XXII. 1787. ed from France and other countries. But this BOOK point being candidly conceded by France in the progress of the business, the measure received, as it well deserved, the necessary concurrence and sanction of parliament, and the whole transaction terminated greatly to the honor of the minister, and the advantage of the nation; the sole cause of regret, in fact, being the limitation of the treaty to the short period of twelve years. tion of the Another very useful commercial measure, Consolida though of very inferior importance, a measure customs. founded on the reports of the commissioners of public accounts, was early in the present session brought forward by Mr. Pitt for the consolidation of the customs, by the total abolition of all the existing confused and complex duties, and substi tuting in their stead a single duty on each article, amounting as nearly as possible to the aggregate of the various subsidies now paid; taking universally, instead of a fraction, the nearest integral number above it. By this means the revenue would be considerably benefited, and the merchant relieved from a serious inconvenience. It is a curious circumstance, that the series of resolutions presented to the house, but of which they chose to wave the formality of reading, amounted to more than three thousand in number. A regulation of finance, much less generally ap- Post-horse proved, was also proposed by Mr. Pitt, relative to tax farmed. XXII. 1787. BOOK the tax on post-horses, which he affirmed to have been most grossly and scandalously evaded. By way of remedy, he recommended that it should be farmed by auction to the highest bidder, on the usual plan of the turnpike duty. This was represented as repugnant to the genius of the English constitution. It might prove, as the farming of the revenue had notoriously done in France, the source of infinite abuse and oppression. It established a dangerous and alarming precedent, and required to be resolutely resisted in the onset. Upon the question for going into a committee on this bill, the numbers were only 147 ayes to 100 noes. It must however be acknowledged, that this obnoxious regulation has not been found productive of any practical inconvenience. Mr. Fox's motion for of the shop tax. In the course of the session Mr. Fox moved for the repeal the repeal of the odious Shop Tax, which, in consequence of the pertinacious adherence of Mr. Pitt to a measure in itself very trivial and uninteresting, had become a matter of permanent and serious concern. It appeared from the statement of Mr. Fox, that the city of London and its environs paid forty-three shares in fifty-nine of this duty, the whole produce being estimated at only fifty-nine thousand pounds. This was affirmed with reason to be an unjust and monstrous disproportion. But in truth the Commutation Tax fell as heavily in proportion upon the country, as the XXII. 1787. Shop Tax upon the metropolis; however com- BOOK paratively destitute of the means of enforcing their complaints, or procuring redress. On the division the numbers were, ayes 147, noes 183; the ministerial majority in a full house being, on this second attempt at repeal, reduced to 36 voices only. foy's mo repeal of laws. On the 28th of March, 1787, a motion of great Mr. Beauimportance was made by Mr. Beaufoy, a member tion for the of the house distinguished by his knowledge, ta- the testlents, and general respectability of character, for amending, and in part repealing, the laws known by the appellation of the Corporation and Test Acts, so far as related to the Protestant dissenters, who weakly flattered themselves that their recent services were not as yet wholly lost to the recol lection of the court. In his introductory speech, Mr. Beaufoy gave a clear and judicious historical narrative of the origin of these acts. "The Corporation Act declared that no person should be elected into any municipal office who should not one year before his election have taken the sacrament according to the usage of the church of England. The Test Act required of every person accepting a civil or military office under the crown to take the sacrament in like manner within a limited time; in default of which he was liable to a fine of 500l. and incurred other penalties in the highest degree severe and rigorous. The first of these acts was passed in the year 1661; and the 1787. BOOK despotic and arbitrary spirit in which it was framed XXII. sufficiently appeared from a single clause in the act, empowering the king for a limited time to remove at his pleasure all municipal officers by commissioners of his appointment. This act was levelled indiscriminately against Protestant and Catholic. dissenters but in the year 1673, the æra of the Test Act, the state of things was materially changed. The jealousy of parliament in regard to the Protestant dissenters had now subsided, and the alarm of all the different denominations of Protestants was equally excited by the dangers to which Protestantism itself was exposed by the flagrant attempts of the court to effect the restoration of the Popish religion. The king himself was believed, on good ground, to be nothing better than a concealed Papist. The duke of York, his brother, and immediate successor to the crown, was not only an avowed convert to that religion, but a flaming and furious zealot. Lord Clifford, the first minister, and other persons in high authority, were also bigoted papists; and a declaration of indulgence had been published by the king, in order to make way for the introduction of Popery. In these circumstances, the Test Act was a measure of national policy and safety. It bore the title of An Act for preventing the danger which may happen from Popish recusants'—and the dissenters, far from concurring in the opposi XXII. tion made by the court to this bill, publicly declar- BOOK ed, through the medium of Mr. Alderman Love, one of the members for the city of London, and himself a dissenter, that in a time of public danger they would in no wise impede the progress of a measure deemed essential to the safety of the kingdom;-and though they were accidentally included in the operation of it, they would wave their claim to an exemption, trusting to the good faith, justice, and humanity of parliament, that a future provision should be made for their relief.' This seasonable declaration extremely facilitated the passing of the bill, and was received with just and general applause. A bill for their relief was accordingly at a subsequent period of the session passed by the commons, but defeated by the sudden prorogation of parliament. A second bill was in a succeeding parliament brought in, and passed both houses; but while it lay ready for the royal assent, the king degraded his dignity so far, as secretly to order the clerk of the crown to withdraw the bill; and the parliament being soon afterwards dissolved, it never passed into a law. "But the relief which the unprincipled profligacy of Charles refused to grant, the magnanimity of William was impatient to bestow. In one of his earliest speeches from the throne, he expressed his earnest hope, that such alteration would be made in the laws as would leave room for the ad . 1787. |