Currant Case Merchant John Bates (1 results)
More imagesThe Tax That Lit the Fuse: The Crown, the Currants, and Bates's Defiance (1606-1610). The Great Case of Impositions on an Information in The Exchequer : The Attorney-General Against Mr John Bates, Merchant, 1606-1610. An Original Trial Report from Cobbett's State Trials, 1809, part of the great 19th-century archive of courtroom history.
THE CURRANT CASE: MERCHANT JOHN BATES AND THE KING'S RIGHT TO TAX WITHOUT PARLIAMENT (1606-1610)
Published by Cobbett's State Trials, London, 1809
- Softcover
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Add to basketCondition: Very Good. This was the moment the Crown claimed it could tax without Parliament, and the judges agreed. John Bates, a Levant Company merchant, refused to pay a new import duty on currants imposed by James I. He argued that such impositions were illegal without parliamentary consent. The Court of Exchequer ruled again…st him in 1606, holding that the King could levy duties to regulate trade, and that the court could not question the Crown's stated purpose. The judgment drew a sharp line between ordinary power (subject to law) and absolute power (guided by royal wisdom). Chief Baron Fleming even dismissed the merchant class as self-interested profiteers, unworthy of constitutional sympathy. This ruling gave James I a legal foothold to raise revenue without Parliament, a precedent his son Charles I would later stretch to breaking point with ship money and forced loans. Parliament never forgot. When they struck back in the 1640s, Bates's Case was part of the charge sheet. 82 pages, printed in double columns. Printed between 1809 and 1826, these historic documents are vivid extracts from Cobbett's State Trials; pages from the courtroom record that preserve the voices, arguments, and verdicts which helped shape the course of British justice and still echo through its constitutional legacy. Over two centuries old, each leaf is a tangible fragment of legal history, compelling, original, and rarely encountered outside institutional collections. These are not reprints or replicas, but authentic 19th-century printings that are rich in drama, and steeped in history. This particular trial report has been removed from a volume of Cobbett's State Trials and is now preserved in a modern card cover for practicality - an unassuming but serviceable presentation that favours function over finery. Size: 15 x 25 cms. Category: State Trials; State Trials::Octavo; This item may require more postage than the rates shown for delivery outside the UK. If extra postage is required we will contact you before processing your order and you will be given the details and option to decline the extra cost. Cosmo Books : 29 years on ABE, 47 years taking care of customers. A bookseller you can rely on. Softcover (Booklet - Unbound Pages).
