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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/37156-8.txt b/37156-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..baa51f8 --- /dev/null +++ b/37156-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6402 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ireland in the Days of Dean Swift, by +Jonathan Swift and J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly, Edited by J. Bowles (John +Bowles) Daly + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Ireland in the Days of Dean Swift + Irish Tracts, 1720 to 1734 + + +Author: Jonathan Swift and J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly + +Editor: J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly + +Release Date: August 21, 2011 [eBook #37156] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN +SWIFT*** + + +E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/irelandindaysofd00swif + + + + + +IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN SWIFT. + +London: +Printed by Gilbert and Rivington, Limited, +St. John's House, Clerkenwell Road. + + +IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN SWIFT. + +(_Irish Tracts, 1720 To 1734._) + + +by + +J. BOWLES DALY, LL.D. + +Author of "Broken Ideals," "Radical Pioneers of the 18th Century," +etc., etc. + + + + + + + +London--Chapman and Hall, +Limited. +1887. + + + + + TO THE RIGHT HON. JOHN MORLEY, M.P., + THE FIRST CHIEF SECRETARY OF IRELAND + WHOSE UNFLINCHING COURAGE AND OUTSPOKEN SYMPATHY + HAS SECURED HIM THE GRATITUDE OF THE IRISH PEOPLE, + THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH THE ADMIRATION OF + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + INTRODUCTION 1 + + THE DRAPIER'S LETTERS 25 + + THE ADDRESS TO THE JURY 131 + + SWIFT'S DESCRIPTION OF QUILCA 137 + + ANSWER TO A PAPER 142 + + MAXIMS CONTROLLED 151 + + A SHORT VIEW OF THE STATE OF IRELAND, 1727 162 + + THE STORY OF THE INJURED LADY 174 + + THE ANSWER TO THE INJURED LADY 184 + + A LETTER TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN, CONCERNING THE + WEAVERS 187 + + TWO LETTERS ON SUBJECTS RELATIVE TO THE IMPROVEMENT + OF IRELAND 198 + + THE PRESENT MISERABLE STATE OF IRELAND 216 + + "A PROPOSAL FOR THE UNIVERSAL USE OF IRISH + MANUFACTURES." 1720 227 + + A MODEST PROPOSAL. 1729 240 + + A CHARACTER, PANEGYRIC, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE + LEGION CLUB, 1736 254 + + ON DOING GOOD 264 + + + + +IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN SWIFT. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The shifting combinations of party, from the settlement of the +constitution at the Revolution to a later period, is an attractive study +to any who wish to find the origin of abuses which have long vexed the +political life of England. Besides, it is wholesome and instructive to be +carried away from the modern difficulty to the broader issues which have +gradually led to the present complication. + +William III. was a Whig, and his successor a Tory, but except for short +periods no Tory party was able in either reign to carry on the government +upon Tory principles. William made no complete change of ministry during +his reign, only modifying its composition according to what appeared the +prevailing sentiment of the parliament or the nation. It was composed of +both parties; the Whigs predominated till the close of the reign, when +their opponents acquired ascendency. Anne's first ministry was Tory, but a +change was soon wrought by a favourite of the court who happened to be a +Whig and who soon turned the scale. Some knowledge of the character of the +monarch is indispensable to a clear understanding of the times. In 1702, +Anne ascended the throne. The queen's notions of government were those of +her family--narrow and despotic. She would have been as arbitrary in her +conduct as Elizabeth, but that her actions were restrained by the +imbecility of her mind. The queen was the constant slave of favourites +who, in their turn, were the tools of intriguing politicians. Events of +the greatest importance were crowded into the short space of the twelve +years which covered her reign, and the most distinguished intellects +adorned the period. + +It was because the queen was fascinated by the Duchess of Marlborough that +her reign was adorned by the glories of Ramillies and Blenheim: it was +because Mrs. Abigail Masham artfully supplanted her benefactress in royal +favour, that a stop was put to the war which ravaged the Continent, while +by a chambermaid's intrigue Bolingbroke triumphed over his rival, the Earl +of Oxford. + +During the first part of Anne's reign, Marlborough was paramount in the +Houses of Parliament and his wife in the closet. The Tories came into +power on the queen's accession, with Marlborough and Godolphin as leaders. +They substantially maintained the policy of King William in prosecuting +the war with France, which resulted in making England illustrious in +Europe. + +Whig principles soon acquired a decided majority in the House, when an act +of national importance took place, the effect of which thrilled the +empire. The queen and the duchess quarrelled, and the intriguing +waiting-maid stepped into the latter's place. Besides the queen's whims +she had a superstitious reverence for the Church; and had been taught to +regard the Whigs as Republicans and Dissenters, who wished to subvert the +monarchy. Harley traded on this weakness through the instrumentality of +Mrs. Masham. This lady was used by him to oust Marlborough and Godolphin, +and she continued the tool of Harley and St. John, who now became the +chiefs of the new ministry. A jealousy between these two ministers +afterwards sprang up, which finally resulted in a quarrel and separation. +St. John, created Viscount Bolingbroke, plotted with Mrs. Masham to +procure the crown for the Pretender, but the cabal oozed out and alarmed +the Tories. The last night of the queen's life was spent in listening to +an open quarrel between the waiting-maid and the minister. At two o'clock +in the morning she went out of the room to die; she had strength, however, +to defeat the schemers by consigning the staff of state to Lord +Shrewsbury. "Take it," she said, "for the good of my country." They were +the last, perhaps the most pathetic words of her life. When Bolingbroke +was defeated, the Whigs came into power and continued in office till the +reign of George III. + +It was during the reign of William III. that Swift began his political +career as a Whig. His patron, Sir William Temple, introduced him to the +king, who was so impressed with his talents that he offered to make him a +captain of dragoons. Had he accepted this offer, he might have become a +second Cromwell. As this distinction was declined, the king promised to +see to his future interest. On the death of Temple, Swift edited the works +of his patron, dedicated them to the sovereign, and reminded him of his +promise. Neither the dedication nor the memorial was noticed. Swift had to +fall back on the post of chaplain and private secretary to the Earl of +Berkeley, one of the Lords Justices of Ireland. He became a political +writer on the side of the Whigs, and associated with Addison, Steele, and +Halifax. From the party leaders he received scores of promises and in the +end was neglected. The cup of preferment was twice dashed from his hand; +on the first occasion when Lord Berkeley would have given him a bishopric, +his name was vetoed by the Primate on the grounds of his youth, and on the +second when he was named for a vacant canonry, but at the last moment the +prize was given to another. + +During Anne's reign Swift paid frequent visits to England, and became +closely connected with the leading Tories. In 1710 he broke with the Whigs +and united with Harley and the Tory administration. The five last years of +Anne's government found him playing a prominent part in English politics +as the leading political writer of the Tories. He was on terms of the +closest intimacy with Oxford (Harley) and Bolingbroke, and attempted to +heal the breach between the rival statesmen. He helped the Tories in a +paper called the _Examiner_, upholding the policy of the ministers and +supplying his party with the arguments they would have used if they had +had the brains to think of them. This series of articles culminated in the +"Conduct of the Allies," a pamphlet which brought about the disgrace of +Marlborough and made the peace popular. In it the author denounced the war +as the plot of a ring of Whig stock-jobbers and monied men. These weekly +papers in the _Examiner_ produced a great effect upon the public mind and +called forth a multitude of opponents. Swift gave the Press the wonderful +position it holds now. He almost created the "leading article;" and though +his contributions will not bear comparison with the light style of our own +day, they suited his times. They were written in a plain, homely style, +for Swift had a thorough contempt for abstract thought and abstract +politics; indeed, his low estimate of men convinced him that they were +about as good for flying as for thinking. Mr. Leslie Stephen aptly states +that Swift's pamphlets were rather "blows than words;" he had serious +political effects to produce, and what he had to prove it was necessary to +say in plain words, for honest Tory squires of the country party to +understand and obey. + +The _Examiner_, the _Medley_, the _Tattler_, and the pamphlets of that day +bear no analogy to the modern newspaper; their influence did not penetrate +to the lower classes of the community, who were still without education. + +Swift is condemned by many who are not conversant with his character, his +writings, or the times in which he lived. In detached views, no man was +more liable to be misunderstood; his individual acts must be compared +with his entire conduct, in order to give him his proper place in the +gallery of historical characters. The charge of deserting his party is +answered by Dr. Johnson, whose evidence is of greater value as he never +professed to be his friend. "Swift, by early education, had been +associated with the Whigs; but he deserted them when they deserted their +principles, yet he never ran into the opposite extreme; for he continued +throughout his life to retain the disposition which he assigned to the +Church of England man, of thinking commonly with the Whigs of the State +and with the Tories of the Church." + +"Swift," say his opponents, "rails at the whole human race;" so he does, +and so do we all, at particular times and seasons; when long experience +has shown us the selfishness of some, the hollowness of others, and the +base ingratitude of the world. Not having lifted his voice in protestation +against the terrible penal laws inflicted on his Catholic brethren, and +enacted before his door, is, perhaps, the heaviest indictment brought +against his name, and the one which, on examination, will prove the most +futile. He was the last man who, from his connection with a discarded Tory +party, could have taken action with any effect; for if he had made the +attempt, and if complaints had originated from it, they would have been +interpreted into murmurs of rebellion. One revolt had been put down in +Scotland, in which it was supposed that every Catholic in Ireland was +implicated, and another which was hatching in the country, broke out in +1745; consequently, any interference of Swift on behalf of the Roman +Catholics would have drawn upon him the total displeasure of the +government and have caused him to be voted an enemy to his country, as was +done in the case of Lucas, twenty years after. His words on another +occasion show that he was not wanting in sympathy towards the native +Irish. "The English should be ashamed of the reproaches they cast on their +ignorance, dullness, and want of courage; defects arising only from the +poverty and slavery they suffer from their inhuman neighbours, and the +base, corrupt spirit of too many of the gentry. By such treatment as this +the very Grecians are grown slavish, ignorant, and superstitious. I do +assert that from several experiments I have made in travelling in both +England and Ireland, I have found the poor cottagers in the latter +kingdom, who could speak our language, to have a much better natural taste +for good sense, humour, and raillery than ever I observed among people of +the sort in England. But the million of oppressions the national Irish lie +under, the tyranny of their landlords, the ridiculous zeal of their +priests and the general misery of the whole nation, have been enough to +damp the best spirits under the sun." + +When Swift's friends were out of power, Oxford no longer at Court and +Bolingbroke in exile, he returned to Ireland, and after visiting several +parts of the country, and making himself acquainted with the exact +condition of the people, he took up the cause of Ireland with a vigour +rarely exhibited by any patriot. The last twenty-five years of his sane +life were given to his country, during which time he devoted almost all +his energy to Irish concerns. His stern sense of justice prompted him to +lay bare the wrongs of his native land with the cool calculation of a +banker examining accounts, or that of a surgeon cutting open a tumour. His +letters, pamphlets, and sermons are full of allusions to the miseries and +disabilities of the Irish. In writing to Pope, he disclaims the title of +Patriot, and gives us exactly his motive. "What I do," he says, "is owing +to perfect rage and resentment, and the mortifying sight of slavery, +folly, and baseness about me, among which I am forced to live." It is said +that he was a disappointed, mortified man. I allow he was. Swift was +ill-used as well as his country. Was he therefore not to resent the +injuries offered her because wrongs were heaped on himself, or, after +remaining quiet under the disappointments of years, are we to suppose +that at the end of that period his own private grievances ceased to be +intolerable, and that the public provocations which became urgent had no +effect upon him? + +About 1720, a narrow, exclusive clique governed Ireland in avowed contempt +of all phases of Irish opinion. The need of reform had occupied the +attention only of an insignificant handful. None had yet succeeded in +rousing a national spirit to resist the people's wrongs, an +over-insistence of which wrongs was looked upon as veiled Jacobitism. No +doubt Swift's first motive was opposition to Walpole and his party. He +looked back with bitterness to the fall of his friends. He disliked the +cant of the Whigs and their travesty of liberty; from that moment his real +interest in Ireland began. Swift scorned Jacobitism, and had a righteous +contempt for "divine right and absolute prerogative." He justified the +Revolution; was opposed to a Popish successor; had a mortal antipathy to a +standing army in time of peace; desired that parliaments should be annual; +disliked the monied interest in opposition to the territorial; feared the +growth of the national debt; and dreaded further encroachments on the +liberty of the subject. He believed the Whig government of Ireland to be +founded on corruption. All these opinions went to swell the current of +his indignation against Irish wrongs, and it was in consequence of them +that he lashed the government with his scorpion pen. + +The papers written by Swift during the years 1720 to 1734 are now little +studied by the people or their representatives; nevertheless, if carefully +examined, they will be found useful in throwing light upon the unsolved +problem. They deal with everything connected with the country: with banks, +currency, agriculture, fisheries, grazing, beggars, planting, +bog-reclaiming and road-making; and all in a style peculiarly his own, a +style seldom equalled and never surpassed. His pictures of the state of +the country present curious parallels to what we find to-day. There are, +of course, references to grievances which have long ceased to exist; such +as the penal laws, and the restriction on trade, but there are many +long-standing evils which are not much better now than they were in +Swift's day. The rack-renting, absentee landlords are more numerous in +1887 than they were in 1730, while the improvements effected by the +tenants were as much a dead loss of capital in the time of Swift, as in +the days of Gladstone. + +The secret of Swift's forcible utterances is that he infused himself into +everything he wrote; and his writings, in consequence, exhibit, not merely +his intellectual power, but also his moral nature, his principles, his +prejudices, even his temper. Swift possessed the most masculine intellect +of his age, and was the most earnest thinker of his times. He wrote like a +man of the world, and a gentleman; scorning the conceits of rhetorical +flourish, and never stooping to _ad misericordiam_ appeals for sympathy. + +Of all writers of the English language, his style most approximates to +that of the old orators of Greece in force, rapidity, directness, +dexterity, luminous statement, and honest homeliness. The reader is +impelled with his vigour, as a soldier by the blast of a trumpet; while +his feelings are captivated by his author's manifest sincerity; his +outburst of derisive scorn and withering invective, alternately heat and +chill the blood. Perhaps his merit is most revealed in the profound +sagacity of his political observations, infusing into his country that +spirit which enabled her to demand those rights she at last established. +Swift's character rose in Ireland with his defence of it in 1724; for, by +his conduct then, he acquired an esteem and influence which can never be +forgotten. The question of consideration at that day was not whether +Wood's halfpence were good or bad:--the question was, whether an +enterprising manufacturer of copper should prevail against Ireland. An +insulting patent, obtained in the most insidious way, was issued by the +British Cabinet without consulting the legitimate rulers of the country. +Against it the grand juries protested, the corporations protested, the +Irish parliament protested. All failed. At last there stood forth a +private clergyman, whose party was proscribed and himself persecuted, and +he carried the country at his back and forced the British minister to +retire within his trenches. Ireland, trampled on by a British minister, by +a British and Irish parliament; Ireland that had lost her trade, her +judicature, her parliament; sunk with the weight of oppression, prevails +under the direction of a solitary priest, who not only inspired but +instructed his countrymen in a magnificent vindication of their liberty +and the most noble repudiation of dependence ever taught a nation; telling +them, "that by the law of God, of nature, of nations, and of their country +they are and ought to be as free a people as their brethren in England." + +The patriot rose above the divine. He taught his country to protest +against her grievances, and gave her a spirit by which she redressed them. +Besides, he created a public opinion in "a nation of slaves" and used it +as a political force against a vicious system of government. "For my own +part," says Swift, referring to the imposition of the copper coinage, "who +am but a man of obscure condition, I do solemnly declare in the presence +of Almighty God that I will suffer the most ignominious torturing death, +rather than submit to receive this accursed coin, or any other that shall +be liable to these objections, until they shall be forced upon me by a law +of my own country, and if that shall ever happen, I will transport myself +into some foreign land, and eat the bread of poverty among a free people." + +And who was this man who touched with fire the hearts of a nation and +played on their feelings as a skilful musician runs his fingers over the +keys of an instrument? A simple journalist, of obscure origin, without +rank or station, with nothing but a beggarly Irish living to fall back +upon, yet endowed with heaven-born genius and the pride of an insulted +god. He treated art like man: with the same sovereign pride scribbling his +articles in haste, scorning the wretched necessity for reading them over, +putting his name to nothing he wrote; letting every piece make its way on +its own merits, recommended by none. Swift had the soul of a dictator and +the heart of a woman. + +This self-devouring heart could not understand the callousness and +indifference of the world. He asked: "Do not the corruptions and +villainies of men eat your flesh and consume your spirits?" Swift, like +his great Master, was moved by compassion for the multitude. He knew what +poverty and scorn were, even at an age when the mind expands and the path +of life is sown with generous hopes. At that time, his career was crushed +with the iron ring of poverty; maintained by the alms of his family; +secretary to a flattered, gouty courtier, at the magnificent salary of +20_l._ a year, and a seat at the servants' table: obliged to submit to the +whims of my lord and the fancies of an acidulous virgin, my lord's sister; +lured with false hopes; and forced, after an attempt at independence, to +resume the livery which scorched his soul. When writing his directions to +servants, he was relating with bitterness what he himself had suffered; +his proud heart bursting at the memory of indignities received while his +lips were locked. Under an outward calm, a tempest of wrath and desire +lashed his soul. Twenty years of insult and humiliation, the inner tempest +raging, as all his brilliant dreams faded from hope deferred;--such was +the man who moved his country to its centre and won her eternal gratitude. + +In discussing the burning topics of the day, Swift had against him the +king, his parliament, and all the people of England, together with the +Irish government and the Irish judges. The Irish parliament, whose cause +he defended, could not have saved him: that sycophant assembly could not +save itself, and was besides so lowered and debased by the over-ruling +power of England, that it was more likely to become his prosecutor than +his protector. Swift stood like Atlas, unmoved, and so laid the foundation +of his country's liberty. + +"Swift was honoured," says Johnson, "by the populace of Ireland as their +champion, patron, and instructor, and gained such power as, considered +both in its extent and duration, scarce any man has ever enjoyed without +greater wealth or higher station. The benefit was indeed great. He had +rescued Ireland from a very oppressive and predatory invasion: and the +popularity which he had gained he was very diligent to keep, by appearing +forward and zealous on every occasion when the public interest was +supposed to be involved. He showed clearly that wit, confederated with +truth, had such fire as authority was not able to resist. He said truly of +himself that Ireland was his debtor. It was from this time, when he first +began to patronize the Irish, that they may date their riches and +prosperity. He taught them first to know their own interest, their weight +and their strength; and gave them spirit to assert that equality with +their fellow-subjects, to which they have ever since been making vigorous +advances, and to claim those rights which they have at last established. +Nor can they be charged with ingratitude to their benefactor, for they +reverenced him as a guardian and obeyed him as a dictator." + +The birth of political and patriotic spirit in Ireland may be traced to +the "Drapier's Letters." No agitation that has since taken place in the +country has been so immediately and completely successful. The whole power +of the English government was found ineffectual to cope with the +opposition that had been roused, and marshalled by one man. The Letters +brought Swift fame and influence, and from the date of their publication, +he became the most powerful and popular man in Ireland. The Irish obeyed +his words as if they were the fiat of an oracle. + +Swift was no hack writer, lending his pen to any administration that paid +for his services; his individuality placed him above the herd of writers, +and he scorned to be used in this way. When Harley sent him a 50_l._ +cheque for his first articles in the _Examiner_, he returned it, and +haughtily demanded an apology, which was promptly given. He warned the +ministers that he acted with them on terms of equality, and that he would +not tolerate even coldness on their part; "for it is what I would hardly +bear from a crowned head; no subject's favour was worth it." He +afterwards explained, "If we let these great ministers pretend too much, +there will be no governing them." + +After the publication of the fourth Drapier's Letter, the government +offered a reward for the apprehension of the printer; Swift was so enraged +at this proceeding that he suddenly entered the reception-room, elbowed +his way up to the Lord-Lieutenant, and, with indignation on his +countenance and thunder in his voice, said: "So, my Lord, this is a +glorious exploit you performed yesterday in suffering a proclamation +against a poor shop-keeper, whose only crime is an honest endeavour to +save his country from ruin;" and then added, with a bitter laugh, "I +suppose your lordship will expect a statue in copper for your services to +Mr. Wood." + +The accession of George I. exiled Swift to Ireland, at that time the most +impoverished country on the face of the globe. Swift regarded Dublin as a +"good enough place to die in." No wonder, when he showed that there were +not found in it five gentlemen who could give a dinner at which a scholar +and gentleman could find congenial companionship. Ireland then was in a +state of national ruin and semi-barbarism; one of the most palpable evils +of Irish life was absenteeism. It was the habit of the English officials +elected to remunerative offices, to employ a deputy to perform the duty on +the tenth of the salary--to come over in batches, landing at Ringsend on +Saturday night, receiving the sacrament at the nearest church on Sunday +morning, taking the oaths on Monday in the Courts, and setting sail for +England in the afternoon, leaving no trace of their existence in Ireland, +save their names on the civil list as recipients of a salary. + +Out of a total rental of 1,800,000_l._ about 600,000_l._ was spent in +England. There was nothing to encourage a landlord to live in the country; +no political career was open to him; all the offices in his country went +to strangers. He was without education or any intellectual interest; +nothing was left him but lavish displays of brutal luxury, endless +carouses, and barbaric hospitality. The Irish landlords were despised for +their rude manners by the fresh importations from England; they repaid +this contempt on their tenants. + +The vast majority of the Catholics were without the protection of the law; +absolutely ignorant and sunk in an abyss of poverty. The poor peasant, as +soon as the potatoes were planted, shut up his damp, smoky hut, and +started soliciting alms through the country: idle and lazy, he wandered +from house to house. Begging became a recognized profession. Adepts were +hired to complete the family group, and these shared the spoils of the +season; girls were debauched, in order that they might, as fictitious +widows, move compassion and earn alms. In winter they camped together in +companies; the length and breadth of the country was cursed with a brood +of hedgers, born of adultery and incest, herding together in troops, when +the ties of relationship were as completely lost as in a herd of cattle. + +The English clique at the Castle were too much occupied in checking +fancied disaffection and dispensing patronage to secure the support of +hungry partisans, to care for the welfare of the masses. The local gentry, +despised by the governing clique, allowed matters to drift from bad to +worse. The better part of the population left the country in disgust. Such +was the condition of Ireland when Swift stood out as its defender. The +wrongs of Ireland cried to heaven for adjustment. + +Since the days of Charles II. the Irish had been forbidden to seek a +market in England for their cattle. Since the last years of William III. +harsh laws crushed out the woollen trade, restricting it to a precarious +market formed by a contraband trade with France, every year getting worse. +Misery wanted only a voice to utter its lamentation. Swift assumed this +function in his "Proposal for the universal use of manufactures," +published in 1720. Comments on the pamphlets are needless. + +The evil of absenteeism was of ancient date and the efforts to eradicate +it still older. By a statute of Richard II., two-thirds of the estate of +an absentee were forfeited to the Crown. The Lancastrian kings pursued the +same policy. Henry VIII. made a strong effort to correct the abuse, by +resuming whole Irish estates of some English nobles who were habitual +absentees. Under the early Stuarts the same course was pursued, but the +evil continues to our own day without any abatement. In Swift's time, +residence had not been encouraged; statutes to enforce it remained on the +statute-book, but they were a dead letter. The landlord drew the rent from +Ireland, without helping to pay the taxes. He spent it in England and +frequently more than the amount, leaving the estates encumbered with +mortgages in the hands of English mortgagees. The holder of an Irish +office thought only of its emoluments, and was indignant at any suggestion +of living in the country burdened with his support, and nominally entitled +to his services. The land was reduced to a state of bankruptcy and +desolation; famine swept through it, and the people were perishing in +thousands. It was at this terrible juncture that Swift put forth in +despair his "Modest Proposal," one of the last efforts of his marvellous +genius, and it shamed the government into taking some steps to redress the +suffering which prevailed. + +"Swift's pieces relating to Ireland," says Edmund Burke, "are those of a +public nature, in which the Dean appears, as usual, in the best light, +because they do honour to his heart as well as his head, furnishing some +additional proofs, that though he was very free in his abuse of the +inhabitants of that country, as well natives as foreigners, he had their +interest sincerely at heart, and perfectly understood it. His sermon on +doing good, though peculiarly adapted to Ireland, and Wood's design upon +it, contains perhaps the best motives to Patriotism that was ever +delivered within so small a compass." + +There is no need to refer here to the other works of genius that came from +his pen; they are well known. The object of the present writer is to deal +exclusively with what has reference to Ireland, and while exhibiting Swift +as a patriot, no attempt is made to exclude his faults or deny his +imperfections; those faults were redeemed by devoted friendship and noble +generosity. + +His friendship with Addison continued till the day of his death, and so +strong was the bond between them, that when the two met for an evening, +they never wished for a third person to support or enliven the +conversation. Of him, Pope said:--"Nothing of you can die; nothing of you +can decay; nothing of you can suffer; nothing of you can be obscured or +locked up from esteem and admiration, except what is at the Deanery. May +the rest of you be as happy hereafter as honest men may expect and need +not doubt, while they know that their Maker is merciful." One can imagine +how dear he was to those friends, when Bolingbroke writes:--"I love you +for a thousand things, for none more than for the just esteem and love +which you have for all the sons of Adam." No one esteemed Swift more than +Lord Carteret, who, when hearing of his illness, wrote:--"That you may +enjoy the continuation of all happiness is my wish. As to futurity I know +your name will be remembered, when the names of Kings, Lord-Lieutenants, +Archbishops, and Parliamentary politicians will be forgotten. At last you +yourself must fall into oblivion, which may be less than one thousand +years, though the term may be uncertain and will depend on the progress +that barbarity and ignorance may make, notwithstanding the sedulous +endeavours of the great Prelates in this and succeeding ages." + +The account of Swift thus coming from men of the greatest genius of their +age, carries with it incontestable evidence in his favour, and completely +pulverizes the slanderous accusations heaped on him by his enemies. The +manly tone of his writing penetrated the character of the whole English +colony and bore fruit, long after the proud heart was laid at rest in the +great Irish cathedral. The place is marked by an inscription written by +himself, and touchingly refers to a time when the heart can no longer be +tortured with fierce indignation born from the contemplation of licensed +injustice. The character of Swift has long been vindicated, for animosity +perishes, but humanity is eternal. + + + + +THE DRAPIER'S LETTERS. + + +There was a lack of copper coin in Ireland, which hampered the small +transactions of the poor, and rendered the payment of weekly or daily +wages a matter of difficulty. This want was reported to the English +Cabinet; it was taken up, not as a grievance to be met with redress, but +as a new opportunity for a job. A patent to make a copper coinage was +granted to William Wood, a gentleman whose antecedents were not +creditable. According to the habits of the day, the patent had to pass +through various officials, each of whom had doubtless to be paid: a sort +of black-mail on the transaction. The amount of the coinage had to be +large to enable Wood to recoup himself and make his own profit. It was +fixed at 108,000_l._, a sum vastly in excess of its need. The greatest +share of the plunder was to fall to the king's mistress. The Duchess of +Kendal was to receive 10,000_l._ from Wood, to whom she farmed the patent. +It was from the bottom to the top a scandalous job, and to add to its +depravity, it was passed without consulting the responsible governors of +the country. It was only when all efforts to defeat its passage were +concluded, that Swift stepped in. The indignation of the country had +risen to boiling-point; he gave it a voice. In describing the patent, +Swift exaggerated its consequences. It is absurd to suppose that what he +said of it was absolutely true, or that Swift thought it to be true. His +object was to put a scandalous transaction in the grossest aspect +possible. Swift adopted the ordinary recognized methods of political +controversy. Apart from exaggeration, there was enough of injustice in the +matter to justify any language which would tend to remove it. + + +LETTER I. + +_To the Tradesmen, Shopkeepers, Farmers, and Country-people in general, of +the Kingdom of Ireland_, + +Concerning the brass halfpence coined by one William Wood, Hardwareman, +with a design to have them pass in this kingdom! + +Wherein is shewn the power of his Patent, the value of his Halfpence, and +how far every person may be obliged to take the same in payments, and how +to behave himself, in case such an attempt should be made by Wood, or any +other person. + +(VERY PROPER TO BE KEPT IN EVERY FAMILY.) + +By M. B., DRAPIER, 1724. + + +BRETHREN, FRIENDS, COUNTRYMEN, AND FELLOW-SUBJECTS. + +What I intend now to say to you, is, next to your duty to God, and the +care of your salvation, of the greatest concern to yourselves and your +children; your bread and clothing, and every common necessary of life, +depend entirely upon it. Therefore I do most earnestly exhort you as men, +as Christians, as parents, and as lovers of your country, to read this +paper with the utmost attention, or get it read to you by others; which, +that you may do at the less expense, I have ordered the printer to sell it +at the lowest rate. + +It is a great fault among you, that when a person writes with no other +intention than to do you good, you will not be at the pains to read his +advices. One copy of this paper may serve a dozen of you, which will be +less than a farthing apiece. It is your folly, that you have no common or +general interest in your view, not even the wisest among you; neither do +you know, or inquire, or care, who are your friends, or who are your +enemies. + +About four years ago, a little book was written to advise all people to +wear the manufactures of this our own dear country.[1] It had no other +design, said nothing against the King or Parliament, or any persons +whatever; yet the poor printer was prosecuted two years with the utmost +violence, and even some weavers themselves (for whose sake it was +written), being upon the JURY, found him guilty. This would be enough to +discourage any man from endeavouring to do you good, when you will either +neglect him, or fly in his face for his pains, and when he must expect +only danger to himself, and to be fined and imprisoned, perhaps to his +ruin. + +However, I cannot but warn you once more of the manifest destruction +before your eyes, if you do not behave yourself, as you ought. + +I will therefore first tell you the plain story of the fact, and then I +will lay before you how you ought to act, in common prudence according to +the laws of your country. + +The fact is this: It having been many years since COPPER HALFPENCE OR +FARTHINGS were last coined in this kingdom, they have been for some time +very scarce, and many counterfeits passed about under the name of _raps_, +several applications were made to England that we might have liberty to +coin new ones, as in former times we did; but they did not succeed. At +last, one Mr. Wood, a mean ordinary man, a hardware dealer, procured a +patent under his Majesty's broad seal to coin 108,000_l._[2] in copper for +this kingdom; which patent, however, did not oblige any one here to take +them, unless they pleased. Now you must know, that the halfpence and +farthings in England pass for very little more than they are worth; and if +you should beat them to pieces, and sell them to the brazier, you would +not lose much above a penny in a shilling. But Mr. Wood made his halfpence +of such base metal, and so much smaller than the English ones, that the +brazier would not give you above a penny of good money for a shilling of +his; so that this sum of 108,000_l._ in good gold and silver, must be +given for trash, that will not be worth eight or nine thousand pounds real +value. But this is not the worst; for Mr. Wood, when he pleases, may, by +stealth, send over another 108,000_l._, and buy all our goods for eleven +parts in twelve under the value. For example, if a hatter sells a dozen of +hats for five shillings apiece, which amounts to three pounds, and +receives the payment in Wood's coin, he really receives only the value of +five shillings. + +Perhaps you will wonder how such an ordinary fellow as this Mr. Wood could +have so much interest as to get his Majesty's broad seal for so great a +sum of bad money to be sent to this poor country; and that all the +nobility and gentry here could not obtain the same favour, and let us make +our own halfpence, as we used to do. Now I will make that matter very +plain: We are at a great distance from the King's court, and have nobody +there to solicit for us, although a great number of lords and 'squires, +whose estates are here, and are our countrymen, spend all their lives and +fortunes there; but this same Mr. Wood was able to attend constantly for +his own interest; he is an Englishman, and had great friends; and, it +seems, knew very well where to give money to those that would speak to +others, that could speak to the King, and would tell a fair story. And his +Majesty, and perhaps the great lord or lords who advise him, might think +it was for our country's good; and so, as the lawyers express it, "The +King was deceived in his grant," which often happens in all reigns. And I +am sure if his Majesty knew that such a patent, if it should take effect +according to the desire of Mr. Wood, would utterly ruin this kingdom, +which has given such great proofs of its loyalty, he would immediately +recall it, and perhaps show his displeasure to somebody or other; but a +word to the wise is enough. Most of you must have heard with what anger +our honourable House of Commons received an account of this Wood's patent. +There were several fine speeches made upon it, and plain proofs that it +was all a wicked cheat from the bottom to the top; and several smart votes +were printed, which that same Wood had the assurance to answer likewise in +print; and in so confident a way, as if he were a better man than our +whole Parliament put together. + +This Wood, as soon as his patent was passed, or soon after, sends over a +great many barrels of those halfpence to Cork, and other seaport towns; +and to get them off, offered a hundred pounds in his coin, for seventy or +eighty in silver; but the collectors of the King's customs very honestly +refused to take them, and so did almost everybody else. And since the +Parliament has condemned them, and desired the King that they might be +stopped, all the kingdom do abominate them. + +But Wood is still working underhand to force his halfpence upon us; and if +he can, by the help of his friends in England, prevail so far as to get an +order, that the commissioners and collectors of the King's money shall +receive them, and that the army is to be paid with them, then he thinks +his work shall be done. And this is the difficulty you will be under in +such a case: for the common soldier, when he goes to the market, or +alehouse, will offer this money; and if it be refused, perhaps he will +swagger and hector, and threaten to beat the butcher or ale-wife, or take +the goods by force, and throw them the bad halfpence. In this and the like +cases, the shopkeeper or victualler, or any other tradesman, has no more +to do, than to demand ten times the price of his goods, if it is to be +paid in Wood's money; for example, twenty pence of that money for a quart +of ale and so in all things else, and not part with his goods till he gets +the money. + +For, suppose you go to an ale-house with that base money, and the landlord +gives you a quart for four of those halfpence, what must the victualler +do? his brewer will not be paid in that coin; or, if the brewer should be +such a fool, the farmers will not take it from them for their bere,[3] +because they are bound, by their leases, to pay their rent in good and +lawful money of England; which this is not, nor of Ireland neither; and +the 'squire, their landlord, will never be so bewitched to take such trash +for his land; so that it must certainly stop somewhere or other; and +wherever it stops, it is the same thing, and we are all undone. + +The common weight of these halfpence is between four and five to an +ounce--suppose five, then three shillings and four pence will weigh a +pound, and consequently twenty shillings will weigh six pounds butter +weight. Now there are many hundred farmers, who pay two hundred pounds a +year rent; therefore, when one of these farmers comes with his half-year's +rent, which is one hundred pounds, it will be at least six hundred +pounds' weight, which is three horses' load. + +If a 'squire has a mind to come to town to buy clothes and wine, and +spices for himself and family, or perhaps to pass the winter here, he must +bring with him five or six horses well loaden with sacks, as the farmers +bring their corn; and when his lady comes in her coach to our shops, it +must be followed by a car loaded with Mr. Wood's money. And I hope we +shall have the grace to take it for no more than it is worth. + +They say 'Squire Conolly[4] has sixteen thousand pounds a-year; now, if he +sends for his rent to town, as it is likely he does, he must have two +hundred and fifty horses to bring up his half-year's rent, and two or +three great cellars in his house for stowage. But what the bankers will do +I cannot tell; for I am assured, that some great bankers keep by them +forty thousand pounds in ready cash, to answer all payments; which sum, in +Mr. Wood's money, would require twelve hundred horses to carry it. + +For my own part, I am already resolved what to do; I have a pretty good +shop of Irish stuffs and silks; and instead of taking Mr. Wood's bad +copper, I intend to truck with my neighbours, the butchers, and bakers, +and brewers, and the rest, goods for goods; and the little gold and +silver I have, I will keep by me, like my heart's blood, till better +times, or until I am just ready to starve; and then I will buy Mr. Wood's +money, as my father did the brass money in King James's time,[5] who could +buy ten pounds of it with a guinea; and I hope to get as much for a +pistole, and so purchase bread from those who will be such fools as to +sell it me. These halfpence, if they once pass, will soon be +counterfeited, because it may be cheaply done, the stuff is so base. The +Dutch, likewise, will probably do the same thing, and send them over to us +to pay for our goods; and Mr. Wood will never be at rest, but coin on: so +that in some years we shall have at least five times 108,000_l._ of this +lumber. Now the current money of this kingdom is not reckoned to be above +four hundred thousand pounds in all; and while there is a silver sixpence +left, these bloodsuckers will never be quiet. When once the kingdom is +reduced to such a condition, I will tell you what must be the end: the +gentlemen of estates will all turn off their tenants for want of payments, +because, as I told you before, the tenants are obliged by their leases to +pay sterling, which is lawful current money of England; then they will +turn their own farmers, as too many of them do already, run all into +sheep, where they can, keeping only such other cattle as are necessary; +then they will be their own merchants, and send their wool, and butter, +and hides, and linen beyond sea, for ready money, and wine, and spices, +and silks. They will keep only a few miserable cottagers; the farmers must +rob, or beg, or leave their country; the shopkeepers in this, and every +other town, must break and starve; for it is the landed man that maintains +the merchant, and shopkeeper, and handicraftsman. + +But when the 'squire turns farmer and merchant himself, all the good money +he gets from abroad he will hoard up to send for England, and keep some +poor tailor or weaver and the like in his own house, who will be glad to +get bread at any rate. + +I should never have done, if I were to tell you all the miseries that we +shall undergo, if we be so foolish and wicked as to take this cursed coin. +It would be very hard if all Ireland should be put into one scale, and +this sorry fellow, Wood, into the other; that Mr. Wood should weigh down +this whole kingdom, by which England gets above a million of good money +every year clear into their pockets; and that is more than the English do +by all the world besides. + +But your great comfort is, that as his Majesty's patent does not oblige +you to take this money, so the laws have not given the crown a power of +forcing the subject to take what money the King pleases; for then, by the +same reason, we might be bound to take pebble-stones, or cockle-shells, or +stamped leather, for current coin, if ever we should happen to live under +an ill prince; who might likewise, by the same power, make a guinea pass +for ten pounds, a shilling for twenty shillings, and so on; by which he +would, in a short time, get all the silver and gold of the kingdom into +his own hands, and leave us nothing but brass or leather, or what he +pleased. Neither is anything reckoned more cruel and oppressive in the +French government than their common practice of calling in all their +money, after they have sunk it very low, and then coining it anew at a +much higher value; which, however, is not the thousandth part so wicked as +this abominable project of Mr. Wood. For the French give their subjects +silver for silver, and gold for gold; but this fellow will not so much as +give us good brass or copper for our gold and silver, nor even a twelfth +part of their worth. Having said thus much, I will now go on to tell you +the judgment of some great lawyers in this matter, whom I fee'd on purpose +for your sakes, and got their opinions under their hands, that I might be +sure I went upon good grounds.... I will now, my dear friends, to save you +the trouble, set before you, in short, what the law obliges you to do, and +what it does not oblige you to. + +First, you are obliged to take all money in payments which is coined by +the King, and is of the English standard or weight, provided it be of gold +or silver. + +Secondly, you are not obliged to take any money which is not of gold or +silver; not only the halfpence or farthings of England, but of any other +country. And it is merely for convenience or ease, that you are content to +take them; because the custom of coining silver halfpence and farthings +has long been left off; I suppose on account of their being subject to be +lost. + +Thirdly, much less are you obliged to take those vile halfpence of the +same Wood, by which you must lose almost eleven pence in every shilling. +Therefore, my friends, stand to it one and all; refuse this filthy trash. +It is no treason to rebel against Mr. Wood. His Majesty in his patent, +obliges nobody to take these halfpence, our gracious prince has no such +ill-advisers about him; or, if he had, yet you see the laws have not left +it in the King's power to force us to take any coin but what is lawful, of +right standard, gold and silver. Therefore you have nothing to fear. + +And let me in the next place apply myself particularly to you who are the +poorer sort of tradesmen. Perhaps you may think you will not be so great +losers as the rich, if these halfpence should pass; because you seldom see +any silver, and your customers come to your shops or stalls with nothing +but brass, which you likewise find hard to be got. But you may take my +word, whenever this money gains footing among you, you will be utterly +undone. If you carry these halfpence to a shop for tobacco or brandy, or +any other thing that you want, the shopkeeper will advance his goods +accordingly, or else he must break, and leave the key under the door. "Do +you think I will sell you a yard of tenpenny stuff for twenty of Mr. +Wood's halfpence? No, not under two hundred at least; neither will I be at +the trouble of counting, but weigh them in a lump." I will tell you one +thing farther, that if Mr. Wood's project should take, it would ruin even +our beggars; for when I give a beggar a halfpenny, it will quench his +thirst, or go a good way to fill his belly; but the twelfth part of a +halfpenny will do him no more service than if I should give him three pins +out of my sleeve. + +In short, these halfpence are like "the accursed thing, which," as the +Scripture tells us, "the children of Israel were forbidden to touch." They +will run about like the plague, and destroy every one who lays his hand +upon them. I have heard scholars talk of a man who told the King, that he +had invented a way to torment people, by putting them into a bull of brass +with fire under it; but the prince put the projector first into it, to +make the experiment. This very much resembles the project of Mr. Wood; and +the like of this may probably be Mr. Wood's fate; that the brass he +contrived to torment this kingdom with, may prove his own torment, and his +destruction at last. + +N.B. The author of this paper is informed by persons, who have made it +their business to be exact in their observations on the true value of +these halfpence, that any person may expect to get a quart of twopenny ale +for thirty-six of them. + +I desire that all families may keep this paper carefully by them, to +refresh their memories whenever they shall have farther notice of Mr. +Wood's halfpence, or any other the like imposture. + + +SECOND LETTER. + +Walpole recommended his Majesty to compromise the grave issue which had +risen. An order was issued restricting the importation of Wood's copper +coin to the sum of 40,000_l._ instead of 108,000_l._, to be current only +amongst those who should be willing to accept them. But the dispute had +risen too high to admit of accommodation. The real grievance of this +measure lay rather in its principle than its immediate effects. The merits +and details of the question are now laid aside. Even Wood is almost +forgotten in the vehemence of rage, that a nation should be exposed to the +menaces or mercies of such an adventurer. + + +LETTER II. + +_To Mr. Harding, the Printer_, + +On occasion of a paragraph in his newspaper of August 1, 1724, relating to +Mr. Wood's halfpence. + + +_August 4, 1724._ + +In your Newsletter of the first instant, there is a paragraph, dated from +London, July 25, relating to Wood's halfpence; whereby it is plain, what I +foretold in my letter to the shopkeepers, &c., that this vile fellow would +never be at rest; and that the danger of our ruin approaches nearer; and +therefore the kingdom requires new and fresh warning. However, I take this +paragraph to be, in a great measure, an imposition upon the public; at +least I hope so, because I am informed that Mr. Wood is generally his own +newswriter. I cannot but observe from that paragraph, that this public +enemy of ours, not satisfied to ruin us with his trash, takes every +occasion to treat this kingdom with the utmost contempt. He represents +several of our merchants and traders, upon examination before a committee +of council, agreeing, that there was the utmost necessity of copper money +here, before his patent; so that several gentlemen have been forced to +tally with their workmen, and give them bits of cards sealed and +subscribed with their names. What then? If a physician prescribe to a +patient a dram of physic, shall a rascal apothecary cram him with a pound, +and mix it up with poison? And is not a landlord's hand and seal to his +own labourers a better security for five or ten shillings, than Wood's +brass, ten times below the real value, can be to the kingdom for a hundred +and eight thousand pounds? + +Who are these merchants and traders of Ireland that made this report of +the utmost necessity we are under for copper money? They are only a few +betrayers of their country, confederates with Wood, from whom they are to +purchase a great quantity of coin, perhaps at half the price that we are +to take it, and vend it among us to the ruin of the public, and their own +private advantages. Are not these excellent witnesses, upon whose +integrity the fate of the kingdom must depend, evidences in their own +cause, and sharers in this work of iniquity? + +If we could have deserved the liberty of coining for ourselves as we +formerly did--and why we have it not is everybody's wonder as well as +mine--ten thousand pounds might have been coined here in Dublin of only +one-fifth below the intrinsic value, and this sum, with the stock of +halfpence we then had, would have been sufficient. But Wood, by his +emissaries--enemies to God and this kingdom--has taken care to buy up as +many of our old halfpence as he could, and from thence the present want of +change arises; to remove which, by Mr. Wood's remedy, would be to cure a +scratch on the finger by cutting off the arm. But, supposing there were +not one farthing of change in the whole nation, I will maintain that +five-and-twenty thousand pounds would be a sum fully sufficient to answer +all our occasions. I am no inconsiderable shopkeeper in this town. I have +discoursed with several of my own and other trades, with many gentlemen +both of city and country, and also with great numbers of farmers, +cottagers, and labourers, who all agree that two shillings in change for +every family would be more than necessary in all dealings. Now, by the +largest computation--even before that grievous discouragement of +agriculture, which has so much lessened our numbers--the souls in this +kingdom are computed to be one million and a half; which allowing six to a +family, makes two hundred and fifty thousand families, and, consequently, +two shillings to each family will amount only to five-and-twenty thousand +pounds; whereas this honest, liberal hardwareman, Wood, would impose upon +us above four times that sum. Your paragraph relates further, that Sir +Isaac Newton reported an assay taken at the Tower of Wood's metal, by +which it appears, that Wood had in all respects performed his contract. +His contract!