purpose now that opposition was becoming institutionalized as party

politics. The structure of English politics was partisan and people were
beginning to see that this had benefits as well as costs. "In all free
governments there ever were and will be parties," observed Edward
Spellman in 1743; "parties are not only the effect, but the support of
liberty."32
State and society
One measure of the strength of a state is the coercive force at its disposal.
The naked power of military might, from Cromwell's bashaws to Louis
XIV's dragoons, from James IPs Catholic Irish troops to George IPs
Hessian mercenaries, was something with which people were familiar, and
something which they feared. James II had built a formidable army by
1688, but his 20,000 men were as nothing compared to the huge armies
under William and Anne: 70,000 men were in English pay in 1694 and
over 100,000 a decade later. But these troops were paid by parliament and
they were on the continent: the furore over William's attempt to maintain a
standing army in peace time after the 1697 Peace of Ryswick illustrates
that the nation had no time for royal armies at home.
Despite appearances the Augustan state was not a military state. It was
principally a bureaucratic and tax-raising machine. By the 1720s, it
employed 12,000 permanent administrators and had become the largest
employer, borrower, and spender in the economy. The process probably
began in the 1640s when parliament imposed an excise tax and a monthly
assessment. Charles IPs government took over the collection of its own
taxes, while the Treasury established oversight of income and expenditure
and organized efficient repayment of loans. The Land Tax sustained the
government's credit during the wars against Louis XIV, but after 1714 its
values dwindled in comparison with the excise, which by the 1720s was
worth more to the government than all its other revenues put together. For
all the importance of the Land Tax, in general terms this period saw a
decisive switch from direct taxation of land and landed wealth to indirect
taxation on consumption. Customs were paid on imported raw materials
and basic foodstuffs; excise tax was payable on a range of domestically
produced goods such as beer, spirits, cider, malt, hops, salt, leather, soap,
candles, paper, and starch. Working people were now taxed on the
necessities of life and the taxation was enforced by professional employees
of the crown.
From the perspective of its predecessors the post-1640 state was intrusive
and heavy-handed; but by comparison with other Western European states,