar world are not more dreary. In its vast plains, which present rich double harvests, luxuriant foliage, and even the burning deserts of the torrid zone; in its low heights, enriched by the fruits and grains of temperate and mellow climates; on its upper steeps, clothed with the vast pine forests of the north; and even on the highest pinnacles of its loftiest regions, buried beneath the perpetual snows of the arctic zone;-even there are we! On the great plain of India, between the Brahmapoutra and the Indus, reaching across from the great chain of mountains to the Where the Jumna and the Ganges, two high table land of the southern peninsula, rivers destined to give grandeur aud fertility 1500 miles long, and from 300 to 400 broad, to the plains of Hindostan, burst from be- there does British influence exist, and there neath the eternal snows which no mortal also is the British name respected and refoot hath yet trodden, still in the most ele- vered. Along that plain where the Ganges vated recesses of the mountains, Britain has pours a continually-widening stream, and her empire, and the soil is her own. In that where the power of vegetation is so great as India which was one of the earliest seats of to render it an entire field of waving grain,civilization, laws, the arts, and of all the im- there are we! Where in the east, on the provements of social life, there are we now hilly shores of Malabar, the aromatic gales omnipotent. In that India which is an epi- perfume the air of the Oriental Isles-there tome of the whole earth, extending from the our name, our power, our good faith, are 8th to the 34th degree of north latitude, and known, acknowledged and felt. Where the from the 68th to the 92nd degree of east rice, the opium, the indigo, the cotton, grow longitude, which from north to south is no in the greatest profusiou ;-there are we! less in length than 1800, and from east to Where nature ever riots in unbounded luxuwest 1500 miles, there are we! It has re-riance, and covers whole tracts of country with dense, dark, impenetrable masses of foliage and vegetation, crowded and twined together, with trees spreading on all sides their gigantic arms, with thorny and prickly shrubs of every size and shape, and with canes shooting in a few months to the height of sixty feet: there are we! And where in the open plain the banana and other single trees, when full scope is given to their growth, spread out into the dimensions of a considerable forest;-there are we! Amid the wilds of India, where tall and majestic forests of pine, larch, spruce and silver fir, cypress and cedar grow, flourish and decay, still there we are, the owners of the soil, and either the governors of the people, or their protectors and friends. Where the fruits of the earth luxuriate in abundance and perfection; where the wild rose, the lily of the valley, and the cowslip burst through the green carpet; where the chamois bounds from rock to rock, and the forests are filled with deer and with musks: where the peacock displays his glittering plumage on the lower hills; where the Sovereign eagle is descried amid the cliffs; where the bold hawk and the roving kite prey upon their dependents and their victims:-there are we! In the valleys of the Sutledge and the Jumna; amidst perpetual snows, where, beyond a succession of lofty eminences, a central mass of an enormous chain of mountains exists; by the side of the cataracts which dash down dark ravines unsung by poets, and as yet unpainted by the pencil of man; in those bright and beauteous groves, or in the woods and forests where the gibbon, the wanderoo, the ichneumon, the pangola, the rhinoceros, the nyl-ghau, and the gayall are to be found; and where the finch falcon of Bengal, the hawk-owl of Ceylon, the bulbul, the honey-sucker, the coromandel, and the gigantic stork, walk or fly abroad at liberty and in happiness; there also are we! Napoleon once said that "England was a nation of shop-keepers!" We meet the foul libel by pointing to our Indian colonies! A nation of shop-keepers, indeed! What! was that a nation of shop-keepers-a few of whose merchants, with a handful of troops struggling against European rivalry, subdued | all the states which had sprung from the ruins of the Mogul empire, and became the arbiters of the destiny of one hundred and forty millions of human beings placed at the opposite extremity of the globe? Was that the effort of men who count coppers on counters, and speculate on short weight and inferior goods for their profits and their fortunes? No! No! the conquest, the retention, the aggrandizement, the improvement, the continued rule and yearly advancement of such a dependency as this, is too