The Sun.
London, England, 1824-12-31 00:00:00

LONDON and BE
RQAD CC

RMINGHAII RAIL
omPANY.

LONDON C
Attwood Matthias, Esq. M.P.
Barrett, S. B. M. Esq. M.P.
Bent, John, Esq. M.P.
Benson, Thos. Starling, Esq.
Brogden, James, Esq. M.P.
Chance, Robt. Lucas, Esq.
Fernie, Ebenezer, Esq.
Frampton, William, Esq.
Goldsmiti, Isaac L. Esq.
Hamlet, Thomas, Esq.
Heale, Richard, Esq.
Lucas, Mr. Alderman
11111MINONAM COMMITTEE.
Smith, R. Esq. High Bailiff Jervis, J. H., Esq.
Attwood, 'Thomas, Esq. Ledsam, Daniel, Esq.
Attwood, George, Esq. Ledsam, John Morton, Esq.
Alston, Wm. Charles, Esq. Ledsam, Joseph Fredk., Esq.
Anderson, Isaac, Esq. Mason, James, Esq.
Aston, William, Esq. 'Mole, Thomas, Esq.
Bibby, John, Esq. Phipson, J. Weatherley, Esq.
Chance, Wm, jun. Esq. Pope, Jacob, Esq.
F
oster, James, Esq. Richards, Josiah, Esqi:
liaughton, Win.. Esq; Small, Thomas, Esq.'
Heatitcote, R. Edensor. Novi. Scholefeld, Joshua, Esq.
Iloddinott, Win., Esq. Shore, Joseph, Esq.
Hunt, Henry, Esq. Sparrow, John Sly, Esq.
Jackson, Uco. Elwell, Esq. Sparrow, Win. Hanbury, Esq.
Jevous,_ Thomas, Esq. ) Vale, John, Esq.
Bankers—Messrs. Spooner, Attwoods, and Co. London ;
Messrs. Attwoods, Spooner, and Co. Birmingham.
Solicitors—Messrs. Alliston and Hundleby, Freeman's-court,
Cornhill, London; and Mr. George Barker, Mr. Walter Hall
Capper, Birmingham.
In order to prevent inconvenience, the Committees think it
right to inform the Public, that the Shares which were proposed
to be distributed to applicants in London, and at Birmingham
and its neighbourhood, have been distributed; and the Com-
mittees regret that it has not been in their power to comply
with the wishes of all, but as the applicants far exceeded the
number of shares, it was impossible.
A Reserve has, however, been expressly made for the Noble-
men, Gentlemen, and others, Landholders on the proposed
line, which will be apportioned when the plans of the Coin-
pany are more matured.

Macqueen,T.Potter,Esq..M.P.
Meux, Thomas, Esq.
Nicholson, Isaac, jun. Esq.
Page, Captain
Porter, Wrnf: Henry, Esq.
Robinson, Geo. Richd. Esq.
Smith, Wm., Esq. M.P:
Tulke, C. A., Esq.: M. P.
Walker, Joshua, hsq. M.P.
Wilkin, John, Esq.
Woodhouse, Wm. Pittar, Esq.

GLOBE INSURANCE,
PALL-MALL AND CORNHILL, LONDON, FOR
FIRR AND LIFE INSURANCE, AND ANNUITIES.
ALL Persons whose Insurances with this
Company become due at Christmas next, are requested
to take Notice, that Receipts for the Renewal thereof are now
ready for delivery at the Company's Offices, and in the Hands
of their respective Agents in the Country. Insurances due at
Christmas must be paid on or before the 9th January next.
The Capital of this Company is One Million Sterling, which
has been all paid up, and is invested in Real or Government
Securities.

JOHN CHARLES DENHAM, Sec.

