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The Exchequer was responsible for receiving and dispersing the public revenue. Excise are inland duties levied on articles at the time of their manufacture, notably, alcoholic drinks, but has also included salt, paper and glass. The term 'customs' applied to customary payments or dues of any kind, regal, episcopal or ecclesiastical until it became restricted to duties payable to the King upon export or import of certain articles of commerce. In 1635, King Charles I opened the Royal mail to the public, and in 1680, an enterprising businessman named William Dockwra set up an efficient and compressive local post within London. It was privately run at first, then taken over by the Post Office on the prompting of the Duke of York, later King James II.