--With whom? Was it with the Parliament or people of Ireland? +Are not they to be the purchasers? But they detest, abhor, and reject it, +as corrupt, fraudulent, mingled with dirt and trash. Upon which he grows +angry, goes to law, and will impose his goods upon us by force. + +But your newsletter says, that an assay was made of the coin. How impudent +and insupportable is this! Wood takes care to coin a dozen or two +halfpence of good metal, sends them to the Tower, and they are approved; +and these must answer all that he has already coined, or shall coin for +the future. It is true, indeed, that a gentleman often sends to my shop +for a pattern of stuff; I cut it fairly off, and, if he likes it, he +comes, or sends, and compares the pattern with the whole piece, and +probably we come to a bargain. But if I were to buy a hundred sheep, and +the grazier should bring me one single wether, fat and well-fleeced, by +way of pattern, and expect the same price round for the whole hundred, +without suffering me to see them before he was paid, or giving me good +security to restore my money for those that were lean, or shorn, or +scabby, I would be none of his customer. I have heard of a man who had a +mind to sell his house, and therefore carried a piece of brick in his +pocket, which he showed as a pattern to encourage purchasers; and this is +directly the case in point with Mr. Wood's assay. + +The next part of the paragraph contains Mr. Wood's voluntary proposals for +preventing any further objections or apprehensions. + +His first proposal is, "That whereas he has already coined seventeen +thousand pounds, and has copper prepared to make it up forty thousand +pounds, he will be content to coin no more, unless the EXIGENCIES OF TRADE +REQUIRE IT, although his patent empowers him to coin a far greater +quantity." + +To which if I were to answer, it should be thus:--"Let Mr. Wood, and his +crew of founders and tinkers coin on, till there is not an old kettle +left in the kingdom,--let them coin old leather, tobacco-pipe clay, or the +dirt in the street, and call their trumpery by what name they please, from +a guinea to a farthing,--we are not under concern to know how he and his +tribe of accomplices think fit to employ themselves. But I hope and trust, +that we are all to a man fully determined to have nothing to do with him +or his ware." + +The King has given him a patent to coin halfpence, but has not obliged us +to take them; and I have already shown, in my letter to the shopkeepers, +&c., that the law has not left it in the power of the prerogative to +compel the subject to take any money besides gold and silver, of the right +sterling and standard. + +Wood further proposes, if I understand him right--for his expressions are +dubious--that he will not coin above forty thousand pounds, unless the +exigencies of trade require it. + +First, I observe, that this sum of forty thousand pounds is almost double +to what I proved to be sufficient for the whole kingdom, although we had +not one of our old halfpence left. + +Again, I ask, who is to be judge when the exigencies of trade require it? +Without doubt he means himself; for as to us of this poor kingdom, who +must be utterly ruined if this project should succeed, we were never once +consulted till the matter was over, and he will judge of our exigencies by +his own. Neither will these ever be at an end till he and his accomplices +think they have enough; and it now appears, that he will not be content +with all our gold and silver, but intends to buy up our goods and +manufactures with the same coin.... His last proposal, being of a peculiar +strain and nature, deserves to be very particularly considered, both on +account of the matter and the style. It is as follows:-- + +"Lastly, in consideration of the direful apprehensions which prevail in +Ireland, that Mr. Wood will, by such coinage, drain them of their gold and +silver, he proposes to take their manufactures in exchange, and that no +person be obliged to receive more than fivepence halfpenny at one +payment." + +First, observe this little impudent hardwareman turning into ridicule the +direful apprehensions of a whole kingdom, priding himself as the cause of +them, and daring to prescribe what no King of England ever attempted, how +far a whole nation shall be obliged to take his brass coin. And he has +reason to insult; for sure there was never an example in history of a +great kingdom kept in awe for above a year, in daily dread of utter +destruction--not by a powerful invader, at the head of twenty thousand +men--not by a plague or a famine--not by a tyrannical prince (for we never +had one more gracious), or a corrupt administration--but by one single, +diminutive, insignificant mechanic.... His proposals conclude with perfect +high treason. He promises, that no person shall be obliged to receive more +than fivepence halfpenny of his coin in one payment. By which it is plain, +that he pretends to oblige every subject in this kingdom to take so much +in every payment if it be offered; whereas his patent obliges no man, nor +can the prerogative, by law, claim such a power, as I have often observed; +so that here Mr. Wood takes upon him the entire legislature, and an +absolute dominion over the properties of the whole nation. + +Good God! who are this wretch's advisers? Who are his supporters, +abettors, encouragers, or sharers? Mr. Wood will oblige me to take +fivepence halfpenny of his brass in every payment; and I will shoot Mr. +Wood and his deputies through the head, like highwaymen or housebreakers, +if they dare to force one farthing of their coin on me in the payment of a +hundred pounds. It is no loss of honour to submit it to the lion; but who, +with the figure of a man, can think with patience of being devoured alive +by a rat? He has laid a tax upon the people of Ireland of seventeen +shillings, at least, in the pound; a tax, I say, not only upon lands, but +interest-money, goods, manufactures, the hire of handicraftsmen, +labourers, and servants. + +Shopkeepers, look to yourselves!--Wood will oblige and force you to take +fivepence halfpenny of his trash in every payment, and many of you receive +twenty, thirty, forty payments in one day, or else you can hardly find +bread. And, pray, consider how much that will amount to in a year. Twenty +times fivepence halfpenny is nine shillings and twopence, which is above a +hundred and sixty pounds a year; wherein you will be losers of at least +one hundred and forty pounds by taking your payments in his money. If any +of you be content to deal with Mr. Wood on such conditions, you may; but, +for my own particular, let his money perish with him! If the famous Mr. +Hampden rather chose to go to prison than pay a few shillings to King +Charles I. without authority of Parliament, I will rather choose to be +hanged than have all my substance taxed at seventeen shillings in the +pound, at the arbitrary will and pleasure of the venerable Mr. Wood. + +The paragraph concludes thus:--"N.B." that is to say, _nota bene_, or +_mark well_, "No evidence appeared from Ireland, or elsewhere, to prove +the mischiefs complained of, or any abuses whatsoever committed, in the +execution of the said grant." + +The impudence of this remark exceeds all that went before. First, the +House of Commons in Ireland, which represents the whole people of the +kingdom, and, secondly, the Privy-council, addressed his Majesty against +these halfpence. What could be done more to express the universal sense of +the nation? If his copper were diamonds, and the kingdom were entirely +against it, would not that be sufficient to reject it? Must a committee of +the whole House of Commons, and our whole Privy-council, go over to argue +_pro_ and _con_ with Mr. Wood? To what end did the King give his patent +for coining halfpence for Ireland? Was it not because it was represented +to his sacred Majesty, that such a coinage would be of advantage to the +good of this kingdom, and of all his subjects here? It is to the +patentee's peril if this representation be false, and the execution of his +patent be fraudulent and corrupt. Is he so wicked and foolish to think, +that his patent was given him to ruin a million and a half of people, that +he might be a gainer of three or four score thousand pounds to himself? +Before he was at the charge of passing a patent, much more of raking up +so much filthy dross, and stamping it with his Majesty's image and +superscription, should he not first, in common sense, in common equity, +and common manners, have consulted the principal party concerned,--that is +to say, the people of the kingdom, the House of Lords, or Commons, or the +Privy-council? If any foreigner should ask us, whose image and +superscription there is on Wood's coin? we should be ashamed to tell him +it was Cæsar's. In that great want of copper halfpence which he alleges we +were, our city set up our Cæsar's statue[6] in excellent copper, at an +expense that is equal to thirty thousand pounds of his coin, and we will +not receive his image in worse metal. + +I observe many of our people putting a melancholy case on this subject. +"It is true," say they, "we are all undone if Wood's halfpence must pass; +but what shall we do if his Majesty puts out a proclamation, commanding us +to take them?" This has often been dinned in my ears; but I desire my +countrymen to be assured that there is nothing in it. The King never +issues out a proclamation but to enjoin what the law permits him. He will +not issue out a proclamation against law; or, if such a thing should +happen by a mistake, we are no more obliged to obey it, than to run our +heads into the fire. + +Besides, his Majesty will never command us by a proclamation, what he does +not offer to command us in the patent itself. + +There he leaves it to our discretion, so that our destruction must be +entirely owing to ourselves; therefore, let no man be afraid of a +proclamation which will never be granted, and if it should, yet, upon this +occasion, will be of no force. + +The King's revenues here are near four hundred thousand pounds a-year. Can +you think his ministers will advise him to take them in Wood's brass, +which will reduce the value to fifty thousand pounds? England gets a +million sterling by this nation; which, if this project goes on, will be +almost reduced to nothing. And do you think those who live in England upon +Irish estates, will be content to take an eight or tenth part by being +paid in Wood's dross? + +If Wood and his confederates were not convinced of our stupidity, they +never would have attempted so audacious an enterprise. He now sees a +spirit has been raised against him, and he only watches till it begin to +flag: he goes about watching when to devour us. He hopes we shall be weary +of contending with him; and at last, out of ignorance or fear, or of +being perfectly tired with opposition, we shall be forced to yield; and +therefore, I confess, it is my chief endeavour to keep up your spirits and +resentments. If I tell you, "there is a precipice under you, and that if +you go forward you will certainly break your necks;" if I point to it +before your eyes, must I be at the trouble of repeating it every morning? +Are our people's hearts waxed gross? Are their ears dull of hearing? And +have they closed their eyes? I fear there are some few vipers among us, +who for ten or twenty pounds' gain would sell all their souls and their +country; although at last it should end in their own ruin, as well as +ours. Be not like "the deaf adder, who refuseth to hear the voice of the +charmer, charm he never so wisely." + +Although my letter be directed to you, Mr. Harding, yet I intend it for +all my countrymen. I have no interest in this affair, but what is common +to the public. I can live better than many others; I have some gold and +silver by me, and a shop well furnished; and shall be able to make a shift +when many of my betters are starving. But I am grieved to see the coldness +and indifference of many people with whom I discourse. Some are afraid of +a proclamation; others shrug up their shoulders, and cry, "What would you +have us to do?" Some give out there is no danger at all; others are +comforted, that it will be a common calamity, and they shall fare no worse +than their neighbours. Will a man who hears midnight robbers at his door, +get out of bed, and raise his whole family for a common defence; and shall +a whole kingdom lie in a lethargy, while Mr. Wood comes, at the head of +his confederates, to rob them of all they have, to ruin us and our +posterity for ever? If a highwayman meets you on the road, you give him +your money to save your life; but, God be thanked, Mr. Wood cannot touch a +hair of your heads. You have all the laws of God and man on your side; +when he or his accomplices offer you his dross, it is but saying no, and +you are safe. If a madman should come into my shop with a handful of dirt +raked out of the kennel, and offer it in payment for ten yards of stuff, I +would pity or laugh at him; or, if his behaviour deserved it, kick him out +of my doors. And if Mr. Wood comes to demand my gold and silver, or +commodities for which I have paid my gold and silver, in exchange for his +trash, can he deserve or expect better treatment? + +When the evil day is come (if it must come), let us mark and observe those +who persevere to offer these halfpence in payment. Let their names and +trades, and places of abode, be made public, that every one may be aware +of them, as betrayers of their country, and confederates with Mr. Wood. +Let them be watched at markets and fairs; and let the first honest +discoverer give the word about that Mr. Wood's halfpence have been +offered, and caution the poor innocent people not to receive them. + +Perhaps I have been too tedious, but there would never be an end if I +attempted to say all that this melancholy subject will bear. I will +conclude with humbly offering one proposal; which, if it were put into +practice, would blow up this destructive project at once. Let some +skilful, judicious pen draw up an advertisement to the following +purpose:-- + +"Whereas one William Wood, hardwareman, now or lately sojourning in the +city of London, has, by many misrepresentations, procured a patent for +coining a hundred and eight thousand pounds in copper halfpence for this +kingdom, which is a sum five times greater than our occasions require: And +whereas it is notorious, that the said Wood has coined his halfpence of +such base metal and false weight, that they are at least six parts in +seven below the real value: And whereas we have reason to apprehend, that +the said Wood may at any time hereafter clandestinely coin as many more +halfpence as he pleases: And whereas the said patent neither does, nor +can, oblige his Majesty's subjects to receive the said halfpence in any +payment, but leaves it to their voluntary choice; because by law the +subject cannot be obliged to take any money, except gold or silver: And +whereas, contrary to the letter and meaning of the said patent, the said +Wood has declared that every person shall be obliged to take fivepence +halfpenny of his coin in every payment: And whereas the House of Commons +and Privy-council have severally addressed his most sacred Majesty, +representing the ill consequences which the said coinage would have upon +this kingdom: And lastly, whereas it is universally agreed, that the whole +nation to a man (except Mr. Wood and his confederates) are in the utmost +apprehensions of the ruinous consequences that must follow from the said +coinage; Therefore, we, whose names are underwritten, being persons of +considerable estates in this kingdom, and residers therein, do unanimously +resolve and declare, that we will never receive one farthing or halfpenny +of the said Wood's coining; and that we will direct all our tenants to +refuse the said coin from any person whatsoever; of which, that they may +not be ignorant, we have sent them a copy of this advertisement, to be +read to them by our stewards, receivers," &c. + +I could wish, that a paper of this nature might be drawn up, and signed +by two or three hundred principal gentlemen of this kingdom; and printed +copies thereof sent to their several tenants. I am deceived if anything +could sooner defeat this execrable design of Wood and his accomplices. +This would immediately give the alarm, and set the kingdom on their guard; +this would give courage to the meanest tenant and cottager. + +"How long, O Lord, righteous and true," &c. + +I must tell you in particular, Mr. Harding, that you are much to blame. +Several hundred persons have inquired at your house for my "Letter to the +Shopkeepers," &c., and you had none to sell them. Pray keep yourself +provided with that letter and with this; you have got very well by the +former; but I did not then write for your sake, any more than I do now. +Pray advertise both in every newspaper; and let it not be your fault or +mine, if our countrymen will not take warning. I desire you likewise to +sell them as cheap as you can. + + I am your servant, + M. B. + + +THIRD LETTER. + +The object of this Letter is no longer to argue against a scheme which is +universally condemned. The independence of Ireland is what he insists on: +and the duty of her leading men is to assert that independence. In this he +assumed a freedom of spirit which did not really exist. The sketch was +skilfully drawn, so as to prepare men for a new appeal, and was far from +being the last word. Two months after the fourth and greatest Letter +appeared. + + +LETTER III. + +_Some observations on a paper, called, The report of the committee of the +most honourable the Privy-council in England, relating to Wood's +halfpence._ + +TO THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY OF THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND. + + +_August 25th, 1724._ + +Having already written two letters to the people of my own level and +condition, and having now very pressing occasion for writing a third, I +thought I could not more properly address it than to your lordships and +worships. + +The occasion is this. A printed paper was sent to me on the 18th instant, +entitled, "A Report of the Committee of the Lords of his Majesty's Most +Honourable Privy-council in England, relating to Mr. Wood's Halfpence and +Farthings." + +There is no mention made where the paper was printed, but I suppose it to +have been in Dublin; and I have been told, that the copy did not come over +in the _Gazette_, but in the _London Journal_, or some other print of no +authority or consequence. And, for anything that legally appears to the +contrary, it may be a contrivance to fright us; or a project of some +printer, who has a mind to make a penny by publishing something upon a +subject which now employs all our thoughts in this kingdom. Mr. Wood, in +publishing this paper, would insinuate to the world, as if the Committee +had a greater concern for his credit, and private emolument, than for the +honour of the Privy-council and both Houses of Parliament here, and for +the quiet and welfare of this whole kingdom; for it seems intended as a +vindication of Mr. Wood, not without several severe reflections on the +Houses of Lords and Commons of Ireland. The whole is indeed written with +the turn and air of a pamphlet; as if it were a dispute between William +Wood on the one part, and the Lords Justices, Privy-council, and both +Houses of Parliament, on the other; the design of it being to clear +William Wood, and to charge the other side with casting rash and +groundless aspersions upon him. + +But, if it be really what the title imputes, Mr. Wood has treated the +Committee with great rudeness, by publishing an act of theirs in so +unbecoming a manner, without their leave, and before it was communicated +to the Government and Privy-council of Ireland, to whom the Committee +advised that it should be transmitted. + +But, with all deference be it spoken, I do not conceive that a Report of a +Committee of the Council in England is hitherto a law in either kingdom; +and, until any point is determined to be a law, it remains disputable by +every subject. This, may it please your lords and worships, may seem a +strange way of discoursing in an illiterate shopkeeper. I have endeavoured +(although without the help of books) to improve that small portion of +reason God has been pleased to give me; and when reason plainly appears +before me, I cannot turn away my head from it. Thus, for instance, if any +lawyer should tell me that such a point were law, from which many gross +palpable absurdities must follow, I could not believe him. If Sir Edward +Coke should positively assert (which he nowhere does, but the direct +contrary) "that a limited prince could, by his prerogative, oblige his +subjects to take half an ounce of lead, stamped with his image, for twenty +shillings in gold," I should swear he was deceived, or a deceiver; because +a power like that would leave the whole lives and fortunes of the people +entirely at the mercy of the monarch; yet this in effect is what Wood has +advanced in some of his papers, and what suspicious people may possibly +apprehend from some passages in what is called the Report. + +That paper mentions such persons to have been examined, who were desirous +and willing to be heard upon this subject. I am told they were four in +all--Coleby, Brown, Mr. Finley the banker, and one more, whose name I know +not. The first of these was tried for robbing the Treasury in Ireland; +and, though he was acquited for want of legal proof, yet every person in +the Court believed him to be guilty. + +The second stands recorded in the votes of the House of Commons, for +endeavouring, by perjury and subornation, to take away the life of John +Bingham, Esq. + +But, since I have gone so far as to mention particular persons, it may be +some satisfaction to know who is this Wood himself, that has the honour to +have a whole kingdom at his mercy for almost two years together. I find he +is in the patent entitled _esquire_, although he were understood to be +only a hardware-man, and so I have been bold to call him in my former +letters; however a _'squire_ he is, not only by virtue of his patent, but +by having been a collector in Shropshire; where, pretending to have been +robbed, and suing the county, he was cast, and, for the infamy of the +fact, lost his employment. I have heard another story of this 'Squire +Wood, from a very honourable lady, that one Hamilton told her. Hamilton +was sent for, six years ago, by Sir Isaac Newton, to try the coinage of +four men, who then solicited a patent for coining halfpence for Ireland; +their names were Wood, Costor, Eliston, and Parker. Parker made the +fairest offer, and Wood the worst; for his coin was three halfpence in a +pound weight less value than the other. By which it is plain, with what +intentions he solicited his patent; but not so plain how he obtained it. + +It is alleged in the said paper, called the Report, "that upon repeated +orders from a secretary of state, for sending over such papers and +witnesses as should be thought proper to support the objections made +against the patent by both Houses of Parliament, the Lord-Lieutenant +represented the great difficulty he found himself in, to comply with these +orders: that none of the principal members of both Houses, who were in the +King's service or council, would take upon them to advise, how any +material, person, or papers, might be sent over on this occasion," &c. And +this is often repeated, and represented as a proceeding that seems very +extraordinary; and that in a matter which had raised so great a clamour +in Ireland, no person could be prevailed upon to come over from Ireland in +support of the united sense of both Houses of Parliament in Ireland; +especially, that the chief difficulty should arise from a general +apprehension of a miscarriage, in an inquiry before his Majesty, or in a +proceeding by due course of law, in a case where both Houses of Parliament +had declared themselves so fully convinced, and satisfied upon evidence +and examinations taken in the most solemn manner. + +How shall I, a poor ignorant shopkeeper, utterly unskilled in law, be able +to answer so weighty an objection? I will try what can be done by plain +reason, unassisted by art, cunning, or eloquence. + +In my humble opinion, the Committee of Council has already prejudged the +whole case, by calling the united sense of both Houses of Parliament in +Ireland "a universal clamour." Here the addresses of the Lords and Commons +of Ireland, against a ruinous destructive project of an obscure single +undertaker, is called "a clamour." I desire to know, how such a style +would be resented in England from a Committee of Council there to a +Parliament; and how many impeachments would follow upon it? But supposing +the appellation to be proper, I never heard of a wise minister who +despised the universal clamour of a people; and if that clamour can be +quieted by disappointing the fraudulent practice of a single person, the +purchase is not exorbitant. + +But, in answer to this objection; first, it is manifest, that if this +coinage had been in Ireland, with such limitations as have been formerly +specified in other patents, and granted to persons of this kingdom, or +even of England, able to give sufficient security, few or no +inconveniences could have happened which might not have been immediately +remedied.... + +Put the case that the two Houses of Lords and Commons of England, and the +Privy-council there should address his Majesty to recall a patent, from +whence they apprehend the most ruinous consequences to the whole kingdom; +and to make it stronger, if possible, that the whole nation almost to a +man, should thereupon discover "the most dismal apprehensions," as Mr. +Wood styles them; would his Majesty debate half an hour what he had to do? + +Would any minister dare to advise him against recalling such a patent? Or +would the matter be referred to the Privy-council, or to Westminster Hall; +the two Houses of Parliament plaintiffs, and William Wood defendant? And +is there even the smallest difference between the two cases? Were not the +people of Ireland born as free as those of England? How have they +forfeited their freedom? Is not their Parliament as fair a representative +of the people as that of England? And has not their Privy-council as +great, or a greater share in the administration of public affairs? Are not +they subjects of the same King? Does not the same sun shine upon them? And +have they not the same God for their protector? Am I a freeman in England, +and do I become a slave in six hours by crossing the Channel? No wonder, +then, if the boldest persons were cautious to interpose in a matter +already determined by the whole voice of the nation, or to presume to +represent the representatives of the kingdom; and were justly apprehensive +of meeting such a treatment as they would deserve at the next session. It +would seem very extraordinary, if any inferior court in England should +take a great matter out of the hands of the high court of Parliament +during a prorogation, and decide it against the opinion of both Houses. It +happens so, however, that although no persons were so bold as to go over +as evidences, to prove the truth of the objections made against this +patent by the high court of Parliament here, yet these objections stand +good, notwithstanding the answers made by Mr. Wood and his counsel. + +The Report says, "That upon an assay made of the fineness, weight, and +value of this copper, it exceeded in every article." This is possible +enough in the pieces on which the assay was made, but Wood must have +failed very much in point of dexterity, if he had not taken care to +provide a sufficient quantity of such halfpence as would bear the trial, +which he was able to do, although they were taken out of several parcels, +since it is now plain that the bias of favour has been wholly on his +side.... + +As to what is alleged, that these halfpence far exceed the like coinage +for Ireland in the reigns of his Majesty's predecessors, there cannot well +be a more exceptional way of arguing, although the fact were true; which, +however, is altogether mistaken, not by any fault in the Committee, but by +the fraud and imposition of Wood, who certainly produced the worst +patterns he could find; such as were coined in small numbers by +permissions to private men, as butchers' halfpence, black dogs, and others +the like; or perhaps the small St. Patrick's coin which passes now for a +farthing, or at best some of the smallest raps of the latest kind. For I +have now by me halfpence coined in the year 1680, by virtue of the patent +granted to my Lord Dartmouth, which was renewed to Knox, and they are +heavier by a ninth part than those of Wood, and of much better metal, and +the great St. Patrick's halfpence are yet larger than either. + +But what is all this to the present debate? + +If, under the various exigencies of former times, by wars, rebellions, and +insurrections, the Kings of England were sometimes forced to pay their +armies here with mixed or base money, God forbid that the necessities of +turbulent times should be a precedent for times of peace, and order, and +settlement. + +In the patent above-mentioned, granted to Lord Dartmouth in the reign of +King Charles II., and renewed to Knox, the securities given into the +exchequer, obliging the patentee to receive his money back upon every +demand, were an effectual remedy against all inconveniences, and the +copper was coined in our own kingdom; so that we were in no danger to +purchase it with the loss of all our silver and gold carried over to +another, nor to be at the trouble of going to England for the redressing +of any abuse.... + +Among other clauses mentioned in this patent, to show how advantageous it +is to Ireland, there is one which seems to be of a singular nature: "That +the patentee shall be obliged, during his term, to pay eight hundred +pounds a year to the Crown, and two hundred pounds a year to the +comptroller." I have heard, indeed, that the King's council do always +consider, in the passing of a patent, whether it will be of advantage to +the Crown; but I have likewise heard, that it is at the same time +considered whether passing of it may be injurious to any other persons or +bodies politic. However, although the attorney and solicitor be servants +to the King, and therefore bound to consult his Majesty's interest, yet I +am under some doubt whether eight hundred pounds a year to the Crown would +be equivalent to the ruin of a kingdom. It would be far better for us to +have paid eight thousand pounds a-year into his Majesty's coffers, in the +midst of all our taxes (which, in proportion, are greater in this kingdom +than ever they were in England, even during the war), than purchase such +an addition to the revenue at the price of our utter undoing. But here it +is plain that fourteen thousand pounds are to be paid by Wood, only as a +small circumstantial charge for the purchase of his patent. What were his +other visible costs I know not, and what were his latent is variously +conjectured, but he must surely be a man of some wonderful merit. Has he +saved any other kingdom at his own expense, to give him a title of +reimbursing himself by the destruction of ours? Has he discovered the +longitude or the universal medicine? No; but he has found the +philosopher's stone after a new manner, by debasing copper, and resolving +to force it upon us for gold. + +When the two Houses represented to his Majesty that the patent to Wood was +obtained in a clandestine manner, surely the Committee could not think the +Parliament would insinuate, that it had not passed in the common forms, +and run through every office where fees and perquisites were due. They +knew very well, that persons in places were no enemies to grants; and that +the officers of the Crown could not be kept in the dark. But the late +Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland[7] affirmed it was a secret to him; and who +will doubt his veracity, especially when he swore to a person of quality, +from whom I had it, "that Ireland should never be troubled with these +halfpence"? It was a secret to the people of Ireland, who were to be the +only sufferers; and those who but knew the state of the kingdom, and were +most able to advise in such an affair, were wholly strangers to it. + +It is allowed by the Report, that this patent was passed without the +knowledge of the chief governor or officers of Ireland; and it is there +elaborately shown, that former patents have passed in the same manner, and +are good in law. I shall not dispute legality of patents, but am ready to +suppose it in his Majesty's power to grant a patent for stamping round +bits of copper to every subject he has. + +Therefore, to lay aside the point of law, I would only put the question, +whether, in reason and justice, it would not have been proper, in an +affair upon which the welfare of this depends, that the said King should +have received timely notice; and the matter not be carried on between the +patentee, and the officers of the Crown, who were to be the only gainers +by it.... + +But suppose there were not one single halfpenny of copper coin in this +whole kingdom (which Mr. Wood seems to intend, unless we will come to his +terms, as appears by employing his emissaries to buy up our old ones at a +penny in the shilling more than they pass for), it could not be any real +evil to us, although it might be some inconvenience. We have many sorts of +small silver coins, to which they are strangers in England; such as the +French threepences, fourpence-halfpennies, and eightpence-farthings, the +Scotch fivepences and tenpences, besides their twenty-pences and +three-and-four-pences, by which we are able to make change to a halfpenny +of almost any piece of gold and silver; and if we are driven to the +expedient of a sealed card, with the little gold and silver still +remaining, it will, I suppose, be somewhat better, than to have nothing +left, but Wood's adulterated copper, which he is neither obliged by his +patent, nor HITHERTO able by his estate, to make good.... + +The sum of the whole is this. The Committee advises the King to send +immediate orders to all his officers here, that Wood's coin be suffered +and permitted, without any let, suit, trouble, &c., to pass and be +received as current money, by such as shall be willing to receive the +same. It is probable that the first willing receivers may be those who +must receive it whether they will or not, at least under the penalty of +losing an office. But the landed undepending men, the merchants, the +shopkeepers, and bulk of the people, I hope and am almost confident, will +never receive it. What must the consequence be? The owners will sell it +for as much as they can get. + +Wood's halfpence will come to be offered for six a penny (yet then he will +be a sufficient gainer), and the necessary receivers will be losers of +two-thirds in their salaries or pay. + +I am very sensible that such a work as I have undertaken might have +worthily employed a much better pen; but when a house is attempted to be +robbed, it often happens the weakest in the family runs first to the +door. All the assistance I had were some informations from an eminent +person; whereof I am afraid I have spoiled a few, by endeavouring to make +them of a piece with my own productions, and the rest I was not able to +manage. I was in the case of David, who could not move in the armour of +Saul; and therefore I chose to attack this uncircumcised Philistine (Wood, +I mean) with a sling and a stone. And I may say, for Wood's honour, as +well as my own, that he resembles Goliah in many circumstances very +applicable to the present purpose; for Goliah had "a helmet of brass upon +his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat +was five thousand shekels of brass; and he had greaves of brass upon his +legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders." + +In short, he was like Mr. Wood, all over brass, and he defied the armies +of the living God. Goliah's conditions of combat were likewise the same +with those of Wood's, "If he prevail against us, then shall we be his +servants." But if it happens that I prevail over him, I renounce the other +part of the condition: "He shall never be a servant of mine; for I do not +think him fit to be trusted in any honest man's shop." + + +FOURTH LETTER. + +Ireland is here summoned to assert her independence in the indignant voice +of a nation that has borne the yoke of slavery far too long. Every line in +this letter is instinct with life, and thrilling with sarcastic force. No +more waste of words. The question is simply one of might against right: as +old as human nature, but never brought into shorter compass. The printer +of this letter was thrown into prison, as if to shame the undoubted author +into surrender. Ireland was now under a new rule, the refined and +cultivated Carteret was appointed Lord-Lieutenant in 1724. Swift used the +privilege of an old friend in writing to him freely on the subject of the +coinage. He was sorry to see his friend used as the tool of the +Government, which occasioned the outburst, "What in God's name do _you_ +here? Get you gone, and send us our boobies again." + + +LETTER IV. + +_To the whole People of Ireland._ + + +_October 23rd, 1724._ + +MY DEAR COUNTRYMEN, + +Having already written three letters upon so disagreeable a subject as Mr. +Wood and his halfpence, I conceived my task was at an end; but I find +that cordials must be frequently applied to weak constitutions, political +as well as natural. A people long used to hardships lose by degrees the +very notions of liberty. They look upon themselves as creatures at mercy, +and that all impositions, laid on them by a stronger hand, are, in the +phrase of the Report, legal and obligatory. Hence proceed that poverty and +lowness of spirit, to which a kingdom may be subject, as well as a +particular person. And when Esau came fainting from the field at the point +to die, it is no wonder that he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. +I thought I had sufficiently shown, to all who could want instruction, by +what methods they might safely proceed, wherever this coin should be +offered to them; and, I believe, there has not been, for many ages, an +example of any kingdom so firmly united in a point of great importance, as +this of ours is at present against that detestable fraud. But, however, it +so happens, that some weak people begin to be alarmed anew by rumours +industriously spread. Wood prescribes to the newsmongers in London what +they are to write. In one of their papers, published here by some obscure +printer, and certainly with a bad design, we are told, "That the Papists +in Ireland have entered into an association against his coin," although it +be notoriously known, that they never once offered to stir in the matter; +so that the two Houses of Parliament, the Privy-council, the great number +of corporations, the Lord Mayor and aldermen of Dublin, the grand juries, +and principal gentlemen of several counties, are stigmatized in a lump +under the name of "Papists." This impostor and his crew do likewise give +out, that, by refusing to receive his dross for sterling, we "dispute the +King's prerogative, are grown ripe for rebellion, and ready to shake off +the dependency of Ireland upon the crown of England." + +To countenance which reports, he has published a paragraph in another +newspaper, to let us know, that "the Lord-Lieutenant is ordered to come +over immediately to settle his halfpence." + +I entreat you, my dear countrymen, not to be under the least concern upon +these and the like rumours, which are no more than the last howls of a dog +dissected alive, as I hope he has sufficiently been. These calumnies are +the only reserve that is left him. For surely our continued and (almost) +unexampled loyalty, will never be called in question, for not suffering +ourselves to be robbed of all that we have by one obscure ironmonger. + +As to disputing the King's prerogative, give me leave to explain, to those +who are ignorant, what the meaning of that word _prerogative_ is. + +The Kings of these realms enjoy several powers, wherein the laws have not +interposed. So, they can make war and peace without the consent of +Parliament--and this is a very great prerogative; but if the Parliament +does not approve of the war, the King must bear the charge of it out of +his own purse--and this is a great check on the crown. + +So, the King has a prerogative to coin money without consent of +Parliament; but he cannot compel the subject to take that money, except it +be sterling gold or silver, because herein he is limited by law. Some +princes have, indeed, extended their prerogative farther than the law +allowed them; wherein, however, the lawyers of succeeding ages, as fond as +they are of precedents, have never dared to justify them. But, to say the +truth, it is only of late times that prerogative has been fixed and +ascertained; for, whoever reads the history of England will find, that +some former Kings, and those none of the worst, have, upon several +occasions, ventured to control the laws, with very little ceremony or +scruple, even later than the days of Queen Elizabeth. In her reign, that +pernicious counsel of sending base money hither, very narrowly failed of +losing the kingdom--being complained of by the lord-deputy, the council, +and the whole body of the English here; so that, soon after her death, it +was recalled by her successor, and lawful money paid in exchange. + +Having thus given you some notion of what is meant by "the King's +prerogative," as far as a tradesman can be thought capable of explaining +it, I will only add the opinion of the great Lord Bacon: "That, as God +governs the world by the settled laws of nature, which He has made, and +never transcends those laws but upon high important occasions, so among +earthly princes, those are the wisest and the best, who govern by the +known laws of the country, and seldomest make use of their prerogative." + +Now here you may see, that the vile accusation of Wood and his +accomplices, charging us with disputing the King's prerogative by refusing +his brass, can have no place--because compelling the subject to take any +coin which is not sterling, is no part of the King's prerogative, and I am +very confident, if it were so, we should be the last of his people to +dispute it; as well from that inviolable loyalty we have always paid to +his Majesty, as from the treatment we might, in such a case, justly expect +from some, who seem to think we have neither common sense nor common +senses. But, God be thanked, the best of them are only our +fellow-subjects, and not our masters. One great merit I am sure we have, +which those of English birth can have no pretence to--that our ancestors +reduced this kingdom to the obedience of England; for which we have been +rewarded with a worse climate--the privilege of being governed by laws to +which we do not consent--a ruined trade--a House of Peers without +jurisdiction--almost an incapacity for all employments--and the dread of +Wood's halfpence. + +But we are so far from disputing the King's prerogative in coining, that +we own he has power to give a patent to any man for selling his royal +image and superscription upon whatever materials he pleases, and liberty +to the patentee to offer them in any country from England to Japan; only +attended with one small limitation--that nobody alive is obliged to take +them.... + +Let me now say something concerning the other great cause of some people's +fear, as Wood has taught the London newswriter to express it, that his +excellency the Lord-Lieutenant is coming over to settle Wood's halfpence. +We know very well, that the Lord-Lieutenants for several years past, have +not thought this kingdom worthy the honour of their residence longer than +was absolutely necessary for the King's business, which, consequently, +wanted no speed in the despatch. And therefore it naturally fell into +most men's thoughts, that a new governor, coming at an unusual time, must +portend some unusual business to be done; especially if the common report +be true, that the Parliament, prorogued to I know not when, is, by a new +summons, revoking that prorogation, to assemble soon after the arrival; +for which extraordinary proceeding, the lawyers on the other side the +water have, by great good fortune, found two precedents. + +All this being granted, it can never enter into my head, that so little a +creature as Wood could find credit enough with the King and his ministers, +to have the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland sent hither in a hurry upon his +errand. + +For, let us take the whole matter nakedly as it lies before us, without +the refinements of some people, with which we have nothing to do. + +Here is a patent granted under the great seal of England, upon false +suggestions, to one William Wood for coining copper halfpence for Ireland. +The Parliament here, upon apprehensions of the worst consequences from the +said patent, address the King to have it recalled. This is refused; and a +Committee of the Privy-council report to his Majesty, that Wood has +performed the conditions of his patent. He then is left to do the best he +can with his halfpence, no man being obliged to receive them; the people +here, being likewise left to themselves, unite as one man, resolving they +will have nothing to do with his ware. + +By this plain account of the fact it is manifest, that the King and his +ministry are wholly out of the case, and the matter is left to be disputed +between him and us. Will any man, therefore, attempt to persuade me, that +a Lord-Lieutenant is to be despatched over in great haste before the +ordinary time, and a Parliament summoned by anticipating a prorogation, +merely to put a hundred thousand pounds into the pocket of a sharper by +the ruin of a most loyal kingdom? + +But, supposing all this to be true, by what arguments could a +Lord-Lieutenant prevail on the same Parliament, which addressed with so +much zeal and earnestness against this evil, to pass it into a law? I am +sure their opinion of Wood and his project is not mended since their last +prorogation; and, supposing those methods should be used, which detractors +tell us have been sometimes put in practice for gaining votes, it is well +known, that, in this kingdom, there are few employments to be given; and, +if there were more, it is as well known to whose share they must fall. +But, because great numbers of you are altogether ignorant of the affairs +of your country, I will tell you some reasons why there are so few +employments to be disposed of in this kingdom. All considerable offices +for life are here possessed by those to whom the reversions were granted; +and these have been generally followers of the chief governors, or persons +who had interest in the Court of England. So, the Lord Berkeley of +Stratton holds that great office of Master of the rolls; the Lord +Palmerstown is first remembrancer, worth near 2000_l._ per annum. One +Doddington, secretary to the Earl of Pembroke, begged the reversion of +clerk of the pells, worth 2500_l._ a-year, which he now enjoys by the +death of the Lord Newtown. Mr. Southwell is secretary of State, and the +Earl of Burlington lord high treasurer of Ireland by inheritance. These +are only a few among many others which I have been told of, but cannot +remember. Nay, the reversion of several employments, during pleasure, is +granted the same way. This, among many others, is a circumstance, whereby +the kingdom of Ireland is distinguished from all other nations upon earth; +and makes it so difficult an affair to get into a civil employ, that Mr. +Addison was forced to purchase an old obscure place, called keeper of the +records in Bermingham's Tower, of 10_l._ a year, and to get a salary of +400_l._ annexed to it, though all the records there are not worth +half-a-crown, either for curiosity or use. And we lately saw a favourite +secretary descend to be master of the revels,[8] which, by his credit and +extortion, he has made pretty considerable. I say nothing of the +under-treasurership, worth about 9000_l._ a year, nor of the commissioners +of the revenue, four of whom generally live in England, for I think none +of these are granted in reversion; but the jest is, that I have known, +upon occasion, some of these absent officers as keen against the interest +of Ireland, as if they had never been indebted to her for a single groat. + +I confess, I have been sometimes tempted to wish that this project of +Wood's might succeed; because I reflected with some pleasure, what a jolly +crew it would bring over among us of lords and squires, and pensioners of +both sexes, and officers civil and military, where we should live together +as merry and sociable as beggars, only with this one abatement, that we +should neither have meat to feed, nor manufactures to clothe us, unless we +could be content to prance about in coats of mail, or eat brass as +ostriches do iron. + +I return from this digression to that which gave me the occasion of making +it. And I believe you are now convinced, that if the Parliament of +Ireland were as temptable as any other assembly within a mile of +Christendom (which God forbid!), yet the managers must of necessity fail +for want of tools to work with. But I will yet go one step farther, by +supposing that a hundred new employments were erected on purpose to +gratify compliers, yet still an insuperable difficulty would remain. For +it happens, I know not how, that money is neither Whig nor Tory--neither +of town nor country party, and it is not improbable that a gentleman would +rather choose to live upon his own estate, which brings him gold and +silver, than with the addition of an employment, when his rents and salary +must both be paid in Wood's brass, at above eighty per cent. discount. + +For these, and many other reasons, I am confident you need not be +under the least apprehension from the sudden expectation of the +Lord-Lieutenant,[9] while we continue in our present hearty disposition, +to alter which no suitable temptation can possibly be offered. And if, as +I have often asserted from the best authority, the law has not left a +power in the crown to force any money, except sterling, upon the subject, +much less can the crown devolve such a power upon another.... + +Another slander spread by Wood and his emissaries is, "That by opposing +him we discover an inclination to throw off our dependence upon the crown +of England." Pray observe how important a person is this same William +Wood, and how the public weal of two kingdoms is involved in his private +interest. First, all those who refuse to take his coin are Papists; for he +tells us, "That none but Papists are associated against him." Secondly, +"they dispute the King's prerogative." Thirdly, "they are ripe for +rebellion." And, fourthly "they are going to shake off their dependence +upon the crown of England;" that is to say, they are going to choose +another king, for there can be no other meaning in this expression, +however some may pretend to strain it. + +And this gives me an opportunity of explaining to those who are ignorant, +another point, which has often swelled in my breast. Those who come over +hither to us from England, and some weak people among ourselves, whenever +in discourse we make mention of liberty and property, shake their heads, +and tell us that Ireland is a depending kingdom; as if they would seem by +this phrase to intend that the people of Ireland are in some state of +slavery or dependence different from those of England; whereas a depending +kingdom is a modern term of art, unknown, as I have heard, to all ancient +civilians, and writers upon government; and Ireland is, on the contrary, +called in some statutes "an imperial crown," as held only from God, which +is as high a style as any kingdom is capable of receiving. Therefore, by +this expression, "a depending kingdom," there is no more to be understood +than that, by a statute made here in the thirty-third year of Henry VIII., +the King and his successors are to be kings imperial of this realm, as +united and knit to the imperial crown of England. I have looked over all +the English and Irish statutes, without finding any law that makes Ireland +depend upon England, any more than England does upon Ireland. We have, +indeed, obliged ourselves to have the same King with them, and +consequently they are obliged to have the same King with us. For the law +was made by our own Parliament, and our ancestors then were not such fools +(whatever they were in the preceding reign) to bring themselves under I +know not what dependence, which is now talked of, without any ground of +law, reason, or common sense. Let whoever thinks otherwise, I, M. B., +Drapier, desire to be excepted; for I declare, next under God, I depend +only on the King my sovereign, and on the laws of my own country. And I +am so far from depending on the people of England, that if ever they +should rebel against my sovereign (which God forbid!) I would be ready, at +the first command from his Majesty, to take arms against them, as some of +my countrymen did against theirs at Preston. And if such a rebellion +should prove so successful as to fix the Pretender on the throne of +England, I would venture to transgress that statute so far as to lose +every drop of my blood to hinder him from being King of Ireland. + +It is true, indeed, that within the memory of man, the Parliaments of +England have sometimes assumed the power of binding this kingdom by laws +enacted there;[10] wherein they were at first openly opposed (as far as +truth, reason and justice,[11] are capable of opposing) by the famous Mr. +Molineux, an English gentleman born here, as well as by several of the +greatest patriots and best Whigs in England; but the love and torrent of +power prevailed. Indeed the arguments on both sides were invincible. For, +in reason, all government without the consent of the governed, is the very +definition of slavery; but, in fact, eleven men well armed will certainly +subdue one single man in his shirt. But I have done; for those who have +used to cramp liberty, have gone so far as to resent even the liberty of +complaining; although a man upon the rack was never known to be refused +the liberty of roaring as loud as he thought fit. + +And as we are apt to sink too much under unreasonable fears, so we are too +soon inclined to be raised by groundless hopes, according to the nature of +all consumptive bodies like ours. Thus it has been given about, for +several days past, that somebody in England empowered a second somebody, +to write to a third somebody here, to assure us that we should no more be +troubled with these halfpence. And this is reported to have been done by +the same person, who is said to have sworn some months ago, "that he would +ram them down our throats," though I doubt they would stick in our +stomachs; but whichever of these reports be true or false, it is no +concern of ours. For, in this point, we have nothing to do with English +ministers; and I should be sorry to leave it in their power to redress +this grievance, or to enforce it; for the report of the Committee has +given me a surfeit. + +The remedy is wholly in your own hands; and therefore I have digressed a +little, in order to refresh and continue that spirit so seasonably raised +among you; and to let you see, that by the laws of GOD, of NATURE, of +NATIONS, and of your COUNTRY, you ARE, and OUGHT to be, as FREE a people +as your brethren in England.... + + +THE FIFTH LETTER + +Was addressed to Viscount Molesworth, a distinguished Whig; and the author +of several works written in a patriotic spirit. His agricultural treatise +on Ireland was highly approved by Swift. This closed the series for the +present. The tone of the letter is apologetic. Hitherto he has not shaken +off the impression left by the works of Lord Molesworth himself, of Locke, +of Molyneux and Sidney, who talked of liberty as a common blessing. But +now he will "grow wiser and learn to consider my driver, the road I am in, +and with whom I am yoked." + + +LETTER V. + +_To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Molesworth._ + +DIRECTIONS TO THE PRINTER. + + +From my shop in St. Francis' Street, + +_December 24th, 1724._ + +MR. HARDING, + +When I sent you my former papers, I cannot say I intended you either good +or hurt; and yet you have happened, through my means, to receive both. I +pray God deliver you from any more of the latter, and increase the former. +Your trade, particularly in this kingdom, is, of all others, the most +unfortunately circumstantiated; for as you deal in the most worthless kind +of trash, the penny productions of pennyless scribblers, so you often +venture your liberty, and sometimes your lives, for the purchase of +half-a-crown; and, by your own ignorance, are punished for other men's +actions. I am afraid, you, in particular, think you have reason to +complain of me, for your own and your wife's confinement in prison, to +your great expense as well as hardship, and for a prosecution still +impending. But I will tell you, Mr. Harding, how that matter stands. + +Since the press has lain under so strict an inspection, those who have a +mind to inform the world are become so cautious, as to keep themselves, if +possible, out of the way of danger. My custom, therefore, is, to dictate +to a 'prentice,[12] who can write in a feigned hand, and what is written +we send to your house by a blackguard boy. But at the same time I do +assure you, upon my reputation, that I never did send you anything for +which I thought you could possibly be called to an account; and you will +be my witness, that I always desired you, by letter, to take some good +advice, before you ventured to print, because I knew the dexterity of +dealers in the law at finding out something to fasten on, where no evil is +meant. I am told, indeed, that you did accordingly consult several very +able persons, and even some who afterwards appeared against you; to which +I can only answer, that you must either change your advisers, or determine +to print nothing that comes from a Drapier. + +I desire you to send the enclosed letter, directed, "To my Lord Viscount +Molesworth, at his house at Brackdenstown, near Swords;" but I would have +it sent printed, for the convenience of his Lordship's reading, because +this counterfeit hand of my apprentice is not very legible. And, if you +think fit to publish it, I would have you first get it read over by some +notable lawyer. I am assured, you will find enough of them who are friends +to the Drapier, and will do it without a fee; which, I am afraid, you can +ill-afford after all your expenses. For although I have taken so much +care, that I think it impossible to find a topic out of the following +papers for sending you again to prison, yet I will not venture to be your +guarantee. + +This ensuing letter contains only a short account of myself, and an humble +apology for my former pamphlets, especially the last, with little mention +of Mr. Wood for his halfpence, because I have already said enough upon +that subject, until occasion shall be given for new fears; and, in that +case, you may perhaps hear from me again. + + I am your friend and servant, + M. B. + +P.S.