OFFICE,

COUNTY FIRE
AND
PROVIDENT LIFE OFFICE,
REGENT - STREET, LONDON.
PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES.
The DUKE of RuTLAND
The MARQUESS of NORTHAMPTON
EARL GREY
LORD BRAYBROOKE
LORD KING, Ne. &c. &c.
DIRECTORS.
J. T. Barber Beaumont, Esq. tvilliaut Praed, Esq.
Francis Const, Esq. Lieut. Col. Salim,ll
Sir John Doyle, hart. James Sedgwich,
Sir George Doclict, Bart. Hon. W. Shirley
Sir John Harrington, Dart, Walter St richtand, Esq.
Sir S. D. ?Rutland, Bart. AI,P. Sir W. E. Welby, Bart.
Hon. Thos. Patkur Sir Robert Wiliam, 'M.P.
&c. &c. &c.
CAPITALS, A MILLION STERLING and npwartls.
The PROFITS are divided amongst those who now insure,
as well as the original Members, in just proportion to their
respective Payments.
In the FIRE-OFFICE, RETURNS, during the last ten
years, to the amount of 242,000, have been paid to oil Per-
sons o ho' have continued insured Seven Years, upon Annual
as well as Septenoial Policies, and whether they have. been
Sufferers or otherwise.
In the LIFE OFFICE, BONUSES-of £l3 as. and ~CHI its.
per cent.. have been divided during the last Fourteen Years;
and other very peculiar Advantages are afforded.

Published.MonthlyPrice M.
3s. 6d RICHARDSON, 23, Conlinll,
.
BUCKINGHAM'S ORIENTAL
RALD, r.nd JOURNAL of GENERAL LITE-
RATURE.
No. XIII. of this Work, for January 102, contains the
following Original Articles :—Anticipated Changes in the Ad-
ministration of India—Condition of NVomen in the East—On
the Vagrant Laws of England—Education of Youth for Civil
Offices in India, and Enquiry into the Patronage of Ministers
and Directors in East India Appointments—bf Truth and
Simplicity in Taste and Criticism—Services of Distinguished
Officers in' the Indian Army--On the Catholic Association of
Ireland—Asiatic Journal, Libel on Lord Hastings and others
—Orders of the Court of Directors to appeal against all Judi-
cial Decisions against their Governors in India Character of
the Public Papers recently established in England •on Indian
Affairs—Original Poetry7-Full Report of the India house De-
bates—Latest Intelligence, Civil, Military, and Political, from
India and other Countries of the East—Promotions, Deaths,
Shipping, Passengers, and a variety of other Miscellaneous
Information, connected with the interests of India, at home
and. abroad.
Three Volumes of this Work are now complete, with Titles,
Indexes, &c. and may be had, by those desirous of possessing
it from the commencement.
Upwards of 1000 copies of this Publication have been ordered
to be sent monthly to India alone : and the circulation in Eng-
land and on the Continent of Europe has been steadily increas-
ing, from its first appearance up to the present period.
•

TH E ROPE VAULTER, or a COUNTRY
EXCUUSION.
Last Barthlomew Fair on ti
hen Monday began •
horse,
The market nt eloed„ bes
Through Smithfield a Yeoman directed his course,
In haste to a booth as the multitude ran,
Outside where a rope-Inuit* Monkey digplay'd
Ills skill, in appropriate costume arruy'd.
His agile performance and antic grimaces
Created a number of ilsible faces.
Encore !" cried the Yeoman,—the Monkey turn'd round,
And casting his eye on the Yeowan's blight bouts)
Suspended, in wonder all other pursuits;
For there by reflection his image he found
Ai if in a mirror,—and judgment to show,
Adjusted his dress by the fine jetty glow.
The crowd highly prais'd this new Await ur's taste;
When, Presto, begone! Jack() sprang up behind,
Anti throwing his arms round the Yeoman's,broad waist,
The horse the Old Bailey pact down like the wind,
:111,1 Blarkfriars Biidge with velocity crowed,
All eyes while these mystified rider, engrosed.
At home when arriv'd, what but terror prevailid,
The Yeoman as seen by the devil assail 'd !
1e The devil ?—'tis one of the Blacking's attracting,"
The Yeoman replied—while the Monkey the act in
Of setting his dress to the bright boots again,
Besotted his Amateur taste to sustain.--
liesteed to his home, to prevent like disaster,
A toilet fur Jacko is found by his Master,
In chaste and resplendent reflection not
lacking—
Boots polish'd by Warren's pre.eutinentahicking.
This Easy Shining and Briliant BLACKING, prepared by
ROBERT WARREN,
SO, STRAND, London ; and Sold in every Town in the King.
dom.—LIQUID, in bottles, firl•, lOd. VA. and tad. wll.—
Also PASTE BLACKING, in Pots, dd., 12:1., and isd. each.
o.° Ask for WARREN'S Blacking.

