and impofitions to anfwer for; and that my good father and grandfather little merited thofe fair characters which they left behind them, and for which I have ever respected their me mories. I will make to the public a family confefion, and I hope I fhall obtain from the public a family abfolution.

In my grandfather's time-for it is a tale to which I have often willingly attended, whatever the reader may do—it was the custom for ladies and gentlemen to come to the shop, and to order their own teas.-The chefts used to be fpread out, and when my grandfather had mixed fome of them together, in the prefence of his cuftomers, they used to tafte the tea and the mixing was varied till it fuited the palates of the purchasers. At that time of day, no perfon would have liked the tea, if it had not been mixed. The cuftom of the purchasers tafting tea in this manner was feldom practifed in my father's time: now, it is fcarcely ever practifed: but the old cuftom of mixing teas has been uniformly continued: and if I muft now lay it afide, I can only fay, that I have been learning a leffon, which is not very easily learned, to little purpose. I think however that the cuftom only requires proper explanation to be approved. Throw off the veil of mystery, aud many things which were before alarming, appear to be perfectly harmless.

'Whoever understands tea, and clears home, for example, twenty chefts of hyfon, will find, upon tafting them separately and accurately, that fome have rather too much flavour, and are therefore coarfe, fome have too little, and are therefore weak; and that others have-perhaps like those who are to drink them-fome little peculiarity, which a proper union will totally remove. By making a judicious mixture out of thefe chefts, a better tea may be got, than any of the chefts, taken fingly, could afford. Befides, if this cuftom were not to be practifed, it would be impoffible to preferve that fimilarity of tea, at any given price, which every dealer muft preserve, if he means to give fatisfaction to his cuftomer. The pound of tea which he bought out of one of the twenty chefts to-day, might perhaps be approved: but if he comes to-morrow, that cheft may be gone, and another neither is, nor of course can, without mixing, be made like it. As to impofition, if the tea, when mixed, be good, and honeftly worth the price which is required for it, who is impofed upon? Who will complain? If the tea, though taken out of a fingle cheft, be not good, and not worth the money which is afked for it, will not every perfon think himself impofed upon? Will not every perfon complain? I hope then that the tea-dealer who fairly and anxiously mixes his chefts of genuine tea together, in order, not to impofe upon his cuftomers, but to give them fatisfaction, will no longer be ranked among the adulterators of tea.

I have confined myself to the inftance of my own practice, because I have no right to fpeak with equal freedom, and equal certainty, of the practice of others: fo far however from in

tending

tending to lay claim to the fole poffeffion of the art of mixing, I verily believe it is, and always was, generally practifed. There is indeed one fpecies of tea-I mean bloom-which though it actually improves other teas, when properly mixed with them, would, by itself, be almost universally disliked. If, after all, any perfon fhould prefer his own opinion in this matter to that of the tea-dealers, and would be better pleased with his tea, if it came out of a fingle cheft, than if it were mixed, he may certainly have it fo.'

The other accufation, or that of adulterating tea, relates to a practice fo extremely iniquitous that it merits the fevereft reprehenfion. Mr. Twining, upon the authority of a gentle man who is faid to have made very accurate enquiries with regard to this fubject, has also disclosed to the public the infamous arts of adulteration. Thefe are fuch as cannot but excite the most indignant fentiments in every reader: and though we approve the ingenuoufnefs with which Mr. Twining has communicated this information, we fhould not have ftained our Review with the recital of fuch Stygian prepa rations, were we not of opinion that the publication of those abominable frauds is more likely to operate in the way of prevention than of incitement. The following are the prefcriptions.

"Method of making fmouch with afh tree leaves, to mix with black teas.-When gathered they are firft dried in the fun, and then baked, they are next put upon a floor and trod upon until the leaves are finall, then fifted and steeped in copperas, with fheeps dung; after which, being dried on a floor, they are fit for use."

