e assent of Charles himself
in the Petition of Right, were again set on foot, and on a scale far
more gigantic than had been seen before; the companies who undertook
them paying a fixed duty on their profits as well as a large sum for the
original concession of the monopoly. Wine, soap, salt, and almost every
article of domestic consumption fell into the hands of monopolists, and
rose in price out of all proportion to the profit gained by the Crown.
"They sup in our cup," Colepepper said afterwards in the Long
Parliament, "they dip in our dish, they sit by our fire; we find them in
the dye-fat, the wash bowls, and the powdering tub. They share with the
cutler in his box. They have marked and sealed us from head to foot."

[Sidenote: Customs and benevolences.]

In spite of the financial expedients we have described the Treasury
would have remained unfilled had not the king persisted in those
financial measures which had called forth the protest of the Parliament.
The exaction of customs duties went on as of old at the ports. The
resistance of the London merchants to their payment was roughly put down
by the Star Chamber; and an alderman who complained bitterly that men
were worse off in England than in Turkey was ruined by a fine of two
thousand pounds. Writs for benevolences, under the old pretext of gifts,
were issued for every shire. But the freeholders of the counties were
more difficult to deal with than London aldermen. When those of Cornwall
were called together at Bodmin to contribute to a voluntary gift, half
the hundreds refused, and the yield of the rest came to little more than
two thousand pounds. One of the Cornishmen has left an amusing record of
the scene which took place before the Commissioners appointed for
assessment of the gift. "Some with great words and threatenings, some
with persuasions," he says, "were drawn to it. I was like to have been
complimented out of my money; but knowing with whom I had to deal, I
held, when I talked with them, my hands fast in my pockets."

[Sidenote: General prosperity.]

By means such as these the financial difficulty was in some measure met.
During Weston's five years of office the debt, which had mounted to
sixteen hundred thousand pounds, was reduced by one half. On the other
hand the annual revenue of the Crown was raised from half-a-million to
eight hundred thousand. Nor was there much sign of active discontent.
Vexatious indeed and illegal as were the procee