the most westerly county of England, bounded by the English channel on the south, St George's channel on the west, the Bristol channel on the north, and on the east by the river Tamar, which separates it from Devonshire. Its name is supposed by some to be compounded of corn, signifying "a rock" in the British language, and Gauls, or Waulos, the name the Saxons gave to the Britons. Others, however, think it is derived from the Latin cornu, or the British keru, "a horn;" on account of its running out into the sea somewhat in the form of a horn. It is computed to be 70 miles in length, 40 in breadth where broadest, and not five in the narrowest part. Dr Campbell, however, in his Political Survey of Great Britain, is of opinion that this county is much larger than our accounts commonly make it. In respect of size, he thinks it is equal at least to the duchy of Parma; and but little, if at all, inferior to the island of Majorca. There is a tradition in this county with regard to its former extent, which Dr Campbell is also inclined to believe, namely, that there was anciently a tract of ground called the Lioness, extending towards the Scilly islands, but now covered with water. At present, Cornwall contains 21 parliamentary boroughs; 27 market towns; between 12 and 1300 villages, and upwards of 120,000 inhabitants.

As Cornwall is surrounded by the sea on all sides except the east, its climate is somewhat different from that of the other parts of Britain. The reasons of this difference will be easily understood from what is observed concerning the climate of America*. The summers in Cornwall are less hot, and the winters less cold, than in other parts of England, and the spring and harvest are observed to be more backward. High and sudden winds are also more common in this than in other counties of England. The county is rocky and mountainous; but the mountains are rich in metals, especially tin and copper. The valleys are very pleasant and fertile, yielding great plenty both of corn and pasture. The lands near the sea-coast are manured and fertilized with sea-weed, and a kind of sand formed by the particles of broken shells as they are dashed dashed against each other by the sea. Here are great plenty of copper, tin, and lead mines, moor-stones, lapis calaminaris for making brats, cornish diamonds, and a yellow ore called mundick, whence copper and lapis calaminaris are extracted. Cattle of all sorts are smaller here than in the other counties of England; and the wool of the sheep, which are mostly without horns, is very fine, and the flesh, both of them and of the black cattle, extremely delicate. The country is well supplied with fish from the sea and the many rivers with which it is watered. The most noted of the sea-fish is the pilchard; of which prodigious quantities are caught from July to November, and exported to different parts, especially to Spain. It is said that a million have been sometimes taken at a single draught. The natives are remarkable for their strength and activity, as well as their dexterity in wrestling, in which exercise the Cornish men is highly extolled.

The tin dug from the Cornish mines is melted into pigs of three or four hundred weight, each of which is stamped with the owner's name. There are five towns, Liskeard, Leftwich, Truro, Helston, and Penzance, where the tin is assayed and marked at Midsummer and Michaelmas, or Lady-day and Christmas, with the seal of the duchy of Cornwall. When it is thus marked, and the duty of four shillings for every hundred weight paid, the tinner may dispose of it as he pleases; only the king, or duke of Cornwall, are to have the preference, if they choose to be purchasers. The causes arising among the tanners are tried by juries, returned by the mayors of the stannary or coinage towns, before the lord-warden or his deputy. They have had many privileges bestowed upon them by the kings and dukes of Cornwall, in consideration of the high duty they pay, and for encouraging them in their labours and disagreeable but useful mining. Ever since Edward III. created his eldest son duke of Cornwall, the eldest sons of the kings of England have enjoyed that title. They have royal prerogatives and privileges in the duchy, such as the nomination of its sheriffs, a right to the duty on tin, wrecks, customs, &c. Though this county is much inferior to some others in point of population and wealth, particularly Yorkshire and Middlesex, yet it sends a far greater number of members to parliament, viz. 44, which is nearly equal to the number sent from Scotland, and double to that sent from Wales. This great disproportion, so dangerous to the constitution, is attributed to the partiality of the kings, on account of the great revenue they received from it, or to the interest of its ancient dukes. Of the boroughs which send members to parliament, some are so inconsiderable as to have no church.