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CHRONICLES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT 
 
 BY 
 
 W. D. CHESTER 
 
 PRIVA TEL Y PRINTED 
 
 LONDON 
 
 1885 
 
 All Riff Jits Resented 
 

 LONDON : 
 
 R. Clay, Sons, and Taylof 
 
 BREAD STREET HILL. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 For several centuries moneys arising from Customs 
 duties have formed a large and valuable addition 
 to the imperial revenue of this country. 
 
 In the collection of the Customs many curious 
 events have occurred which, perchance, are little 
 known to the present generation. The existing 
 records of the London Custom House possess a 
 national importance, and in the following pages will 
 be found a brief history of the origin and develop- 
 ment of a system, which, from small proportions has 
 grown to such an extent, that the Exchequer at 
 the present time derives a sum exceeding twenty- 
 three millions annually from the Customs. 
 
 In this department, even in the present and the last 
 century, interesting details have been noted which 
 exemplify the difficulties experienced in collecting 
 these imposts, and the efforts made by the mer- 
 
 ivil4ii'^'^4 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 cantile community in all ages to evade them — these, 
 and other matters bearing on the subject, are given, 
 not only for the information of present readers, but 
 to prevent facts being buried in oblivion. 
 
 For many of the particulars contained in Chapters 
 I. and II., I am indebted to the researches made 
 by the late Mr. James Oldham, who collected 
 interesting details which are annexed to the first 
 report of the commissioners of Customs to the 
 Treasury, in the year 1857. I have consulted 
 Haydon's Dictionary of Dig?iities, biographical and 
 old authorities, from which many of my notes have 
 been gleaned. The strictly official memoranda, 
 relating to events since 1841, are from my own 
 personal experience ; in the main points they are fairly 
 accurate. The illustrations given are facsimiles of 
 prints of buildings which can be relied on as accurate. 
 Stowe makes no mention in his History of London of 
 any Custom House in his time. A diligent search in 
 the British Museum and elsewhere has failed to sub- 
 stantiate whether any and what Custom Houses 
 existed prior to the reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 As all the buildings up to 18 14, with the chief 
 archives, were destroyed by fire, I have experienced 
 much difficulty in gathering details of our past service, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 and this will account for the brevity of my "Chronicles." 
 I have endeavoured not to overburden them with 
 extraneous matter, and thereby increase the size of 
 the book, being anxious to give only such particulars 
 as I consider acceptable to the general reader. 
 
 Doubtless there is much which has escaped my 
 notice — any information that may reach me I shall 
 be glad to embody in a further edition should the 
 verdict of the public be favourable to another issue. 
 
 W. D. C. 
 
 Custom House, London, 
 February, 1885. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 HISTORICAL 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FORMER MODES OF COLLECTING THE CUSTOMS REVENUE I3 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 NOTABLE FRAUDS ON THE REVENUE 3* 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CLEVER EVASIONS OF THE LAW 4"^ 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TRICKS OF SMUGGLERS . , . , - - . 49 
 
via 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PAGE 
 MEN OF NOTE CONNECTED WITIf THE CUSTOMS DE- 
 PARTMENT 67 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 PRESENT AND FORMER BUILDINGS IN LONDON .... 75 
 
 CHAPTER VIH. 
 
 DEPARTMENTAL CURIOSITIES 85 
 
 RESUME 97 
 
 APPENDIX A 103 
 
CHRONICLES 
 
 THE CUSTOMS. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 HISTORICAL. 
 
 There is little doubt that the Romans imposed 
 on the inhabitants of Britain duties on goods 
 imported into and exported from this country, and 
 that after their departure these imposts were 
 continued. 
 
 No trace, hoAvever, exists of the actual rates 
 imposed until the reign of Ethelred, a.d. 979, 
 when, by his " Witanagemote " held at Wantage, it 
 was enacted that " every smaller boat arriving at 
 Billingsgate should pay for toll or custom one 
 halfpenny, a larger boat with sails one penny, a 
 keel or hulk four pennies, a vessel with wood one 
 piece of wood, a boat with fish coming to the 
 bridge one halfpenny or a penny according to the 
 size. 
 
 The men of Rouen, in Normandy, that came 
 with wine and large fish, and those of Flanders and 
 
 B 2 
 
4 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 Ponthieu, and others from Normandy and France, 
 were wont to open their wares and free them from 
 toll. The Emperor's men (Germans of the Steel- 
 yard) who came with their ships might buy in their 
 ships, but they were not to forestall the market from 
 the burghers of London. They were to pay toll, and 
 at Christmas two grey cloths and one brown one, ten 
 pounds of pepper, five pairs of men's gloves, and two 
 vessels of vinegar, and as many at Easter. The term, 
 *' open their goods and free them from toll," appears 
 by a note in McPherson's Annals of Commerce to 
 mean, " showed their goods and cleared the duties." 
 
 These dues, it is presumed, were paid to the 
 officers of the reigning monarch, but until we come 
 to the Records of the Exchequer, temp. Henry II., it 
 is impossible to see what was the value of the imposts 
 on goods imported or exported. In the twenty-third 
 year, however, of the reign of that monarch, we find 
 that the ferm of the Queen's Hithe, the then port of 
 London, was accounted for at ^^'36, which according 
 to modern ideas is a very insignificant amount. And 
 subsequently in the eighth year of Richard I. the fines 
 and dismes of merchants paid unto the exchequer 
 by the Chamberlain of London for tin and other 
 mercatures amounted to ;£zi9 i^- ^^- oi^^yi ^i^d the 
 fines for leave to import woad into England and sell 
 it there to ;£()6 6s. Sd. 
 
HISTORICAL. 5 
 
 In 1 1 98 the judges itinerant held pleas of the 
 Crown in which "inquisition was to be made of 
 tJie Keepers of the Sea Ports, if they have received 
 anything which they have not paid, and if they 
 have received any bribe for withholding the King's 
 rights, and if any person has received anything who 
 has not been duly appointed for the same purpose. 
 Inquiry is to be made, if all appear, who such 
 person is, and what is his name, for it is by these 
 and other vexations whether justly or unjustly that 
 all England has been reduced to poverty from sea 
 to sea." 
 
 From this extract it is evident that considerable 
 duties were levied on goods imported, and that 
 there existed persons appointed to collect the same, 
 otherwise the influence of judges would not have 
 been enlisted to inquire into the king's losses which 
 had been so greatly increased by reason of smuggHng 
 and the connivance at fraud. 
 
 King John in 1205 appears to have claimed one- 
 fifteenth part of all merchandise imported, together 
 with such other Customs as might be laid according 
 to his pleasure : and although the barons at Runny- 
 mede secured a charter from him which cost him 
 nothing, pecuniarily, he obtained a good equivalent 
 from these imposts. 
 
 Our early sovereigns benefited largely on the 
 
CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 importation of wines — certainly from the time of 
 Richard I. 
 
 The king's butler was an important personage ; he 
 was privileged to select from the best sorts of all 
 wines imported, and took away such as he desired 
 for his master's benefit, paying only the small sum 
 of 20S. per tun, for freight. 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the consumption of 
 foreign wine in this country in the reign of Edward 
 I. from the fact, that from Martinmas 1272 to 
 Michaelmas 1273, the duty on this article collected at 
 London, Southampton, Portsmouth, and Sandwich, 
 was on no less a quantity than 8,846 tuns, and this did 
 not include dues paid on small importations of less 
 than twenty tuns under the term prisage — and as 
 smuggling then was carried on at other places on the 
 coast, doubtless wine was introduced without payment 
 of any duty whatever. These obscure facts would 
 seem to point to the conclusion that in Edward I.'s. 
 time wine was the common beverage of the country. 
 These wines would appear to have come from 
 France, Spain, Italy and Germany. 
 
 The commerce of this country in the time of 
 Edward I. must have been carried on to a greater 
 extent than is generally supposed from the shores of 
 the Mediterranean and North Africa and Spain, for the 
 following articles were then subject to Customs duties, 
 
HISTORICAL. 7 
 
 viz., almonds, rice, pepper, ginger, white cinnamon, 
 incense, quicksilver, vermilion, cummin seed, sugar, 
 liquorice, pimentum, rosin, sulphur, raisins, figs, cloves, 
 nutmegs, mace, cubebs, saffron, silk, &c. (See 
 Thompson's History and Afitiquittes of Boston., 1856.) 
 At this date the sea route was not much known and 
 America had not been discovered ; these goods must 
 therefore have reached this country by the Mediterra- 
 nean, as it is not at all probable they came overland 
 through Europe. The fruits and raisins would have 
 had their origin in Spain and the Levant, their present 
 homes of production. The spices from Ceylon or other 
 Indian fields of growth, and sulphur from Sicily, and 
 quicksilver no doubt from Spanish mines. From this 
 enumeration it is not difficult to see that the sea trade 
 to this country had been largely developed, and when 
 we look back to the imperfect knowledge of navigation 
 possessed in 1285, we cannot fail to wonder at the 
 boldness of our merchant speculators in sending 
 their ships on what was a difficult and hazardous 
 system of long sea voyages — for in the then state of 
 Europe as regards direct land routes we can hardly 
 suppose these articles came to this country except in 
 ships. Turkey and Egypt, with the ports in north- 
 west Africa, must have been busy emporiums for the 
 shipment of products which can only be grown in 
 warm latitudes. From India, Ceylon, and Batavia, we 
 
8 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 now receive such articles as cloves and nutmegs, from 
 which we may conclude that at the time mentioned 
 they came from those parts : in fact with all the modern 
 appliances of acclimatising they are not sent to us 
 from any other place, and to the present day 
 Sicily is our great field for procuring sulphur. 
 
 It would seem that Free Trade is not a modern in- 
 novation, for in the Parliament held at Stamford, 
 2 0th August, 1309, it was directed that duties upon 
 wines, broad cloths and " avoirdupois " should cease, 
 in order that it might be ascertained what advantages 
 would result to the king (Edward 11.) and his people 
 thereby, and collectors were ordered to stay the 
 collection of Customs until further orders. 
 
 A subsequent parliamentary writ however stated as 
 follows : — " And it being evident that no advantage 
 had ensued either to the King or his people, the prices 
 of such merchandizes not having become lower after 
 the cessation of the duties, the collectors are com- 
 manded to resume the collection of the duties and to 
 answer the receipt to the King's butler." These 
 duties were recommenced on 20th August, 13 10. So 
 that Free Trade had been tried for twelve months and 
 was declared a failure. 
 
 The French roles of king Henry V., a hundred years 
 later, 1413 to 1422, throw a light on the commercial 
 history of that reign. The principal exports of Spain 
 
HISTORICAL. 
 
 at this time were figs, raisins, wine, oil, skins, soap, 
 and quicksilver, which were shipped to England in 
 exchange for our wools, then superior to those of 
 every other country. Safe-conducts for vessels trading 
 between Spain and England are therefore frequently 
 found in the French roles. The Flemings were then 
 the most skilful weavers in Europe, but being de- 
 pendent upon England for wool, a brisk trade was 
 carried on between England and Flanders. At this 
 time too commerce between this country and 
 Portugal and Brittany was active and friendly. The 
 Genoese in their great *' carracks " came to England 
 laden with cloths of gold, black pepper, oil, and 
 cotton. The Venetians and Florentines brought 
 spices, sweet wines, articles de luxe and foreign 
 drugs. (See Appendix to Forty-fourth Annual Report 
 of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records^ 1883.) 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FORMER MODE OF COLLECTING 
 THE CUSTOMS REVENUE. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FORMER MODE OF COLLECTING THE CUSTOMS 
 REVENUE. 
 
 An ancient method of collecting the " king's 
 revenues " was by farming them out to private indi- 
 viduals. There are records extant showing that the 
 system was in force at the time of Henry II. and 
 continued through the Commonwealth to the date of 
 the Union with Scotland, 1707. 
 
 These farmers appear to have had a high time of 
 it in all ages, and made ample fortunes. Under 
 Queen Elizabeth, Sir T. Smith, a Secretary of State, 
 farmed the Customs revenue, first for ^^14,000 per 
 annum, but subsequently had to give as much as 
 ^50,000 a year for the privilege. With the in- 
 crease of commerce the bids seem to have increased 
 also, for in 1688 these dues were let for nearly 
 p^6oo,ooo. 
 
14 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 Farmers of the revenue were not always English- 
 men. The merchants of Lucca farmed the duties 
 on wool and skins in the reign of Edward L, whilst 
 the merchants of Frescobaldi farmed the king's 
 Customs, they being creditors of the Crown, and 
 paid their own debts and export duties, taking good 
 care of themselves ; for, according to Rymer, they 
 were unmitigated smugglers, and were accused by 
 that monarch of robbing his exchequer to the extent 
 of ;£■ 1 00,000 sterling. 
 
 Genoese and Florentines figured as farmers as 
 early as 1282, and for ;£20 a day the Bardi of 
 Florence farmed the entire Customs revenue in 
 1329. The sovereign and his government must have 
 been quite at the mercy of these foreign usurers. 
 They were the only people in those days sufficiently 
 wealthy to make advances to an EngHsh king who, 
 to obtain his supplies, was compelled to comply witli 
 the terms of such capitalists. 
 
 In our own day something very similar is taking 
 place in Turkey and in Egypt, and if in the year 
 2384 the historian is writing up the financial account 
 of the manner in which the present Khedive's wants 
 were supplied, the names of Englishmen and some 
 Frenchmen will be mentioned as the farmers to whom 
 was allotted the duty of collecting the Egyptian im- 
 posts on behalf of some foreign bondholders who 
 
FORMER MODE OF COLLECTING. 15 
 
 were large creditors of the ruler of Egypt in the 
 year 1884. 
 
 As time wore on the exactions and vexations of 
 farmers became so oppressive and intolerable that 
 importers and financiers combined to put an end to 
 their monopolies, and in 167 1 the Customs dues were 
 taken out of farm and their collection was transferred 
 to Boards of Commissioners in London, Edinburgh, 
 and Dublin, since amalgamated ^ in one, although 
 the farming system continued on a small scale until 
 a later date, probably until the Scottish Union in 
 1707. 
 
 But to revert. When the Customs dues were put in 
 farm, the farmers employed their own officers in the 
 collection. The Crown, however, appears to have 
 appointed certain officials to watch over its interests 
 and supervise the extent of such collections, especi- 
 ally in the export and coasting business, in which the 
 farmers later on had no part. We find mention 
 made of the following officers at various dates, viz., 
 searchers, weigher, and finder, te77ip. Richard II., 
 
 ^ I find, however, in the Public Record Office Report for the 
 year 1881, Appendix I., p. 607, mention of an order in Council, 
 28 June, 1661, ratifying and confirming articles between H.M.'s 
 Commissioners of Customs and the factors residing in Dover 
 for the composition trade to be settled in the port of Dover, 
 Dover Road, and the Downs ; so that Commissioners existed 
 prior to the date supposed. 
 
i6 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 customers or collectors, controller, and aulnager or 
 measurer of cloth. In 167 1 all these offices became 
 patent offices under the Crown : such government 
 nominees appointed their deputies, who again selected 
 persons to assist. In every grade these parties owed 
 their employment to political or local influences, 
 and the patentees frequently retained their offices 
 as sinecures. 
 
 Residence in the place to which patentees were 
 appointed was not compulsory; for example, the 
 collector for Hull in 1774 was located in London, 
 his deputy at Glasgow, and his chief searcher at 
 Dorchester. In this year, when Liverpool was sub- 
 ordinate to Chester, the deputy-controller died; it 
 became necessary therefore to appoint a successor. 
 The patent controller of Chester, to whom the right 
 of nomination belonged, was in India, and the 
 government had to issue a deputation in his stead. 
 At this date it was found that out of sixty-three patent 
 offices in the Customs revenue collection, all but 
 ten were sinecures. 
 
 Principals and deputies received but nominal 
 salaries from the Crown. They were remunerated by 
 fees they imposed on merchants, in most cases 
 arbitrary in amount, and far beyond what was 
 commensurate for the services performed. This 
 system became an intolerable abuse, and the source 
 
FORMER MODE OF COLLECTING. 17 
 
 of continual disputes between importers and the 
 patentees and their subordinates. 
 
 Some idea of the extent to which this extortionate 
 system prevailed and the large incomes accumulated, 
 may be gathered from the fact that, on the abolition 
 of fees to Customs officers in 1831, there were in the 
 Long Room in London patent officers styled cocket- 
 writers, whose average fees were estimated at ^^ 1,000 
 per annum each, although their acknowledged salaries 
 were only ^60 ; and a junior clerk, with a nominal 
 salary of but only ;^ioo, received ^800 per annum 
 as remuneration for his loss of fees, calculated at the 
 rate of one-third of his actual receipts. If this was 
 the income of a junior clerk of the patentee it may 
 be surmised that his chief had a very lucrative and 
 comfortable sinecure. 
 
 A good joke is told about the patent clerks in the 
 Long Room. These parties had been called upon 
 to furnish a statement of their emoluments from the 
 receipt of fees. They imagined that the government 
 had an intention of imposing a tax thereon, and all 
 but two individuals very much understated their 
 profits. To their surprise and disgust the Treasury 
 notified their decision to abolish their offices and 
 compensate them according to the returns they had 
 furnished, which was accordingly done. They were, 
 however, permitted to retain seats in the Room and 
 
 c 
 
i8 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 pursue their business as private agents to the mer- 
 cantile community, irrespective of the Crown. These 
 gentlemen, twelve in number, were designated the 
 twelve apostles, who, like Matthew, remained at the 
 seat of Custom. 
 
