among us as was fifty years ago. It is not by any means so bad an
article as it has a bad name; for when of good quality, and moderately
indulged in, it is perfectly wholesome; only when the quality is bad, or
the indulgence excessive, do evil results follow. And indeed such are
its merits when good, that it is said dealers sometimes export it to
France and other parts, from which it is imported again to this country,
transfused into splendidly labelled brandy bottles, and sold
untransformed as best brandy!

Little do we think, when eating our quiet dinner at a Scottish country
inn, what power and wealth are represented in the hodge-podge which
belike forms one of the dishes, and which, by suggestion and in the
style of the housewife, we are now analysing. As we disintegrate the
mess, 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 £7,412,621
Scotland, 2,927,763 396,241
Ireland, 3,346,606 453,883
---------- ----------
Total of United Kingdom, 60,929,633 £8,262,746

The quantity of barley imported into the United Kingdom during the year