mighty a monument of British courage, zeal, perseverance, science and wisdom, ever to be forgotten in the history of the world! Next in importance to the East Indian possessions of Great Britain, are those of the West Indies. There is Jamaica, that "island of springs," with its four millions of acreswith its blue mountains towering to nearly 8,000 feet above the level of the sea-with its dense woods offering a marked contrast to the lower ranges-with its coffee, pimento, cotton, and capsicums-with its numerous ravines and savannahs-with its springs, its harbors, its ports, its beautiful bays, its rich mines, its fine sugar-canes, its coffee plants in the mountains, its dye-stuffs and spices, its arrow-root and cassia. There the bread-fruit tree, the plantain, the banana, the shaddock, the tamarind, the guava, and the star-apple, all arrive at perfection. There is Trinidad, too, presenting one of the most magnificent, variegated, and richly luxuriant panoramas that nature ever formed. The waves of the mighty Orinoco dispute to the east for the empire of the ocean with contending billows, whilst the lofty moun tains of Cumana rise from the bosom of the horizon in stupendous majesty. The fecundity of the soil, its gigantic and magnificent vegetation, its beautiful rivers, enchanting slopes, forests of palms, groves of citron and forbidden fruit, and hedges of spices and perfumes-its fine azure skies, deep blue seas, fertile glades and elastic atmosphere, have obtained for Trinidad the title of "the Indian paradise." There is Tobago, once the abode of the Caribs, and named after the first tobacco pipe of the island. It offers a strange contrast to "the Indian paradise," for it is termed the "Isle of Melancholy." At some former period it formed a bold promontory of main land, from which doubtless it was violently dissevered. Though less picturesque than some islands, the fig-tree and the grape yield their fruit twice a year, and the cinnamon and pimento grow wild in different parts of this curious isle. There is Grenada, the most southerly of the Antilles, once a favorite possession of the French; with its mountainous and picturesque scenery, its successive piles of conical hills, its vast forest trees and brushwood, its splendid mount St. Catherine, towering to a height of 3,000 feet, its basaltic rocks, its wondrous cliffs, and its fine cocoa, sugar, coffee plantations. There is the pretty group of Grenadines or Grenadilloes. and There is St. Vincent, the most beautiful of the Caribbee isles, with its bold, sharp, and abrupt mountains, its deep intervening romantic glens, and its lofty and rocky coasts. The delicious valley of Buccament is the ad miration of all travellers. The famed botanic garden is the theme of general praise; and the island stands high in reputation as a healthy station. In these numerous isles there are 400, There is Barbadoes, the land of luxuriant | man. fig-trees, and the territory of once as brave a 000 acres granted to cultivators, and nearly people as ever breathed, with its beautiful two millions and a half vacant or unoccupied. bay of Carlisle, and noble square with the And there are The Bermudas or Somers' statue of Nelson; and there are also the rem- Isles, exceeding 300 in number, lying like a nants of those primitive forests which for- shepherd's crook, in the Atlantic Ocean, with merly covered the whole island. their coral reefs and shoals, their small cedar groves, their green-clad hills; and that north rock, placed by Nature, or rather by the God of Nature, as a beacon which seems to say, Hitherto mayst thou come," thou mistaken, billow-tost, deceived, and luckless vessel, "but no further." The Bermudas are the Gibraltar of our West Indian Colonies, and it was therefore that our American enemy, Washington, desired to annex them to the republic, and to make them a nest of hornets to annoy the English commerce. There is St. Lucia, with its sugar-loaf rocks, its fantastic-shaped mountains, its lovely little coves and bays, fringed with luxuriant cane fields; its flotilla of fishing and drogner boats, and its stately trees clothing its noble mountains. There is Dominica, with its lofty rugged acclivities, its fertile valleys, watered by thirty fine rivers-its umbrageous canopy of lofty and magnificent forests, and its romantic and picturesque cascades. The mountains are sulphurous and volcanic; its lofty table rock, Morne Bruce, is one of the finest in the West Indies; its rich parterres of green coffee perfume the whole atmosphere, and its grand savannah is the delight of all who enjoy the murmuring cascades of bubbling brooks which break through the luxuriant vegetation, or roll along the hilly avenues