The archbishop's chancery was formerly joined. prerogative court is that wherein wills are proved, and administrations taken out. The court of peculiars, relating to certain parishes, have a jurifdiction among themselves for the probate of wills, and are therefore exempt from the bishop's courts. The fee of Canterbury has no lefs than fifteen of thefe peculiars. The court of delegates receives its name from its confifting of commoners, delegated or appointed by the royal commiffion; but it is no ftanding court. Every bishop has also a court of his own, called the confiftory court. Every archdeacon has likewife his court, as well as the dean and chapter of every cathedral. Of the Revenues of the British Government. The king's ecclefiaftical revenue confifts in, 1. The cuftody of the temporalities of vacant bishoprics. 2. Corodies and penfions. 3. Extra-parochial tithes. 4. The firft fruits and tenths of benefices. The king's ordinary temporal revenue confifts in, 1. The demefne lands of the crown. 2. The hereditary excife; being part of the confideration for the purchase of his feodal profits, and the prerogatives of purveyance and pre-emption. 3. An annual fum iffuing from the duty on wine licences; being the refidue of the fame confideration. 4. His forefts. 5. His courts of juftice, &c. The extraordinary grants are ufually called by the fynonimous names of aids, fubfidies, and fupplies; and are granted, as has been before hinted, by the commons of Great Britain, in parliament affembled : who, when they have voted a fupply to his majefty, and fettled the quantum of that fupply, ufually refolve themselves into what is called a committee of ways and means, to confider of the ways and means of raifing the fupply fo voted. And in this committee every member (though it is looked upon as the pe culiar province of the chancellor of the exchequer) may propose such scheme of taxation as he thinks will be leaft detrimental to the public. The refolutions of this committee (when approved by a vote of the house) are in general efteemed to be (as it were) final and conclufive. For, though the fupply cannot be actually raised upon the fubject till directed by an act of the whole parliament, yet no monied man will fcruple to advance to the government any quantity of ready cafh, on the credit of a bare vote of the house of commons, though no law be yet paffed to establish it. The annual taxes are, 1. The land tax, or the antient subsidy raised upon a new affeffment. 2. The malt tax,, being an annual excife on malt, mum, cyder, and perry. The perpetual taxes are, 1. The customs, or tonnage and poundage of all merchandize exported or imported. 2. The excife duty, or inland impofition, on a great variety of commodities. 3. The falt duty. 4. The* poft office, or duty for the carriage of letters. 5. The ftamp duty on paper, parchment, &c. 6. The duty on houfes and windows. 7. The duty on licences for hackney coaches and chairs. 8. The duty on offices and penfions. The clear neat produce of thele feveral branches of the revenue, after all charges of collecting and management paid, amounts annually to about feven millions and three quarters fterling; befide two millions and a quarter raifed annually, at an average, by the land and malt tax. How thele immenfe fums are appropriated, is next to be confidered. And this is, firft and principally, to the payment of the intereft of the national debt. In order to take a clear and comprehenfive view of the nature of this national debt, it must first be From the years 171; to 1763, the annual amount of franked letters gradually increafed from 23,000l. to 170,7001. premifed, premised, that after the revolution, when our new connections with Europe introduced a new fyftem of foreign politics; the expences of the nation, not only in fettling the new establishment, but in maintaining long wars, as principals, on the continent, for the fecurity of the Dutch barrier, reducing the French monarchy, fettling the Spanish fucceffion, fupporting the house of Auftria, maintaining the liberties of the Germanic body, and other purposes, increased to an unufual degree: infomuch that it was not thought adviseable to raise all the expences of any one year by taxes to be levied within that year, left the unaccustomed weight of them fhould create murmurs among the people. It was therefore the policy of the times, to anticipate the revenues of their posterity, by borrowing immenfe fums for the current fervice of the ftate, and to lay no more taxes upon the fubject than would fuffice to pay the annual interest of the fums fo borrowed: by this means converting the principal debt into a new fpecies of property, transferable from one man to another at any time and in any quantity. A fyftem which