in the early part of his reign, to approve a new arrangement of
the civil list expenditure, by which he accepted of a fixed revenue, in
lieu of those improvable funds which had formerly been appropriated to
the crown. On the revision of the civil list in 1816, it appeared, that
had George III. conducted the entire branch of expenditure with those
funds which had been provided for his predecessors, there would at that
period have remained to the crown a total surplus of L6,300,000. which
sum the public had gained by the change of provision. _Quarterly
Review_.

* * * * *

BRITISH ALMANAC AND COMPANION.

Swift, if our memory serves us aright, compares abstracts, abridgments,
and summaries to burning-glasses, and has something about a full book
resembling the tail of a lobster. The French too have a proverb--"as
full as an egg"--but these home similes will hardly give the public an
idea of the vast variety of useful matters which these two _Year Books_
contain.

The _Almanac_, besides an excellent arrangement, astronomical,
meteorological, and philosophical, contains a list of common indigenous
field plants in flower, and even the taste of the epicure is consulted
in a table of fish in season, at the foot of each month. The
Miscellaneous Register includes nearly all the Court, Parliament, and
other Lists of a Red Book; and a List of Mail Coach routes direct from
London, with the hours of their arrival at the principal towns, is
completeness itself: but how will these items be deranged by Steam
Coaches? Among the Useful Tables, one of Excise Licenses is especially
valuable.

The _Companion_ is even more important in its contents than last year.
An Explanation of the Eras of Ancient and Modern Times, and of various
countries, with a view to the comparison of their respective
dates,--stands first; next are "Facts pertaining to the course of the
Seasons," under the "Observations of a Naturalist;" an excellent paper
on the Tides; and a concise Natural History of the Weather--to be
continued in the _Companion_ for 1831; this is a delightful paper. The
Comparative Scales of Thermometers are next, with a wood-cut of the
Scales and Explanation. We have only room to particularize a
Chronological Table of the principal Geographical Discoveries of Modern
European Nations; a paper on French Measures; and a List of our
Metropolitan Charitable Institutions, their officers, &c. The
Parliamentary