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A34153
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A Compendious history of the taxes of France, and of the oppressive methods of raising them
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1694
(1694)
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Wing C5608; ESTC R2727
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22,880
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42
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Privileges of those Provinces and imposed upon them the Gabelle had he not been kept from it by other Considerations What they were I can't tell except those great Summs of Money which those Counties have finance from time to time presented to the King at least I know this That they were given for that end that so they might be free from that terrible Tax And I see no cause why I may not conclude That this is the principal Reason why they have not yet undergone a Fate that is common to all the other Provinces of France Now an Excise that is so heavy and burthensome would bring into the King's Coffers a world of Money where he not forced to be at such vast Expences first In transporting of Salt from the Place where it is made into the other Provinces and secondly in maintaining above Twenty thousand Men that are employed about raising the Gabelle or for watching over the Faux Sauniers and others who would cheat the King otherwise in all probability ARTICLE III. Des AIDES Of AIDS LEs Aides are an Excise upon Wine which is very considerable but for the better understanding of it I must in the first place tell you something of the Measures that are used in Paris We had so great a Trade at Bourdeaux for Wine that I believe very few People are ignorant of what the Measure is the French call there a Tonneau but in Paris and the Environs of that City they speak only of Muyds which is the Third part of a Tonneau and contains about 280 Pints Paris Measure which is about as many London Quarts And now after this Explanation I will proceed When the Proprietors of the Vineyards about Paris have sold their Wine they are obliged to declare it at a certain Office which is appointed for that purpose in a convenient place and to tell the Officers or Clerks at what Price they sold it per Muyd and to pay One Penny per * The French â—â—vre is 18. d. sterl Livre besides an additional Duty of Sixteen Pence Half-penny per Muyd The Wine-Coopers or whoever have bought that Wine to be carried into Paris are forced to make a like Declaration at the the Gates of the City and to pay the like Summ viz. One Penny per Livre and Sixteen pence Half-penny per Muyd for the Additional Duty But here we must take notice That this Second Office has a greater Power than the First for by their own Authority they may arbitrarily put what Price they please upon the Wine which very much increases the Duties upon it and God knows they seldom if ever fail of this But over and above all these Impositions they pay for the Duty of Entry 22 Livres per Muyd to the King besides some other Duties to the Town-House Wine being thus brought into their Cellars they then must pay yearly to the King 8 Livers 1 Sous or Penny half-penny for having the liberty to sell it again And when they sell it they must make again the like Declaration as before and pay the like Summs As these Duties and Declarations were too frequent the Wine-Coopers used formerly to conceal the true Price of their Wine but now they dare not do it for fear of being catched For the Excise-men knowing the general Price of Wine as well as the Wine-Coopers themselves and having Power to take it paying to the Coopers the Price he has put upon it in his Declaration they would run the risque of suffering great loss and damage We have hitherto seen what the Duties are that the Wine-Merchants pay let us see now what those are that are imposed upon the Vintners I mean those who sell Wine by Retail 'T is not free for any Man in Paris to set up a Sign and sell Wine as it is in London I mean after he has served an Apprenticeship the time appointed by the Customs This Liberty must be obtained from the French King and for it a Man must pay yearly 8 Livers 1 Sous or Penny half-penny this is called The Duty of Sign Besides they were formerly obliged to give the Eight Part of the Money they received for the sale of their Wine but because this was too troublesome as well to the King's Officers as to the Vintners themselves they made an Agreement to pay 8 Livres 1 Sous Half-penny for every Muyd of Wine they Sell let it be good or bad This is what the French call Le Huitieme and in what Duties that great Excise upon Wine doth consist called Les Aides I think now not improper to re-capitulate all those Duties that we may see in one view what they amount to And the better to illustrate the matter I must put a Price upon the Muyd of Wine and see what Money comes to the King by the Sale of that Muyd that is somewhat like our Hogshead but a little larger containing about 280 Quarts The common Price about Paris was in time of Peace 18 or 20 Livres per Muyd but now it is four times as dear again supposing however for our purpose that a Muyd of Wine be Sold in the Vineyards for 18 Livres that is near 27 Shillings of our Money the Proprietor must pay in the first place Two Shillings and Ten Pence Half-penny for the first Duty of the Declaration the like Summ must be paid by the Wine-Merchant at the Gates of the City supposing the Officers to be honest but if they will put a higher Price upon it for it absolutely depends on their Roguery or Caprichio I can't say nothing to that and 22 Livres besides for the Duty of Entry so that it is manifest a Hogshead of Wine which was Sold for 27 Shillings Sterling pays to the King besides some Duties to the Town-House 38 Shillings and 9 Pence These are the Duties of the first Sale now let us suppose that the same Muyd be Sold to a Vintnâ—r As the Wine-Merchant must get something to live he cannot Sell it for less than Sixty Livres having laid out Forty three already besides the Expences of the Carriage upon which he must pay again for the Declaration One Penny per Livre and the Additional Duty which comes to Five Shillings and Ten Pence Half-penny and the Vintner besides being obliged to pay 8 Livres One Penny Half-penny it followeth that the King receiveth from this second Sale 12 Livres Seven Pence that is 19 Shillings Six Pence one Farthing of our English Money which being joined to 39 Shillings and Nine Pence of the first Sale it appears that a Muyd of Wine Sold at first for Twenty Seven Shillings pays to the King Two Pounds Nineteen Shillings Three Pence Farthing Now 't is not only in Paris that these Aides are imposed but all the Provinces of this Kingdom except Languedoc Guienne Limosin and Brittany are liable to this Excise Indeed the Entries are not so considerable in the other Towns as they are in Paris but they pay every where the
