revenue; 



is frequently granted out to lords of manors, as a royal 

 franchife. (See WRECK.) 12. The right to mines of 

 filver and gold. (See Mine.) 13 Tin- revenue of trea- 

 fure -trove. 14. Waits. 15. Eltravs, which the law gives 

 to the king as the general owner and lord paramount of the 

 foil ; though they now moft commonly belong to the lord 

 of the manor, by fpecial grant from the crown. 16. For- 

 feitures of lands and goods for offences. (See CoNFISOA rt 

 and Deodand.) Thefe are for the moft part granted out 

 to the lords of manors, or other liberties. 17. The revenue 

 arifing from the efcheats of lands, reverting, upon th( 

 fault of heirs to fuccced to the inheritance, to the king, who 

 is efteemed, in the eye of the law, the original proprietor of 

 all the lands in the kingdom. 18. The Tall branch of the 

 king's ordinary revenue confifts in the cuftody of idiots. 



Such is the king's ordinary revenue, or the proper patri- 

 mony of the crown, which was formerly very large, and 

 capable of being increafed to a magnitude truly formidable : 

 but, fortunately for the liberty of the fubject, this here- 

 ditary landed revenue is now funk almoft to nothing ; and 

 the cafual profits, arifing from the other branches of the 

 cenfus regalis, are likewife almoft all of them alienated from 

 the crown. In order to fupply the deficiencies of which, 

 we are now obliged to have recourfe to new methods of raif- 

 ing money, unknown to our early anceftors ; which methods 

 conllitute the king's extraordinary revenue. See Tw, 

 Fund, and National Debt. 



We fhall here obferve, that the aggregate fund ftood 

 mortgaged by parliament to raife an annual fum for the 

 maintenance of the king's houfehold, and the civil lift. 

 For this purpofe, in the late reigns, the produce of certain 

 branches of the excife and cuftoms, the poll-office, the duty 

 on wine licences, the revenue of the remaining crown lands, 

 the profits arifing from courts of jultice, (which articles in- 

 clude all the hereditary revenues of the crown,) and alfo a 

 clear annuity of 120,000/. in money, were fettled on the 

 king for life, for the fupport of his majefly's houfehold, and 

 the honour and dignity of the crown. And, as the amount 

 of thefe feveral branches was uncertain, (though in the lalt 

 reign they were computed to have fornetimes raifed almoft a 

 million,) if they did not arife annually to 8oo,oos/., the par- 

 liament engaged to make up the deficiency. But his prc- 

 fent majelly, ioon after his acceflion, having accepted the 

 limited fum of 800,000/. per annum for the fupport of his 

 civil lift, (charged alfo with three life-annuities, to the prin- 

 cefs of Wales, the duke of Cumberland, and the princefs 

 Amelia, to the amount of 77,000/. ) the faid hereditary and 

 other revenues were made a part of the aggregate fund, 

 which was charged with the payment of the whole annuity 

 to the crown of 800,000/. per annum. The expences for- 

 merly defrayed by the civil fill were thofe that in any fhape 

 relate to civil government : as the expences of the houfe- 

 hold ; all falaries to officers of date, to the judges, and each 



of the king's fervants ; the appointments to foreign ambaf- 

 fadors ; tl. nice of the queen and royal family ; the 



king's private expences, or privy purfe ; and other very nu- 

 merous outgoings, as fecret fervice money, penfions, and 

 other bounties ; which fornetimes have fo far exceeded the 

 revenues appointed for that purpofe, that application has 

 been made to parliament to diicharge the debts contracted 

 on the civil lift ; ai particularly in 1724, when one million 

 was granted for that purpofe by the ftatute II Geo. I. 

 cap. 17 ; and in 1 769 and 1 7 77, when half a million and 

 600,000/. were appropriated to the like ufe, by the ftatutes 

 9 Geo. III. cap. 34. and 17 Geo. III. c. 47. Many of 

 thefe expences are now charged on the confolidated fund, 

 and the civil lift comprehends the fupport of his majefty's 

 houf hold. 



The civil lift is, indeed, properly the whole of the king's 

 revenue in his own diftinct capacity ; the reft being rather 

 the revenue of the public, or its creditors, though col- 

 lected and dillributcd again in the name and by the officers 

 of the crown. 



The whole revenue of queen Elizabeth did not amount 

 to more than 600,000/. a-year ; that of king Charles I. was 

 800,000/. ; and the revenue voted for king Charles II. was 

 1,200,000/. ; but under thefe fums were included all kinds 

 of public expence. The fame revenue, fubjedt to the fame 

 charges, was fettled on king James II. (Stat. I Jac. II. 

 c.i.) But by the increafe of trade, and better management, 

 it amounted on an average to a million and a half per annum, 

 (befide other additional cuftoms, granted by parliament, 

 (ibid. c. 3. and 4.) which produced an annual revenue of 

 400,000/. ), out of which his fleet and army were maintained 

 at the yearly expence of 1,100,000/. At this time the re- 

 venues of the king of France were computed at feven mil- 

 lions lterling ; and thofe of the flates of Holland at three 

 millions. After the Revolution, when the parliament took 

 into its own hands the annual fupport of the forces, both 

 maritime am! military, a civil lift revenue was fettled on the 

 new king and queen, amounting, with the hereditary duties, 

 to 700,000/. per annum ; and the fame was continued to 

 queen Anne and king George I. That of king George II. 

 was nominally augmented to 800,000/. (flat. I Geo. II. 

 c. I.) ; and in fadt was confiderably more. But that of his 

 prefent majelly was avowedly increafed to the limited fum of 

 900,000/. The clear yearly fum of 100,000/., to com- 

 mence from the fifth of January 1777, over and above the 

 fum of 800,000/. before granted, was granted to his ma- 

 jelly out of the aggregate fund by Hat. 17 Geo. III., but 

 is now c!i irgeablc on the confolidated fund. Blackft. 

 Com. vol. i. chap. viii. See Fi mi, and the fequel of this 

 article. 



'I'll" following particulars, relating to the revenue, are 

 extracted from the Report prefented to the houfe of com- 

 mons, ending 51I1 January 1814. 



An 



