after the foundation of the colony at James Town in Virginia, in 1607. The soil of the colony being found particularly well fitted for the culture of tobacco, considerable quantities were raised and sent home; and the numerous individuals interested in the colony contributed to introduce that taste for it which was diffused amongst all classes with astonishing rapidity.

James I. attempted, by repeated proclamations and publications, some of them couched in very strong terms, to restrain the use of tobacco. But his efforts had very little effect; and the settlers in Virginia continued to experience a more rapidly increasing and better demand for tobacco than for any other product of the colony.

During the earlier part of the reign of Charles I., the trade in tobacco was monopolised by the Crown. This monopoly was not, however, of long continuance, and totally ceased at the breaking out of the civil war.

Tobacco plants had been early introduced into England, and were found to answer remarkably well. Their cultivation was, indeed, prohibited by James, and afterwards by Charles, but apparently without effect. At length, however, the growing consumption of tobacco having excited the attention of the government financiers, it was seen that, by imposing a duty on its importation, a considerable revenue might be raised; but that, were it allowed to be freely cultivated at home, it would be very difficult to collect a duty upon it. In 1643, the Lords and Commons imposed a moderate duty, for the sake of revenue, on plantation tobacco; but instead of directly prohibiting the use of native tobacco, they burdened it with such a duty as, it was supposed, would occasion its culture to be abandoned. The facility, however, with which the duty was evaded, soon satisfied the republican leaders that more vigorous measures were required to stop its cultivation, and consequently to render its importation a source of revenue. Hence, in 1652, an act was passed, prohibiting the growth of tobacco in England, and appointing commissioners to see its provisions carried into effect. This act was confirmed at the Restoration, by the act Charles 2. c. 34., which ordered that all tobacco plantations should be destroyed. These measures were believed, at the time, to have been principally brought about by the solicitations of the planters; but their real intention was not so much to conciliate or benefit the latter, as to facilitate the collection of a revenue from tobacco; and, considered in this point of view, their policy seems quite unexceptionable.

This act did not, however, extend to Ireland; and, of late years, the cultivation of tobacco made considerable progress in that country. Had this been allowed to continue, there can be no question, that in a few years the revenue from tobacco, amounting to about 3,000,000%. a year, would have been materially diminished; for it would be quite visionary to suppose that any plan could have been devised for collecting a duty even of 100 per cent. upon tobacco-(see post)-supposing it to have been gencrally cultivated in Ireland. No one, therefore, can question the wisdom of the late act prohibiting its growth in that country, and of rigorously enforcing its provisions. Any advantage Ireland might have gained by its cultivation, would have been but a poor compensation for the sacrifice of revenue it must have occasioned.

In some countries, as England, tobacco is principally used in the form of snuff; in others it is principally chewed; but in one form or other it is everywhere made use of. So early as 1624, Pope Urban VIII. issued a bull, excommunicating those who smoked in churches! The practice of smoking was at one time exceedingly prevalent in this country; but during the reign of George III. it was well nigh superseded, at least amongst the higher and middle classes, by the practice of snuff taking. Latterly, however, smoking has been in some measure revived, though it is still very far from being so extensively practised as formerly.

We quote the following statement as to the universality of the use of tobacco from a learned and able paper on its "Introduction and Use," in the 22d volume (p. 142.) of the Asiatic Journal:-"In Spain, France, and Germany, in Holland, Sweden, Denmark, and Russia, the practice of smoking tobacco prevails amongst the rich and poor, the learned and the gay. In the United States of America, smoking is often carried to an excess. It is not uncommon for boys to have a pipe or cigar in the mouth during the greatest part of the day. The death of a child is not unfrequently recorded in American newspapers, with the following remark subjoined :-' supposed to be occasioned by excessive smoking.' If we pass to the East, we shall find the practice almost universal. In Turkey, the pipe is perpetually in the mouth; and the most solemn conferences are generally concluded with a friendly pipe, employed like the calumet of peace amongst the Indians. In the East Indies, not merely all classes, but both sexes, inhale the fragrant steam; the only distinction among them consisting in the shape of the instrument employed, and the species of the herb smoked. In China, the habit equally prevails; and a modern traveller in that country (Barrow) states, that every Chinese female, from the age of 8 or 9 years, wears, as an appendage to her dress, a small silken purse or pocket to hold tobacco, and a pipe, with the use of which many of them are not unacquainted at this tender age. This prevalence of the practice, at an early period, amongst the Chinese, is appealed to by M. Pallas as an evidence that in Asia, and especially in China, the use of tobacco for smoking is more ancient than the discovery of

