and it was upon the score of this Trust that in all probability the Parliament named Commissioners of the Shires with the Justices of the Peace to be Associated Vid Rot. Parl. 12. H. 7. N. 12. and N. 13. But Commissioners have been several times since named by the King as 34 and 37 Hen. 8. 2 and 3 Edw. 6. 3 and 4 Edw. 6. 4 and 5 Phil. and Mary 15 and 22 Car. 2. But there is a President for this in the first Year of Their present Majesties Reign and if pursuant to the Powers given in that Act the King had named Commissioners of his own in every County for levying the Aid of one Shilling in the Pound there might have been a new Survey made of all the Rents in England and in all likelihood such Sums would have been raised upon Land only as might have near answer'd all the Necessities of the Government The second Pound Rate did not raise so much in proportion as the first and there is ground to think this last 4 Shiling Aid will not raise so much as the former And there is reason to believe the Aids by Pound Rate will every time grow less and less like the Subsidies in the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's and beginning of King Iames's Reign unless there be a new and regular Survey made of Land For let the Dangers from abroad and the Wants at home be never so pressing no doubt most Men if they are left to themselves will be glad to save their Money and will rather consult their private Interest than the Public Good But if the King as was always practis'd in Ancient Times had power to name Commissioners and if all People were bound under great Forfeitures to give in a true Rental of their Estates or a true Estimate of what they keep in their hands and if the Commissioners had power to Examin any person other than the Party himself upon Oath of the true value of each Man's Estate there is hardly any doubt to be made but that an Aid of Four Shillings in the Pound would raise Three Millions And if Land could raise that Sum the Nation need not be put to such dishonorable and dangerous shifts of raising Money as are new Projects fresh Impositions upon Trade and Fonds of Perpetual Interest which if they are made use of as the constant Ways and Means of Supplying the War must in all appearance very quickly destroy our Foreign Commerce and by consequence bring universal Weakness and Poverty upon the whole Kingdom But there is nothing too hard for the Wisdom of a Parliament to bring about which perhaps may find a way to Levy the Pound Rate justly and equally in all Counties without giving the King Power to Name Commissioners The Ancient Subsidies did usually consist of a charge by Poll a Pound Rate upon Land and a Pound Rate upon Money and Personal Estates so that all sorts of people did contribute something in the old way of Taxing but such as for their Poverty were exempted The Usurers who are the true Drones of a Common-wealth living upon the Honey without any Labour should of all People be brought in to bear their proportion of the Common Burthen As yet they could never be effectually reach'd but they may be fetch'd in by the Wisdom of a Parliament if the House of Commons would please resolutely to set themselves about it What a Pound Rate of Four Shillings in the Pound upon Money might produce is very hard to compute because in that Matter there is scarce any Rule or Measure to go by but supposing Money at Interest to be a sixteenth part as some think of the annual Value and Income of England there is then twenty Millions of Money at Interest which may be and yet not a third part of that Sum in specie in the Kingdom and if there are twenty Millions at Interest at five per Cent. a Pound Rate of Four Shillings in the Pound upon Money would raise 200,000 l. That which has made Quarterly Polls so distastful is charging the Poorer sort but if they were all exempted a Quarterly Poll well Levied might raise 500,000 l. And here it may not be amiss to take notice that if in the Pound Rate upon Land one Shilling were taken off from the Landlord and placed upon the Tenant it would ease those who have born all the weight nor can it seem oppressive to the Tenants considering how well they have fared hitherto So that a mix'd Aid by a Pound Rate upon Land and Money and by a Quarterly Poll all carefully Levied might raise By Four Shillings Pound Rate upon Land l. 3,000,000 By Four Shillings Pound Rate upon Money l. 200,000 By a Quarterly Poll l. 500,000 Total l. 3,700,000 Which without any new Ways and means would come very near raising that Sum to which the Expence of the War has hitherto amounted If in a War that is so Expensive and is thought so necessary for our Preservation all people would agree to promote Equality no doubt great Sums might be raised in this Nation and the Country in all Aids would be found to answer as well as London That London Westminster and Middlesex pay