Mansion House itself, as a building only a century old, can hardly be expected to have much historical interest attached to it. The most important event its annals can yet boast is, perhaps, the Wilkes riots, of which, during the mayoralty of Wilkes's friend, Brass Crosby, the neighbourhood-as shown in the prints of the time, from one of which the following is engraved-was the frequent

If a stranger from any part of England, Scotland, or Ireland, however remote, were to pause in the midst of Broad Street, and inquire to what purpose that large pile of building opposite to him were appropriated, he would, ten to one, on learning that it was the Excise Office, have a livelier idea of the operations of the Board of Revenue, which has its seat there, than the inhabitant of London, provided that neither had been brought into direct contact with its officers by the nature of his business. In the country the officer of Excise, or the exciseman, as we may more familiarly call him, is often seen hurrying through the same hamlets and pleasant lanes, often at untimely hours, on errands which seem half mysterious. In London nobody ever sees an exciseman, except those who are in the habit of receiving him as an official visitor, and to many the only representative of the existence of such a tax as the Excise is the great building in Broad Street. The forces by which it levies some millions a-year for the Exchequer are as invisible to them as the officers of another department-the Stamps. The Post Office sends forth its emissaries, every hour, through the streets of the metropolis, and there is now scarcely any person who has not the satisfaction of contributing at least a few pence annually to this department of the revenue; but it is only a limited number who personally have dealings with the Board of Stamps and Taxes, or with the Customs and Excise. The latter is by far the most pervading part of the taxing system, except the Post Office. One-half of the Customs'

VOL. V.

H

duty of the United Kingdom is collected in the port of London, and two-thirds of it are obtained in the two ports of London and Liverpool. The great mass of inland dealers in articles of foreign produce, although they well know that by means of duties the price is enhanced to them by the wholesale merchant, and again by them raised to their customers, yet they see nothing of the agency by which this process is rendered necessary. In the case of the Excise, however, every part of the country is parcelled out with as much distinctness as its legal and ecclesiastical divisions. There is first the "Collection," which corresponds in importance with the county, and is the primary division; then the " Collection" is divided into " Districts," which may be regarded equivalent to the hundreds and wapentakes; and next come the "Rides" and "Divisions," which are the parishes and townships of the Excise territory. Nearly 5000 officers of various grades are stationed in these districts, and are busily employed in going over every part of the one which is assigned to them, for the purpose of charging the Excise duties on various classes of traders. But before going further into the nature and operations of the Excise, it may be as well briefly to notice the history of the system, more especially as this is not easily to be found in any single book; and where it is given, the facts are stated with a brevity which is not very instructive.

In this present year, 1843, duties of Excise have been established in England exactly a couple of centuries. Clarendon states that an attempt was made to introduce these duties in 1626; and Prynne gives the following account of the matter in a small tract published in 1654, entitled, "A Declaration and Protestation against the illegal and detestable, and oft-contemned new Tax and Extortion of Excise in general, and for Hops, a Native and uncertain commodity in particular." He states that, "Our late beheaded King Charles," by the advice of the Duke of Buckingham and other evil counsellors, granted a Commission under the Great Seal to thirty-three Lords and others of the Privy Council, to set on foot an Excise in England. The production of the Commission was moved for in Parliament, and on its being brought before the House, a debate took place, which ended in an unanimous vote as to the scheme being contrary to the Constitution. A conference with the Lords subsequently took place on the subject, in which Sir Edward Coke, on the part of the Commons, took a principal part. He described it as "Monstrum, horrendum, informe, ingens," descanting upon each of these strong terms; "Yet, blessed be God," he added, cui lumen ademptum,'-" whose eyes were pulled out by the Commons," which he hoped their Lordships would second before the monster was fully brought forth to consume and devour the nation. Eventually the King cancelled the Commission, and for a time the matter was dropped.

In 1641, when the struggle between the Parliament and the King was becoming one of life and death, and each party required all the means it could command to carry on the contest, the Parliament still set their faces against raising a revenue from Excise duties; and, in October, 1641, published a contradiction to the rumour that they intended to levy such duties. The entry on the Journals of the House, under this date, is as follows:-" The Commons House of Parliament, receiving information that divers public rumours and aspersions are by malignant persons cast upon this House, that they intend to assess every man's

