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THE NATURE AND CAUSES OK

assessment of an intendant. The inferior ranks of peoplemust, in that country, suffer patiently the usage which theirsuperiors think proper to give them.

In England the different poll-taxes never produced the sumwhich had been expected from them, or which it was sup-posed, they might have produced, had they been exactlylevied. In France the capitation always produces the sumexpected from it. The mild government of England, whenit assessed the different ranks of people to the poll tax, con-tented itself with what that assessment happened to produce;and required no compensation for the loss which the statemight sustain either by those who could not pay, or by thosewho would not pay (for there were many such), and who, bythe indulgent execution of the law, were not forced to pay.The more severe government of France assesses upon eachgenerality a certain sum, which the intendant must find as hecan. If any province complains of being assessed too high, itmay, in the assessment of next year, obtain an abatement pro-portioned to the overcharge of the year before. But it mustpay in the mean time. The intendant, in order to be sure offinding the sum assessed upon his generality, was impoweredto assess it in a larger sum, that the failure or inability ofsome of the contributors might be compensated by the over-charge of the rest; and till 17G5, the fixation of this surplusassessment was left altogether to his discretion. In that yearindeed the council assumed this power to itself. In the ca-pitation of the provinces, it is observed by the perfectly well-informed author of the Memoirs upon the impositions inFrance , the proportion which falls upon the nobility, andupon those whose privileges exempt them from the taille, isthe least considerable. The largest falls upon those subjectto the taille, who are assessed to the capitation at so much apound of what they pay to that other tax.

Capitation taxes, so far as they are levied upon the lowerranks of people, are direct taxes upon the wages of labour,and are attended with all the inconveniencies of such taxes.

Capitation taxes are levied at little expense; and, wherethey are rigorously exacted, afford a very sure revenue to thestate. It is upon this account that in countries where theease, comfort, and security of the inferior ranks of people arelittle attended to, capitation taxes are very common. It is ingeneral, however, but a small part of the public revenue,which, in a great empire, has ever been drawn from such