Another mode. When the leaves are gathered they are boiled in a copper with copperas and sheeps dung; when the liquor is ftrained off, they are baked and trod upon, until the leaves are small, after which they are fit for ufe.

"The quantity manufactured at a fmall village, and within eight or ten miles thereof, cannot be ascertained; but is fupe pofed to be about twenty tons in a year.-One man acknow leges to have made fix hundred weight in every week, for fix months together.

"The fine is fold at 41. 45. per cwt. equal to 9d. per lb. "The coarse, 21. 25. ditto, ditto, 4d. ditto. "Elder buds are manufactured in fome places, to reprefent fine teas.'

This iniquitous trade has been carried on a long time A though not in fo extenfive a way as within thefe few years. In the 11th Geo. I. cap. 30, fect. 5, it is enacted, That the dealer in tea, or manufacturer, or dyer thereof, who shall coun terfeit or adulterate tea, or fhall alter, fabricate, or manufacture it with terra japanica, or with any other drug or drugs

D4

what

whatsoever, or shall mix with tea any leaves, other than leaves of tea, thus, in the time of Geo. I. real tea was allowed to be mixed with real tea], or other ingredients whatfoever, fhall forfeit the fum of one hundred pounds."

It is alfo recited, in the 4th of Geo. II. cap. 14, fect. 11, "That feveral ill-difpofed perfons do frequently dye, fabricate, or manufacture, very great quantities of floe leaves, liquorifh leaves, and the leaves of tea that have before been used, or the leaves of other trees, fhrubs, or plants, in imitation of tea, and do likewife mix, colour, ftain, and dye fuch leaves, and Fikewife tea, with terra japanica, fugar, moloffes, clay, logwood, and with other ingredients, and do fell and vend the fame as true and real tea, to the prejudice of the health of his majesty's fubjects, the diminution of the revenue, and to the rain of the fair trader :” and the dealer in, or seller of, fuch "fophifticated" tea, is to forfeit the fum of ten pounds for every pound weight.

It appears from the 17th of Geo. III. cap. 29, "that this trade had increafed to a very great degree, to the injury and destruction of great quantities of timber, woods, and underwoods, the prejudice of the health of his majefty's fubjects, the diminution of the revenue, the ruin of the fair trader, and to the encouragement of idlenefs:" and, by the fame act, the feller or manufacturer of such tea is to forfeit five pounds per pound weight; or upon non-payment of that fum, be committed to prifon, for any time not exceeding twelve months.

Hitherto government has not been able to fupprefs this trade: but, when the smuggling of real tea fhall claim lefs of their attention, I hope they will exert themselves with vigour, and put a stop to the manufacture of English tea.

It is, then, fufficiently apparent, that there is fuch a thing as adulterated tea: there is plenty of it: and the public may naturally enquire how they are to avoid it. My answer is, by buying their tea of reputable tea-dealers, who are, I dare fay, to be found in every part of the kingdom; and by avoiding thofe dealers of a different defcription, who offer their teas to fale at lower prices than those at which legal and genuine teas can be afforded.'.

Mr. Twining afterwards proceeds to confider the principal objections that have been made to the tea-act, with the means of rendering it productive of the purposes for which it was framed. He obferves that the prefent failure of the bill is to be corrected by lowering the prices of tea, until they corref pond with those which were held out to the public. This, he thinks, can be effected by one method only; which is, by the company's having an ample quantity in this kingdom. Let them but have this, fays he, and the fmuggler mull inevitably give way. He is however, of opinion, that the company cannot have from China a fufficient, quantity of each species of

tea

tea before the year 1786: but he observes that there are al-' ready large quantities of tea upon the continent: more are expected to arrive there; and from this fock, the East India company ought, if poffible, to fupply themselves. This me thod, which is clearly founded in good policy, would certainly be productive of advantageous effects; for by purchafing the foreign teas, not only will the legal market be furnished with that fupply which it so much flands in need of, but the illegal market will be deprived of the refource by which it is fupported.