A a,si OF UNITARIAN DL-
L sBIUtL
NTEilst Atthe GENERA 14 ANNUA L MEET-
ING of the MEItitERS o; the UNITARIAN ASSOCIA-
TION, held at the London Tavern,
G. M. DAVIDSON', Esq. in the Chair,
Resolved,
That the Thanksof this Society are pre4minently due to the
Illarrptis of ba•nsdOwn, for his distinguished and zealous exer-
tions in promoting the Bill for the Relief of Unitarians from
the operation of the Marriage Law, and for his constant atten-
tion to the Deputations of the Committee in their variotts inter
views with him.
That this Meeting views with sincere pleasure the truly
Christian spirit displayed by many Members of the Episcopal.
Bench, and more particularly by his Grace the Archbishop of
Canterbury, in supporting a measure of so much importance
to the preservation of mental sincerity and integrity of con-
science, without which no Religious Service can be useful or.
acceptable.
That the sincere Thanks of this Meeting are also due to the
Earl of Liverpool and Earl Harrowby, for their liberal and
candid attention to the case submitted to their consideration ;
and to the former more particularly, for his candid declaration
of his sense of the unequivocal intention of the Legislature to
place Unitarians upon the tboting of other Protestant Dissen-
ters, by the Act orthe 53d Geo. 111. and of their just title to
further relief in the event of doubts attaching to the complete
operation of that Act.
That this Meeting is also anxious to express its gratitude
to Lord Holland; for his manly and energetic support of the
rights of conscience; and to such other Noble Lords on both
sides of the House as furthered the measure by their speeches
and votes.

That while the Members of this Association ate encouraged
to look with confidence to the ultimate success of their efforts,
they think themselves called upon thus publicly to declare the
true object of their complaint, the grounds on which they seek
relief, and the plan of redress which ,they have ventured to
suggest.
That the present Marriage Law of England, made in the
year 17b3, and for the avowed purpose of merely preventing
Clandestine Marriages, requires all persons, except Jews and
Quakers, to join on that occasion in the Worship and Service
of that Established Church.

