5. C.J.S. Taxation §§ 167, 1681–1692.]
“A fifth branch of the perpetual revenue consists in the stamp duties, which are a tax imposed upon all parchment and paper whereon any legal proceedings, or private instruments of almost any nature whatsoever, are written; and also upon licenses … and pamphlets containing less than six sheets of paper. These imposts are very various, according to the nature of the thing stamped, rising gradually from a penny to ten pounds.” 1 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 312–13 (1765).