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and were already subject to taxation, although not in the form
of an import duty. A tax of 2d. per gallon was levied on
the liquor known as coffee, and of 8d. per gallon on chocolate,
sherbet, and tea, this tax being levied on the makers of the
beverage. It is not surprising to find that this mode of
taxing tea and coffee was troublesome and costly, and in
1688, for that reason, a customs duty was levied on the
raw material in lieu of a tax on the beverage.
Among the other statutes passed during the reign of
James II.—and the Acts of Parliament of this reign number
only twenty-two in all—may be mentioned one for continuing
a duty of 18d. a chalder, or ton, on "sea coals for completing
the new Cathedral of St. Paul; another for perpetuating,
with certain alterations, the Acts then existing relating to the
distribution of the property of a person dying intestate ; and
another to enable the inhabitants of the adjoining parish of
St. Anne to raise money for the erection of a Parish Church.
The reign of James II. was distinguished from a local
government point of view, by many of the boroughs of
England being deprived of their privileges, and the arbitrary
disposition of the King in comparatively small matters, as
well as in high concerns of State, combined with a considerable
increase of taxation, was not calculated to render the
King more popular.
Events moved rapidly, and a glance at the Statutes of a
few years later will show how little the House of Stuart seem
to have comprehended the spirit of the English. The legislative
labours of the Parliament of King James II. were confined
to the first year of his reign, their last act being the
creation of the Parish of St. James. At the Revolution,
however, three years later, the activity of Parliament
increased, and the spirit of the Puritans once more asserted
itself, although in a much modified form. Some of the
earliest Statutes of William III. provided for the removal