the New World.' He adds-Among the Chinese, and amongst the Mongol tribes who had the most intercourse with them, the custom of smoking is so general, so frequent, and has become so indispensable a luxury; the tobacco purse affixed to their belt so necessary an article of dress; the form of the pipes, from which the Dutch seem to have taken the model of theirs, so original; and, lastly, the preparation of the yellow leaves, which are merely rubbed to pieces and then put into the pipe, so peculiar; that they could not possibly derive all this from America by way of Europe; especially as India, where the practice of smoking is not so general, intervenes between Persia and China."

This, however, is a very doubtful proposition. It seems sufficiently established that the tobacco plant was first brought from Brazil to India about the year 1617; and it is most probable that it was thence carried to Siam, China, and other Eastern countries. The names given to it in all the languages of the East, are obviously of European, or rather American, origin; a fact which seems completely to negative the idea of its being indigenous to the East.

Sources of Supply. Importation into Great Britain.-Tobacco is now very extensively cultivated in France and other European countries, in the Levant, and in India; but the tobacco of the United States is still very generally admitted to be decidedly superior to most others. It is much higher flavoured than the tobacco of Europe; a superiority attributable in some degree, perhaps, to a different mode of treatment; but far more, it is believed, to differences of soil and climate.

Previously to the American war, our supplies of tobacco were almost entirely derived from Virginia and Maryland; and they are still principally imported from these states; so much so, that of 33,107,679 lbs. of unmanufactured tobacco imported in 1831, 32,712,108 lbs. came from the United States. Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia, has given a very unfavourable view of the effects of the tobacco culture. It was, indeed, well known to be a crop that speedily exhausted all but the very best lands; and in addition to this, Mr. J. says, that "it is a culture productive of infinite wretchedness. Those employed in it are in a continued state of exertion, beyond the powers of nature to support. Little food of any kind is raised by them; so that the men and animals on these farms are badly fed, and the earth is rapidly impoverished."--(English ed. p. 278.)

Tobacco is extensively cultivated in Mexico, but only for home consumption. It might probably, however, were it not for the restrictions under which it is placed, form a considerable article of export from that country. Under the Spanish government, the tobacco monopoly was one of the principal sources of revenue; yielding from 4,000,000 to 4,500,000 dollars, exclusive of the expenses of administration, amounting to about 800,000 dollars. No tobacco was allowed to be cultivated, except in a few specified places. Commissioners, or guardas de tabaco, were appointed, whose duty it was to take care that all tobacco plantations without the privileged districts should be destroyed. The government fixed the price at which the cultivators of tobacco were obliged to sell it to its agents. The sale of the manufactured tobacco was farmed out; and cigars were not allowed to be sold, except at the royal estancos. No one was allowed to use cigars of his own manufacture. This most oppressive monopoly was established in 1764. It has been continued, from the difficulty of supplying the revenue which it produces, by the present government.—(Humboldt, Nouvelle Espagne, vol. iii. p. 49.; Poinsett's Notes on Mexico, note 116. Lond. ed.)

Cuba is celebrated for its tobacco, particularly its cigars. These consist of the leaves, formed into small rolls, for the purpose of smoking. Formerly their importation into this country was prohibited; but they may now be imported on paying the exorbitant duty of 98. per lb. Havannah cigars are usually reckoned the best. Previously to 1820, the cultivation and sale of tobacco were subjected to the same sort of monopoly in Cuba as in Mexico; but, at the period referred to, the trade was thrown open. In consequence of the freedom thus given to the business, the production and exportation of tobacco are both rapidly increasing, though hardly, perhaps, so much as might have been expected; the culture of sugar and coffee being reckoned more profitable. In 1828, the declared value of the tobacco exported from Cuba amounted to 868,000 dollars; but there is good reason to think that its real value considerably exceeded this sum. At present, the total real value of the exports of tobacco from the Havannah and other ports is probably not much under 2,000,000 dollars. The tobacco used in Cuba by the lower classes is chiefly imported from the United States.