 Not one of the race now survives ; the last con- 
 necting link between the old and existing system 
 was Mr. Oxenford, who died in December, 1883, in 
 the one hundredth year of his age, having enjoyed 
 his compensating pension from the Government for 
 upwards of fifty-two years. He had long ceased to 
 occupy his seat in the Room, but his business was 
 carried on by his son. The pension paid in this 
 case was altogether ^10,400, and the period it was 
 enjoyed is the longest on record. He was a most 
 genial and well-cultivated gentleman, bright and 
 brilliant to the last, and when he had attained the 
 usual span of human Hfe of seventy-one years, 
 journeyed to Germany and acquired a full know- 
 ledge of the language of that country. The name 
 of Oxenford is well-known in theatrical circles, the 
 celebrated playwright and adapter, John Oxenford, 
 was a brother of our friend, and his grandsons are not 
 unknown to fame as writers of some of the best and 
 purest of our drawing-room ballads. 
 
 The old method of keeping accounts of Customs 
 duties paid to the Crown was by means of parchment 
 
FORMER MODE OF COLLECTING. 19 
 
 rolls handed by the customer or collector and the con- 
 troller to the receivers of the Revenue in the govern- 
 ment Exchequer. And until about sixty or seventy 
 years since the following method was adopted : 
 
 The place of receipt was in the office of the Tellers 
 of the Exchequer. The parchment roll, on which 
 was recorded the amount paid in, was thrown 
 down a pipe into the Tally Court, where a tally 
 was struck. 
 
 This Tally Court took its name from the French 
 word tailler, to cut. The tally was a piece of 
 wood on which was written on both sides an acquittance 
 for moneys received. The wood was about two or 
 three inches in width and three and a half feet in 
 length. It was then cloven asunder down the centre 
 by a deputy-chamberlain ; one part, called the stock, 
 was delivered to the person who paid or lent the 
 money to the government, the other portion, called 
 the "counter stock," was retained in the office to be 
 kept until called for, when the two parts were joined 
 together. 
 
 This method was deemed sufficient to prevent 
 fraud, as any disagreement in uniting the two pieces 
 would be at once discovered. In addition to the 
 writing, notches were cut in the sticks to indicate the 
 sums paid ; a large notch stood for a thousand pounds, 
 a smaller one for one hundred pounds, a still smaller 
 
 c 2 
 
20 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 notch for ten pounds, and so on for single pounds, 
 shillings, or pence. 
 
 The destruction of the Houses of Parliament in 
 1839 is said to have been occasioned by the over- 
 heating of flues caused by burning some of these old 
 Exchequer talUes. 
 
 It is difficult in the present day to reaUse this 
 antiquated system of keeping accounts of the large 
 sums that found their way to the Exchequer, and if a 
 similar method prevailed with bankers in remote 
 times it would have been a curious sight to see 
 depositors carrying away their tally sticks, which 
 possibly may have been used to protect the way- 
 farer in defending himself against footpads and 
 highwaymen. In case of fire the first care of our 
 ancestors must have been to preserve their tally 
 sticks from destruction. 
 
 It may reasonably be assumed that a system of 
 receipt and discharge which was in favour with the 
 government Exchequer was followed by the banking 
 houses, but this is a point for the antiquary to settle. 
 Some of these tally sticks are preserved in the Customs 
 Museum in Thames Street, and to the curious in such 
 matters are worthy of being inspected. 
 
 For the greater ease and encouragement of importers 
 it appears that in the reign of Charles I. a part of the 
 duties imposed on certain articles imported was not 
 
FORMER MODE OF COLLECTING. 21 
 
 required to be paid down on entry, but security by 
 bond was to be given for the remainder at certain 
 periods of time. These bonds for linens, silks, and 
 other articles extended over twelve months, for wines 
 nine months, and tobacco eighteen months, whilst a 
 discount of 10 per cent, was allowed for cash payments 
 at the time of import. These duties were, however, 
 refunded if the goods were exported ; in the case of 
 linen and tobacco to the full extent, and for other 
 articles one-half. 12 Car. 2, c. 24. 
 
 The practice of giving credit foreshadowed the 
 introduction of the present warehousing or bonding 
 system, which was first partially introduced in 1700, 
 and has since been extended generally to articles 
 liable to duty. 
 
 An examination of the Patent Rolls of the reign of 
 Charles I. between 1625 and 1632 shows that in con- 
 sideration of large sums advanced to the king, his 
 revenue from Customs imports was hypothecated to the 
 great financiers of the time. The names of the follow- 
 ing persons frequently occur in these patents, viz., Sir 
 Paul Pindar, Sir John Wolstenholme, Abraham Dawes, 
 and John Jacob, who had liens on these duties. They 
 appear to have figured almost yearly as creditors for 
 advances to the Crown. On March 7th, 163 1, the king 
 granted a demise to the above, for a year, of the general 
 Customs on imports and exports at ;2{,'i 50,000 a year, 
 
22 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 with power to retain ^30,000 by them already 
 advanced, and ^26,500 disbursed for the king's 
 use. 
 
 The king would appear to have borrowed very 
 extensively from his subjects, and on every possible 
 occasion pledged the moneys coming to him directly 
 and indirectly from the duties on goods imported and 
 exported. His jewels and plate, and, indeed, the 
 household gold and silver, seem to have been always 
 in and out of pawn ; the rolls contain some curious 
 items showing the straits to which royalty was 
 subjected in those days. 
 
 Amongst the many lenders to the Crown, and others 
 who were recompensed out of the Customs imposts 
 the following names appear in the records of that 
 reign in addition to the leading financiers already 
 noted : 
 
 1626. 17 Feb. — Sir George Hay, Lord Chancellor of 
 Scotland, had a lease for twenty-four years of 
 Customs subsidies and imposts on smaults, 
 saffers, and pot ashes imported or exported. 
 
 1627. 17 Sep.— J. Harrison and E. Fenn had a lease 
 for nine years of impositions on sugar 
 imported, except the Customs subsidies 
 payable before 6th January, at the rate ot 
 ;^20oo a year. 
 
 1627. 28 June. — Lady Barbara Villiers had a demise 
 
FORMER MODE OF COLLECTING. 23 
 
 of the Customs subsidies on gold and silver 
 thread for twenty-one years. 
 
 1628. 17 May. — Earl of Montgomery granted a lease 
 for twenty-one years of the " overslipt " 
 Customs on woollen stuffs. 
 
 1629. 20 June. — A grant to Wm. Murray, Groom of 
 the Bedchamber, loi-. on every aume of 
 " Deale " or Rhenish wine imported. 
 
 1629. 30 July. — John de la Earre, merchant, a grant 
 
 of ;^5,7oo in consideration of the same amount 
 disbursed by him for the king's service, out of 
 the Customs and duties on goods by him 
 exported or imported. 
 
 1630. 17 Feb. — Sir Dudley Diggis paid ^2,625 in 
 consideration of his surrender of an annuity 
 of ^500 out of the "silk farm" held by 
 assignment from the Earl of Salisbury. 
 
 1630, 24 j\Iay. — Grant to Sir William Russell, Bart., 
 of the imposts on silks, cambrics, and lawns, 
 for the reimbursement of moneys expended in 
 marine affairs, in case of failure of assign- 
 ments and bonds from the farmers of the 
 great Customs, amounting to ;^45,ooo, and a 
 further sum of ^£'10,367 upon the collection 
 of silks. 
 
 1 63 1. 6 July. — Philip Burlamachi, of London, merchant, 
 
 a demise for twenty-one years, from Christmas 
 
24 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 1635, of the poundage, &c., on sugars im- 
 ported into England and Wales for the sum of 
 ^£■5 1,945, reserving a yearly rent of ;^2,ooo. 
 
 1 63 1. 31 Oct. — Lord Baltimore granted a pension of 
 ;£ 1,000 a year out of the imposition of wines for 
 twenty-one years, in consideration of his sur- 
 render of former letters patent, v/ith a discharge 
 of ;£'2,ooo imprested unto him for increase of 
 the subsidy on raw silks. 
 
 1632. 24 May.^ — Katherine, Duchess of Buckingham, 
 demise for fifteen years in consideration of 
 ^2,000 of the Customs subsidies and imposts 
 in Ireland at the yearly rent of ;^i 1,050. 
 
 Several of the persons named in patents, under 
 which they held liens on Customs duties, appear to 
 have held offices as collectors, comptrollers, and 
 surveyors of Customs, which appointments they in- 
 sisted on to enable them to watch over their own 
 interests and secure the payment of the imposts 
 due. 
 
 I find that Sir Paul Pindar was collector at Chester, 
 and his co-partner, Abraham Dawes, filled the office 
 of collector in London and, in addition, was nominated 
 Clerk of the Rolls in England and Wales for thirty-one 
 years, from 1628. John Jacob, another partner, was 
 also receiver of duties on tobacco, 1629. A. Dawes 
 was also surveyor of Customs at all the outports in 
 
FORMER MODE OF COLLECTING. 25 
 
 1627, as well as collector of subsidies of tonnage and 
 poundage. 
 
 From the aforegoing it is evident that in the reign 
 of Charles I. farmers, patentees, and grantees ab- 
 sorbed the whole of the king's Customs, and that the 
 imposts on goods imported and exported were always 
 
 ) pledged for advances made to the sovereign ; and that 
 these were not sufficient to meet the urgent demands 
 of the State is evidenced by the frequent pawning 
 of the Crown jewels and plate, and that the con- 
 dition of the monarch was always very impecunious. 
 
 Coffee and tea, which at the present date yield a 
 large portion of the Customs revenues, are not men- 
 tioned in the book of rates 1660. In that year an 
 excise duty was imposed on beverages made from 
 those articles. Fourpence a gallon was charged on 
 coffee and 8^. a gallon on chocolate made and sold, 
 to be paid by the maker. 
 
 So scarce was tea in the year 1664 that it is asserted 
 the East India Company, wishing to make a present 
 to the king of some rarities, could only procure 
 2 lbs. 2 ozs. of tea, for which they paid 40^. a 
 pound. 
 
 One hundred years later the quantity of tea brought 
 into this country by illicit methods was estimated at 
 seven millions of pounds annually. The East India 
 Company then enjoyed a monopoly in the article, and 
 
26 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 their sales between 1773 and 1792 were under six 
 millions of pounds. 
 
 At this period brandy, on which a duty of 75. a 
 gallon was imposed, could be purchased at the coast 
 for 3^. a gallon. 
 
 Smuggling was then a lucrative pursuit, for we find 
 in a parliamentary report of 1783, on the question of 
 illicit importation, that the revenue was defrauded to 
 the extent of two million pounds sterling annually. 
 
 For the edification of political economists the 
 following facts are given : 
 
 In 1797 the laws of the Customs filled six large folio 
 volumes, and between that date and 181 5, 600 more 
 Customs acts were added. The whole number of 
 such acts passed prior to the accession of George III. 
 was 800, to which were added 1,300 more during the 
 first fifty-three years of his reign, and as there was no 
 index to such laws the present generation may well 
 wonder how the mercantile community must have 
 been puzzled to find out what was required of them 
 to fulfil the law, and to what extent Customs ofiicers 
 were taxed to check the entries submitted to them by 
 importers. 
 
 The labour and trials of patience endured in paying 
 duty to the Customs revenue must have been im- 
 mense, since, in the year 1787, there were on the 
 tariff no less than 1,425 articles subject to impost, 
 
FORMER MODE OF COLLECTING. 27 
 
 composed of principal articles and subdivisions of the 
 same. The revenue therefrom amounted to about six 
 millions sterling. There were in 1882 only twelve 
 articles subject to impost duties, realizing a revenue 
 of nineteen miUions. 
 
 Space will not suffice to show the several rates of 
 duty to which imported goods were subjected in by- 
 gone years, but it may be mentioned that in 1797 
 no less than 1,200 articles were liable, whilst at 
 the present date (1884) the following are the only 
 goods chargeable with duty on importation, viz., 
 beer, cards, chicory, coffee, cocoa, dried fruit, malt, 
 plate, spirits, tea, tobacco, and wine. 
 
 In 1876 the Customs laws were consolidated and 
 comprised 290 sections, which embrace everything 
 connected with this department for the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
 The tariff, first greatly reduced by Pitt in 1787,1 
 was further diminished in succeeding years, notably 
 by Sir Robert Peel in 1842 and 1845. In the latter 
 year 450 articles were removed from the list, and 
 since then a continuous and decided progress has 
 been made in the same direction by various govern- 
 ments. 
 
 The first important attempt to consolidate the 
 Customs laws was made in the 12 Charles II., when 
 ^ In consequence of a treaty with France. 
 
28 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 the act styled the "Book of Rates" was passed. 
 An additional " Book " was issued in the reign of 
 George L, but as the new duties came to be added 
 and old ones modified, complications were so multi- 
 pUed that the system was most bewildering to im- 
 porters, as may be seen by the example given in 
 Appendix A. This state of things was, however, 
 greatly remedied by Pitt in 1787, when he introduced 
 his three thousand resolutions in parliament. 
 
 But although the complexity heretofore existing in 
 the department was greatly ameliorated, difficulties 
 still remained in the mode of appropriating the duties 
 when paid into the Exchequer ; they had to be placed 
 to the credit of various funds, such as the South Sea 
 Company, mortgages for annuities, and lotteries. 
 Ultimately they were all paid to the " Consolidated 
 Fund." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 NOTABLE FRAUDS ON THE 
 RE VENUE. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 NOTABLE FRAUDS ON THE REVENUE. 
 
 Prior to the year 1841, the duty on silk piece 
 goods was very high, from iis. to 30^-. per pound 
 according to description. The places in London 
 where such goods were examined by Customs officers 
 were styled "silk floors" and were very jealously 
 guarded, the greatest precautions being taken to secure 
 to the revenue its dues on every ounce of the article. 
 
 Landing waiters engaged in assessing these duties 
 were selected for their sharpness and general acumen, 
 and these officers were supervised by surveyors who 
 regulated the tares of the cases, paper, &c., used in 
 packing the silks. The trade was chiefly confined to 
 French goods and the imposts were considerable, the 
 duty on larger packages frequently reaching as much 
 as ^150. 
 
 The books in which the accounts of the examina- 
 tion were entered by the landing waiter, had blue 
 paper covers, the leaves of every page bore an im- 
 
32 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 pressed stamp of a ship, a fac-simile of which is given on 
 the cover of this work, were sewn together with black 
 thread, and the ends brought to the front cover and 
 sealed with a Customs seal before delivery to the 
 officer engaged in taking the account. It was, there- 
 fore, supposed that leaves could not be abstracted 
 and others substituted without detection, when the 
 accounts were subjected to examination by the 
 " Jerquer" or examiner. It was the business of the 
 surveyor to examine these books and notify by his 
 signature the tare allowed and the weight of silk to be 
 charged with duty, and this was deemed the safe- 
 guard against fraud. 
 
 About the year 1840-1841, some large importers 
 made overtures to the landing waiters to defraud the 
 revenue by the insertion in the books of a less 
 weight of silk than was contained in the packages. 
 The officers could have easily done so, but their 
 difficulty was to secure the signature of their superior 
 officer to any falsified accounts. 
 
 A fraud w^as, however, effected by these means. A 
 page from an unused book, of which there were 
 always plenty at hand, w^as brought into play, a 
 leaf was taken out, the account w^as written thereon 
 wdth falsified weights and tares, and the signature 
 of the surveyor was traced on the falsified account 
 by holding the original on the new sheet against a 
 
NOTABLE FRAUDS ON THE REVENUE. n 
 
 window at the house of the importer. It then be- 
 came a question how to introduce in the genuine 
 book a false leaf without its being noticed. 
 
 The fraudulent officer was equal to the occasion. 
 He represented to a well-known seal engraver that, 
 as a responsible officer of Customs, he had had the 
 misfortune to lose his seal, and requested to be 
 supplied with a new die like the impression he pro- 
 duced ; having obtained this the bona fide \)OoY\iZ.% 
 cut asunder, the required leaf was interpolated and 
 the thread resealed, thereby defeating all chance of 
 detection : the diminished duties on the quantity of 
 silk recorded were paid. This artifice went on for a 
 considerable time, the landing waiter receiving from 
 the fraudulent importer large suras for his complicity, 
 frequently more in one transaction than the salary he 
 was paid by the Crown. 
 
 By an accident it was surmised that frauds of some 
 description were being carried on. Officers were 
 known to be living in a style fiir beyond their official 
 incomes, they became involved in speculations and 
 bills, and I O U's were discovered, with some very 
 compromising correspondence. 
 
 As soon as inquiries were set on foot a panic took 
 place amongst these rogues, and the cleverest of the 
 gang, who had obtained the false seal, determined 
 to be first in the field and turned approver against 
 his colleagues in the conspiracy. The result was a 
 
 D 
 
34 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 general suspension of many officers, who were charged 
 with fraud and dismissed. Many fled the country and 
 died in penury, some languished for years in prison 
 here, and others were reduced to beggary. The arch 
 conspirator eked out a miserable existence in a position 
 very inferior to that he had held under the Crown. 
 
 These disclosures ramified into other but less 
 important breaches of trust, and for two years, down 
 to 1843, many men who had figured as most 
 respectable officers were dismissed, or reduced for 
 malpractices in which they had been concerned. In 
 some cases they were the victims of a vicious system 
 that had grown up of receiving from merchants gifts 
 for small attempts of fraud on the revenue, or con- 
 niving at malpractices which assisted the merchant 
 in his importations to the detriment of the Crown. 
 