about a sixth part in the Aid is very plain and that they are not above a Tenth part of the Kingdom 's general Rental is very probable What Proportion in other Wealth and Substance London bears to the rest of England is very hard to determine But some Landed Man will start up and say 'T is true London bears a sixth it ought to bear a half it has all the Wealth and the immoderate Growth of that City undoes and ruins all the Country It may therefore be well worth the Enquiry of thinking Men what truth there is in this common and receiv'd Notion that the Growth of London is pernicious to England That the Kingdom is like a Rickety Body with a Head too big for the other Members For some people who have thought much upon this subject are inclin'd to believe that the Growth of that City is advantageous to the Nation and they seem to ground their Opinion upon the following Reasons That no Empire was ever great without having a great and populous City That the Romans drew all the conquer'd Cities of Italy into Rome That the People of Attica were no better than a Crew of rude Herdsmen and neither flourish'd in War nor in Civil Arts till Theseus perswaded them to Inhabit Athens That the greatness of London will best preserve our Constitution because where there is a great and powerful City the Prince will hardly Enterprise upon the Liberties of that People in the same manner a Rich and Powerful City seldom Rebels upon vain and slight occasions On these grounds and many others some people are led to think the Growth of London not hurtful to the Nation but on the contrary to believe that there is not an Acre of Land in the Country be it never so
Power upon such as are Vicious and Idle The real and true Objects of Charity would cost the Nation but little to maintain and 't is to be doubted they have the least Share in the publick Reliefs The Wisdom of a Parliament may in time find out a way to make such Persons useful and profitable to the Nation who at present are a heavy Burthen upon it If all the Hands in this Kingdom that are able were employ'd in useful Labour our Manufactures would so increase that the Common-wealth would be thereby greatly inriched and the Poor instead of being a Charge would be a Benefit to the Kingdom If the Poor were always certain of Work and Pay for it they would be glad to quit that Nastiness which attends a begging and lazy Life And if the Poor were encouraged and where there is occasion compell'd to maintain themselves the Pound Rate would be much less in every County and if the Nation were a little eas'd of that Burthen we should be in some degree abler to support the Expence of the War and Land would be eas'd upon which the Poor-Rate is a certain Charge Nothing would better enable us to pay Excises and all other Taxes than a publick Registry a General Liberty of Conscience and indeed all Laws that would effectually invite People over to us and increase our Numbers People are the real Strength and Riches of a Country we see how Impotent Spain is for want of Inhabitants with their Mines of Gold and Silver and the best Ports and Soil in the World and we see how powerful their Numbers make the Vnited Provinces with bad Harbors and the worst Climate upon Earth 'T is perhaps better that a People should want Country than that a Country should want People Where there are but few Inhabitants and a large Territory there is nothing but Sloath and Poverty but when great Numbers are confin'd to a narrow Compass of Ground Necessity puts them upon Invention Frugality and Industry which in a Nation are always recompenced with Power and and Riches And this happened to the Phoenicians who were the old Inhabitants of Canaan and elbowed out by the Hebrews and driven into a small Slip of Land on the Sea Coast who to nourish their great Multitudes were forced upon Trade and so became the first Navigators and Merchants in the World that we read of and in time grew a most wealthy and powerful Nation Spain resisted the Romans near 200 Years meerly by their Country being then so populous for Cicero reckoning the Strength of several Nations says that of Spain consisted in its Numbers No Country can be truly accounted great and powerful by the Extent of its Territory or Fertility of its Climate but by the Multitude of its Inhabitants and rich Soils not well peopled have been ever a Prey to all Invaders Where Countries are thinly Inhabited the People always grow Proud Poor Lazy and Effeminate Qualities which never fail to prepare a Nation for Foreign Subjection All Men who have made any Computations of that kind seem convinc'd England would naturally bear and nourish a full third part more of Inhabitants so that if it â—ere fully Peopled the value of all Land and Rents would as certainly rise as Land and Rents set better near a Populous City than at a distance from it There are many Laws