( 48 ) 
lO^d. And it having been found impos¬ 
sible otheiwise to cheek the practice of 
clandestine importation, the duty was re¬ 
duced, in 1784, to 6J. The consequences 
ef this \vi 39 and salutary measure were 
most beneficial. Instead of being reduced, 
the revenue was immediately raised to near 
three times its previous amount, or to 
£7,200 15s 9d, showing that the consump¬ 
tion of legally imported coffee must have 
increased in about a ninefold proportion t 
—a striking and conclusive proof, as Mr. 
Bryan Edwards has observed, of the effect 
of heavy taxation in defeating its own 
object,— {Hist, oj the West Indies , voi. ii. p. 
340. 8vo. ed.) 
The history cf the coffee trade abounds 
with similar and even more striking ex¬ 
amples of the superior productiveness of 
low duties. In 1807, the duty was Is 9d 
a pound; and the quantity entered for 
home consumption amounted to 3,170,164 
lb?,, yielding a revenue of 161,2451, 11s. 4d. 
In 1808, the duty was reduced from Is. 8d. 
to 7d. ; and in 1809, no fewer than 9,251,847 
lbs, were entered for home consumption; 
yielding, notwithstanding the reduction of 
duty, a revenue of 245,8561, 8s. 4d. The 
duty having been raised, in 1819, from 7d. 
to Is. a pound, the quantity entered for 
home consumption, in 1824, was. 7,993,041 
Its., yielding a revenue of 407,5441. 4 ?. 3 i. 
If) 1824, however, the duty being again re¬ 
duced from Is, to Gd., the quantity entered 
