In the preceding Volume of this work the subject treated of ranged itself under three divisions：
　　（I）The prices of corn and the circumstances connected with them in the relation of cause and effect；（II）The prices of produce other than corn ；（III）The state of the Circulation， under which head was comprised a review of the whole of the currency question.
　　And when， by the proffered assistance of my friend Mr. Newmarch， I was induced to undertake a continuation and completion of the work， bringing it down to the most recent period， I contemplated no greater amount of matter than could conveniently be confined to a narrative and discussion ranging under the same three divisions； and the whole to be comprised within a single volume of moderate size.
　　But in no long time after our work had been entered upon， and made some progress， it became apparent that the plan so sketched was too circumscribed to admit of doing full justice to several topics which， although not ranging under the three distinct heads I have named， had yet an important bearing upon the general subject proposed for narration and discussion under the title of this book.
　　The topics which I here allude to are：-railways and the railway system；-the origin and progress of the free-trade movement；-the state of finance and banking in France；-and the new discoveries of gold.