124 
HISTORY OF THE [book y. 
It is likewise apparent, that since the reduction 
of the duties in 1783, the cultivation of coffee in 
the British West Indies, in Jamaica especially, has 
made a more rapid progress than in thirty years 
preceding. Yet, (as Dr. Mosely has observed), 
even the present duty of six-pence per pound is., 
too high to admit the general use of this fragrant 
beverage among all classes of people. What then 
must be thought of the former exaction of three 
times that duty, which continued for fifty-one 
years? So little has the science of colonial com¬ 
merce been understood or adverted to 1 