--For want of intercourse between you and me, which I never will +suffer, your people are apt to make very gross errors in the press, which +I desire you will provide against. + + +A LETTER + +_To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Molesworth, at his house at +Brackdenstown, near Swords._ + + +From my shop in St. Francis Street, + +_December 14th, 1724._ + +MY LORD, + +I reflect too late on the maxim of common observers, "that those who +meddle in matters out of their calling will have reason to repent;" which +is now verified in me: for, by engaging in the trade of a writer, I have +drawn upon myself the displeasure of the government, signified by a +proclamation, promising a reward of three hundred pounds to the first +faithful subject who shall be able and inclined to inform against me; to +which I may add the laudable zeal and industry of my Lord Chief Justice +Whitshed, in his endeavours to discover so dangerous a person. Therefore, +whether I repent or not, I have certainly cause to do so; and the common +observation still stands good. + +It will sometimes happen, I know not how, in the course of human affairs, +that a man shall be made liable to legal animadversion where he has +nothing to answer for either to God or his country, and condemned at +Westminster Hall for what he will never be charged with at the day of +judgment. + +After strictly examining my own heart, and consulting some divines of +great reputation, I cannot accuse myself of any malice or wickedness +against the public,--of any designs to sow sedition,--of reflecting on the +King and his ministers,--or of endeavouring to alienate the affections of +the people of this kingdom from those of England.[13] All I can charge +myself with is, a weak attempt to serve a nation in danger of destruction +by a most wicked and malicious projector, without waiting until I were +called to its assistance; which attempt, however it may perhaps give me +the title of _pragmatical_ and _overweening_, will never lie a burden upon +my conscience. + +God knows, whether I may not, with all my caution, have already run myself +into a second danger by offering thus much in my own vindication; for I +have heard of a judge, who, upon the criminal's appeal to the dreadful day +of judgment, told him he had incurred a _premunire_, for appealing to a +foreign jurisdiction; and of another in Wales, who severely checked the +prisoner for offering the same plea, taxing him with "reflecting on the +Court by such a comparison, because comparisons were odious." + +But, in order to make some excuse for being more speculative than others +of my condition, I desire your Lordship's pardon, while I am doing a very +foolish thing; which is, to give you some little account of myself. + +I was bred at a free school, where I acquired some little knowledge in the +Latin tongue. I served my apprenticeship in London, and there set up for +myself with good success; until, by the death of some friends, and the +misfortunes of others, I returned into this kingdom, and began to employ +my thoughts in cultivating the woollen manufacture through all its +branches, wherein I met with great discouragement and powerful opposers, +whose objections appeared to me very strange and singular. They argued, +"that the people of England would be offended if our manufactures were +brought to equal theirs;" and even some of the weaving trade were my +enemies, which I could not but look upon as absurd and unnatural. I +remember your lordship, at that time, did me the honour to come into my +shop, where I showed you a piece of black and white stuff just sent from +the dyer,[14] which you were pleased to approve of, and be my customer +for. + +However, I was so mortified, that I resolved, for the future, to sit +quietly in my shop, and deal in common goods, like the rest of my +brethren; until it happened, some months ago, considering with myself that +the lower and poorer sort of people wanted a plain, strong, coarse stuff, +to defend them against cold easterly winds, which then blew very fierce +and blasting for a long time together, I contrived one[15] on purpose, +which sold very well all over the kingdom, and preserved many thousands +from agues. I then made a second and a third kind of stuffs[16] for the +gentry with the same success; insomuch, that an ague has hardly been heard +of for some time. + +This incited me so far, that I ventured upon a fourth piece,[17] made of +the best Irish wool I could get; and I thought it grave and rich enough to +be worn by the best lord or judge of the land. But of late some great +folks complain, as I hear, "that, when they had it on, they felt a +shuddering in their limbs,"--and have thrown it off in a rage, cursing to +hell the poor Drapier who invented it; so that I am determined never to +work for persons of quality again, except for your lordship, and a very +few more. + +I assure your lordship, upon the word of an honest citizen, that I am not +richer, by the value of one of Mr. Wood's halfpence, with the sale of all +the several stuffs I have contrived, for I give the whole profit to the +dyers and pressers;[18] and, therefore, I hope you will please to believe, +that no other motive, beside the love of my country, could engage me to +busy my head and hands, to the loss of my time, and the gain of nothing +but vexation and ill-will. + +I have now in hand one piece of stuff, to be woven on purpose for your +lordship; although I might be ashamed to offer it to you after I have +confessed, that it will be made only from the shreds and remnants of the +wool employed in the former. However, I shall work it up as well as I can; +and, at worst, you need only give it among your tenants.... + +I am told that the two points in my last letter, from which an occasion of +offence has been taken, are where I mention his Majesty's answer to the +address of the House of Lords upon Mr. Wood's patent; and where I +discourse upon Ireland's being a dependent kingdom. As to the former, I +can only say that I have treated it with the utmost respect and caution; +and I thought it necessary to show where Wood's patent differed, in many +essential parts, from all others that ever had been granted; because the +contrary had, for want of due information, been so strongly and so largely +asserted. As to the other, of Ireland's dependency, I confess to have +often heard it mentioned, but was never able to understand what it meant. +This gave me the curiosity to inquire among several eminent lawyers, who +professed they knew nothing of the matter. I then turned over all the +statutes of both kingdoms, without the least information, farther than an +Irish act, that I quoted, of the 33rd of Henry VIII., uniting Ireland to +England under one King. I cannot say I was sorry to be disappointed in my +search, because it is certain I could be contented to depend only upon God +and my prince, and the laws of my own country, after the manner of other +nations. But since my betters are of a different opinion, and desire +farther dependencies, I shall outwardly submit; yet still insisting in my +own heart, upon the exception I made of M. B., Drapier.... All I desire +is, that the cause of my country against Mr. Wood, may not suffer by any +inadvertency of mine. Whether Ireland depends upon England or only upon +God, the King, and the law, I hope no man will assert that it depends upon +Mr. Wood. I should be heartily sorry that this commendable spirit against +me should accidentally (and what, I hope, was never intended) strike a +damp upon that spirit in all ranks and corporations of men against the +desperate and ruinous design of Mr. Wood. Let my countrymen blot out those +parts in my last letter which they dislike; and let no rust remain on my +sword, to cure the wounds I have given to our most mortal enemy. When Sir +Charles Sedley was taking the oaths, where several things were to be +renounced, he said, "he loved renouncing;" asked, "if any more were to be +renounced; for he was ready to renounce as much as they pleased." Although +I am not so thorough a renouncer, yet let me have but good city-security +against this pestilent coinage, and I shall be ready not only to renounce +every syllable in all my four letters, but to deliver them cheerfully with +my own hands into those of the common hangman, to be burnt with no better +company than the coiner's effigies, if any part of it has escaped out of +the secular hands of my faithful friends, the common people. But, whatever +the sentiments of some people may be, I think it is agreed that many of +those who subscribed against me, are on the side of a vast majority in the +kingdom who opposed Mr. Wood; and it was with great satisfaction that I +observed some right honourable names very amicably joined with my own, at +the bottom of a strong declaration against him and his coin. But if the +admission of it among us be already determined, the worthy person who is +to betray me ought in prudence to do it with all convenient speed; or else +it may be difficult to find three hundred pounds sterling for the +discharge of his hire, when the public shall have lost five hundred +thousand, if there be so much in the nation; besides four-fifths of its +annual income for ever. I am told by lawyers, that in quarrels between man +and man, it is of much weight which of them gave the first provocation, or +struck the first blow. It is manifest that Mr. Wood has done both, and +therefore I should humbly propose to have him first hanged, and his dross +thrown into the sea; after which the Drapier will be ready to stand his +trial. "It must needs be that offences come, but woe unto him by whom the +offence comes." If Mr. Wood had held his hand, everybody else would have +held their tongues; and then there would have been little need of +pamphlets, juries, or proclamations, upon this occasion. The provocation +must needs have been very great, which could stir up an obscure, indolent +Drapier, to become an author. One would almost think, the very stones in +the street would rise up in such a cause; and I am not sure they will not +do so against Mr. Wood, if ever he comes within their reach. It is a known +story of the dumb boy, whose tongue forced a passage for speech by the +horror of seeing a dagger at his father's throat. This may lessen the +wonder, that a tradesman, hid in privacy and silence should cry out when +the life and being of his political mother are attempted before his face, +and by so infamous a wretch. + +I am now resolved to follow (after the usual proceeding of mankind, +because it is too late) the advice given, me by a certain Dean.[19] He +showed the mistake I was in of trusting to the general good-will of the +people; "that I had succeeded hitherto better than could be expected; but +that some unfortunate circumstantial lapse would bring me within the reach +of power; that my good intentions would be no security against those who +watched every motion of my pen in the bitterness of my soul." He produced +an instance of "a writer as innocent, as disinterested, and as +well-meaning as myself; who had written a very seasonable and inoffensive +treatise, exhorting the people of this kingdom to wear their own +manufactures;[20] for which, however, the printer, was prosecuted with the +utmost virulence; the jury sent back nine times; and the man given up to +the mercy of the Court." The Dean farther observed, "that I was in a +manner left alone to stand the battle; while others, who had ten thousand +times better talents than a Drapier, were so prudent as to lie still; and +perhaps thought it no unpleasant amusement to look on with safety, while +another was giving them diversion at the hazard of his liberty and +fortune; and thought they made a sufficient recompense by a little +applause." Whereupon he concluded with a short story of a Jew at Madrid, +who, being condemned to the fire on account of his religion, a crowd of +schoolboys following him to the stake, and apprehending they might lose +their sport if he should happen to recant, would often clap him on the +back, and cry, "_Sta firme, Moyse_: Moses, continue steadfast." + +I allow this gentleman's advice to have been very good, and his +observations just; and in one respect my condition is worse than that of +the Jew; for no recantation will save me. However, it should seem, by some +late proceedings, that my state is not altogether deplorable. This I can +impute to nothing but the steadiness of two impartial grand juries; which +has confirmed in me an opinion I have long entertained; that, as +philosophers say, virtue is seated in the middle; so, in another sense, +the little virtue left in the world, is chiefly to be found among the +middle rank of mankind, who are neither allured out of her paths by +ambition, nor driven by poverty.... + +But, to confess the truth, my lord, I begin to grow weary of my office as +a writer, and could heartily wish it were devolved upon my brethren, the +makers of songs and ballads, who perhaps are the best qualified at present +to gather up the gleanings of this controversy. As to myself, it has been +my misfortune to begin and pursue it upon a wrong foundation. For, having +detected the frauds and falsehoods of this vile impostor Wood in every +part, I foolishly disdained to have recourse to whining, lamenting, and +crying for mercy; but rather chose to appeal to law and liberty, and the +common rights of mankind, without considering the climate I was in. Since +your last residence in Ireland, I frequently have taken my nag to ride +about your grounds, where I fancied myself to feel an air of freedom +breathing around me; and I am glad the low condition of a tradesman did +not qualify me to wait on you at your house; for then I am afraid my +writings would not have escaped severer censures. But I have lately sold +my nag, and honestly told his greatest fault, which was that of snuffing +up the air about Brackdenstown; whereby he became such a lover of liberty, +that I could scarce hold him in. I have likewise buried, at the bottom of +a strong chest, your lordship's writings, under a heap of others that +treat of liberty, and spread over a layer or two of Hobbes, Filmer, Bodin, +and many more authors of that stamp, to be readiest at hand whenever I +shall be disposed to take up a new set of principles in government. In the +meantime, I design quietly to look to my shop, and keep as far out of your +lordship's influence as possible; and if you ever see any more of my +writings on this subject, I promise you shall find them as innocent, as +insipid, and without a sting, as what I have now offered you. But, if your +lordship will please to give me an easy lease of some part of your estate +in Yorkshire, thither will I carry my chest, and, turning it upside down, +resume my political reading where I left off, feed on plain homely fare, +and live and die a free, honest English farmer; but not without regret for +leaving my countrymen under the dread of the brazen talons of Mr. +Wood;--my most loyal and innocent countrymen, to whom I owe so much for +their good opinion of me, and my poor endeavours to serve them. + + I am, with the greatest respect, + My Lord, + Your Lordship's most obedient, and most humble servant, + M. B. + + +SIXTH LETTER + +Was written a little after the proclamation against the Drapier's fourth +Letter. It is delivered with much caution, because the Author confesses +himself to be the Dean of St. Patrick's. + + +LETTER VI. + +_To the Lord Chancellor Middleton._ + + +Deanery-house, _October, 1724_. + +MY LORD, + +I desire you will consider me as a member who comes in at the latter end +of a debate; or as a lawyer who speaks to a cause when the matter has been +almost exhausted by those who spoke before. + +I remember, some months ago, I was at your house upon a commission, where +I am one of the governors; but I went thither, not so much on account of +the commission, as to ask you some questions concerning Mr. Wood's patent +to coin halfpence for Ireland; where you very freely told me, in a mixed +company, how much you had always been against that wicked project;[21] +which raised in me an esteem for you so far that I went in a few days to +make you a visit, after many years' intermission. I am likewise told that +your son wrote two letters from London (one of which I have seen), +empowering those to whom they were directed to assure his friends, that +whereas there was a malicious report spread of his engaging himself to Mr. +Walpole for forty thousand pounds of Wood's coin to be received in +Ireland, the said report was false and groundless; and he had never +discoursed with that minister on this subject, nor would ever give his +consent to have one farthing of the said coin current here. And although +it be a long time since I have given myself the trouble of conversing with +people of titles or stations, yet I have been told by those who can take +up with such amusements, that there is not a considerable person of the +kingdom scrupulous in any sort to declare his opinion. But all this is +needless to allege, when we consider, that the ruinous consequences of +Wood's patent have been so strongly represented by both Houses of +Parliament, by the Privy-council, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin; +by so many corporations; and the concurrence of the principal gentlemen in +most counties at their quarter-sessions, without any regard to party, +religion, or nation. + +I conclude from hence, that the currency of these halfpence would, in the +universal opinion of our people, be utterly destructive to this kingdom; +and, consequently, that it is every man's duty, not only to refuse this +coin himself, but, as far as in him lies, to persuade others to do the +like; and whether this be done in private or in print, is all a case; as +no layman is forbidden to write or to discourse upon religious or moral +subjects, although he may not do it in a pulpit, at least in our Church. +Neither is this an affair of State, until authority shall think fit to +declare it so, or, if you should understand it in that sense, yet you will +please to consider, that I am not now preaching. + +Therefore, I do think it my duty, since the Drapier will probably be no +more heard of, so far to supply his place, as not to incur his fortune; +for I have learned from old experience that there are times wherein a man +ought to be cautious as well as innocent. I therefore hope that, +preserving both those characters, I may be allowed, by offering new +arguments or enforcing old ones, to refresh the memory of my +fellow-subjects, and keep up that good spirit raised among them, to +preserve themselves from utter ruin by lawful means, and such as are +permitted by his Majesty. + +I believe you will please to allow me two propositions: First, that we +are a most loyal people; and, secondly, that we are a free people, in the +common acceptation of that word, applied to a subject under a limited +monarch. I know very well that you and I did, many years ago, in discourse +differ much in the presence of Lord Wharton about the meaning of that word +_liberty_, with relation to Ireland. But, if you will not allow us to be a +free people, there is only another appellation left, which I doubt my Lord +Chief Justice Whitshed would call me to account for, if I venture to +bestow: for I observed (and I shall never forget upon what occasion) the +device upon his coach to be, _Libertas et natale solum_, at the very point +of time when he was sitting in his court, and perjuring himself to betray +both.... + +I am heartily sorry that any writer should, in a cause so generally +approved, give occasion to the government and council to charge him with +paragraphs "highly reflecting upon his Majesty and his ministers; tending +to alienate the affections of his good subjects in England and Ireland +from each other, and to promote sedition among the people." I must confess +that, with many others, I thought he meant well, although he might have +the failing of better writers, not to be always fortunate in the manner of +expressing himself. + +However, since the Drapier is but one man, I shall think I do a public +service by asserting that the rest of my countrymen are wholly free from +learning, out of his pamphlets to reflect on the King or his ministers, +and to breed sedition. I solemnly declare, that I never once heard the +least reflection cast upon the King on the subject of Mr. Wood's coin: for +in many discourses on this matter, I do not remember his Majesty's name to +be so much as mentioned. As to the ministry in England, the only two +persons hinted at were the Duke of Grafton and Mr. Walpole; the former, as +I have heard you and a hundred others affirm, declared, "that he never saw +the patent in favour of Mr. Wood before it was passed," although he was +then Lord-Lieutenant; and therefore, I suppose, everybody believes that +his Grace has been wholly unconcerned in it ever since. Mr. Walpole was +indeed supposed to be understood by the letter W. in several newspapers, +where it is said that some expressions fell from him not very favourable +to the people of Ireland, for the truth of which the kingdom is not to +answer, any more than for the discretion of the publishers. You observe, +the Drapier wholly clears Mr. Walpole of this charge by very strong +arguments, and speaks of him with civility. + +I cannot deny myself to have been often present where the company gave +their opinion that Mr. Walpole favoured Mr. Wood's projects, which I +always contradicted, and for my own part never once opened my lips against +that minister, either in mixed or particular meetings; and my reason for +this reservedness was, because it pleased him in the Queen's time (I mean +Queen Anne, of ever-blessed memory) to make a speech directly against me +by name in the House of Commons, as I was told a very few minutes after, +in the Court of Requests, by more than fifty members.... + +But whatever unpleasing opinion some people might conceive of Mr. Walpole, +on account of those halfpence, I dare boldly affirm it was entirely owing +to Mr. Wood. Many persons of credit come from England, have affirmed to me +and others, that they have seen letters under his hand, full of arrogance +and insolence towards Ireland, and boasting of his favour with Mr. +Walpole; which is highly probable; because he reasonably thought it for +his interest to spread such a report, and because it is the known talent +of low and little spirits, to have a great man's name perpetually in their +mouths. Thus I have sufficiently justified the people of Ireland from +learning any bad lesson out of the Drapier's pamphlets, with regard to his +Majesty and his ministers; and therefore, if those papers were intended to +sow sedition among us, God be thanked the seeds have fallen upon a very +improper soil. + +As to alienating the affections of the people of England and Ireland from +each other, I believe the Drapier, whatever his intentions were, has left +that matter just as he found it. I have lived long in both kingdoms, as +well in country as in town; and therefore take myself to be as well +informed as most men, in the dispositions of each people toward the other. +By the people, I understand here only the bulk of the common people: and I +desire no lawyer may distort or extend my meaning. There is a vein of +industry and parsimony, that runs through the whole people of England, +which, added to the easiness of their rents, makes them rich and sturdy. + +As to Ireland, they know little more of it than they do of Mexico: farther +than that it is a country subject to the King of England, full of bogs, +inhabited by wild Irish Papists, who are kept in awe by mercenary troops +sent from thence: and their general opinion is, that it were better for +England if this whole island were sunk into the sea; for they have a +tradition, that every forty years there must be a rebellion in Ireland. + +I have seen the grossest suppositions passed upon them: "That the wild +Irish were taken in toils; but that in some time they would grow so tame +as to eat out of your hands." I have been asked by hundreds, and +particularly by my neighbours, your tenants at Pepper-harrow, "whether I +had come from Ireland by sea?" and, upon the arrival of an Irishman to a +country town, I have known crowds coming about him, and wondering to see +him look so much better than themselves. + +A gentleman, now in Dublin, affirms, "that, passing some months ago +through Northampton, and finding the whole town in a flurry, with bells, +bonfires, and illuminations; upon asking the cause, he was told that it +was for joy that the Irish had submitted to receive Wood's halfpence." +This, I think, plainly shows what sentiments that large town has of us; +and how little they made it their own case; although they lie directly in +our way to London, and therefore cannot but be frequently convinced that +we have human shapes. + +As to the people of this kingdom, they consist either of Irish Papists, +who are as inconsiderable in point of power as the women and children; or +of English Protestants, who love their brethren of that kingdom, although +they may possibly sometimes complain when they think they are hardly used. +However, I confess I do not see that it is of any great consequence, how +the personal affections stand to each other, while the sea divides them +and while they continue in their loyalty to the same prince. And yet I +will appeal to you, whether those from England have reason to complain +when they come hither in pursuit of their fortunes? or, whether the people +of Ireland have reason to boast, when they go to England upon the same +design? My second proposition was, that we of Ireland are a free people; +this, I suppose, you will allow, at least with certain limitations +remaining in your own breast. However, I am sure it is not criminal to +affirm it; because the words liberty and property, as applied to the +subject, are often mentioned in both Houses of Parliament, as well as in +yours and other courts below; whence it must follow, that the people of +Ireland do or ought to enjoy all the benefits of the common and statute +law: such as to be tried by juries, to pay no money without their own +consent as represented in Parliament, and the like. If this be so, and if +it be universally agreed that a free people cannot by law be compelled to +take any money in payment except gold and silver, I do not see why any man +should be hindered from cautioning his countrymen against this coin of +William Wood, who is endeavouring by fraud to rob us of that property +which the laws have secured.... + +Before I conclude, I cannot but observe that for several months past +there have more papers been written in this town, such as they are, all +upon the best public principle, the love of our country, than perhaps has +been known in any other nation in so short a time. I speak in general, +from the Drapier down to the maker of ballads; and all without any regard +to the common motives of writers, which are profit, favour, and +reputation. As to profit, I am assured by persons of credit, that the best +ballad upon Mr. Wood will not yield above a groat to the author; and the +unfortunate adventurer Harding[22] declares he never made the Drapier any +present, except one pair of scissors. As to favour, whoever thinks to make +his court by opposing Mr. Wood, is not very deep in politics; and as to +reputation, certainly no man of worth and learning would employ his pen +upon so transitory a subject, and in so obscure a corner of the world, to +distinguish himself as an author, so that I look upon myself, the Drapier, +and my numerous brethren, to be all true patriots in our several degrees. + +All that the public can expect for the future is, only to be sometimes +warned to beware of Mr. Wood's halfpence, and to be referred for +conviction to the Drapier's reasons. For a man of the most superior +understanding will find it impossible to make the best use of it while he +writes in constraint, perpetually softening, correcting, or blotting out +expressions for fear of bringing his printer, or himself, under a +prosecution from my Lord Chief Justice Whitshed. It calls to my +remembrance the madman in "Don Quixote," who being soundly beaten by a +weaver for letting a stone (which he always carried on his shoulder), fall +upon a spaniel, apprehended that every cur he met was of the same species. + +For these reasons I am convinced, that what I have now written will appear +low and insipid; but if it contributes in the least to preserve that union +among us for opposing this fatal project of Mr. Wood, my pains will not be +altogether lost. + +I sent these papers to an eminent lawyer (and yet a man of virtue and +learning into the bargain), who, after many alterations, returned them +back, with assuring me that they are perfectly innocent; without the least +mixture of treason, rebellion, sedition, malice, disaffection, reflection, +or wicked insinuation whatsoever. + +If the bellman of each parish, as he goes his circuit, would cry out every +night "Past twelve o'clock; Beware of Wood's halfpence," it would probably +cut off the occasion for publishing any more pamphlets; provided that in +country towns it were done upon market-days. For my own part, as soon as +it shall be determined that it is not against law, I will begin the +experiment in the liberty of St. Patrick's; and hope my example may be +followed in the whole city. But if authority shall think fit to forbid all +writings or discourses upon this subject, except such as are in favour of +Mr. Wood, I will obey, as it becomes me; only, when I am in danger of +bursting, I will go and whisper among the reeds, not any reflection upon +the wisdom of my countrymen, but only these few words, BEWARE OF WOOD'S +HALFPENCE. + + I am, with due respect, + Your most obedient, humble servant, + J. S. + + +SEVENTH LETTER + +Did not appear till 1735. It appears to have been written during the first +session in Lord Carteret's government. It is much more a start on a new +course, than a continuation of the past struggle. + + +LETTER VII. + +_An Humble Address to Both Houses of Parliament._ + +BY M. B., DRAPIER. + + "Multa gement plagasque superbi + Victoris--" + +I have been told, that petitions and addresses, to either King or +Parliament, are the right of every subject, provided they consist with +that respect which is due to princes and great assemblies. Neither do I +remember, that the modest proposals or opinions of private men have been +ill-received, when they have not been delivered in the style of advice; +which is a presumption far from my thoughts. However, if proposals should +be looked upon as too assuming, yet I hope every man may be suffered to +declare his own and the nation's wishes. For instance; I may be allowed to +wish, that some farther laws were enacted for the advancement of trade; +for the improvement of agriculture, now strangely neglected, against the +maxims of all wise nations; for supplying the manifest defects in the acts +concerning the plantation of trees; for setting the poor to work; and many +others. + +Upon this principle I may venture to affirm, it is the hearty wish of the +whole nation, very few excepted, that the Parliament, in this session, +would begin by strictly examining into the detestable fraud of one William +Wood, now or late of London, hardwareman; who illegally and clandestinely, +as appears by your own votes and addresses, procured a patent in England +for coining halfpence in that kingdom to be current here. This, I say, is +the wish of the whole nation, very few excepted; and upon account of those +few, is more strongly and justly the wish of the rest; those few +consisting either of Wood's confederates, some obscure tradesmen, or +certain bold UNDERTAKERS,[23] of weak judgment and strong ambition, who +think to find their accounts in the ruin of the nation, by securing or +advancing themselves. And because such men proceed upon a system of +politics, to which I would fain hope you will be always utter strangers, I +shall humbly lay it before you. + +Be pleased to suppose me in a station of fifteen hundred pounds a year, +salary and perquisites: and likewise possessed of 800_l._ a-year, real +estate. Then suppose a destructive project to be set on foot; such for +instance, as this of Wood; which, if it succeed in all the consequences +naturally to be expected from it, must sink the rents and wealth of the +kingdom one half, although I am confident it would have done so +five-sixths; suppose, I conceive that the countenancing, or privately +supporting, this project, will please those by whom I expect to be +preserved or higher exalted; nothing then remains, but to compute and +balance my gain and my loss, and sum up the whole. I suppose that I shall +keep my employment ten years, not to mention the fair chance of a better. + +This, at 1500_l._ a year, amounts in ten years to 15,000_l._ My estate, by +the success of the said project, sinks 400_l._ a-year; which, at twenty +years' purchase, is but 8000_l._; so that I am a clear gainer of 7000_l._ +upon the balance. And during all that period I am possessed of power and +credit, can gratify my favourites, and take vengeance on mine enemies. And +if the project miscarry, my private merit is still entire. This +arithmetic, as horrible as it appears, I knowingly affirm to have been +practised and applied, in conjunctures whereon depended the ruin or safety +of a nation; although probably the charity and virtue of a senate will +hardly be induced to believe, that there can be such monsters among +mankind. And yet the wise Lord Bacon mentions a sort of people (I doubt +the race is not yet extinct) who would "set a house on fire for the +convenience of roasting their own eggs at the flame." + +But whoever is old enough to remember, and has turned his thoughts to +observe, the course of public affairs in this kingdom from the time of the +Revolution, must acknowledge, that the highest points of interest and +liberty have often been sacrificed to the avarice and ambition of +particular persons, upon the very principles and arithmetic that I have +supposed. The only wonder is, how these artists were able to prevail upon +numbers, and influence even public assemblies, to become instruments for +effecting their execrable designs. + +It is, I think, in all conscience, latitude enough for vice, if a man in +station be allowed to act injustice upon the usual principles of getting a +bribe, wreaking his malice, serving his party, or consulting his +preferment, while his wickedness terminates in the ruin only of particular +persons; but to deliver up our whole country and every living soul who +inhabits it, to certain destruction, has not, as I remember, been +permitted by the most favourable casuists on the side of corruption. + +It were far better, that all who have had the misfortune to be born in +this kingdom, should be rendered incapable of holding any employment +whatsoever above the degree of a constable (according to the scheme and +intention of a great minister,[24] _gone to his own place_), than to live +under the daily apprehension of a few false brethren among ourselves; +because, in the former case, we should be wholly free from the danger of +being betrayed, since none could then have impudence enough to pretend any +public good. It is true, that in this desperate affair of the new +halfpence, I have not heard of any man above my own degree of a +shopkeeper, to have been hitherto so bold, as, in direct terms, to +vindicate the fatal project; although I have been told of some very +mollifying expressions which were used, and very gentle expedients +proposed and handed about, when it first came under debate; but since the +eyes of the people have been so far opened, that the most ignorant can +plainly see their own ruin in the success of Wood's attempt, these grand +compounders have been more cautious.... In the small compass of my reading +(which, however, has been more extensive than is usual to men of my +inferior calling,) I have observed, that grievances have always preceded +supplies. And if ever grievances had a title to such pre-eminence, it must +be this of Wood; because it is not only the greatest grievance that any +country could suffer, but a grievance of such a kind, that, if it should +take effect, would make it impossible for us to give any supplies at all, +except in adulterate copper; unless a tax were laid, for paying the civil +and military lists and the large pensions, with real commodities instead +of money. Which, however, might be liable to some few objections, as well +as difficulties; for, although the common soldiers might be content with +beef, and mutton, and wool, and malt, and leather, yet I am in some doubt +as to the generals, the colonels, the numerous pensioners, the civil +officers and others, who all live in England upon Irish pay, as well as +those few who reside among us only because they cannot help it. There is +one particular, which, although I have mentioned more than once in some of +my former papers, yet I cannot forbear to repeat, and a little enlarge +upon it; because I do not remember to have read or heard of the like in +the history of any age or country, neither do I ever reflect upon it +without the utmost astonishment. + +After the unanimous addresses to his sacred Majesty, against the patent of +Wood, from both Houses of Parliament, which are the three estates of the +kingdom, and likewise an address from the Privy-council, to whom, under +the chief governors, the whole administration is entrusted, the matter is +referred to a committee of council in London. Wood and his adherents are +heard on one side; and a few volunteers, without any trust or direction +from hence, on the other. The question, as I remember, chiefly turned upon +the want of halfpence in Ireland. Witnesses are called on the behalf of +Wood, of what credit I have formerly shown. Upon the issue, the patent is +found good and legal; all his Majesty's officers here, not excepting the +military, commanded to be aiding and assisting to make it effectual; the +addresses of both Houses of Parliament, of the Privy-council, and of the +city of Dublin, the declarations of most counties and corporations +throughout the kingdom, are altogether laid aside, as of no weight, +consequence, or consideration whatsoever; and the whole kingdom of Ireland +non-suited in default of appearance, as if it were a private case between +John Doe, plaintiff, and William Roe, defendant. + +With great respect to those honourable persons, the committee of council +in London, I have not understood them to be our governors, councillors, or +judges. Neither did our case turn at all upon the questions whether +Ireland wanted halfpence or no. For there is no doubt, but we do want both +halfpence, gold, and silver; and we have numberless other wants, and some +that we are not so much as allowed to name, although they are peculiar to +this nation; to which no other is subject, whom God has blessed with +religion and laws, or any degree of soil and sunshine; but for what +demerits on our side, I am altogether in the dark. But I do not remember +that our want of halfpence was either affirmed or denied in any of our +addresses or declarations against those of Wood. We alleged the fraudulent +obtaining and executing of his patent; the baseness of his metal; and the +prodigious sum to be coined, which might be increased by stealth, from +foreign importation and his own counterfeits, as well as those at home; +whereby we must infallibly lose all our little gold and silver, and all +our poor remainder of a very limited and discouraged trade. We urged, that +the patent was passed without the least reference hither; and without +mention of any security given by Wood, to receive his own halfpence upon +demand; both which are contrary to all contrary proceedings in the like +cases. + +These, and many other arguments, we offered, but still the patent went on; +and at this day our ruin would have been half completed, if God in His +mercy had not raised a universal detestation of these halfpence in the +whole kingdom, with a firm resolution never to receive them; since we are +not under obligations to do so by any law, either human or divine. + +But, in the name of God, and of all justice and pity, when the King's +Majesty was pleased that this patent should pass, is it not to be +understood that he conceived, believed, and intended it, as a gracious act +for the good and benefit of his subjects, for the advantage of a great and +fruitful kingdom; of the most loyal kingdom upon earth, where no hand or +voice was ever lifted up against him; a kingdom, where the passage is not +three hours from Britain; and a kingdom where Papists have less power and +less land than in England? Can it be denied or doubted that his Majesty's +ministers understood and proposed the same end, the good of this nation, +when they advised the passing of this patent? Can the person of Wood be +otherwise regarded than as the instrument, the mechanic, the head-workman, +to prepare his furnace, his fuel, his metal, and his stamps? If I employ a +shoe-boy, is it in view to his advantage, or to my own convenience? I +mention the person of William Wood alone, because no other appears; and we +are not to reason upon surmises; neither would it avail, if they had a +real foundation. Allowing therefore (for we cannot do less) that this +patent for the coining of halfpence was wholly intended by a gracious +King, and a wise public-spirited ministry, for the advantage of Ireland; +yet when the whole kingdom to a man, for whose good the patent was +designed, do, upon maturest consideration, universally join in openly +declaring, protesting, addressing, petitioning, against these halfpence, +as the most ruinous project that ever was set on foot to complete the +slavery and destruction of a poor innocent country; is it, was it, can it, +or will it, ever be a question, not, whether such a kingdom, or William +Wood, should be a gainer; but whether such a kingdom should be wholly +undone, destroyed, sunk, depopulated, made a scene of misery and +desolation, for the sake of William Wood? God of His infinite mercy avert +this dreadful judgment! And it is our universal wish, that God would put +it into your hearts to be His instruments for so good a work. + +For my own part, who am but one man, of obscure condition, I do solemnly +declare, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will suffer the most +ignominious and torturing death, rather than submit to receive this +accursed coin, or any other that shall be liable to these objections, +until they shall be forced upon me by a law of my own country; and, if +that shall ever happen, I will transport myself into some foreign land, +and eat the bread of poverty among a free people. + +Am I legally punishable for these expressions? shall another proclamation +issue against me, because I presume to take my country's part against +William Wood, where her final destruction is intended? But, whenever you +shall please to impose silence upon me, I will submit; because I look upon +your unanimous voice to be the voice of the nation; and this I have been +taught, and do believe, to be in some manner the voice of God.... + +I have sometimes wondered upon what motives the peerage of England were so +desirous to determine our controversies; because I have been assured, and +partly know, that the frequent appeals from hence have been very irksome +to that illustrious body: and whoever has frequented the Painted Chamber +and Courts of Requests, must have observed, that they are never so nobly +filled as when an Irish appeal is under debate. + +The peers of Scotland, who are very numerous, were content to reside in +their castles and houses in that bleak and barren climate; and although +some of them made frequent journeys to London, yet I do not remember any +of their greatest families, till very lately, to have made England their +constant habitation before the Union; or, if they did, I am sure it was +generally to their own advantage, and whatever they got was employed to +cultivate and increase their own estates, and by that means enrich +themselves and their country. + +As to the great number of rich absentees under the degree of peers, what +particular ill-effects their absence may have upon this kingdom, besides +those already mentioned, may perhaps be too tender a point to touch. But +whether those who live in another kingdom upon great estates here, and +have lost all regard to their own country, farther than upon account of +the revenues they receive from it; I say, whether such persons may not be +prevailed upon to recommend others to vacant seats, who have no interest +here except a precarious employment, and consequently can have no views +but to preserve what they have got, or to be higher advanced; this, I am +sure, is a very melancholy question, if it be a question at all. + +But, besides the prodigious profit which England receives by the +transmittal thither of two-thirds of the revenues of this old kingdom, it +has another mighty advantage, by making our country a receptacle, wherein +to disburden themselves of their supernumerary pretenders to offices; +persons of second-rate merit in their own country, who, like birds of +passage, most of them thrive and fatten here, and fly off when their +credit and employments are at an end. So that Ireland may justly say, what +Luther said of himself, POOR Ireland makes many rich! + +If, amid all our difficulties, I should venture to assert that we have one +great advantage, provided we could improve it as we ought, I believe most +of my readers would be long in conjecturing what possible advantage could +ever fall to our share. However, it is certain that all the regular seeds +of party and faction among us are entirely rooted out, and if any new ones +shall spring up, they must be of equivocal generation, without any seed at +all, and will be justly imputed to a degree of stupidity beyond even what +we have been ever charged with upon the score of our birthplace and +climate. + +The parties in this kingdom (including those of modern date) are, first, +of those who have been charged or suspected to favour the Pretender; and +those who were zealous opposers of him. Secondly, of those who were for +and against a toleration of Dissenters by law. Thirdly, of High and Low +Church, or (to speak in the cant of the times) of Whig and Tory. And, +fourthly, of court and country. If there be any more, they are beyond my +observation or politics; for, as to subaltern or occasional parties, they +have been all derivations from the same originals. + +Now it is manifest, that all these incitements to faction, party, and +division, are wholly removed from among us. For, as to the Pretender, his +cause is both desperate and obsolete. There are very few now alive who +were men in his father's time, and in that prince's interest; and in all +others, the obligation of conscience has no place.[25] Even the Papists in +general, of any substance or estates, and their priests almost +universally, are what we call Whigs, in the sense which by that word is +generally understood. They feel the smart, and see the scars of their +former wounds, and very well know, that they must be made a sacrifice to +the least attempts toward a change; although it cannot be doubted that +they would be glad to have their superstition restored, under any prince +whatsoever. + +Secondly, the Dissenters are now tolerated by law; neither do we observe +any murmurs at present from that quarter, except those reasonable +complaints they make of persecution, because they are excluded from civil +employments; but their number being very small in either House of +Parliament, they are not yet in a situation to erect a party: because, +however indifferent men may be with regard to religion, they are now grown +wise enough to know that if such a latitude were allowed to Dissenters, +the few small employments left us in cities and corporations would find +other hands to lay hold on them. + +Thirdly, the dispute between High and Low Church is now at an end; +two-thirds of the bishops having been promoted in this reign, and most of +them from England, who have bestowed all preferments in their gift to +those they could well confide in: the deaneries, all except three, and +many principal church-livings are in the donation of the Crown, so that we +already possess such a body of clergy as will never engage in controversy +upon that antiquated and exploded subject. + +Lastly, as to court and country parties, so famous and avowed under most +reigns in English Parliaments; this kingdom has not, for several years +past, been a proper scene whereon to exercise such contentions, and is now +less proper than ever; many great employments for life being in distant +hands, and the reversions diligently watched and secured; the temporary +ones of any inviting value are all bestowed elsewhere as fast as they +drop, and the few remaining are of too low consideration to create +contests about them, except among younger brothers, or tradesmen like +myself. And therefore, to institute a court and country party, without +materials would be a very new system in politics, and what I believe was +never thought on before: nor, unless in a nation of idiots, can ever +succeed; for the most ignorant Irish cottager will not sell his cow for a +groat. + +Therefore I conclude, that all party and faction, with regard to public +proceedings, are now extinguished in this kingdom; neither does it appear +in view how they can possibly revive, unless some new causes be +administered; which cannot be done without crossing the interests of those +who are the greatest gainers by continuing the same measures. And general +calamities, without hope of redress, are allowed to be the great uniters +of mankind. + +However we may dislike the causes, yet this effect of begetting a +universal discord among us, in all national debates, as well as in cities, +corporations, and country neighbourhoods, may keep us at least alive, and +in a condition to eat the little bread allowed us in peace and amity. + +I have heard of a quarrel in a tavern, where all were at daggers drawing, +till one of the company cried out, desiring to know the subject of the +quarrel; which, when none of them could tell, they put up their swords, +sat down, and passed the rest of the evening in quiet. The former has been +our case, I hope the latter will be so too; that we shall sit down +amicably together, at least until we have something that may give us a +title to fall out, since nature has instructed even a brood of goslings to +stick together, while the kite is hovering over their heads.... + + + + +THE ADDRESS TO THE JURY. + + +This piece, as its title expresses, was published when the bill against +the printer was to be brought before the grand jury: it warned them of +what was expected from them. Whiteshed, the Chief Justice, again attempted +to browbeat the jury, but in vain. The bill was thrown out: and the Chief +Justice could only show his resentment by dissolving the Grand Jury. +Whiteshed was so ridiculed that the vexation he suffered was thought to +have shortened his life. + + +_Seasonable Advice to the Grand Jury._ + +Concerning the bill preparing against the printer of the Drapier's fourth +letter. + +_November 11th, 1724._ + +Since a bill is preparing for the grand jury to find against the printer +of the Drapier's last letter, there are several things maturely to be +considered by those gentlemen before they determine upon it. + +First, they are to consider, that the author of the said pamphlet did +write three other discourses on the same subject, which, instead of being +censured, were universally approved by the whole nation, and were allowed +to have raised and continued that spirit among us, which has hitherto kept +out Wood's coin; for all men will grant, that if those pamphlets had not +been written, his coin must have overrun the nation some months ago. + +Secondly, it is to be considered, that this pamphlet, against which a +proclamation has been issued, is written by the same author: that nobody +ever doubted the innocence and goodness of his design; that he appears, +through the whole tenour of it, to be a loyal subject to his Majesty, and +devoted to the House of Hanover, and declares himself in a manner +peculiarly zealous against the Pretender. And if such a writer, in four +several treatises on so nice a subject, where a royal patent is concerned, +and where it was necessary to speak of England and of liberty, should in +one or two places happen to let fall an inadvertent expression, it would +be hard to condemn him, after all the good he has done, especially when we +consider that he could have no possible design in view, either of honour +or profit, but purely the GOOD of his country. + +Thirdly, it ought to be well considered, whether any one expression in the +said pamphlet be really liable to a just exception, much less to be found +"wicked, malicious, seditious, reflecting upon his Majesty and his +ministry," &c. + +The two points in that pamphlet, which it is said the prosecutors intend +chiefly to fix on, are, first, where the author mentions the penner of the +King's answer. First, it is well known his Majesty is not master of the +English tongue; and therefore it is necessary that some other person +should be employed to pen what he has to say or write in that language. +Secondly, his Majesty's answer is not in the first person, but in the +third. It is not said, WE are concerned, or OUR royal predecessors; but +HIS MAJESTY is concerned, and HIS royal predecessors. By which it is +plain, these are properly not the words of his Majesty, but supposed to be +taken from him, and transmitted hither by one of his ministers. Thirdly, +it will be easily seen, that the author of the pamphlet delivers his +sentiments upon this particular with the utmost caution and respect, as +any impartial reader will observe. + +The second paragraph, which it is said will be taken notice of as a motive +to find the bill, is what the author says of Ireland's being a dependent +kingdom; he explains all the dependence he knows of, which is a law made +in Ireland, whereby it is enacted, "that whoever is King of England shall +be King of Ireland." Before this explanation be condemned, and the bill +found upon it, it would be proper that some lawyers should fully inform +the jury what other law there is, either statute or common, for this +dependency; and if there be no law, there is no transgression. + +The fourth thing very maturely to be considered by the jury, is, what +influence their finding the bill may have upon the kingdom; the people in +general find no fault in the Drapier's last book, any more than in the +three former; and therefore, when they hear it is condemned by a grand +jury of Dublin, they will conclude it is done in favour of Wood's coin; +they will think we of this town have changed our minds, and intend to take +those halfpence, and therefore it will be in vain for them to stand out: +so that the question comes to this, which will be of the worst +consequence?