 The chief firms of silk importers concerned in 
 the above transactions did not escape ; they were 
 exchequred for some thousands of pounds. At that 
 date any attempt to defraud the revenue was not 
 regarded as a criminal offence in the mercantile 
 world, but it was a bitter lesson to them. In later 
 years one man, noted for his position and political 
 influence in the city of London, received many 
 overtures to stand and represent the city in Parlia- 
 ment, but ne dared not appear on the hustings 
 whilst the recollections of these doings was in the 
 minds of his contemporaries. He is now dead, and 
 
NOTABLE FRAUDS ON THE REIVE NUE. 35 
 
 the misdeeds of his firm are not known to the present 
 generation. One other firm was broken up, and the 
 partner who had been instrumental in the frauds died 
 heart-broken in France ; he had made many offers 
 to the government in part payment of the fines im- 
 posed on him, which were rejected. 
 
 On reviewing these cases it is impossible to 
 exculpate the officers for their great breach of trust, 
 but it must be admitted that the temptation put 
 before them by the importers was almost too great 
 to withstand, when by a stroke of the pen they 
 obtained in five minutes an amount of money larger 
 than they received in twelve months, relying on the 
 presumption that there was no fear of detection. 
 
 In the present day there does not exist the same 
 incentive to fraud, the duties are so low that similar 
 deceptions are not worth the risk ; and beyond that 
 the system of check and surveillance render such 
 artifices almost impossible. 
 
 Another scheme adopted by a well-known firm in 
 the silk trade was ingenious and for a time successful, 
 but in the end was discovered through the information 
 of the approver already alluded to. 
 
 This firm imported silks in cases of a peculiar size, 
 and marked with their private signs. Having plenty 
 of packages of this description they forwarded to one 
 of the quays in Thomas Street a case filled with paper 
 and straw, a counterpart in every particular of a 
 
 D 2 
 
36 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 package of silks they had imported and which was 
 then lying at the examination floor awaiting the 
 scrutiny of the Customs officers. A cart bearing the 
 dummy package was drawn up on the quay under the 
 delivery loop-hole of the floor. By a concerted plan 
 the parties interested in the venture raised a cry of a 
 fight in the street below, the officers rushed to a 
 window to see the fun of the planned melee^ and 
 whilst so absorbed the full case of silks was lowered 
 into the cart, and the dummy was lifted to the floor 
 and took its place. The superior officers were subse- 
 quently called upon to examine the dummy, and 
 certifying that it was a returned case and no duties 
 being due it was passed out of charge. The result of 
 this trick was the saving of a considerable sum in 
 respect to the case they had carted away. The ruse 
 was successfully carried out on several occasions, and 
 would never have been known but for the evidence of 
 the informer. 
 
 Accidental and insignificant events have frequently 
 been the means of discovering frauds on the Customs 
 revenue, of which the following is an interesting 
 specimen. 
 
 A vessel from Holland was discharging at one of 
 the quays near the Custom House a cargo of pre- 
 sumed oil-cake ; an officer was placed on board to 
 watch the unlading. Two or three wagon loads had 
 left, and at mid-day the labourers ceased work for 
 
NOTABLE FRAUDS ON THE REVENUE. 37 
 
 dinner, when an officer on the quay paid a friendly- 
 visit to his colleague on the vessel. Some joking 
 took place between them, and in a " quasi " sparring 
 match one took up a piece of oilcake from the deck 
 and threw it into his opponent's mouth. The effect 
 was to set him sneezing and choking, and the utter- 
 ance of very uncomplimentary words at the attempt 
 to poison him. An explanation soon satisfied them 
 that this oilcake was not genuine, and upon examina- 
 tion it was discovered that the whole cargo was snuff 
 made up into the form and shape of " cattle food." 
 The ruse on the part of the importer was at once 
 discovered. The laden vans were pursued and de- 
 tained whilst on their journey to some snuff mills in 
 the Essex Marshes. The cargo was of course con- 
 fiscated, and the parties concerned prosecuted. 
 
 As the Customs Service is, and has been, recruited 
 from all ranks of the general public, it must naturally 
 follow that human failings in the cause of rectitude 
 have from time to time prevailed, and the administra- 
 tion of an oath to be true and faithful in the discharge of 
 their duties as servants of the Crown has been no 
 safeguard against improper practices. 
 
 Happily, however, we are able to chronicle but the 
 following severe instance of an official combination 
 of a smuggler with a Customs officer, as distinguished 
 from their collusive acts with importers. Not very 
 many years since a tide surveyor at a northern port 
 
38 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 who had earned frequent praise and rewards for his 
 inteUigence in the detection of smuggling transactions 
 had the tables turned against him by those he had 
 been the means of sending to gaol. 
 
 This man had for a long time found money for the 
 purchase of tobacco in Holland, and, through an 
 agent, he freighted small sloops with the article bound 
 for the said port. Occasionally he would allow the 
 cargoes to be run, but not unfrequently he would 
 seize his own tobacco and the ship also, and cause 
 the crews to be sent to gaol ; in such cases he got 
 paid a reward of so much per pound for the tobacco 
 captured, head-money for each seaman convicted and 
 a share of the proceeds of the vessel when sold. The 
 victims were at the time unaware of the duplicity of 
 their employer, and as the men were well rewarded 
 for the runs which were successfully made, they were 
 always ready to join in these ventures. It happened, 
 however, that a disagreement took place about the 
 division of the spoils, and recriminations occurred. 
 The gang rounded on the tide surveyor ; he was sus- 
 pended, charged, and dismissed the service. 
 
 As a further illustration of the lenient view taken 
 by the British public of smuggling as an offence 
 against the laws and morality of the country, it must 
 be noted that the authorities of the borough where 
 these malpractices occurred gave to the officer on 
 his dismissal the lucrative post of harbour-master. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CLEVER EVASIONS OF THE 
 CUSTOMS LA WS. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 CLEVER EVASIONS OF THE CUSTOMS LAWS. 
 
 Mr. Charles Barry, who figured about forty 
 years since as a Customs agent and general merchant, 
 was gifted with a wonderful mind for business. He 
 was a shrewd observer, and ready on the instant to 
 pursue an advantage where there was a loophole 
 in the law. To the cute financers of the present 
 day he would have been a most valuable ally. 
 
 Revenue enactments were Charles Barry's study, 
 and that his quick perception served him well, the 
 three following instances will show. 
 
 By a convention entered into between England 
 and the United States, it was agreed that higher or 
 other duties should not be imposed on the expor- 
 tation of any article to those States than such as were 
 payable on the exportation of like articles to any 
 other foreign country. 
 
42 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 Under an act of 59 Geo. 3, export duties had been 
 collected on woollens shipped to the United States. 
 In the year 1825 Mr. Barry discovered that export 
 duties had not been levied on the like goods 
 shipped to China and Japan, and he contended 
 that duties should not have been levied on the 
 exports to America. The duty was discontinued in 
 1829, and Mr. Barry claimed repayment of the 
 amounts levied to that date. 
 
 The principles of the claim were admitted by 
 the government, a mixed commission under a 
 convention between the two countries was formed 
 in 1853 for a settlement. It however, did not meet, 
 for Charles Barry agreed to a compromise by the 
 payment by the government of ;£"4o,ooo, of which 
 sum he received for his trouble about ;^i 8,000. 
 This settlement took place in 1855. 
 
 Mr. Charles Barry scored heavily against the 
 government on another occasion. 
 
 By the provisions of the act 5 Vic. c. 147 a 
 duty was imposed on grain imported into the 
 United Kingdom from any British possession in 
 North America or elsewhere, out of Europe — but 
 was silent as regards British possessions ifi Europe, 
 the framers of the law being under an impression 
 that there were no such possessions. Mr. Barry 
 thought differently, and by his subsequent actions 
 
CLE VER E VASIONS OF THE CUSTOMS LA WS. 43 
 
 taught the ParHamentary draughtsman a geographical 
 lesson. 
 
 He, and others associated with him in his venture, 
 freighted a large amount of tonnage in the Black 
 Sea with corn, which they had carried to Malta, 
 whence it was reshipped and brought into the port 
 of Gloucester. Barry claimed the admission of 
 the grain free of duty as coming from a British 
 possession i/i Europe, which he contended Malta 
 most certainly was, and that the law did not 
 allow duty to be collected on corn brought 
 therefrom. 
 
 The Customs refused to deliver the goods free, 
 and Barry paid the duties under protest, and 
 commenced an action against the government. 
 
 It was speedily discovered that Barry had an 
 unanswerable case, and ^ the Treasury wisely sub- 
 mitted to his terms of compromise by a payment 
 of ^47,000. This claim was paid by the govern- 
 ment in the year 1848. 
 
 The largest and heaviest fight with the govern- 
 ment conducted by Mr. Barry was on the following 
 case. 
 
 By Article II. of a treaty of commerce, dated July 
 20th 1 81 5, between this country and the United States, 
 it was provided that no higher duties should be im- 
 posed upon the importation into the United Kingdom 
 
44 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 of articles the produce of America, than were levied 
 on articles the produce of any foreign country, thereby 
 placing the United States on the same footing as the 
 most favoured nation. 
 
 By a tariff act (6 of Wm. 4), which took effect 
 from August 1836, a duty of one penny per quarter 
 was imposed on rice in the husk from the west 
 coast of Africa, the duty on the like article from 
 America under a previous act being 2s. 6d. per 
 bushel ; so that whilst the African rice only paid a 
 penny, the United States rice had to pay 2qs. per 
 quarter. In the year 1838 this anomaly was dis- 
 covered, and under the advice of Mr. C. Barry, 
 importers of American rice tendered duty at the 
 lower rate to the Customs officials in London and 
 Liverpool, which was refused. Payment of the 
 higher sums claimed was made under protest, the 
 government at first insisting on the larger due as 
 their undoubted right. 
 
 Mr. Barry on behalf of his clients, the importers, 
 commenced an action at law to try the question. 
 The validity of his claim was, however, so evident, 
 that Sir Robert Peel, then in power, was forced to 
 admit the justice of the demand, and consented to 
 refund the over payments made between the year 
 1836 and 1841, when the law was altered to remove 
 all doubts on the subject. 
 
CLE VER E V AS IONS OF THE CUSTOMS LA W \S. 45 
 
 The settlement was not finally carried out until 
 the year 1S46, when the government refunded the 
 sum of ;£"94,653. 
 
 Mr. Barry deserved considerable credit for the 
 way in which he overcame the government. What 
 share he received for his pains is not known, but 
 his tact and shrewd knowledge of the weak points 
 of Customs laws, enabled him to make the exchequer 
 in these three instances disgorge not less than 
 
 ^181,653. 
 
 It is well known that tobacco very readily absorbs 
 moisture from its surrounding atmosphere, and in 
 damp localities rapidly increases in weight. 
 
 A manufacturer engaged in a large way of business, 
 acquainted with this fact, hit upon the following plan 
 for defrauding the revenue : — 
 
 He established in one of the Channel Islands a 
 series of drying rooms, artificially heated to a tem- 
 perature of 90°. Large quantities of leaf tobacco were 
 despatched to his depot. The article, after being 
 subjected to a drying process, was closely packed in 
 barrels, with this effect — that a parcel weighing, say 
 one hundred pounds, was reduced after drying to 
 about sixty pounds. The tobacco was then intro- 
 duced into England and duty paid on the actual 
 weight of the article in its dry state. 
 
 When taken to his factory the tobacco was un- 
 
46 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 packed and, being exposed to the atmosphere, soon 
 regained its normal weight ; so that he had secured 
 without payment of duty the difference between the 
 weight of the tobacco in its dry state as imported 
 and that which it regained after absorption of the 
 moisture, and thereby realised a handsome profit. 
 
 This evasion went on for a considerable time to 
 the great detriment of the revenue. The subterfuge 
 was at length brought to the notice of the govern- 
 ment, who took steps for checkmating the practice. 
 The law was altered by imposing a duty on tobacco 
 according to the quantity of moisture contained 
 therein at the time of importation on its ascertained 
 normal state, the rate being higher in proportion to 
 its dryness. This had the desired effect, for the 
 manufacturer found that his drying process was no 
 longer available to secure any gain of duty thereby. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 TRICKS OF SMUGGLERS. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 TRICKS OF SMUGGLERS. 
 
 Officials engaged in the collection of dues, rates, 
 tolls, and taxes, have been always viewed with dislike 
 and disfavour by the parties who have to pay. Even the 
 collector at a turnpike gate was regarded as a nuisance 
 and little short of an extortioner, but Customs 
 officers and excisemen have from time immemorial 
 been targets for the shafts of satire and the victims 
 of opprobrium generally. The persistence with which 
 they always claim for their employers the uttermost 
 farthing, with callous indifference to all remonstrance, 
 has been met in all ages with a desire to evade the 
 taxgather's demands, and so general has this feeling 
 been engendered by the British public that it has 
 been considered a clever and meritorious stroke of 
 business to frustrate the payment of lawful im- 
 positions. 
 
 Dishonesty never seems to be applied to these 
 
 E 
 
50 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 endeavours. Individuals who would be shocked at 
 the idea of defrauding their fellow-citizens by not 
 paying their just debts, have no compunction of con- 
 science in defrauding the Exchequer, and seem to 
 ignore the fact that every shilling they withhold from 
 the government has to be made good by the tax- 
 payers of the country. 
 
 The bold smuggler in bygone days was invested 
 with a certain amount of romance. Literature and 
 art have portrayed him as an interesting individual — 
 certainly not a person to be condemned as a robber 
 of other people's goods. He and his confederates 
 were never shunned by society, for it is an authenti- 
 cated fact that when they have been caught and 
 placed in prison, strenuous efforts have been put forth 
 to obtain their release, their most permanent cham- 
 pions being the clergy and churchwardens of the 
 parish in which they resided, who have invariably 
 given them most excellent characters. 
 
 In most of these cases of convicted smugglers, their 
 wives and families have become chargeable to the 
 union. From this I infer that the authorities in 
 desiring the freedom of these gaol-birds had a desire 
 to save the parish rates the cost of maintenance of 
 the offenders and those belonging to them. 
 
 Smugglers, like poachers, have always formed the 
 most worthless portions of local communities. So long 
 
TRICKS OF SMUGGLERS. 
 
 as they secured their illegal gains they were thrift- 
 less and dissolute, and when these failed, havnig no 
 funds to fall back upon, became dependent on charity. 
 Experience shows incontestably that the smuggler has 
 generally ended his career in the workhouse ; save 
 and except men who found the sinews of war but did 
 not brave the perils of running goods — they have 
 fattened on the perilous enterprise of the dupes they 
 employed. 
 
 Smuggling as a business on an extended scale 
 received its death-blow when the duties were reduced 
 or abolished on many articles, notably, silks, laces, 
 gloves, tobacco, and spirits. So long, however, as 
 duties remain in any shape, efforts will be made to 
 run goods. In the present day wholesale attempts in 
 the old-fashioned style have been abandoned, and 
 tne authorities have now to guard against the petty 
 smuggler, whose only chance lies in concealment in 
 out-of-the-way places on board steamships. 
 
 Occasionally the old spirit will revive, and in 
 secluded spots during a dark night, a run may 
 be effected ; but we no longer hear of hidden caves, 
 and the cellars of public houses on the beach being 
 tilled with contraband goods. Our coasts are well 
 watched, and hamlets which formerly were litde 
 known, and had but scant intercourse with the out- 
 side world, are by means of railway communication 
 
52 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 accessible from all parts, and do not possess the 
 isolation which favoured smuggling pursuits. Modern 
 innovations have robbed such localities of their 
 privacy ; with an increased population all trans- 
 actions are more widely known ; the newsmonger is 
 about, to give to the world in the daily press all that 
 occurs, so that the fear of detection militates against 
 any such great attempts at smuggHng as formerly. 
 
 The following are a few only of the cases which 
 occur in the Customs records of the endeavours made 
 to evade the duties. 
 
 At the time when excessive duties were levied on 
 French manufactures, such as lace and silks, frauds 
 on the revenue were largely carried on through 
 Dover and the southern ports, and notwithstanding 
 the vigilance of the officers, the organised system of 
 the smuggling fraternity was often successful. 
 
 Light spring-vans, well horsed, were employed in 
 conveying smuggled goods to London. Houses were 
 used at defined stages, where the spoils were stowed 
 away until a favourable opportunity arose for com- 
 pleting the journey to the metropolis. The smugglers 
 travelling by night only, and by circuitous routes. 
 In the southern suburbs of London more than one 
 palatial residence of a city merchant was designated 
 as " Smuggler's Hall," names which are not obliterated 
 from the minds of the villagers even at the present 
 
TRICKS OF SMUGGLERS. 53 
 
 day. On one occasion the Customs officers at Dover 
 were sent on a fool's errand. A van loaded with silk 
 and lace had left the town at night, and to ensure it 
 a successful journey an accomplice informed the 
 officers of the departure, the venture being suspected. 
 Forthwith they went in pursuit in a post chaise. The 
 parties in the van, after going about four miles, drew 
 into a side road, extinguished thehghts, and remained 
 quiet. The officers soon rushed by in hot haste, and 
 when they had passed the smugglers betook themselves 
 in another direction and got safely off with their booty. 
 
 The mania for these smuggling propensities was 
 not, however, confined to persons engaged in trade. 
 Couriers, valets de place, lady's-maids, even people of 
 high degree, were all engaged in cheating the revenue. 
 The carriages and baggage of ambassadors, envoys, 
 and aristocratic personages employed in the public 
 service were not then subjected to a very severe 
 scrutiny, hence their packages and encumbrances 
 were frequently used for the concealment of dutiable 
 goods. 
 
 One energetic and conscientious officer had reason 
 to suppose that the carriage of a noble duke returning 
 from a foreign mission was being so employed. The 
 vehicle was searched, and found packed with lace, 
 which was seized. The official had, however, cause 
 to regret the exercise of his zeal, which brought him 
 
54 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 no reward but a severe reprimand for stopi^ing his 
 " grace's chariot." 
 
