516 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



tence of their parliaments," It is in 

 the fifteenth chapter of his second 

 book that Selden treats on this mat- 

 ter, in which headduces, as a further 

 evidence of the dominion of the 

 sea exercised by England, the tri- 

 butes and taxes accustomed to be 

 levied for the cvistody of it from 

 the time of the Norman conquest. 

 He begins with the Saxon tux of 

 Danegelt, which he finds to have 

 been occasionally levied by the 

 Norman kmj^s ; once, particularly, 

 by William Rufus, " with consent 

 of his barons, but not by sanction 

 of a law." And that this was re- 

 garded as a grievance, appears from 

 King Stephen's promise, among 

 other popular measures, entirely to 

 abolish Danegelt. In fact, this tax 

 was not paid later than the reign of 

 Henry II. nnd parliamentary grants 

 for the purpose of guarding the 

 seas, after its cessation, are cited by 

 Selden under Edward I. Richard 11. 

 and Henry VI. He goes on to say, 

 " Why do I quote these instances, 

 when in the printed parliamentary 

 records it fiequently occurs, by 

 way of preamble to a statute, • that 

 the kings of England from time im- 

 memorial have received by autho- 

 rity of parliament ^reat sums of 

 money under the title of a subsidy, 

 or a tax upon goods imported or 

 exported, for the defence of the 

 realm, and the keeping and safe- 

 guard of the seas ?" It is most ex- 

 traordinary that Nicolson, with this 

 passage lull its his viviw, could re- 

 present Selden as countenancing by 

 liis authority the unconstitutional 

 imposition of ship-money without 

 the intervention of parliament. 



The Mare Clavsum was transla- 

 ted into English in 1G52, at the 

 time of the breach between the 

 English commonwealth and the 



states of Holland, by Marchmont 

 Needham, who took the liberty 

 of suppressing the dedication to 

 Charles, and substituting one to the 

 republic. He also added an Ap- 

 pendix, containing somedocuments 

 contributed by president Bradshaw. 

 Another and an improved transla- 

 tion was made after the Restora- 

 tion by. J. H. (probably James 

 Howel), aad published in 16C3 ; 

 whence may be judged how flatter- 

 ing its doctrine was to the feelings 

 of Englishmen. 



Description of Teheran. 

 (From Morier's Tour in Persia. J 



Teheran, the present capital of 

 Persia, is situated, as I ascertained 

 by a meridional observation, in 

 lat.35°40'. It is in circumference 

 between four and a half and five 

 miles, if we might judge from 

 the length of our ride round the 

 walls, which indeed occupied an 

 hour and a half; but from this we 

 must deduct something for the de- 

 viations necessary from the inter- 

 vention of the gardens, and the 

 slaughter-houses- There are six 

 gates, inlaid with coloured bricks 

 and with figures oftigers and other 

 beasts in rude mosaic : their en- 

 trance is lofty and domed ; and 

 they are certainly better than those 

 that we had then seen in any of 

 the fortified places of Persia. To 

 the N. W. are separate towers. 

 We saw two pieces of artillery, 

 one apparently a mortar, the other 

 a long gun. The ditch in some 

 parts had fallen in, and was there 

 supported by brick-work. 



The town itself is about the size 



of 



