It is observable that in no instance was the right of the king to collect some duties disputed; all that is complained of is the excess and unreasonableness of the sum recently imposed. Many statutes occur on the subject, but their provisions were frequently violated, down to the reigns of Elizabeth and the Stuarts. In these later times, however, such infringements were not passed over lightly. In the reign of James I. the question as to the right of the king to increase the customs upon merchandise, without assent of parliament, was raised on the occasion of his imposing 5s. per cwt. on currants. The court of exchequer decided that the king had such right, on the grounds, 1st, that his extraordinary and absolute prerogative was not bound by the statutes restraining him from increasing the customs without assent in parliament ; 2nd, because the extra duty "was not a burden to the commonwealth, but to delicate mouths." This decision however raised great discussion in parliament, who pronounced it to be illegaL The writs for ship-money in the time of Charles I. created a similar ferment, and notwithstanding the petition of rights, the question cannot be said to have been entirely set at rest till up to the period of the Revolution.
The petty customs were originally founded on a bargain between the foreign merchants and king Edward I., by which they agreed to pay him the amount of them, in consideration of certain privileges granted them, and a release to them of all other prises and takings. Butlerage has the same origin, but is perhaps of an earlier date. Pr's age is stated by Lord Coke himself to be duo to the king by prescrip tion, and the right of the king to it seems to have stood upon that alone; that right must have been one of inheritance, since by royal charters it was granted to the city of London and to the Cinque Ports for ever.
Tunnage and poundage was a duty varying in amount at different times from is. 6d. to 3s. upon every tun of wine, and from 6d. to a ls. upon every pound sterling of merchandise coining into the kingdom. The object in granting it was said to be, that the king might have money ready in case of a sudden occasion demanding it for the defence of the realm or the guarding of the sea. In the course of the argu
ment in the case of ship-money in 13 Charles I., the king's duties are said to amount to 300,0001. This probably was the aggregate of the customs and tunnage and prisage.
The taxes called tenths and fifteenths were the tenth or fifteenth part of the value of moveable goods. Other portions, such as the fifth, eighth, eleventh part, were sometimes, but rarely, also levied. These taxes seem to have had a parliamentary origin. Henry III. received a fifteenth in return for granting Magna Charta and the Charts de Forests. In the earlier periods never more than one subsidy and two fifteenths were granted. About the time of the expectation of the Armada (31 Eliz.), a double subsidy and four fifteenths were granted. Subsidies and fifteenths were originally assessed upon each individual, but subsequently to the 8 Edward III., when a taxation was made upon all the towns, cities, and boroughs, by commissioners, the fifteenth became a sum certain, being the fifteenth part of their then existing value. After the •fifteenth was granted by 'parliament, the inhabitants rated themselves. The subsidy, never having been thus fixed, continued uncertain, and was levied upon each person in respect of his lands and goods. But it appears that a person paid only in the county in which he lived, even though he possessed property in other counties. Certain it is that the subsidy continually decreased in amount. In the eighth year of the reign of Elizabeth it amounted to 120,0001., in the 40th to 78,0001. 'only. Lord Coke estimates a subsidy (probably in the reign of James I. or Charles I.) at 70,000/. ; the subsidy raised by the clergy, which was distinct from that of the laity, at 20,000/. ; a fifteenth at about 29,0001. Eventually the sub• sidy was abolished, and a land tax substituted for it.
(2 Inst. ; 4 Inst. ; Bate's Case,' &c., 2 State Trials, 371, ed. 1809; The Case of Ship Money,' 3 State Trials, 826, ed. 1309 ; Venn'a Art., tit. Prerogative f Comyn's Dig., tit. Parliament,' `Preroga tive,') [Cusvoms.)