 AVhen goods were subjected to ad valorem duties, 
 many disputes occurred between the Customs officers 
 and importers. Under the law the latter had the 
 option of receiving from the government the value 
 he put upon his goods if the officers insisted that the 
 price was too low, in which case the articles were 
 kept and put up for sale by the Crown. 
 
 The effect was that each quarter the queen's ware- 
 house was an immense bazaar filled with clocks, 
 watches, musical instruments, articles of virtu, fur- 
 niture, gloves, laces, carpets, &c., &c., which had 
 been detained for undervalue, and were to be offered 
 for sale by auction. 
 
 On those days this warehouse presented a lively 
 scene. Musical instruments were in full play all day, 
 and the place was thronged by well-dressed folks all 
 intent on securing bargains. 
 
 In the majority of instances the Crown obtained 
 higher prices than had been given to the importers 
 for their goods, and when this was the case the 
 officers who detained the articles received the over- 
 plus — the bidders at these sales, as is their wont at 
 auctions, running up the prices beyond what was the 
 true worth. Jews and the agents of importers some- 
 times obtained goods below the sum given by the 
 
TRICKS OF SMUGGLERS. 55 
 
 Crown, and as there was no reserve the revenue was 
 the loser, and the officers got no gain. They were, 
 however, often called upon to explain their reasons 
 why the goods had been valued to the extent which 
 led them to detain. Frequently the officers made 
 mistakes, and importers laid a trnp in which the 
 unwary and inexperienced official was easily caught. 
 
 On one occasion an importer, who had an eye to 
 business, imported into Folkestone a case of gloves 
 and declined to pay the duty assessed on them ; they 
 were thereupon detained by the officers. Into London 
 he imported a similar case, which was also detained 
 for the Crown. When the goods were offered for 
 sale at the two places it was found that the case at 
 Folkestone contained all right-hand gloves, and that 
 in London all gloves for the left hand. They were 
 considered valueless, and were knocked down to a 
 purchaser at a nominal sum. The buyer in each 
 mstance was the importer. He paired his gloves, 
 and made a handsome profit by the transaction. 
 
 One of the most ingenious and daring efforts to 
 defraud the revenue was attempted in the year 1881, 
 and without doubt had been carried to a successful 
 issue on several occasions. The discovery was entirely 
 due to an informer. 
 
 For some time hints had come to the officials that 
 tobacco was being smuggled on an extensive scale 
 
S6 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSIOMS. 
 
 from Rotterdam to this country. The writer, how- 
 ever, gave no particulars, but stipulated for a con- 
 siderable reward for divulging the secret he said he 
 possessed. As similar communications of this nature 
 were not uncommon, and the details given were so 
 meagre, little attention was paid to him. He, how- 
 ever, became persistent, and gradually opened his 
 mind. It was then determined to send a detective 
 officer to Rotterdam. Acting on the information 
 given, he occupied a lodging overlooking a large 
 boiler foundery, and by strict watch on the premises, 
 saw large quantities of tobacco carried through the 
 gates, and from an upper floor of the house was 
 enabled to obtain a view of what was going on inside. 
 This tobacco, he discovered, was by hydraulic pres- 
 sure packed into marine boilers, which when filled were 
 removed and placed on board a steamer bound for 
 one of the northern ports of England. 
 
 The telegraph informed the Customs officials at 
 the port to watch the vessel on arrival. The boilers 
 arrived in due course, were landed, and allowed 
 without interference to be placed on the railway and 
 conveyed to King's Cross, London, it being the desire 
 of the officials to secure the parties concerned in the 
 venture. 
 
 For several days after arrival in London the 
 boilers remained unclaimed. At length one was 
 
7AVCA'S OF SMUGGLERS. 57 
 
 conveyed to a railway arch at Stepney, where it was 
 watched night and day. The second boiler at King's 
 Cross was subjected to the like supervision by the 
 police. 
 
 At length the parties came to the Stepney arch to 
 claim their booty, when they were arrested, and in 
 their presence the boiler was opened and found filled 
 with tobacco. 
 
 The police at King's Cross gave up all hope of any 
 one coming for the boiler there, and relaxed their 
 vigilance ; and through an informaHty in a telegram 
 were informed that the goods would not be removed 
 the day of the first seizure. The word not caused 
 them to relinquish their vigilance on the property. 
 
 It was removed, but unfortunately for the rogues 
 the carriage used in its conveyance broke down and 
 the immense burden stuck fast in the Bagnigge Wells 
 Road, and w^as ultimately secured. 
 
 The smugglers were convicted in the penalty of 
 ^2^4,824, and in default of payment were sent to 
 prison ; the two boilers and the tobacco contained in 
 them were confiscated. The smuggled article weighed 
 five tons and was burnt. The boilers were not of any 
 commercial value except as old iron. They were made 
 of plates too thin for marine purposes, and had evi- 
 dently been put together for these ventures, and used on 
 previous occasions for a similar purpose with success. 
 
58 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 The attempts at petty smuggling have been so 
 numerous and varied that in this paper it would be 
 impossible to enumerate them all ; but the following 
 are some of the most curious examples of the 
 inventive genius of the smuggler: — 
 
 A loaf of rye bread left unconcernedly on a cabin 
 table was found filled with cigars, which had been 
 inserted after baking, 
 
 A pitch-pot brought ashore from a vessel by the 
 carpenter ostensibly for the purpose of being heated 
 had an interior lining filled with spirits. This trick 
 must have been carried out successfully for years. 
 
 A wooden fender slung over the side of a ship was 
 hollowed out and filled with tobacco. 
 
 One individual never came ashore from his ship 
 without a book under his arm. He was looked upon 
 as a very studious person. On one occasion the 
 Customs officer fancied he saw a cork attached to 
 the book, and then found that this copy of Rollin's 
 History was a wooden box with a tin lining filled with 
 brandy. The delusion was successful until discovered. 
 
 Egg boxes have been frequently employed in 
 cheating the Revenue. The sides and heads were 
 gauged out in holes and filled with cigars. 
 
 Women's petticoats have been found puffed out 
 by bladders filled with spirits, and in the age when 
 crinolines were worn often escaped detection. 
 
TRICKS OF SMUGGLERS. 59 
 
 When imported watches were subject to Customs' 
 duties every description of artifice was resorted to for 
 evading the impost. 
 
 A foreigner took passage from Holland in a steam 
 vessel and secreted round his body in leathern 
 bandages a considerable number of watches. The 
 weight was so great that he could not lie down, and 
 calculating on a quick voyage of about twenty-four 
 hours concluded that he could for that period bear 
 the enormous strain upon his system. Unfortunately 
 for him, the ship was detained in a fog for an addi- 
 tional day. At the time of arrival in London the 
 man was completely exhausted ; his courage f liled 
 him in the prosecution of his venture, fear of 
 detection overcame him, and he gave himself up to 
 the Customs' m5a-midions, who had been watching 
 his anxious and distressed features. 
 
 Hayling Island, Hampshire — which is now much 
 frequented as a seaside resort — was very little known 
 to the travelling public thirty years since. Geo- 
 graphically it is somewhat in the shape of a triangle, 
 its base washed by the English Channel, its western 
 side separated from Portsmouth by an arm of tlie sea 
 called Langstone Harbour, and its eastern side is 
 separated from Sussex by Chichester Harbour, a 
 narrow inlet. The Sussex entrance was at one time 
 guarded by a coast-guard force in an old disused brig, 
 
6o CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 the Griper. From this estuary several inlets led up to 
 farm houses, which were so close to these waters that 
 vessels came alongside the barns to load and unload 
 agricultural produce. If, therefore, a sloop could 
 successfully run past the Griper she was soon safe 
 from observation. The western arm of the sea was 
 guarded by a military fort and coast-guard station, and 
 if the watchmen there were not on the alert any 
 skipper who eluded their vigilance could take his 
 vessel anywhere he pleased. At the apex of the 
 triangle is a long wooden bridge communicating with 
 the mainland at Havant. There was a time, not so 
 very long ago, when a bridge did not exist, and vehicles 
 passed at low tide over a causeway to Havant, which 
 is even now used when the bridge is under repair. 
 
 Tradition says that "Will Watch," the bold 
 smuggler, the hero of our old nautical ballad, sailed 
 out of Hayling; and for his purposes he could not 
 have selected a safer locality. 
 
 The writer of these pages happened to be in the 
 island at the time the following events occurred. 
 
 In the north parish an opulent farmer had an 
 evening entertainment, and amongst the guests were 
 the coast-guard officers of the district. 
 
 The host was called away from the whist-table, 
 and remained absent some time, all being under the 
 impression that home matters required his attention. 
 
TRICKS OF SMUGGLERS. 
 
 That evening, as it subsequently transpired, a sloop 
 laden with tobacco had run the gauntlet past the 
 Griper and was being unloaded at one of the barns 
 belonging to this farmer. 
 
 Early in the following morning one of this gentle- 
 man's carts loaded with tobacco was stopped at 
 Havant, the vehicle was seized, and the carter was 
 taken before the magistrates. 
 
 The occurrence spread quickly throughout the 
 island — coast-guard officers and men, full of inquisitive 
 anxiety in the matter, flocked to the inquiry, and 
 whilst they were busily engaged in satisfying their 
 curiosity the remainder of the cargo was successfully 
 carted away^ almost under the eyes of these guardians 
 of the revenue ; and great was their chagrin to find 
 that the farmer had made them safe at his hospitable 
 board whilst the venture was being carried out. 
 
 The loss of the cart and horses, and the penalty 
 inflicted on the carter, was more than compensated by 
 the duty saved on the rest of the cargo which escaped. 
 There was much rejoicing in Hayling at this clever 
 ruse, for the population always evinced sympathy for 
 a smuggler. 
 
 Whilst importei's have never failed in attem]Dts to 
 defraud, exporters have not been idle in getting 
 something out of the Customs. 
 
 British silver plate, new and unused, was, prior to 
 
62 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOAiS 
 
 1884, entitled to a drawback, when exported, of the 
 home duty paid by manufacturers through the 
 Goldsmiths' Plall to the Exchequer. 
 
 The Customs officers carefully weighed and ex- 
 ammed all such plate presented for diawback, and on 
 their certificate the money was paid. 
 
 A person engaged in this plate export business 
 possessed a silver candelabra of considerable weight, 
 the drawback on which amounted to a large sum, 
 and upon being duly exported to Jersey received the 
 amount due. 
 
 On arrival in the Channel Islands the candelabra 
 was coated with a green compound, which gave it the 
 appearance of being made of bronze. It was then 
 re-shipped to London and examined alongside the 
 importing vessel, and passed by the Customs as a 
 bronze manufacture and free of duty. 
 
 The article was then taken by the owner to his 
 place of business, the coating was washed off, arid it 
 became once more a silver candelabra. Thence taken 
 to an outport for shipment, the drawback was 
 obtained a second time ; the process of coating 
 was again performed at a port of France, re-intro- 
 duced into England, and the same process was 
 continued until the fraud was accidentally discovered ; 
 but not until the author of the fraud had obtained a 
 handsome sum out of the revenue. 
 
TRICKS OF SMUGGLERS. 63 
 
 A Jew had a wonderful specific for making old 
 plate "better ash new." On many occasions he 
 deceived the officers. At last, in his greed, he over- 
 reached himself. He produced a large quantity for 
 the drawback, and excited suspicion by his eagerness 
 to get the parcel passed at once. The officers decided 
 to consult a well-known manufacturer as to some of 
 the pieces, from whom they ascertained that the silver 
 had been made by them for a noble marquis, used 
 by him for many years, and at his death the plate 
 was sold to the Jew. This proved that the claim 
 for drawback was illegal, and the whole lot was 
 confiscated. 
 
 An hotel keeper in Jersey did a large trade in plate 
 sent from England, on which drawback was received. 
 All the articles were brought back concealed in 
 baggage. For several years the same articles claimed 
 the rebate, and it is calculated that he defrauded 
 the revenue of hundreds of pounds yearly until his 
 trick was discovered. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MEN OF NOTE WHO HAVE BEEN 
 CONNECTED WITH THE CUSTOMS. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MEN OF NOTE WHO HAVE BEEN CONNECTED WITH 
 THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 The several departments of the State from time 
 immemorial, which I believe in legal parlance dates 
 from the reign of Richard II., have attracted men of 
 note and standing in the ages in which they lived, and 
 a glance at the public records will show that those 
 who figure in history as persons important in their 
 several spheres have been singled out for important 
 employment as revenue officers. The attractions to 
 the Customs establishments, not now alluring, were 
 formerly of a lucrative nature ; for the offices, filled 
 by aristocratic individuals, would not of themselves 
 have enticed people in a high social or political life 
 but for the monetary gains attaching thereto. And 
 this reason is sufficient to explain why the under- 
 mentioned, which are only selected as a few examples, 
 have become associated in the collection of Customs 
 duties. So long as the posts in this branch of the 
 
 F 2 
 
68 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 imperial service were sinecures, nominees for the 
 favour of the State were always forthcoming from the 
 higher ranks of society. The ministers thus found 
 to their hand a ready means for satisfying political 
 claims, and conferring a recognition on men of letters 
 who had been useful to them. 
 
 Foremost amongst these worthies stands Geoffrey 
 Chaucer, the father of English poetry, who was sent 
 in 1373 to Genoa, to hire ships for the service of 
 Edward III. On his return he was appointed to the 
 Comptrollership of Customs on Wools, and had a 
 grant of a pitcher of wine a day, to be delivered by 
 the Butler of England, and amongst his emoluments 
 had a share in the seizures of contraband wools. He 
 also enjoyed a royal pension of twenty marks, equal 
 to ;£"24 a year. How long he continued to fill the 
 post of Comptroller of Wools is uncertain, but 
 possibly not longer than 1383, when he was elected 
 knight of the shire of Kent. At all events he 
 ceased to hold his Customs office in 1389, when he 
 became clerk of the works at Westminster, of Windsor 
 and other palaces. In the following reign, Henry IV., 
 he had to leave the country on account of his religious 
 opinions, but returned and died in 1400. 
 
 William Congreve, the dramatic poet, who was a 
 commissioner of the Hackney Coach Office in 
 1693 — 4, held also a situation in the Customs of 
 
MEN OF NOTE IN THE CUSTOMS. 69 
 
 ^600 a year. This must have been some patent 
 office; his name does not appear amongst the hst of 
 commissioners, nor can it be ascertained how long he 
 held office ; he died in 1729. 
 
 Nicholas Rowe, the dramatic poet, born in 1673, 
 was appointed Secretary of State on the accession of 
 George L, 1714; made Poet Laureate same year, 
 and appointed a landing Surveyor of the Customs, 
 London. He died in 17 18, so that his occupation of 
 office in the revenue only lasted four years. 
 
 Matthew Prior, the celebrated poet, born in 1664, 
 was Secretary at the Treaty of Ryswick, 1697, and 
 afterwards a Secretary of State, and in 17 13, Secretary 
 to the embassy in France. He appears to have also 
 filled the post of Commissioner of Customs from 
 1 71 1 to 1724, at a salary of ^1000 per annum; 
 died 172 1. He was arrested and committed to prison 
 by order of the House of Commons in 1715, but 
 recovered his liberty in 17 17. 
 
 Sir Dudley North, brother of Lord Guildford, keeper 
 of the Great Seal, temp. Charles H. and James H., 
 Sheriff and Alderman of the city of London, was a 
 Commissioner of Customs in 1684 to 1688. He was 
 also a Lord High Treasurer in 1684 and 169 1. 
 
 Adam Smith, the celebrated political essayist, 
 author of The Wealth of Nations, born 1723, died 
 1790; said to be commissioner, 1781, for Scotland. 
 
 J 
 
70 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 On a recent visit to Poets' Corner in Westminster 
 Abbey, I could not help thinking that this was our 
 Custom House Corner, as I gazed on the monuments 
 erected in honour of Chaucer, Congreve, Rowe and 
 Prior, all Customs men, who in the flesh had played a 
 prominent part in collecting the revenue in Lower 
 Thames Street. 
 
 The first Earl of Liverpool was Collector of Customs 
 inwards, 1792, as were also 
 
 The Duke of Manchester, Collector outwards. 
 
 The Duke of Newcastle and the Earl of Guildford, 
 Comptrollers, inwards and outwards. 
 
 Lord Stowell, Surveyor of Subsidies and Petty 
 Customs. 
 
 Sir Richard Temple, Commissioner, 1675. 
 
 Lord Southwell, Commissioner, Ireland, 1720. 
 
 Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, baronet, Professor of 
 Poetry at Oxford, and a distinguished man of letters, 
 was a Commissioner of Customs for several years, and 
 resigned in 1883. He was a most genial and valuable 
 member of our Board, and greatly esteemed in the 
 Department. 
 
 In the present century we have had but few 
 members of the Upper House who have taken seats 
 at our Board. 
 
 The late Lord Clarendon, when Mr. Villiers, was 
 a Commissioner from 1824 to 1833, and the Earl of 
 
MEN OF NOTE IN THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 Arran, who has recently been raised to the House of 
 Lords, was amongst us for a few months last year, 
 1884. 
 
 The post of a Commissioner is not, as formerly, 
 a sinecure. The present Board take a very active 
 part in the administration of the Department. They 
 go circuit, so to speak, and are none of them un- 
 known at the several Custom Houses of the United 
 Kingdom. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE PRESENT AND FORMER CUS TOM 
 HOUSES. 
 
I 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE PRESENT AND FORMER CUSTOM HOUSES. 
 
 As far as can be ascertained five Custom Houses 
 have been built for the purpose of carrying on the 
 business in the port of London. 
 
 The first is stated to have been built by John 
 Churchman, Sheriff of London, in 1385, and stood 
 on the site of the present building ; but what de- 
 scription of edifice it was I have not been able to 
 ascertain. 
 
