August, September, and October, 1837, the markets fell from 60s. 1d. to 51s. per quarter, and it was not until the middle of the following May that the average was again as high as it had been just before the harvest of 1837. By the third week in August, 1838, the average had risen to upwards of 73s., and wheat was admissible at the lowest rate of duty. The buyers consequently resorted suddenly to nearly every corn-market in Europe, and prices, aided by a wild spirit of speculation, which subsequently was productive of great loss to importers, rose enormously. It is contended that these losses and the fluctuation of prices would not have occurred if the produce of the harvest of 1837 had been more accurately known. (On the Collection of the Statistics of Agriculture by G. R. Porter, Esq., of the Board of Trade.) The probable operation which statistical facts officially collected would have upon agricultural improvement is thus adverted to by Mr. Porter:-"It has been stated that if all England were as well cultivated as the counties of Northumberland and Lincoln, it would produce more than double the quantity that is now obtained. If the cultivators of land, where agricultural knowledge is the least advanced, could be brought to know, upon evidence that could not admit of doubt, that the farmer of Northumberland or Lincolnshire procured, from land of fertility not superior to his own, larger and more profitable crops than he is in the habit of raising, is it likely that he would be contented with his inferiority?" In 1836 the late Lord Sydenham, while president of the Board of Trade, in order to test the probability of success that might result from a more extended attempt, caused circular letters containing fifty-two simple but comprehensive queries relating to agriculture to be sent to each clergyman in the one hundred and twenty-six parishes of Bedfordshire. Out of this number only 27, or about one in five, replied, and further inquiry was abandoned. The tithe commissioners make returns of the crops in all parishes, but they do not do so simultaneously. There is, however, no insuperable difficulty in collecting the national statistics of agriculture, whenever government

thinks fit to undertake such a duty. On the 18th of April, 1844, on a motion in the House of Commons for an address to the queen praying for the establishment of some method of collecting agricultural statistics, the vice-president of the Board of Trade, on the part of the government, concurred in the object of the motion, but from various causes he declined at that time giving the motion his support. The yearly expense of the inquiry would be from 20,000l. to 30,000l.; and probably not a long period will elapse before the appropriate machinery will be in operation. In this way can government advance the interests of agriculture and of the public at the same time. country like England, which abounds with men of rank, wealth, and intelligence, who engage in scientific agriculture as a favourite pursuit, it is quite unnecessary for the government to assume the superintendence of matters which relate to practical agriculture; but this may be done with propriety in other countries, which are placed in different circumstances.

In a

AIDE-DE-CAMP, a French term, denoting a military officer usually of the rank of captain, one or more of whom is attached to every general officer, and conveys all his orders to the different parts of his command. A field-marshal is entitled to four, a lieutenant-general to two, and a major-general to one. The king appoints as many aides-de-camp as he pleases, and this situation confers the rank of colonel. In January, 1844, the number of aides-de-camp to the queen was thirty-two. There were also eleven naval aides-de-camp to the queen, one of whom, of the rank of admiral, is styled first and principal aide-de-camp, and has a salary of 3651. per annum; and ten others, of the rank of captain, have 1821. 11s. per annum. There are also two aides-de-camp appointed by the queen from the officers of the Royal Marines, whose salary is the same as that of the naval aides-de-camp.

AIDS (directly from the French Aides, which in the sense of a tax is used only in the plural number). Under the feudal system, aids were certain claims of the lord upon the vassal, which were not so directly connected with the tenure of

but ealdorman at the same time expressed a definite degree of hereditary rank or nobility which ealdor does not so necessarily imply. Princes, earls, governors of provinces, and other persons of distinction, were generally termed Aldermen by the Anglo-Saxons. But besides this general signification of the word, it was also applied to certain officers; thus there was an Alderman of all England (aldermannus totius Anglia), the nature of whose office and duties the learned Spelman says "he cannot divine, unless it corresponded to the office of Chief Justiciary of England in later times." There was also a King's Alderman (aldermannus regis), who has been supposed to have been an occasional judge, with an authority or commission from the king to administer justice in particular districts: it is very possible, however, that his duties may have resembled those exercised by the king's sergeant in the time of Bracton, when there are strong traces of the existence of an officer so called, appointed by the king for each county, and whose duty it was to prosecute pleas of the crown in the king's name. Spelman, however, doubts whether the King's Alderman may not have been the same person with the Alderman of the county, who was a kind of local judge, intrusted, to a certain extent, with the administration of civil and criminal justice. Besides those above mentioned, there were also Aldermen of cities, boroughs, and castles, and Aldermen of hundreds.

In modern times, Aldermen are individuals invested with certain powers in municipal corporations, either as civil magistrates themselves, or as associates to the chief civil magistrates of cities or corporate towns. The functions of Aldermen, before the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act, varied somewhat, according to the several charters under which they acted.