which would invite over to us that Complement of Inhabitants which our Country seems to want and tho' vve should get at first only the Poorer sort yet those Mouths vvould consume our Home Product and those Hands vvould help us in our Wars and in Peace by their Labour over-pay the Nation for their keeping But a Public Registry and a General Liberty of Conscience would bring among us from abroad the very Species of Money real and intrinsick Wealth Substantial Men and all sort of Manufactures Some People are afraid that Foreigners may take the Bread from the Common People whom Strangers by reason of their Industry and spare Living are able to under-work and under-sell And that Foreigners may have in time strength enough to awe the Natives And others believe That Tolerating all Religions may be hurtful to the Church But these Opinions proceed from a narrowness of Mind not becoming Religious and Wise Men. For God can Protect his own Cause in the middle of a thousand Errors and variety of Heresies will but give our Church-Men a more ample Field of shewing their Learning and Piety The same Protection and the same Laws will give Foreigners the same Interest with the Natives and in time probably the same Religion And the Industrious Frugality of Foreign Handycrafts-Men will be a good Correction to the Sloth and Luxury of our own Common People At a time when Tyranny is so much the fashion round about us if our Arms were open to receive all the afflicted and oppressed part of Mankind the Goodness of our Climate Mildness of our Laws and the Excellence of our Constitution would invite over to us such multitudes as would exceedingly add to our Power and Strength and make us more a Ballance to the greatness of France And with these Additions of Strength Excises would be less felt by any part of the Kingdom But there are many real Lovers of their Country and Jealous of its Liberties who object against Excises and say They will be so easie and little felt that the Ministers some time or other may be tempted if such a Revenue were once afoot to get it settled into a perpetuity or for a long term and so make Parliaments useless They say Land-Taxes Polls and Customs lye so heavy upon the Men of Interest and Figure in the Nation that by such kind of Impositions the Gentlemen of England will never enable a King to live without a Parliament But Excises being an easie way of Contributing insensibly paid and falling chiefly upon the common sort they apprehend our Representatives may some time or other by the Arts and Power of the Court be prevailed upon to let them pass into a lasting Supply to the Crown and they think so large a Revenue would make the Prince absolutely Independant of his People which would quite destroy our Constitution 'T is true some of our former Princes have had designs to Enslave this Country partly led into those Measures by the Gentries Flattery and Corruption of their Manners who have been all along willing enough to Traffick the peoples Rights However the Nation was never yet so deprav'd but there was a Party strong enough in the House of Commons to preserve the being of Parliaments which would cease if they should make the Crown rich enough to subsist without them This Party will ever with jealous Eyes watch the motions of the Court some perhaps only to bring their Abilities and Repute with the People to the better Market others to wreak their Discontents and some out of meer Love to their Country though it may be feared the Public has but few
a gradual and constant way of Improvement from 1674 to 1689 inclusive which year it produced clear of all Charge 667 383 l. 11 s. 9 d. ◠Ever year since it has fallen and by much larger steps than ever it mounted But because since the War there is little Brandy Imported and Strong Waters are now charged in another manner and at other Rates than formerly the Fall of this Revenue will more plainly appear by making the Accompt up only for Beer and Ale which produc'd as followeth Note What follows is the gross Account  l. s. d. Year ending 24 June 1689 694,476 02 6 ¼ Year ending 24 June 1690 633,822 14 6 ¾ Year ending 24 June 1691 554,769 10 6 ¼ Year ending June 24 1692 515,455 08 3 ¾ Year ending 24 June 1693 488,442 14 7 1 4 The Accompts of the year ending the 24th of June 1694 are not yet made up but the Excise by a Medium of four years having fallen hitherto about 50,000 l. per Annum 't is probable the last Year has done the like and if so it is now 250,000 l. per Annum less than it was in 1689. This great Decrease is by the Commissioners of that Revenue chiefly attributed to the new Additional Duties which in the Country have made numbers of Victuallers in every County leave of their Trade and in London put many private Families to brew their own Drink The Three nine Pences upon Beer and Ale will not amount to much more than 420,000 l. per