 The second was erected in Queen Elizabeth's reign. 
 It was destroyed in the great fire of 1666. A view 
 of this building, copied from an old and scarce print, 
 is annexed as the frontispiece to this work. 
 
 The third was built from the design of Sir Chris- 
 topher Wren in 1668 on the same site, at a cost of 
 ^10,000. This House was burnt in 171 1, and was 
 the only one of his buildings destroyed during his 
 lifetime. 
 
76 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 The fourth was built by Ripley, who introduced 
 a "long room," and stood immediately east of the 
 existing building, it had a fine river front, but was 
 greatly altered afterwards. Views of Ripley's Custom 
 House are given showing the original design and the 
 subsequent alteration. 
 
 On the 1 2th January, 1814, this building was dis- 
 covered to be on fire, and so rapidly did the flames do 
 their work that it was soon doomed to destruction. 
 
 In the brief account given in the Tijnes of the 15th 
 following, it is stated that a panic set in amongst the 
 firemen and bystanders. A large quantity of gun- 
 powder belonging to the Custom House volunteers, 
 then enrolled, exploded, sending that part of the 
 building in all directions — papers and documents were 
 flying before a high wind blowing, and were picked 
 up at considerable distances. 
 
 The building was in charge of a lady, Miss Kelly, 
 who held the post of housekeeper as a sort of sinecure, 
 and occupied one of the best portions as her apartments. 
 The fire originated in rooms attached to her brother, 
 Colonel Kelly, who resided on the premises. Un- 
 fortunately two of this lady's servants were burnt to 
 death. They would seem to have been forgotten in 
 the hurry and desire to save Miss Kelly's valuables 
 and some pet animals and birds who, like herself, had 
 free board and lodging in the Custom House. 
 
-*::j?'e1???-.; ■■■^-a|p«*«l«^* 
 
PRESENT AND FORMER CUSTOM HOUSES, -j-j 
 
 The building at that time was the depository of 
 valuables of every description — plate, jewels, silks, 
 china, &c., awaiting payment of duties which were 
 lost. Plunderers, however, who were on the scene, 
 laid their hands on everything within reach ; some were 
 Q2M^\\. flagrante delicto^ and were dealt with according to 
 law, and doubtless swung in mid-air at the Old Bailey, 
 as was the custom in those days for such offences. 
 
 Much commercial and departmental inconvenience 
 resulted from the fire, the several offices being 
 scattered in places hired for the purpose in the city. 
 
 The government of the day had previously decided 
 to alter the site of the Custom House, and had pur- 
 chased all the quays, wharves, and buildings between 
 Water Lane end of Thames Street and Billingsgate, to 
 the westward of the former Custom House. The 
 amount paid for the freeholds acquired was ;^4 1,700, 
 and before the destruction of the old building the 
 plans for a new building had been drawn up, and the 
 work of construction commenced. From a draw- 
 ing of what was intended to be the river frontage, and 
 if it had been carried out in its entirety London 
 would now be able to boast of one of the handsomest 
 fronts to be seen on the banks of any river ; and 
 although, as it now stands it is imposing, in 
 appearance it cannot vie with Somerset House, the 
 palatial edifice erected by Sir William Chambers. 
 
7S CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 Mr. D. Laing, the surveyor for Customs buildings, 
 was the architect; it was commenced in 1813 and 
 occupied in 181 7, the cost being nearly three-quarters 
 of a million sterling. 
 
 The contractors had in their estimate miscalculated 
 the difficulties with which they had to contend ; the 
 soil was treacherous, and for a long time they were 
 unable to secure proper foundations. By dint of much 
 perseverance and labour the building was completed. 
 
 The new Custom House was opened for business 
 in 181 7. It was erected at a cost of about ;£'3oo,ooo. 
 In 1825 the centre portion gave way, the long room 
 falHng in bodily, but no injury to life occurred. The 
 Crown's officers considering that the foundations 
 had not been properly constructed, commenced an 
 action against Mr. H. Peto, the contractor under 
 the bond, for the recovery of penalties. The case 
 was tried in the Court of Exchequer in May, 1826, 
 and experts on both sides were examined. In the 
 course of the trial it was proved that Mr. J. Laing, 
 the Crown's architect, and his subordinates had given 
 directions to deviate from the particulars of the con- 
 tract, and ordered beech piles to be used for the 
 foundations contrary to the expressed opinion of the 
 contractor. It was shown that the use of these piles 
 was the cause of the disaster, and the jury found in 
 favour of the contractor, so that the public had to 
 
PRESENT AND FORMER CUSTOM HOUSES. 79 
 
 grin and bear the loss. The edifice was securely 
 underpinned, and the foundations made so secure 
 that no further damage to the fabric has taken place. 
 
 The long room in the present building, the roof of 
 which has no intermediate support, is considered 
 the largest and handsomest in England, it measures 
 199 feet by 66 feet, and up to 1850 was not greater 
 than was required for official purposes. Here was 
 a busy scene from ten to four, merchants and their 
 clerks coming in and out on business. In old guide 
 books the Long Room of the Custom House was 
 designated as one of the sights of London to be viewed 
 by visitors to the metropolis. This room, compared 
 to its former attraction, is a waste, and the public 
 attendance comparatively small to what it was. Miss 
 Kelly, the former housekeeper in the old building, which 
 her relative was supposed to have been the innocent 
 cause of destroying, retained her post in the new edifice, 
 and tradition says she was a gay and lively party, much 
 given to musical entertainments, and that she used 
 the long room for her gatherings, in which the 
 voices of Braham and Lablache were heard to great 
 advantage. 
 
 There is nothing now at all of an attractive nature 
 to induce a visit to Thames Street to view the Custom 
 House ; there are no bargains to be picked up at the 
 periodical sales; the Queen's warehouse no longer 
 
8o CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 holds articles of zvV/z^j— extravagant furniture, musical 
 instruments, watches, silks and cigars. In their 
 place will be found some derelict goods and a few 
 articles which are of interest only to a general Jew 
 dealer or the keeper of a marine store. 
 
 The Board room is handsome and possesses two 
 full length portraits by Sir T. Lawrence of the sove- 
 reign George III. and the Prince Regent, although 
 replicas they are of great artistic value ; the originals 
 are placed in the Royal Galleries of Windsor and 
 Buckingham Palace. 
 
 As Billingsgate fish market is a close neighbour it 
 is perhaps out of taste to disparage it, but those who 
 have to do business at the Custom House always 
 regard it as a nuisance. 
 
 For several generations this market has been the 
 source of complaint, and at the present day occupies 
 a large share of attention in the public press. 
 
 The thoroughfares from daybreak have been from 
 all time blocked by a motley mob of the lowest of the 
 low, and the language used has become a byword all 
 over the globe, so much so that uncomplimentary 
 terms are aptly and rightly termed, " Billingsgate." 
 
 With every endeavour that has been made, these 
 savages, for they deserve no better name, are untam- 
 able, and I know of no more fitting scope for the 
 missionary labours than this locality, to which the 
 
PRESENT AND FORMER CUSTOM HOUSES. 8i 
 
 lawless and idlers of every degree daily resort. As 
 evidence of the low state of morality pervading here- 
 abouts, I may mention that in my recollection, not 
 many years ago, it was a condition in rowing for a 
 certain prize in the " Billingsgate Regatta," that all the 
 competitors should have served three weeks in the 
 gaol of Newgate. 
 
 Few people in affluence as they partake of the 
 dainty dishes of fish placed before them, are aware of 
 the hardships undergone in obtaining these denizens of 
 the deep, and how much roguery and blasphemy 
 pervades the spot where the dehcacies are sold. 
 
 I do not think that in any other market in the world, 
 fish and blackguardism are so closely associated. 
 
 In the olden days, the drop at Newgate on a 
 Monday morning was considered a place whereat to 
 observe the character of the lowest strata of our 
 population. A visit to Billingsgate on any Monday 
 will afford to the moralists and the philanthropists 
 much whereon to speculate, and an unending field 
 for their labours in the cause of reformation and 
 improvement. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 DEPARTMENTAL CURIOSITIES 
 
 G 2 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DEPARTMENTAL CURIOSITIES, 
 
 The departmental records are full of quaint old 
 orders affecting Customs officers, and especially in 
 regard to their religious opinions. Roman Catholics, 
 as we are aware, were anterior to 1829 disqualified 
 from holding government appointments ; but it may 
 be new to many of our readers to learn that men of a 
 very inferior grade were dispossessed of their posts 
 not only on account of their belief, but because their 
 relatives were suspected of heresy to the orthodox 
 Protestant faith : for we find the following remarks : — 
 
 In 1688 the Right Hon. Sir N. Butler and the 
 Hon. Henry Brown, commissioners of Customs, had 
 their salaries stopped, both being Papists ; and three 
 surveyors, and four landing waiters, and one tides- 
 man, were similarly dealt with. 
 
 In 1 7 19 Samuel Morris, a gauger at Ballina, was 
 dismissed the service upon repeated advices from 
 
86 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 Mr. Hutchenson, a J. P., that this man's wife is or was 
 lately a Papist. 
 
 And in the same year Henry Dillon, a tidewaiter 
 at Limerick, was dismissed for having refused to drink 
 some loyal healths. 
 
 Bribery and corruption have in all ages been utilised 
 to obtain advancement in the civil departments of the 
 State. 
 
 The following extract is a curious example of the 
 practice in vogue in Scotland in the year 1754. The 
 collector of Customs at Kirkwall had been surcharged 
 by the accounting officers at Edinburgh the sum of 
 14^. 2\d., duties short collected on some oil, and in 
 his letter explaining the circumstance to the assistant 
 accountant-general and his clerk, he adds : — 
 
 " I wrote to you formerly that my salary here is so 
 small, but forty pounds sterling yearly, and little or 
 no ' perquesates,' that I am scarce able to mantain 
 my family upon it, considering the dearness of living 
 in this country, without running for debt, that I am not 
 able to give you the same qualifications for your 
 trouble that other collectors doe ; however, I shall 
 order my doer [sic) that uplifts my salarie this currtt. 
 quarter to give you a small acknowledgement as I am 
 able." 
 
 Here is complete evidence that these examiners 
 were to be bribed into passing public accounts, but 
 
DEPARTMENTAL CURIOSITIES. 87 
 
 that they were wilHng to exact a toll on any increase 
 of salary they could procure from those whose receipts 
 they had to control. 
 
 The offer of the bribe by the collector of Kirkwall 
 would not appear to have been attended with success, 
 for in subsequent correspondence with these worthies 
 they were very exacting in checking his accounts, and 
 he displayed considerable temper in combating their 
 surcharges. 
 
 During the present century inferior officers in 
 Scotland were paid only ^30 a year, with a shilling 
 a day extra when employed by the Customs. In the 
 winter and slack times they were not engaged ; the 
 consequence was that many of them had to resort to 
 the parish for relief. 
 
 In the year 1849 much excitement prevailed in 
 consequence of the murder of Patrick O'Connor 
 by one Manning and his wife, of which crime they 
 were found guilty and hanged at Horsemonger 
 Lane Gaol. 
 
 The victim Patrick O'Connor, an Irishman, was a 
 Customs gauger of very dubious character. He had 
 frequently been a source of trouble to his superior 
 officers. He was a money-lender on a small scale, 
 and very much hated by the lower classes who became 
 indebted to him. He had considerable influence 
 with dock officials in getting his fellow-countrymen 
 
88 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 taken on as day labourers. The " sons of Erin " 
 flocked to Patrick O'Connor for employment, and 
 from these wretched men he exacted a weekly pay- 
 ment out of their earnings. 
 
 His murder was the result of improper relations 
 with Mrs. Manning, and many who had reason to 
 know him well said he richly deserved the fate that 
 befel him. 
 
 Within the last fifty years the higher officers of 
 Customs were surrounded with a certain amount of 
 state. A beadle clad in gorgeous uniform, carrying a 
 silver mace, preceded the Collector in London when 
 proceeding to the Board. Scarlet robes and gold lace 
 were generally worn by underlings, and landing waiters 
 on duty w^ere attired in court suits with swords, knee 
 breeches, silk stockings, and silver shoe buckles. Now 
 alas, there is nothing to denote such personages, the 
 plain uniform of a blue frock coat and gilt buttons, 
 with an ordinary cap, little different from a petty 
 officer in the Mercantile Marine, is only worn by the 
 out-door officials who are brought into contact with 
 the outside public. 
 
 The only remnants of the gorgeous uniforms 
 
 formerly prevailing are to be found in the constables 
 
 who guard the principal entrances to the Custom 
 
 House, attired in large scarlet robes and cocked hats. 
 
 Considerable rivalry appears to have existed formerly 
 
DEPARTMENTAL CURIOSITIES. 89 
 
 as to the post of preference between the Board of 
 Customs and the Board of Excise, now styled the 
 Board of Inland Revenue, and the matter must have 
 been discussed and settled in 1721, for I find an entry 
 in the Minutes of May 26th in that year stating : — 
 "Commissioners of Customs and Excise when they 
 attend at the Treasury at the same time, the Com- 
 missioners of Customs are always called in first." 
 
 The Board of Customs have always been styled the 
 honourable commissioners, whilst the rival Board of 
 Excise were simply called the commissioners. The 
 frequent prophecy that the two departments would be 
 amalgamated appears to be near its fulfilment. What 
 benefit may accrue by the union to the officers 
 concerned is impossible to foreshadow, but the 
 commissioners of Inland Revenue may thereby 
 attain the prefix of " Honourable." 
 
 From some valuable old books, which by some 
 
 means escaped the ravages of the iire in 1814, I 
 
 gather the following curious entries : — 
 
 1 7 19. April 27. — In order to a frugal management of 
 
 this revenue, as well as an example to of^cers, 
 
 the Commissioners of Customs resolve that for 
 
 the future they will themselves pay for such 
 
 coffee, &c., &c., as they may have for their 
 
 breakfast, and pay for such books and 
 
 pamphlets as they may want. 
 
90 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 I was at a loss to understand why the commissioners 
 gave so early an attendance as to require breakfast, but I 
 find from several subsequent entries, that members of 
 the Board attended in the Long Room as early as 
 seven a.m., to sign cockets. 
 
 The practice of living at the expense of the 
 Exchequer continued until a much later date, 
 certainly not fifty years since. 
 
 These free breakfast tables, luncheons, and meals, 
 were discontinued later on, and very different opinions 
 on the propriety of officers being refreshed at the cost 
 of the public, were entertained, and dismissal from 
 the service has been since carried out in cases where 
 officers have regaled themselves when on duty at a 
 merchant's expense. 
 
 There must have been considerable dignity and 
 etiquette prevailing in the Customs Board-room in 
 days gone by, for it appears that in 1720 it was 
 decided by a solemn letter that " the patent officers 
 in the Bench having been allowed a chair when they 
 attended the Board, the Commissioners think fit to 
 allow a like indulgence to the Receiver-General and 
 the Comptroller-General." 
 
 In 1725 an entry appears to the eff"ect that the 
 commissioners went into the Long Room to sell an 
 estate under an extent to the highest bidder. What 
 this sale refers to I am unable to state, probably to 
 
DEPARTMENTAL CURIOSITIES. 91 
 
 some property in the West Indies, for at that time 
 slavery existed there and the mother country advanced 
 money to the holders of estates, since the Com- 
 missioners of Customs for some time after secured in 
 bond under their care the produce of rum and sugar 
 for several islands, in settlement of advances ; possibly 
 these sales may have been foreclosures of mortgages. 
 
 There are entries of subsequent sales of this 
 description, for I find injunctions issued for 
 keeping order at such sales, and payments were 
 made for furnishing Boards, &c., for the occasion of 
 sale, with remuneration in respect to cleaning the 
 room after the auction. 
 
 The officers of Customs and Excise did not get on / 
 together very well in former times, and the rivalry 
 between the two Revenue Boards which certainly 
 existed up to 172 1, as mentioned in previous notes, 
 would not appear to have calmed down in 1763, 
 since the Commissioners of Customs found it necessary 
 in that year, to enjoin their officers " to live in harmony 
 with and to be assistant to those of the Excise." | 
 Happily in the present day no such injunction is 
 necessary. Harmony certainly prevails between the 
 two departments, and if there be any rivalry it is in 
 the effort to benefit, as much as possible, the public 
 with whom they have business. 
 
 The interference by Custom House officials in public 
 
92 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 matters was, until recently, attended with some danger 
 to the revenue officers. During the Scotch rebeUion 
 of 1745, the government took every means in their 
 power to ascertain whether their civil servants were 
 loyal and true. The following extract of a letter from 
 the collector at Montrose to the Customs Board at 
 Edinburgh, July 11, 1746, shows what befel his col- 
 league as a suspected person, 
 
 " Yesterday, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Peter 
 Skinner, Comptroller of this Port, was put under con- 
 finement by the officer who commands his Majesty's 
 forces here. Mr. Skinner was a member of the old 
 ' Councell ' of this Burgh, and the old Councell was 
 appointed by the Rt. Honble. the Lords of his Ma- 
 jesty's Privy Councell to ellect upon the loth inst. a 
 new Councell and Magistratts for this Town, to con- 
 tinue till the Anuall Election ; and as I'm informed the 
 s** Mr. Skinner w^ some others voted for James Coutts 
 to be provost, who some days before was by Warrant 
 from his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland 
 taken up and sent Prisoner to Perth for Treasonable 
 Correspondence and Criminall Practises. This I 
 understand is the Crime for which the Compf" is now 
 a prisoner. J. S." 
 
 On July 17th, 1746, the Board suspended Mr. 
 Peter Skinner, but he was released by the Duke on 
 
DEPARTMENTAL CURIOSITIES. 93 
 
 the following day. A subsequent entry notifies that 
 he died on September nth, 1749. 
 
