ENGLAND. 185 



Drunkards, vagabonds, and loose, idle, disorderly persons, are pun- 

 ished by being set in the stocks, or by paying a fine. 



Revenue. ...The ordinary expences of government were defrayed 

 by means of taxes. 



The annual taxes are 1, The land-tax,* or the ancient subsidy rais- 

 ed upon a new assessment. 2, The malt-tax, being an annual excise 

 on malt, mum, cider, and perry. 



The perpetual taxes are, 1, The customs, or tonnage and pound- 

 age of all merchandise exported or imported. 2, The excise duty, 

 or inland imposition, on a great variety of commodities. 3, The salt 

 duty. 4, The post-office, or duty for the carriage of letters. 5, The 

 stamp duty on paper, parchment, Sec. 6, The duty on houses and win- 

 dows. 7, The duty on licences for hackney coaches and chairs. 8, 

 The duty on offices and pensions. 



The extraordinary grants are usually called by the synonymous 

 names of aids, subsidies, and supplies, and are granted, as has been 

 before hinted, by the commons of Great Britain in parliament assem- 

 bled ; who, when they have voted a supply to his majesty, and settled 

 the quantum of that supply, usually resolve themselves into what is 

 called a committee of ways and means, to consider of the ways and 

 means of raising the supply so voted. And in this committee, every 

 member (though it is looked upon as the peculiar province of the 

 chancellor of the exchequer) may propose such scheme of taxation 

 as he thinks will be least detrimental to the public. The resolutions 

 of this committee (when approved by a vote of the house) are in ge- 

 neral esteemed to be (as it were) final and conclusive. For though 

 the supply cannot be actually raised upon the subject till directed by 

 an act of the whole parliament, yet no moneyed man will scruple to 

 advance to the government any quantity of ready cash, if the propo- 

 sed terms be advantageous, on the credit of the bare vote of the 

 house of commons, though no law be yet passed to establish it. 



The gross receipt of the permanent revenue, after deducting the 

 re-payrnent of over-entries, drawbacks, 8cc. amounted, in the year 

 ending the 5th of January 1804, according to a statement presented 

 to the house of commons by Mr. Pitt, to 35,440,278/. besides the war 

 taxes imposed in 1803 and 1804, amounting to nearly 13,000,000/. 

 The net revenue of Great Britain amounted 



In 1806 to 56,902,099/. 



1808 60,354,782 



1809 58,636,178 



1813 60,573,934 



How these immense sums are appropriated is next to be considered. 

 And this is, first and principally, to the payment of the interest of the 

 national debt. 



The total of all the sums borrowed, or the capital of the funded 

 debt of Great Britain, amounted, on the first of February, 1804, to 

 583,008,978/. of which 77,698,467/. had been purchased by the com- 

 missioners for the reduction of the national debt, and 21,147,188/. had 

 been transferred to them on account of land-tax redeemed, leaving a 

 funded debt unredeemed of 484,163,323/. The unfunded debt at the 

 same time amounted to 16,305,607, making the whole of the national 



* This has lately been sold to the proprietors of the estates on which it is asses- 

 sed, or other individuals, and thus rendered perpetual 



Vol. I. B b 