surrounded by piles of rocks, black, bare, or green, with countless traceries of lovely creepers, gigantic ferns, and lofty palms. There is the fertile island of Antigua, with its bays and harbors wholly unrivalled in the West Indies, with its bold and precipitous hills, its innumerable fruits, its aromatic spices, its productive gardens, and its groves of trees of beautiful and refreshing verdure. There is the delightful little island of Nevis, the mother of the English Caribbee Isles. It is a four-mile mountain, yet as green as heart can conceive, perfectly cultivated, and with a forest of evergreens like a ruff round the neck of the high land. There is Montserrat, the Montpelier of the west, with its elastic and healthy atmosphere-its majestic, picturesque, and lofty mountains, and its truly charming and bewitching scenery. There is St. Christopher, (or St. Kitt's,) with its layers of volcanic ashes, its bracing air, its healthy inhabitants, its awful crag of Mount Misery, and its exquisitely beautiful vale of Basseterre. There is Tortola, whose harbor has afforded shelter in time of war to 400 vessels waiting for convoy. There is the eel-like Anguilla, with its little wall of cliffs rising from the beach and protecting a flat and uninteresting surface, but yet producing annually three million bushels of salt from its salt lake; and sugar, cotton, maize, and cattle in comparative abundance. There are the Bahamas, a group of several hundred islets, evidently the work of the coral insect, which, with all its apparent insignificance, has created many beautiful and habitable spots for the dwelling and culture of Yes, there are we; amidst this variegated scenery, these mixed populations, these multiplied products of the West India Islands. There are we, who found the population uncultivated, indolent, ignorant, miserable slaves; and who have rendered them instructed, happy, enlightened, and free citizens. We have doubled the amount of productions by our superior cultivation; we have made their minds, by instruction, as productive as their soil; we have increased their staple products to such an extent, that their exports are now most important; and we have, in nine cases out of ten, so changed the indigenous characteristics of the people, as to have transformed them from dulness, stolidity, and soporific indolence, to comparative activity, brightness, and competition. To the charge that we rendered the Africans slaves, we reply at least with triumph and with truth, that we have purchased their freedom. Yes, noble land of the brave and the good, we can look to our West Indian Colonies with gratitude, dignity, Christian joy, and honest pride; and as the once-captive race point to their broken chains now scattered around, we can say, "Thank God, we bought their freedom." Turn we now to South America, and to our colonies in that quarter; and the first which presents itself is British Guiana. There, on the vast rivers of Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice, we have possessions which cover an area of one hundred thousand square miles. There its fine savannahs are occasionally interrupted by hill and dale scenery; but the general appearance of the country is similar to the territory of Belgium. Sugar and cotton grow in abundance; and in some districts, though never manured, a single acre has propuced 6,000 lbs. of sugar in one * Our friend of the Colonial Magazine may be allowed his innocent enthusiasm here, but we think as little as possible ought to be said in England about that "emancipation bubble," which has been Our readers will such a farce before high heaven. refer to Commercial Review, Vol. V., p. 475, in proof.-ED. year. In other districts, coffee is not only somewhat longer than our own, its fine seaabundant, but of excellent quality. Although the climate has hitherto been considered one great objection to any vast amount of colonization in that portion of our possessions, yet exercise and temperance are, as elsewhere, the great safeguards to health. The British settlement of Honduras, in Central America, extends along the coast for an extent of 270 miles. That coast is studded with green isles, and the town of Belize is by no means insignificant. The mahogany tree, and logwood, cochineal, indigo, and sarsaparilla, are the great staple produce of Honduras; oranges, shaddocks, melons, pine-apples, and cocoa-nuts, are also abundant. Deeply is it to be regretted that the country is not divided into parishes, and that emigration to that portion of our settlements is not encouraged. Its pine-wood alone would richly compensate all engaged in its cultivation. The Falkland Isles are no less than ninety in number, and the