 During the rebellion the Custom House at Mont- 
 rose was pillaged by a party of the Highland army ; 
 and in August, 1746, the collector reported that the 
 " rebells " carried off six of the king's half-hundred 
 lead weights, which it was presumed they had run 
 down for making balls. 
 
 August 22nd, 1748, the collector notifies the seizure 
 of a box " q* Syrop of Maiden Hair and Hungry 
 Water." These compounds, I believe, are not known 
 in the present day. 
 
 On September 7th, 1731, application was made at 
 Montrose to register a new ship of 50 tons, which the 
 bill of sale stated was built at West Stockwith in Not- 
 tinghamshire. It would seem that at this time ship- 
 building was carried on very far up the river Trent, 
 many miles from the sea; no such trade appears 
 carried on there now. 
 
 January 8th, 1731. The officer commanding the 
 troops in Montrose informed the collector that he 
 would keep no guard in the night time to assist the 
 Customs officers unless he was furnished with coal 
 and candle. 
 
 January nth, 1734-5. The officers at Montrose 
 had great difficulty in conveying seizures, so that the 
 collector writes, " The smugglers and country people 
 
94 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 hereabouts are turned so impudent and unruly that it 
 is in vain for the officers of the revenue to carry off 
 a seizure in the county without being backed by the 
 military : " in fact, from the correspondence of the 
 period, soldiers were more instrumental in effecting 
 seizures than Customs officers, and many broils 
 between them and the civiHans are recorded. During 
 the rebelHon it would appear that the celebrated 
 Admiral Byng was in charge of the king's ships on 
 the coast of Scotland, and on several occasions co- 
 operated with the Customs and military. 
 
 In 1780 the Commissioners of Customs issued a 
 general order to their officers, in which they stated, that, 
 as the smugglers had become so bold as to threaten to 
 sink the revenue cruizers, and consequently the sea- 
 men would not engage with them, the Commissioners 
 therefore allow an annuity of ^'10 a year to every 
 mariner who should lose a hand or a foot. 
 
 This is a peculiar admission, and one which does 
 not redound to the valour of the revenue defenders ; 
 and why the loss of a hand or foot was considered 
 worth ^^10 a year, and the loss of an eye was not 
 recompensed, is difficult to understand. Smugglers 
 at that period must have been veritable "Van Tromps " 
 on our coast. 
 
 Privateering was much in vogue about 1780, for the 
 Commissioners allowed "letters of marque" to be 
 
DEPARTMENTAL CURIOSITIES. 95 
 
 taken out by commanders of cruizers with the under- 
 standing that they should not go off their stations, 
 and that the Commissioners would not bear the 
 expense of any damages incurred in engagements ; 
 which meant, " you may fight if you please, but you 
 must bear the consequences." However, there is no 
 doubt that the prize-money to be obtained was sufficient 
 inducement to engage an enemy's ship at all hazards. 
 
 Unfortunately no records remain to show to what 
 extent this privateering was carried on, at all events, 
 not in the Customs Department. 
 
 The oaths administered to Customsmen, searchers, 
 comptrollers, and others in early times was to the 
 following effect, as shown by the book of Oaths pub- 
 lished in 1689. 
 
 " Ye shall swear, that well and truly ye shall serve 
 the king in the office of Comptroller of the king's 
 Customs and Subsidies, in the place of Customer, and 
 truly ye shall enter all the goods and things custom- 
 able, the which shall come to the said Port or shall 
 pass from the same ; and that ye shall no gift take for 
 to do your office, nor for anything that may fall in dis- 
 advantage of the king, nor any merchandize nor any 
 thing customable, ye shall not suffer to pass out of the 
 said Port, without Custom due paid ; and ye shall do 
 the office yourself, and dwell thereupon in your proper 
 office, without making any deputy or substitute under 
 
96 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 you ; and ye shall write the rolls with your own 
 hands, and the king's profit ye shall await, and do in 
 as much as ye may after your knowledge and power, 
 as God you help and His saints." 
 
 This oath was doubtless in force in time of 
 Charles I. 
 
RESUME. 
 
 From the aforegoing remarks it appears that in the 
 collection of the duties imposed upon the importation 
 and exportation of goods, every conceivable difficulty 
 has occurred in securing payment of the revenue 
 imposts. 
 
 Farming, which began in remote times, was an 
 easy method of securing a given sum to the crown, 
 and relieved the sovereign of trouble, inconvenience, 
 and responsibility. A civil establishment, as now ex- 
 isting, was avoided ; and the sale or lottery of the 
 dues placed in the power of the monarch, or his 
 ministers, a means of satisfying the claims of courtiers 
 and persons under pecuniary obligations to the State. 
 In fact, but for this mode of enriching the Crown the 
 sums required would not have been forthcoming; 
 they were, however, only obtained at an usurious rate. 
 Money for the purposes of war and the wants of the 
 sovereign was hard to get except upon loan, and as 
 
 H 
 
98 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 the sums were always required in advance it was the 
 rule to hypothecate the revenue coming due. Such is, 
 and has always been, the case with impecunious 
 individuals, and the monarch was ever ready to make 
 grants to those who would come forward with cash 
 in hand. 
 
 In our own days the system of farming has not 
 entirely exploded. Turnpike tolls have been farmed 
 to a very recent date, and even now parochial autho- 
 rities let out to the highest bidder the privilege of 
 scavengering and the repair of roads, leaving to those 
 who contract to make as much as they can by their 
 ventures ; and so in minor matters for a lump sum 
 down. Revenues are let to those who will bid for 
 them. As regards the State, however, the system is at 
 an end, with considerable advantage to the tax-payer. 
 The receipts are duly paid into the Exchequer, and 
 the Crown farmer no longer exists. 
 
 It will also be observed that the desire to cheat 
 the revenue of Customs imposts has always prevailed, 
 and so long as duties are leviable in any undue pro- 
 portion to the value of the article attempts to defraud 
 will always be forthcoming, in a greater or less degree. 
 And, although in the present day in England smuggling 
 is confined to the articles of tobacco and spirits, which 
 bear high imposts, still the inherent vice of trying to 
 defraud the government remains, and will continue so 
 
RESUME. 99 
 
 long as duties are imposed on goods which are ex- 
 tensively consumed, especially tobacco. The habit 
 of smoking is more prevalent than it was fifty years 
 since ; the population has increased, and the popula- 
 tion using the " grateful " weed has been augmented, 
 but the revenue from tobacco has not proportionately 
 increased in the same ratio ; from which it is inferred 
 that a large quantity finds its way to the consumer 
 without payment of duty. 
 
 The snuffing propensity is not carried out to the 
 same extent as formerly, but this is due to a " fashion " 
 no longer followed. Large quantities of tobacco- 
 stalks, i.e., the fibre of the leaf when stripped, 
 used largely in the manufacture of snuff, are illegally 
 landed, but do not find a legitimate market in the 
 shape of snuff. The government in recent years has 
 given great relief to tobacco manufacturers in allowing 
 them a drawback of duty paid on their refuse, under 
 the name of snuff. The process of affording this 
 relief is to permit bags of snuff to be sent to the 
 Custom-house ; these bags are weighed and examined, 
 and drawback is paid on delivery according to a 
 regulated scale. This snuff sent in by the makers is 
 carried away in ship-loads and cast into the sea. The 
 quantity so received and destroyed in 1883 was 117 
 tons, the drawback paid being upwards of ^,{^90,000, 
 whilst the gross produce of Customs duties on tobacco 
 
lOO CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 and snuff was nearly nine millions sterling ; so that the 
 home manufacturer received back one per cent, of the 
 revenue collected. With these advantages the tobacco 
 and cigar manufacturers ought to be doing well, but 
 whether they profit largely by the payment of the 
 drawback I cannot say. The home manufacturer of 
 tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, and snuff, without some 
 adventitious aid from the government would doubt- 
 less be placed at a disadvantage in competing with 
 the foreigner. The latter, although paying a duty on 
 all his imports, finds a market for the whole quantity. 
 But the Englishman pays duty on the raw material, 
 and in his factory is unable to use up the whole, and 
 the residue or waste would be a loss not only of the 
 duty paid on such waste but also the cost of the 
 material unused, and therefore the legislature gives 
 him protection by refunding the duty on what becomes 
 a comparatively worthless article of trade. 
 
 And as a general rule this principle is admitted in 
 respect to all goods on importation, for duties are not 
 exacted on articles which are deposited in bond and 
 are not found marketable. They are abandoned and 
 the duty is not enforced, but then the articles are 
 destroyed and do not go into consumption in the 
 country ; so that, taken broadly, duties are not enforced 
 on goods which are not saleable to the consumer. 
 
 The Customs facilities which have been introduced 
 
RESUME. 
 
 into the warehousing system of late years have doubt- 
 less tended greatly to make England the chief depot 
 of the world for first-class goods, especially tea and 
 coffee. London is the chief market for these pro- 
 ducts, and will remain so as long as an enlightened 
 and liberal system continues in our bonding system. 
 The cost for revenue ofhcials is no doubt large in 
 weighing, guarding, and keeping accounts of goods in 
 bond, in respect of which the government of this 
 country derives no benefit whatever directly when they 
 merely come here for a market and are exported ; but 
 indirectly the nation gains by the large employment 
 of shipping, which pays dues and charges, by affording 
 the means of sustenence to persons employed in the 
 discharge and manipulating the goods, and to mer- 
 chants and others concerned in the trade, whose gains 
 for their services are spent to the benefit of the public 
 at large. Therefore the fact of England becoming an 
 entrepot for the world's produce is a source of wealtli 
 which is disseminated for the nation's good. 
 
 As to the personel of the Customs department in 
 England, there is no doubt it will compare favourably 
 with that of any foreign government. With us bribes 
 are unknown in the present day, and importers and 
 travellers are not subjected to the vexation and 
 annoyance prevailing abroad. Merchants have no 
 difficulties placed in their way as in former days in 
 
102 CHRONICLES OF THE CUSTOMS. 
 
 paying duties. The requirements are reduced to a 
 minimum, and except in difficult cases a merchant 
 knows what he has to pay and can clear his goods 
 without the slightest inconvenience. In fact, the 
 system has from past experience become so matured 
 that there seems little to amend, and the greatest 
 compliment that can be paid to a nation is the fact 
 that, during recent years, many foreign governments 
 have made application to our department to be fur- 
 nished with statements of our mode of procedure 
 in carrying out the EngHsh Customs regulations, with 
 a view of amending their own upon our model ; so that 
 we may hope that the day is not far distant when 
 foreign Customs vexations may be entirely removed. 
 
 The collection of a revenue of over twenty millions 
 annually is not secured without a large amount of 
 labour, patience, and responsibility ; but it must be 
 admitted that the manner in which the work is now 
 performed is a great improvement on the older 
 systems which have been imperfectly portrayed in 
 this book. 
 
APPENDIX A. 
 
 EXAMPLE OF AN INWARD DUTY PAID ENTRY 
 IN 1784. 
 
 20 Reams French Royal Paper for the new Duties. 
 
 10 Reams Atlas Fine. 
 
 10 Reams Super Royal Fine. 
 
 
 Gross Money 
 
 as computed on 
 
 the Bills.' 
 
 Nett Money 
 
 as entered 
 
 in Cash Book. 
 
 Old Subsidy 
 
 £ s. d. 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 6 13 4 
 
 13 6 8 
 
 20 
 
 20 
 
 ICO 
 100 
 280 
 140 
 140 
 
 £ s, d. 
 100 
 
 New Subsidy 
 
 100 
 
 1 Subsidy 
 
 068 
 
 3 ^nViQwlv 
 
 13 4 
 
 
 100 
 
 ^iih^iHv T7Cn 
 
 100 
 
 
 500 
 
 VrpnnTi T)ntv 
 
 500 
 
 Duty on Soap, Paper, &c 
 
 Additional Duty do 
 
 Duty on Paper, 1784 
 
 14 
 700 
 700 
 
 860 
 43 
 43 
 
 946 
 
 230 
 
 Impost, 1782 
 
 230 
 
 47 6 
 
 » It was the practice at this time to compute the duties at twenty times 
 their amount in the first instance. 
 
I04 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE PROCESS OF 
 COMPUTATION. 
 
 This article is rated at ;^i the Ream ; the amount, 20 Reams, 
 is £20. 
 
 By what Act granted. 
 
 The Branches to which it is liable are 
 
 
 12 Chas. 2. cap. 4 . . 
 
 The Old Subsidy, which is 5 per cent. 
 
 £ 
 
 s. d. 
 
 
 on the rate 
 
 
 
 
 9 & 10 W. 3. cap. 23 . 
 
 New Subsidy, which is 5 per cent, on 
 
 
 
 2 & 3 Ann. cap. 9 . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 i Subsidy, which is ^ part of New Subsidy 
 
 
 6 8 
 
 3 & 4 Ann. cap. 5 . . 
 
 i Subsidy, ,, § parts of ditto . . . 
 
 
 13 4 
 
 21 Geo. 2. cap. 2 . . 
 
 .Subsidy, 1747, which is 5 per cent, on 
 
 
 
 
 the rate 
 
 
 
 
 32 Geo. 2. cap. 10 . . 
 4Wm.& Mary cap. 5 
 
 C.i*Kcir1\7' TTCn HlttO 
 
 
 
 
 Impost, 1692, which is 25 per cent, as 
 
 
 
 
 French goods, ditto 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 7 & 8 Wm. 3. cap. 20. 
 10 Ann. cap. 19 . . . 
 
 French duty ditto 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 Duty on Soap, paper, &c. This duty is 
 
 
 
 a specific sum per ream, according 
 
 
 
 
 to the particular sort or quaHty of 
 
 
 
 
 the Royal paper, independent of the 
 
 
 
 
 former duties, which were relative to 
 
 
 
 
 the general term of Royal only, viz. : 
 
 
 
 
 10 Reams Atlas Fine 
 
 
 
 
 at ;£ 16 per Ream . .£2, 00 
 
 
 
 
 10 Reams Super Royal 
 
 
 
 
 Fine at £12 .... 600 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 12 Ann. St. 2. cap. 9 . 
 
 Additional duty on soap, paper, &c., is 
 
 
 
 
 J the preceding one 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 24 Geo. 3. cap. 18 . . 
 
 Duty on Paper, 1784, is constructed on 
 similar principles with the two 
 former duties, viz. : 
 
 10 Reams Atlas at;^io 
 per Ream . . . . £s o o 
 
 
 
 
 10 Reams Royal sX £^ 2 00 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 19 Geo. 3 cap. 25 . 
 
 Impost, 1779, being 5 per cent, on the 
 
 
 tjtal amount of all the before- 
 
 
 
 
 mentioned duties 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 22 Geo. 3. cap. 66 . . 
 
 Imp'St, 1782, being 5 per cent, on the 
 total amount of all other duties 
 
 
 
 
 except the Impost, 1779 
 
 Total nett Duty .... 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 47 
 
 6 
 
A LIST OF BOOKS 
 
 ON 
 
 BMaut^Xorc, (5ar&cn^Craft, Ipoctr^, Hnoling, 
 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO. 
 
 AND ALL BOOLvSELLERS. 
 
The Botanist, the Antiquary, and the lover of Poetry and of 
 
 Flowers, will be equally attracted by its Learned, Chatty and 
 
 Useful Pages. 
 
 THE REV. CANON ELLACOMBE'S 
 
 PLANT LORE 
 
 AND 
 
 GARDEN CRAFT OF SHAKESPEARE 
 
 The Second Edition Greatly Enlarged. 
 Crown 8vo, Cloth, Gilt Top, los. 6ci.; Extra, z2s. 
 
 "It would be hard to name a better commonplace book for summer 
 lawns. . . . The lover of poetry, the lover of gardening, and the lover 
 of quaint, out-of-the-way knowledge will each find something to please 
 him. ... It is a delightful example of gardening literature." — Fa/l Mall 
 Gazette, 
 
 "Mr. Ellacombe, with a double enthu>iasm for Shakespeare and for his 
 garden, has produced a very readable and graceful volume on the Plant-Lore 
 of Shakespeare." — Saturday Review. 
 
 "Mr. Ellacombe brings to his task an enthusiastic love of horticulture, 
 wedded to no inconsiderable practical and theoretical knowledge of it ; a mind 
 cultivated by considerable acquaintance with the Greek and Latin classics, and 
 trained for this special subject by a course of extensive reading among the 
 contemporaries of his author : and a capacity for patient and unwearied re- 
 search, which he has shown by the stores of learning he has drawn from a class 
 of books rarely dipped into by the student — Saxon and early English herbals 
 and books of leechcraft ; the result is a work which is entitled from its worth 
 to a place in every Shakespearian library." — Spectator. 
 
 "The work has fallen into the hands of one who knows not only the plants 
 themselves, but also then- litei'ary history ; and it may be said that Shakespeare's 
 flowers now for the first time find an historian," — Field. 
 
 " A delightful book has been compiled, and it is as accurate as it is delightful." 
 — Gardener's Chronicle. 
 
 "Mr. Ellacombe's book well deserves a place on the shelves of both the 
 student of Shakespeare and the lover of plant lor q.'"— Journal of Botany. 
 
 "By patient industry, systematically bestowed, Mr. Ellacombe has produced 
 a book of considerable interest ; . . . full of facts, grouped on principles of 
 common sense about quotations from our great poet." — Gtiardian. 
 
 " Mr. Ellacombe is an old and faithful labourer in this field of criticism. 
 His • Plant-lore and Garden-craft of Shakespeare' ... is the fullest and best 
 book on the subject." — The Literary World {A?ner!caj?). 
 
