But it was
administered by ad hoc offices rather than companies and was not
reliable in making payments.
Charles instituted a hearth tax of 2s. per year in 1662, with
constables and offiers authorized to verify the number of hearths
and stoves in houses. It was repealed in 1688 because it could not
be enforced except by exposing every man's house to be entered and
searched at pleasure by persons unknown to the people, which was
oppressive and a badge of slavery.
By bribes, Charles built up a body of support in Parliament which
could be relied upon for a majority. They came to be called
"tories" by their opponents. "Tory" had been a term of abuse for
Irish Catholic bandits. The tory and whig groups were known by
their disagreement over the authoritarianism of the Crown. The
tories were sympathetic to the doctrine of divine right and
favored a doctrinally high church. The tories represented landed
property and the established church, and usually wore blue in
contrast to the purple of royalty. Many royalists became tories.
The whigs refused to accept the sacrosanct character of the
monarchy. The whigs opined that government depended upon consent
of the people and that the people had a right of resistance. They
subordinated the Crown to Parliament. The whigs represented the
dissenters and the mercantile classes, and often wore red. Many
former Puritans became whigs.
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