AS the entire transit system of Great , with all its railroads, turnpike-roads, canals, and navigable rivers, converges on London, I propose to make it the subject of the present section, by way of introduction to my inquiry into the condition of the metropolitan labourers connected therewith.

There is a very great amount of labour employed," says Mr. Stewart Mill, "not only in bringing a product into existence, but in rendering it, when in existence, accessible to those for whose use it is intended. Many important classes of labourers find their sole employment in some functions of this kind. There is the whole class of carriers by land and water—waggoners, bargemen, sailors, wharfmen, porters, railway officials, and the like. Good roads," continues the same eminent authority, "are equivalent to good tools, and railways and canals are virtually a diminution of the cost of production of all things sent to market by them.

In order to give the public as comprehensive an idea of this subject as possible, and to show its vastness and importance to the community, I shall, before entering upon the details of that part of it which more immediately concerns me; viz. the transit from and to the different parts of the metropolis, and the condition and earnings of the people connected therewith—I shall, I say, furnish an account of the extent of the external and internal transit of this country generally. Of the provisions for the internal transit I shall speak in due course— speaking of the grand medium for carrying on the traffic of Great with the world, and showing how, within the capital of an island which is a mere speck on the map of the earth, is centered and originated, planned and executed, so vast a portion of the trade of all nations. I shall confine my observations to the latest returns and the latest results.