 2 
 
N THE ART OF 
 
 GARDENING: 
 
 A Plea for English Gardens of the Future, with Practical 
 
 Hints for Planting them. 
 
 By MRS. T. FRANCIS FOSTER. 
 
 Crown 8vo, paper cover is. ; cloth, 2S. 
 
 '■ In this pleasant and original Uttle bo A the authoress not only enters z ^gor°us protest 
 against the bedding-out system and the so-called ' natural style of gardening, but gives ver> 
 good practical advice for gardens of a different sort."— Gardener s LliromcU. 
 
 "This little book proceeds from a true lover of flowers, and will be welcome to all who take 
 an interest in their care and culture." — Civilian. 
 
 "A pleasant and unpretending little \o\\xxn^." —Saturday Rez'icti.'. 
 ^The charm consists in its author's evident love of her subject. Like a true lover she has 
 
 gone far and wide in her search for old plants and old plant-lore. „^Y\^^/t'^ M,l F .c:^^r' 
 that the most perfect herbaceous border is one that has an old wall behind it. /V^- f^'^'^^ 
 book, too, is most useful in its lists of fluwers that bloomed m the days of /r^'I^^^Ltn 
 Iso devotes one chapter entirely to quotations from old poet, on ga den 
 lat sprmg from them. If it helps readers to know for \hemseKe. ho> 
 mong the flowers of the garden apt simile, of all that is truest nhuma, 
 addlda verv substantial addition to the pleasure already enjojed by 
 ns, but yet are unfamiliar with the pages uf the poets who knew well how 
 
 Shakespeare. She also devotes one chapter entirely to quotations from old poets O" S';irdens 
 and all the delights that spring from them. If it helps readers to ^now for^themseKe. t^^^^ 
 authors, who found among the flowers of the garden apt sir- 
 nature, she will have " ' ' 
 those who love gardens, 
 to speak their praise." — Spectator. 
 
 ' ' A pleasant bo k. " — A thenaum. 
 
Contents : — Devon Lane> and their 
 Associations — At the Sea-side — Among 
 the Heather— Up Glen Roy—Sunshine 
 at the Land's End— Into Ballad Land — 
 On Ottery East Hill -In Assynt— British 
 Birds and Bird Lovers— From the Heart 
 of the Wolds— Amongst the Sea Birds. 
 
 Crow n Svo, cloth. Price 4s. 6d. 
 
 THE COUNTRY: 
 
 ESSAYS. 
 
 By the Rev. M. G. W ATKINS, M.A. 
 
 The writer possesses a keen love of country sights 
 
 his summer holidays." — 
 
 " An extremely pleasant set of essays, 
 and sounds." — Athenceu77i. 
 
 " Nobody can take a more pleasant companion with him on 
 Academy. 
 
 " There are in these essays many historical allusions, descriptions of scenery, scientific 
 observations, accounts of old customs and superstitions, ballads and ghost stories, all given in 
 a cheery, chatty s,1y\^.^'— Leeds Mercury, 
 
 " To such, papers like those of Mr. Watkins must be as glimpses of an unknown world of 
 beauty and refreshment ; a veritable recreation to the mind, and a rest_ to the \veariness of 
 following the ever-recurring political questions of the day. . . . He brings to his subject a 
 well-cultivated mind and a broad sympathy with the objects round him. It is a treat to go ' In 
 the Country' with Mr. Watkins." — Land and Water. 
 
 ''A keen observer and sincere lover of nature, the author is equally happy in his descriptions 
 of the lanes of Devon and the wilds of Cornwall, the Scotch mountains and the Wolds of 
 Yorkshire." — Westmiiister Revieiv. 
 
 "Written in a pleasant, chatty manner, in the true vein of a sportsman, a naturalist, and a 
 scholar ; and they may be recommended as furnishing a little ,volume of very agreeable 
 reading."— /^ic/^. 
 
 "We recommend all who have not previously made the acquaintance of the author to do so 
 at their earliest opportunity. Mr. Watkins has something of the rich buoyancy of Christopher 
 North, tinged with the quick observation of the ' Gamekeeper at Home.' "—Notes and Queries. 
 
 "Filled with the fragrance of the heather on the hillside are the papers written by the Rev. 
 M. G. Watkins, now published in one volume. . . . The papers are admirably written. They 
 show that the auth'ir has a healthy mind, which can find honest employment in the country, 
 and can, with that pleasure, mingle those other pleasures which come of wide literary 
 knowledge. It is a very charming hooSf.." Scotsman. 
 
 "There are some fine touches in ' Devon Lanes and their Associations,' and 'Amongst the 
 Heather ' shows a mind really familiar with the mysteries of nature and the charms of country 
 Uq."— Tablet. 
 
 " Mr. Watkins writes with the ease and informality which should distinguish essays of this 
 kind. . . . The author has considerable antiquarian information, which he does not obtrude, 
 however. His descriptions of nature are very good."— Lloyd s Neivs. 
 
POEMS. 
 
 By MAY PROBYN. 
 
 Square i6mo, cloth, gilt, 35. 6d. (post free). 
 
 " Miss Probyn's small and modest volume displays much brightness of fancy and sweetness 
 of feeling, united with excellent metrical science. . . . Perhaps we shall give the best idea of 
 Miss Probyn's manner by quoting one of her bright and picturesque pages, taken from the 
 quaint poem called ' Soapsuds ' : — 
 
 And watched her wring her linen out. 
 
 Oh, to meet her in the valley, 
 
 Snatch her hand and call her Sally ! 
 
 Oh, to find her on the hill. 
 
 Kiss, and call her Sally still ! 
 
 Oh, to clasp her quite alone. 
 
 And call her Sally of one's own ! 
 Thyme and marjoram were sweet, 
 
 All the lavender was blowing — 
 ThroUf^h the honeysuckled heat 
 
 Bees were coming, bees were going.' 
 
 ' Her arms were white as milky curds ; 
 Her speech was like the song of birds ; 
 Her eyes were grey as mountain lakes 
 Where dream of shadow stirs and breaks. 
 Her gown was print— her name was S:illy— 
 
 Her summer years were barely twenty — 
 She dropped the soap-to glance and dally — 
 
 And then the dimples came in plenty ! 
 I praised her fingers, dripping sweet, 
 Where warmth and whiteness seemed to 
 
 meet, — 
 I made her blush and made her pout. 
 
 We would willingly linger longer over this charming little book, which we leave with 
 reluctance, and with the hope of meeting its author's name once more before very Lng." — 
 Saturday Revitnv. 
 
 "Very sweet, very simple, and very skilful." — Vanity Fair. 
 
 " May Probyn has written the prettiest and daintiest volume of verse we have met with for 
 a long time. . . . She has a fresh, sweet voice, verj- delightful to listen to. It is positively 
 fascinating to read these bright, pure verses. . . . Hers are exquisite fancies, tender thoughts, 
 and a joyous delight in the beauties of colour and sound and summer ; hers, too, is a sweet 
 melancholy, the fair sorrow of love which lingers in the lines of our old English ballads. 
 There are many of May Probyn's poems we should like to quote had we space, especially 
 ' Soapsuds,' which is a delicious piece of Wi;rk. She has written a volume of verse that is 
 worth reading, some bits of which linger like perfume in the memory." — IVesitminster 
 Ke7'ii'-iii. 
 
A BALLAD OF THE ROAD 
 
 AND Other Poems. 
 By MAY PROBYN. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, cloth extra, 6s. 
 
 " The author evinces fancy, thought, and some pathos. The poem which gives its name to 
 the collection, though not the most noticeable in it, is full of spirit and has a smack of tld 
 days The author's dexterity in the matter of rhyme is well exemplified in the ' Nose- 
 gay from a French Garden,' with which the volume closes." — AtheticFjan. 
 
 "The ' Ballad of the Road ' is a pleasant story of love and highwaymen, told with a good 
 deal of spirit. All the book is natural and full of music. . . . melodious and sweet," — 
 Acade7ny. 
 
 "A delightful volume is Miss May Probyn's ' Ballad of the Road.' Her verse is full of 
 dainty charm, tender pathos, and true poetic quality. There is not a trace in it of the morbid 
 mood of self-analysis which is so common in the poetry of to-day ; yet thei-e is no lack of 
 thought or of earnestness of tone." — Scotsman. 
 
 "Judged by any standard which it would be fair to apply, Miss Probyn's verses are 
 excellent. They are musical, they are interesting, there is the presence of a delicate fancy, 
 and there is an evident appreciation of dramatic incident. . . . There is considerable skill m 
 the composition of the 'Boy Butterfly' and ' Duckie,' and they are likely to be extremely 
 popular." — Wcstuiinster Review. 
 
 " There is much to admire in ' A Ballad of the Road, and other Poems.' The opening 
 piece, telling of ' Sweet Mistress Ann ' and the rescue of her highwayman lover, is capital. 
 The little volume gives genuine pleasure." — Graphic. 
 
 " These poems require no praise from us. There is music in every line." — Vanity Fail-. 
 
 TUSCAN FAIRY TALES. 
 
 Taken down from the Mouths of the People. 
 
 With i6 Woodcuts by Edmund Evans. 
 
 By VERNON LEE, 
 
 Author of " Belcaro," " Studies in Italy," S:c. 
 
 Imperial i6mo, elegant cover, gilt, 35. 6d. 
 
 " Sumptuously printed and prettily bound." — Athencp/inti. 
 
 " The work will delight the little ones as well as the student. Charmingly got up and 
 illustrated." — London Review. 
 
 " A thoroughly delightful book. We trust that the author may be persuaded to publish 
 the other tales which he has collected on the same ground. If they at all resemble the 
 present collection, they will, we are quite sure, be heartily welcomed." — Westminster Review. 
 
 "The amount of local colouring is just sufficient to lend the old tales a new charm. 
 The illustrations and the letterpress are printed in sepia, which has a curious, but not 
 unpleasing, efl"ect." — Saturday Review. 
 
 WILL-O'-THE-WISP; 
 
 And other Tales in Prose and Verse. 
 
 Crown 8vo, qs. M. 
 
 "Weird and thrilling to the last degree." — Saturday Review. 
 
 " Most of the pieces are of a mystical, weird, haunting, or melancholy character. . . . 
 Fancy, imagination, passion, melody, strength, and wealth of language are conspicuous in 
 the poems included in the volume. To our thinking, the poem called ' Night' is the best of 
 the seven. The conception is exquisite and the execution masterly." — Literary World, 
 December 7th. 
 
 "The tales he has produced are, almost without exception, terrible. . . . We should not 
 be sorry to see him again in verse, but we trust never more to have to read a collection of 
 prose tales such as those he has given \\%.'*—Acadejuy. 
 
 " Far above the average volumes of its kind, given to the world by men who have the love 
 of noble thoughts and things." — Lloyd's Weekly Ne^vs. 
 
 " The poem which gives title to this volume .... is a real poem, full of thought and 
 harmoniously expressed. 'Night' will, we think, be popular, so musical is it and so well 
 designed. " — Bookseller. 
 
GODS, SAINTS, AND MEN 
 
 By EUGENE LEE-HAMILTON. 
 
 With ten full-page Illustrations by Enrico Mazzanti. 
 Crown 8vo. cloth, price 4s. 6tL 
 
 MERICAS AND OTHER STORIES. 
 
 By CLEMENTINA BLACK. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, \s. ; gilt, 3^. 
 •' We reviewed two of these stories when they appeared in the ' ^^niversity ' and in the 'New 
 Quarterly ' magazines. Our favourable opinion of them is strengthened ^^"^ suf '^'"^^ by.^!^^ 
 additions in the present volume. The title story is quaint and happily <^°f^ ,^^^^^ ^i°'^,^'j';'f 
 this, it is a delicate and gentle love tale, full of tender interest, and fraught * ^^ J/.^^X ^""'^"f 
 thought most charmingly expressed. The volume is one which most men wil '■^/'ji.^i;^ P'" 
 sure (for it is a mistake, which authore>ses are apt to fall into, to suppose that ^^e infennr sex 
 delights in the works of Ouida and Rhoda Broughton) because it ^^^one wh.ch^ may be 
 placid in the hands of their wives, sisters, and daughters without hesitation. -Derby 
 Mercury. 
 
STUDIES OF 
 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY IN ITALY. 
 
 By VERNON LEE. 
 
 Contents: — The Arcadian Academy — The Musical Life — Metastasio and 
 the Opera — The Comedy of Masks — Goldoni and the Realistic Comedy — 
 Carlo Gozzi and the Venetian Fairy Comedy. 
 
 Royal 8vo, cloth, 14s, 
 
 " Mr. Vernon Lee has written one of the most fascinating books that it has been our good 
 fortune to meet with for a very long time, ... A singularly delightful and very able volume." 
 — IVestjfiznster Revieiu. 
 
 "These 'Studies' show a wide range of kmwledge of the subject, precise investigation, 
 abundant power of illustration, and healthy enthusiasm. The stj'le of writing is cultivated, 
 neatly adjusted, and markedly clever ; it has a certain analogy to the style of other aesthetic 
 writers of the day, containing (we might say by way of indication] something of Mr. Wedmore 
 and Mrs. Pattison, with a spice of Mr. Pater, and another spice of Mr. Swinburne. . 
 On the whole it can be cordially recommended as treating an important and little-known theme 
 with conspicuous ability." — Atheficeujn. 
 
 " Much detail in musical and dramatic matters may be pleasantly learned from other parts 
 of Vernon Lee's volume." — Saturday Revieiv. 
 
 " Mr. Lee has brought to his subject a great amount of curious and recondite learning. . . . 
 The sketch of Metastasio's life is particularly worthy of remark. Mr. Lee throws plenty of 
 vigour and colour into his portraiture. His style has a certain robustness, while his criticism is 
 often just and even %\x\i\.\%." —Spectator. 
 
 BELCARO: ESSAYS ON AESTHETICS. 
 
 By VERNON LEE, 
 
 Author of " Studies in Italy," &c. 
 
 Contents :— The Book and its Title — The Child in the Vatican— Orpheus 
 and Eurydice — Faustus and Helena — Chapel-Master Kreisler — Cherubino — 
 In Umbria — Ruskinism — A Dialogue on Poetic Morality — Postscript. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 8j. 
 
 "Clever and expressive, subtle and brilliant, and evincing much grasp of mind and of the 
 subject treated. ._ . . The product of a remarkably acute, critical mind; it would bear to be 
 read a second time, and would be found to repay the trouble. . . . ' Ruskinism ' is an 
 eloquent tribute to Mr. Rusk.n." — Athencsicin. 
 
 " Contains some charming essays. . . , Displays in a marked degree a vividness of fancy. 
 a wealth of imagery and illusion, and a richness of language, but does not sink into mere 
 rhapsody or affectation. His style is picturesque, yet robust; rich, but not luscious." — 
 Notes and Queries. 
 
 "There is much in th's thor ughly original and delightful book which reminds us of the 
 essays of the eighteenth century. It is rare, indeed, to find so much thought conveyed in 
 so easy a style ; to find a writer who not only has so much that is fresh to say, but has so 
 fresh a way of saying it. . . . The way of conveying ideas is very fascinating, and has an 
 effect of creating activity in the reader's mind which no other mode can equal. J>om first 
 to last there is a continuous and delightful stimulation of thought. The bjok will lead to 
 c nversation, dreaming speculation of all kinds, of pleasant and healthy mental exerc.se ; 
 and it is interspersed with such perfect little sketches of scenery and passages of so much 
 eloquence, that it is a literary treat to read it." — Academy. 
 
 8 
 
Crown 8vo, cloth. Pri:e 3.?. 
 
 COMFORT IN SORROW. 
 
 With Preface by the Rev. M. G. W ATKINS, M.A. 
 
 Contains letters from celebrated persons offering consolation en 
 
 deaths of children, parents, wives, husbands, and friends, 
 
 with a large gathering of elegiac verse and a selection of 
 
 consolatory , reflections from divines, philosophers, 
 
 and men of the world. 
 
 ROUND A POSADA FIRE: 
 
 A Collection of Spanish Legends. 
 
 By Mrs. S. G. C. MIDDLEMORE. 
 
 Illustrated by Miss E. D. Hale. 
 
 (Companion volume to " Tuscan Fairy Tales.") Imp. i6mo, cloth extra. 2s. 
 
 "These are graceful stories . . . original and interesting. The last story, of the man in 
 
 armour, is most weird. "—Krt;///>Fa/r. 
 
 " Excellent stories of their kind are told by Mrs. Middlemore in her pretty volume Round 
 a Posada Fire.' Ihe v, lume has a brief Preface which ... is bright and interesting. The 
 Posada del Sol, at Cuenca, is chosen as the scene in which various passengers m a 'diligence ' 
 meet. . . . They interchange stories, and each story has a certain appropriateness 
 to the character of the person relating it, while all are impressed with the legendary' 
 attraction of which the Preface gives us a hint. Of the actual legends it would be hardly fair 
 to convey any notion in a brief abstract, since they are all given with a compactness which in 
 these days of padding is specially commendable, and any further shortening could not but 
 injure their effectiveness. . . . The book is well got up and printed in clear pleasant type. . . 
 The author may be congratulated on having produced a very re.idable and interesting 
 Volume." — Saturday Review. 
 
A work indispensable to the student of local and family history. 
 
 THE BOOK OF BRITISH TOPOGRAPHY. 
 
 By J. p. ANDERSON, of the Library, British Museum. 
 Medium 8vo, cloth, gilt top, price 25s. 
 
 " ' The Book of British Topography ' is of a kind which rejoices the hearts of all persons 
 who have to do with books ; the kind where a writer condescends to take a subject which 
 he knows thoroughly, which is definitively manageable, and which, if handled properly, 
 cannot fail to be a useful contribution, if not to literature, at any rate to the state of things 
 which make literature possible. . . . Mr. Anderson estimates the number of his entries 
 at something like 14,000." — Saturday Review. 
 
