38.—The feeling of Landholders towards Wars.

In fixing the ordinary revenue in the reign of Charles II. at £1,200,000 a year ^y Parliament made no provision for the maintenance of a regular naval or military force. The army was looked upon with apprehension or jealousy, affording a constant subject of complaint and remonstrance from Parliament, and of suspicion to the public ^z. But as at that time it had not been determined to exempt the land from all taxation, the charge for the support of the various levies of troops, and the building of ships, during this reign, was still defrayed by monthly assessments on real and personal estate, on the principle established during the Commonwealth, already explained (29); and on three occasions only by an attempt to revive the ancient method of subsidy ^a, which was resorted to for the last time in 1073, and discontinued from having become so unproductive that estates from £3,000 to £4,000 a year did not pay above £16 for all the four subsidies. And as these burdens were borne almost entirely by the landholders, it made them always most desirous to terminate the various wars which were entered into, whilst, when the naval and military expenses of the State were in the subsequent reigns defrayed out of the general revenue, principally raised on articles of consumption, it is found that the landholders were the zealous supporters of wars of long duration.