Consumption of Duty-paid Tobacco in the United Kingdom.-It appears from the following official account, that the consumption of duty-paid tobacco in Great Britain has increased from about 8,000,000 lbs. in 1789, to 16,214,000 lbs. in 1833; the duty having fluctuated during the same period from 1s. 3d. to 4s. and 3s. per lb. There are, however, sufficient grounds for thinking that the consumption would have been at least one-fourth part greater, had the duty been less. But, whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the influence of the duty in Great Britain, there can be none as to its influence in Ireland. The subjoined Table shows that during the 5 years ending with 1798, when the duty was 8d. a pound, the annual average consumption of duty-paid tobacco was 7,337,217 lbs.

Since 1798, the population of Ireland has been more than doubled; and yet, during the 5 years ending with 1833, when the duty was 3s. per lb., the annual average consumption has been only about 4,266,000 lbs. ; which, making allowance for the increase of population, shows that the consumption has sunk to little more than a fourth part of what it amounted to at the former period! This statement warrants the conclusion, that were the duty on tobacco in Ireland reduced to 1s. per lb., the consumption would be so much increased, that the revenue would gain, and not lose, by the reduction.

Smuggling.—The price of tobacco in bond varies from 3d. to 6d. per lb.; so that the duty of 3s. amounts to 1,200 per cent. on the inferior, and to 600 per cent. on the superior qualities. Now, though the use of tobacco be a frivolous, it is, at the same time, an innocent gratification; and we do not really see any reason whatever for loading it with such oppressive duties, even supposing it were possible to collect them. The more the wants and desires of men are multiplied, the more inventive and industrious they become; and so far from preventing luxurious indulgences, a wise government should exert itself to increase their number, and to diffuse a taste for them as widely as possible. But supposing it to be otherwise, still the magnitude of the tobacco duty is altogether indefensible: it is neither calculated to produce the largest amount of revenue, nor to eradicate the taste for the article. Its exorbitancy is advantageous to the smuggler, and to him only. With the exception of brandy and geneva, tobacco is the principal article clandestinely imported. If, as one might be half inclined to suspect, the duty were intended to give life and activity to the nefarious practices of the illicit traders, it has completely answered its object; but in every other point of view, its failure has been signal and complete. "According," said Mr. Poulett Thomson, in his admirable speech on the taxation of the empire, on the 26th of March, 1830, "according to all accounts laid before the house on this subject, smuggling in this article in England, Ireland, and Scotland, is carried on to the greatest possible extent. I have heard it stated, and I have the fact upon the best authority, that numbers of vessels are constantly leaving the ports of Flushing, Ostend, &c., carrying contraband tobacco to this country. It is a fact which was established in evidence before a committee of this house, that seventy cargoes of obacco, containing 3,644,000 lbs., were smuggled in 1 year, on the coast of Ireland, from the port of Waterford to the Giant's Causeway alone! In Scotland, smuggling in this article is also carried on to a great extent. There is no doubt," added the Right Honourable gentleman, "that the only mode of meeting this system of smuggling consists in fairly reducing the duty upon the article. I believe, that were the duty upon it reduced to 1s. or 1s. 6d. per lb., the public would be greatly served, and smuggling put down."

We question, indeed, whether, allowing for the clandestine importation, the consumption be relatively less at this moment, in Ireland, than at any former period. Under the present system, government collects an exorbitant duty upon about a fourth part of the tobacco consumed in Ireland, the other three-fourths being supplied by the smuggler; the duty being at once an incentive to his energies, and a premium to indemnify him for his risks! A fourth part of the demand of Great Britain is, probably, supplied in the same way.