That the conformity thus imposed upon the Unitarian Dis-
senter is repugnant to his conscientious feelings, and opinions t
first, because, as a Dissenter, he objects to being forced to join
for Civil purposes in the Ordinances of that Church from which
he conscientiously withdraws himself undetrtitb sanction, and
protection of the Law ; but secondly, and chiefly, because the
Marriage Service of the Church is one in which he cannot, as a
Unitarian, join, without a species of equivocation painful to his
conscience and degrading to an honourable mind.
That this compulsive conformity is of comparatively recent
origin, the • Church having no such exclusive privilege until it
was conferred upon it (not as an Ecclesiastical privilege, but as
a Civil regulation) in 174-43. prior to which time Marriage ap-
pears to have been in .-England, as in almos, 411 other countries,
a Civil contract requiring fur its legal va... )thtreligious
sanction of no Church. • •
That the enforcing of conformity in this respect is repul.
sive to the policy of the existing Laws of England, which
long previous to the Marriage Act had sanctioned and pro-
tected the right of dissent from the worship and discipline of
the Church.
That the effect of this Act, so far as it operates as a constraint
on concience could not have been intended by the Legislature ;
that the framers of it had Avowedly in view merely the civil ob-
ject of promoting regularity in. the formation and registration
of the Matrimonial Contract; and that this is evidenced by the
exception of the parties (Jews awl (bakers) against. whose re-
ligious habits and opinions it obviously militated—which ex-
ception would most probably have been extended to Unitarians,
if their worship had at that time been included, as it now is,
within the protection and sanction of the Toleration Acts.
That the grievance is extremely partial, inasmuch as the
Marriages of an dissenters in Ireland are legalised by express
Act of Parliament (passed in 177' after the fullest discussion),
nis those.contracted in 4etitiand are binding-,And as an Act was
very recently,sed for rendering valid Presbyterian alarriages
in Britishlndia.. .
That the law is not only unjust, but that it is not warranted
by the slightest political or civil expediency, inasmuch as the
object in view (the due publicity end registration of marriages)
may notoriously and obviously be accomplished with thegreatest
ease, without 40y:constraint or religious feelings.
That if the Legi,latur.: feels its if in any manner called
upon to interfere with theteelebration of Marriage as a religious
ordinance, in order to secure a binding and impressive influence
on the consciences of the parties concerned, still it is clear that
such an object can best be accomplished by avoiding all con-
straint, and by choosing such religious ceremonial as would be
accordant to the feeliugs, and therefore most likely to produce
the desired effect on the minds of the parties. •
That the existing constraint is not only. vexatious to Uni,
tarian Dissenters, but must, as they conceive, be extremely
unpleasant to the Ministers of the Church who by the exist-
ing law are obliged to administer sacred Ordinances to, and
join in Religious Worship with, Persons who Are known to
them on all other occasions - to disavow and publicly renounce
their communion. _ _ _

.. -
That as a remedy for this grievance, the Bill recently intro-
duced provided for the observance of every one of the forms
now required, as well as fin the maintennuce of the fees and
emoluments of the Church, and merely allowed the religi-
ous service on the occasion. to be performed by the Parties ac-
cording-to their own mode, and in their accustomed places, re-
gistered for the purpose under clearly defined regulations and
restrictions. _ _ _

...... _
That the exact letter of the precedent in the Marriage Act of
1763 (of merely exempting Jews and Quakers from its opera-
tion) was tot followed in this Bill, first, because the interests
of the whole. community and the avowed policy of the law,
plainly require Cie cheeks and regulations which it imposes to
he of general obligation, though in the case of parties so diS-•
tinctly marked as the Jews and Quakers, a relaxation in their
favour could be granted without danger. Secondly, Because
the Unitarians sought to withdraw themselves from no sort
of Civic restraint or inconvenience, but were willing even,
to undertake additional responsibility and trouble anti ex-
pence; and, thirdly, because it was avowedly expected of them
that nothing should be sought to be altered which was not ne-
cessarily required by the concession to their religious scruples.
That Registration in the Cemmon Parochial Register was
proposed to be preserved (in the absence of any other autho...
rised and established Regieter duly preserved), because there
would thus he a. Service to be periOrmed in reterect of which
the Church Minister might receive his accustomed fees, because
the continuance of one. heal:Registeri in which Marriages
are numbered consecutively, was considered to he of great value,
not merely to Unitarians, but to the whole community. And
lastly, because it was conceived that such a duty (performed as
it is now, under. the requirements of the Law as a matter of
Civil, not Eeelesias.ical policy) could:not be objected to as de.
rogatory to die dignity of the.. ,Church, on any grounds which
would not apply with far greater force to the obligation now irri
posed upon that Church, of receiving into its Religious.Ordi--
nancesi for a merely Civil object, parties who openly renounce
its discipline and doctrines.
That this Meeting inswets its Committee to per Severe in
their applications until the justice of their claims be fully
justice ot jhe Legislature for the admission of:
and on its wisdom for devising a mode;
cognized, an,tl the ggieva, atte be completely removed, in a firm
ocr reliance
iceefso
which
aril fog the rights of eano-
than the lin itarians Aw 7
science, witk that attention fo the Civil Interests of the Com-
munity, cgAblilf. a due regard
whiCh none 'are
to recognise and. adal more ready
itvlital-so far as in them lies, conscientl"
ously to uphold. -

