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yieldings of the earth that could be eaten. Expressive
signs of what made them poor, were not wanting; the tax
for the state, the tax for the church, the tax for the
lord, tax local and tax general, were to be paid here
and to be paid there, according to solemn inscription
in the little village, until the wonder was, that there
was any village left unswallowed.5
Taxation has also sparked creativity in newer literary
genres. See It’s a Privilege on Urinetown: The Musical (RCA
Victor) (musical re excise tax); J. Kornbluth, Love and Taxes
(staged monologue re income tax) (unpublished manuscript, 2003).
Tax collecting jobs have helped finance the careers of such
notable revenue agents as Chaucer,6 Paine,7 and Hawthorne.8 And
tax records are a famously important source of information for
5 Charles Dickens, “A Tale of Two Cities” 119 (Everyman’s
Library, Knopf, 2002) (1859).
6 While Controller of the Customs, “[t]here was great
variety in what [Chaucer] had to do, and he came in contact with
a variety of people. He must have seen infinite venality,
witnessed colorful subterfuges, heard improbable and ridiculous
dodges and lies and excuses.” Donald Howard, “Chaucer” 212
(1987).
7 “I act myself in the humble station of an officer of
excise, though somewhat differently circumstanced to what many of
them are, and have been a principal promoter of a plan for
applying to Parliament this session for an increase in salary.”
Letter of Thomas Paine to Oliver Goldsmith, December 21, 1772,
Reprinted in George Hindmarch, “Thomas Paine: The Case of the
King of England And His Officers of Excise”, Published by the
Author in 1998, Surrey, England.
8 Indeed, it is reported that Hawthorne once contemplated
writing sketches entitled “Romance of the Revenue Service” and
“an ethical work in two volumes on the subject of Duties”, though
sadly neither project was ever undertaken. Randall Stewart,
“Nathaniel Hawthorne, A Biography” 53 (Archon Books, 1970).
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