Having laid before our readers this account of Mr. Twining's Obfervations, a regard to justice obliges us to acknow lege, in the most explicit terms, both the zeal and the dif cernment which he has fo remarkably manifested, by the attention bestowed on this fubject. His habits of life have af forded him the most favourable opportunities of acquiring in formation in whatever relates to the tea-trade; and at a time which peculiarly called for the aid of fuch knowlege, he has contributed his experience towards the interefts of the community, in a manner fo unreferved, fo judicious, and at the fame time fo modeft, though not diffident, as reflects great credit, not only upon his understanding, but his public

virtue.

Remarks on the Report of the East India Directors, respecting the Sale and Prices of Tea. By Richard Twining. 8vo. 15. 6d. Cadell.

WITH refpect to any other mercantile fubject, we are of

opinion that the greater part of our readers would excufe us from entering upon any detail of prices, calculations, and, in general, all technical circumftances; but when tea, when all-fubduing tea is the object of enquiry, did we appear not to beftow fufficient attention upon it, we should most certainly incur the cenfure of the politeft circles in the kingdom. We therefore confider ourselves as under the necessity of exhibiting a more full account of the pamphlet before us, than the nature of fuch commercial publications might otherwise require and we are glad to find that the great intelligence discovered by this author, relative to the tea-trade, is likely to render the narrative more interefting to the public.

Mr. Twining admits that the Eaft India company was liberal in putting up, at the firft fale, much more tea than had been enjoined by the act of parliament; and that the company might, perhaps, reafonably think, a priori, that the quantity would be fufficient. He cannot however admit,

⚫ that

that the company bar abundantly fulfilled the intentions of the legislature, in point of supplying the market with a fufficient quantity of tea." They have indeed, fays he, done more than fulfil the bare direction, but I shall never think they have fulfilled the intention of the legislature, or that the market has been fupplied with a fufficient quantity of tea, till the price is reduced as low as it ought to be.' Mr. Twining obferves that the December fale, though it contains half a milLion more than the quantity mentioned in the act; and though it might be fufficient to keep the prices right, if it found them fo, is by no means fufficient to effect that reduction. which ought to take place. If the directors thould say, that their stock of teas would not enable them to make a larger fale, efpecially of congou and fouchong, where the excess principally is, he acknowleges that their plea is founded in fact. But he obferves, it is one thing to say that they could not put up a fufficient quantity, and another thing to fay that they have done it.

In treating of the account of the faving alledged to have arifen upon teas, according to the ftatement of the Report, in which the annual confumption is estimated at ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen millions, our author makes the following obfervations.

The annual average confumption of tea, which paid duty, was 4,889,390 pounds weight. To whatever fum the actual reduction of price upon that quantity of tea fhall amount, that fum will certainly be faved. If the directors intended to fhew the faving which would refult from a larger quantity, they ought not to have reckoned any more duty-paid tea than 4,889,390 pounds: and they should have calculated the deficiency at the price of fmuggled tea. If, for instance, the di◄ rectors wished to fhew what effect the new plan would have, upon a fuppofition that the East India company were to fell 12 millions of teas annually, at the prefent prices, they should have contrafted the amount of 12 millions at thofe prices, with the joint amount of about five millions of tea at the old average prices of duty-paid tea, and feven millions at the old average prices of fmuggled tea. Inftead of doing this, they reckon the whole 12 millions at the price of old duty-paid tea; and having thus obtained a vaft and imaginary fum of faving, they give the public reafon to look for it at the hands of the teadealer. But to hold out fuch large favings as never will, never can, be obtained; and to infinuate blame to others, if they be not obtained, is not lefs an impofition upon the public than unfair and ungenerous treatment of the tea-dealers.

Whatever fum the public, or rather the former confumers of duty-paid tea may have faved upon the last fale, it is certain that they have faved upwards of 150,000l. lefs than they ought