quired a foothold in the budget, from which it has
never since been possible to shake it. The burden of the excise at this
period, however, was not oppressive. During the Commonwealth and the
reign of Charles II. a tax, which has since produced to the state an
annual income of $90,000,000, did not probably average more than
L500,000. It gives us a singular picture of the simplicity of that
period that even this small sum made up one third of the whole royal
revenue for the year. The other two thirds were drawn in about equal
proportions from the customs and crown lands.

We now approach one of the most important eras in the financial history
of England. The nation was yet unaccustomed to taxation, and was weighed
down by no national debt. In the Revolution of 1688, and the events that
grew immediately out of it, we find, however, the origin of nearly every
species of tax now in use in Great Britain. In the same agitated period
we find also the beginning of the national debt. Louis XIV. espoused the
cause of James, and England entered upon a war with France. In a
conflict with the greatest monarchy of Europe, the Government soon found
itself forced to adopt a scale of national expenditure which the
preceding generation would not have conceived possible. At once, as in a
night, a harvest of strange taxes sprang up on every hand. The list of
excisable articles was increased. The tax on houses and windows, that
had been so unpopular in the preceding reign, was again introduced, and
a new appraisement was made of all the real estate in the kingdom. A
degenerate age might take exceptions to some of the other taxes now
instituted. An act was passed placing a tax upon bachelors and widowers,
fixing, at the same time, 'certain rules and duties on marriages,
births, and burials, for the term of five years, for the carrying on the
war against France with vigor.' Men were not even permitted to enjoy the
subtile luxury derived from having a title attached to the name without
taxation. Persons of the present day, wishing to know the relative value
of the titles, will be interested in the following law, passed at this
time:

Every person bearing the title of
esquire, or reputed, or owning, or
writing himself such, shall pay L5

Every gentleman, or reputed gentleman,
or owning himself such,
shall pay L1

These, however, were by no means the most burdensome forms of taxation.
A man would