two largest are each nearly one hundred miles in length and fifty in breadth. Though the weather is seldom settled, yet the climate is temperate, and vegetation rapid and productive. There is heard the gentle note of the grele, and the falcon and the heron are by no means rare. There, too, herds of wild cattle would maintain vast numbers of settlers, and the upland geese would delight, by their flavor, even a London or a Parisian gastronome. Our possessions in North America merit a longer and more attentive consideration. First in order of importance comes what was formerly Lower Canada. The late settlement of the Maine frontier question has deprived us unquestionably of one of the finest sections of our North American territory, but it is still sufficiently extensive to support in comfort and happiness tens of thousands of! our depressed and emaciated agricultural population. Two hundred thousand square miles of territory, with three chief districts— Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers-and two of an inferior extent-Gaspé and St. Francis-ought to be far better cultivated and much more thickly populated than they are at present. And are not the natural features of Lower Canada extremely picturesque? Are there not ranges of mountains, noble rivers, magnificent cascades, lakes, prairies, farms and forests, alternating in every direction with sudden and beautiful variety? Who that has seen the eastern parts of the river St. Lawrence, with the high and mountainous districts about it, can forget the noble forests which everywhere meet the eye, and which are lost only in the clouds! And who can forget the Alleghanies, rising abruptly to the lofty elevation of 4,000 feet above the level of the sea? Of cities and towns there are sufficient to assure the minds and remove the fears of settlers; for are there not Quebec and Montreal? And though the winter be son begins in May and continues until November. When last the census was taken, in seventeen counties there were upwards of 4,100 townships, and a population of nearly 500,000 souls. What forests of timber there invite the industry and the activity of our broad-shouldered and strong-limbed foresters! How many a man whose family now scarcely exists upon the wholly inadequate wages of the mother-country, would there be abundantly compensated for his labor and his toil! If from Lower, we turn to the position of Upper Canada, what a vast territory do we behold embraced in that extensive province! Who can ever think of the Ottawa River-of the Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, without strongly feeling what sources of riches are there, in primitive forests as yet untrodden by the foot of civilization? The lakes alone fill us with surprise. Lake Superior is 541 miles long, by 140 wide; and Huron, Erie and Ontario, are from 180 to 250 miles in length. The infant capital, Toronto: Kingston, hitherto the seat of government, with its fine position, but little inferior to Quebec and Halifax; the Rideau Canal, the Welland Canal, the Granville Canal,-all are works of interest to those who exclaim with delight, as we do, when their eyes pass over in succession the various nations of the earth, "Yes, there also we are." And when we think, too, that the people of Canada are among the most favored of the earth, having peace, liberty, security, and abundance-a fertile soil, a beautiful climate, and an almost total exemption from burthens of any kind, how can we do otherwise than desire that swarms of our manufacturing, mining, and wandering poor were there, enjoying at least the comforts, if not the luxuries of life? Thank God that some districts are colonized by Highland and Lowland Scotchmen, whose prudent, thrifty, hard-working characteristics have fitted them for emigration. There are upwards of eighteen acres of rateable land to each human being, and not more than two acres cultivated. And when it is known that even there, where the advantages are so great, that the proportion of hands cultivating 57,000 acres is as twenty acres to each per son, is it not just and right, that we should desire that multitudes of our own starving popu lation should there be transplanted to labor with diligence, but to be well rewarded for their toil? Nova Scotia is situate between the parallels of 43 and 46 north latitude, and the meridian of 61 and 67 west longitude. It is 280 miles long, embraces upwards of 15,000 square miles, and nearly ten millions of acres. The harbor of Halifax is the admiration of the world, and from its situation being directly open to the Atlantic, and its navigation scarcely ever interrupted by ice, is our chief naval station in North America, and affords |