and a half, during the foregoing century, notwithftanding the long civil wars, and the vast emigrations. The Doctor published, in 1783, Remarks on these tracts of Meff. Wales and Howlet *. And, with his ufual acutenefs, he detects fome miftakes; but, with his accustomed pertinacity, he adheres to his former opinions. The matter in difpute, we are told †, must be determined, not by vague declamation, or speculative argument, but by well-authenticated facts: For," the grand argument of Dr. Price is at once extremely clear, and comprehended in a very narrow compafs." The following is the ftate of this grand argument : That there appeared by the Hearth-books, at Lady That there appeared by the Tax office books, in 1777, only Houses. 1,300,000; 952,734: Whence, the Doctor inferred, as a neceffary confequence, that there had been a proportional diminution of people, fince 1690. Confidering how important this fubject is to the ftate, and how much it is connected with the gene, ral purpose of this Eftimate, I was led to examine, at once with, minutenefs and with brevity, an argu *In his Obfervations on Reverfionary Payments, in 2 vol. 8vo. ment, which has been oftentatiously displayed, as equal in its inferences to the certainty of actual enumerations. In lieu of the obnoxious hearth-tax, the Parliament imposed, in 1696, a duty of two fhillings on every house, six fhillings on every house, containing ten windows, and fewer than twenty; and ten fhillings on every houfe having more than twenty windows; thofe occupiers only excepted, who were exempted from church and poor rates. And Gregory King computed, with his ufual precision, what the tax would produce, before it had yielded a penny: Thus, fays he, the number of inhabited bouses is whereof, under 10 windows 980,009; under 20 windows £70,000; 1,300,000; above 20 windows 50,000. However many infolvent houfes were thus deducted from the 1,300,000 inhabited houses, Gregory King allowed at last too many solvent ones. truth may be inferred from the following facts, Pol. Obferv. Brit. Muf. Harl. MSS. N° 1898. This There remains in the tax-office a particular ac- Houses at 2s. -248,784, produced £. 24,878. D 6s. 165,856, 49.757. 46,398. 508,516, producing £. 121,033. He who does not fee a marvellous coincidence t, between this official document and the previous calculation of Gregory King, must be blind indeed. The folvent houfes of King, and the charged houfes of 1708, are of the fame kind, both being thofe houses, which actually paid, or were supposed to have paid, the tax. And, Mr. Henry Reid, a * I have ranfacked the tax-office for information on this litigated but important fubject; and I was affifted in my researches by the intelligent officers of this department, with an alacrity, which shewed, that, having fully performed their duty to the public, they did not fear minute inspection. The houses having upwards of twenty windows, in the tax-office account of 1781, are 52,373. The number of the fame kind allowed by King is 50,000: But he is not fo fortunate in his other calculations. 8 comptroller comptroller of the tax-office, who was noted for his minute diligence, and attentive accuracy, reported to the Treasury, in October 1754, that the old duties, on an average, produced yearly, from 1696 to 1709 £. 118,839*. But, there muft have neceffarily been à great many more houses, in 1708, than the 508,516, charged, and paying £. 121,033. In the twelve years from 1696, there could have been no great, waste of houses, however powerful the destructive cause might have been. And Gregory King, in order to make up his thirteen hundred thousand houses, calculated the dwellings of the poor, in 1696, at and of defaulters, &c, at 710,000; 40,000; 750,000. Davenant † stated, in 1695, from the hearth-books, the cottages, inhabited by the poorer fort, at 500,000; and he afterwards afferts, as Doctor Price obferved, that there were, in 1689, houfes, called cottages, having one hearth, to the number of 554,631: whence we may equally fuppofe, that there were dwellings, having two hearths, a very confiderable number, whose inhabitants, either receiving alms, or paying nothing, did not contribute to the tax of 1696: fo that, in 1708, there must have certainly existed 710,000 dwellings of the poor; as this number had certainly exifted in 1696. Gregory King calculated the tax beforehand at £.119,000, + Vol. i. edit. 1ft, p. 5. 0 4 Mr. Mr. Henry Reid moreover reported to the Treasury, in 1754, that in the year 1710, when an additional duty took place, it became an univerfal practice to stop up lights; fọ that, in 1710, the old duties yielded only £. 115,675 :-And :—And for fome years, both the old, and the new, duty fuffered much from this caufe, as there was no penalty for the stopping of windows. Other duties, continues he, were impofed in 1747; fo that from Lady-day 1747, to Lady-day 1748, the whole duties yielded £. 208,093 and, an explanatory act having paffed in 1748, the duties yielded, for the year ending at Lady-day 1749, L. 220,890: But, other modes of evading the Jaw being foon found, the duties decreafed year after year.—And thus much from the intelligent Mr. Henry Reid, who never dreamed of houses falling into non-existence. The firft account of houses, which now appears to have been made up, fubfequent to that of 1708, is the account of 1750, and the laft is that of 1781. With the foregoing data before us, we may now * By the zo Geo. II. ch. 3; which recites, that whereas it hath often been found from experience, that the duties granted by former acts of parliament have been greatly leffened by means of perfons frequently stopping up windows in their dwelling houfes, in order to evade payment; and it hath often happened, that feveral affeffments have not been made in due time; and that persons remove to other parishes without paying the duty for the houses fo quitted) to the prejudice of the Revenue. But the legislature do not recite, that houses daily fell down, or that the numbers of the people yearly declined. form |