--to let pass one or two expressions, at the worst only +unwary, in a book written for the public service; or to leave a free, open +passage for Wood's brass to overrun us, by which we shall be undone for +ever. The fifth thing to be considered is, that the members of the grand +jury, being merchants and principal shopkeepers, can have no suitable +temptation offered them as a recompense for the mischief they will do and +suffer by letting-in this coin; nor can be at any loss or danger by +rejecting the bill. They do not expect any employments in the State, to +make up in their own private advantages the destruction of their country; +whereas those who go about to advise, entice, or threaten them to find +that bill, have great employments, which they have a mind to keep, or to +get a greater; as it was likewise the case of all those who signed the +proclamation to have the author prosecuted. And therefore it is known, +that his grace the Lord Archbishop of Dublin, so renowned for his piety +and wisdom, and love of his country, absolutely refused to condemn the +book or the author. + +Lastly, it ought to be considered what consequence the finding of the bill +may have upon a poor man perfectly innocent. I mean the printer. A lawyer +may pick out expressions, and make them liable to exception, where no +other man is able to find any. But how can it be supposed that an ignorant +printer can be such a critic? He knew the author's design was honest and +approved by the whole kingdom: he advised with friends, who told him there +was no harm in the book, and he could see none himself: it was sent him in +an unknown hand; but the same in which he received the three former. He +and his wife have offered to take their oaths that they knew not the +author, and therefore, to find a bill that may bring punishment upon the +innocent, will appear very hard, to say no worse. For it will be +impossible to find the author, unless he will please to discover himself; +although I wonder he ever concealed his name; but I suppose what he did at +first out of modesty, he continues to do out of prudence. God protect us +and him! + +I will conclude all with a fable ascribed to Demosthenes. He had served +the people of Athens with great fidelity in the station of an orator, +when, upon a certain occasion, apprehending to be delivered over to his +enemies, he told the Athenians, his countrymen, the following story: Once +upon a time the wolves desired a league with the sheep, upon this +condition, that the cause of the strife might be taken away, which was the +shepherds and mastiffs: this being granted, the wolves, without all fear, +made havoc of the sheep. + + + + +SWIFT'S DESCRIPTION OF QUILCA. + + +The summers of 1724 and 1725 were spent in this country-seat, which his +friend Sheridan built for himself amongst the wildest of the Cavan heaths. +Quilca stood near a little lake surrounded by trees. Here Sheridan tried a +revival of the Roman chariot-races; the slope close by the lake was used +for a theatre; the place is redolent with memories of Swift, who loved the +place, though he perpetuated in verse the memory of its disorders, its +dilapidations, and the general shortcomings, in which it reflected its +owner's character and that of his scolding wife. + + +THE BLUNDERS, DEFICIENCIES, DISTRESSES, AND MISFORTUNES OF QUILCA. + +_Proposed to contain one-and-twenty volumes in quarto._ + +Begun April 20, 1724. To be continued weekly, if due encouragement be +given. + + +But one lock and a half in the whole house. + +The key of the garden-door lost. + +The empty bottles all uncleanable. + +The vessels for drink very few and leaky. + +The new house going to ruin before it is finished. + +One hinge of the street-door broke off, and the people forced to go out +and come in at the back-door. + +The door of the Dean's bed-chamber full of large chinks. + +The beaufet letting in so much wind that it almost blows out the candles. + +The Dean's bed threatening every night to fall under him. + +The little table loose and broken in the joints. + +The passages open overhead, by which the cats pass continually into the +cellar, and eat the victuals, for which one was tried, condemned, and +executed by the sword. + +The large table in a very tottering condition. + +But one chair in the house fit for sitting on, and that in a very ill +state of health. + +The kitchen perpetually crowded with savages. + +Not a bit of mutton to be had in the country. + +Want of beds, and a mutiny thereupon among the servants, until supplied +from Kells. + +An egregious want of all the most common necessary utensils. + +Not a bit of turf in this cold weather; and Mrs. Johnson and the Dean in +person, with all their servants, forced to assist at the bog, in gathering +up the wet bottoms of old clumps. + +The grate in the ladies' bedchamber broke, and forced to be removed, by +which they were compelled to be without fire, the chimney smoking +intolerably; and the Dean's great-coat was employed to stop the wind from +coming down the chimney, without which expedient they must have been +starved to death. + +A messenger sent a mile to borrow an old broken tun-dish. + +Bottles stopped with bits of wood and tow, instead of corks. + +Not one utensil for a fire, except an old pair of tongs, which travels +through the house, and is likewise employed to take the meat out of the +pot, for want of a flesh-fork. + +Every servant an arrant thief as to victuals and drink, and every comer +and goer as arrant a thief of everything he or she can lay their hands on. + +The spit blunted with poking into bogs for timber, and tears the meat to +pieces. + +_Bellum atque fæminam_; or a kitchen war between nurse and a nasty crew of +both sexes; she to preserve order and cleanliness, they to destroy both; +and they generally are conquerors. + +_April 28._ This morning the great fore-door quite open, dancing backward +and forward with all its weight upon the lower hinge, which must have been +broken if the Dean had not accidentally come and relieved it. + +A great hole in the floor of the ladies' chamber, every hour hazarding a +broken leg. + +Two iron spikes erect on the Dean's bedstead, by which he is in danger of +a broken shin at rising and going to bed. + +The ladies' and Dean's servants growing fast into the manners and +thieveries of the natives; the ladies themselves very much corrupted; the +Dean perpetually storming, and in danger of either losing all his flesh, +or sinking into barbarity for the sake of peace. + +Mrs. Dingley full of cares for herself, and blunders and negligence for +her friends. Mrs. Johnson sick and helpless. The Dean deaf and fretting; +the lady's maid awkward and clumsy; Robert lazy and forgetful; William a +pragmatical, ignorant, and conceited puppy; Robin and nurse the two great +and only supports of the family. + +_Bellum lactæum_; or the milky battle, fought between the Dean and the +crew of Quilca; the latter insisting on their privilege of not milking +till eleven in the forenoon: whereas Mrs. Johnson wanted milk at eight for +her health. In this battle the Dean got the victory; but the crew of +Quilca begin to rebel again; for it is this day almost ten o'clock, and +Mrs. Johnson has not got her milk. + +A proverb on the laziness and lodgings of the servants: "The worse their +sty--the longer they lie." + +Two great holes in the wall of the ladies' bedchamber, just at the back of +the bed, and one of them directly behind Mrs. Johnson's pillow, either of +which would blow out a candle in the calmest day. + + + + +ANSWER TO A PAPER, + +CALLED + +_A Memorial of the poor Inhabitants, Tradesmen, and Labourers of the +Kingdom of Ireland._[26] + + +Dublin, _March 25th, 1738_. + +SIR, + +I received a paper from you, whoever you are, printed without any name of +author or printer, and sent, I suppose, to me among others, without any +particular distinction. It contains a complaint of the dearness of corn, +and some schemes for making it cheaper which I cannot approve of. + +But pray permit me, before I go farther, to give you a short history of +the steps by which we arrived at this hopeful situation. + +It was, indeed, the shameful practice of too many Irish farmers, to wear +out their ground with ploughing; while, either through poverty, laziness, +or ignorance, they neither took care to measure it as they ought, nor +gave time to any part of the land to recover itself; and when their leases +were near expiring, being assured that their landlords would not renew, +they ploughed even the meadows, and made such havoc, that their landlords +were considerable sufferers by it. + +This gave birth to that abominable race of graziers, who, upon expiration +of the farmers' leases, were ready to engross great quantities of land; +and the gentlemen having been often before ill paid, and their land worn +out of heart, were too easily tempted, when a rich grazier made an offer +to take all their land, and give them security for payment. Thus a vast +tract of land, where twenty or thirty farmers lived, together with their +cottagers and labourers in their several cabins, became all desolate, and +easily managed by one or two herdsmen and their boys; whereby the master +grazier, with little trouble, seized to himself the livelihood of a +hundred people. + +It must be confessed, that the farmers were justly punished for their +knavery, brutality, and folly. But neither are the squires and landlords +to be excused; for to them is owing the depopulating of the country, the +vast number of beggars, and the ruin of those few sorry improvements we +had. That farmers should be limited in ploughing is very reasonable, and +practised in England, and might have easily been done here by penal +clauses in their leases; but to deprive them, in a manner, altogether from +tilling their lands, was a most stupid want of thinking. + +Had the farmers been confined to plough a certain quantity of land, with a +penalty of ten pounds an acre for whatever they exceeded, and farther +limited for the three or four last years of their leases, all this evil +had been prevented; the nation would have saved a million of money, and +been more populous by above two hundred thousand souls. + +For a people, denied the benefit of trade, to manage their lands in such a +manner as to produce nothing but what they are forbidden to trade with, or +only such things as they can neither export nor manufacture to advantage, +is an absurdity that a wild Indian would be ashamed of; especially when we +add, that we are content to purchase this hopeful commerce, by sending to +foreign markets for our daily bread. + +The grazier's employment is to feed great flocks of sheep, or +black-cattle, or both. With regard to sheep, as folly is usually +accompanied with perverseness, so it is here. There is something so +monstrous to deal in a commodity (farther than for our own use), which we +are not allowed to export manufactured, nor even unmanufactured, but to +one certain country, and only to some few ports in that country; there is, +I say, something so sottish, that it wants a name in our language to +express it by, and the good of it is, that the more sheep we have, the +fewer human creatures are left to wear the wool, or eat the flesh. + +Ajax was mad when he mistook a flock of sheep for his enemies; but we +shall never be sober until we have the same way of thinking. + +The other part of the grazier's business is, what we call black-cattle, +producing hides, tallow, and beef for exportation: all which are good and +useful commodities, if rightly managed. But it seems the greatest part of +the hides are sent out raw, for want of bark to tan them; and that want +will daily grow stronger, for I doubt the new project of tanning without +it is at an end. + +Our beef, I am afraid, still continues scandalous in foreign markets, for +the old reasons; but our tallow, for anything I know, may be good. +However, to bestow the whole kingdom on beef and mutton, and thereby drive +out half the people who should eat their share, and force the rest to send +sometimes as far as Egypt for bread to eat with it, is a most peculiar and +distinguished piece of public economy, of which I have no comprehension. + +I know very well that our ancestors the Scythians, and their posterity, +our kinsmen the Tartars, lived upon the blood, and milk, and raw flesh of +their cattle, without one grain of corn; but I confess myself so +degenerate, that I am not easy without bread to my victuals.... + +Now, sir, to return more particularly to you and your memorial. A hundred +thousand barrels of wheat, you say, should be imported hither: and ten +thousand pounds, premium to the importers. Have you looked into the purse +of the nation? + +I am no Commissioner of the Treasury; but am well assured that the whole +running cash would not supply you with a sum to purchase so much corn, +which, only at twenty shillings a barrel, will be a hundred thousand +pounds; and ten thousand more for the premium. But you will traffic for +your corn with other goods; and where are those goods? if you had them, +they are all engaged to pay the rents of absentees, and other occasions in +London, besides a huge balance of trade this year against us. Will +foreigners take our bankers' paper? I suppose they will value it at little +more than so much a quire. Where are these rich farmers and engrossers of +corn, in so bad a year, and so little sowing. You are in pain for two +shillings premium, and forget the twenty shillings for the price; find me +out the latter, and I will engage for the former. + +Your scheme for a tax for raising such a sum is all visionary, and owing +to a great want of knowledge in the miserable state of this nation. Tea, +coffee, sugar, spices, wine, and foreign clothes, are the particulars you +mention upon which this tax should be raised. I will allow the two first; +because they are unwholesome; and the last, because I should be glad if +they were all burned: but I beg you will leave us our wine to make us +awhile forget our misery, or give your tenants leave to plough for barley. +But I will tell you a secret, which I learned many years ago from the +commissioners of the customs in London: they said, when any commodity +appeared to be taxed above a moderate rate, the consequence was, to lessen +that branch of the revenue by one half; and one of those gentlemen +pleasantly told me, that the mistake of parliaments, on such occasions, +was owing to an error of computing two and two to make four, whereas, in +the business of laying impositions, two and two never made more than one; +which happens by lessening the import, and the strong temptation of +running such goods as paid high duties at least in this kingdom.... + +You are concerned how strange and surprising it would be in foreign parts +to hear that the poor were starving in a RICH country, &c. Are you in +earnest? Is Ireland the rich country you mean? Or are you insulting our +poverty? Were you ever out of Ireland? Or were you ever in it till of +late? You may probably have a good employment, and are saving all you can +to purchase a good estate in England. + +But by talking so familiarly of one hundred and ten thousand pounds, by a +tax upon a few commodities, it is plain you are either naturally or +affectedly ignorant of our present condition: or else you would know and +allow, that such a sum is not to be raised here, without a general excise; +since, in proportion to our wealth, we pay already in taxes more than +England ever did in the height of war. And when you have brought over your +corn, who will be the buyers?--most certainly not the poor, who will not +be able to purchase the twentieth part of it. + +Sir, upon the whole, your paper is a very crude piece, liable to more +objections than there are lines; but I think your meaning is good, and so +far you are pardonable. + +If you will propose a general contribution for supporting the poor in +potatoes and butter-milk till the new corn comes in, perhaps you may +succeed better, because the thing at least is possible; and I think if our +brethren in England would contribute upon this emergency, out of the +million they gain from us every year, they would do a piece of justice as +well as charity. In the meantime, go and preach to your own tenants to +fall to the plough as fast as they can, and prevail with your neighbouring +squires to do the same with theirs; or else die with the guilt of having +driven away half the inhabitants, and starving the rest. + +But why all this concern for the poor? We want them not, as the country is +now managed; they may follow thousands of their leaders, and seek their +bread abroad. Where the plough has no work, one family can do the business +of fifty, and you may send away the other forty-nine. An admirable piece +of husbandry, never known or practised by the wisest nations, who +erroneously thought people to be the riches of a country! + +If so wretched a state of things would allow it, methinks I could have a +malicious pleasure, after all the warning I have in vain given the public, +at my own peril, for several years past, to see the consequences and +events answering in every particular. I pretend to no sagacity; what I +writ was little more than what I had discoursed to several persons, who +were generally of my opinion, and it was obvious to every common +understanding that such effects must needs follow from such causes--a +fair issue of things begun upon party rage, while some sacrificed the +public to fury, and others to ambition; while a spirit of faction and +oppression reigned in every part of the country, where gentlemen, instead +of consulting the ease of their tenants, or cultivating their lands, were +worrying one another upon points of Whig and Tory, of High Church and Low +Church, which no more concerned them than the long and famous controversy +of strops for razors: while agriculture was wholly discouraged, and +consequently half the farmers and labourers, and poorer tradesmen forced +to beggary or banishment. "Wisdom crieth in the streets: Because I have +called on you; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye +have set at nought all my counsels, and would none of my reproof; I also +will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh." + +I have now done with your Memorial, and freely excuse your mistakes, since +you appear to write as a stranger, and as of a country which is left at +liberty to enjoy the benefits of nature, and to make the best of those +advantages which God has given it, in soil, climate, and situation. + + + + +MAXIMS CONTROLLED. + + +The heading of this tract would imply that the theories of political +economy have no application to Ireland. Here he shows, one by one, how the +ordinary rules that guide us in regard to other nations are utterly +fallacious when applied to Ireland. What strikes us most in all these +tracts is the deliberate incisiveness of their irony, the despairing +bitterness that gives them finish and completeness. + + +MAXIMS CONTROULED IN IRELAND. + +_The Truth of Maxims in State and Government examined with reference to +Ireland._ + +Written in 1724. + +There are certain maxims of State, founded upon long observation and +experience, drawn from the constant practice of the wisest nations, and +from the very principles of government, nor even controuled by any writer +on politics. Yet all these maxims do necessarily presuppose a kingdom, or +commonwealth, to have the same natural rights common to the rest of +mankind, who have entered into civil society; for if we could conceive a +nation where each of the inhabitants had but one eye, one leg, and one +hand, it is plain, before you could institute them into a republic, that +an allowance must be made for those material defects wherein they differed +from other mortals. Or, imagine a legislature forming a system for the +government of bedlam, and, proceeding upon the maxim that man is a +sociable animal, should draw them out of their cells, and form them into +corporations or general assemblies; the consequence might probably be that +they would fall foul on each other, or burn the house over their own +heads. + +Of the like nature are innumerable errors committed by crude and short +thinkers, who reason upon general topics, without the least allowance for +the most important circumstances, which quite alter the nature of the +case. + +This has been the fate of those small dealers who are every day publishing +their thoughts, either on paper or in their assemblies, for improving the +trade of Ireland, and referring us to the practice and example of England, +Holland, France, or other nations. + +I shall, therefore, examine certain maxims of government, which generally +pass for uncontrouled in the world, and consider how far they will suit +with the present condition of this kingdom. First, It is affirmed by wise +men that the dearness of things necessary for life, in a fruitful country, +is a certain sign of wealth and great commerce; for when such necessaries +are dear, it must absolutely follow that money is cheap and plentiful. + +But this is manifestly false in Ireland, for the following reason. Some +years ago, the species of money here did probably amount to six or seven +hundred thousand pounds; and I have good cause to believe that our +remittances then did not much exceed the cash brought in to us. But, by +the prodigious discouragements we have since received in every branch of +our trade, by the frequent enforcement and rigorous execution of the +Navigation-act--the tyranny of under custom-house officers--the yearly +addition of absentees--the payments to regiments abroad, to civil and +military officers residing in England--the unexpected sudden demands of +great sums from the treasury--and some other drains of perhaps as great +consequence--we now see ourselves reduced to a state (since we have no +friends) of being pitied by our enemies; at least, if our enemies were of +such a kind as to be capable of any regard towards us except of hatred and +contempt. + +Forty years are now passed since the Revolution, when the contention of +the British Empire was, most unfortunately for us, and altogether against +the usual course of such mighty changes in government, decided in the +least important nation; but with such ravages and ruin executed on both +sides, as to leave the kingdom a desert, which in some sort it still +continues. + +Neither did the long rebellions in 1641, make half such a destruction of +houses, plantations, and personal wealth, in both kingdoms, as two years' +campaigns did in ours, by fighting England's battles. + +By slow degrees, as by the gentle treatment we received under two +auspicious reigns,[27] we grew able to live without running in debt. + +Our absentees were but few; we had great indulgence in trade, and a +considerable share in employments of Church and State; and while the short +leases continued, which were let some years after the war ended, tenants +paid their rents with ease and cheerfulness, to the great regret of their +landlords, who had taken up a spirit of opposition that is not easily +removed. And although in these short leases, the rent was gradually to +increase after short periods, yet, as soon as the terms elapsed, the land +was let to the highest bidder, most commonly without the least effectual +clause for building or planting. Yet, by many advantages, which this +island then possessed, and has since utterly lost, the rents of land still +grew higher upon every lease that expired, till they have arrived at the +present exorbitance; when the frog, over-swelling himself, burst at last. + +With the price of land, of necessity rose that of corn and cattle, and all +other commodities that farmers deal in; hence likewise, obviously, the +rates of all goods and manufactures among shopkeepers, the wages of +servants, and hire of labourers. But although our miseries came on fast, +with neither trade nor money left; yet neither will the landlord abate in +his rent, nor can the tenant abate in the price of what the rest must be +paid with, nor any shopkeeper, tradesman, or labourer live, at lower +expense for food and clothing, than he did before. + +I have been the larger upon this first head, because the same observations +will clear up and strengthen a good deal of what I shall affirm upon the +rest. + +The second maxim of those who reason upon trade and government, is, to +assert that low interest is a certain sign of great plenty of money in a +nation, for which, as in many other articles, they produce the examples +of Holland and England. But, with relation to Ireland, this maxim is +likewise entirely false. + +There are two reasons for the lowness of interest in any country. First, +that which is usually alleged, the great plenty of species; and this is +obvious. The second is, want of trade, which seldom falls under common +observation, although it be equally true, for, where trade is altogether +discouraged, there are few borrowers. In those countries where men can +employ a large stock, the young merchant, whose fortune may be four or +five hundred pounds, will venture to borrow as much more, and can afford a +reasonable interest. Neither is it easy, at this day, to find many of +those, whose business reaches to employ even so inconsiderable a sum, +except among the importers of wine, who, as they have most part of the +present trade in these parts of Ireland in their hands, so they are the +most exorbitant, exacting fraudulent dealers, that ever trafficked in any +nation, and are making all possible speed to ruin both themselves and the +nation. + +From this defect of gentlemen's not knowing how to dispose of their ready +money, arises the high purchase of land, which in all other countries is +reckoned a sign of wealth. For, the frugal squires, who live below their +incomes, have no other way to dispose of their savings but by mortgage or +purchase, by which the rates of land must naturally increase; and if this +trade continues long, under the uncertainty of rents, the landed men of +ready money will find it more for their advantage to send their cash to +England, and place it in the funds; which I myself am determined to do, +the first considerable sum I shall be master of. + +It has likewise been a maxim among politicians, "That the great increase +of buildings in the metropolis, argues a flourishing state." But this, I +confess, has been controuled from the example of London; when, by the long +and annual parliamentary session, such a number of senators with their +families, friends, adherents, and expectants, draw such prodigious numbers +to that city, that the old hospitable custom of lords and gentlemen living +in their ancient seats among their tenants, is almost lost in England; is +laughed out of doors; insomuch that, in the middle of summer, a legal +House of Lords and Commons might be brought in a few hours to London, from +their country villas within twelve miles round. + +The case in Ireland is yet somewhat worse: for the absentees of great +estates, who, if they lived at home, would have many rich retainers in +their neighbourhoods, have learned to rack their lands, and shorten their +leases, as much as any residing squire; and the few remaining of those +latter, having some vain hope of employments for themselves, or their +children, and discouraged by the beggarliness and thievery of their own +miserable farmers and cottagers, or seduced by the vanity of their wives, +on pretence of their children's education (whereof the fruits are so +apparent), together with that most wonderful, and yet more unaccountable +zeal, for a seat in their assembly, though at some years' purchase of +their whole, estates: these, and some other motives, have drawn such +concourse to this beggarly city, that the dealers of the several branches +of building have found out all the commodious and inviting places for +erecting new houses; while fifteen hundred of the old ones, which is a +seventh part of the whole city, are said to be left uninhabited, and +falling to ruin. Their method is the same with that which was first +introduced by Dr. Barebone at London, who died a bankrupt. The mason, the +bricklayer, the carpenter, the slater, and the glazier, take a lot of +ground, club to build one or more houses, unite their credit, their stock, +and their money; and when their work is finished sell it to the best +advantage they can. But, as it often happens, and more every day, that +their fund will not answer half their design, they are forced to undersell +it at the first story, and are all reduced to beggary. Insomuch, that I +know a certain fanatic brewer, who is reported to have some hundreds of +houses in this town, is said to have purchased the greatest part of them +at half value from ruined undertakers; has intelligence of all new houses +where the finishing is at a stand, takes advantage of the builders' +distress, and, by the advantage of ready money, gets fifty _per cent._ at +least for his bargain. + +It is another undisputed maxim in government, "That people are the riches +of a nation;" which is so universally granted, that it will be hardly +pardonable to bring it into doubt. And I will grant it to be so far true, +even in this island, that if we had the African custom, or privilege, of +selling our useless bodies for slaves to foreigners, it would be the most +useful branch of our trade, by ridding us of a most unsupportable burden, +and bringing us money in the stead. But, in our present situation, at +least five children in six who are born, lie a dead weight upon us, for +want of employment. And a very skilful computer assured me, that above one +half of the souls in this kingdom supported themselves by begging and +thievery; two-thirds whereof would be able to get their bread in any other +country upon earth. Trade is the only incitement to labour; where that +fails, the poorer native must either beg, steal or starve, or be forced to +quit his country. This has made me often wish, for some years past, that +instead of discouraging our people from seeking foreign soil, the public +would rather pay for transporting all our unnecessary mortals, whether +Papists or Protestants, to America; as drawbacks are sometimes allowed for +exporting commodities, where a nation is overstocked. I confess myself to +be touched with very sensible pleasure, when I hear of a mortality in any +country parish or village, where the wretches are forced to pay for a +filthy cabin, and two ridges of potatoes, treble the worth; brought up to +steal or beg, for want of work; to whom death would be the best thing to +be wished for on account both of themselves and the public. + +Among all taxes imposed by the legislature, those upon luxury are +universally allowed to be the most equitable, and beneficial to the +subject; and the commonest reasoner on government might fill a volume with +arguments on the subject. Yet here again, by the singular fate of Ireland, +this maxim is utterly false; and the putting of it in practice may have +such a pernicious consequence, as, I certainly believe, the thoughts of +proposers were not able to reach. + +The miseries we suffer by our absentees, are of a far more extensive +nature than seems to be commonly understood. I must vindicate myself to +the reader so far, as to declare solemnly, that what I shall say of those +lords and squires, does not arise from the least regard I have for their +understandings, their virtues, or their persons: for, although I have not +the honour of the least acquaintance with any one among them (my ambition +not soaring so high), yet I am too good a witness of the situation they +have been in for thirty years past; the veneration paid them by the +people, the high esteem they are in among the prime nobility and gentry, +the particular marks of favour and distinction they receive from the +Court; the weight and consequence of their interest, added to their great +zeal and application for preventing any hardships their country might +suffer from England, wisely considering that their own fortunes and +honours were embarked in the same bottom. + + + + +A SHORT VIEW OF THE STATE OF IRELAND, 1727. + + +Here, Swift catalogues in regular order the possible adjuncts and +conditions of prosperity, and shows how the very negative of each is +present in Ireland. "If we flourish, it is against every law of nature and +reason: like the thorn of Glastonbury, which blossoms in the midst of +winter." He draws a fanciful picture of what Ireland might seem to a +stranger, favoured as she is by nature; but breaks from it in despair. All +his tracts have one end and aim: "Be independent." Law cannot help; theory +is futile; English selfishness is great. Whatever you get will be by +self-assertion and by that alone. Swift was acquainted with the current +nostrums, which he despised. He saw the evil lay deeper, and that it could +be cured only by giving to Ireland the motive power of independence. He +kindled her energy by plain bald statements, withering sarcasm, derisive +scorn, and the fiercest indignation. The sarcasm and indignation are for +the English selfishness; the scorn for Irish imbecility and weakness. + + +_A Short View of the State of Ireland, 1727._ + +I am assured, that it has for some time been practised as a method of +making men's court, when they are asked about the rate of lands, the +abilities of the tenants, the state of trade and manufacture in this +kingdom, and how their rents are paid; to answer, that in their +neighbourhood all things are in a flourishing condition, the rent and +purchase of land every day increasing. And if a gentleman happen to be a +little more sincere in his representation, besides being looked on as not +well-affected, he is sure to have a dozen contradictors at his elbow. I +think it is no manner of secret, why these questions are so cordially +asked, or so obligingly answered. + +But since, with regard to the affairs of this kingdom, I have been using +all endeavours to subdue my indignation, to which indeed I am not provoked +by any personal interest, not being the owner of one spot of ground in the +whole island; I shall only enumerate, by rules generally known, and never +contradicted, what are the true causes of any country's flourishing and +growing rich; and then examine what effects arise from those causes in the +kingdom of Ireland. + +The first cause of a kingdom's thriving is, the fruitfulness of the soil +to produce the necessaries and conveniences of life; not only sufficient +for the inhabitants, but for exportation into other countries. + +The second is, the industry of the people, in working up all their native +commodities to the last degree of manufacture. + +The third is, the conveniency of safe ports and havens, to carry out their +own goods as much manufactured, and bring in those of others as little +manufactured as the nature of mutual commerce will allow. + +The fourth is, that the natives should, as much as possible, export and +import their goods in vessels of their own timber, made in their own +country. + +The fifth is, the privilege of a free trade in all foreign countries which +will permit them, except those who are in war with their own prince or +State. + +The sixth is, by being governed only by laws made with their own consent; +for otherwise they are not a free people. And therefore all appeals for +justice, or applications for favour or preferment, to another country, are +so many grievous impoverishments. + +The seventh is, by improvement of land, encouragement of agriculture, and +thereby increasing the number of their people; without which any country, +however blessed by nature, must continue poor. + +The eighth is, the residence of the prince, or chief administrator of the +civil power. + +The ninth is, the concourse of foreigners, for education, curiosity, or +pleasure, or as to a general mart of trade. + +The tenth is, by disposing all offices of honour, profit, or trust, only +to the natives; or at least with very few exceptions, where strangers have +long inhabited the country, and are supposed to understand and regard the +interests of it as their own. + +The eleventh is, when the rents of land and profits of employment are +spent in the country which produced them, and not in another; the former +of which will certainly happen where the love of our native country +prevails. + +The twelfth is, by the public revenues being all spent and employed at +home, except on the occasions of a foreign war. + +The thirteenth is, where the people are not obliged unless they find it +for their own interest or conveniency, to receive any moneys, except of +their own coinage by a public mint, after the manner of all civilized +nations. + +The fourteenth is, a disposition of the people of a country to wear their +own manufactures, and import as few incitements to luxury, either in +clothes, furniture, food, or drink, as they can possibly live +conveniently without. + +There are many other causes of a nation's thriving, which I at present +cannot recollect; but without advantage from at least some of these, after +turning my thoughts a long time, I am not able to discover whence our +wealth proceeds, and therefore would gladly be better informed. In the +meantime, I will here examine what share falls to Ireland of these causes, +or of the effects and consequences. + +It is not my intention to complain, but barely to relate facts; and the +matter is not of small importance. For it is allowed, that a man who lives +in a solitary house, far from help, is not wise in endeavouring to acquire +in the neighbourhood the reputation of being rich; because those who come +for gold, will go off with pewter and brass, rather than return empty: and +in the common practice of the world, those who possess most wealth, make +the least parade; which they leave to others, who have nothing else to +bear them out in showing their faces on the Exchange. + +As to the first cause of a nation's riches, being the fertility of the +soil, as well as temperature of the climate, we have no reason to +complain; for, although the quantity of unprofitable land in this kingdom, +reckoning bog and rock and barren mountain, be double in proportion to +what it is in England; yet the native productions, which both kingdoms +deal in, are very near on an equality in point of goodness, and might, +with the same encouragement, be as well manufactured. I except mines and +minerals; in some of which, however, we are only defective in point of +skill and industry. In the second, which is the industry of the people, +our misfortune is not altogether owing to our own fault, but to a million +of discouragements. + +The conveniency of ports and havens, which nature has bestowed so +liberally on this kingdom, is of no more use to us than a beautiful +prospect to a man shut up in a dungeon. + +As to shipping of its own, Ireland is so utterly unprovided, that of all +the excellent timber cut down within these fifty or sixty years, it can +hardly be said that the nation has received the benefit of one valuable +house to dwell in, or one ship to trade with. Ireland is the only kingdom +I ever heard or read of, either in ancient or modern story, which was +denied the liberty of exporting their native commodities and manufactures +wherever they pleased, except to countries at war with their own prince or +State: yet this privilege, by the superiority of mere power, is refused us +in the most momentous parts of commerce; besides an act of navigation, to +which we never consented, pinned down upon us, and rigorously executed; +and a thousand other unexampled circumstances, as grievous as they are +invidious to mention. To go on to the rest. It is too well known, that we +are forced to obey some laws we never consented to; which is a condition I +must not call by its true uncontroverted name, for fear of Lord Chief +Justice Whitshed's ghost, with his _Libertas et natale solum_ written for +a motto on his coach, as it stood at the door of the court, while he was +perjuring himself to betray both. Thus we are in the condition of +patients, who have physic sent them by doctors at a distance, strangers to +their constitution and the nature of their disease.... + +As to the improvement of land, those few who attempt that or planting, +through covetousness, or want of skill, generally leave things worse than +they were; neither succeeding in trees nor hedges; and, by running into +the fancy of grazing, after the manner of the Scythians, are every day +depopulating the country. + +We are so far from having a king to reside among us, that even the viceroy +is generally absent four-fifths of his time in the government. + +No strangers from other countries make this a part of their travels; +where they can expect to see nothing but scenes of misery and desolation. + +Those who have the misfortune to be born here, have the least title to any +considerable employment; to which they are seldom preferred, but upon a +political consideration. One-third part of the rents of Ireland is spent +in England; which, with the profit of employments, pensions, appeals, +journeys of pleasure or health, education at the Inns of Court and both +Universities, remittances at pleasure, the pay of all superior officers in +the army, and other incidents, will amount to a full half of the income of +the whole kingdom, all clear profit to England. + +We are denied the liberty of coining gold, silver, or even copper. In the +Isle of Man they coin their own silver; every petty prince, vassal to the +Emperor, can coin what money he pleases. And in this, as in most of the +articles already mentioned, we are an exception to all other states and +monarchies that were ever known in the world. + +As to the last, or fourteenth article, we take special care to act +diametrically contrary to it in the whole course of our lives. Both sexes, +but especially the women, despise and abhor to wear any of their own +manufactures, even those which are better made than in other countries; +particularly a sort of silk plaid, through which the workmen are forced to +run a kind of gold thread, that it may pass for Indian. + +Even ale and potatoes are imported from England, as well as corn; and our +foreign trade is little more than importation of French wine, for which I +am told we pay ready money. + +Now, if all this be true (upon which I could easily enlarge), I should be +glad to know, by what secret method it is that we grow a rich and +flourishing people, without liberty, trade, manufactures, inhabitants, +money, or the privilege of coining; without industry, labour, or +improvement of land; and with more than half the rent and profits of the +whole kingdom annually exported, for which we receive not a single +farthing; and to make up all this, nothing worth mentioning, except the +linen of the North, a trade, casual, corrupted, and at mercy; and some +butter from Cork. If we do flourish, it must be against every law of +nature and reason; like the thorn at Glastonbury, that blossoms in the +midst of winter.... + +There is not one argument used to prove the riches of Ireland, which is +not a logical demonstration of its poverty. The rise of our rents is +squeezed out of the very blood, and vitals, and clothes, and dwellings of +the tenants, who live worse than English beggars. The lowness of interest, +in all other countries a sign of wealth, is in us a proof of misery; there +being no trade to employ any borrower. Hence alone comes the dearness of +land, since the savers have no other way to lay out their money; hence the +dearness of necessaries of life; because the tenants cannot afford to pay +such extravagant rates for land (which they must take, or go a'begging), +without raising the price of cattle and of corn, although themselves +should live upon chaff. Hence our increase of building in this city; +because workmen have nothing to do but to employ one another, and one half +of them are infallibly undone. Hence the daily increase of bankers, who +may be a necessary evil in a trading country, but so ruinous in ours; who, +for their private advantage, have sent away all our silver, and one-third +of our gold; so that within three years past the running cash of the +nation, which was about five hundred thousand pounds, is now less than +two, and must daily diminish, unless we have liberty to coin, as well as +that important kingdom the Isle of Man, and the meanest principality in +the German empire, as I before observed. + +I have sometimes thought, that this paradox of the kingdom's growing rich +is chiefly owing to those worthy gentlemen the BANKERS; who, except some +custom-house officers, birds of passage, oppressive thrifty squires, and a +few others who shall be nameless, are the only thriving among us: and I +have often wished that a law were enacted to hang up half a dozen bankers +every year, and thereby interpose at least some short delay to the farther +ruin of Ireland. + +Ye are idle! ye are idle! answered Pharaoh to the Israelites, when they +complained to his Majesty that they were forced to make bricks without +straw. + +England enjoys every one of those advantages for enriching a nation which +I have above enumerated; and, into the bargain, a good million returned to +them every year without labour or hazard, or one farthing value received +on our side; but how long we shall be able to continue the payment, I am +not under the least concern. One thing I know, that, when the hen is +starved to death, there will be no more golden eggs. I think it a little +unhospitable, and others may call it a subtile piece of malice, that +because there may be a dozen families in this town able to entertain their +English friends in a generous manner at their tables, their guests upon +their return to England shall report that we wallow in riches and luxury. + +Yet I confess I have known an hospital, where all the household officers +grew rich; while the poor, for whose sake it was built, were almost +starved for want of food and raiment. + +To conclude: If Ireland be a rich and flourishing kingdom, its wealth and +prosperity must be owing to certain causes, that are yet concealed from +the whole race of mankind; and the effects are equally invisible. We need +not wonder at strangers, when they deliver such paradoxes; but a native +and inhabitant of this kingdom, who gives the same verdict, must be either +ignorant to stupidity, or a man-pleaser, at the expense of all honour, +conscience, and truth. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE INJURED LADY. + +_Written by herself, in a letter to her Friend; with his answer._ + + +SIR, + +Being ruined by the inconstancy and unkindness of a lover, I hope a true +and plain relation of my misfortunes may be of use and warning to +credulous maids, never to put too much trust in deceitful men. + +A gentleman in the neighbourhood[28] had two mistresses, another and +myself;[29] and he pretended honourable love to us both. Our three houses +stood pretty near one another; his was parted from mine by a river,[30] +and from my rival's by an old broken wall.[31] But before I enter into the +particulars of this gentleman's hard usage of me, I will give a very just +and impartial character of my rival and myself. + +As to her person, she is tall and lean, and very ill-shaped; she has bad +features, and a worse complexion. As to her other qualifies, she has no +reputation either for honesty, truth, or manners, and it is no wonder, +considering what her education has been. To sum up all, she is poor and +beggarly, and gets a sorry maintenance by pilfering wherever she comes. + +As for this gentleman, who is now so fond of her, she still bears him an +invincible hatred; reviles him to his face, and rails at him in all +companies. Her house is frequented by a company of rogues and thieves, and +pickpockets, whom she encourages to rob his hen-roosts, steal his corn and +cattle, and do him all manner of mischief.[32] She has been known to come +at the head of these rascals, and beat her lover until he was sore from +head to foot, and then force him to pay for the trouble she was at. Once, +attended with a crew of ragamuffins, she broke into his house, turned all +things topsy-turvey, and then set it on fire. At the same time she told so +many lies among his servants that it set them all by the ears, and his +poor steward[33] was knocked on the head; for which I think, and so does +all the country, that she ought to be answerable. To conclude her +character: she is of a different religion, being a Presbyterian of the +most rank and violent kind, and consequently having an inveterate hatred +to the Church; yet I am sure I have been always told, that in marriage +there ought to be a union of minds as well as of persons. + +I will now give my own character, and shall do it in few words, and with +modesty and truth. I was reckoned to be as handsome as any in our +neighbourhood, until I became pale and thin with grief and ill-usage. I am +still fair enough, and have, I think, no very ill features about me. They +that see me now will hardly allow me ever to have had any great share of +beauty; for, besides being so much altered, I go always mobbed and in an +undress, as well out of neglect, as indeed for want of clothes to appear +in. I might add to all this, that I was born to a good estate, although it +now turns to little account under the oppressions I endure, and has been +the true cause of all my misfortunes. + +Some years ago, this gentleman, taking a fancy either to my person or +fortune, made his addresses to me: which, being then young and foolish, I +too readily admitted. When he had once got possession, he began to play +the usual part of a too fortunate lover, affecting on all occasions to +show his authority, and to act like a conqueror. First, he found fault +with the government of my family, which, I grant was none of the best, +consisting of ignorant, illiterate creatures, for at that time I knew but +little of the world. In compliance to him, therefore, I agreed to fall +into his ways and methods of living; I consented that his steward should +govern my house, and have liberty to employ an understeward,[34] who +should receive his directions. My lover proceeded farther, turned away +several old servants and tenants, and supplying me with others from his +own house. These grew so domineering and unreasonable, that there was no +quiet, and I heard of nothing but perpetual quarrels, which, although I +could not possibly help, yet my lover laid all the blame and punishment +upon me; and upon every falling out still turned away more of my people, +and supplied me in their stead with a number of fellows and dependents of +his own, whom he had no other way to provide for. Overcome by love, and to +avoid noise and contention, I yielded to all his usurpations, and finding +it in vain to resist, I thought it my best policy to make my court to my +new servants, and draw them to my interests; I fed them from my own table +with the best I had, put my new tenants on the choice parts of my land, +and treated them all so kindly that they began to love me as well as their +master. In process of time, all my old servants were gone, and I had not +a creature about me, nor above one or two tenants, but what were of his +choosing; yet I had the good luck, by gentle usage, to bring over the +greatest part of them to my side. When my lover observed this, he began to +alter his language; and to those who inquired about me, he would answer +that I was an old dependent upon his family, whom he had placed on some +concerns of his own; and he began to use me accordingly, neglecting, by +degrees, all common civility in his behaviour. I shall never forget the +speech he made me one morning, which he delivered with all the gravity in +the world. He put me in mind of the vast obligations I lay under to him in +sending me so many of his people for my own good, and to teach me manners: +that it had cost him ten times more than I was worth to maintain me; that +it had been much better for him if I had been burnt, or sunk to the bottom +of the sea; that it was reasonable I should strain myself as far as I was +able to reimburse him some of his charges; that from henceforward he +expected his word should be a law to me in all things; that I must +maintain a parish-watch against thieves and robbers, and give salaries to +an overseer, a constable, and others, all of his own choosing whom he +would send from time to time to be spies upon me; that, to enable me the +better in supporting these expenses, my tenants should be obliged to carry +all their goods across the river to his own town-market, and pay toll on +both sides, and then sell them at half value. But because we were a nasty +sort of people, and that he could not endure to touch anything that we had +a hand in, and, likewise, because he wanted work to employ his own folks, +therefore we must send all our goods to his market just in their +naturals--the milk immediately from the cow, without making into cheese or +butter; the corn in the ear; the grass as it was mowed; the wool as it +comes from the sheep's back; and bring the fruit upon the branch, that he +might not be obliged to eat it after our filthy hands: that if a tenant +carried but a piece of bread and cheese to eat by the way, or an inch of +worsted to mend his stockings, he should forfeit his whole parcel: and +because a parcel of rogues usually plied on the river between us, who +often robbed my tenants of their goods and boats, he ordered a waterman of +his to guard them, whose manner was to be out of the way till the poor +wretches were plundered, then to overtake the thieves, and seize all as +lawful prize to his master and himself. It would be endless to repeat a +hundred other hardships he has put upon me; but it is a general rule, that +whenever he imagines the smallest advantage will redound to one of his +footboys by any new oppression of me and my whole family and estate, he +never disputeth it a moment. All this has rendered me so very +insignificant and contemptible at home, that some servants, to whom I pay +the greatest wages, and many tenants, who have the most beneficial leases, +are gone over to live with him, yet I am bound to continue their wages and +pay their rents; by which means one-third of my income is spent on his +estate, and above another third by his tolls and markets: and my poor +tenants are so sunk and impoverished, that instead of maintaining me +suitably to my quality, they can hardly find me clothes to keep me warm, +or provide the common necessaries of life for themselves. + +Matters being in this posture between me and my lover, I received +intelligence that he had been for some time making very pressing overtures +of marriage to my rival, until there happened to be some misunderstandings +between them. She gave him ill words, and threatened to break off all +commerce with him. He, on the other side, having either acquired courage +by his triumphs over me, or supposing her to be as tame a fool as I, +thought at first to carry it with a high hand, but hearing at the same +time that she had thought of making some private proposals to join with me +against him, and doubting, with very good reason, that I would readily +accept them, he seemed very much disconcerted.[35] This, I thought, was a +proper occasion to show some great example of generosity and love; and so, +without farther consideration, I sent him word, that hearing there was +likely to be a quarrel betwixt him and my rival, notwithstanding all that +had passed, and without binding him to any conditions in my own favour, I +would stand by him against her and all the world, while I had a penny in +my purse, or a petticoat to pawn. This message was subscribed by all my +chief tenants, and proved so powerful, that my rival immediately grew more +tractable upon it. The result of which was, that there is now a treaty of +marriage concluded between them,[36] the wedding clothes are bought, and +nothing remains but to perform the ceremony, which is put off for some +days, because they design it to be a public wedding. And to reward my +love, constancy, and generosity, he has bestowed on me the office of being +sempstress to his grooms and footmen, which I am forced to accept or +starve.