profits to the individuals concerned in its importation. Withal, it is
the simplest, the most harmless thing that ever was offered to the
gratification of man,--having, it is believed and argued by many, a moral
influence wherever it is diffused. It is the rallying point of our
earliest associations; it has ever given an additional charm to our
firesides; and tends, perhaps, more than any one thing, to confirm the
pre-existing domestic habits of the British public. Its exhilarating
qualities are eagerly sought after as a restorative and solace from the
effects of fatigue or dissipation; the healthy and the sick, the young
and the old, all equally resort to the use of it, as yielding all the
salutary influence of strong liquors, without their baneful and
pernicious effects. Yet this shrub, so simple and so useful, is delivered
to the community of this country, so surcharged with duties and profits
beyond its original cost, that, did it contain all the mischievous
qualities that are opposed to its real virtues, it could not be more
strictly guarded from general use.

For the whole of our imports, including factory expenses and commission,
the original cost in China amounts to the sum of two millions sterling.
This is wonderfully increased before the British public can have any
access to the article of consumption; thus:--


1. The value of the Company's importations from China
into Great Britain, as established by their own
statements, is £2,000,000

2. On this they charge 100 per cent, for their own
especial benefit 2,000,000