c u s 
Thefe cuftoms of London relate to divers particulars, 
with regard to trade, apprentices, widows, orphans, &c. 
As to the cuftom relative to the diftribution of a free¬ 
man’s efta'te,-it-now, in confequence of nGeo.II. c. 18, 
extends only to cafes of inteftacy, orexprefs agreements 
made in conlideration of marriage. 
CUSTOM of MERCHANTS. 
This denotes a particular fyftem of cuftoms ufed only 
among one fet of the king’s fubjefts; which however 
different from the rules of the common law, is yet in¬ 
grafted into it, and made part of it ; being allowed, for 
the benefit of tiade, to be of the utmoft validity in all 
commercial tranftuSIions ; for it is a maxim in law, that 
cuilibet in artefud credendum ejl. i Comm. 75. It feems that 
this cuftom of merchants, is only fo far confidered as law, 
that it affords the rule of conftruftion in cafes of con¬ 
trails, agreements, &c, and other tranfadlions in trade 
and commerce. Mr. Chriftian, in his note on the above 
pafiage of the Commentaries, truly remarks, that the 
lex mercatoria like the lex & ccnijuetudo parliamenti, deferibes 
only a great divifion of the laws of England. The laws 
relating to bills of exchange, infurance, and all mercan¬ 
tile contracts are as much the general law of the land, 
as the laws relating to marriage or murder. And thd 
opinion of Mr. Juftice Politer is, that the cuftom •■of mer¬ 
chants is the general law of the kingdom, and therefore 
ought not to be left to a jury after ‘it has been fettled 
by judicial determinations. 2 Burr. 1226.' See further 
more particularly as to the effeil: and influence of this 
cuftom of merchants, under Bankrupt ; Bills of Ex¬ 
change; Factor; Insurance; Partnership, and 
other titles in this Encyclopaedia,.. 
CUSTOM on MERCHANDISE. 
In England, the cuftom on merchandife forms a confi- 
derable part of the perpetual taxes, collected under the 
denomination of duties, toll, tribute,’ or tariff, payable 
upon merchandife exported and imported. The confi- 
derations upon which this revenue, or the more ancient 
part of it which arofe only from exports, was invefted 
in the king, were faid to be two: 1. Becaufe he gave 
the fubjedt leave to depart the kingdom, and to carry 
lii's goods along with him. 2. Becaufe the king was 
bound of common right to maintain and keep up the 
ports and havens, and to protedl the merchants from pi¬ 
rates. Dyer, 165. Some have imagined they were called 
with 11s cuftoms, becaufe they were the inheritance of the 
king, by immemorial ufage, and the common law, and 
not granted him by any ftatute. But fir Edward Coke, 
ilnjl. 58, 9, hath dearly flfewn that the king’s firft claim 
to them was, by grant of parliament, 3 Edw. I. And 
indeed this is in exprefs words confelfed by 2.5 Edw. 1 . 
c. 7 ; wherein the king proraifes to take no cuftoms 
from merchants without the common affent of the realm, 
“ faring, to us and our heirs, the cuftoms on wool, (kins, 
a id leather, formerly granted to us by the commonalty 
aforefaid.” Thefe were formerly called the hereditary cuf¬ 
toms of the crown, and were due on the.exportafion only 
of the faid three commodities, and of none other : which 
were ftiled the ftaple commodities of the kingdom-, be¬ 
caufe they-were obliged to be brought to thofe ports 
Where the king’s ftaple was eftablifned, in order to be 
there firft rated and then'exported, Dan- 6 . 9. They were 
denominated in the barbarous Latin of our ancient re¬ 
cords, cvjluma ; not confuetudines, which i: the language of 
our law, whenever it means merely itfages. The duties 
on wool, ftieep-fkins, or wool-fells, and leather, exported, 
were called cttftuma antiqua five magna ; and were payable 
by every merchant, as well native as ftranger; with this 
difference, that merclrant-ftrangers paid an additional 
toll, viz. half'as much again as was paid by natives. 
The cujluma parva el nova were an impoft of three-pence 
in the pound, due from merchant-ftrangers only, for all 
commodities as well imported as exported, which was 
T O M. 409 
ufually called the aliens’duty, and was granted 31 Edw..I. 