[37] Yet, in the midst of this my situation, I cannot but have some +pity for this deluded man. + +For my part, I think, and so does all the country, too, that the man is +possessed; at least none of us are able to imagine what he can possibly +see in her, unless she has bewitched him, or given him some powder. + +I am sure I never sought this alliance, and you can bear me witness that I +might have had other matches; nay if I were lightly disposed, I could +still perhaps have offers, that some, who hold their heads higher, would +be glad to accept. But alas! I never had any such wicked thought; all I +now desire is, only to enjoy a little quiet, to be free from the +persecutions of this unreasonable man, and that he will let me manage my +own little fortune to the best advantage; for which I will undertake to +pay him a considerable pension every year, much more considerable than +what he now gets by his oppressions; for he must needs find himself a +loser at last, when he has drained me and my tenants so dry, that we shall +not have a penny for him or ourselves. There is one imposition of his I +had almost forgot, which I think unsufferable, and will appeal to you, or +any reasonable person, whether it be so or not. I told you before, that by +an old compact we agreed to have the same steward; at which time I +consented likewise to regulate my family and estate by the same method +with him, which he then showed me written down in form, and I approved +of. Now, the turn he thinks fit to give this compact of ours is very +extraordinary; for he pretends, that whatever orders he shall think fit to +prescribe for the future in his family, he may, if he will, compel mine to +observe them without asking my advice, or hearing my reasons. + +So that I must not make a lease without his consent, or give any +directions for the well-governing of my family, but what he countermands +whenever he pleases. This leaves me at such confusion and uncertainty, +that my servants know not when to obey me; and my tenants, although many +of them be very well-inclined, seem quite at a loss. + +But I am too tedious upon this melancholy subject, which however I hope +you will forgive, since the happiness of my whole life depends upon it. I +desire you will think awhile, and give your best advice what measures I +shall take with prudence, justice, courage, and honour, to protect my +liberty and fortune against the hardships and severities I lie under from +that unkind, inconstant man. + + + + +THE ANSWER TO THE INJURED LADY. + + +MADAM, + +I have received your ladyship's letter, and carefully considered every +part of it, and shall give you my opinion how you ought to proceed for +your own security. But first I must beg leave to tell your ladyship, that +you were guilty of an unpardonable weakness the other day, in making that +offer to your lover of standing by him in any quarrel he might have with +your rival. You know very well, that she began to apprehend he had designs +of using her as he had done you; and common prudence might have directed +you rather to have entered into some measures with her for joining against +him, until he might at least be brought to some reasonable terms; but your +invincible hatred to that lady has carried your resentments so high, as to +be the cause of your ruin; yet if you please to consider, this aversion of +yours began a good while before she became your rival, and was taken up by +you and your family in a sort of compliment to your lover, who formerly +had a great abhorrence of her. It is true, since that time you have +suffered very much by her encroachments upon your estate,[38] but she +never pretended to govern and direct you; and now you have drawn a new +enemy upon yourself; for I think you may count upon all the ill offices +she can possibly do you, by her credit with her husband; whereas, if, +instead of openly declaring against her, without any provocation, you had +but sat still awhile, and said nothing, that gentleman would have lessened +his severity to you out of perfect fear. This weakness of yours you call +generosity; but I doubt there was more in the matter: in short, madam, I +have good reasons to think you were betrayed to it by the pernicious +counsel of some about you; for to my certain knowledge, several of your +tenants and servants to whom you have been very kind, are as arrant +rascals as any in the country. I know the matters of fact, as you relate +them, are true, and fairly represented. + +My advice therefore is this: get your tenants together as soon as you +conveniently can, and make them agree to the following resolutions. + +First, that your family and servants have no dependence upon the said +gentleman, farther than by the old agreement, which obliges you to have +the same steward, and to regulate your household by such methods as you +should both agree to. + +Secondly, that you will not carry your goods to the market of his town, +unless you please, nor be hindered from carrying them anywhere else. + +Thirdly, that the servants you pay wages to shall live at home, or forfeit +their places. + +Fourthly, that whatever lease you make to a tenant, it shall not be in his +power to break it. + +If he will agree to these articles, I advise you to contribute as largely +as you can to all charges of parish and county. + +I can assure you, several of that gentleman's ablest tenants and servants +are against his severe usage of you and would be glad of an occasion to +convince the rest of their error, if you will not be wanting to yourself. + +If the gentleman refuses these just and reasonable offers, pray let me +know it, and perhaps I may think of something else that will be more +effectual. + + I am, + Madam, + Your Ladyship's, etc. + + + + +A LETTER TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN,[39] CONCERNING THE WEAVERS. + + +MY LORD, + +The corporation of weavers in the woollen manufacture, who have so often +attended your Grace, and called upon me with their schemes and proposals, +were with me on Thursday last; when he who spoke for the rest, and in the +name of his absent brethren, said, "It was the opinion of the whole body, +that if somewhat was written at this time, by an able hand, to persuade +the people of this kingdom to wear their own woollen manufactures, it +might be of good use to the nation in general, and preserve many hundreds +of their trade from starving." + +To which I answered, "That it was hard for any man of common spirit to +turn his thoughts to such speculations, without discovering a resentment, +which people are too delicate to bear." For I will not deny to your Grace, +that I cannot reflect on the singular condition of this country, +different from all others upon the face of the earth, without some +emotion; and without often examining, as I pass the streets, whether those +animals which come in my way, with two legs and human faces, clad and +erect, be of the same species with what I have seen very like them in +England as to the outward shape, but differing in their notions, natures, +and intellectuals, more than any two kinds of brutes in the forest; which +any man of common prudence would immediately discover, by persuading them +to define what they meant by law, liberty, property, courage, reason, +loyalty, or religion. + +One thing, my lord, I am very confident of; that if God Almighty, for our +sins, would most justly send us a pestilence, whoever should dare to +discover his grief in public for such a visitation, would certainly be +censured for disaffection to the government; for I solemnly profess that I +do not know one calamity we have undergone these many years, which any +man, whose opinions were not in fashion, dared to lament, without being +openly charged with that imputation. And this is the harder, because +although a mother, when she has corrected her child, may sometimes force +it to kiss the rod, yet she will never give that power to the footboy or +the scullion. + +My lord, there are two things for the people of this kingdom to consider; +first, their present evil condition; and secondly, what can be done in +some degree to remedy it.... I am weary of so many abortive projects for +the advancement of trade; of so many crude proposals, in letters sent me +from unknown hands; of so many contradictory speculations, about raising +or sinking the value of gold and silver. I am not in the least sorry to +hear of the great numbers going to America, although very much for the +causes that drive them from us, since the uncontrolled maxim, "That people +are the riches of a nation," is no maxim here under our circumstances. We +have neither manufactures to employ them about, nor food to support them. +If a private gentleman's income be sunk irretrievably for ever, from a +hundred pounds to fifty, and he has no other method to supply the +deficiency; I desire to know, my lord, whether such a person has any other +course to take, than to sink half his expenses in every article of +economy, to save himself from ruin and a gaol. + +Is not this more than doubly the case of Ireland, where the want of money, +the irretrievable ruin of trade, with the other evils above-mentioned, and +many more too well known and felt, and too numerous or invidious to be +related, have been gradually sinking us, for above a dozen years past, to +a degree, that we are at least by two-thirds in a worse condition than was +ever known since the Revolution? Therefore, instead of dreams and projects +for the advancing of trade, we have nothing left but to find out some +expedient, whereby we may reduce our expenses to our incomes. + +Yet this procedure, allowed so necessary in all private families, and in +its own nature so easy to put in practice, may meet with strong opposition +by the cowardly slavish indulgence of the men, to the intolerable pride, +arrogance, vanity, and luxury of the women; who, strictly adhering to the +rules of modern education, seem to employ their whole stock of invention +in contriving new arts of profusion, faster than the most parsimonious +husband can afford: and, to compass this work the more effectually, their +universal maxim is, to despise and detest everything of the growth of +their own country, and most to value whatever comes from the very remotest +parts of the globe. And I am convinced that if the virtuosi could once +find out a world in the moon, with a passage to it, our women would wear +nothing but what directly came from thence. The prime cost of wine yearly +imported to Ireland is valued at thirty thousand pounds; and the tea +(including coffee and chocolate) at five times that sum. The laces, +silks, calicoes, and all other unnecessary ornaments for women, including +English cloths and stuffs, added to the former articles, make up (to +compute grossly) about four hundred thousand pounds. Now if we should +allow the thirty thousand pounds, wherein the women have their share, and +which is all we have to comfort us, and deduct seventy thousand pounds +more for over-reaching, there would still remain three hundred thousand +pounds, annually spent, for unwholesome drugs and unnecessary finery; +which prodigious sum would be wholly saved, and many thousands of our +miserable shopkeepers and manufacturers comfortably supported. + +Let speculative people bury their brains as they please, there is no other +way to prevent this kingdom from sinking for ever, than by utterly +renouncing all foreign dress and luxury. + +It is absolutely so in fact, that every husband of any fortune in the +kingdom, is nourishing a poisonous, devouring serpent in his bosom, with +all the mischief, but with none of its wisdom. + +If all the women were clad with the growth of their own country, they +might still vie with each other in the course of foppery; and still have +room left to vie with each other and equally show their wit and judgment, +in deciding upon the variety of Irish stuffs. And if they could be +contented with their native wholesome slops for breakfast, we should hear +no more of the spleen, hysterics, colics, palpitations, and asthmas. They +might still be allowed to ruin each other and their husbands at play, +because the money lost would circulate among ourselves. + +My lord, I freely own it a wild imagination, that any words will cure the +sottishness of men, or the vanity of women; but the kingdom is in a fair +way of producing the most effectual remedy, when there will not be money +left for the common course of buying and selling the very necessaries of +life in our markets, unless we absolutely change the whole method of our +proceedings. + +The corporation of weavers in woollen and silk, who have so frequently +offered proposals both to your Grace and to me, are the hottest and +coldest generation of men that I have known. About a month ago, they +attended your Grace, when I had the honour to be with you; and designed me +the same favour. They desired you would recommend to your clergy to wear +gowns of Irish stuffs which might probably spread the example among all +their brethren in the kingdom; and perhaps among the lawyers and gentlemen +of the university, and among the citizens of those corporations who appear +in gowns on solemn occasions. I then mentioned a kind of stuff, not above +eightpence a yard, which I heard had been contrived by some of the trade, +and was very convenient. I desired they would prepare some of that, or any +sort of black stuff, on a certain day, when your Grace would appoint as +many clergymen as could readily be found to meet at your palace; and there +give their opinions; and that your Grace's visitation approaching, you +could then have the best opportunity of seeing what could be done in a +matter of such consequence, as they seemed to think, to the woollen +manufacture. But instead of attending, as was expected, they came to me a +fortnight after with a new proposal, that something should be written by +an acceptable and able hand, to promote in general the wearing of home +manufactures; and their civilities would fix that work upon me. + +I asked if they had prepared the stuffs, as they had promised, and your +Grace expected; but they had not made the least step in the matter, nor, +as it appears, thought of it more. + +I did, some years ago, propose to the masters and principal dealers in the +home-manufactures of silk and wool, that they should meet together; and, +after mature consideration, publish advertisements to the following +purpose:-- + +"That in order to encourage the wearing of Irish manufactures in silk and +woollen, they gave notice to the nobility and gentry of the kingdom, that +they, the undersigned, would enter into bonds, for themselves and for each +other, to sell the several sorts of stuffs, cloths, and silks, made to the +best perfection they were able, for certain fixed prices; and in such a +manner, that if a child were sent to any of their shops, the buyer might +be secure of the value and goodness and measure of the ware; and, lest +this might be thought to look like a monopoly, any other member of the +trade might be admitted, upon such conditions as should be agreed on. And +if any person whatsoever should complain that he was ill-used, in the +value and goodness of what he bought, the matter should be examined, the +persons injured be fully satisfied by the whole corporation without delay, +and the dishonest seller be struck out of the society, unless it appeared +evidently that the failure proceeded only from mistake." + +The mortal danger is, that if these dealers could prevail, by the goodness +and cheapness of their cloths and stuffs, to give a turn to the principal +people of Ireland in favour of their goods; they would relapse into the +knavish practice, peculiar to this kingdom, which is apt to run through +all trades, even so low as a common ale-seller; who, as soon as he gets a +vogue for his liquor, and outsells his neighbours, thinks his credit will +put off the worst he can buy till his customers will come no more. Thus, +I have known at London, in a general mourning, the drapers dye black all +their damaged goods, and sell them at double rates; then complain, and +petition the Court, that they are ready to starve by the continuance of +the mourning. + +Therefore, I say, those principal weavers who would enter into such a +compact as I have mentioned, must give sufficient security against all +such practices; for if once the women can persuade their husbands that +foreign goods, besides the finery, will be as cheap, and do more service, +our last state will be worse than the first. + +I do not here pretend to digest perfectly the method by which these +principal shopkeepers shall proceed, in such a proposal; but my meaning is +clear enough, and cannot be reasonably objected against. + +We have seen what a destructive loss the kingdom received by the +detestable fraud of the merchants, or northern linen weavers, or both; +notwithstanding all the cares of the governor of that board, when we had +an offer of commerce with the Spaniards for our linens to the value, as I +am told, of thirty thousand pounds a year. But, while we deal like +pedlars, we shall practise like pedlars, and sacrifice all honesty to the +present urging advantage. + +What I have said may serve as an answer to the desire made me by the +corporation of weavers, that I would offer my notions to the public. As to +anything farther, let them apply themselves to the Parliament in their +next session. Let them prevail on the House of Commons to grant one very +reasonable request; and I shall think there is still some spirit left in +the nation, when I read a vote to this purpose: "Resolved, _nemine +contradicente_, That this House will, for the future, wear no clothes but +such as are made of Irish growth, or of Irish manufacture, nor will permit +their wives or children to wear any other; and that they will, to the +utmost, endeavour to prevail with their friends, relations, dependents, +and tenants, to follow their example." And if, at the same time, they +could banish tea and coffee, and china-ware, out of their families, and +force their wives to chat their scandal over an infusion of sage, or other +wholesome domestic vegetables, we might possibly be able to subsist, and +pay our absentees, pensioners, generals, civil officers, appeals, +colliers, temporary travellers, students, school boys, splenetic visitors +of Bath, Tunbridge, and Epsom, with all other smaller drains, by sending +our crude, unwrought goods to England, and receiving from thence, and all +other countries, nothing but what is fully manufactured, and keep a few +potatoes and oatmeal for our own subsistence. + +I have been for a dozen years past wisely prognosticating the present +condition of this kingdom; which any human creature of common sense could +foretell, with as little sagacity as myself. My meaning is, that a +consumptive body must needs die, which has spent all its spirits, and +received no nourishment. Yet I am often tempted to pity, when I hear the +poor farmer and cottager lamenting the hardness of the times, and imputing +them either to one or two ill seasons, which better climates than ours are +more exposed to; or to scarcity of silver, which, to a nation of liberty, +would only be a slight and temporary inconvenience, to be removed at a +month's warning. + + + + +TWO LETTERS ON SUBJECTS RELATIVE TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF IRELAND. + + +I. + +TO MESSRS. TRUMAN AND LAYFIELD. + +GENTLEMEN,-- + +I am inclined to think that I received a letter from you two, last summer, +directed to Dublin, while I was in the country, whither it was sent me; +and I ordered an answer to it to be printed, but it seems it had little +effect, and I suppose this will not have much more. But the heart of this +people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes +they have closed. And, gentlemen, I am to tell you another thing: that the +world is too regardless of what we write for public good; that after we +have delivered our thoughts, without any prospect of advantage, or of +reputation, which latter is not to be had but by subscribing our names, we +cannot prevail upon a printer to be at the charge of sending it into the +world unless we will be at all or half the expense; and although we are +willing enough to bestow our labours, we think it unreasonable to be out +of pocket; because it probably may not consist with the situation of our +affairs. + +I do very much approve your good intentions, and in a great measure your +manner of declaring them; and I do imagine you intended that the world +should not only know your sentiments, but my answer, which I shall +impartially give.... Although your letter be directed to me, yet I take +myself to be only an imaginary person; for, although I conjecture I had +formerly one from you, yet I never answered it otherwise than in print; +neither was I at a loss to know the reasons why so many people of this +kingdom were transporting themselves to America. + +And if this encouragement were owing to a pamphlet written, giving an +account of the country of Pennsylvania, to tempt people to go thither, I +do declare that those who were tempted, by such a narrative, to such a +journey, were fools, and the author a most impudent knave; at least, if it +be the same pamphlet I saw when it first came out, which is about +twenty-five years ago, dedicated to William Penn (whom by a mistake you +call "Sir William Penn,") and styling him, by authority of the Scripture, +"Most noble Governor." For I was very well acquainted with Penn, and did, +some years after, talk with him upon that pamphlet, and the impudence of +the author, who spoke so many things in praise of the soil and climate, +which Penn himself did absolutely contradict. For he did assure me, "That +this country wanted the shelter of mountains, which left it open to the +northern winds from Hudson's Bay and the Frozen Sea, which destroyed all +plantations of trees, and was even pernicious to all common vegetables." +But, indeed, New York, Virginia, and other parts less northward, or more +defended by mountains, are described as excellent countries; but upon what +conditions of advantage foreigners go thither, I am yet to seek. What +evils our people avoid by running from hence, is easier to be determined. +They conceive themselves to live under the tyranny of most cruel exacting +landlords, who have no views farther than increasing their rent-rolls. +Secondly, you complain of the want of trade, whereof you seem not to know +the reason. Thirdly, you lament most justly the money spent by absentees +in England. Fourthly, you complain that your linen manufacture declines. +Fifthly, that your tithe collectors oppress you. Sixthly, that your +children have no hopes of preferment in the church, the revenue, or the +army; to which you might have added the law, and all civil employments +whatsoever. Seventhly, you are undone for want of silver, and want all +other money. + +I could easily add some other motives, which, to men of spirit, who desire +and expect, and think they deserve the common privileges of human nature, +would be of more force, than any you have yet named, to drive them out of +this kingdom. But as these speculations may probably not much affect the +brains of your people, I shall choose to let them pass unmentioned.... I +must confess to you both, that if one reason of your people's deserting us +be the despair of things growing better in their own country, I have not +one syllable to answer; because that would be to hope for what is +impossible, and so I have been telling the public these ten years. For +there are events which must precede any such blessing; first, a liberty of +trade; secondly, a share of preferments in all kinds, equal to the British +natives; and thirdly, a return of those absentees, who take almost one +half of the kingdom's revenue. As to the first and second, there is +nothing left us but despair; and for the third, it will never happen till +the kingdom has no money to send them; for which, in my own particular, I +shall not be sorry. The exactions of landlords has indeed been a +grievance of above twenty years' standing. But as to what you object about +the severe clauses relating to the improvement, the fault lies wholly on +the other side; for the landlords, either by their ignorance, or +greediness of making large rent-rolls, have performed this matter so ill, +as we see by experience, that there is not one tenant in five hundred who +has made any improvement worth mentioning: for which I appeal to any man +who rides through the kingdom, where little is to be found among the +tenants but beggary and desolation; the cabins of the Scotch themselves, +in Ulster, being as dirty and miserable as those of the wildest Irish. +Whereas good firm penal laws for improvement, with a tolerable easy rent, +and a reasonable period of time, would, in twenty years, have increased +the rents of Ireland at least a third part of the intrinsic value. I am +glad to hear you speak with some decency of the clergy, and to impute the +exactions you lament to the managers or farmers of the tithes. But you +entirely mistake the fact; for I defy the most wicked and most powerful +clergyman in the kingdom to oppress the meanest farmer in the parish; and +I defy the same clergyman to prevent himself from being cheated by the +same farmer, whenever that farmer shall be disposed to be knavish or +peevish. + +For, although the Ulster tithing-teller is more advantageous to the clergy +than any other in the kingdom, yet the minister can demand no more than +his tenth; and where the corn much exceeds the small tithes, as, except in +some districts, I am told it always does, he is at the mercy of every +stubborn farmer, especially of those whose sect as well as interest +incline them to opposition. However, I take it that your people bent for +America do not show the best side of their prudence in making this one +part of their complaint; yet they are so far wise, as not to make the +payment of tithes a scruple of conscience, which is too gross for any +Protestant dissenter, except a Quaker, to pretend. But do your people +indeed think, that if tithes were abolished, or delivered into the hands +of the landlord, after the blessed manner in the Scotch spiritual economy, +the tenant would sit easier in his rent under the same person, who must be +lord of the soil and of the tithe together? + +I am ready enough to grant, that the oppression of landlords, the utter +ruin of trade, with its necessary consequences, the want of money, half +the revenues of the kingdom spent abroad, the continued dearth of three +years, and the strong delusion in your people by false allurement from +America, may be the chief motives of their eagerness after such an +expedition. But there is likewise another temptation, which is not of +inconsiderable weight; which is their itch of living in a country where +their sect is predominant, and where their eyes and consciences will not +be offended by the stumbling block of ceremonies, habits, and spiritual +titles. But I was surprised to find that those calamities, whereof we are +innocent, have been sufficient to drive many families out of their +country, who had no reason to complain of oppressive landlords. For, while +I was last year in the northern parts, a person of quality, whose estate +was let above twenty years ago, and then at a very reasonable rent, some +for leases of lives, and some perpetuities, did, in a few months, purchase +eleven of those leases at a very inconsiderable price, although they were, +two years ago, reckoned to pay but half value; whence it is manifest that +our present miserable condition, and the dismal prospect of worse, with +other reasons above assigned, are sufficient to put men upon trying this +desperate experiment of changing the scene they are in, although landlords +should, by a miracle, become less inhuman. + +There is hardly a scheme proposed for improving the trade of this kingdom, +which does not manifestly show the stupidity and ignorance of the +proposer, and I laugh with contempt at those weak wise heads, who proceed +upon general maxims, or advise us to follow the examples of Holland and +England. These empirics talk by rote, without understanding the +constitution of the kingdom: as if a physician, knowing that exercise +contributed much to health, should prescribe to his patient under a severe +fit of the gout, to walk ten miles every morning. The directions for +Ireland are very short and plain: to encourage agriculture and home +consumption, and utterly discard all importations which are not absolutely +necessary for health or life. And how few necessaries, conveniences, or +even comforts of life, are denied us by nature, or not to be attained by +labour and industry! Are those detestable extravagances of Flanders lace, +English cloths made of our own wool, and other goods, Italian or Indian +silks, tea, coffee, chocolate, chinaware, and that profusion of wines, by +the knavery of merchants growing dearer every season, with a hundred +unnecessary fopperies, better known to others than me, are these, I say, +fit for us, any more than for the beggar who could not eat his veal +without oranges? + +Is it not the highest indignity to human nature, that men should be such +poltroons as to suffer the kingdom and themselves to be undone by the +vanity, the folly, the pride, and wantonness of their wives, who, under +their present corruptions, seem to be a kind of animal, suffered, for our +sins, to be sent into the world for the destruction of families, +societies, and kingdoms, and whose whole study seems directed to be as +expensive as they possibly can, in every useless article of living; who, +by long practice, can reconcile the most pernicious foreign drugs to their +health and pleasure, provided they are but expensive, as starlings grow +fat with henbane; who contract a robustness by mere practice of sloth and +luxury; who can play deep several hours after midnight, sleep beyond noon, +revel upon Indian poisons, and spend the revenues of a moderate family to +adorn a nauseous, unwholesome, living carcase? Let those few who are not +concerned in any part of this accusation, suppose it unsaid; let the rest +take it among them. Gracious God, in His mercy, look down upon a nation so +shamefully besotted!... + +Is there any mortal who can show me, under the circumstances we stand with +our neighbours, under their inclinations towards us, under laws never to +be repealed, under the desolation caused by absentees, under many other +circumstances not to be mentioned, that this kingdom can ever be a nation +of trade, or subsist by any other method than that of a reduced family, by +the utmost parsimony?... + + +II. + +ANSWER TO SEVERAL LETTERS SENT FROM UNKNOWN HANDS. 1729. + +I am very well pleased with the good opinion you express of me, and wish +it were any way in my power to answer your expectations, for the service +of my country. I have carefully read your several schemes and proposals, +which you think should be offered to Parliament. In answer, I will assure +you, that, in another place, I have known very good proposals rejected +with contempt by public assemblies, merely because they were offered from +without doors, and yours, perhaps, might have the same fate, especially if +handed to the public by me, who am not acquainted with three members, nor +have the least interest with one. My printers have been twice prosecuted, +to my great expense, on account of discourses I writ for the public +service, without the least reflection on parties or persons, and the +success I had in those of the Drapier, was not owing to my abilities, but +to a lucky juncture, when the fuel was ready for the first hand that would +be at the pains of kindling it. It is true, both those envenomed +prosecutions were the workmanship of a judge, who is now gone _to his own +place_. But, let that be as it will, I am determined, henceforth never to +be the instrument of leaving an innocent man at the mercy of that bench. +It is certain there are several particulars relating to this kingdom (I +have mentioned a few of them in one of my Drapier's letters), which it +were heartily to be wished that the Parliament would take under their +consideration, such as will no way interfere with England, otherwise than +to its advantage. + +The first I shall mention, is touched at in a letter which I received from +one of you, gentlemen, about the highways; which, indeed, are almost +everywhere scandalously neglected. I know a very rich man in this city, a +true lover and saver of his money, who, being possessed of some adjacent +lands, has been at great charge in repairing effectually the roads that +lead to them, and, has assured me that his lands are thereby advanced four +or five shillings an acre, by which he gets treble interest. But, +generally speaking, all over the kingdom the roads are deplorable, and, +what is more particularly barbarous there is no sort of provision made for +travellers on foot; no, not near the city, except in a very few places, +and in a most wretched manner: whereas the English are so particularly +careful in this point, that you may travel there a hundred miles with less +inconvenience than one mile here. But, since this may be thought too +great a reformation, I shall only speak of roads for horses, carriages, +and cattle. + +Ireland is, I think, computed to be one-third smaller than England; yet, +by some natural disadvantages, it would not bear quite the same proportion +in value, with the same encouragement. However, it has so happened, for +many years past, that it never arrived to above one-eleventh part in point +of riches, and of late, by the continual decrease of trade, and the +increase of absentees, with other circumstances not here to be mentioned, +hardly to a fifteenth part; at least, if my calculations be right, which I +doubt are a little too favourable on our side. + +Now, supposing day-labour to be cheaper by one half here than in England, +and our roads, by the nature of our carriages, and the desolation of our +country, to be not worn and beaten above one-eighth part so much as those +of England, which is a very moderate computation, I do not see why the +mending of them would be a greater burden to this kingdom than to that. + +There have been, I believe, twenty Acts of Parliament, in six or seven +years of the late King, for mending long tracts of impassable ways in +several counties of England, by erecting turnpikes, and receiving +passage-money in a manner that everybody knows. + +If what I have advanced be true, it would be hard to give a reason against +the same practice here; since the necessity is as great, the advantage, in +proportion, perhaps much greater, the materials of stone and gravel as +easy to be found, and the workmanship, at least, twice as cheap. + +Besides, the work may be done gradually, with allowances for the poverty +of the nation, by so many perch a-year; but with a special care to +encourage skill and diligence, and to prevent fraud in the undertakers, to +which we are too liable, and which are not always confined to those of the +meaner sort; but against these, no doubt, the wisdom of the nation may and +will provide. Another evil, which, in my opinion, deserves the public +care, is the ill management of the bogs; the neglect whereof is a much +greater mischief to this kingdom than most people seem to be aware of. + +It is allowed, indeed, by those who are esteemed most skilful in such +matters, that the red, swelling mossy bog, whereof we have so many large +tracts in this island, is not by any means to be fully reduced; but the +skirts, which are covered with a green coat, easily may, being not +accretion, or annual growth of moss, like the other. + +Now, the landlords are generally so careless as to suffer their tenants +to cut their turf in these skirts, as well as the bog adjoined; whereby +there is yearly lost a considerable quantity of land throughout the +kingdom, never to be recovered. + +But this is not the greatest part of the mischief; for the main bog, +although, perhaps, not reducible to natural soil, yet, by continuing +large, deep, straight canals through the middle, cleaned at proper times +as low as the channel or gravel, would become secure summer-pasture; the +margins might, with great profit and ornament, be filled with quickens, +birch, and other trees proper for such a soil, and the canals be +convenient for water-carriage of the turf, which is now drawn upon +sled-cars, with great expense, difficulty, and loss of time, by reason of +the many turf-pits scattered irregularly through the bog, wherein great +numbers of cattle are yearly drowned. And it has been, I confess, to me a +matter of the greatest vexation, as well as wonder, to think how any +landlord could be so absurd as suffer such havoc to be made. + +All the acts for encouraging plantations of forest-trees are, I am told, +extremely defective; which, with great submission, must have been owing to +a defect of skill in the contrivers of them. In this climate, by the +continual blowing of the west-south-west wind, hardly any tree of value +will come to perfection that is not planted in groves, except very rarely, +and where there is much land-shelter. I have not, indeed, read all the +acts; but, from inquiry, I cannot learn that the planting in groves is +enjoined. And as to the effects of these laws, I have not seen the least, +in many hundred miles' riding, except about a very few gentlemen's houses, +and even those with very little skill or success. In all the rest, the +hedges generally miscarry, as well as the larger, slender twigs planted +upon the tops of ditches, merely for want of common skill and care. + +I do not believe that a greater and quicker profit could be made, than by +planting large groves of ash a few feet asunder, which in seven years +would make the best kind of hop-poles, and grow in the same or less time +to a second crop from their roots. + +It would likewise be of great use and beauty in our desert scenes, to +oblige cottagers to plant ash or elm before their cabins, and round their +potato-gardens, where cattle either do not or ought not to come to destroy +them. + +The common objection against all this, drawn from the laziness, the +perverseness, or thievish disposition of the poor native Irish, might be +easily answered by showing the true reasons for such accusations, and how +easily those people may be brought to a less savage manner of life; but +my printers have already suffered too much for my speculations. + +However, supposing the size of a native's understanding just equal to that +of a dog or a horse, I have often seen those two animals civilized by +rewards, at least as much as by punishments. + +It would be a noble achievement to abolish the Irish language in this +kingdom, so far at least as to oblige all the natives to speak only +English on every occasion of business, in shops, markets, fairs, and other +places of dealing: yet I am wholly deceived, if this might not be +effectually done in less than half an age, and at a very trifling expense; +for such I look upon a tax to be of only six thousand pounds a-year, to +accomplish so great a work. This would, in a great measure, civilize the +most barbarous among them, reconcile them to our customs and manner of +living, and reduce great numbers to the national religion, whatever kind +may then happen to be established. + +This method is plain and simple; and although I am too desponding to +produce it, yet I could heartily wish some public thoughts were employed +to reduce this uncultivated people from that idle, savage, beastly, +thievish manner of life, in which they continue sunk to such a degree, +that it is almost impossible for a country gentleman to find a servant of +human capacity, or the least tincture of natural honesty, or who does not +live among his own tenants in continual fear of having his plantations +destroyed, his cattle stolen, and his goods pilfered. + +The love, affection, or vanity of living in England, continuing to carry +thither so many wealthy families, the consequences thereof, together with +the utter loss of all trade, except what is detrimental, which has forced +such great numbers of weavers, and others, to seek their bread in foreign +countries; the unhappy practice of stocking such vast quantities of land +with sheep and other cattle, which reduces twenty families to one; those +events, I say, have exceedingly depopulated this kingdom for several years +past. I should heartily wish therefore, under this miserable dearth of +money, that those who are most concerned would think it advisable to save +a hundred thousand pounds a year, which is now sent out of this kingdom, +to feed us with corn. There is not an older or more uncontroverted maxim +in the politics of all wise nations, than that of encouraging agriculture; +and therefore, to what kind of wisdom a practice so directly contrary +among us may be reduced I am by no means a judge. If labour and people +make the true riches of a nation, what must be the issue where one part +of the people are forced away, and the other have nothing to do? + +If it should be thought proper by wiser heads, that his Majesty might be +applied to in a national way, for giving the kingdom leave to coin +halfpence for its own use, I believe no good subject will be under the +least apprehension that such a request could meet with refusal, or the +least delay. Perhaps we are the only kingdom upon earth, or that ever was +or will be upon earth, which did not enjoy that common right of civil +society, under the proper inspection of its prince or legislature, to coin +money of all usual metals for its own occasions. Every petty prince in +Germany, vassal to the Emperor, enjoys this privilege. And I have seen in +this kingdom several silver pieces, with the inscription of CIVITAS +WATERFORD, DROGHEDAGH, and other towns. + + + + +THE PRESENT MISERABLE STATE OF IRELAND. + + +This letter was addressed to Sir Robert Walpole on Swift's return to +Ireland in 1726 before his final rupture with the Premier the following +year. Swift endeavoured to combat the English prejudices of the minister +on the mode of managing Ireland, seeking the emancipation of his country +rather than personal advancement. Here he seems to assume the character of +the Drapier besides adding his initials. + + +SIR, + +By the last packets I had the favour of yours, and am surprised that you +should apply to a person so ill-qualified as I am, for a full and +impartial account of the state of our trade. I have always lived as +retired as possible; I have carefully avoided the perplexed honour of +city-offices; I have never minded anybody's business but my own; upon all +which accounts, and several others, you might easily have found among my +fellow-citizens, persons more capable to resolve the weighty questions you +put to me than I can pretend to be. But being entirely at leisure, even at +this season of the year, when I used to have scarce time sufficient to +perform the necessary offices of life, I will endeavour to comply with +your requests, cautioning you not implicitly to rely upon what I say, +excepting what belongs to that branch of trade in which I am more +immediately concerned. + +The Irish trade is, at present, in the most deplorable condition that can +be imagined; to remedy it, the causes of its languishment must be inquired +into. But as those causes (you may assure yourself) will not be removed, +you may look upon it as a thing past hope of recovery. + +The first and greatest shock our trade received was from an act passed in +the reign of King William, in the Parliament of England, prohibiting the +exportation of wool manufactured in Ireland, an act (as the event plainly +shows) fuller of greediness than good policy; an act as beneficial to +France and Spain, as it has been destructive to England and Ireland. At +the passing of this fatal act, the condition of our trade was glorious and +flourishing, though no way interfering with the English; we made no +broadcloths above 6_s._ per yard; coarse druggets, bays and shalloons, +worsted damasks, strong draught-works, slight half-works, and gaudy +stuffs, were the only products of our looms: these were partly consumed by +the meanest of our people, and partly sent to the northern nations, from +which we had in exchange timber, iron, hemp, flax, pitch, tar, and hard +dollars. At the time the current money of Ireland was foreign silver, a +man could hardly receive 100_l._, without finding the coin of all the +northern powers, and every prince of the empire among it. + +This money was returned into England for fine cloths silks, &c., for our +own wear, for rent, for coals, for hardware, and all other English +manufactures, and in a great measure supplied the London merchants with +foreign silver for exportation. + +The repeated clamours of the English weavers produced this act, so +destructive to themselves and us. + +They looked with envious eyes upon our prosperity, and complained of being +undersold by us in those commodities which themselves did not deal in. At +their instances the act was passed, and we lost our profitable northern +trade. Have they got it? No; surely you have found out they have ever +since declined in the trade they so happily possessed? You shall find (if +I am rightly informed) towns without one loom in them, which subsisted +entirely upon the woollen manufactory before the passing of this unhappy +bill; and I will try if I can give the true reasons for the decay of their +trade, and our calamities. + +Three parts in four of the inhabitants of that district of the town where +I dwell were English manufacturers, whom either misfortunes in trade, +little petty debts contracted through idleness, or the pressures of a +numerous family, had driven into our cheap country. These were employed in +working up our coarse wool, while the finest was sent into England. +Several of these had taken the children of the native Irish apprentices to +them, who being humbled by the forfeiture of upward of three millions by +the Revolution, were obliged to stoop to a mechanic industry. Upon the +passing of this bill, we were obliged to dismiss thousands of these people +from our service. Those who had settled their affairs returned home, and +overstocked England with workmen; those whose debts were unsatisfied went +to France, Spain, and the Netherlands, where they met with good +encouragement, whereby the natives, having got a firm footing in the +trade, being acute fellows, soon became as good workmen as any we have, +and supply the foreign manufactories with a constant recruit of artisans; +our island lying much more under pasture than any in Europe. The +foreigners (notwithstanding all the restrictions the English Parliament +has bound us up with) are furnished with the greatest quantity of our +choicest wool. I need not tell you, sir, that a custom-house oath is held +as little sacred here as in England, or that it is common for masters of +vessels to swear themselves bound for one of the English wool-ports, and +unload in France or Spain. By this means the trade in those ports is, in a +great measure, destroyed, and we were obliged to try our hands at finer +works, having only our own consumption to depend upon; and I can assure +you we have, in several kinds of narrow goods, even exceeded the English, +and I believe we shall in a few years more, be able to equal them in +broadcloths; but this you may depend upon, that scarce the tenth part of +English goods are now imported, of what used to be before the famous act. + +The only manufactured wares we are allowed to export, are linen cloth and +linen yarn, which are marketable only in England; the rest of our +commodities are wool, restrained to England, and raw hides, skins, tallow, +beef, and butter. Now these are things for which the northern nations +have no occasion; we are therefore obliged, instead of carrying woollen +goods to their markets, and bringing home money, to purchase their +commodities. + +In France, Spain, and Portugal, our wares are more valuable, though it +must be owned, our fraudulent trade in wool is the best branch of our +commerce; from hence we get wines, brandy, and fruit, very cheap, and in +great perfection; so that though England has constrained us to be poor, +they have given us leave to be merry. From these countries we bring home +moydores, pistoles, and louisdores, without which we should scarce have a +penny to turn upon. + +To England we are allowed to send nothing but linen cloth, yarn, raw +hides, skins, tallow, and wool. From thence we have coals, for which we +always pay ready money, India goods, English woollen and silks, tobacco, +hardware, earthenware, salt, and several other commodities. Our +exportations to England are very much overbalanced by our importations; so +that the course of exchange is generally too high, and people choose +rather to make their remittances to England in specie, than by a bill, and +our nation is perpetually drained of its little running cash. + +Another cause of the decay of trade, scarcity of money, and swelling of +exchange, is the unnatural affectation of our gentry to reside in and +about London. Their rents are remitted to them, and spent there. The +countryman wants employment from them; the country shopkeeper wants their +custom. For this reason he can't pay his Dublin correspondent readily, nor +take off a great quantity of his wares. Therefore the Dublin merchant +can't employ the artisan, nor keep up his credit in foreign markets. + +I have discoursed some of these gentlemen, persons esteemed for good +sense, and demanded a reason for this, their so unaccountable +proceeding--expensive to them for the present, ruinous to their country, +and destructive to the future value of their estates--and find all their +answers summed up under three heads, curiosity, pleasure, and loyalty to +King George. The two first excuses deserve no answer; let us try the +validity of the third. Would not loyalty be much better expressed by +gentlemen staying in their respective counties, influencing their +dependents by their examples, saving their own wealth, and letting their +neighbours profit by their necessary expenses, thereby keeping them from +misery and its unavoidable consequence, discontent? Or is it better to +flock to London, be lost in a crowd, kiss the King's hand, and take a view +of the royal family? The seeing of the royal house may animate their zeal +for it; but other advantages I know not. What employment have any of our +gentlemen got by their attendance at Court, to make up to them their +expenses? Why, about forty of them have been created peers, and a little +less than a hundred of them baronets and knights. For these excellent +advantages, thousands of our gentry have squeezed their tenants, +impoverished the trader, and impaired their own fortunes! Another great +calamity is the exorbitant raising of the rents of lands. Upon the +determination of all leases made before the year 1690, a gentleman thinks +he has but indifferently improved his estate if he has only doubled his +rent-roll. Farms are screwed up to a rack-rent--leases granted but for a +small term of years--tenants tied down to hard conditions, and discouraged +from cultivating the lands they occupy to the best advantage, by the +certainty they have of their rent being raised on the expiration of their +lease, proportionably to the improvements they shall make. Thus is honest +industry restrained; the farmer is a slave to his landlord; 'tis well if +he can cover his family with a coarse, home-spun frieze. The artisan has +little dealings with him; yet he is obliged to take his provisions from +him at an extravagant price, otherwise the farmer cannot pay his rent. + +The proprietors of lands keep great part of them in their own hands for +sheep-pasture; and there are thousands of poor wretches who think +themselves blessed, if they can obtain a hut worse than the squire's +dog-kennel, and an acre of ground for a potato plantation, on condition of +being as very slaves as any in America. What can be more deplorable than +to behold wretches starving in the midst of plenty? + +We are apt to charge the Irish with laziness, because we seldom find them +employed; but then we don't consider they have nothing to do. + +Sir William Temple, in his excellent remarks on the United Provinces, +inquires, why Holland, which has the fewest and worst ports and +commodities of any nation in Europe, should abound in trade, and Ireland, +which has the most and best of both, should have none? This great man +attributes this surprising accident to the natural aversion man has for +labour; who will not be persuaded to toil and fatigue himself for the +superfluities of life throughout the week, when he may provide himself +with all necessary subsistence by the labour of a day or two. But, with +due submission to Sir William's profound judgment, the want of trade with +us is rather owing to the cruel restraints we lie under, than to any +disqualifications whatsoever in our inhabitants. I have not, sir, for +these thirty years past, since I was concerned in trade (the greatest part +of which time distresses have been flowing in upon us), ever observed them +to swell so suddenly to such a height as they have done within these few +months. Our present calamities are not to be represented; you can have no +notion of them without beholding them. Numbers of miserable objects crowd +our doors, begging us to take their wares at any price, to prevent their +families from immediate starving. We cannot part with our money to them, +both because we know not when we shall have vent for our goods, and as +there are no debts paid, we are afraid of reducing ourselves to their +lamentable circumstances. The dismal time of trade we had during Marr's +Troubles in Scotland, are looked upon as happy days when compared with the +present. I need not tell you, sir, that this griping want, this dismal +poverty, this additional woe, must be put to the accursed stocks, which +have desolated our country more effectually than England. Stock-jobbing +was a kind of traffic we were utterly unacquainted with. We went late to +the South Sea market, and bore a great share in the losses of it, without +having tasted any of its profits. + +If many in England have been ruined by stocks, some have been advanced. +The English have a free and open trade to repair their losses; but, above +all, a wise, vigilant, and uncorrupted Parliament and ministry, +strenuously endeavouring to restore public trade to its former happy +state. Whilst we, having lost the greatest part of our cash, without any +probability of its returning, must despair of retrieving our losses by +trade, and have before our eyes the dismal prospect of universal poverty +and desolation. + +I believe, sir, you are by this time heartily tired with this indigested +letter, and are firmly persuaded of the truth of what I said in the +beginning of it, that you had much better have imposed this task on some +of our citizens of greater abilities. But perhaps, sir, such a letter as +this may be, for the singularity of it, entertaining to you, who +correspond with the politest and most learned men in Europe. But I am +satisfied you will excuse its want of exactness and perspicuity when you +consider my education, my being unaccustomed to writings of this nature, +and, above all, those calamitous objects which constantly surround us, +sufficient to disturb the clearest imagination, and the soundest judgment. + +Whatever cause I have given you, by this letter, to think worse of my +sense and judgment, I fancy I have given you a manifest proof that I am, +sir, + + Your most obedient, humble servant, + J. S. + + + + +"A PROPOSAL FOR THE UNIVERSAL USE OF IRISH MANUFACTURES." 1720. + + +The social condition of Ireland at the above period has been already +briefly described. When the landlord class were degraded and the tenantry +debased by the iniquitous laws of Charles II. and William III., which +suppressed the trade of the country, the oppressed people found in Swift a +mouthpiece for their wrongs. The above proposal was the voice of the +nation rendered articulate by his utterance. It proposes in effect a +reprisal on England for her restrictions, by a refusal to use anything +that comes thence. A confederation is to be formed, pledged to use nothing +that is not of Irish manufacture. Everything, he trusts, will be burned +that comes from England, except the people and the coals. Swift's proposal +was faulty in political economy. Of this the age knew little, and Swift +cared less. The printer of this pamphlet was prosecuted. The Chief Justice +(Whitshed) sent back the jury nine times, and kept them eleven hours +before they would consent to bring in a "special verdict." The +unpopularity of the prosecution became so great that it was at last +dropped. + + +A PROPOSAL FOR THE UNIVERSAL USE OF IRISH MANUFACTURE, + +_In clothes and furniture of houses, &c._ + +Utterly rejecting and renouncing everything wearable that comes from +England. 1720. + +It is the peculiar felicity and prudence of the people in this kingdom, +that whatever commodities and productions lie under the greatest +discouragements from England, those are what they are sure to be most +industrious in cultivating and spreading. + +Agriculture, which has been the principal care of all wise nations, and +for the encouragement whereof there are so many statute laws in England, +we countenance so well, that the landlords are everywhere, by penal +clauses, absolutely prohibiting their tenants from ploughing;[40] not +satisfied to confine them within certain limitations, as is the practice +of the English: one effect of which is already seen in the prodigious +dearness of corn, and the importation of it from London, as the cheaper +market. And because people are the riches of a country, and that our +neighbours have done, and are doing, all that in them lies to make our +wool a drug to us, and a monopoly to them; therefore, the politic +gentlemen of Ireland have depopulated vast tracts of the best land for the +feeding of sheep. + +I could fill a volume as large as the history of the Wise Men of Gotham, +with a catalogue only of some wonderful laws and customs we have observed +within thirty years past. It is true, indeed, our beneficial traffic of +wool with France has been our only support for several years, furnishing +us with all the little money we have to pay our rents, and go to market. +But our merchants assure me, this trade has received a great damp by the +present fluctuating condition of the coin in France; and that most of +their wine is paid for in specie, without carrying thither any commodity +from hence. + +However, since we are so universally bent upon enlarging our flocks, it +may be worth inquiring what we shall do with our wool, in case Barnstaple +should be overstocked, and our French commerce should fail. + +I could wish the Parliament had thought fit to have suspended their +regulation of church matters, and enlargements of the prerogative, until a +more convenient time, because they did not appear very pressing, at least +to the persons principally concerned; and, instead of these great +refinements in politics and divinity, had amused themselves and their +committees a little with the state of the nation. For example: What if the +House of Commons had thought fit to make a resolution, _nemine +contradicente_, against wearing any cloth or stuff in their families, +which were not of the growth and manufacture of this kingdom? What if they +had extended it so far as utterly to exclude all silks, velvets, calicoes, +and the whole lexicon of female fopperies; and declared, that whoever +acted otherwise should be deemed and reputed an enemy to the nation? What +if they had sent up such a resolution to be agreed to by the House of +Lords, and by their own practice and encouragement, spread the execution +of it in their several countries? What if we should agree to make burying +in woollen a fashion, as our neighbours have made it a law? What if the +ladies would be content with Irish stuffs for the furniture of their +houses, for gowns and petticoats for themselves and their daughters? Upon +the whole, and to crown all the rest, let a firm resolution be taken, by +male and female, never to appear with one single shred that comes from +England, and let all the people say AMEN. + +I hope and believe, that nothing could please his Majesty better than to +hear that his loyal subjects of both sexes in this kingdom celebrated his +birthday (now approaching) universally clad in their own manufacture. Is +there virtue enough left in this deluded people to save them from the +brink of ruin? If men's opinions may be taken, the ladies will look as +handsome in stuffs as in brocades; and since all will be equal, there may +be room enough to employ their wit and fancy, in choosing and matching +patterns and colours. + +I heard the late Archbishop of Tuam mention a pleasant observation of +somebody's, that Ireland would never be happy, till a law were made for +burning everything that came from England, except their people and their +coals. + +I must confess, that as to the former, I should not be sorry if they would +stay at home; and for the latter, I hope in a little time we shall have no +occasion for them. + + Non tanti mitra est, non tanti judicis ostrum-- + +but I should rejoice to see a stay-lace from England be thought +scandalous, and become a topic for censure at visits and tea-tables. + +If the unthinking shopkeepers in this town had not been utterly destitute +of common sense, they would have made some proposal to the Parliament, +with a petition to the purpose I have mentioned; promising to improve the +cloths and stuffs of the nation into all possible degrees of fineness and +colours, and engaging not to play the knave, according to their custom, by +exacting and imposing upon the nobility and gentry, either as to the +prices or the goodness. + +For I remember, in London, upon a general mourning, the rascally mercers +and woollen-drapers would in twenty-four hours raise their cloths and +silks to above a double price, and if the mourning continued long, then +come whining with petitions to the court, that they were ready to starve, +and their fineries lay upon their hands. + +I could wish our shopkeepers would immediately think on this proposal, +addressing it to all persons of quality and others; but, first, be sure to +get somebody who can write sense, to put it into form. + +I think it needless to exhort the clergy to follow this good example; +because, in a little time, those among them who are so unfortunate as to +have had their birth and education in this country, will think themselves +abundantly happy when they can afford Irish crape, and an Athlone hat; and +as to the others, I shall not presume to direct them. I have, indeed, seen +the present Archbishop of Dublin clad from head to foot in our own +manufacture; and yet, under the rose be it spoken, his Grace deserves as +good a gown as if he had not been born among us. + +I have not courage enough to offer one syllable on this subject to their +honours of the army; neither have I sufficiently considered the great +importance of scarlet and gold lace. + +The fable in Ovid of Arachne and Pallas is to this purpose.