unless made wholly out of old tarred rope and cordage, without extracting therefrom the pitch or tar, or any part thereof,” and the Act further says, “and without any mixture of other materials therewith;” and “that for every pound weight avoirdupois of paper made in Great Britain, of the second class or denomination, that is to say, all brown paper made of old ropes or cordage only, as aforesaid, a duty of 1½d. per lb.” The professed object of the last mentioned Act being a simplification of the mode of charging the duties, the numerous distinct classes into which paper had been divided being here reduced to two. But again, evasion of the law was soon discovered to be practicable. Either by a partial purification of the tarred rope, selecting also that which was most whitened by use and exposure, and then charging the paper so made (which was nearly equal to first class in marketable value) with the second class duty; or as tarred rope increased in price, and some sorts of first class material very considerably declined, the great temptation of an extensive evasion of the law necessarily followed, by the use of first class material in second class paper. Whether the duty on paper as now imposed, or the Excise regulations under which that duty is collected, be the more objectionable, is perhaps difficult to say. Of course, the paper-maker is subjected to considerable annoyance, and the publisher compelled to submit to an outlay which he deems unjust, and would very happily dispense with; but the public are not really affected by it to the extent it is customary to suppose. The duty at present levied upon paper of all kinds is _fourteen guineas_ per ton, or a little more than three halfpence per lb. When, therefore, we hear men pronouncing it “a most obnoxious tax,” and one “directly opposed to the advancement of literature,” I freely confess that, for my own part, I hesitate very much to reiterate their sentiments.