4 Injl. 29. But thefe ancient hereditary cuftoms, efpe- 
cially thefe on wool and wool-fells, came to be of little 
account, when the nation became feniible of the advan¬ 
tages of a home manufa&ure, and prohibited the export¬ 
ation of wool by 11 Edw. 111 . c. 1. 
There is alfo another very ancient hereditary duty be¬ 
longing to the crown, called the prifage or butlerage of 
wines : which is confiderably older than the cuftoms, 
being taken notice of in the great roll of the exchequer, 
8 Rich. I. ftill extant. Prifage was a right of taking two 
tons of wine from every (hip (Englilh orforeign) importing 
into England twenty tons or more ; one before, and one 
behind, the mail: which by charter of Edw. I. was ex¬ 
changed into a duty of 2s. for every ton imported by mer¬ 
chant-ftrangers, and called butlerage, becaufe paid to the 
king’s butler. Davr 8v 2 Bu/ft. 254. Stat. Efa. 16 Edw. II. 
Other cuftoms payable upon exports and imports were 
diftinguilhed into fubfidies, tonnage, poundage, and other 
impofts. . Snblidies were fuch as were impofed by par¬ 
liament upon any of the ftaple commodities before men¬ 
tioned over and above the cujluma antiqua et-magna: ton¬ 
nage- was a duty upon all wines imported, over and above 
the prifage and butlerage aforefaid : poundage was a duty 
impofed ad valorem, at the rate of twelve-pence in the 
pound on all other merchandife whatloever, and the 
other impofts were fuch as were occafionally laid on by 
parliament, as circumftances and times required. Tliele 
diftinftions are now in a manner forgotten, except by the 
officers immediately concerned in this department ; their 
produce being in effect all blended together, under the. 
one denomination of the cuftoms. 
By this general denomination we now underftand 3-. 
duty or fublidy paid by the merchant, at the quay, upon 
imported as well as exported, commodities, by authority' 
of parliament; unlef.s where, for particular national rea- 
fons, certain rewards, bounties, or drawbacks, are allow¬ 
ed for particular exports or imports. Thofe-of tonnage 
and poundage, in particular, were at firft granted, as the 
old ftatutes (and particularly 1 Eliz. 19) exprefs it, for 
the defence of the realm, and the keeping and fafeguard- 
ol the feas, and for the intercourfe of merchandize lafeiy 
to come into and pafs out of tiie fame. They were at 
firft ufually granted only for a ftated term of years, as, 
for two.years in 5 Richard II. but in Henry the Sixth’s 
time, they .were granted him for life by a ftatute in the 
thirty.firft year of his reign.; and.again,to Edward IV. 
for the term of his life alio : fince which time they were 
regularly granted to all his fucceffors for life, fometimes 
at the firit, fometimes at other fubfequent parliaments, 
till the reign of Charles .tin? Firft. Upon thy reftcration, 
this duty was granted to Charles the Second for life, 
and fo it was to, his two. immediate fucceffors; and by 
llrree fever;;! ftatutes, 9 Amie, c. 6 . 1 Geo. I. c. 12. 3 
Geo. I. c. 7, it was made perpetual, .and mortgaged for 
the debt of the public. The cuftoms thus impofed by 
parliament were, till the ftatute 27 .GeO- III. c. 13, con¬ 
tained in two books of rates, fet forth by parliamentary- 
authority; 12 Car. II,.c. 4. 11 Geo. I. c. 7.- Aliens ufed 
to pay a larger proportion than natural iubjedis, gene¬ 
rally called, the aliens’ duty ; now repealed by 2|Geo. Ilia 
c. 26, except.as. to fcavage duties granted to the city of 
London. 
By 27 Geo. III. c. 13, called the Confclidalion all, all 
the former ftatutes impofing duties of cuftoms and excife, 
were repealed with regard to the quantum of the duty; 
and the two books of rates above-mentioned were de¬ 
clared to be of no avail for the future ; but all the for¬ 
mer duties were coufolidated, and weye ordered to be paid 
according to a new book of rate?.annexed, to that ftatute. 
Before this a 61 was palled, it could not be lugpofed that 
many perfons, belides excjfemen and cuftomhoufe-cifi- 
cers, could be-acquainted with the various duties pay¬ 
able upon-the different articles of commerce, which, in 
many inftances, were numerous on the ..fame -article^ and 