Account of the Number of Pounds' Weight of Leaf Tobacco, manufactured Cigars, and Snuff, that paid Duty in the United Kingdom, for the Year ending the 5th of January, 1840; with the Rates of Duty, and Total Amount of the same.

s. d.

29 per lb.

Unmanufactured tobacco, the produce of, and imported from, any British possession in
America

Account of the Quantities of Tobacco retained for Home Consumption, the Rates of Duty thereon; and the Total Nett Produce of the Duties, in Great Britain and Ireland; from 1789 to 1833, both inclusive.-(Parl. Papers, No. 310. Sess. 1529, No. 747. Sess. 1833, and No. 212. Sess. 1834.)

Great Britain.

Total Rates of Duty per Lb. on
unmanufactured Tobacco.

Of the Dominios of Spain and Portugal.

Regulations as to Importation.-Tobacco is not to be imported in a vessel of less than 120 tons burden; nor unless in hogsheads, casks, chests, or cases, containing at least 100 lbs. nett weight, if from the East Indies; or 450 lbs. weight, if from any other place; or 100 lbs. weight, if cigars; except tobacco from Turkey, which may be packed in separate bags or packages, provided the outward package be a hogshead, cask, chest, or case, containing 450 lbs. nett at least; and except Guatemala and Colombian tobacco, which may be imported in packages of not less than 90 lbs. Tobacco is not allowed to be imported, unless into the following ports; viz. London, Liverpool, Bristol, Lancaster, Cowes, Falmouth, Whitehaven, Hull, Glasgow, Port Glasgow, Greenock, Leith, Newcastle, Plymouth, Belfast, Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Londonderry, Newry, Sligo, Waterford, and Wexford. A rent of four shillings is charged upon every hogshead, cask, chest, or case of tobacco, warehoused in every warehouse provided by the Crown: 2s. being paid immediately upon depositing the tobacco in the warehouse, and 2s. more before the tobacco is taken out for home consumption, or exportation it may remain for five years in the warehouse without any additional charge for rent. No abatement is made from the tobacco duties on account of damage; but the merchant may, if he choose, abandon the tobacco, which is to be destroyed. The allowance of duty-free tobacco for each sailor on board his Majesty's navy, and for each soldier on foreign service, is fixed at 2 lbs. per lunar month. Tobacco that has been exported, cannot be reimported, without being subject to the same duty as if it were imported for the first time. Tobacco cannot be entered for exportation in any vessel of less than 70 tons burden.--(See a full statement of the regulations in Ellis's British Tariff for 1833-31.) When tobacco is reshipped for exportation, an allowance is made for shrinkage, from the seller to the buyer, of 30 lbs. per hhd. on Virginia and Kentucky, and 15 ibs. per hhd. on Maryland, on the landing weights; the draft of the former 8 lbs. and of the latter 4 lbs., with a tret on all sorts of 4 Ibs. per 104 lbs.

Shipments of Maryland and Ohio Tobacco, from Baltimore and the District of Columbia.

2,295

8,796

6.554

545

9347

26,471

Annual Average Exportations of American Tobacco for Three Years, from October 1, 1835, to Sep

Note. The duty on importation of American raw tobacco and stems, is in Prussia, Baden, Wurtenburg, Ravaria, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse Darmstadt. Nissau, Saxony, Liechtenstein, Hohenzollern, Hesse-Homburg, Frankfort, Waldeck, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe Detmold, in the Anhalt duke'onis, Saxe-Weimar Eisenach, Saxe-Meinengen-Hillburghauser, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg Gotha, and the Reusse princi. palities, D. 3 23 per 100 s.; in Hanover and Brunswick, 70 cen's per 10 lbs; in Bremen, 34 per cent. in Hau burg, 1 1-2 per cent.; in Lubec. 1-2 per cent.; in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and in Mecklenburg-Strelitz the duty is very trifling.-U. S. Com, and Stat. Reg. Am. Ed.)

TON, an English weight containing 20 cwt.

PONNAGE, in commercial navigation, the number of tons burden that a ship will carry.