--The goddess +had heard of one Arachne, a young virgin, very famous for spinning and +weaving. They both met upon a trial of skill; and Pallas, finding herself +almost equalled in her own art, stung with rage and envy, knocked her +rival down, and turned her into a spider; enjoining her to spin and weave +for ever out of her own bowels, and in a very narrow compass. + +I confess, that, from a boy, I always pitied poor Arachne, and could never +heartily love the goddess, on account of so cruel and unjust a sentence; +which, however, is fully executed upon us by England, with farther +additions of rigour and severity; for the greatest part of our bowels and +vitals is extracted, without allowing us the liberty of spinning and +weaving them. + +The Scripture tells us, that "oppression makes a wise man mad;" therefore, +consequently speaking, the reason why some men are not mad is because they +are not wise. However it were to be wished, that oppression would in time +teach a little wisdom to fools. + +I was much delighted with a person, who has a great estate in this +kingdom, upon his complaints to me, how grievously poor England suffers by +impositions from Ireland:--That we convey our wool to France, in spite of +all the harpies at the custom-house; that Mr. Shuttleworth and others, on +the Cheshire coast, are such fools to sell us their bark at a good price +for tanning our own hides into leather; with other enormities of the like +weight and kind. To which I will venture to add more:--That the mayoralty +of this city is always executed by an inhabitant, and often by a native, +which might as well be done by a deputy with a moderate salary, whereby +poor England loses at least one thousand pounds a-year upon the balance; +that the governing of this kingdom costs the Lord-Lieutenant three +thousand six hundred pounds a year--so much net loss to poor England; that +the people of Ireland presume to dig for coals on their own grounds; and +the farmers in the county of Wicklow send their turf to the very market +of Dublin, to the great discouragement of the coal trade of Mostyn and +Whitehaven; that the revenues of the post-office here, so righteously +belonging to the English treasury, as arising chiefly from our commerce +with each other, should be remitted to London clogged with that grievous +burden of exchange; and the pensions paid out of the Irish revenues to +English favourites, should lie under the same disadvantage, to the great +loss of the grantees. When a divine is sent over to a bishopric here, with +the hopes of five-and-twenty hundred pounds a year, and, upon his arrival, +he finds, alas! a dreadful discount of ten or twelve per cent.; a judge, +or a commissioner of the revenue, has the same cause of complaint.... +These are a few among the many hardships we put upon that poor kingdom of +England, for which, I am confident, every honest man wishes a remedy. And +I hear there is a project on foot for transporting our best wheaten straw, +by sea and land carriage, to Dunstable, and obliging us, by a law, to take +off yearly so many ton of straw hats, for the use of our women; which will +be a great encouragement to the manufacture of that industrious town. + +I should be glad to learn among the divines, whether a law to bind men +without their own consent be obligatory _in foro conscientiæ_; because I +find Scripture, Sanderson, and Suarez, are wholly silent on the matter. +The oracle of reason, the great law of nature, and general opinion of +civilians, wherever they treat of limited governments, are indeed decisive +enough. + +It is wonderful to observe the bias among our people in favour of things, +persons, and wares of all kinds, that come from England. The printer tells +his hawkers, that he has got an excellent new song just brought from +London. I have somewhat of a tendency that way myself; and, upon hearing a +coxcomb from thence displaying himself, with great volubility, upon the +park, the playhouse, the opera, the gaming ordinaries, it was apt to beget +in me a kind of veneration for his parts and accomplishments. It is not +many years since I remember a person, who, by his style and literature, +seems to have been the corrector of a hedge-press in some blind alley +about Little Britain, proceed gradually to be an author, at least a +translator of a lower rate, although somewhat of a larger bulk, than any +that now flourishes in Grub Street; and, upon the strength of this +foundation, come over here, erect himself up into an orator and +politician, and lead a kingdom after him. This, I am told, was the very +motive that prevailed on the author of a play, called "Love in a Hollow +Tree," to do us the honour of a visit; presuming, with very good reason, +that he was a writer of a superior class. I know another, who, for thirty +years past, has been the common standard of stupidity in England, where he +was never heard a minute in any assembly, or by any party, with common +Christian treatment; yet, upon his arrival here, could put on a face of +importance and authority, talk more than six, without either gracefulness, +propriety, or meaning, and, at the same time, be admired and followed as +the pattern of eloquence and wisdom. + + * * * * * + +I would now expostulate a little with our country landlords; who, by +immeasurable screwing and racking their tenants all over the kingdom, have +already reduced the miserable people to a worse condition than the +peasants in France, or the vassals in Germany and Poland; so that the +whole species of what we call substantial farmers, will, in a very few +years, be utterly at an end. It was pleasant to observe these gentlemen +labouring, with all their might, for preventing the bishops from letting +their revenues at a moderate half value (whereby the whole order would, in +an age, have been reduced to manifest beggary), at the very instant when +they were everywhere canting[41] their own land upon short leases, and +sacrificing their oldest tenants for a penny an acre advance.... I have +heard great divines affirm, that nothing is so likely to call down a +universal judgment from Heaven upon a nation as universal oppression; and +whether this be not already verified in part, their worships the +landlords, are now at full leisure to consider. Whoever travels this +country, and observes the face of nature, or the faces, and habits, and +dwellings of the natives, will hardly think himself in a land where law, +religion, or common humanity is professed. I cannot forbear saying one +word upon a thing they call a bank, which, I fear, is projecting in this +town.[42] I never saw the proposals, nor understood any one particular of +their scheme. What I wish for at present, is only a sufficient provision +of hemp, and caps and bells, to distribute according to the several +degrees of honesty and prudence in some persons. I hear only of a +monstrous sum already named; and if others do not soon hear of it too, and +hear with a vengeance, then I am a gentleman of less sagacity than myself, +and very few beside myself, take me to be. And the jest will be still the +better if it be true, as judicious persons have assured me, that one half +of this money will be real, and the other half altogether imaginary. The +matter will be likewise much mended, if the merchants continue to carry +off our gold, and our goldsmiths to melt down our heavy silver. + + + + +A MODEST PROPOSAL. 1729. + + +This came out when the people were starving in hundreds through famine, +and the dead were left unburied before their own doors. English +civilization was shamed by the sight. His sarcasm was never applied with +more deadly seriousness of purpose. There is no strain in the language +with which the state of matters is described: the very simplicity and +matter-of-fact tone that are assumed, make the description all the more +telling. With the calm deliberation of a statistician calculating the food +supply of the country, Swift brings forward his suggestion. No work of +Swift has been more grievously misunderstood. Some have esteemed it a +heartless piece of ridicule, a callous laugh raised out of abject misery. +The interpretation is as wrong as the Frenchman who took it as a grave and +practical suggestion, and who fancied that Swift in sober earnest proposed +that infants in Ireland should be used for food. In truth the ridicule is +but a thin disguise. From beginning to end, it is laden with grave and +torturing bitterness. Each touch, if calm and ghastly human, is added +with the gravity of a surgeon who probes a wound to the quick. There is +nothing like it in all literature. + + +A MODEST PROPOSAL + + _For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a + burden to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to + the public. 1729._ + +It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town, or +travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin +doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or +six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms. +These mothers, instead of being able to work for an honest livelihood, are +forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their +helpless infants; who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for the want +of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in +Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes. + +I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of +children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, +and frequently of their fathers, is, in the present deplorable state of +the kingdom, a very great additional grievance; and, therefore, whoever +could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children +sound, useful members of the commonwealth, would deserve so well of the +public, as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation. + +But my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the +children of professed beggars; it is of a much greater extent, and shall +take in the whole number of infants at a certain age, who are born of +parents in effect as little able to support them, as those who demand +charity in our streets. + +As to my own part, having turned my thoughts for many years upon this +important subject, and maturely weighed the several schemes of our +projectors, I have always found them grossly mistaken in their +computation. It is true, a child, just dropped from its dam, may be +supported by her milk for a solar year, with little other nourishment; at +most, not above the value of two shillings, which the mother may certainly +get, or the value in scraps, by her lawful occupation of begging; and it +is exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them in such a +manner, as, instead of being a charge upon their parents, or the parish, +or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall, on +the contrary, contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of +many thousands.... + +The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and +a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand +couple whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty +thousand couple, who are able to maintain their own children, (although I +apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the +kingdom); but this being granted, there will remain a hundred and seventy +thousand breeders. I again subtract fifty thousand for those women who +miscarry, or whose children die by accident or disease within the year. +There only remains a hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents +annually born. The question therefore is: How this number shall be reared +and provided for?--which, as I have already said, under the present +situation of affairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto +proposed. For we can neither employ them in handicraft or agriculture; we +neither build houses (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land; they can +very seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing, till they arrive at six +years old, except where they are of towardly parts; although I confess +they learn the rudiments much earlier; during which time they can, +however, be properly looked upon only as probationers; as I have been +informed by a principal gentleman in the county of Cavan, who protested to +me, that he never knew above one or two instances under the age of six, +even in a part of the kingdom so renowned for the quickest proficiency in +that art. + +I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or girl before twelve years old +is no saleable commodity; and even when they come to this age, they will +not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and half-a-crown at most, on +the exchange; which cannot turn to account either to the parents or +kingdom, the charge of nutriment and rags having been at least four times +that value. I shall now, therefore, humbly propose my own thoughts, which +I hope will not be liable to the least objection. + +I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in +London, that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most +delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked +or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee +or a ragout. + +I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration, that of the +hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty thousand +may be reserved for breed. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a +year old, be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune through +the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in +the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A +child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the +family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, +and, seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on +the fourth day, especially in winter. + +I have reckoned, upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh twelve +pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, will increase to +twenty-eight pounds. I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and +therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured +most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.... + +I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggar's child (in which +list I reckon all cottagers, labourers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to +be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no +gentleman would require to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good +fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent +nutritive meat, when he has only some particular friend, or his own +family to dine with him. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, +and grow popular among his tenants; and the mother will have eight +shillings net profit. + +Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess that times require) may flay +the carcass; the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable +gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen. As to our city of +Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose in the most convenient +parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although +I rather recommend buying the children alive, then dressing them hot from +the knife, as we do roasting pigs. + +A very worthy person, a true lover of his country, and whose virtue I +highly esteem, was lately pleased, in discoursing on this matter, to offer +a refinement upon my scheme. He said, that many gentlemen of this kingdom, +having of late destroyed their deer, he conceived that the want of venison +might be well supplied by the bodies of young lads and maidens, not +exceeding fourteen years of age, nor under twelve; so great a number of +both sexes in every country being now ready to starve for want of work and +service; and these to be disposed of by their parents, if alive, or +otherwise by their nearest relations. But, with due deference to so +excellent a friend, and so deserving a patriot, I cannot be altogether in +his sentiments; for as to the males, my American acquaintance assured me, +from frequent experience, that their flesh was generally tough and lean +like that of our schoolboys, by continual exercise, and their taste +disagreeable; and to fatten them would not answer the charge; and besides, +it is not improbable that some scrupulous people might be apt to censure +such a practice (although indeed very unjustly), as a little bordering +upon cruelty; which, I confess, has always been with me the strongest +objection against any project, how well soever intended. + +But in order to justify my friend, he confessed that this expedient was +put into his head by the famous Psalmanazar, a native of the island +Formosa, who came from thence to London above twenty years ago; and in +conversation told my friend, that in his country, when any young person +happened to be put to death the executioner sold the carcass to persons of +quality as a prime dainty; and that in his time the body of a plump girl +of fifteen, who was crucified for an attempt to poison the emperor, was +sold to his imperial Majesty's prime minister of state, and other great +mandarins of the court, in joints from the gibbet, at four hundred crowns. + +Neither indeed can I deny, that if the same use were made of several +plump young girls in this town, who without one single groat to their +fortunes, cannot stir abroad without a chair, and appear at playhouse and +assemblies in foreign fineries which they will never pay for, the kingdom +would not be the worse. + +Some persons of a desponding spirit are in great concern about that vast +number of poor people, who are aged, diseased, or maimed; and I have been +desired to employ my thoughts, what course may be taken to ease the nation +of so grievous an encumbrance. But I am not in the least pain upon that +matter, because it is very well known, that they are every day dying by +cold and famine, as fast as can be reasonably expected. And as to the +young labourers, they are now in almost as hopeful a condition: they +cannot get work, and consequently pine away for want of nourishment, to a +degree, that if at any time they are accidentally hired to common labour, +they have not strength to perform it; and thus the country and themselves +are happily delivered from the evils to come. + +I have too long digressed, and therefore shall return to my subject. I +think the advantages by the proposal which I have made, are obvious and +many, as well as of the highest importance. + +For first, it would greatly lessen the number of Papists, with whom we +are yearly overrun, being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as +our most dangerous enemies, and who stay at home on purpose to deliver the +kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of +so many good Protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country +than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an Episcopal +curate. + +Secondly, The poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, +which by law may be made liable to distress, and help to pay their +landlord's rent; their corn and cattle being already seized, and money a +thing unknown. + +Thirdly, Whereas the maintenance of a hundred thousand children, from two +years old and upward, cannot be computed at less than ten shillings +a-piece per annum, the nation's stock will be thereby increased fifty +thousand pounds per annum, beside the profit of a new dish introduced to +the tables of all gentlemen of fortune in the kingdom, who have any +refinement in taste. And the money will circulate among ourselves, the +goods being entirely of our own growth and manufacture. + +Fourthly, The constant breeders, besides the gain of eight shillings +sterling per annum by the sale of their children, will be rid of the +charge of maintaining them after the first year. + +Fifthly, This food would likewise bring great custom to taverns; where the +vintners will certainly be so prudent as to procure the best receipts for +dressing it to perfection, and, consequently, have their houses frequented +by all the fine gentlemen, who justly value themselves upon their +knowledge in good eating; and a skilful cook, who understands how to +oblige his guests, will contrive to make it as expensive as they please. + +Sixthly, This would be a great inducement to marriage, which all wise +nations have either encouraged by rewards, or enforced by laws and +penalties. It would increase, the care and tenderness of mothers towards +their children, when they were sure of a settlement for life to the poor +babes, provided in some sort by the public, to their annual profit or +expense. We should see an honest emulation among the married women, which +of them could bring the fattest child to the market.... + +I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this +proposal, unless it should be urged that the number of people will be +thereby much lessened in the kingdom. This I freely own, and it was indeed +one principal design in offering it to the world. I desire the reader will +observe that I calculate my remedy for this one individual kingdom of +Ireland, and for no other that ever was, is, or, I think, ever can be, +upon earth. Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients: of taxing +our absentees at five shillings a pound; of using neither clothes, nor +household furniture, except what is our own growth and manufacture; of +utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign +luxury; of curing the expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming +in our women: of introducing a vein of parsimony, prudence, and +temperance; of learning to love our country, in the want of which we +differ even from Laplanders, and the inhabitants of Topinamboo; of +quitting our animosities and factions, nor acting any longer like the +Jews, who were murdering one another at the very moment their city was +taken; of being a little cautious not to sell our country and conscience +for nothing; of teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy +toward their tenants: lastly, of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, +and skill into our shopkeepers; who, if a resolution could now be taken to +buy only our negative goods, would immediately unite to cheat and exact +upon us in the price, the measure, and the goodness, nor could never yet +be brought to make one fair proposal of just dealing, though often and +earnestly invited to it. + +Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like +expedients, till he has at least some glimpse of hope that there will be +ever some hearty and sincere attempt to put them in practice. + +But as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering +vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of +success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal; which as it is wholly new, +so it has something solid and real, of no expense and little trouble, full +in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging +England. For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, the flesh +being of too tender a consistence to admit a long continuance in salt, +although perhaps I could name a country which would be glad to eat up our +whole nation without. + +After all, I am not so violently bent upon my own opinion as to reject any +offer proposed by wise men, which shall be found equally innocent, cheap, +easy, and effectual. But before something of that kind shall be advanced +in contradiction to my scheme, and offering a better, I desire the author +or authors will be pleased maturely to consider two points. First, as +things now stand, how they will be able to find food and raiment for a +hundred thousand useless mouths and backs. And, secondly, there being a +round million of creatures of human figure throughout this kingdom, whose +whole subsistence put into a common stock would leave them in debt two +millions of pounds sterling, adding those who are beggars by profession, +to the bulk of farmers, cottagers, and labourers, with the wives and +children who are beggars in effect. I desire those politicians who dislike +my overture, and may perhaps be so bold as to attempt an answer that they +will first ask the parents of these mortals, whether they would not at +this day think it a great happiness to have been sold for food at a year +old, in the manner I prescribe, and thereby have avoided a perpetual scene +of misfortunes, as they have since gone through, by the oppression of +landlords, the impossibility of paying rent without money or trade, the +want of common sustenance, with neither house nor clothes to cover them +from the inclemencies of the weather, and the most inevitable prospect of +entailing the like, or greater miseries, upon their breed for ever. + +I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least +personal interest in endeavouring to promote this necessary work, having +no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our +trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure +to the rich. I have no children by which I can propose to get a single +penny; the youngest being nine years old and my wife past child-bearing. + + + + +A CHARACTER, PANEGYRIC, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LEGION CLUB, 1736. + + +Swift levelled his heaviest invective against the corrupt practices of the +so-called Irish Parliament, which did not contain a single representative +of the people who comprised the bulk of the nation. The colonial +representation were of the most degraded order, most of the characters +described in the poem were hit off with caustic precision. The portraits +were so true to life that many recognized themselves. The piece is +generally accepted as a good skit on the House. + + +A CHARACTER, PANEGYRIC, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LEGION CLUB, 1736. + + As I stroll the city, oft I + See a building large and lofty, + Not a bow-shot from the college; + Half the globe from sense and knowledge: + By the prudent architect, + Placed against the church direct, + Making good my granddam's jest, + "Near the church,"--you know the rest. + + Tell us what the pile contains? + Many a head that holds no brains, + These demoniacs let me dub + With the name of Legion Club. + Such assemblies, you might swear, + Meet when butchers bait a bear: + Such a noise, and such haranguing, + When a brother thief is hanging; + Such a rout and such a rabble + Run to hear Jackpudding gabble. + + Could I from the building's top + Hear the rattling thunder drop, + While the devil upon the roof + (If the devil be thunder-proof) + Should with poker fiery red + Crack the stones, and melt the lead; + Drive them down on every skull, + When the den of thieves is full; + Quite destroy that harpies' nest; + How might then our isle be blest! + For divines allow, that God + Sometimes makes the devil his rod; + And the gospel will inform us, + He can punish sins enormous. + + Yet should Swift endow the schools, + For his lunatics and fools, + With a rood or two of land, + I allow the pile may stand. + You perhaps will ask me, Why so? + But it is with this proviso; + Since the house is like to last, + Let the royal grant be pass'd, + That the club have right to dwell + Each within his proper cell, + With a passage left to creep in, + And a hole above for peeping. + + Let them, when they once get in, + Sell the nation for a pin; + While they sit a-picking straws, + Let them rave at making laws; + Let them form a grand committee, + How to plague and starve the city; + Let them stare, and storm, and frown, + When they see a clergy gown; + Let them, with their gosling quills, + Scribble senseless heads of bills. + + * * * * * + + Come, assist me, Muse obedient! + Let us try some new expedient; + Shift the scene for half an hour, + Time and place are in thy power. + Thither, gentle Muse, conduct me; + I shall ask, and you instruct me. + See, the Muse unbars the gate; + Hark, the monkeys, how they prate! + All ye gods who rule the soul; + Styx, through Hell whose waters roll! + Let me be allowed to tell + What I heard in yonder Hell. + + Near the door an entrance gapes, + Crowded round with antic shapes, + Poverty, and Grief, and Care, + Causeless Joy, and true Despair; + Discord periwigg'd with snakes, + See the dreadful strides she takes! + By this odious crew beset, + I began to rage and fret, + And resolved to break their pates, + Ere we entered at the gates; + Had not Clio in the nick + Whispered me, "Lay down your stick." + What! said I, is this the madhouse? + These, she answer'd, are but shadows, + Phantoms bodiless and vain, + Empty visions of the brain. + + In the porch Briareus stands, + Shows a bribe in all his hands; + Briareus the secretary, + But we mortals call him Carey.[43] + When the rogues their country fleece, + They may hope for pence a-piece. + + Clio, who had been so wise + To put on a fool's disguise, + To bespeak some approbation, + And be thought a near relation, + When she saw three hundred brutes + All involved in wild disputes, + Roaring till their lungs were spent, + PRIVILEGE OF PARLIAMENT, + Now a new misfortune feels, + Dreading to be laid by th' heels. + Never durst a Muse before + Enter that infernal door: + Clio, stifled with the smell, + Into spleen and vapours fell, + By the Stygian steams that flew + From the dire infectious crew. + Not the stench of Lake Avernus + Could have more offended her nose + Had she flown but o'er the top, + She had felt her pinions drop. + And by exhalations dire, + Though a goddess, must expire. + In a fright she crept away, + Bravely I resolved to stay. + When I saw the keeper frown, + Tipping him with half-a-crown, + Now, said I, we are alone, + Name your heroes one by one. + + Who is that hell-featured brawler? + Is it Satan? No, 'tis Waller. + In what figure can a bard dress + Jack the grandson of Sir Hardress? + Honest keeper, drive him further, + In his looks are Hell and murther; + See the scowling visage drop, + Just as when he murder'd Throp. + Keeper, show me where to fix + On the puppy pair of Dicks: + By their lantern jaws and leathern, + You might swear they both are brethren: + Dick Fitzbaker, Dick the player, + Old acquaintance are you there? + Tie them, keeper, in a tether, + Let them starve and sink together; + Both are apt to be unruly, + Lash them daily, lash them duly; + Though 'tis hopeless to reclaim them, + Scorpion rods, perhaps, may tame them. + Keeper, yon old dotard smoke, + Sweetly snoring in his cloak: + Who is he? 'Tis humdrum Wynne, + Half encompassed by his kin: + There observe the tribe of Bingham, + For he never fails to bring 'em; + While he sleeps the whole debate, + They submissive round him wait; + Yet would gladly see the hunks, + In his grave, and search his trunks, + See, they gently twitch his coat, + Just to yawn and give his vote, + Always firm in his vocation, + For the court against the nation. + Those are Allens Jack and Bob, + First in every wicked job, + Son and brother to a queer + Brain-sick brute, they call a peer. + We must give them better quarter + For their ancestor trod mortar, + And at Hoath, to boast his fame, + On a chimney cut his name. + + There sit Clements, Dilks, and Harrison; + How they swagger from their garrison! + Such a triplet could you tell + Where to find on this side Hell? + Harrison, and Dilks, and Clements, + Keeper, see they have their payments, + Every mischief's in their hearts; + If they fail 'tis want of parts. + + Bless us! Morgan, art thou there, man? + Bless mine eyes! art thou the chairman? + Chairman to yon damn'd committee! + Yet I look on thee with pity. + Dreadful sight! what, learned Morgan + Metamorphosed to a Gorgon! + For thy horrid looks, I own, + Half convert me to a stone. + Hast thou been so long at school, + Now to turn a factious tool? + Alma Mater was thy mother, + Every young divine thy brother. + Thou ungrateful to thy teachers, + Who are all grown reverend preachers! + Morgan, would it not surprise one! + Turn thy nourishment to poison! + When you walk among your books, + They reproach you with their looks; + Bind them fast, or from their shelves + They will come and right themselves: + Homer, Plutarch, Virgil, Flaccus, + All in arms prepare to back us; + Soon repent, or put to slaughter + Every Greek and Roman author. + Will you, in your faction's phrase, + Send the clergy all to graze; + And to make your project pass, + Leave them not a blade of grass? + Now I want thee, humorous Hogarth! + Thou, I hear, a pleasant rogue art. + Were but you and I acquainted, + Every monster should be painted: + You should try your graving tools + On this odious group of fools; + Draw the beasts as I describe them: + From their features while I gibe them; + Draw them like; for I assure you, + You will need no _car'catura_; + Draw them so that we may trace + All the soul in every face. + + Keeper, I must now retire, + You have done what I desire: + But I feel my spirits spent + With the noise, the sight, the scent. + "Pray, be patient; you shall find + Half the best are still behind! + You have hardly seen a score; + I can show two hundred more." + Keeper, I have seen enough, + Taking then a pinch of snuff, + I concluded, looking round them, + "May their god, the devil, confound them!" + + + + +ON DOING GOOD. + +_A Sermon on the Occasion of Wood's Project._ + +(WRITTEN IN 1724.) + + "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men." + (GALATIANS vi. 10.) + + +Nature directs every one of us, and God permits us, to consult our own +private good, before the private good of any other person whatsoever. We +are, indeed, commanded to love our neighbour as ourselves, but not as well +as ourselves. The love we have for ourselves, is to be the pattern of that +love we ought to have toward our neighbour; but as the copy doth not equal +the original, so my neighbour cannot think it hard, if I prefer myself, +who am the original, before him, who is only the copy. Thus, if any matter +equally concern the life, the reputation, the profit of my neighbour and +my own; the law of nature, which is the law of God, obligeth me to take +care of myself first, and afterward of him. And this I need not be at much +pains in persuading you to; for the want of self-love, with regard to +things of this world, is not among the faults of mankind. But then, on +the other side, if, by a small hurt and loss to myself, I can procure a +great good to my neighbour, in that case his interest is to be preferred. +For example, if I can be sure of saving his life, without great danger to +my own; if I can preserve him from being undone without ruining myself; or +recover his reputation without blasting mine; all this I am obliged to do, +and if I sincerely perform it, I do then obey the command of God, in +loving my neighbour as myself. + +But, besides this love we owe to every man in his particular capacity, +under the title of our neighbour, there is yet a duty of a more large +extensive nature incumbent on us; our love to our neighbour in his public +capacity, as he is a member of that great body the commonwealth, under the +same government with ourselves; and this is usually called love of the +public, and is a duty to which we are more strictly obliged, than even +that of loving ourselves; because therein ourselves are also contained, as +well as all our neighbours, in one great body. This love of the public, or +of the commonwealth, or love of our country, was in ancient times properly +known by the name of virtue, because it was the greatest of all virtues, +and was supposed to contain all virtues in it; and many great examples of +this virtue are left us on record, scarcely to be believed or even +conceived, in such a base, corrupted, wicked age as this we live in. In +those times it was common for men to sacrifice their lives for the good of +their country, although they had neither hope nor belief of future +rewards; whereas, in our days, very few make the least scruple of +sacrificing a whole nation, as well as their own souls, for a little +present gain; which often hath been known to end in their own ruin in this +world; as it certainly must in that to come. Have we not seen men, for the +sake of some petty employment, give up the very natural rights and +liberties of their country, and of mankind, in the ruin of which +themselves must at last be involved? Are not these corruptions gotten +among the meanest of our people, who, for a piece of money, will give +their votes at a venture, for the disposal of their own lives and +fortunes, without considering whether it be to those who are most likely +to betray or defend them? But, if I were to produce only one instance of a +hundred, wherein we fail in this duty of loving our country, it would be +an endless labour, and therefore I shall not attempt it. + +But here I would not be misunderstood; by the love of our country, I do +not mean loyalty to our King, for that is a duty of another nature; and a +man may be very loyal, in the common sense of the word, without one grain +of public good at his heart. + +Witness this very kingdom we live in. I verily believe, that since the +beginning of the world, no nation upon earth ever showed (all +circumstances considered) such high constant marks of loyalty, in all +their actions and behaviour, as we have done; and, at the same time, no +people ever appeared more utterly void of what is called a public spirit. +When I say the people, I mean the bulk or mass of the people, for I have +nothing to do with those in power. Therefore I shall think my time not +ill-spent, if I can persuade most or all of you who hear me, to show the +love you have for your country, by endeavouring, in your several +situations, to do all the public good you are able. + +For I am certainly persuaded, that all our misfortunes arise from no other +original cause than that general disregard among us to the public welfare. +I therefore undertake to show you three things:-- + +_First_, That there are few people so weak or mean, who have it not +sometimes in their power to be useful to the public. + +_Secondly_, That it is often in the power of the meanest among mankind to +do mischief to the public. + +And, _lastly_, That all wilful injuries done to the public, are very +great and aggravated sins in the sight of God. + +_First_, There are few people so weak or mean, who have it not sometimes +in their power to be useful to the public. + +Solomon tells us of a poor wise man, who saved a city by his counsel. It +hath often happened that a private soldier, by some unexpected brave +attempt, hath been instrumental in obtaining a great victory. How many +obscure men have been authors of very useful inventions, whereof the world +now reaps the benefit. The very example of honesty and industry in a poor +tradesman, will sometimes spread through a neighbourhood, when others see +how successful he is; and thus so many useful members are gained, for +which the whole body of the public is the better. Whoever is blessed with +a true public spirit, God will certainly put it in his way to make use of +that blessing, for the ends it was given him, by some means or other: and +therefore it hath been observed, in most ages that the greatest actions +for the benefit of the commonwealth, have been performed by the wisdom or +courage, the contrivance or industry, of particular men, and not of +numbers, and that the safety of a kingdom hath often been owing to those +hands whence it was least expected. + +But, _secondly_, It is often in the power of the meanest among mankind to +do mischief to the public, and hence arise most of those miseries with +which the states and kingdoms of the earth are infested. How many great +princes have been murdered by the meanest ruffians! + +The weakest hand can open a flood-gate to drown a country, which a +thousand of the strongest cannot stop. Those who have thrown off all +regard for public good, will often have it in their way to do public evil, +and will not fail to exercise that power whenever they can. + +The greatest blow given of late to this kingdom, was by the dishonesty of +a few manufacturers; by imposing bad wares at foreign markets, in almost +the only traffic permitted to us, did half ruin that trade; by which this +poor unhappy kingdom still suffers in the midst of sufferings. I speak not +here of persons in high stations who ought to be free from all reflection, +and are supposed always to intend the welfare of the community: but we now +find by experience, that the meanest instrument may, by the concurrence of +accidents, have it in his power to bring a whole kingdom to the very brink +of destruction, and is at this present endeavouring to finish his work; +and hath agents among ourselves who are contented to see their own country +undone, to be small sharers in that iniquitous gain, which at last must +end in their own ruin, as well as ours. I confess it was chiefly the +consideration of that great danger we are in, which engaged me to +discourse to you on this subject, to exhort you to a love of your country, +and a public spirit, when all you have is at stake; to prefer the interest +of your prince and your fellow-subjects, before that of one destructive +impostor, and a few of his adherents. + +Perhaps it may be thought by some, that this way of discoursing is not so +proper from the pulpit. But, surely, when an open attempt is made, and far +carried on, to make a great kingdom one large poorhouse, to deprive us of +all means to exercise hospitality or charity, to turn our cities and +churches into ruins, to make the country a desert for wild beasts and +robbers, to destroy all arts and sciences, all trades and manufactures, +and the very tillage of the ground, only to enrich one obscure, +ill-designing projector and his followers; it is time for the pastor to +cry out, "that the wolf is getting into his flock," to warn them to stand +together, and all to consult the common safety. And God be praised for His +infinite goodness in raising such a spirit of union among us, at least in +this point, in the midst of all our former divisions; which union, if it +continue, will in all probability defeat the pernicious design of this +pestilent enemy to the nation! + +But hence it clearly follows how necessary the love of our country, or a +public spirit, is, in every particular man, since the wicked have so many +opportunities of doing public mischief. Every man is upon his guard for +his private advantage; but where the public is concerned, he is apt to be +negligent, considering himself as only one among two or three millions, +among whom the loss is equally shared; and thus, he thinks, he can be no +great sufferer. Meanwhile the trader, the farmer, and the shopkeeper, +complain of the hardness and deadness of the times, and wonder whence it +comes; while it is in a great measure owing to their own folly, for want +of that love of their country, and public spirit and firm union among +themselves, which are so necessary to the prosperity of every nation. + +Another method, by which the meanest wicked man may have it in his power +to injure the public, is false accusation; whereof this kingdom hath +afforded too many examples; neither is it long since no man, whose +opinions were thought to differ from those in fashion could safely +converse beyond his nearest friends, for fear of being sworn against, as a +traitor, by those who made a traffic of perjury and subornation; by which +the very peace of the nation was disturbed, and men fled from each other +as they would from a lion or a bear got loose. And it is very remarkable, +that the pernicious project now in hand, to reduce us to beggary, was +forwarded by one of these false accusers, who had been convicted of +endeavouring, by perjury and subornation, to take away the lives of +several innocent persons here among us; and, indeed, there could not be a +more proper instrument for such a work. + +Another method, by which the meanest people may do injury to the public, +is the spreading of lies and false rumours; thus raising a distrust among +the people of a nation, causing them to mistake their true interest, and +their enemies for their friends; and this hath been likewise too +successful a practice among us, where we have known the whole kingdom +misled by the grossest lies, raised upon occasion to serve some particular +turn. As it hath also happened in the case I lately mentioned, where one +obscure man, by representing our wants where they were least, and +concealing them where they were greatest, had almost succeeded in a +project of utterly ruining this whole kingdom; and may still succeed, if +God doth not continue that public spirit, which He hath almost +miraculously kindled in us upon this occasion. + +Thus we see the public is many times, as it were, at the mercy of the +meanest instrument, who can be wicked enough to watch opportunities of +doing it mischief, upon the principles of avarice or malice, which I am +afraid are deeply rooted in too many breasts, and against which there can +be no defence, but a firm resolution in all honest men, to be closely +united and active in showing their love to their country, by preferring +the public interest to their present private advantage. If a passenger, in +a great storm at sea, should hide his goods, that they might not be thrown +overboard to lighten the ship, what would be the consequence? The ship is +cast away, and he loses his life and goods together. + +We have heard of men, who, through greediness of gain, have brought +infected goods into a nation; which bred a plague, whereof the owners and +their families perished first. Let those among us consider this and +tremble, whose houses are privately stored with those materials of beggary +and desolation, lately brought over to be scattered like a pestilence +among their countrymen, which may probably first seize upon themselves and +their families, until their houses shall be made a dunghill. + +I shall mention one practice more, by which the meanest instruments often +succeed in doing public mischief; and this is, by deceiving us with +plausible arguments, to make us believe that the most ruinous project +they can offer is intended for our good, as it happened in the case so +often mentioned. For the poor ignorant people, allured by the appearing +convenience in their small dealings, did not discover the serpent in the +brass, but were ready, like the Israelites, to offer incense to it; +neither could the wisdom of the nation convince them, until some, of good +intentions, made the cheat so plain to their sight, that those who run may +read. And thus the design was to treat us, in every point, as the +Philistines treated Samson (I mean when he was betrayed by Delilah), first +to put out our eyes, and then to bind us with fetters of brass. + +I proceed to the last thing I proposed, which was to show you that all +wilful injuries done to the public, are very great and aggravating in the +sight of God. + +_First_, It is apparent from Scripture, and most agreeable to reason, that +the safety and welfare of nations are under the most peculiar care of +God's providence. Thus He promised Abraham to save Sodom, if only ten +righteous men could be found in it. Thus the reason which God gave to +Jonah for not destroying Nineveh was, because there were six score +thousand men in that city. + +All government is from God, who is the God of order; and therefore whoever +attempts to breed confusion or disturbances among a people, doth his +utmost to take the government of the world out of God's hands, and to put +it into the hands of the devil, who is the author of confusion. By which +it is plain, that no crime, how heinous soever, committed against +particular persons, can equal the guilt of him who does injury to the +public. + +_Secondly_, All offenders against their country lie under this grievous +difficulty: that it is impossible to obtain a pardon or make restitution. +The bulk of mankind are very quick at resenting injuries, and very slow at +forgiving them: and how shall one man be able to obtain the pardon of +millions, or repair the injury he hath done to millions? How shall those, +who, by a most destructive fraud, got the whole wealth of our neighbouring +kingdom into their hands, be ever able to make a recompense? How will the +authors and promoters of that villainous project, for the ruin of this +poor country, be able to account with us for the injuries they have +already done, although they should no farther succeed? The deplorable care +of such wretches must entirely be left to the unfathomable mercies of God: +for those who know the least in religion are not ignorant, that without +our utmost endeavours to make restitution to the person injured, and to +obtain his pardon, added to a sincere repentance, there is no hope of +salvation given in the Gospel. + +_Lastly_, All offences against our own country have this aggravation, that +they are ungrateful and unnatural. It is to our country we owe those laws, +which protect us in our lives, our liberties, our properties, and our +religion. Our country produced us into the world, and continues to nourish +us, so that it is usually called our mother; and there have been examples +of great magistrates, who have put their own children to death for +endeavouring to betray their country, as if they had attempted the life of +their natural parent. + +Thus I have briefly shown you how terrible a sin it is to be an enemy to +our country, in order to incite you to the contrary virtue, which at this +juncture is so highly necessary, when every man's endeavour will be of +use. We have hitherto been just able to support ourselves under many +hardships; but now the axe is laid to the root of the tree, and nothing +but a firm union among us can prevent our utter undoing. This we are +obliged to, in duty to our gracious King, as well as to ourselves. Let us +therefore preserve that public spirit, which God hath raised in us, for +our own temporal interest. For, if this wicked project should succeed, +which it cannot do but by our own folly; if we sell ourselves for nought, +the merchant, the shopkeeper, the artificer, must fly to the desert with +their miserable families, there to starve, or live upon rapine, or at +least exchange their country for one more hospitable than that where they +were born. + +Thus much I thought it my duty to say to you who are under my care, to +warn you against those temporal evils which may draw the worst of +spiritual evils after them; such as heart-burnings, murmurings, +discontents, and all manner of wickedness, which a desperate condition of +life may tempt men to. + +I am sensible that what I have now said will not go very far, being +confined to this assembly; but I hope it may stir up others of my brethren +to exhort their several congregations, after a more effectual manner, to +show their love for their country on this important occasion. And this, I +am sure, cannot be called meddling in affairs of state. + +I pray God protect his most gracious Majesty, and his kingdom long under +his government; and defend us from all ruinous projectors, deceivers, +suborners perjurers, false accusers, and oppressors; from the virulence of +party and faction; and unite us in loyalty to our King, love to our +country, and charity to each other. + + + LONDON: + PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, + ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL ROAD. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See the "Proposal for the Use of Irish Manufactures." + +[2] Four score and ten thousand, this runs throughout the first edition. + +[3] A coarse kind of barley. + +[4] At that time the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. + +[5] An allusion to the debasement of the coin by James II. during his +unfortunate campaign in Ireland. + +[6] An equestrian statue of George I. at Essex Bridge, Dublin. + +[7] The Duke of Grafton. + +[8] Mr. Hopkins, the Duke of Grafton's secretary. + +[9] Lord Carteret, afterwards Earl Granville. As the ally of Bolingbroke, +and opponent of Walpole, he was to some extent a favourite of Swift. + +[10] This was especially the case in the reign of William III., when the +doctrine of English supremacy was assumed in order to discredit the +authority of the Irish Parliament summoned by James II. + +[11] William Molineux, the friend of Locke, who wrote a pamphlet, +published in 1698, against the oppressive laws adopted by England in +regard to Irish Manufactures. + +[12] There was a certain amount of truth in this. The Dean's butler acted +as amanuensis. + +[13] Articles mentioned in the indictment and proclamation. + +[14] His "Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufactures." + +[15] The first "Letter." + +[16] The second and third "Letters." + +[17] The fourth "Letter," the cause of the indictment and proclamation. + +[18] Printers. + +[19] He probably speaks of himself. + +[20] The "Proposal for the Use of Irish Manufactures." + +[21] Though he signed the proclamation against the author of the Drapier's +Letters, Lord Middleton was himself inimical to Wood's project. + +[22] The printer of the Drapier's Letters. + +[23] Undertakers:--a name which was, in Charles II.'s time applied to +those ministers who gained power by undertaking to carry through pet +measures of the Crown. Swift here uses it ambiguously. + +[24] The Earl of Sunderland. + +[25] The obligation arising from their having sworn allegiance to him. + +[26] The memorial was written by Sir John Browne. + +[27] Ireland was, for political reasons, much favoured by the Crown, +during the reigns of Charles II. and James II. + +[28] England. + +[29] Scotland and Ireland. + +[30] The Irish Sea. + +[31] The Pict's Wall. + +[32] An allusion to the border raids of the Highlanders. + +[33] Charles I. + +[34] The Lord-Lieutenant. + +[35] An allusion to the strained relations between England and Scotland, +caused by the passing of the Scottish Act of Security. + +[36] The Union. + +[37] An allusion to the Irish linen trade. + +[38] An allusion to the Scotch Colonists in Ulster. + +[39] Dr. William King, the friend and correspondent of Swift. + +[40] It was the practice among the farmers to wear out their ground with +ploughing, neither manuring nor letting it lie fallow; and when their +leases were nearly out, they even ploughed their meadows, so that the +landlords, unable to check them by other means, were obliged to resort to +this pernicious measure. + +[41] Putting up at auction. + +[42] A project for establishing an Irish Bank, which was soon after placed +before Parliament, but rejected. + +[43] The Right Honourable Walter Carey. He was Secretary to the Duke of +Dorset when Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN SWIFT*** + + +******* This file should be named 37156-8.txt or 37156-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/7/1/5/37156 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Bowles (John Bowles) Daly</title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p {margin-top: .75em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .75em;} + + body {margin-left: 12%; margin-right: 12%;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right; font-style: normal;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + + hr {width: 33%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + .huge {font-size: 150%} + .large {font-size: 125%} + + .poem {margin-left: 15%;} + .note {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%;} + + .right {text-align: right;} + .center {text-align: center;} + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smcaplc {text-transform: lowercase; font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + a:link {color:#0000ff; text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:#6633cc; text-decoration:none} + + .spacer {padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 1em;} + + .hang {margin-left: 2em; text-indent: -2em;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ireland in the Days of Dean Swift, by +Jonathan Swift and J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly, Edited by J. Bowles (John +Bowles) Daly</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Ireland in the Days of Dean Swift</p> +<p> Irish Tracts, 1720 to 1734</p> +<p>Author: Jonathan Swift and J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly</p> +<p>Editor: J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly</p> +<p>Release Date: August 21, 2011 [eBook #37156]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN SWIFT***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive/American Libraries<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/americana">http://www.archive.org/details/americana</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/irelandindaysofd00swif"> + http://www.archive.org/details/irelandindaysofd00swif</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div> +<p> </p><p> </p> + +<h1>IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF<br />DEAN SWIFT.</h1> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><small>LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED,<br /> +ST. JOHN’S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL ROAD.</small></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF<br /> +DEAN SWIFT.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">(<i>IRISH TRACTS, 1720 to 1734.</i>)</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><small>BY</small><br /> +J. BOWLES DALY, LL.D.<br /> +<small>AUTHOR OF “BROKEN IDEALS,” “RADICAL PIONEERS OF THE 18TH CENTURY,” ETC., ETC.</small></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">LONDON—CHAPMAN <span class="smcaplc">AND</span> HALL,<br /> +LIMITED.<br /> +1887.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center"><small>TO</small><br /> +<span class="large"><span class="smcap">The Right Hon.</span> JOHN MORLEY, M.P.,</span><br /> +<small>THE FIRST CHIEF SECRETARY OF IRELAND<br /> +WHOSE UNFLINCHING COURAGE AND OUTSPOKEN SYMPATHY<br /> +HAS SECURED HIM THE GRATITUDE OF THE IRISH PEOPLE,<br /> +THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED<br /> +WITH THE ADMIRATION OF<br /> +THE AUTHOR.</small></p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td> </td><td align="right"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Drapier’s Letters</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Address to the Jury</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Swift’s Description of Quilca</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Answer to a Paper</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Maxims Controlled</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A short View of the state of Ireland, 1727</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Story of the Injured Lady</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Answer to the Injured Lady</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_184">184</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Letter to the Archbishop of Dublin, concerning the Weavers</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">Two Letters on Subjects relative to the Improvement of Ireland</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">The Present Miserable State of Ireland</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_216">216</a></td></tr> +<tr><td>“<span class="smcap">A Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufactures.</span>” 1720</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Modest Proposal.