NERVOUS .4t/N1 PLAINTS,' arid 11 ER I 1,11 'Y.
THE haw-tile to ratbd Dr. FOT II EitG I r„
in
coursuotins tatensive practice, encountered re-
peatedly suo 0
l. ,Aegmittg eases of Nervous Clinald"iuts' that
he was iutluectTtii .direct his principal attention 10 the disco-
vering an elh•etithl reinoY, the invaluattle Medicine here of-
fered to the Pinilic attention, under the title of .4 Dr. Fa-
thergill's Net von, Drops," was the result of his efforts. To
those who :(!e :Allele(' with Neryous disorders, and their va-
rious distreisinfralrictioni, as Oppression of Spirits, Head
Aches, Ltass. ut ititptlite, Spasms, 'ltemors,
Fainting Fit!z, and Illehility or Iteuli,x o„tri,e,cilotrir,t.:tll)iie S~aielu, it
yt
is confidently. recom nii..niled to bare
Medicine, by:wit:telt filer ate assured of obtaining immediate
relief, and by a air perseverance in it, ag
t„ the ili-
ectians gieen, the complete re,siablistinient ut their health.
Sold in Bottles, at 4s. t;d.; I Is. and ifs. by Ratite, Che-
mist, 4, Cliertpsitle, St. Paul's, and Qin, Ite-.cnt-street, (vicar
the Argyle,ltompi), Loildnit ; and brthe Principal Medicine
Venders throughout the United Kingdom.

RETAIL BEER ACT.

Ma. EDITOII,—In my Letter respecting the
Retail Beer Act, inserted in your Paper of the
6th of October last, I remarked that it had been
sufficiently long in operation to have its defects
easily pointed out.
Perhaps thete never was a more perplexed act
passed, or one on which such different opinions
have been held on its various clauses.

By Sections 7 and 8, no retail Brewer, not
having been a common Brewer for three months
previous to the sth of July last (Section 16), is
allowed to brew, sell, or have in his possession
any Table Beer, under the penalty of one hun-
dred pounds.
This clause subjects such retail Brewers to that
penalty, if they buy a pint of Table Beer for the
use of their families, or if they purchase larger
quantities to give to their servants, or labourers
employed in husbandry, or in any other manner.
While such retail Brewers are thus precluded
from having the smallest quantity of Table Beer
in their possession, Victuallers who brew their
own Beer, and Alehouse-keepers in general, are
permitted not only to sell Table Beer in any
quantities, which is a great accommodation to
the poor, but also to keep it in the same cellar
with the strong.
It would, I believe, be difficult to assign a
sufficient reason why such a distinction should be
made in favour of the Alehouse-keeper, or to
shew that the Retail Brewer is not at least as re.
spectable a person as him, and as little inclined
to practise frauds on the revenue ; he therefore
surely should be placed, in this respect, on the
same footh.7.

Where Bee. stale, and moderately strong, is
in common use Oh places are numerous),
it is impossible but there .11ust be a great waste
of'materials, if the Brewer is not allowed to draw
a weak Beer after his strong.
I believe there is no law that positively re-
strains Alehouse-keepers from selling after any
particular hour, or at any specified time, except
duringi divine service; their recognizauces only
go to prevent their keeping disorderly houses, or
entertaining improper persons, and at late hours;
but as the retail Brewer cannot commit any of
these offences, why is he prevented (Section 11)
from carrying on his business before six o'clock
in the morning, and after nine in the evening ;
why should it be considered more criminal in
him to sell a pint of Beer out of these hours,
than it is to sell a loaf of bread or an ounce of
tea ?