Annum and if as is alledged they are the real Cause the old Revenue is diminished yearly 250,000 l. the publick gets but 190,000 l. per Annum by a Tax that will be a long and very grievous Burthen upon all the Barly-Land of England and which is particularly heavy upon one Trade otherwise enough oppressed by the Quartering of Soldiers 'T is true these Duties were a present Expedient and did help out towards the Supply of the War but for a long time hereafter they will apparently very much diminish the ordinary Revenue of the Crown Of Poll-Money THere is nothing can make it better apparent how displeasing Poll-Money is to the People than the Observation how ill it is brought in and answered to the King For where Taxes seem hard and oppressive in particular to the Poor the Country Gentlemen proceed in the Levying of them with no Zeal nor Affection The first single Poll that was given in this Reign amounted to 288 310 l. 19 s. 6 1 ◠3 with which the Quarterly Poll holds no manner of Proportion 'T is true the Qualifications are taxed differently in the two Acts. Money is charged in the first and not in the second and Titles are put higher in one than the other But considering how many were brought in by the second Act and at high Rates which were not reach'd by the first the Quadruple Poll might reasonably have produc'd near four times as much as the Single and it yielded little more than half Quarterly Poll.  l. s. d. London Middlesex and Westminster 97,622 5 11 Rest of England 499,896 7 1 ¼ Total 597,518 13 0 ¼ Single Poll.  l. s. d. London Middlesex and Westminster 80,280 9 4 ¼ Rest of England 208,030 10 2 Total 288,310 19 6 ¼ Total of the Quarterly Poll 597,518 13 0 ¼ Difference 309,207 13 5 ¾ The Houses in England as appears by the Books of Hearth-Money are about 1,300,000 of which 500,000 are Cottages inhabited by the Poorer Sort so that we may reckon there are not above 800,000 Families liable to the Payment of Poll-Money and though in the common Computation of the whole People there may not be above six Persons to a House one with another yet in computing the 800,000 Richer Families we may very well allow them to contain one with another seven Persons which would be 5,600,000 Heads and reckon but a third Part of these qualified within the Act to pay four Shillings per Head the Poll Bill on that single Article ought to have produced 373,333 l. What the one Pound per Quarter upon Gentlemen and Merchants worth 300 l. and such as belong to the Law and what the Ten Shillings per Quarter upon Tradesmen Shopkeepers and Vintners worth 300 l. might have yielded is difficult to compute but perhaps the Commissioners Names in the Act of Parliament for the Monthly Assessment Quarto Quinto Gulielmi Mariae may be no ill Guide in the Matter The Commissioners then were about Ten thousand and we may reasonably suppose and any Gentleman may compute for his own Country and he will find that one Country with another not an Eighth Part are named Commissioners of those Persons who in Estate real or personal are worth 300 l. and if so we may reckon there are in England 80000 Persons lyable to the Payment of one Pound per Quarter by which Account the King should have received on that Article 320,000 l. When we reflect upon the great Number of Tradesmen Shopkeepers and Vintners that are in England it cannot seem any extravagant Computation to reckon there are 40000 Persons of that Sort worth 300 l. and lyable to the Payment of Ten Shillings per Quarter upon which Head the King should have received 80000 l. And allowing but 26667 l. for all other Persons charged by that Act the Quarterly Poll ought to have yielded to the King For the Common People at 4 s. per Head l. 373,333 For the Gentlemen c. at 4 l. per Head l. 320,000 For Tradesmen c. at 4 l. per Head l. 80,000 For other Persons charged by the Act l. 26,667 In all l. 800,000 But there was receiv'd only l. 597,518 s. 13 d. 0 ¼ The principal Articles in this Computation seem very much confirmed by what the first Poll yielded for if there had not been in England about 1,867,666 Persons who paid 12 d. per Head and about Eighty thousand of the Sort who paid one Pound per Head that Poll could not have produced in the Country only 208,330 l. 10 s. 2 d. for Money and Titles were generally charged in London In the Poll now in being such are charged who are worth in Estate real or personal 600 l. which may make some difference in the second Article but the third Article should now increase considering all Persons by this Act are to pay Ten Shillings per Quarter that are worth 300 l. in Estate real or personal which seems to take in Stock of all kinds whereas in the former Act only Tradesmen Shopkeepers and Vintners were comprehended so that if the present Poll were strictly collected it would produce about 800,000 l. and yet as far as can be judged by the Accounts hitherto come up it is not like to yield so much Money as the former When a Tax yields no more than half what in reason might be expected from it we may plainly see it grates upon all sorts of People and such Ways and Means of
