as the noble hiſtorian expreſſes it[1], his miniſters were not ſufficiently ſolicitous for a renewal of this legal grant. And yet they were imprudently and unconſtitutionally levied and taken, without conſent of parliament, for fifteen years together; which was one of the cauſes of thoſe unhappy diſcontents, juſtifiable at firſt in too many inſtances, but which degenerated at laſt into cauſeleſs rebellion and murder. For, as in every other, ſo in this particular caſe, the king (previous to the commencement of hoſtilities) gave the nation ample ſatisfaction for the errors of his former conduſt, by paſſing an act[2], whereby he renounced all power in the crown of levying the duty of tonnage and poundage, without the expreſs conſent of parliament; and alſo all power of impoſition upon any merchandizes whatever. Upon the reſtoration this duty was granted to king Charles the ſecond for life, and ſo it was to his two immediate ſucceſſors; but now by three ſeveral ſtatutes, 9 Ann. c. 6. 1 Geo. I. c. 12. and. 3 Geo. I. c. 7. it is made perpetual and mortgaged for the debt of the public. The cuſtoms, thus impoſed by parliament, are chiefly contained in two books of rates, ſet forth by parliamentary authority[3]; one ſigned by ſir Harbottle Grimſton, ſpeaker of the houſe of commons in Charles the ſecond's time; and the other an additional one ſigned by ſir Spenſer Compton, ſpeaker in the reign of George the firſt; to which alſo ſubſequent additions have been made. Aliens pay a larger proportion than natural ſubjects, which is what is now generally understood by the aliens' duty; to be exempted from which is one principal cauſe of the frequent applications to parliament for acts of naturalization.
These cuſtoms are then, we ſee, a tax immediately paid by the merchant, although ultimately by the conſumer. And yet theſe are the duties felt lead by the people; and, if prudently managed, the people hardly conſider that they pay them at all. For the merchant is eaſy, being ſenſible he does not pay them for himſelf; and the conſumer, who really pays them, confounds
