234 THE HISTORY OF NEWMARKET. [Book XI, 



expected to resign, it was found impossible to perfect 

 arrangements before the recess, and the Houses had 

 to content themselves with a Bill providing an imme- 

 diate supply of ^100,000 on account The provision 

 of means for disbanding the army and reducing the 

 navy had, however, been thoroughly managed, and 

 when Parliament reassembled there was a clear course 

 for the race for the royal revenue. 



The excise had been introduced by the Parliament, 

 to defray the charges of the war against Charles I. 

 To reconcile the nation to so odious a tax, it was first 

 voted for a short period only ; and though it had been 

 continued ever since by successive grants, an under- 

 standing always existed, that, as nothing but necessity 

 could justify the imposition, so it should most certainly 

 cease with that necessity. Now, however, a moiety 

 of the excise was settled on the king for the term 

 of his natural life, and from that moment, all hope of 

 its extinction vanished, and in a short time the 

 streamlet swelled into a golden river. The excise 

 which then only produced ^300,000 a year (it now 

 yields over ^27,000,000) had to be supplemented ; and 

 for the object of obtaining sufficient funds to pay the 

 annual grant of / 1,200,000 to the king, the Hearth- 

 money was instituted.'" 



Hearth-money, otherwise called chimney-money, 



* The Excise Act vested in the Crown for ever i ^d. from every 

 barrel of superior beer ; \d, from every barrel of inferior beer ; 1 5^/. from 

 every hogshead of cider or perry ; \d. from every gallon of metheglin or 

 mead ; 6^. from every barrel of so-called "vinegar-beer ;" \d. from every 

 gallon of aqua vita; or strong water ; d^d. from every gallon of chocolate, 

 sherbet, or tea, besides higher duties proportionately from imported ales, 

 cider or perry, or strong waters. 