 " Few bibliographies are adapted to be more practically serviceable to an extensive public 
 than Mr. Anderson's. . . . The extreme value of such a compilation to the topographer and 
 antiquary will be apparent at once. . . . Contains .... an immense number of minor 
 publications which the topographical enquirer is little likely to hear of without the aid of such 
 a catalogue as Mr. Anderson's. . . . His diligence and accuracy are beyond all praise" — 
 Illustrated Lo7idon Neivs. 
 
 "The work will be of value to the student all the world over. It will enable him to 
 discover the name of every important volume which has been published on the local history 
 of the United Kingdom. . . . We can speak with confidence of its completeness and 
 accuracy." — Notes and Queries. 
 
 " A book of great importance to topographers and archaeologists. . . . Beautifully printed 
 and got up." — Scotsjjtan. 
 
 " This work appears to have been made with much skill and care, and to possess a great 
 interest and value for collectors and librarians in the United States." — American Library 
 Journal. 
 
 " Mr. Anderson has done a good work exceedingly well. . . . Down to the present time 
 there has been no easy method of learning what there is already in print about any place in 
 Britain. . . . By far the best catalogue that has ever been produced." — Athencputn. 
 
 " It is not likely that very much will have to be added to this catalogue. ... A solid 
 contribution to bibliography, arranged with admirable m&th.od."— Journal of tJie British 
 Archaeological Association. 
 
 N.B. — Large paper copies, price ^os. are in request for topographical 
 illustration. Few copies remain. 
 
 BIBLIOTHEOA 
 PISCATORIA: 
 
 A Catalogue of Books on 
 Angling, the Fisheries and Fish 
 Culture, with Bibliographical 
 Notes and an Appendix of Cita- 
 tions, touching on Angling and 
 Fishing, from old English Authors. 
 
 By THOMAS WESTWOOD and 
 THOMAS SATCHELL. 
 
 Pp 4^2, medium 8vo, cloth, gilt top, price 15.?. ; and 
 medium 4to, cloth, gilt top, price 505. 
 
 " Indispensable as a compinion to the angler blessed (and so doubly blessed) with scholarly 
 tastes." — Edinburgh Review. 
 
 " A ' magnum opus' in every sense of the word. . . . We owe a deep debt of gratitude to 
 the gentlemen who have given themselves so vast an amount of labour and pains to produce 
 this almost marvellous work. ... To say that it has been a labour of love is only to say 
 what must be evident on every page of it. Had it not been so, the work could never have 
 been produced." — Field. 
 
 10 
 
"Mr. Satchell has spent moie than two years in ascertaining the exact titles, publishers, 
 pagination, illustrations, and the like belonging to all the works which treat of angling, 
 disclosed by the most careful searching. The result lies before us, a monument of dihgence 
 and good work." — Academy. 
 
 ■'The type has been distributed, and it will soon be as difficult to obtain as many of the 
 rare old books it so lovingly describes." — Fishing Gazette. 
 
 " It is something to get a full account of fish literature, and, as far as we can see, this 
 is a full account. It is in all respects excellently done. It shows a remarkable amount of 
 examination and research. The authors are certainly to be congratulated upon the result 
 of their labours." — Scotsman. 
 
 " A truly great work." — Bell's Life. 
 
 " We realise the immense labour required to complete \\.."—For,st and Stream. 
 
 "Admirable and most useful." — Saturday Review. 
 
 " One of the most interesting and masterful works in the whole range of bibliographical 
 literature." — Rev. J. J. Manley's Literature of River and Sea Fishing. 
 
 "Anglers now possess for the first time some clear knowledge of the treasures embraced in 
 the literature of their craft." — Athenccum. 
 
 " It was not until Mr. Satchell took up the chase (which Mr. Westwood had previously 
 commenced) and threw his personal intelligence and zeal into the pu'suit of the stray 
 ' Waltons,' the lurking 'Secrets of Angling,' and the protean ' Markhams,' that the 
 anglinij-book collector could be said to have found a true 'guide, philosopher, and friend." 
 ... It is no mere catal gue of books — the dry details of titles, editii ns, and pages are 
 enlivened by pleasant little ripples of bibliographical gossip, by odds and ends of angling 
 lore, and by many a quaint and amusing extract from the rarest of the treasures now, 
 for the first time, adequately described and properly enumerated." — Derbyshire Advertiser. 
 
 "It is certainly one of the most interesting and masterful works in the whole range of 
 bibliographical literature. ... It may be fairly said to be as complete as it could well 
 be made, its authors having spared neither time nor pains to perfect what has evidently 
 been to them a real ' labour of love.' .... This will give some idea of the marvellous 
 store of piscatory information contained in, or suggested by. the volume, which has been well 
 and by no means hyperbolically described [in Edinburgh ker-ieiu] as a ' hayiography for the 
 enthusiastic followers of Walton; a substantial help to the bibliographer; a senes of 
 finger-posts by the side of English history to guide the curious student of diversions 
 which found favour with our forefathers ; an amusement for the idle angler as he notes 
 the names of those distingui-^hed of old in his craft.' . . . In a word it is a literary treasure 
 of which not only anglers but the nation may be justly proud."— K^v. J. J. ManI-EY's 
 L iteraticre of Sea and River Fishing (Fisheries Handbook). 
 
 MY LIFE AS AN ANGLER. 
 
 By WILLIAM HENDERSON, 
 
 Author of "The Folk Lore of the Northern Counties." 
 
 With portrait and 12 full-page Illustrations, engraved by Edmlwd Evans. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d. 
 
 " There is no modern book about angling which could be put in the hands of either novice 
 or veteran with greater chances of charming both alike. It holds a copious store of informa- 
 tion and anecdote, and reflects in everj' page its author's kind heart, ripe experience, and 
 soundness of judgment. Like Auceps, in a book which Mr. Henderson, in common with all 
 anglers, must reverence, we close this delightful volume with w. rds'I assure y u, Mr. 
 Piscator, I now part with you full of good thoughts, not only of yourself, but your recreation.' " 
 — A ttienceum. 
 
 "If our readers are not fishermen they will nevertheless find ample reward in the general 
 matter, lively and thoughtful, with which the author has diversified his story of river-sid^ 
 \\{^."— Spectator. 
 
 "A lively and picturesque collection of scattered experiences." — Saturday Reru'eu. 
 
 "The illustrations display a high degree of artistic merit." — Fall .Mall Gazette. 
 
TWELVE SONNETS AND AN EPILOGUE. 
 
 By T. WESTWOOD, 
 
 In Memorlam, Izaak Walton, oblit 15th Dec, 1683. 
 
 4to, cloth gilt, 7^. 6d, 
 
 100 copies finely pr'mted in red and black at the Chisiuick Press. Chiefiy for presentation. 
 
 ' ' Both the publisher and author of the Twelve Sonnets in commemoration of Izaak Walton's 
 bi-centenary, honour that charming writer in worthy fashion. . . . They are appropriately 
 subdued in style, and felicitous in language. The reverential sentiment of all book-lovers and 
 good anglers is excellently expressed in Mr. Westvvood's Epilogue." — Sat^crday Reincw. 
 
 " A really admirable c )llection of sonnets. . . . The first is to Thomas Satchell 'friend, 
 fellow worker ' . . . . and these fellow workers have assuredly a fame that will be 
 enduring. " — Field. 
 
 "A marvel of luxury is this dainty volume of sonnets .... graceful and flowing, free 
 from florid rhetoric, gravely harmonious, as if in sympathy with the simple, kindly, reflective 
 spirit of the man in whose honour they are written." — Whitehall Reviezu, 
 
 " Mr. Westwood, the angler poet of the igtb century, who more than any other writer has 
 caught the spirit of Walton .... has never commemorated the angling patriarch more 
 gracefully than in these sonnets. The Epilogue .... will at once go straight to our hearts." 
 —Acadeiny. 
 
"This series of reprints is under the care and direction of Mr. Thcmas Satchell. and it is 
 a pleasure, indeed, to handle our old favourites in thcir new attire, feeling sure the while that 
 no unwarrantable liberties have been taken with the text, and that the editorial work has 
 been discreetly as well as skilfully performed." — Exeter Gazette. 
 
 ibvar^ of 
 ©lb fisbino 'Boo\\q. 
 
 A collection designed for the use of the "scholarly fisherman,' 
 
 and consisting chiefly of reprints of works of unusual 
 
 interest or extreme rarity, carefully edited, well printed 
 
 in quarto form on the best hand-made foolscap 
 
 paper, and issued in a permanent half-leather 
 
 binding, Roxburghe style, with gilt top and 
 
 rough edges. 
 
 The following have been already iss7icd. 
 Fcap. 4to, half-morocco, price lo^. di. 
 
 THE CHRONICLE OF THE COMPLEAT 
 ANGLER 
 
 Of Iz.\.\k Walton and Charles Cotton. 
 By THOMAS WESTWOOD. 
 
 A Xcw Edition, greatly enlarged by the author, with some Notes and Additions by 
 Thomas Satchei.l. 
 
 "There is no living writer who can approach Mr. \Vestwood in his particular sphere. 
 A subtle influence pervades his writings which brint:s him_ into personal relations with his 
 readers. Perhaps his secret of winning sympathy lies in his evenness of thought, his purity 
 of diction, and his quiet, peaceful tone ; qualities which render him a worthy exponent of one 
 of the most beautiful pastorals in the English language."— i:>^/'^r Gazette. 
 
 " It is not necessary at this time of day to express the praise that might be written of 
 Mr. Westwood's style, the 'Chronicle' being almost as much a pastoral as the ' Compleat 
 Angler.' " — Field. 
 
 " A gossiping essay on the various editions of the brightest book in angling literature, 
 e.xecuted with the frankness of a brother of the pleasant craft, the perception of an artivt. 
 the feeling of a poet, the tone of a gentleman, and the allusions and illustrations that 
 bespeak the sc\\o\'xc."—Ath(cneuvt. 
 
 " Entertaining as well as '\n%\.T\ici\s^."—SaUndny Revieiv. 
 
 " Mr. Westwood has made, out of a subject apparently unpromising, an esray wliich s 
 especially marked by its curiosafelicitas."— Spectator. 
 
 13 
 
'^^ \ 
 
 
 THE SECRETS OF ANGLING (1613). 
 
 By J[OHN] D[ENNYS]. 
 
 With an Introduction by T. Westwood. 
 
 Fcap. 4to, half-morocco, js. 6d. 
 
 " We congratulate Mr. Westwood on his charming reproduction of this old and rare angLng 
 poem. . . . Beloe said of it that ' perhaps there does not exist in the circle of English 
 literature a rarer book than this.' Indeed, Sir John Hawkins confessed he could never get 
 a sight of it. . . . AnglTs will now be able to read this poem as it was presented to the 
 world." — Notes and Queries. 
 
 " Mr. Westwood, angler and poet himself, was the proper person to reveal the greatest of 
 angling poets. . . . J. D.'s verses are earnest and impassioned, dainty, harmonious, and 
 poKshed. ... All ' brothers of the angle ' will gratefully accept th.s beautiful reprint of a 
 book which, on account of its rarity, has been practically unknown to all save a few book- 
 worms." — A thenanint. 
 
 '• Where is our debt of gratitude to Mr. Satchell to end ? The ' Bibliotheca Piscatoria' was 
 a thing to be thankful for ; and now the ' Secrets of AngLng ' — we can only again express, 
 our gratitude for the boon " — Field. 
 
 LDER FORM OF THE 
 TREATYSE OF FYSSHYNGE 
 WYTH AN ANGLE 
 
 {c. 1450) now first printed from a Manuscript 
 in the collection of Mr. Denison, with preface 
 and Glossary by Thomas Satchell. 
 
 Price 75-. 6d. 200 copies printed. 
 
 "The only known manuscript of the ' Treatyse of Fysshyng, formerly in the possession ot 
 Mr. William Herbert, .-ifterwards of Mr. Joseph Haslewood, and now in the famous 
 Denison collection, has been examined by Mr. Satchell, who finds it to contain an 
 independent text of a date not later than 1450- It is drawn from the same^ original as that 
 printed in 1496, but instead of the ' readings between it and the printed copy being as stated 
 in the preface to Mr. Pickering's reprint 1827, ' very few and unimportant, it vanes the 
 phrase throughout, and in many places alters the sense, besides containing many short 
 passages not included in the printed version."— ^2'/^^«5?<w. , .„ ^ ,^ . r .■ , 
 
 "Transcribed and edited with all the patient, conscientious skill for the e.xercise of which 
 Mr. Satchell is famous."— .^.r^^^i^ Gazette. 
 
 14 
 
A BOOKE OF FISHING WITH HOOKE 
 AND LINE, 
 
 AND OF ALL OTHER INSTRUMENTS THEREUNTO BELONGING. . . . MADE 
 
 BY L[EONARD] M[ASCALL], 1590. 
 
 With Preface by Thomas Satchell. 12 Woodcuts, Fcap. 410, haif-morocro. Price 7J. dd. 
 
 
 
 The Library will also include: — 
 
 MARKHAM'S ''PLEASURES OF PRINCES" {1614), 
 
 GRYNDALL'S "BRIEFE TREATIS OF FISHING" (1596), 
 
 "A lEWELL FOR GENTRIE" ^614), 
 
 "THE GEOPONIKA OF CASSIANUS BASSUS" {c. 960). 
 
 And other Works -which are one and all unattainable by the Collector. 
 
 "Avery charming volume." — Professor G. Brown Goode, U. S. Fisheries Commissioner. 
 Fcap. 4to, cloth, gilt. Price ts. 
 
 THE ANGLER'S NOTE-BOOK AND 
 NATURALIST'S RECORD. 
 
 A Repertory of fact, inquiry, and discussion on Field-Sports 
 
 AND SUBJECTS OF NATURAL HlSTORY. 
 
 With six illustrations on plate paper. The Gkee.v Series Complete. 
 
 Contents : — The Oldest English Treatise on Fishing, and An^lo-Saxon 
 
 Fish-Names, by the Rev. Professor Skeat— An Unknown Angling Poet — One 
 
 of the Mysteries of Angling Literature— Conrad Heresbach — Concerning 
 
 Fishing (a Translation of his De Piscatione), &c., by Thomas Westwood — 
 
 Fishing Cats, &c., by William Henderson — Invitation to Coquet, l)y Joseph 
 
 Crawhall, edit .r <,f "Newcastle Fishers' Garlands" — Fishing a Scotch Loch, 
 
 by the Rev. M. G. Watkins — Notes from the Journals of Jonathan Couch — 
 
 and several hundred papei-s and short notes — in prose and verse — by many 
 
 other well-known writers and naturalists. 
 
 N.B.— Ver^' few copies remain, the stock having been destroyed by a fire at the binder's. 
 
 15 
 
THE ANGLER'S NOTE-BOOK. 
 
 NEJV SERIES TO BE COMPLETED IN TWELVE NUMBERS 
 
 Fcap. 4to. Price ds. on stout paper, and 125. on hand-made paper, with Illustrations. 
 
 Complete and post-free to subscribers only. 
 
 Conducted by the Editors of the " Bibliotheca Piscatoria." 
 
 Free Copies zvill be sent to all Peisons desiring thei)t, but single nnmbets will 7iot be sold 
 " Promises to be as interesting as its predecessor, and does credit to its enthusiastic editors." 
 — Athencemn. 
 
 " The most scholarly and interesting publication on angling ever published." — T/ie Nation 
 (of New York). 
 
 Office: 6, DUKE STREET, ADELPHI. W.C. 
 
 " One of the most elegant books pertaining to the art ever produced." — Once a IVeek. 
 
 A QUAINT TREATISE ON FLEES 
 THE ART A' ARTYFICHALL FLEE MAKING. 
 
 By an Old Man well known on the Derbyshire streams a century ago ; 
 
 printed from an old MS. never before published; 
 
 the original spelling and language being retained, with 
 
 Editorial Notes. Patterns of Flies, and Samples 
 
 of the Materials for making each Fly, 
 
 By W. H. ALDAM. 
 
 With Two Facsimiles of Water-colour Drawings by James Poole, Esq. Imp 4^0, 
 In handsome cloth cover. Price £^ j^s. 
 
 " None but a perfect enthusiast could have conceived and carried out so remarkable a work 
 as this. Since Dame Juliana Berners wrote her 'Treatyse of Fyshing wyth an Angle,' no 
 work so remarkable has issued from the press upon this subject. . . . The illustrations are . . . 
 the actual flies themselves, dressed by Mr. Aldam himself and 'by two of the most 
 accomplished fly-tyers in the kingdom.' . . . Every two or three pages or so, in this book, 
 there is a thick cardboard page, in which are two counter-sunk oval medallions : and here you 
 have, first the fly, below it the silk it is tied with, and the harl, floss, or dubbing for the body ; 
 on one side is the feather from which the wings are made ; on the other, the hackle for the 
 legs." — Field. 
 
 '' No verbal description can c mvey the idea of shades of colour; but the student of fly- 
 making has the colours and materials themselves before him." — Times. 
 
 " Fly-fishers will be delighted with this book." — Sta)idard. 
 
 "Those who are fond of fly-fishing .should obtain a copy of this handsome and most useful 
 work, which is not only interesting to anglers, but also to the public in general who admire 
 perseverance, taste, and first-class workmanship." — Frank Buckland. 
 
 Applications for copies mtist be made at the office of'''- The Angler's Note-book." 
 
 LONDON: K. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS. 
 16 
 
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i 
 
FOURTEEN DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 LOAN DEPT 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, or 
 on the date to which renewed. 
 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
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