FROM 1583 TO 1702. 71 



grant is provided from within ' the bills of mortality/ and the 

 counties on which the residue is assessed are Herts, Beds, 

 Middlesex, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Kent, Surrey, Cambridge, 

 Hunts, Northants, and Rutland, for in those counties the 

 authority of Parliament was practically unchallenged. 



During the Civil War England was conquered by the Parlia- 

 mentary armies piecemeal, for the war was essentially one of 

 sieges. The Acts and Ordinances of the Westminster Parlia- 

 ment give distinct information of the gradual progress of 

 the Commonwealth's armies. Now during this struggle, the 

 Parliament's agents or officials must have gained a good deal 

 of practical information as to the comparative resources of 

 different English counties and towns, and have prepared the 

 way for an equitable revaluation for the purposes of taxation, 

 since a considerable amount of the Parliament's revenues were 

 derived from direct taxation. 



The first of these assessments after the war in England was 

 practically over, was made on March 25, 1649. Some of the 

 greatest inequalities in the assessment of 1641 are remedied 

 in this, but only partially. Devonshire is still overtaxed, 

 occupying the twelfth place, and some of the counties are 

 undertaxed l . But again I do not think that the unfairness is 

 designed. 



During the summer of 1649, it is clear that the administra- 

 was collecting evidence with a view to making as just an 

 ssment as possible. This was achieved by the valuation 

 of December 25, when the grant of 90,000 a month, for the 

 maintenance of the army and navy, is continued for three 

 months, to sink to 60,000 a month from March 25. I 

 conclude that this valuation satisfied every one, in so far as 

 people can be satisfied with direct taxation, for it is adhered 

 to during the rest of the Commonwealth, and indeed practically 

 afterwards, though the commissioners for the different counties 

 allowed to represent their case, and to take action in 



1 For instance, Kent, Suffolk, and Norfolk are pat at exactly the same rate, 