send up have always had of their Concerns in Parliament When the Civil War broke out the Common-wealth chiefly subsisted by Excises for they could gather Land-Taxes only where they were strongest In 1647 their Authority was generally own'd over all the Nation and then they began to raise Land-Taxes regularly by a Monthly Assessment When the War was over there was real reason to ease the North and West and accordingly the Parliament considered what Counties had least felt the War those in their Assessments they rated highest and they spared such Places as had been most harrased by the Armies of either side and this was the Distinction they made and not as is vulgarly thought that of Associated or Nonassociated Counties for most Counties of England during that War had been some time or other associated and by Ordinance of Parliament But still perhaps it had not fared so well with the North and West notwithstanding their Sufferings if their Cause had not been maintained in the House of Commons by a sufficient Number of Friends and Advocates The Places which had been least sensible of those Calamities or were soonest rid of them and that had been under the Wings of the Parliament and their Army were London and Middlesex Surry and Southwark Hertfordshire Bedfordshire Cambridgshire Kent Essex Norfolk Suffolk Berks Bucks and Oxfordshire And they kept to the same measure of favouring the distant Counties and laying the chief Burthen upon those nearest London as long as the Authority of the Common-wealth lasted When King Charles the Second was restored the Northern and Western Gentlemen were strong enough in the House of Commons to get continued the Method of Assessment then in practice which was so favourable to them and in the Act 12 Car. 2. for raising 70,000 l. for one Month 't is particularly provided that it shall be raised in such Proportion as the last 70,000 l. per Month was raised by Ordinance of State since which time till now the Counties distant from London have continued in the constant Possession of being favourably handled in all Assessments The first Attempt of reducing Assessments to some equality was made in the Year 1660. The House of Commons as may be seen from their Journals had then in debate the Setling 100,000 l. per Annum in Compensation of the Court of Wards and Liveries and a Committee was ordered to frame and bring in an equal Aportionment of the said sum upon all the Counties of England which was done accordingly and delivered to the House November the 8th 1660 and is as followeth Yorkshire West Riding l. 2520 North Riding l. 1930 East Riding l. 1350 l. 5800 Devon l. 5000 Essex l. 4800 Kent l. 4800 Suffolk l. 4800 Norfolk l. 4800 Somerset l. 4000 Bristol City l. 250 Lincolnshire l. 4000 Hampshire l. 3000 Cornivall l. 2400 Wiltshire l. 2700 London l. 4000 Middlesex l. 3000 Dorset shire l. 2000 Northampton l. 2500 Gloucester l. 2500 Hertford l. 1800 Buckingham l. 1900 Sussex l. 2600 Surry l. 1800 Cambridg and Isle of Ely l. 1800 Shropshire l. 1900 Berkshire l. 1700 Oxfordshire l. 1700 Leicester l. 1800 Hereford l. 1600 l. 78950 Warwick l. 1800 Worcester l. 1800 Bedford l. 1400 Stafford l. 1400 Nottingham l. 1400 Darby l. 1400 Lancashire l. 1600 Cheshire l. 1400 Rutland l. 380 Huntington l. 900 Northumberland l. 700 Durham l. 700 Cumberland l. 400 Westmorland l. 300 Monmouth l. 800 Anglesea l. 260 Brecknock l. 450 Cardigan l. 350 Carmarthen l. 450 Carnarvan l. 260 Denbigh l. 450 Flint l. 260 Glamorgan l. 700 Merioneth l. 220 Montgomery l. 550 Pembroke l. 500 Radnor l. 240 l. 21070 l. 78950 Total is l. 100,020 This Aportionment was many Months in forming and made no doubt with great Deliberation and Judgment since all the most considerable Men of those Times were of that Committee 'T is apparent that in the Assessment of the Rates upon each County and by comparing the Sums it may be seen that they chiefly governed themselves by the Proportions which had been observed in rating the Ship-Money They had before them the Assessment of the 400,000 l. 17 and 18 Car. 1. which because it was made in Parliament they would no doubt have followed if they had not judged it Partial But it seems they rather chose to follow the Rates observed in Assessing the Ship-Money as having been laid by Persons who had not the same reason and Interest to favour one Country more than another Ship-Money was an arbitrary and illegal Tax therefore it concerned the Contrivers of it to lay it as equally upon the Nation as possible for it would have been a double Grievance to the People if it had been imposed both against Law and also with Partiality On the contrary