pewter, and lay Excises upon that and other commodities, the said House, for their vindication, do declare that these rumours are false and scandalous; and forasmuch as those false rumours and scandals are raised by ill-affected persons, and tend much to the disservice of the Parliament, it is therefore ordered that the authors of these false, scandalous rumours shall be searched and enquired after, and apprehended and brought to this House to receive condign punishment." As their necessities became greater, however, they were obliged to resort to the much-condemned impost. On July 22, 1643, an ordinance of the Lords and Commons was issued for the speedy raising and levying of monies" by way of Excise, or new impost," for the maintenance of the forces raised by Parliament," until it shall please Almighty God, in his mercy, to move the King's Majesty's heart to confide and concur with both his Houses of Parliament for the establishing of a blessed and lasting peace." It was further ordained," for the better levying of the monies hereby to be raised, that an office from henceforth be erected and appointed in the City of London, to be called or known by the name of the Office of Excise, or new impost, whereof there shall be eight Commissioners to govern the same, and one of them to be treasurer, with several registrars, collectors, clerks, and other subordinate officers," as the Commissioners may determine. Of the eight Commissioners appointed, three were Aldermen of the City, and another was one of the Sheriffs of London. The office which they established was open from eight in the morning to eleven, and from two till five in the afternoon; and it was placed under the cognizance of a Committee of the Lords and Commons, appointed for advance of money, which sat at Haberdashers' Hall. The Commissioners of Excise were empowered to call in the aid of the trained bands, volunteers, or other forces, if necessary. The first articles in the list of duties were ale, beer, cider, and perry. The brewers were required to enter weekly, in the new office, the quantity of beer sold, the names of the buyers, and were not to deliver any beer without first obtaining a ticket from the new Excise Office. The duty on strong ale or beer, of the value of 8s. the barrel, was 2s. if sold to the retailers, and Is. if for private use. Private families, who brewed, paid a duty also. An Excise duty was also imposed, at the same time, on wine and certain groceries, on wrought silks, furs, hats, lace, and one or two other articles. The Royalists at Oxford soon followed the example of the Parliament, and adopted the new system of taxation, but they also declared that it should only be continued during the war. Although the people of London were so favourable to the Parliament, the new Excise Duty created riots in London, and the populace burnt down the Excise House in Smithfield; and Pymm, who is called by Blackstone the father of the Excise, in a letter to Sir John Hotham, remarks, that it would "be necessary to use the people to it by little and little." The Parliament, however, went the length of subjecting meat and salt to the new tax, but they, some time afterwards, abolished it on these articles. A Declaration of Parliament was made in 1646, "upon occasion of tumults and great riots, which then, lately before, had happened, and were privily fomented in several parts of the kingdom against the receipts of the Excise;" and it was upon this occasion that they observed that as "this duty is by experience found to be the most easy and equal way, both in relation to the people and the public, so the Lords and Commons are resolved, through all opposition whatsoever, to insist upon the due collection thereof;" but they pro

mise, when the peace of the kingdom is settled, to show "how much more ready they are to ease the people of this charge than they ever could be willing to impose the same." For the present the people were enjoined to pay the duties to officers appointed to receive the same in each hundred or wapentake; the civil force was called upon to assist them; and "Sir Thomas Fairfax, general of the whole forces of the kingdom, is hereby desired to order and enjoin all colonels, captains, officers, and soldiers, under his command, upon application made to them, speedily to suppress all such tumults, riots, and unlawful assemblies" as those which had called forth the Declaration. The opposition to the Excise does not appear to have diminished much by the repeal of the duty on salt and meat. There were still frequent riots, the people being very averse to await with patience the time for taking off the others, although the Parliament stated in their Declaration that they could not at present take off further duties, and that, "in consequence of the Excise being pledged for debts, they must require its payment." Allusion is then made to "malcontents," who gave out that the charge of collection was so great that "half the receipt and income were consumed upon officers." This the Lords and Commons deny, and "assure the kingdom that until the late obstructions and oppositions, the charge in collecting the Excise hath never amounted, upon the whole receipt, to full two shillings upon every twenty shillings received." They then point out the various important public objects to which the Excise revenue (1,334,5327.) had been applied, and " to no private use whatever;" while on the credit of this revenue various debts, they said, were pledged, "which must be discharged before this receipt can in justice or honour be laid down." In the party pamphlets of this period neither of the two great parties could fairly attempt to raise a popular clamour against its opponents on account of the Excise. It is true that, in the early part of his reign, Charles I. was compelled to abandon his Excise scheme, and in one of his declarations he charged Parliament with imposing odious excises upon their fellow-subjects; yet stern necessity obliged him to resort to them as well as the Parliament. Nevertheless the Royalist pamphlets endeavoured to show that the Excise was a scheme of the Republicans, and, like all other obnoxious taxes, it brought upon the Government for the time being, for whose use it was paid, a full share of odium. In 1649 a scurrilous pamphlet appeared, purporting to be written by Mary Stiff, charwoman,' entitled The Good Women's Cryes against the Excise on all their Commodities.' It is printed as prose, but written in doggrel rhyme, and in not very decent language, and sufficiently shows the nature of the popular outcry against the tax.

One of the earliest financial measures of the Government, after the Restoration, was the abolition of the Excise on all articles of consumption, except ale, beer, cyder, and perry, which produced a clear annual revenue of 666,3831. These duties were divided into two equal portions, called the Hereditary and the Temporary Excise. The first was granted to the Crown for ever, as a compensation for the abolition by act of Parliament of various feudal tenures,-as the court of wards, and purveyance, and other oppressive parts of the royal hereditary revenue. The other half was only granted for the life of the king. On the accession of James II., Parliament granted him for life the Temporary Excise, and increased it by additional duties on wines, vinegar, tobacco, and sugar, which,