£16 million in 1702 to £53 million at the time of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). In 1748 it reached £78 million and, at the close of the Seven Years' War, it stood at £137 million, only to exceed £238 million by the time the American colonies became independent. Apprehension of national bankruptcy led to the adoption of the device of a sinking fund but, in this instance, Pitt's usual sagacity failed him. The influence of Richard Price's theory induced the policy of assigning special sums for debt reduction without regard to the fundamental need to maintain a real surplus. Income tax The revolutionary and Napoleonic wars mark an important stage in English finance. The national resources were strained to the utmost, and the whip and spur of taxation was used on all classes. In the earlier years of struggle, the expedient of borrowing enabled the government to avoid the more oppressive forms of charge but, as time passed, every possible expedient was brought into play. The class of taxes organized during peacetime had been those on houses, carriages, servants, horses, plate, etc., these being raised by successive steps of 10% each until, in 1798, their total charge was increased threefold—four or fivefold for the rich—under the plan of a "triple assessment". The comparative failure of this scheme (which did not produce the estimated yield of £4.5 million) prepared the way for the most important development of all—the introduction of income tax in 1798. Though a development of the triple assessment, income tax was also connected with the permanent settlement of land tax as a redeemable charge. Indeed, it is possible to trace the progress of direct taxation from the scutage of Norman times through to the fifteenth and tenth, the Tudor subsidies, the Commonwealth monthly assessments and the 18th century land tax, to the income tax as applied by Pitt which, after an interval of disuse, was revived by Peel in 1842. However, its immediate yield was rather less than was expected—£6 million out of £7.5 million. Nevertheless, by altering the mode of assessment from that of a general declaration to returns under several schedules, the tax became, at first 5%, and afterwards at 10%, the most valuable part of the revenue. In 1815 it contributed 22% of total receipts—i.e. £14,600 million out of £67 million—and, had it been employed at the beginning of the war, it would almost