ars, and the subsidy
alone is used. In spite of Charles I.'s high-handed policy five
subsidies were voted after the Petition of Right had been accepted, and
even the Long Parliament made similar grants. Almost at the outbreak of
the Civil War it also gave the king a graduated capitation tax. Other
modes of direct taxation were used without parliamentary sanction. The
collection of the antiquated feudal dues was enforced through the
special courts (particularly the Star Chamber) with a rigour long
unknown; James had tried the French device of a "tariff of honors." Both
kings employed the "benevolence" until the Petition of Right made such
a levy illegal. But by far the most serious innovation was the
collection of the "ship money," a course forced on Charles by his
determination not to meet the representatives of the nation. The writs
"embodied the ultimate expression of the ingenuity of the king's
advisers in the invention of means to enable him to rule without a
parliament." The first writs secured over L100,000, and were followed by
five further issues (1634-1639) bringing in an average return of
L200,000 or about three lay subsidies. Like the "benevolence," the ship
money was declared to be illegal (1641).

The contest respecting monopolies, settled by Elizabeth's withdrawal,
was revived under James I., and had to be finally closed by the Statute
of Monopolies (1624), declaring such grants to be utterly void. Certain
exceptions (as in the case of the soap-boilers) permitted the raising of
revenue by what was in fact a rudimentary excise, and plans for a
general excise were discussed, especially as a substitute for the feudal
dues, though they were not reduced to practice. In the earlier 17th
century the customs show a steady increase. From L127,000 in 1604 they
rose to nearly L500,000 in 1641. This fourfold increase was due in part
to the growth of English trade, but it was also influenced by the
adoption of new "Books of rates" in 1608 and 1635, fixing higher
valuations, and by the inclusion of new commodities with definite
duties. Wine, currants (the subject of controversy in Bates' case) and
tobacco are particularly noticeable. Sugar also appears as a
contributory. An interesting development was the adoption on a larger
scale of the "farming" system, an evident imitation from France. A
distinction was made between the "great," the "petty" and the "sugar"
farms, and opportunities for gain were afforded to the offic