the first that openly invaded the Liberties of his Subjects was also the first that raised this Tax without the Consent of the Three Estates and who made it successive likewise The Taille is threefold viz. Real Personal and Mix'd Real is when it is only imposed upon Lands as in some parts of the Province of Gueinne where a Man must pay a certain Summ to the King for every Acre of Land he is possess'd of Personal is when it is Assess'd upon any Personal Estate that is among the French the Money that a Man is supposed to have in his own hands or to be worth in Lands and Houses in his Industry Art or Ability to get Money Lastly the Mix'd is so denominated because in some parts of that Kingdom the Lands are not only assessed so much per Acre but the Proprietor besides is taxed for his Money Art and Ability This Explanation I thought necessary for the better understanding of my Subject The Real Taille though very burthensome yet however it is the least heavy upon the People For if a Man has but forty Acres of Land he cannot be assessed for fifty whereas in all Provinces of France except Guienne the Taille being every-where Personal or Mix'd a Man is assessed for what he has and for what he has not that being at the Discretion of the Intendants of the Provinces or some other Officer called Eleus who are not only appointed for those things Hence it comes to pass abundance of People are assessed much more than what their yearly Rent is really worth and a Cobler or other poor Fellow that hath nothing in the World to live on but the benefit of his Arms shall yet notwithstanding be taxed four or five Crowns a Year Were it not beyond my Design I could easily give you many instances of the extream heaviness of this Tax but for brevity sake I shall content my self with this That a Baker of Gonesse near Paris was assessed for his Personal Estate though he had not an Inch of Land 1200 French Crowns a Year that is 270 l. Sterling This is a Pattern by which we may readily judge of the whole Piece To say positively what the whole Summ amounts to that is imposed upon the Kingdom for this Taille it is in a manner impossible for the French King does encrease or diminish it according as he Himself pleaseth That is to say according to the Expences he sees himself oblig'd to be at An. 1684. when I was in France the said Summ amounted to Forty millions of French Livres that is above Three millions Sterling But if we consider that at that time the French King had Peace with all the World we may easily believe that this Tax exceeds now Fifty millions and above How this Tax is imposed and levied all inquisitive Persons I hope will be glad to know and therefore for their satisfaction I 'll relate it as plainly as the darkness of the matter will permit The King resolveth first in his Council what Summ of Money is to be levied on his Subjects then Commissions are issued forth to the General Treasures of the Generalities of the Kingdom to give them power to levy the Summ agreed upon These Commissions being received the Treasurers make a Division of the Summ to be levied proportionable to the extent of the several Elections under them which Division or Repartition is sent to the King who thereupon sends a Commission to the Officers of each Election by which they are ordered and enabled to raise such a Summ in their respective Districts These Officers meet and make the Registers of Taxes wherein each Town Borough Hamlet or Parish is assessed Each Parish has one of those Registers sent to it whereupon the Inhabitants make choice of one or more of them to raise the Summ assessed by the Officers of the Elections These are called Collectors and they tax each Inhabitant according to his Estate But though they are forbiden to do it out of any ill-will or malice yet they will ease their Friends though they crush the others And this is the cause of a great many Mischiefs and of divers Families being absolutely ruined by these unjust Stewards The Kingdom of France being so very great it is not Forty nor Fifty millions that would ruine its Inhabitants were that Summ but equally shared but as I have already observed some being eased when others are over-charged and this Misfortune coming upon every Man in his tâ—â—â— the Collectors being changed so every Year it happens that at last all become poor and miserable Well we have now seen how that Tax is imposed let us in the next place see how it is levied Should I say that the manner of collecting the Taille is very near as grievous as the Taille it self I should say nothing but what is very true though at first it seems almost incredible To clear therefore this point I shall observe to you only That the People being grown very poor they cannot exactly pay all that they are assessed and upon failure thereof which must be Quarterly the General Receiver or Treasurer of each Election immediately sends an Officer called Porteur de Contrainte or Commissary to quarter upon the Collectors or Inhabitants of such a Parish which is so in Arrear with two or three Men whose Pay amounts to Thirteen or Fourteen Shillings a Day where they remain till they have other Orders from the Receiver which he never grants but upon full payment And tho' this way of Levying is rude and severe yet it is very gentle if compared with what they do in some Provinces of France where the Receiver instead of Commissaries make use of Soldiers whom they Quarter at discretion upon those who make the least default in payment And this is nothing less than Dragooning 'T is also worth our Remark to observe That when an Inhabitant is become so poor as he is utterly unable to pay his Tax or suppose that the Collector should prove a Rogue and play away the King's Money the other Inhabitants are bound to answer for each of these Disasters There are some Provinces in France that are not liable to the Taille for those of Burgundy Brittany and Languedoc are free from it at least as to the Name For truly at the bottom they pay too as well as the rest but with this only difference That instead of Taille their Subsidy is called Don Gratuit a Free Gift of the Estates of those Provinces What those of Burgundy give I cannot tell at present but the Free Gift of Brittany and Languedoc amount every Year to above Six hundred thousand Pounds of our English Money Those who are not throughly acquainted with the State of France will likely fall into a great Mistake at the first reading of this and fancy to themselves That the State of those Provinces are like the Parliament of England but lest I should give any occasion for so great an Errour I think it