In manufacturing towns, many of the-operatives
do not leave work before the latter hour; to
them the Act, which was meant to benefit such
persons, is a dead letter ; where there
is no public clock, or where there are several
that do not agree in their time, who is to deter-
mine when the hours have arrived ? or if, from
high winds, particular situations, or many other
causes, the Brewer should not hear the clock
strike, and should inadvertently sell a few mi-
nutes beyond the allowed time, must it not be a
great piece of injustice to molest him with a
heavy fine for having committed an unintended
and harmless breach of a partial law ?
At the time of the Act's first corning into ope-
ration, it was a matter of doubt whether the 16th
section gave permission to those who had been
common brewers previous to July the sth last,
to continue the brewing and selling of Table
Beer, and some were put, by the Excise Officers,
to considerable expence in taking Counsel's
nion before the point was cleared up; and even
now they are not allowed to do it but under such
restrictions as the circumstances of the case will
by no means warrant.
What must lie thought of this part of the Act,
When it', known that if, from the negligence of a
servant, a single gallon of Table Beer should by
any means be suffered to pass through that part
of a Brewery appropriated t'o the Retail Trade;
or if, from the hurry of business, a clerk should
unintentionally omit to insert in the certificate
that must accompany every cask sent out, the
price at which the Table Beer is sold, (and there
is no space in the certificate set apart for that
purpose,) or should commit the most trilling error
in it, his innocent employeris to be subject to the
enormous penalty of one hundred pounds, and
what is infinitely worse, he is to be rendered in-
capable of ever after carrying on the retail bust-
tress, so that whatever connexions in that line he
may have formed, whatever expellees he may
have incurred, whatever prospects he may have
before him, are all to be forfeited in a moment,
from a trivial unintentional error in a servant, or
possibly a wilful one, proceeding from revenge,
'or Some base motive.

Nothing of this kind was in the Bill, as intro.
duced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and
I believe there is little doubt but it was adopted
at the instigation of wholesale brewers and publi-
cans, persons who have nearly a monopoly of
supplying a very great portion of the people with
a most material article of food.
Even those retail brewers who are still allow-
ed to sell Table Beer, cannot retail it at all, or
send it out in quantities of less than nine gal-
lons in a cask ; here again, the Act which was
passed professedly to benefit the lower classes is
a great injury to them. Before this Act came
into operation, all brewers were allowed to sell
so small a quantity as four gallons and a half;
this quantity ‘vould keep good in summer while
the labourer was drinking it ; but nine gallons
is in general too much for his consumption, and
he must now either decline using it altogether, or

be content to throw away a considerable part
rum its havicg become too stale.

These restrictions were partly meant to protect
the revenue, and I believe partly introduced by
the persons before pointed out, with the design
of cramping the Retail Brewer ; but as the laws
already in force are considered sufficient to pre-
vent frauds by the wholesale Brewer and by the
Victualler, there can be no good reason why the
retail Brewer should be oppressed by others, or
why he should not be allowed to brew and to sell
Table Beer in the sA.- way as a Victualler does.
By section 6, Retail Brewers, situated in
&c., can retail their Beer only on the pre-
mises we.._ ewed ; and by section 7, a,►y
common Brewer whose brewery is situated out of
a City or Market Town, and who does not retail
there,may enter one room in any one adjoining town,
&c.. for retailing his strong Beer. Ilis Majesty's
Ministers have of late been acting on the pro-
fessed principle of throwing trade open, and this
act in particular was said to have for its object
the destroying the monopoly of the Beer Trade ;
hut it certainly is proceeding very slowly in that
path, and not without sufTcient•caution, but I be-
lieve it is not difficult to perceive the SOME' blight-
ing influence In this part of the act as has been
before noticed. However, it may be hoped, that in
the next Session of Parliament, the principle will
be extended, and that, instead of restricting the
sale to the premises where brewed, or to only
one room in one town, both strong and table beer
will be permitted to be sold in various parts of
every town and, village; or even as table beer
now is, by chandlers and others, on their paying
& small sum for a licence.