In the municipal boroughs of England and Wales as remodelled by 5 & 6 Wm. IV. c. 76, the resident burgesses elect councillors, who, in the larger boroughs which are divided into four or more wards, must be burgesses possessing at least 1000l. in property or rated at 30l. annual value; and in the smaller boroughs they must possess

at least 500l. in property or be rated at 157. per annum. This principle of qualification by property had no existence under the old municipal system. The councillors thus elected by the burgesses at large hold office for three years, and one-third of their number go out annually. The aldermen are elected by the council from its own number for six years, and one-half go out every three years. One-fourth of the municipal council consists of aldermen, and three-fourths of councillors; but the only difference between them is in the mode of election and in their term of office. In the 178 municipal boroughs remodelled by the act above mentioned, there are 1080 aldermen, and of course 3240 councillors. The number of councillors varies from 12 to 48, according to the size of the borough, and the number of aldermen

from 4 to 16.

In the Corporation of London, which is not remodelled by the 5 & 6 Wm. IV. c. 76, the Court of Aldermen consists of twenty-six Aldermen, including the Lord Mayor. Twenty-five of these are elected for life by such freemen as are householders of the wards, the house being of the annual value of 10l., and the freeman paying certain local taxes to the amount of 30s., and bearing lot in the ward. In this way twenty-four of the wards, into which the city is divided, send up one alderman each: the two remaining wards send up another. The twenty-sixth alderman belongs to a twenty-seventh nominal ward, which comprehends no part of the city of London, but only the dependency of Southwark. This alderman is not elected at all, but, when the aldermancy is vacant, the other aldermen have, in seniority, the option of taking it; and the alderman who does take it holds it for life, and thereby creates a vacancy as to the ward for which he formerly sat. The Court of Aldermen possess the privilege of rejecting, without any reason assigned, any person chosen for Alderman by the electors, and, after three such rejections, of appointing an alderman to the vacancy. The Lord Mayor is appointed from such of the aldermen as have served the office of Sheriff. these the Common Hall names two, and of these two the Court of Aldermen

Of

ject, by which a graduated scale was established for the price of ale throughout England. It declared that "when a quarter of wheat was sold for three shillings, or three shillings and four-pence, and a quarter of barley for twenty pence or twenty-four pence, and a quarter of oats for fifteen pence, brewers in cities could afford to sell two gallons of ale for a penny, and out of cities three gallons for a penny; and when in a town (in burgo) three gallons are sold for a penny, out of a town they may and ought to sell four." In process of time this uniform scale of price became extremely inconvenient; and by the statute 23 Henry VIII. c. 4, it was enacted that alebrewers should charge for their ale such prices as might appear convenient and sufficient in the discretion of the justices of the peace or mayors within whose jurisdiction such ale-brewers should dwell. The price of ale was regulated by rules like those above stated, and the quality was ascertained by officers appointed for the purpose. [ALE-CONNER.]

ALE-CONNER. An ale-conner is an ale-kenner, one who kens or knows what good ale is. The office of ale-taster or ale-conner is one of great antiquity. Those who held it were called " gustatores cervisiæ." Ale-conners or aletasters were regularly chosen every year in the court-leet of each manor, and were sworn to examine and assay the beer and ale, and to take care that they were good and wholesome, and sold at proper prices according to the assize; and also to present all defaults of brewers to the next court-leet. Similar officers were also appointed in boroughs and towns corporate; and in many places, in compliance with charters or ancient custom, ale-tasters are, at the present day, annually chosen and sworn, though the duties of the office are fallen into disuse, In the manor of Tottenham, and in many others, it was the duty of the ale-conner to prevent unwholesome or adulterated provisions being offered for sale, and to see that false balances were not used. In 4 Jac. I. c. 5, which was intended for the prevention of drunkenness, the officers more especially charged with presenting offences against the act were constables, churchwardens,

head-boroughs, tithing-men, ale-conners, and sidesmen.

The duty of the ale-conners appointed by the corporation of the City of London is to ascertain that the beer sold in the city is wholesome, and that the measures in which it is given are fair. For this purpose they may enter into the houses of all victuallers and sellers of beer within the city. The investigation is made four times in the year; and on each occasion it occupies about fourteen days. The days are not publicly known beforehand. Southwark is not visited. The investigation into the wholesomeness of the article has fallen into disuse. Fairness in the measures is ensured by requiring all pots to be stamped with the city arms, and the ale-conners report to the aldermen such houses as do not comply with the rule, and such as have pots with forged stamps. The number of pots annually stamped in the five years from 1829 to 1833 averaged 5599 dozen. In 1829 there were 760 houses on the ale-conners' lists, and in 1833 there were 780. The Commissioners of Corporation Inquiry state that in some instances the owners of the houses have refused to allow the officers to inspect; and that "till very recently the visit of the ale-conners to the several houses took place without any inspection being made." Each of the ale-conners has an annual salary of 10l.; and besides this, "either by right or courtesy," they receive a small sum at each house where they visit, varying from 2s. 6d. to 1s. The sums given in this way have become smaller, since the duty has been more carefully performed. In the first quarter of 1833 the ale-conners collected 391. 17s.; and in the second quarter, 377. 10s. 6d. The commissioners state that the income from this source is decreasing. Each ale-conner had, therefore, at the time of the inquiry, a salary of about 35l. a year, paid by the City, (Second Report of Commissioners of Corporation Inquiry, 1837.) In the municipal boroughs of England and Wales, to which the inquiries of the commissioners extended (234 in number), there were found in twenty-five boroughs officers called "AleTasters;" in six they were termed "AleFounders ;" and in four " Ale-Conners,"