INTERNAL COMMUNICATION. 27

It appears, canals were used in Egypt longbefore the invasion of Great Britain by theGauls —in China their introduction is said tohave taken place at a very early date. IntoGreat Britain their introduction is compara-tively recent. The attempt to form the SankyBrook into a navigable canal, from the riverMersey to St. Helens in Lancashire , in 1755,appears to have been the first of the kind inEngland; and, since that period, they havebeen extended into almost every quarter of theisland.

The benefits resulting to commerce from acheap and expeditious communication betweenone place and another, for the conveyance ofgoods, being so very evident, needs no com-ment. The discussion has been carried on,and admitted by every political economist. Ina manufacturing and commercial nation, thefacility of transporting goods from the placewhere the raw material is produced, either tothe consumer directly, or to the manufacturer,and from thence to the consumer, is not only asubject of essential importance, but next to thevalue of being able to manufacture cheap,and in a superior manner, enables us notoidy to carry on a successful competitionwith foreigners, but also to support a pre-