I believe that Breweries newly set up in or
near streets may be indicted as nuisances ; and
it is well known that they are in general
tuated in remote, and frequently in dark and
dirty plats of towns, where it is very unpleasant
for women and children to go on dark nights and
dirty weather.

Where stale beer is drank it Is necessary for the
Retail Brewer to keep up a large stock in extensive
premises, and to embark a considerable capital.
In few towns, where the population is scatter-
ed, will it answer for so many Retail Brewers
to set up as would bring the places of sale within
moderate distances of the dwellings of the con-
sumers ; therefore to those at some distance (say
half a mile, or even less), the benefit of the Re-
tail Brewing is nearly lost, as it is also to vil-
lages and small neighbourhoods, which would
not be the case if beer could be sold by shop--
keepers, as other commodities are.
The only objection to this seems to be the
supposed necessity of making the innkeepers
compensation for the burthen imposed on them,
of providing accommodation foe soldiers but
when it is considered that such accommodation is
no►e but seldom called for to any extent, that it
applies only to such houses as are situated at the
halting places on the usual lines of march, and
that with the present allowances, the soldier is
in general received as a welcome guest, they will
appear only as pretexts.

I say nothing of the hardships of making the
retail Brewer pay five guineas for a licence to
enable him to carry on a mutilated out of door
trade, when few common alehouse-keepers pay
more than one guinea for their licence, to sell
all sorts of Beer both in and out of doors.

No doubt the Act will be revised and ma-
terially altered in the approaching Session of
Parliament, when I hope the retail Brewers will
be sufficiently alive to their interests, to prevent
their opponents from taking any undue advantage,
and getting any clauses inserted that may be in
opposition to the best interests of the public.
Whatever is done, will I hope be done early
in the Session, so that Brewers may know what
stocks of Beer it will be prudent for them to
brew during the cold weather, which was not
the case last year.

I arU, Sir, your obedient servant,
A CONSTANT READER.

COFFEE.,-411 the year 1554, Coffee became
known to the inhabitants of Constantinople, and
was publicly sold in a coffee-house, elegantly
fitted for that purpose ; and though it was con-
demned by the Multi, in consequence of the cla-
mours excited Ngailist the prevailing use of it,
coffee was still drank in private houses ; and the
officers of the police allowed it to be sold, on pay-
ing a tax, and under certain restrictions. It was
not long, however, before these restrictions were
removed, and the sale of it became more general-
than it has ever been. It is reckoned that as
much is spent by private families in the article of
coffee at Constantinople, as in wine at Paris. The
custom of chinking coffee is so general, that you
are as much solicited there for money 40 drink
coffee, as you are here for money to drink-your
health in wine or beer : and among the legal
causes of divorce, the refusal to supply a wife
with coffee is one. Coffee was not introduced
into the western parts of Europe, till about the
middle of the 17th century : the Venetians were
the first who imported it, and the custom of
drinking it in France, (at Paris in particular)
was established in the year 1660, during the stay
of the Ambassador from Sultan Mahomet the
Fourth in that city. The first use of coffee In
London was earlier than at Paris ; for in 1652,
the Greek servant of a Turkey merchant opened
a house for tbe sale of it in George Yard, Lem-
bard-street. The first mention that is made of
it in the statute books is, in the year 1660, when
a duty of four-pence was laid on every'gallon of
coffee made and sold, to be paid by the maker ;
and in 1675, King Charles issued a proclamation
to shut up the coffee-houses, because they were
seminaries of sedition.