</span> 1729</td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">A Character, Panegyric, and Description of the Legion Club, 1736</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><span class="smcap">On doing Good</span></td> + <td align="right"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></td></tr></table> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="huge">IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN SWIFT.</span></p> +<p> </p> +<h2>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + + +<p>The shifting combinations of party, from the settlement of the +constitution at the Revolution to a later period, is an attractive study +to any who wish to find the origin of abuses which have long vexed the +political life of England. Besides, it is wholesome and instructive to be +carried away from the modern difficulty to the broader issues which have +gradually led to the present complication.</p> + +<p>William III. was a Whig, and his successor a Tory, but except for short +periods no Tory party was able in either reign to carry on the government +upon Tory principles. William made no complete change of ministry during +his reign, only modifying its composition according to what appeared the +prevailing sentiment of the parliament or the nation. It was composed of +both parties; the Whigs predominated till the close<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> of the reign, when +their opponents acquired ascendency. Anne’s first ministry was Tory, but a +change was soon wrought by a favourite of the court who happened to be a +Whig and who soon turned the scale. Some knowledge of the character of the +monarch is indispensable to a clear understanding of the times. In 1702, +Anne ascended the throne. The queen’s notions of government were those of +her family—narrow and despotic. She would have been as arbitrary in her +conduct as Elizabeth, but that her actions were restrained by the +imbecility of her mind. The queen was the constant slave of favourites +who, in their turn, were the tools of intriguing politicians. Events of +the greatest importance were crowded into the short space of the twelve +years which covered her reign, and the most distinguished intellects +adorned the period.</p> + +<p>It was because the queen was fascinated by the Duchess of Marlborough that +her reign was adorned by the glories of Ramillies and Blenheim: it was +because Mrs. Abigail Masham artfully supplanted her benefactress in royal +favour, that a stop was put to the war which ravaged the Continent, while +by a chambermaid’s intrigue Bolingbroke triumphed over his rival, the Earl +of Oxford.</p> + +<p>During the first part of Anne’s reign, Marlborough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> was paramount in the +Houses of Parliament and his wife in the closet. The Tories came into +power on the queen’s accession, with Marlborough and Godolphin as leaders. +They substantially maintained the policy of King William in prosecuting +the war with France, which resulted in making England illustrious in +Europe.</p> + +<p>Whig principles soon acquired a decided majority in the House, when an act +of national importance took place, the effect of which thrilled the +empire. The queen and the duchess quarrelled, and the intriguing +waiting-maid stepped into the latter’s place. Besides the queen’s whims +she had a superstitious reverence for the Church; and had been taught to +regard the Whigs as Republicans and Dissenters, who wished to subvert the +monarchy. Harley traded on this weakness through the instrumentality of +Mrs. Masham. This lady was used by him to oust Marlborough and Godolphin, +and she continued the tool of Harley and St. John, who now became the +chiefs of the new ministry. A jealousy between these two ministers +afterwards sprang up, which finally resulted in a quarrel and separation. +St. John, created Viscount Bolingbroke, plotted with Mrs. Masham to +procure the crown for the Pretender, but the cabal oozed out and alarmed +the Tories. The last night of the queen’s life was spent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> in listening to +an open quarrel between the waiting-maid and the minister. At two o’clock +in the morning she went out of the room to die; she had strength, however, +to defeat the schemers by consigning the staff of state to Lord +Shrewsbury. “Take it,” she said, “for the good of my country.” They were +the last, perhaps the most pathetic words of her life. When Bolingbroke +was defeated, the Whigs came into power and continued in office till the +reign of George III.</p> + +<p>It was during the reign of William III. that Swift began his political +career as a Whig. His patron, Sir William Temple, introduced him to the +king, who was so impressed with his talents that he offered to make him a +captain of dragoons. Had he accepted this offer, he might have become a +second Cromwell. As this distinction was declined, the king promised to +see to his future interest. On the death of Temple, Swift edited the works +of his patron, dedicated them to the sovereign, and reminded him of his +promise. Neither the dedication nor the memorial was noticed. Swift had to +fall back on the post of chaplain and private secretary to the Earl of +Berkeley, one of the Lords Justices of Ireland. He became a political +writer on the side of the Whigs, and associated with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> Addison, Steele, and +Halifax. From the party leaders he received scores of promises and in the +end was neglected. The cup of preferment was twice dashed from his hand; +on the first occasion when Lord Berkeley would have given him a bishopric, +his name was vetoed by the Primate on the grounds of his youth, and on the +second when he was named for a vacant canonry, but at the last moment the +prize was given to another.</p> + +<p>During Anne’s reign Swift paid frequent visits to England, and became +closely connected with the leading Tories. In 1710 he broke with the Whigs +and united with Harley and the Tory administration. The five last years of +Anne’s government found him playing a prominent part in English politics +as the leading political writer of the Tories. He was on terms of the +closest intimacy with Oxford (Harley) and Bolingbroke, and attempted to +heal the breach between the rival statesmen. He helped the Tories in a +paper called the <i>Examiner</i>, upholding the policy of the ministers and +supplying his party with the arguments they would have used if they had +had the brains to think of them. This series of articles culminated in the +“Conduct of the Allies,” a pamphlet which brought about the disgrace of +Marlborough and made the peace popular. In it the author denounced the war +as the plot of a ring of Whig <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>stock-jobbers and monied men. These weekly +papers in the <i>Examiner</i> produced a great effect upon the public mind and +called forth a multitude of opponents. Swift gave the Press the wonderful +position it holds now. He almost created the “leading article;” and though +his contributions will not bear comparison with the light style of our own +day, they suited his times. They were written in a plain, homely style, +for Swift had a thorough contempt for abstract thought and abstract +politics; indeed, his low estimate of men convinced him that they were +about as good for flying as for thinking. Mr. Leslie Stephen aptly states +that Swift’s pamphlets were rather “blows than words;” he had serious +political effects to produce, and what he had to prove it was necessary to +say in plain words, for honest Tory squires of the country party to +understand and obey.</p> + +<p>The <i>Examiner</i>, the <i>Medley</i>, the <i>Tattler</i>, and the pamphlets of that day +bear no analogy to the modern newspaper; their influence did not penetrate +to the lower classes of the community, who were still without education.</p> + +<p>Swift is condemned by many who are not conversant with his character, his +writings, or the times in which he lived. In detached views, no man was +more liable to be misunderstood; his individual acts must be compared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +with his entire conduct, in order to give him his proper place in the +gallery of historical characters. The charge of deserting his party is +answered by Dr. Johnson, whose evidence is of greater value as he never +professed to be his friend. “Swift, by early education, had been +associated with the Whigs; but he deserted them when they deserted their +principles, yet he never ran into the opposite extreme; for he continued +throughout his life to retain the disposition which he assigned to the +Church of England man, of thinking commonly with the Whigs of the State +and with the Tories of the Church.”</p> + +<p>“Swift,” say his opponents, “rails at the whole human race;” so he does, +and so do we all, at particular times and seasons; when long experience +has shown us the selfishness of some, the hollowness of others, and the +base ingratitude of the world. Not having lifted his voice in protestation +against the terrible penal laws inflicted on his Catholic brethren, and +enacted before his door, is, perhaps, the heaviest indictment brought +against his name, and the one which, on examination, will prove the most +futile. He was the last man who, from his connection with a discarded Tory +party, could have taken action with any effect; for if he had made the +attempt, and if complaints had originated from it, they would have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> been +interpreted into murmurs of rebellion. One revolt had been put down in +Scotland, in which it was supposed that every Catholic in Ireland was +implicated, and another which was hatching in the country, broke out in +1745; consequently, any interference of Swift on behalf of the Roman +Catholics would have drawn upon him the total displeasure of the +government and have caused him to be voted an enemy to his country, as was +done in the case of Lucas, twenty years after. His words on another +occasion show that he was not wanting in sympathy towards the native +Irish. “The English should be ashamed of the reproaches they cast on their +ignorance, dullness, and want of courage; defects arising only from the +poverty and slavery they suffer from their inhuman neighbours, and the +base, corrupt spirit of too many of the gentry. By such treatment as this +the very Grecians are grown slavish, ignorant, and superstitious. I do +assert that from several experiments I have made in travelling in both +England and Ireland, I have found the poor cottagers in the latter +kingdom, who could speak our language, to have a much better natural taste +for good sense, humour, and raillery than ever I observed among people of +the sort in England. But the million of oppressions the national Irish lie +under, the tyranny of their landlords, the ridiculous zeal of their +priests and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> the general misery of the whole nation, have been enough to +damp the best spirits under the sun.”</p> + +<p>When Swift’s friends were out of power, Oxford no longer at Court and +Bolingbroke in exile, he returned to Ireland, and after visiting several +parts of the country, and making himself acquainted with the exact +condition of the people, he took up the cause of Ireland with a vigour +rarely exhibited by any patriot. The last twenty-five years of his sane +life were given to his country, during which time he devoted almost all +his energy to Irish concerns. His stern sense of justice prompted him to +lay bare the wrongs of his native land with the cool calculation of a +banker examining accounts, or that of a surgeon cutting open a tumour. His +letters, pamphlets, and sermons are full of allusions to the miseries and +disabilities of the Irish. In writing to Pope, he disclaims the title of +Patriot, and gives us exactly his motive. “What I do,” he says, “is owing +to perfect rage and resentment, and the mortifying sight of slavery, +folly, and baseness about me, among which I am forced to live.” It is said +that he was a disappointed, mortified man. I allow he was. Swift was +ill-used as well as his country. Was he therefore not to resent the +injuries offered her because wrongs were heaped on himself, or, after +remaining quiet under the disappointments of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> years, are we to suppose +that at the end of that period his own private grievances ceased to be +intolerable, and that the public provocations which became urgent had no +effect upon him?</p> + +<p>About 1720, a narrow, exclusive clique governed Ireland in avowed contempt +of all phases of Irish opinion. The need of reform had occupied the +attention only of an insignificant handful. None had yet succeeded in +rousing a national spirit to resist the people’s wrongs, an +over-insistence of which wrongs was looked upon as veiled Jacobitism. No +doubt Swift’s first motive was opposition to Walpole and his party. He +looked back with bitterness to the fall of his friends. He disliked the +cant of the Whigs and their travesty of liberty; from that moment his real +interest in Ireland began. Swift scorned Jacobitism, and had a righteous +contempt for “divine right and absolute prerogative.” He justified the +Revolution; was opposed to a Popish successor; had a mortal antipathy to a +standing army in time of peace; desired that parliaments should be annual; +disliked the monied interest in opposition to the territorial; feared the +growth of the national debt; and dreaded further encroachments on the +liberty of the subject. He believed the Whig government of Ireland to be +founded on corruption. All these opinions went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> to swell the current of +his indignation against Irish wrongs, and it was in consequence of them +that he lashed the government with his scorpion pen.</p> + +<p>The papers written by Swift during the years 1720 to 1734 are now little +studied by the people or their representatives; nevertheless, if carefully +examined, they will be found useful in throwing light upon the unsolved +problem. They deal with everything connected with the country: with banks, +currency, agriculture, fisheries, grazing, beggars, planting, +bog-reclaiming and road-making; and all in a style peculiarly his own, a +style seldom equalled and never surpassed. His pictures of the state of +the country present curious parallels to what we find to-day. There are, +of course, references to grievances which have long ceased to exist; such +as the penal laws, and the restriction on trade, but there are many +long-standing evils which are not much better now than they were in +Swift’s day. The rack-renting, absentee landlords are more numerous in +1887 than they were in 1730, while the improvements effected by the +tenants were as much a dead loss of capital in the time of Swift, as in +the days of Gladstone.</p> + +<p>The secret of Swift’s forcible utterances is that he infused himself into +everything he wrote; and his writings, in consequence, exhibit, not merely +his intellectual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> power, but also his moral nature, his principles, his +prejudices, even his temper. Swift possessed the most masculine intellect +of his age, and was the most earnest thinker of his times. He wrote like a +man of the world, and a gentleman; scorning the conceits of rhetorical +flourish, and never stooping to <i>ad misericordiam</i> appeals for sympathy.</p> + +<p>Of all writers of the English language, his style most approximates to +that of the old orators of Greece in force, rapidity, directness, +dexterity, luminous statement, and honest homeliness. The reader is +impelled with his vigour, as a soldier by the blast of a trumpet; while +his feelings are captivated by his author’s manifest sincerity; his +outburst of derisive scorn and withering invective, alternately heat and +chill the blood. Perhaps his merit is most revealed in the profound +sagacity of his political observations, infusing into his country that +spirit which enabled her to demand those rights she at last established. +Swift’s character rose in Ireland with his defence of it in 1724; for, by +his conduct then, he acquired an esteem and influence which can never be +forgotten. The question of consideration at that day was not whether +Wood’s halfpence were good or bad:—the question was, whether an +enterprising manufacturer of copper should prevail against Ireland. An +insulting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> patent, obtained in the most insidious way, was issued by the +British Cabinet without consulting the legitimate rulers of the country. +Against it the grand juries protested, the corporations protested, the +Irish parliament protested. All failed. At last there stood forth a +private clergyman, whose party was proscribed and himself persecuted, and +he carried the country at his back and forced the British minister to +retire within his trenches. Ireland, trampled on by a British minister, by +a British and Irish parliament; Ireland that had lost her trade, her +judicature, her parliament; sunk with the weight of oppression, prevails +under the direction of a solitary priest, who not only inspired but +instructed his countrymen in a magnificent vindication of their liberty +and the most noble repudiation of dependence ever taught a nation; telling +them, “that by the law of God, of nature, of nations, and of their country +they are and ought to be as free a people as their brethren in England.”</p> + +<p>The patriot rose above the divine. He taught his country to protest +against her grievances, and gave her a spirit by which she redressed them. +Besides, he created a public opinion in “a nation of slaves” and used it +as a political force against a vicious system of government. “For my own +part,” says Swift, referring to the imposition of the copper coinage, “who +am but a man of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> obscure condition, I do solemnly declare in the presence +of Almighty God that I will suffer the most ignominious torturing death, +rather than submit to receive this accursed coin, or any other that shall +be liable to these objections, until they shall be forced upon me by a law +of my own country, and if that shall ever happen, I will transport myself +into some foreign land, and eat the bread of poverty among a free people.”</p> + +<p>And who was this man who touched with fire the hearts of a nation and +played on their feelings as a skilful musician runs his fingers over the +keys of an instrument? A simple journalist, of obscure origin, without +rank or station, with nothing but a beggarly Irish living to fall back +upon, yet endowed with heaven-born genius and the pride of an insulted +god. He treated art like man: with the same sovereign pride scribbling his +articles in haste, scorning the wretched necessity for reading them over, +putting his name to nothing he wrote; letting every piece make its way on +its own merits, recommended by none. Swift had the soul of a dictator and +the heart of a woman.</p> + +<p>This self-devouring heart could not understand the callousness and +indifference of the world. He asked: “Do not the corruptions and +villainies of men eat your flesh and consume your spirits?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> Swift, like +his great Master, was moved by compassion for the multitude. He knew what +poverty and scorn were, even at an age when the mind expands and the path +of life is sown with generous hopes. At that time, his career was crushed +with the iron ring of poverty; maintained by the alms of his family; +secretary to a flattered, gouty courtier, at the magnificent salary of +20<i>l.</i> a year, and a seat at the servants’ table: obliged to submit to the +whims of my lord and the fancies of an acidulous virgin, my lord’s sister; +lured with false hopes; and forced, after an attempt at independence, to +resume the livery which scorched his soul. When writing his directions to +servants, he was relating with bitterness what he himself had suffered; +his proud heart bursting at the memory of indignities received while his +lips were locked. Under an outward calm, a tempest of wrath and desire +lashed his soul. Twenty years of insult and humiliation, the inner tempest +raging, as all his brilliant dreams faded from hope deferred;—such was +the man who moved his country to its centre and won her eternal gratitude.</p> + +<p>In discussing the burning topics of the day, Swift had against him the +king, his parliament, and all the people of England, together with the +Irish government and the Irish judges. The Irish parliament, whose cause +he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> defended, could not have saved him: that sycophant assembly could not +save itself, and was besides so lowered and debased by the over-ruling +power of England, that it was more likely to become his prosecutor than +his protector. Swift stood like Atlas, unmoved, and so laid the foundation +of his country’s liberty.</p> + +<p>“Swift was honoured,” says Johnson, “by the populace of Ireland as their +champion, patron, and instructor, and gained such power as, considered +both in its extent and duration, scarce any man has ever enjoyed without +greater wealth or higher station. The benefit was indeed great. He had +rescued Ireland from a very oppressive and predatory invasion: and the +popularity which he had gained he was very diligent to keep, by appearing +forward and zealous on every occasion when the public interest was +supposed to be involved. He showed clearly that wit, confederated with +truth, had such fire as authority was not able to resist. He said truly of +himself that Ireland was his debtor. It was from this time, when he first +began to patronize the Irish, that they may date their riches and +prosperity. He taught them first to know their own interest, their weight +and their strength; and gave them spirit to assert that equality with +their fellow-subjects, to which they have ever since been making vigorous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +advances, and to claim those rights which they have at last established. +Nor can they be charged with ingratitude to their benefactor, for they +reverenced him as a guardian and obeyed him as a dictator.”</p> + +<p>The birth of political and patriotic spirit in Ireland may be traced to +the “Drapier’s Letters.” No agitation that has since taken place in the +country has been so immediately and completely successful. The whole power +of the English government was found ineffectual to cope with the +opposition that had been roused, and marshalled by one man. The Letters +brought Swift fame and influence, and from the date of their publication, +he became the most powerful and popular man in Ireland. The Irish obeyed +his words as if they were the fiat of an oracle.</p> + +<p>Swift was no hack writer, lending his pen to any administration that paid +for his services; his individuality placed him above the herd of writers, +and he scorned to be used in this way. When Harley sent him a 50<i>l.</i> +cheque for his first articles in the <i>Examiner</i>, he returned it, and +haughtily demanded an apology, which was promptly given. He warned the +ministers that he acted with them on terms of equality, and that he would +not tolerate even coldness on their part; “for it is what I would hardly +bear from a crowned head; no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> subject’s favour was worth it.” He +afterwards explained, “If we let these great ministers pretend too much, +there will be no governing them.”</p> + +<p>After the publication of the fourth Drapier’s Letter, the government +offered a reward for the apprehension of the printer; Swift was so enraged +at this proceeding that he suddenly entered the reception-room, elbowed +his way up to the Lord-Lieutenant, and, with indignation on his +countenance and thunder in his voice, said: “So, my Lord, this is a +glorious exploit you performed yesterday in suffering a proclamation +against a poor shop-keeper, whose only crime is an honest endeavour to +save his country from ruin;” and then added, with a bitter laugh, “I +suppose your lordship will expect a statue in copper for your services to +Mr. Wood.”</p> + +<p>The accession of George I. exiled Swift to Ireland, at that time the most +impoverished country on the face of the globe. Swift regarded Dublin as a +“good enough place to die in.” No wonder, when he showed that there were +not found in it five gentlemen who could give a dinner at which a scholar +and gentleman could find congenial companionship. Ireland then was in a +state of national ruin and semi-barbarism; one of the most palpable evils +of Irish life was absenteeism. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> was the habit of the English officials +elected to remunerative offices, to employ a deputy to perform the duty on +the tenth of the salary—to come over in batches, landing at Ringsend on +Saturday night, receiving the sacrament at the nearest church on Sunday +morning, taking the oaths on Monday in the Courts, and setting sail for +England in the afternoon, leaving no trace of their existence in Ireland, +save their names on the civil list as recipients of a salary.</p> + +<p>Out of a total rental of 1,800,000<i>l.</i> about 600,000<i>l.</i> was spent in +England. There was nothing to encourage a landlord to live in the country; +no political career was open to him; all the offices in his country went +to strangers. He was without education or any intellectual interest; +nothing was left him but lavish displays of brutal luxury, endless +carouses, and barbaric hospitality. The Irish landlords were despised for +their rude manners by the fresh importations from England; they repaid +this contempt on their tenants.</p> + +<p>The vast majority of the Catholics were without the protection of the law; +absolutely ignorant and sunk in an abyss of poverty. The poor peasant, as +soon as the potatoes were planted, shut up his damp, smoky hut, and +started soliciting alms through the country: idle and lazy, he wandered +from house to house. Begging became a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> recognized profession. Adepts were +hired to complete the family group, and these shared the spoils of the +season; girls were debauched, in order that they might, as fictitious +widows, move compassion and earn alms. In winter they camped together in +companies; the length and breadth of the country was cursed with a brood +of hedgers, born of adultery and incest, herding together in troops, when +the ties of relationship were as completely lost as in a herd of cattle.</p> + +<p>The English clique at the Castle were too much occupied in checking +fancied disaffection and dispensing patronage to secure the support of +hungry partisans, to care for the welfare of the masses. The local gentry, +despised by the governing clique, allowed matters to drift from bad to +worse. The better part of the population left the country in disgust. Such +was the condition of Ireland when Swift stood out as its defender. The +wrongs of Ireland cried to heaven for adjustment.</p> + +<p>Since the days of Charles II. the Irish had been forbidden to seek a +market in England for their cattle. Since the last years of William III. +harsh laws crushed out the woollen trade, restricting it to a precarious +market formed by a contraband trade with France, every year getting worse. +Misery wanted only a voice to utter its lamentation. Swift assumed this +function in his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> “Proposal for the universal use of manufactures,” +published in 1720. Comments on the pamphlets are needless.</p> + +<p>The evil of absenteeism was of ancient date and the efforts to eradicate +it still older. By a statute of Richard II., two-thirds of the estate of +an absentee were forfeited to the Crown. The Lancastrian kings pursued the +same policy. Henry VIII. made a strong effort to correct the abuse, by +resuming whole Irish estates of some English nobles who were habitual +absentees. Under the early Stuarts the same course was pursued, but the +evil continues to our own day without any abatement. In Swift’s time, +residence had not been encouraged; statutes to enforce it remained on the +statute-book, but they were a dead letter. The landlord drew the rent from +Ireland, without helping to pay the taxes. He spent it in England and +frequently more than the amount, leaving the estates encumbered with +mortgages in the hands of English mortgagees. The holder of an Irish +office thought only of its emoluments, and was indignant at any suggestion +of living in the country burdened with his support, and nominally entitled +to his services. The land was reduced to a state of bankruptcy and +desolation; famine swept through it, and the people were perishing in +thousands. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> was at this terrible juncture that Swift put forth in +despair his “Modest Proposal,” one of the last efforts of his marvellous +genius, and it shamed the government into taking some steps to redress the +suffering which prevailed.</p> + +<p>“Swift’s pieces relating to Ireland,” says Edmund Burke, “are those of a +public nature, in which the Dean appears, as usual, in the best light, +because they do honour to his heart as well as his head, furnishing some +additional proofs, that though he was very free in his abuse of the +inhabitants of that country, as well natives as foreigners, he had their +interest sincerely at heart, and perfectly understood it. His sermon on +doing good, though peculiarly adapted to Ireland, and Wood’s design upon +it, contains perhaps the best motives to Patriotism that was ever +delivered within so small a compass.”</p> + +<p>There is no need to refer here to the other works of genius that came from +his pen; they are well known. The object of the present writer is to deal +exclusively with what has reference to Ireland, and while exhibiting Swift +as a patriot, no attempt is made to exclude his faults or deny his +imperfections; those faults were redeemed by devoted friendship and noble +generosity.</p> + +<p>His friendship with Addison continued till the day of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> his death, and so +strong was the bond between them, that when the two met for an evening, +they never wished for a third person to support or enliven the +conversation. Of him, Pope said:—“Nothing of you can die; nothing of you +can decay; nothing of you can suffer; nothing of you can be obscured or +locked up from esteem and admiration, except what is at the Deanery. May +the rest of you be as happy hereafter as honest men may expect and need +not doubt, while they know that their Maker is merciful.” One can imagine +how dear he was to those friends, when Bolingbroke writes:—“I love you +for a thousand things, for none more than for the just esteem and love +which you have for all the sons of Adam.” No one esteemed Swift more than +Lord Carteret, who, when hearing of his illness, wrote:—“That you may +enjoy the continuation of all happiness is my wish. As to futurity I know +your name will be remembered, when the names of Kings, Lord-Lieutenants, +Archbishops, and Parliamentary politicians will be forgotten. At last you +yourself must fall into oblivion, which may be less than one thousand +years, though the term may be uncertain and will depend on the progress +that barbarity and ignorance may make, notwithstanding the sedulous +endeavours of the great Prelates in this and succeeding ages.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>The account of Swift thus coming from men of the greatest genius of their +age, carries with it incontestable evidence in his favour, and completely +pulverizes the slanderous accusations heaped on him by his enemies. The +manly tone of his writing penetrated the character of the whole English +colony and bore fruit, long after the proud heart was laid at rest in the +great Irish cathedral. The place is marked by an inscription written by +himself, and touchingly refers to a time when the heart can no longer be +tortured with fierce indignation born from the contemplation of licensed +injustice. The character of Swift has long been vindicated, for animosity +perishes, but humanity is eternal.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE DRAPIER’S LETTERS.</h2> + +<p>There was a lack of copper coin in Ireland, which hampered the small +transactions of the poor, and rendered the payment of weekly or daily +wages a matter of difficulty. This want was reported to the English +Cabinet; it was taken up, not as a grievance to be met with redress, but +as a new opportunity for a job. A patent to make a copper coinage was +granted to William Wood, a gentleman whose antecedents were not +creditable. According to the habits of the day, the patent had to pass +through various officials, each of whom had doubtless to be paid: a sort +of black-mail on the transaction. The amount of the coinage had to be +large to enable Wood to recoup himself and make his own profit. It was +fixed at 108,000<i>l.</i>, a sum vastly in excess of its need. The greatest +share of the plunder was to fall to the king’s mistress. The Duchess of +Kendal was to receive 10,000<i>l.</i> from Wood, to whom she farmed the patent. +It was from the bottom to the top a scandalous job, and to add to its +depravity, it was passed without consulting the responsible governors of +the country. It was only when all efforts to defeat its passage were +concluded,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> that Swift stepped in. The indignation of the country had +risen to boiling-point; he gave it a voice. In describing the patent, +Swift exaggerated its consequences. It is absurd to suppose that what he +said of it was absolutely true, or that Swift thought it to be true. His +object was to put a scandalous transaction in the grossest aspect +possible. Swift adopted the ordinary recognized methods of political +controversy. Apart from exaggeration, there was enough of injustice in the +matter to justify any language which would tend to remove it.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />LETTER I.</p> +<div class="note"> +<p class="center"><i>To the Tradesmen, Shopkeepers, Farmers, and Country-people in general, of the Kingdom of Ireland</i>,</p> + +<p class="center">Concerning the brass halfpence coined by one William Wood, Hardwareman, with a design to have them pass in this kingdom!</p> + +<p class="hang">Wherein is shewn the power of his Patent, the value of his Halfpence, and +how far every person may be obliged to take the same in payments, and how +to behave himself, in case such an attempt should be made by Wood, or any +other person.</p> + +<p class="center">(VERY PROPER TO BE KEPT IN EVERY FAMILY.)</p> + +<p class="center">By M. B., <span class="smcap">Drapier</span>, 1724.</p></div> + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="smcap">Brethren, Friends, Countrymen, and Fellow-Subjects.</span></p> + +<p>What I intend now to say to you, is, next to your duty to God, and the +care of your salvation, of the greatest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> concern to yourselves and your +children; your bread and clothing, and every common necessary of life, +depend entirely upon it. Therefore I do most earnestly exhort you as men, +as Christians, as parents, and as lovers of your country, to read this +paper with the utmost attention, or get it read to you by others; which, +that you may do at the less expense, I have ordered the printer to sell it +at the lowest rate.</p> + +<p>It is a great fault among you, that when a person writes with no other +intention than to do you good, you will not be at the pains to read his +advices. One copy of this paper may serve a dozen of you, which will be +less than a farthing apiece. It is your folly, that you have no common or +general interest in your view, not even the wisest among you; neither do +you know, or inquire, or care, who are your friends, or who are your +enemies.</p> + +<p>About four years ago, a little book was written to advise all people to +wear the manufactures of this our own dear country.<a name='fna_1' id='fna_1' href='#f_1'><small>[1]</small></a> It had no other +design, said nothing against the King or Parliament, or any persons +whatever; yet the poor printer was prosecuted two years with the utmost +violence, and even some weavers themselves (for whose sake it was +written), being upon the <span class="smcaplc">JURY</span>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> found him guilty. This would be enough to +discourage any man from endeavouring to do you good, when you will either +neglect him, or fly in his face for his pains, and when he must expect +only danger to himself, and to be fined and imprisoned, perhaps to his +ruin.</p> + +<p>However, I cannot but warn you once more of the manifest destruction +before your eyes, if you do not behave yourself, as you ought.</p> + +<p>I will therefore first tell you the plain story of the fact, and then I +will lay before you how you ought to act, in common prudence according to +the laws of your country.</p> + +<p>The fact is this: It having been many years since <span class="smcaplc">COPPER HALFPENCE OR +FARTHINGS</span> were last coined in this kingdom, they have been for some time +very scarce, and many counterfeits passed about under the name of <i>raps</i>, +several applications were made to England that we might have liberty to +coin new ones, as in former times we did; but they did not succeed. At +last, one Mr. Wood, a mean ordinary man, a hardware dealer, procured a +patent under his Majesty’s broad seal to coin 108,000<i>l.</i><a name='fna_2' id='fna_2' href='#f_2'><small>[2]</small></a> in copper for +this kingdom; which patent, however, did not oblige any one here to take +them, unless they pleased. Now you must know,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> that the halfpence and +farthings in England pass for very little more than they are worth; and if +you should beat them to pieces, and sell them to the brazier, you would +not lose much above a penny in a shilling. But Mr. Wood made his halfpence +of such base metal, and so much smaller than the English ones, that the +brazier would not give you above a penny of good money for a shilling of +his; so that this sum of 108,000<i>l.</i> in good gold and silver, must be +given for trash, that will not be worth eight or nine thousand pounds real +value. But this is not the worst; for Mr. Wood, when he pleases, may, by +stealth, send over another 108,000<i>l.</i>, and buy all our goods for eleven +parts in twelve under the value. For example, if a hatter sells a dozen of +hats for five shillings apiece, which amounts to three pounds, and +receives the payment in Wood’s coin, he really receives only the value of +five shillings.</p> + +<p>Perhaps you will wonder how such an ordinary fellow as this Mr. Wood could +have so much interest as to get his Majesty’s broad seal for so great a +sum of bad money to be sent to this poor country; and that all the +nobility and gentry here could not obtain the same favour, and let us make +our own halfpence, as we used to do. Now I will make that matter very +plain: We are at a great distance from the King’s court, and have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> nobody +there to solicit for us, although a great number of lords and ’squires, +whose estates are here, and are our countrymen, spend all their lives and +fortunes there; but this same Mr. Wood was able to attend constantly for +his own interest; he is an Englishman, and had great friends; and, it +seems, knew very well where to give money to those that would speak to +others, that could speak to the King, and would tell a fair story. And his +Majesty, and perhaps the great lord or lords who advise him, might think +it was for our country’s good; and so, as the lawyers express it, “The +King was deceived in his grant,” which often happens in all reigns. And I +am sure if his Majesty knew that such a patent, if it should take effect +according to the desire of Mr. Wood, would utterly ruin this kingdom, +which has given such great proofs of its loyalty, he would immediately +recall it, and perhaps show his displeasure to somebody or other; but a +word to the wise is enough. Most of you must have heard with what anger +our honourable House of Commons received an account of this Wood’s patent. +There were several fine speeches made upon it, and plain proofs that it +was all a wicked cheat from the bottom to the top; and several smart votes +were printed, which that same Wood had the assurance to answer likewise in +print; and in so confident a way, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> if he were a better man than our +whole Parliament put together.</p> + +<p>This Wood, as soon as his patent was passed, or soon after, sends over a +great many barrels of those halfpence to Cork, and other seaport towns; +and to get them off, offered a hundred pounds in his coin, for seventy or +eighty in silver; but the collectors of the King’s customs very honestly +refused to take them, and so did almost everybody else. And since the +Parliament has condemned them, and desired the King that they might be +stopped, all the kingdom do abominate them.</p> + +<p>But Wood is still working underhand to force his halfpence upon us; and if +he can, by the help of his friends in England, prevail so far as to get an +order, that the commissioners and collectors of the King’s money shall +receive them, and that the army is to be paid with them, then he thinks +his work shall be done. And this is the difficulty you will be under in +such a case: for the common soldier, when he goes to the market, or +alehouse, will offer this money; and if it be refused, perhaps he will +swagger and hector, and threaten to beat the butcher or ale-wife, or take +the goods by force, and throw them the bad halfpence. In this and the like +cases, the shopkeeper or victualler, or any other tradesman, has no more +to do, than to demand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> ten times the price of his goods, if it is to be +paid in Wood’s money; for example, twenty pence of that money for a quart +of ale and so in all things else, and not part with his goods till he gets +the money.</p> + +<p>For, suppose you go to an ale-house with that base money, and the landlord +gives you a quart for four of those halfpence, what must the victualler +do? his brewer will not be paid in that coin; or, if the brewer should be +such a fool, the farmers will not take it from them for their bere,<a name='fna_3' id='fna_3' href='#f_3'><small>[3]</small></a> +because they are bound, by their leases, to pay their rent in good and +lawful money of England; which this is not, nor of Ireland neither; and +the ’squire, their landlord, will never be so bewitched to take such trash +for his land; so that it must certainly stop somewhere or other; and +wherever it stops, it is the same thing, and we are all undone.</p> + +<p>The common weight of these halfpence is between four and five to an +ounce—suppose five, then three shillings and four pence will weigh a +pound, and consequently twenty shillings will weigh six pounds butter +weight. Now there are many hundred farmers, who pay two hundred pounds a +year rent; therefore, when one of these farmers comes with his half-year’s +rent, which is one hundred pounds, it will be at least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> six hundred +pounds’ weight, which is three horses’ load.</p> + +<p>If a ’squire has a mind to come to town to buy clothes and wine, and +spices for himself and family, or perhaps to pass the winter here, he must +bring with him five or six horses well loaden with sacks, as the farmers +bring their corn; and when his lady comes in her coach to our shops, it +must be followed by a car loaded with Mr. Wood’s money. And I hope we +shall have the grace to take it for no more than it is worth.</p> + +<p>They say ’Squire Conolly<a name='fna_4' id='fna_4' href='#f_4'><small>[4]</small></a> has sixteen thousand pounds a-year; now, if he +sends for his rent to town, as it is likely he does, he must have two +hundred and fifty horses to bring up his half-year’s rent, and two or +three great cellars in his house for stowage. But what the bankers will do +I cannot tell; for I am assured, that some great bankers keep by them +forty thousand pounds in ready cash, to answer all payments; which sum, in +Mr. Wood’s money, would require twelve hundred horses to carry it.</p> + +<p>For my own part, I am already resolved what to do; I have a pretty good +shop of Irish stuffs and silks; and instead of taking Mr. Wood’s bad +copper, I intend to truck with my neighbours, the butchers, and bakers, +and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> brewers, and the rest, goods for goods; and the little gold and +silver I have, I will keep by me, like my heart’s blood, till better +times, or until I am just ready to starve; and then I will buy Mr. Wood’s +money, as my father did the brass money in King James’s time,<a name='fna_5' id='fna_5' href='#f_5'><small>[5]</small></a> who could +buy ten pounds of it with a guinea; and I hope to get as much for a +pistole, and so purchase bread from those who will be such fools as to +sell it me. These halfpence, if they once pass, will soon be +counterfeited, because it may be cheaply done, the stuff is so base. The +Dutch, likewise, will probably do the same thing, and send them over to us +to pay for our goods; and Mr. Wood will never be at rest, but coin on: so +that in some years we shall have at least five times 108,000<i>l.</i> of this +lumber. Now the current money of this kingdom is not reckoned to be above +four hundred thousand pounds in all; and while there is a silver sixpence +left, these bloodsuckers will never be quiet. When once the kingdom is +reduced to such a condition, I will tell you what must be the end: the +gentlemen of estates will all turn off their tenants for want of payments, +because, as I told you before, the tenants are obliged by their leases to +pay sterling, which is lawful current money of England;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> then they will +turn their own farmers, as too many of them do already, run all into +sheep, where they can, keeping only such other cattle as are necessary; +then they will be their own merchants, and send their wool, and butter, +and hides, and linen beyond sea, for ready money, and wine, and spices, +and silks. They will keep only a few miserable cottagers; the farmers must +rob, or beg, or leave their country; the shopkeepers in this, and every +other town, must break and starve; for it is the landed man that maintains +the merchant, and shopkeeper, and handicraftsman.</p> + +<p>But when the ’squire turns farmer and merchant himself, all the good money +he gets from abroad he will hoard up to send for England, and keep some +poor tailor or weaver and the like in his own house, who will be glad to +get bread at any rate.</p> + +<p>I should never have done, if I were to tell you all the miseries that we +shall undergo, if we be so foolish and wicked as to take this cursed coin. +It would be very hard if all Ireland should be put into one scale, and +this sorry fellow, Wood, into the other; that Mr. Wood should weigh down +this whole kingdom, by which England gets above a million of good money +every year clear into their pockets; and that is more than the English do +by all the world besides.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>But your great comfort is, that as his Majesty’s patent does not oblige +you to take this money, so the laws have not given the crown a power of +forcing the subject to take what money the King pleases; for then, by the +same reason, we might be bound to take pebble-stones, or cockle-shells, or +stamped leather, for current coin, if ever we should happen to live under +an ill prince; who might likewise, by the same power, make a guinea pass +for ten pounds, a shilling for twenty shillings, and so on; by which he +would, in a short time, get all the silver and gold of the kingdom into +his own hands, and leave us nothing but brass or leather, or what he +pleased. Neither is anything reckoned more cruel and oppressive in the +French government than their common practice of calling in all their +money, after they have sunk it very low, and then coining it anew at a +much higher value; which, however, is not the thousandth part so wicked as +this abominable project of Mr. Wood. For the French give their subjects +silver for silver, and gold for gold; but this fellow will not so much as +give us good brass or copper for our gold and silver, nor even a twelfth +part of their worth. Having said thus much, I will now go on to tell you +the judgment of some great lawyers in this matter, whom I fee’d on purpose +for your sakes, and got their opinions under their hands, that I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> might be +sure I went upon good grounds.... I will now, my dear friends, to save you +the trouble, set before you, in short, what the law obliges you to do, and +what it does not oblige you to.</p> + +<p>First, you are obliged to take all money in payments which is coined by +the King, and is of the English standard or weight, provided it be of gold +or silver.</p> + +<p>Secondly, you are not obliged to take any money which is not of gold or +silver; not only the halfpence or farthings of England, but of any other +country. And it is merely for convenience or ease, that you are content to +take them; because the custom of coining silver halfpence and farthings +has long been left off; I suppose on account of their being subject to be +lost.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, much less are you obliged to take those vile halfpence of the +same Wood, by which you must lose almost eleven pence in every shilling. +Therefore, my friends, stand to it one and all; refuse this filthy trash. +It is no treason to rebel against Mr. Wood. His Majesty in his patent, +obliges nobody to take these halfpence, our gracious prince has no such +ill-advisers about him; or, if he had, yet you see the laws have not left +it in the King’s power to force us to take any coin but what is lawful, of +right standard, gold and silver. Therefore you have nothing to fear.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>And let me in the next place apply myself particularly to you who are the +poorer sort of tradesmen. Perhaps you may think you will not be so great +losers as the rich, if these halfpence should pass; because you seldom see +any silver, and your customers come to your shops or stalls with nothing +but brass, which you likewise find hard to be got. But you may take my +word, whenever this money gains footing among you, you will be utterly +undone. If you carry these halfpence to a shop for tobacco or brandy, or +any other thing that you want, the shopkeeper will advance his goods +accordingly, or else he must break, and leave the key under the door. “Do +you think I will sell you a yard of tenpenny stuff for twenty of Mr. +Wood’s halfpence? No, not under two hundred at least; neither will I be at +the trouble of counting, but weigh them in a lump.” I will tell you one +thing farther, that if Mr. Wood’s project should take, it would ruin even +our beggars; for when I give a beggar a halfpenny, it will quench his +thirst, or go a good way to fill his belly; but the twelfth part of a +halfpenny will do him no more service than if I should give him three pins +out of my sleeve.</p> + +<p>In short, these halfpence are like “the accursed thing, which,” as the +Scripture tells us, “the children of Israel were forbidden to touch.” They +will run about like the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> plague, and destroy every one who lays his hand +upon them. I have heard scholars talk of a man who told the King, that he +had invented a way to torment people, by putting them into a bull of brass +with fire under it; but the prince put the projector first into it, to +make the experiment. This very much resembles the project of Mr. Wood; and +the like of this may probably be Mr. Wood’s fate; that the brass he +contrived to torment this kingdom with, may prove his own torment, and his +destruction at last.</p> + +<p>N.B. The author of this paper is informed by persons, who have made it +their business to be exact in their observations on the true value of +these halfpence, that any person may expect to get a quart of twopenny ale +for thirty-six of them.</p> + +<p>I desire that all families may keep this paper carefully by them, to +refresh their memories whenever they shall have farther notice of Mr. +Wood’s halfpence, or any other the like imposture.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">SECOND LETTER.</span></p> + +<p>Walpole recommended his Majesty to compromise the grave issue which had +risen. An order was issued restricting the importation of Wood’s copper +coin to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> the sum of 40,000<i>l.</i> instead of 108,000<i>l.</i>, to be current only +amongst those who should be willing to accept them. But the dispute had +risen too high to admit of accommodation. The real grievance of this +measure lay rather in its principle than its immediate effects. The merits +and details of the question are now laid aside. Even Wood is almost +forgotten in the vehemence of rage, that a nation should be exposed to the +menaces or mercies of such an adventurer.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />LETTER II.</p> +<div class="note"> +<p class="center"><i>To Mr. Harding, the Printer</i>,</p> + +<p class="center">On occasion of a paragraph in his newspaper of August 1, 1724, relating to +Mr. Wood’s halfpence.</p></div> + +<p class="right"><br /><span style="padding-right: 2em;"><i>August 4, 1724.</i></span></p> + +<p>In your Newsletter of the first instant, there is a paragraph, dated from +London, July 25, relating to Wood’s halfpence; whereby it is plain, what I +foretold in my letter to the shopkeepers, &c., that this vile fellow would +never be at rest; and that the danger of our ruin approaches nearer; and +therefore the kingdom requires new and fresh warning. However, I take this +paragraph to be, in a great measure, an imposition upon the public; at +least I hope so, because I am informed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> that Mr. Wood is generally his own +newswriter. I cannot but observe from that paragraph, that this public +enemy of ours, not satisfied to ruin us with his trash, takes every +occasion to treat this kingdom with the utmost contempt. He represents +several of our merchants and traders, upon examination before a committee +of council, agreeing, that there was the utmost necessity of copper money +here, before his patent; so that several gentlemen have been forced to +tally with their workmen, and give them bits of cards sealed and +subscribed with their names. What then? If a physician prescribe to a +patient a dram of physic, shall a rascal apothecary cram him with a pound, +and mix it up with poison? And is not a landlord’s hand and seal to his +own labourers a better security for five or ten shillings, than Wood’s +brass, ten times below the real value, can be to the kingdom for a hundred +and eight thousand pounds?</p> + +<p>Who are these merchants and traders of Ireland that made this report of +the utmost necessity we are under for copper money? They are only a few +betrayers of their country, confederates with Wood, from whom they are to +purchase a great quantity of coin, perhaps at half the price that we are +to take it, and vend it among us to the ruin of the public, and their own +private advantages.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> Are not these excellent witnesses, upon whose +integrity the fate of the kingdom must depend, evidences in their own +cause, and sharers in this work of iniquity?</p> + +<p>If we could have deserved the liberty of coining for ourselves as we +formerly did—and why we have it not is everybody’s wonder as well as +mine—ten thousand pounds might have been coined here in Dublin of only +one-fifth below the intrinsic value, and this sum, with the stock of +halfpence we then had, would have been sufficient. But Wood, by his +emissaries—enemies to God and this kingdom—has taken care to buy up as +many of our old halfpence as he could, and from thence the present want of +change arises; to remove which, by Mr. Wood’s remedy, would be to cure a +scratch on the finger by cutting off the arm. But, supposing there were +not one farthing of change in the whole nation, I will maintain that +five-and-twenty thousand pounds would be a sum fully sufficient to answer +all our occasions. I am no inconsiderable shopkeeper in this town. I have +discoursed with several of my own and other trades, with many gentlemen +both of city and country, and also with great numbers of farmers, +cottagers, and labourers, who all agree that two shillings in change for +every family would be more than necessary in all dealings. Now, by the +largest computation—even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> before that grievous discouragement of +agriculture, which has so much lessened our numbers—the souls in this +kingdom are computed to be one million and a half; which allowing six to a +family, makes two hundred and fifty thousand families, and, consequently, +two shillings to each family will amount only to five-and-twenty thousand +pounds; whereas this honest, liberal hardwareman, Wood, would impose upon +us above four times that sum. Your paragraph relates further, that Sir +Isaac Newton reported an assay taken at the Tower of Wood’s metal, by +which it appears, that Wood had in all respects performed his contract. +His contract!—With whom? Was it with the Parliament or people of Ireland? +Are not they to be the purchasers? But they detest, abhor, and reject it, +as corrupt, fraudulent, mingled with dirt and trash. Upon which he grows +angry, goes to law, and will impose his goods upon us by force.