feems to have had its original in the state of Florence, A. D. 1344: which government then owed about 60,000 1. fterling: and, being unable to pay it, formed the principal into an aggregate fum, called metaphorically a mount or bank; the fhares whereof were transferable like our stocks. This laid the foundation of what is called the national debt: for a few long annuities created in the reign of Charles II. will hardly deferve that name. And the example then fet has been fo clofely followed, during the long wars in the reign of queen Anne, and fince; that the capital of the national debt (funded and unfunded) amounted in January 1765, to upward of 145,000,000l. to pay the intereft of which, and the charges for management, amounting annually to about four millions and three quarters, the extraordinary revenues juft now enumerated (excepting only only the land-tax and annual malt-tax) are in the first place mortgaged, and made perpetual by parliament; but ftill redeemable by the fame authority that imposed them which, if it at any time can pay off the capital, will abolish thofe taxes which are raised to discharge the interest. It is indifputably certain, that the prefent magnitude of our national incumbrances very far exceeds all calculations of commercial benefit, and is productive of the greatest inconveniencies. For, first, the enormous taxes that are raised upon the neceffaries of life for the payment of the intereft of this debt, are a hurt both to trade and manufactures; by raifing the price, as well of the artificer's fubfiftence, as of the raw material, and of course, in a much greater proportion, the price of the commodity itfelf. Secondly, if part of this debt be owing to foreigners, either they draw out of the kingdom annually a confiderable quantity of fpecie for the intereft; or else it is made an argument to grant them unreasonable privileges, in order to induce them to refide here. Thirdly, if the whole be owing to fubjects only, it is then charging the active and induftrious fubject, who pays his fhare of the taxes, to maintain the indolent and idle creditor who receives them. Lastly, and principally, it weakens the internal ftrength of a ftate, by anticipating thofe refources which fhould be referved to defend it in cafe of neceffity. The intereft we now pay for our debts would be nearly fufficient to maintain any war, that any national motives could require. And if our anceftors in king William's time had annually paid, fo long as their exigencies lafted, even a lefs fum than we now annually raise upon their accounts, they would, in time of war, have borne no greater burdens than they have bequeathed to, and fettled upon, their pofterity in time of peace; and might have been eafed the inftant the exigence was over. The The produce of the feveral taxes before-mentioned were originally feparate and diftinct funds; being fecurities for the fums advanced on each feveral tax, and for them only. But at laft it became neceffary, in order to avoid confufion, as they multiplied yearly, to reduce the number of these separate funds, by uniting and blending them together; fuperadding the faith of parliament for the general fecurity of the whole. So that there are now only three capital funds of any account: the aggregate fund, and the general fund, fo called from fuch union and addition; and the South Sea fund, being the produce of the taxes appropriated to pay the intereft of fuch part of the national debt as was advanced by that company and its annuitants. Whereby the feparate funds, which were thus united, are become mutual fecurities for cach other; and the whole produce of them, thus aggregated, liable to pay fuch intereft or annuities as were formerly charged upon each diftinct fund, the faith of the legislature being moreover engaged to fupply any cafual deficiencies. The cuftoms, excifes, and other taxes, which are to fupport thefe funds, depending on contingencies, upon exports, imports, and confumptions, muft neceffarily be of a very uncertain amount: but they have always been confiderably more than was fufficient to anfwer the charge upon them. The furpluffes therefore of the three great national funds, the aggregate, general, and South Sea funds, over and above the intereft and annuities charged upon them, are directed by ftatute 3 Geo. I. c. 7. to be carried together, and to attend the difpofition of parliament; and are ufually denominated the finking fund, because originally deftined to fink and lower the national debt. To this have been fince added many other intire duties, granted in fubfequent years; and the annual intereft of the fums borrowed on their refpective credits, is charged on, and payable out of the produce of the finking fund. However the neat furpluffes |