it imported the Ministers of that time to give their new Invention all the fair Colours imaginable and to make that which was unjust in its Nature at least just and equal in its Manner and no doubt in the Rating of it they had duly weighed and considered the Strength and Weakness Riches and Poverty Trade and Fertility and every Circumstance of each particular County with some regard also to the Proportion it bore in the ancient Subsidies And upon these Grounds 't is more than probable the Committee of the House of Commons proceeded in 1660 when they made the Ship-Money their Model and Pattern of a fair and equal Assessment Since the late War with France Land has been Tax'd in different manners by an Assessment and by a Pound Rate but both ways it will perhaps appear that the North and West have not born their due share and proportion of the Common Burthen The first Aid given to Their Majesties upon Land was by a Monthly Assessment of 68,820 l. 19 s. 1 d. per Month Primo Guil. Mariae The second Aid upon Land was of 12 d. per Pound In this Act Their Majesties had power to Nominate the Commissioners under the Great Seal of England but were advis'd to put in all the same Persons again who had been Commissioners in the Monthly assessment The Assessors in this Act were upon Oath Primo Guil. Mariae The third Aid upon Land was of 2 s. in the Pound In this Act the Assessors were upon Oath Primo Guil. Mariae The fourth Aid upon Land was by a Monthly Assessment of 137 641 l. 18 s. 2 d. per Month 2 Guil. Mariae The fifth Aid upon Land was by the same Monthly Assessment 3 Guil. Mariae The sixth Aid upon Land was by a Pound Rate of 4 s. in the Pound In this Act the Assessors are not upon Oath 4 Guil. Mariae The seventh Aid upon Land is by the same Pound Rate and the Assessors are upon Oath 5 Guil. Mariae In order to show what proportion each part of the Kingdom bears in the Assessment and in the Pound Rate here is fram'd a Table of 12 Columns which shows 1. What each County pays in the Monthly
Friends that are so truly upon the score of Vertue and Honesty These will always be ready to make a stand in the House of Commons in case hereafter the Ministers should have any designs to make Kings Independant on Parliaments But in the present posture of Affairs and in a long prospect of the future it is not probable any thing will be Enterprised upon Liberty For there are those on the other side the Water that would sufficiently improve to their advantage any false steps that should be made of that nature and while our fears of France and Popery continue the side that is for keeping the Government within its ancient limits will have always sufficient strength and credit in the Nation No King with Despotick Power and an Army could Levy a third part of that Money in this Country which is now paid in a quiet and legal manner If our Kingdom had been under Arbitrary Power when we broke with France in all probability the Conquest of us had not been the Work of two Campagnes For nothing but Liberty our Interest in the Laws and Property could have made us willing to endure such a heavy War and able to bear its Expence The Rights and Liberties of a Free People are chiefly what we have to oppose against the Numbers Wealth Oeconomy and Military Skill of France So that there seems the less reason to fear any breach upon our Constitution because it is as much the Interest of the Prince as our own to preserve it Nor can a great Tax of any kind be laid which will fall so easie upon the People as that the entire Body of the Nation will not find it self concern'd to throw it off in Parliament as soon as that Necessity ceases which first brought it on All Taxes whatsoever are in their last resort a Charge upon Land and though Excises will affect Land in no degree like Taxes that Charge it directly yet Excises will always lye so heavily upon the Landed Men as to make them concern'd in Parliament to continue such Duties no longer than the Necessity of the War continues Besides when 't is said Excises are easie 't is in respect of other Taxes and in regard they Charge every individual Man more equally than other Impositions For all Ways and Means whatsoever that raise great Sums and drein the Country of Money are and ever will be thought burthensome to the whole And though the Dangers which threaten from Abroad have made us willing to raise such great Sums as for these late Years have been Levied in England yet all Men know that in Times of Peace they are far above the Value Wealth and Power of this Country and cannot be continued nor under any head whatsoever paid a long space without depriving the People of that Stock which should carry on their Labour Trade and Manufacture and consequently introducing Universal Poverty So that there seems little reason to fear the Gentlemen in Parliament can ever be prevail'd upon