Page:Sir William Petty - A Study in English Economic Literature - 1894.djvu/83

84 of English shipping was increased. Jealousy of France, from which England imported extensively manufactured articles, wines and liquors, prompted in 1678 the passing of an absolute prohibition of all French goods. It was urged against the East India Company that the articles which it imported into England, muslins and calicoes and wrought silks, were highly injurious to English manufactures. Finally all these Indian goods were absolutely prohibited. Every effort was made to preserve the woolen trade. The prohibition of the export of raw wool had never been very effective. This measure was made more rigid, and in order to extend the sale at home the famous order was passed which forbade bodies of the dead to be buried in any other material. Dr. Faber has carefully examined the influences which brought about the application of protective measures in favor of the agricultural classes. I can only notice here that the Restoration is a crucial period in the history of the Corn Laws. The two great principles of prohibition of import, and bounties on export, were inaugurated in this time.

A subject which has not received adequate attention at the hand of historians is the financial history of England during this period. Mr. Buxton, in his "Finance and Politics," lays stress in the preface of that book on the close connection between finance and the constitutional development of England in the seventeenth century. The Civil war, largely brought about by irregular taxation, was the cause of a great increase in public expenditure. In order to meet new demands, new methods of taxation had to be devised. Among the most important measures was the introduction of the excise in 1643. And it