the George pendent from it. The duchess presented her son to the
king with the ribbon thrown gracefully over his left shoulder, and
the George pendent on the right side. His majesty was delighted,
embraced his son, commanded that the insignia of the order should
always be so worn, presented the youthful knight with 1s. per ton,
Newcastle measure, upon all coals shipped in the Tyne for
consumption in England, and secured the munificent parental gift by
patent to the young duke and his heirs for ever. _Hôni soit qui mal
y pense._

After the fortunate family had enjoyed this revenue for about a
century and a quarter, the then Duke of Richmond, a personage said
to be wise in his generation, negotiated the sale of his patent with
the government; and on the 19th of August 1799 the Lords of the
Treasury agreed that the sum of L.499,833, 11s. 6d., the price of a
perpetual annuity of L.19,000, should be paid for the surrender of
the duke's right. This enormous sum was accordingly actually
disbursed by the Exchequer in two payments, and the obnoxious impost
on the Tyne coal-trade was abolished some thirty years
afterwards--by which time the Treasury had been repaid much more
than it had advanced, a circumstance inducing a belief that his
Grace sold his inheritance much too cheaply. The estimate of the
quantity of coals consumed in the United Kingdom, and exported
during the last year, reaches the staggering amount of 50,000,000 of
tons--a tremendous advance, which proves, if nothing else, that if,
as some will have it, we are an 'old' country, the capacity for hard
work as well as power of consumption increases marvellously with
age. At anyrate the three great business localities I have partially
indicated are stupendous facts, the full significance of which will
be fully comprehended by all and every one who may choose to compare