to make Excises a standing Revenue There are other Taxes that probably in their consequence may prove more dangerous to Liberty than Excises The Rights of the People are safe so long as we preserve Parliaments and while that Post is secure and well guarded we are out of danger our felicity being such That we cannot be undone but by our selves and by our own consent Those Kings who have design'd the subverting of our Laws by force and open War as King John Harry the Third Edward and Richard the 2d could never prevail on the contrary their attempts did end in procuring to the Nation more ample Charters of Freedom But those Princes have been more likely and nearer to compass their ends who have had the Art to undermine our Priviledges by corrupting Parliaments And nothing can sooner dispose the Gentry to that Corruption and put them more in the power of the Court than such heavy Taxes as will make them uneasie in their Fortunes And the Subversion of most free Governments that we read of has happen'd when the Gentry has been Ambitious and overwhelm'd with Debts and press'd with too great Necessities If these hight Land-Taxes are long continued in a Country so little given to Thrift as ours the Landed Men must inevitably be driven into the Hands of Scriveners Citizens and Usurers except some few of the most wary Families And in such a case the Country Gentlemen would still preserve the Interest of being chosen into the Parliament for a time because they would hold their Estates till they are evicted out of them by Law or forc'd to sell to their Creditors who indeed are the true Owners Now can there in the World be a circumstance more dangerous to the Liberty of a Nation than to have the real Right Interest and Property of Land in one Hand and the Power of being chosen into Parliament in another To preserve the Rights of this Nation we should be Represented by such as have the greatest share in Property And yet if these high Land-Taxes should last any considerable time the real Property of Land will belong to the Bankers and Usurers and we shall be in a great measure Represented by such as have only the name and show of Estates And 't is left to the Consideration of any Impartial Man whither such a Parliament would not be entirely in the Power and at the Devotion of the Court And whither Liberty would not be thereby more endanger'd than by making Excises a Fond of Revenue for this War When the People grow once so degenerate as to surrender the Rights of the Nation there is no ward against such Corruption and a Parliament that would consent to continue Excises beyond the necessities of the War would give up Magna Charta or settle the present Land-Taxes into a perpetuity upon the Crown But 't is hoped there are not hands enow in this Country to help a few Flatterers in the pulling down the Fences of our Liberties and to promote a design that would as well ruin the King as his People If an Honorable and Safe Peace be so much in our Power as some Men imagine there will be no occasion of new Ways and Means of supplying the Government But if we are so jealous of our Trade and Maratime Interest as to desire the War may be continued till the Naval Power of France be a little humbled and broken then it vvill import us to think on the Ways and Means proper for the carrying on a business of difficulty and length Upon the whole matter it would be much for the Honour and Safety of England if we could bring it about to answer the Years Expence with the Revenue that shall arise within the Year and not to live upon Anticipations which eat us out with Interest-Money and run the Nation into a long Debt All reasonable Men must grant that if the Government could be otherways supplied it were expedient to let Land breath a little in order to give the Country Gentlemen opportunity to repair the breaches which are lately made in their Fortunes And in all likelihood Excises might maintain the whole War if they can be so settled as the giving of them may not hazard the Constitution But if Excises are thought dangerous to Liberty there seems good reason to believe that an Aid of 〈…〉 ound upon Land and Money join'd with a Quarterly Poll and all justly and fairly Levied through the whole Kingdom would near supply the present Necessities If Aristides Cimon and Themistocles or any of the Ancient Worthies could rise from the Dead they would be astonish'd at our proceedings and wonder to see a Nation that fights for the Cause of Liberty Tax themselves partially and not with due proportion 'T was not by such Measures in their Public Assemblies that the Grecians so long withstood the Persian Monarchy but by observing among themselves mutual Justice and Equality each Man submitting his private Interest and Concerns to the Common Good of his Country which 't is evident they did in the whole course of their Affairs FINIS