All judicial proceedings in the different courts of justice, civil, criminal, military and ecclesiastical; all agreements, testimonies, and public acts, were required to be on stamped paper, according to a royal order dated in 1638. It was stamped in Spain, bearing the date of the two years for which it was to serve, or was considered to be in force; after which term it was of no use. The surplus, if any, was cut through the stamp, and sold as waste paper, and the court took care to supply another stock for the two succeeding years. If the court neglected to do this, the old paper was restamped by order of the Viceroy, bearing a fac simile of his signature. There were four sorts of this paper, or rather paper of four prices. That on which deeds and titles were written, or permissions and pardons granted, cost six dollars the sheet; that used for contracts, wills, conveyances and other deeds drawn up before a notary, one dollar and a half; that on which every thing concerning a course of law before the Viceroy or Audience was conducted, half a dollar; and for writings presented by soldiers, slaves, paupers and indians, the fourth class was used, and cost the sixteenth of a dollar each sheet. The first sheet of the class required in any memorial or document, according to the foregoing rules, was of that price, but the remainder, if more were wanted, might be of the fourth class or lowest price, or even of common writing paper. Tobacco was a royal monopoly, a price being fixed by the government on the different qualities of this article, according to the province in which it was grown; at such price the whole was paid for; after which it was brought to Lima, where it was sold at an established rate at the _estanco_, or general depôt. If any person either bought or sold tobacco without a license, confiscation of the article and a heavy fine were the result, and frequently the whole property of the offender became a forfeit. On an average, the King purchased it at three reals, three eighths of a dollar, per pound, and sold it again at two dollars; but such was the number of officers employed to prevent smuggling, collect the tobacco, and attend the estanco, that, on the whole, the revenue suffered very considerably, although the profit was so great. Snuff was not allowed to be manufactured in Peru; one kind called _polvillo_ was brought from Seville, and rappee from the Havanna; but both were included in the royal monopoly. To secure the tax imposed on tobacco, no one could cultivate it without express permission from the Director; and, on delivery, the planter was obliged to make oath as to the number of plants which he had harvested; also that he had not reserved one leaf for his own use, nor for any other purpose. This tyrannical monopoly produced more hatred to the Spanish government than all the other taxes. Not only every tobacco planter, but every consumer joined in execrating so disagreeable an impost.