Four and a Half per Cent. Duty.

This was a grant in perpetuity by the Assembly of the Island of Barbadoes, made in 1663, and levied upon all exported produce of the island. It was to be applied to defray the charges of Government in Barbadoes, but down to this day it has been and is grossly perverted, being applied as a pension fund for clergymen and the heirs of favourites of dead sovereigns. £1,620 was last year so bestowed, though it is 46 years since the duties themselves were abolished. But if we go back to the five years ending 1830 we find that from an average gross produce of £45,000 brought in by this duty yearly there had to be paid £27,500 in Court Pensions.