</p> + +<p>But your newsletter says, that an assay was made of the coin. How impudent +and insupportable is this! Wood takes care to coin a dozen or two +halfpence of good metal, sends them to the Tower, and they are approved; +and these must answer all that he has already coined, or shall coin for +the future. It is true, indeed, that a gentleman often sends to my shop +for a pattern<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> of stuff; I cut it fairly off, and, if he likes it, he +comes, or sends, and compares the pattern with the whole piece, and +probably we come to a bargain. But if I were to buy a hundred sheep, and +the grazier should bring me one single wether, fat and well-fleeced, by +way of pattern, and expect the same price round for the whole hundred, +without suffering me to see them before he was paid, or giving me good +security to restore my money for those that were lean, or shorn, or +scabby, I would be none of his customer. I have heard of a man who had a +mind to sell his house, and therefore carried a piece of brick in his +pocket, which he showed as a pattern to encourage purchasers; and this is +directly the case in point with Mr. Wood’s assay.</p> + +<p>The next part of the paragraph contains Mr. Wood’s voluntary proposals for +preventing any further objections or apprehensions.</p> + +<p>His first proposal is, “That whereas he has already coined seventeen +thousand pounds, and has copper prepared to make it up forty thousand +pounds, he will be content to coin no more, unless the <span class="smcaplc">EXIGENCIES OF TRADE +REQUIRE IT</span>, although his patent empowers him to coin a far greater +quantity.”</p> + +<p>To which if I were to answer, it should be thus:—“Let Mr. Wood, and his +crew of founders and tinkers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> coin on, till there is not an old kettle +left in the kingdom,—let them coin old leather, tobacco-pipe clay, or the +dirt in the street, and call their trumpery by what name they please, from +a guinea to a farthing,—we are not under concern to know how he and his +tribe of accomplices think fit to employ themselves. But I hope and trust, +that we are all to a man fully determined to have nothing to do with him +or his ware.”</p> + +<p>The King has given him a patent to coin halfpence, but has not obliged us +to take them; and I have already shown, in my letter to the shopkeepers, +&c., that the law has not left it in the power of the prerogative to +compel the subject to take any money besides gold and silver, of the right +sterling and standard.</p> + +<p>Wood further proposes, if I understand him right—for his expressions are +dubious—that he will not coin above forty thousand pounds, unless the +exigencies of trade require it.</p> + +<p>First, I observe, that this sum of forty thousand pounds is almost double +to what I proved to be sufficient for the whole kingdom, although we had +not one of our old halfpence left.</p> + +<p>Again, I ask, who is to be judge when the exigencies of trade require it? +Without doubt he means himself; for as to us of this poor kingdom, who +must be utterly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> ruined if this project should succeed, we were never once +consulted till the matter was over, and he will judge of our exigencies by +his own. Neither will these ever be at an end till he and his accomplices +think they have enough; and it now appears, that he will not be content +with all our gold and silver, but intends to buy up our goods and +manufactures with the same coin.... His last proposal, being of a peculiar +strain and nature, deserves to be very particularly considered, both on +account of the matter and the style. It is as follows:—</p> + +<p>“Lastly, in consideration of the direful apprehensions which prevail in +Ireland, that Mr. Wood will, by such coinage, drain them of their gold and +silver, he proposes to take their manufactures in exchange, and that no +person be obliged to receive more than fivepence halfpenny at one +payment.”</p> + +<p>First, observe this little impudent hardwareman turning into ridicule the +direful apprehensions of a whole kingdom, priding himself as the cause of +them, and daring to prescribe what no King of England ever attempted, how +far a whole nation shall be obliged to take his brass coin. And he has +reason to insult; for sure there was never an example in history of a +great kingdom kept in awe for above a year, in daily dread of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> utter +destruction—not by a powerful invader, at the head of twenty thousand +men—not by a plague or a famine—not by a tyrannical prince (for we never +had one more gracious), or a corrupt administration—but by one single, +diminutive, insignificant mechanic.... His proposals conclude with perfect +high treason. He promises, that no person shall be obliged to receive more +than fivepence halfpenny of his coin in one payment. By which it is plain, +that he pretends to oblige every subject in this kingdom to take so much +in every payment if it be offered; whereas his patent obliges no man, nor +can the prerogative, by law, claim such a power, as I have often observed; +so that here Mr. Wood takes upon him the entire legislature, and an +absolute dominion over the properties of the whole nation.</p> + +<p>Good God! who are this wretch’s advisers? Who are his supporters, +abettors, encouragers, or sharers? Mr. Wood will oblige me to take +fivepence halfpenny of his brass in every payment; and I will shoot Mr. +Wood and his deputies through the head, like highwaymen or housebreakers, +if they dare to force one farthing of their coin on me in the payment of a +hundred pounds. It is no loss of honour to submit it to the lion; but who, +with the figure of a man, can think with patience of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> being devoured alive +by a rat? He has laid a tax upon the people of Ireland of seventeen +shillings, at least, in the pound; a tax, I say, not only upon lands, but +interest-money, goods, manufactures, the hire of handicraftsmen, +labourers, and servants.</p> + +<p>Shopkeepers, look to yourselves!—Wood will oblige and force you to take +fivepence halfpenny of his trash in every payment, and many of you receive +twenty, thirty, forty payments in one day, or else you can hardly find +bread. And, pray, consider how much that will amount to in a year. Twenty +times fivepence halfpenny is nine shillings and twopence, which is above a +hundred and sixty pounds a year; wherein you will be losers of at least +one hundred and forty pounds by taking your payments in his money. If any +of you be content to deal with Mr. Wood on such conditions, you may; but, +for my own particular, let his money perish with him! If the famous Mr. +Hampden rather chose to go to prison than pay a few shillings to King +Charles I. without authority of Parliament, I will rather choose to be +hanged than have all my substance taxed at seventeen shillings in the +pound, at the arbitrary will and pleasure of the venerable Mr. Wood.</p> + +<p>The paragraph concludes thus:—“N.B.” that is to say, <i>nota bene</i>, or +<i>mark well</i>, “No evidence appeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> from Ireland, or elsewhere, to prove +the mischiefs complained of, or any abuses whatsoever committed, in the +execution of the said grant.”</p> + +<p>The impudence of this remark exceeds all that went before. First, the +House of Commons in Ireland, which represents the whole people of the +kingdom, and, secondly, the Privy-council, addressed his Majesty against +these halfpence. What could be done more to express the universal sense of +the nation? If his copper were diamonds, and the kingdom were entirely +against it, would not that be sufficient to reject it? Must a committee of +the whole House of Commons, and our whole Privy-council, go over to argue +<i>pro</i> and <i>con</i> with Mr. Wood? To what end did the King give his patent +for coining halfpence for Ireland? Was it not because it was represented +to his sacred Majesty, that such a coinage would be of advantage to the +good of this kingdom, and of all his subjects here? It is to the +patentee’s peril if this representation be false, and the execution of his +patent be fraudulent and corrupt. Is he so wicked and foolish to think, +that his patent was given him to ruin a million and a half of people, that +he might be a gainer of three or four score thousand pounds to himself? +Before he was at the charge of passing a patent, much more of raking up +so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> much filthy dross, and stamping it with his Majesty’s image and +superscription, should he not first, in common sense, in common equity, +and common manners, have consulted the principal party concerned,—that is +to say, the people of the kingdom, the House of Lords, or Commons, or the +Privy-council? If any foreigner should ask us, whose image and +superscription there is on Wood’s coin? we should be ashamed to tell him +it was Cæsar’s. In that great want of copper halfpence which he alleges we +were, our city set up our Cæsar’s statue<a name='fna_6' id='fna_6' href='#f_6'><small>[6]</small></a> in excellent copper, at an +expense that is equal to thirty thousand pounds of his coin, and we will +not receive his image in worse metal.</p> + +<p>I observe many of our people putting a melancholy case on this subject. +“It is true,” say they, “we are all undone if Wood’s halfpence must pass; +but what shall we do if his Majesty puts out a proclamation, commanding us +to take them?” This has often been dinned in my ears; but I desire my +countrymen to be assured that there is nothing in it. The King never +issues out a proclamation but to enjoin what the law permits him. He will +not issue out a proclamation against law; or, if such a thing should +happen by a mistake, we are no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> more obliged to obey it, than to run our +heads into the fire.</p> + +<p>Besides, his Majesty will never command us by a proclamation, what he does +not offer to command us in the patent itself.</p> + +<p>There he leaves it to our discretion, so that our destruction must be +entirely owing to ourselves; therefore, let no man be afraid of a +proclamation which will never be granted, and if it should, yet, upon this +occasion, will be of no force.</p> + +<p>The King’s revenues here are near four hundred thousand pounds a-year. Can +you think his ministers will advise him to take them in Wood’s brass, +which will reduce the value to fifty thousand pounds? England gets a +million sterling by this nation; which, if this project goes on, will be +almost reduced to nothing. And do you think those who live in England upon +Irish estates, will be content to take an eight or tenth part by being +paid in Wood’s dross?</p> + +<p>If Wood and his confederates were not convinced of our stupidity, they +never would have attempted so audacious an enterprise. He now sees a +spirit has been raised against him, and he only watches till it begin to +flag: he goes about watching when to devour us. He hopes we shall be weary +of contending with him; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> at last, out of ignorance or fear, or of +being perfectly tired with opposition, we shall be forced to yield; and +therefore, I confess, it is my chief endeavour to keep up your spirits and +resentments. If I tell you, “there is a precipice under you, and that if +you go forward you will certainly break your necks;” if I point to it +before your eyes, must I be at the trouble of repeating it every morning? +Are our people’s hearts waxed gross? Are their ears dull of hearing? And +have they closed their eyes? I fear there are some few vipers among us, +who for ten or twenty pounds’ gain would sell all their souls and their +country; although at last it should end in their own ruin, as well as +ours. Be not like “the deaf adder, who refuseth to hear the voice of the +charmer, charm he never so wisely.”</p> + +<p>Although my letter be directed to you, Mr. Harding, yet I intend it for +all my countrymen. I have no interest in this affair, but what is common +to the public. I can live better than many others; I have some gold and +silver by me, and a shop well furnished; and shall be able to make a shift +when many of my betters are starving. But I am grieved to see the coldness +and indifference of many people with whom I discourse. Some are afraid of +a proclamation; others shrug up their shoulders, and cry, “What would you +have us to do?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> Some give out there is no danger at all; others are +comforted, that it will be a common calamity, and they shall fare no worse +than their neighbours. Will a man who hears midnight robbers at his door, +get out of bed, and raise his whole family for a common defence; and shall +a whole kingdom lie in a lethargy, while Mr. Wood comes, at the head of +his confederates, to rob them of all they have, to ruin us and our +posterity for ever? If a highwayman meets you on the road, you give him +your money to save your life; but, God be thanked, Mr. Wood cannot touch a +hair of your heads. You have all the laws of God and man on your side; +when he or his accomplices offer you his dross, it is but saying no, and +you are safe. If a madman should come into my shop with a handful of dirt +raked out of the kennel, and offer it in payment for ten yards of stuff, I +would pity or laugh at him; or, if his behaviour deserved it, kick him out +of my doors. And if Mr. Wood comes to demand my gold and silver, or +commodities for which I have paid my gold and silver, in exchange for his +trash, can he deserve or expect better treatment?</p> + +<p>When the evil day is come (if it must come), let us mark and observe those +who persevere to offer these halfpence in payment. Let their names and +trades, and places of abode, be made public, that every one may be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> aware +of them, as betrayers of their country, and confederates with Mr. Wood. +Let them be watched at markets and fairs; and let the first honest +discoverer give the word about that Mr. Wood’s halfpence have been +offered, and caution the poor innocent people not to receive them.</p> + +<p>Perhaps I have been too tedious, but there would never be an end if I +attempted to say all that this melancholy subject will bear. I will +conclude with humbly offering one proposal; which, if it were put into +practice, would blow up this destructive project at once. Let some +skilful, judicious pen draw up an advertisement to the following +purpose:—</p> + +<p>“Whereas one William Wood, hardwareman, now or lately sojourning in the +city of London, has, by many misrepresentations, procured a patent for +coining a hundred and eight thousand pounds in copper halfpence for this +kingdom, which is a sum five times greater than our occasions require: And +whereas it is notorious, that the said Wood has coined his halfpence of +such base metal and false weight, that they are at least six parts in +seven below the real value: And whereas we have reason to apprehend, that +the said Wood may at any time hereafter clandestinely coin as many more +halfpence as he pleases: And whereas the said patent<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> neither does, nor +can, oblige his Majesty’s subjects to receive the said halfpence in any +payment, but leaves it to their voluntary choice; because by law the +subject cannot be obliged to take any money, except gold or silver: And +whereas, contrary to the letter and meaning of the said patent, the said +Wood has declared that every person shall be obliged to take fivepence +halfpenny of his coin in every payment: And whereas the House of Commons +and Privy-council have severally addressed his most sacred Majesty, +representing the ill consequences which the said coinage would have upon +this kingdom: And lastly, whereas it is universally agreed, that the whole +nation to a man (except Mr. Wood and his confederates) are in the utmost +apprehensions of the ruinous consequences that must follow from the said +coinage; Therefore, we, whose names are underwritten, being persons of +considerable estates in this kingdom, and residers therein, do unanimously +resolve and declare, that we will never receive one farthing or halfpenny +of the said Wood’s coining; and that we will direct all our tenants to +refuse the said coin from any person whatsoever; of which, that they may +not be ignorant, we have sent them a copy of this advertisement, to be +read to them by our stewards, receivers,” &c.</p> + +<p>I could wish, that a paper of this nature might be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> drawn up, and signed +by two or three hundred principal gentlemen of this kingdom; and printed +copies thereof sent to their several tenants. I am deceived if anything +could sooner defeat this execrable design of Wood and his accomplices. +This would immediately give the alarm, and set the kingdom on their guard; +this would give courage to the meanest tenant and cottager.</p> + +<p>“How long, O Lord, righteous and true,” &c.</p> + +<p>I must tell you in particular, Mr. Harding, that you are much to blame. +Several hundred persons have inquired at your house for my “Letter to the +Shopkeepers,” &c., and you had none to sell them. Pray keep yourself +provided with that letter and with this; you have got very well by the +former; but I did not then write for your sake, any more than I do now. +Pray advertise both in every newspaper; and let it not be your fault or +mine, if our countrymen will not take warning. I desire you likewise to +sell them as cheap as you can.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;">I am your servant,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">M. B.</span></p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">THIRD LETTER.</span></p> + +<p>The object of this Letter is no longer to argue against a scheme which is +universally condemned. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> independence of Ireland is what he insists on: +and the duty of her leading men is to assert that independence. In this he +assumed a freedom of spirit which did not really exist. The sketch was +skilfully drawn, so as to prepare men for a new appeal, and was far from +being the last word. Two months after the fourth and greatest Letter +appeared.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />LETTER III.</p> +<div class="note"> +<p class="hang"><i>Some observations on a paper, called, The report of the committee of the +most honourable the Privy-council in England, relating to Wood’s +halfpence.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">To the Nobility and Gentry of the Kingdom of Ireland.</span></p></div> + +<p class="right"><br /><span style="padding-right: 2em;"><i>August 25th, 1724.</i></span></p> + +<p>Having already written two letters to the people of my own level and +condition, and having now very pressing occasion for writing a third, I +thought I could not more properly address it than to your lordships and +worships.</p> + +<p>The occasion is this. A printed paper was sent to me on the 18th instant, +entitled, “A Report of the Committee of the Lords of his Majesty’s Most +Honourable Privy-council in England, relating to Mr. Wood’s Halfpence and +Farthings.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>There is no mention made where the paper was printed, but I suppose it to +have been in Dublin; and I have been told, that the copy did not come over +in the <i>Gazette</i>, but in the <i>London Journal</i>, or some other print of no +authority or consequence. And, for anything that legally appears to the +contrary, it may be a contrivance to fright us; or a project of some +printer, who has a mind to make a penny by publishing something upon a +subject which now employs all our thoughts in this kingdom. Mr. Wood, in +publishing this paper, would insinuate to the world, as if the Committee +had a greater concern for his credit, and private emolument, than for the +honour of the Privy-council and both Houses of Parliament here, and for +the quiet and welfare of this whole kingdom; for it seems intended as a +vindication of Mr. Wood, not without several severe reflections on the +Houses of Lords and Commons of Ireland. The whole is indeed written with +the turn and air of a pamphlet; as if it were a dispute between William +Wood on the one part, and the Lords Justices, Privy-council, and both +Houses of Parliament, on the other; the design of it being to clear +William Wood, and to charge the other side with casting rash and +groundless aspersions upon him.</p> + +<p>But, if it be really what the title imputes, Mr. Wood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> has treated the +Committee with great rudeness, by publishing an act of theirs in so +unbecoming a manner, without their leave, and before it was communicated +to the Government and Privy-council of Ireland, to whom the Committee +advised that it should be transmitted.</p> + +<p>But, with all deference be it spoken, I do not conceive that a Report of a +Committee of the Council in England is hitherto a law in either kingdom; +and, until any point is determined to be a law, it remains disputable by +every subject. This, may it please your lords and worships, may seem a +strange way of discoursing in an illiterate shopkeeper. I have endeavoured +(although without the help of books) to improve that small portion of +reason God has been pleased to give me; and when reason plainly appears +before me, I cannot turn away my head from it. Thus, for instance, if any +lawyer should tell me that such a point were law, from which many gross +palpable absurdities must follow, I could not believe him. If Sir Edward +Coke should positively assert (which he nowhere does, but the direct +contrary) “that a limited prince could, by his prerogative, oblige his +subjects to take half an ounce of lead, stamped with his image, for twenty +shillings in gold,” I should swear he was deceived, or a deceiver; because +a power like that would leave the whole lives and fortunes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> of the people +entirely at the mercy of the monarch; yet this in effect is what Wood has +advanced in some of his papers, and what suspicious people may possibly +apprehend from some passages in what is called the Report.</p> + +<p>That paper mentions such persons to have been examined, who were desirous +and willing to be heard upon this subject. I am told they were four in +all—Coleby, Brown, Mr. Finley the banker, and one more, whose name I know +not. The first of these was tried for robbing the Treasury in Ireland; +and, though he was acquited for want of legal proof, yet every person in +the Court believed him to be guilty.</p> + +<p>The second stands recorded in the votes of the House of Commons, for +endeavouring, by perjury and subornation, to take away the life of John +Bingham, Esq.</p> + +<p>But, since I have gone so far as to mention particular persons, it may be +some satisfaction to know who is this Wood himself, that has the honour to +have a whole kingdom at his mercy for almost two years together. I find he +is in the patent entitled <i>esquire</i>, although he were understood to be +only a hardware-man, and so I have been bold to call him in my former +letters; however a <i>’squire</i> he is, not only by virtue of his patent, but +by having been a collector in Shropshire; where, pretending to have been +robbed, and suing the county, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> was cast, and, for the infamy of the +fact, lost his employment. I have heard another story of this ’Squire +Wood, from a very honourable lady, that one Hamilton told her. Hamilton +was sent for, six years ago, by Sir Isaac Newton, to try the coinage of +four men, who then solicited a patent for coining halfpence for Ireland; +their names were Wood, Costor, Eliston, and Parker. Parker made the +fairest offer, and Wood the worst; for his coin was three halfpence in a +pound weight less value than the other. By which it is plain, with what +intentions he solicited his patent; but not so plain how he obtained it.</p> + +<p>It is alleged in the said paper, called the Report, “that upon repeated +orders from a secretary of state, for sending over such papers and +witnesses as should be thought proper to support the objections made +against the patent by both Houses of Parliament, the Lord-Lieutenant +represented the great difficulty he found himself in, to comply with these +orders: that none of the principal members of both Houses, who were in the +King’s service or council, would take upon them to advise, how any +material, person, or papers, might be sent over on this occasion,” &c. And +this is often repeated, and represented as a proceeding that seems very +extraordinary; and that in a matter which had raised so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> great a clamour +in Ireland, no person could be prevailed upon to come over from Ireland in +support of the united sense of both Houses of Parliament in Ireland; +especially, that the chief difficulty should arise from a general +apprehension of a miscarriage, in an inquiry before his Majesty, or in a +proceeding by due course of law, in a case where both Houses of Parliament +had declared themselves so fully convinced, and satisfied upon evidence +and examinations taken in the most solemn manner.</p> + +<p>How shall I, a poor ignorant shopkeeper, utterly unskilled in law, be able +to answer so weighty an objection? I will try what can be done by plain +reason, unassisted by art, cunning, or eloquence.</p> + +<p>In my humble opinion, the Committee of Council has already prejudged the +whole case, by calling the united sense of both Houses of Parliament in +Ireland “a universal clamour.” Here the addresses of the Lords and Commons +of Ireland, against a ruinous destructive project of an obscure single +undertaker, is called “a clamour.” I desire to know, how such a style +would be resented in England from a Committee of Council there to a +Parliament; and how many impeachments would follow upon it? But supposing +the appellation to be proper, I never heard of a wise minister who +despised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> the universal clamour of a people; and if that clamour can be +quieted by disappointing the fraudulent practice of a single person, the +purchase is not exorbitant.</p> + +<p>But, in answer to this objection; first, it is manifest, that if this +coinage had been in Ireland, with such limitations as have been formerly +specified in other patents, and granted to persons of this kingdom, or +even of England, able to give sufficient security, few or no +inconveniences could have happened which might not have been immediately +remedied....</p> + +<p>Put the case that the two Houses of Lords and Commons of England, and the +Privy-council there should address his Majesty to recall a patent, from +whence they apprehend the most ruinous consequences to the whole kingdom; +and to make it stronger, if possible, that the whole nation almost to a +man, should thereupon discover “the most dismal apprehensions,” as Mr. +Wood styles them; would his Majesty debate half an hour what he had to do?</p> + +<p>Would any minister dare to advise him against recalling such a patent? Or +would the matter be referred to the Privy-council, or to Westminster Hall; +the two Houses of Parliament plaintiffs, and William Wood defendant? And +is there even the smallest difference between the two cases? Were not the +people of Ireland<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> born as free as those of England? How have they +forfeited their freedom? Is not their Parliament as fair a representative +of the people as that of England? And has not their Privy-council as +great, or a greater share in the administration of public affairs? Are not +they subjects of the same King? Does not the same sun shine upon them? And +have they not the same God for their protector? Am I a freeman in England, +and do I become a slave in six hours by crossing the Channel? No wonder, +then, if the boldest persons were cautious to interpose in a matter +already determined by the whole voice of the nation, or to presume to +represent the representatives of the kingdom; and were justly apprehensive +of meeting such a treatment as they would deserve at the next session. It +would seem very extraordinary, if any inferior court in England should +take a great matter out of the hands of the high court of Parliament +during a prorogation, and decide it against the opinion of both Houses. It +happens so, however, that although no persons were so bold as to go over +as evidences, to prove the truth of the objections made against this +patent by the high court of Parliament here, yet these objections stand +good, notwithstanding the answers made by Mr. Wood and his counsel.</p> + +<p>The Report says, “That upon an assay made of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> fineness, weight, and +value of this copper, it exceeded in every article.” This is possible +enough in the pieces on which the assay was made, but Wood must have +failed very much in point of dexterity, if he had not taken care to +provide a sufficient quantity of such halfpence as would bear the trial, +which he was able to do, although they were taken out of several parcels, +since it is now plain that the bias of favour has been wholly on his +side....</p> + +<p>As to what is alleged, that these halfpence far exceed the like coinage +for Ireland in the reigns of his Majesty’s predecessors, there cannot well +be a more exceptional way of arguing, although the fact were true; which, +however, is altogether mistaken, not by any fault in the Committee, but by +the fraud and imposition of Wood, who certainly produced the worst +patterns he could find; such as were coined in small numbers by +permissions to private men, as butchers’ halfpence, black dogs, and others +the like; or perhaps the small St. Patrick’s coin which passes now for a +farthing, or at best some of the smallest raps of the latest kind. For I +have now by me halfpence coined in the year 1680, by virtue of the patent +granted to my Lord Dartmouth, which was renewed to Knox, and they are +heavier by a ninth part than those of Wood, and of much better metal, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +the great St. Patrick’s halfpence are yet larger than either.</p> + +<p>But what is all this to the present debate?</p> + +<p>If, under the various exigencies of former times, by wars, rebellions, and +insurrections, the Kings of England were sometimes forced to pay their +armies here with mixed or base money, God forbid that the necessities of +turbulent times should be a precedent for times of peace, and order, and +settlement.</p> + +<p>In the patent above-mentioned, granted to Lord Dartmouth in the reign of +King Charles II., and renewed to Knox, the securities given into the +exchequer, obliging the patentee to receive his money back upon every +demand, were an effectual remedy against all inconveniences, and the +copper was coined in our own kingdom; so that we were in no danger to +purchase it with the loss of all our silver and gold carried over to +another, nor to be at the trouble of going to England for the redressing +of any abuse....</p> + +<p>Among other clauses mentioned in this patent, to show how advantageous it +is to Ireland, there is one which seems to be of a singular nature: “That +the patentee shall be obliged, during his term, to pay eight hundred +pounds a year to the Crown, and two hundred pounds a year to the +comptroller.” I have heard,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> indeed, that the King’s council do always +consider, in the passing of a patent, whether it will be of advantage to +the Crown; but I have likewise heard, that it is at the same time +considered whether passing of it may be injurious to any other persons or +bodies politic. However, although the attorney and solicitor be servants +to the King, and therefore bound to consult his Majesty’s interest, yet I +am under some doubt whether eight hundred pounds a year to the Crown would +be equivalent to the ruin of a kingdom. It would be far better for us to +have paid eight thousand pounds a-year into his Majesty’s coffers, in the +midst of all our taxes (which, in proportion, are greater in this kingdom +than ever they were in England, even during the war), than purchase such +an addition to the revenue at the price of our utter undoing. But here it +is plain that fourteen thousand pounds are to be paid by Wood, only as a +small circumstantial charge for the purchase of his patent. What were his +other visible costs I know not, and what were his latent is variously +conjectured, but he must surely be a man of some wonderful merit. Has he +saved any other kingdom at his own expense, to give him a title of +reimbursing himself by the destruction of ours? Has he discovered the +longitude or the universal medicine? No; but he has found the +philosopher’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> stone after a new manner, by debasing copper, and resolving +to force it upon us for gold.</p> + +<p>When the two Houses represented to his Majesty that the patent to Wood was +obtained in a clandestine manner, surely the Committee could not think the +Parliament would insinuate, that it had not passed in the common forms, +and run through every office where fees and perquisites were due. They +knew very well, that persons in places were no enemies to grants; and that +the officers of the Crown could not be kept in the dark. But the late +Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland<a name='fna_7' id='fna_7' href='#f_7'><small>[7]</small></a> affirmed it was a secret to him; and who +will doubt his veracity, especially when he swore to a person of quality, +from whom I had it, “that Ireland should never be troubled with these +halfpence”? It was a secret to the people of Ireland, who were to be the +only sufferers; and those who but knew the state of the kingdom, and were +most able to advise in such an affair, were wholly strangers to it.</p> + +<p>It is allowed by the Report, that this patent was passed without the +knowledge of the chief governor or officers of Ireland; and it is there +elaborately shown, that former patents have passed in the same manner, and +are good in law. I shall not dispute legality of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> patents, but am ready to +suppose it in his Majesty’s power to grant a patent for stamping round +bits of copper to every subject he has.</p> + +<p>Therefore, to lay aside the point of law, I would only put the question, +whether, in reason and justice, it would not have been proper, in an +affair upon which the welfare of this depends, that the said King should +have received timely notice; and the matter not be carried on between the +patentee, and the officers of the Crown, who were to be the only gainers +by it....</p> + +<p>But suppose there were not one single halfpenny of copper coin in this +whole kingdom (which Mr. Wood seems to intend, unless we will come to his +terms, as appears by employing his emissaries to buy up our old ones at a +penny in the shilling more than they pass for), it could not be any real +evil to us, although it might be some inconvenience. We have many sorts of +small silver coins, to which they are strangers in England; such as the +French threepences, fourpence-halfpennies, and eightpence-farthings, the +Scotch fivepences and tenpences, besides their twenty-pences and +three-and-four-pences, by which we are able to make change to a halfpenny +of almost any piece of gold and silver; and if we are driven to the +expedient of a sealed card, with the little gold and silver still +remaining, it will, I suppose,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> be somewhat better, than to have nothing +left, but Wood’s adulterated copper, which he is neither obliged by his +patent, nor <span class="smcaplc">HITHERTO</span> able by his estate, to make good....</p> + +<p>The sum of the whole is this. The Committee advises the King to send +immediate orders to all his officers here, that Wood’s coin be suffered +and permitted, without any let, suit, trouble, &c., to pass and be +received as current money, by such as shall be willing to receive the +same. It is probable that the first willing receivers may be those who +must receive it whether they will or not, at least under the penalty of +losing an office. But the landed undepending men, the merchants, the +shopkeepers, and bulk of the people, I hope and am almost confident, will +never receive it. What must the consequence be? The owners will sell it +for as much as they can get.</p> + +<p>Wood’s halfpence will come to be offered for six a penny (yet then he will +be a sufficient gainer), and the necessary receivers will be losers of +two-thirds in their salaries or pay.</p> + +<p>I am very sensible that such a work as I have undertaken might have +worthily employed a much better pen; but when a house is attempted to be +robbed, it often happens the weakest in the family runs first to the +door.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> All the assistance I had were some informations from an eminent +person; whereof I am afraid I have spoiled a few, by endeavouring to make +them of a piece with my own productions, and the rest I was not able to +manage. I was in the case of David, who could not move in the armour of +Saul; and therefore I chose to attack this uncircumcised Philistine (Wood, +I mean) with a sling and a stone. And I may say, for Wood’s honour, as +well as my own, that he resembles Goliah in many circumstances very +applicable to the present purpose; for Goliah had “a helmet of brass upon +his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat +was five thousand shekels of brass; and he had greaves of brass upon his +legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.”</p> + +<p>In short, he was like Mr. Wood, all over brass, and he defied the armies +of the living God. Goliah’s conditions of combat were likewise the same +with those of Wood’s, “If he prevail against us, then shall we be his +servants.” But if it happens that I prevail over him, I renounce the other +part of the condition: “He shall never be a servant of mine; for I do not +think him fit to be trusted in any honest man’s shop.”</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">FOURTH LETTER.</span></p> + +<p>Ireland is here summoned to assert her independence in the indignant voice +of a nation that has borne the yoke of slavery far too long. Every line in +this letter is instinct with life, and thrilling with sarcastic force. No +more waste of words. The question is simply one of might against right: as +old as human nature, but never brought into shorter compass. The printer +of this letter was thrown into prison, as if to shame the undoubted author +into surrender. Ireland was now under a new rule, the refined and +cultivated Carteret was appointed Lord-Lieutenant in 1724. Swift used the +privilege of an old friend in writing to him freely on the subject of the +coinage. He was sorry to see his friend used as the tool of the +Government, which occasioned the outburst, “What in God’s name do <i>you</i> +here? Get you gone, and send us our boobies again.”</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />LETTER IV.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>To the whole People of Ireland.</i></p> + +<p class="right"><br /><span style="padding-right: 2em;"><i>October 23rd, 1724.</i></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My dear Countrymen</span>,</p> + +<p>Having already written three letters upon so disagreeable a subject as Mr. +Wood and his halfpence, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> conceived my task was at an end; but I find +that cordials must be frequently applied to weak constitutions, political +as well as natural. A people long used to hardships lose by degrees the +very notions of liberty. They look upon themselves as creatures at mercy, +and that all impositions, laid on them by a stronger hand, are, in the +phrase of the Report, legal and obligatory. Hence proceed that poverty and +lowness of spirit, to which a kingdom may be subject, as well as a +particular person. And when Esau came fainting from the field at the point +to die, it is no wonder that he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. +I thought I had sufficiently shown, to all who could want instruction, by +what methods they might safely proceed, wherever this coin should be +offered to them; and, I believe, there has not been, for many ages, an +example of any kingdom so firmly united in a point of great importance, as +this of ours is at present against that detestable fraud. But, however, it +so happens, that some weak people begin to be alarmed anew by rumours +industriously spread. Wood prescribes to the newsmongers in London what +they are to write. In one of their papers, published here by some obscure +printer, and certainly with a bad design, we are told, “That the Papists +in Ireland have entered into an association against his coin,” although it +be notoriously known, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> they never once offered to stir in the matter; +so that the two Houses of Parliament, the Privy-council, the great number +of corporations, the Lord Mayor and aldermen of Dublin, the grand juries, +and principal gentlemen of several counties, are stigmatized in a lump +under the name of “Papists.” This impostor and his crew do likewise give +out, that, by refusing to receive his dross for sterling, we “dispute the +King’s prerogative, are grown ripe for rebellion, and ready to shake off +the dependency of Ireland upon the crown of England.”</p> + +<p>To countenance which reports, he has published a paragraph in another +newspaper, to let us know, that “the Lord-Lieutenant is ordered to come +over immediately to settle his halfpence.”</p> + +<p>I entreat you, my dear countrymen, not to be under the least concern upon +these and the like rumours, which are no more than the last howls of a dog +dissected alive, as I hope he has sufficiently been. These calumnies are +the only reserve that is left him. For surely our continued and (almost) +unexampled loyalty, will never be called in question, for not suffering +ourselves to be robbed of all that we have by one obscure ironmonger.</p> + +<p>As to disputing the King’s prerogative, give me leave to explain, to those +who are ignorant, what the meaning of that word <i>prerogative</i> is.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>The Kings of these realms enjoy several powers, wherein the laws have not +interposed. So, they can make war and peace without the consent of +Parliament—and this is a very great prerogative; but if the Parliament +does not approve of the war, the King must bear the charge of it out of +his own purse—and this is a great check on the crown.</p> + +<p>So, the King has a prerogative to coin money without consent of +Parliament; but he cannot compel the subject to take that money, except it +be sterling gold or silver, because herein he is limited by law. Some +princes have, indeed, extended their prerogative farther than the law +allowed them; wherein, however, the lawyers of succeeding ages, as fond as +they are of precedents, have never dared to justify them. But, to say the +truth, it is only of late times that prerogative has been fixed and +ascertained; for, whoever reads the history of England will find, that +some former Kings, and those none of the worst, have, upon several +occasions, ventured to control the laws, with very little ceremony or +scruple, even later than the days of Queen Elizabeth. In her reign, that +pernicious counsel of sending base money hither, very narrowly failed of +losing the kingdom—being complained of by the lord-deputy, the council, +and the whole body of the English here; so that, soon after her death, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +was recalled by her successor, and lawful money paid in exchange.</p> + +<p>Having thus given you some notion of what is meant by “the King’s +prerogative,” as far as a tradesman can be thought capable of explaining +it, I will only add the opinion of the great Lord Bacon: “That, as God +governs the world by the settled laws of nature, which He has made, and +never transcends those laws but upon high important occasions, so among +earthly princes, those are the wisest and the best, who govern by the +known laws of the country, and seldomest make use of their prerogative.”</p> + +<p>Now here you may see, that the vile accusation of Wood and his +accomplices, charging us with disputing the King’s prerogative by refusing +his brass, can have no place—because compelling the subject to take any +coin which is not sterling, is no part of the King’s prerogative, and I am +very confident, if it were so, we should be the last of his people to +dispute it; as well from that inviolable loyalty we have always paid to +his Majesty, as from the treatment we might, in such a case, justly expect +from some, who seem to think we have neither common sense nor common +senses. But, God be thanked, the best of them are only our +fellow-subjects, and not our masters. One great merit I am sure we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> have, +which those of English birth can have no pretence to—that our ancestors +reduced this kingdom to the obedience of England; for which we have been +rewarded with a worse climate—the privilege of being governed by laws to +which we do not consent—a ruined trade—a House of Peers without +jurisdiction—almost an incapacity for all employments—and the dread of +Wood’s halfpence.</p> + +<p>But we are so far from disputing the King’s prerogative in coining, that +we own he has power to give a patent to any man for selling his royal +image and superscription upon whatever materials he pleases, and liberty +to the patentee to offer them in any country from England to Japan; only +attended with one small limitation—that nobody alive is obliged to take +them....</p> + +<p>Let me now say something concerning the other great cause of some people’s +fear, as Wood has taught the London newswriter to express it, that his +excellency the Lord-Lieutenant is coming over to settle Wood’s halfpence. +We know very well, that the Lord-Lieutenants for several years past, have +not thought this kingdom worthy the honour of their residence longer than +was absolutely necessary for the King’s business, which, consequently, +wanted no speed in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> despatch. And therefore it naturally fell into +most men’s thoughts, that a new governor, coming at an unusual time, must +portend some unusual business to be done; especially if the common report +be true, that the Parliament, prorogued to I know not when, is, by a new +summons, revoking that prorogation, to assemble soon after the arrival; +for which extraordinary proceeding, the lawyers on the other side the +water have, by great good fortune, found two precedents.</p> + +<p>All this being granted, it can never enter into my head, that so little a +creature as Wood could find credit enough with the King and his ministers, +to have the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland sent hither in a hurry upon his +errand.</p> + +<p>For, let us take the whole matter nakedly as it lies before us, without +the refinements of some people, with which we have nothing to do.</p> + +<p>Here is a patent granted under the great seal of England, upon false +suggestions, to one William Wood for coining copper halfpence for Ireland. +The Parliament here, upon apprehensions of the worst consequences from the +said patent, address the King to have it recalled. This is refused; and a +Committee of the Privy-council report to his Majesty, that Wood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> has +performed the conditions of his patent. He then is left to do the best he +can with his halfpence, no man being obliged to receive them; the people +here, being likewise left to themselves, unite as one man, resolving they +will have nothing to do with his ware.</p> + +<p>By this plain account of the fact it is manifest, that the King and his +ministry are wholly out of the case, and the matter is left to be disputed +between him and us. Will any man, therefore, attempt to persuade me, that +a Lord-Lieutenant is to be despatched over in great haste before the +ordinary time, and a Parliament summoned by anticipating a prorogation, +merely to put a hundred thousand pounds into the pocket of a sharper by +the ruin of a most loyal kingdom?</p> + +<p>But, supposing all this to be true, by what arguments could a +Lord-Lieutenant prevail on the same Parliament, which addressed with so +much zeal and earnestness against this evil, to pass it into a law? I am +sure their opinion of Wood and his project is not mended since their last +prorogation; and, supposing those methods should be used, which detractors +tell us have been sometimes put in practice for gaining votes, it is well +known, that, in this kingdom, there are few employments to be given; and, +if there were more, it is as well known to whose share they must fall. +But, because great numbers of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> you are altogether ignorant of the affairs +of your country, I will tell you some reasons why there are so few +employments to be disposed of in this kingdom. All considerable offices +for life are here possessed by those to whom the reversions were granted; +and these have been generally followers of the chief governors, or persons +who had interest in the Court of England. So, the Lord Berkeley of +Stratton holds that great office of Master of the rolls; the Lord +Palmerstown is first remembrancer, worth near 2000<i>l.</i> per annum. One +Doddington, secretary to the Earl of Pembroke, begged the reversion of +clerk of the pells, worth 2500<i>l.</i> a-year, which he now enjoys by the +death of the Lord Newtown. Mr. Southwell is secretary of State, and the +Earl of Burlington lord high treasurer of Ireland by inheritance. These +are only a few among many others which I have been told of, but cannot +remember. Nay, the reversion of several employments, during pleasure, is +granted the same way. This, among many others, is a circumstance, whereby +the kingdom of Ireland is distinguished from all other nations upon earth; +and makes it so difficult an affair to get into a civil employ, that Mr. +Addison was forced to purchase an old obscure place, called keeper of the +records in Bermingham’s Tower, of 10<i>l.</i> a year, and to get a salary of +400<i>l.</i> annexed to it, though<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> all the records there are not worth +half-a-crown, either for curiosity or use. And we lately saw a favourite +secretary descend to be master of the revels,<a name='fna_8' id='fna_8' href='#f_8'><small>[8]</small></a> which, by his credit and +extortion, he has made pretty considerable. I say nothing of the +under-treasurership, worth about 9000<i>l.</i> a year, nor of the commissioners +of the revenue, four of whom generally live in England, for I think none +of these are granted in reversion; but the jest is, that I have known, +upon occasion, some of these absent officers as keen against the interest +of Ireland, as if they had never been indebted to her for a single groat.</p> + +<p>I confess, I have been sometimes tempted to wish that this project of +Wood’s might succeed; because I reflected with some pleasure, what a jolly +crew it would bring over among us of lords and squires, and pensioners of +both sexes, and officers civil and military, where we should live together +as merry and sociable as beggars, only with this one abatement, that we +should neither have meat to feed, nor manufactures to clothe us, unless we +could be content to prance about in coats of mail, or eat brass as +ostriches do iron.</p> + +<p>I return from this digression to that which gave me the occasion of making +it. And I believe you are now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> convinced, that if the Parliament of +Ireland were as temptable as any other assembly within a mile of +Christendom (which God forbid!), yet the managers must of necessity fail +for want of tools to work with. But I will yet go one step farther, by +supposing that a hundred new employments were erected on purpose to +gratify compliers, yet still an insuperable difficulty would remain. For +it happens, I know not how, that money is neither Whig nor Tory—neither +of town nor country party, and it is not improbable that a gentleman would +rather choose to live upon his own estate, which brings him gold and +silver, than with the addition of an employment, when his rents and salary +must both be paid in Wood’s brass, at above eighty per cent. discount.</p> + +<p>For these, and many other reasons, I am confident you need not be under +the least apprehension from the sudden expectation of the +Lord-Lieutenant,<a name='fna_9' id='fna_9' href='#f_9'><small>[9]</small></a> while we continue in our present hearty disposition, +to alter which no suitable temptation can possibly be offered. And if, as +I have often asserted from the best authority, the law has not left a +power in the crown to force any money,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> except sterling, upon the subject, +much less can the crown devolve such a power upon another....</p> + +<p>Another slander spread by Wood and his emissaries is, “That by opposing +him we discover an inclination to throw off our dependence upon the crown +of England.” Pray observe how important a person is this same William +Wood, and how the public weal of two kingdoms is involved in his private +interest. First, all those who refuse to take his coin are Papists; for he +tells us, “That none but Papists are associated against him.” Secondly, +“they dispute the King’s prerogative.” Thirdly, “they are ripe for +rebellion.” And, fourthly “they are going to shake off their dependence +upon the crown of England;” that is to say, they are going to choose +another king, for there can be no other meaning in this expression, +however some may pretend to strain it.</p> + +<p>And this gives me an opportunity of explaining to those who are ignorant, +another point, which has often swelled in my breast. Those who come over +hither to us from England, and some weak people among ourselves, whenever +in discourse we make mention of liberty and property, shake their heads, +and tell us that Ireland is a depending kingdom; as if they would seem by +this phrase to intend that the people of Ireland are in some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> state of +slavery or dependence different from those of England; whereas a depending +kingdom is a modern term of art, unknown, as I have heard, to all ancient +civilians, and writers upon government; and Ireland is, on the contrary, +called in some statutes “an imperial crown,” as held only from God, which +is as high a style as any kingdom is capable of receiving. Therefore, by +this expression, “a depending kingdom,” there is no more to be understood +than that, by a statute made here in the thirty-third year of Henry VIII., +the King and his successors are to be kings imperial of this realm, as +united and knit to the imperial crown of England. I have looked over all +the English and Irish statutes, without finding any law that makes Ireland +depend upon England, any more than England does upon Ireland. We have, +indeed, obliged ourselves to have the same King with them, and +consequently they are obliged to have the same King with us. For the law +was made by our own Parliament, and our ancestors then were not such fools +(whatever they were in the preceding reign) to bring themselves under I +know not what dependence, which is now talked of, without any ground of +law, reason, or common sense. Let whoever thinks otherwise, I, M. B., +Drapier, desire to be excepted; for I declare, next under God, I depend +only on the King my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> sovereign, and on the laws of my own country. And I +am so far from depending on the people of England, that if ever they +should rebel against my sovereign (which God forbid!) I would be ready, at +the first command from his Majesty, to take arms against them, as some of +my countrymen did against theirs at Preston. And if such a rebellion +should prove so successful as to fix the Pretender on the throne of +England, I would venture to transgress that statute so far as to lose +every drop of my blood to hinder him from being King of Ireland.</p> + +<p>It is true, indeed, that within the memory of man, the Parliaments of +England have sometimes assumed the power of binding this kingdom by laws +enacted there;<a name='fna_10' id='fna_10' href='#f_10'><small>[10]</small></a> wherein they were at first openly opposed (as far as +truth, reason and justice,<a name='fna_11' id='fna_11' href='#f_11'><small>[11]</small></a> are capable of opposing) by the famous Mr. +Molineux, an English gentleman born here, as well as by several of the +greatest patriots and best Whigs in England; but the love and torrent of +power prevailed. Indeed the arguments on both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> sides were invincible. For, +in reason, all government without the consent of the governed, is the very +definition of slavery; but, in fact, eleven men well armed will certainly +subdue one single man in his shirt. But I have done; for those who have +used to cramp liberty, have gone so far as to resent even the liberty of +complaining; although a man upon the rack was never known to be refused +the liberty of roaring as loud as he thought fit.</p> + +<p>And as we are apt to sink too much under unreasonable fears, so we are too +soon inclined to be raised by groundless hopes, according to the nature of +all consumptive bodies like ours. Thus it has been given about, for +several days past, that somebody in England empowered a second somebody, +to write to a third somebody here, to assure us that we should no more be +troubled with these halfpence. And this is reported to have been done by +the same person, who is said to have sworn some months ago, “that he would +ram them down our throats,” though I doubt they would stick in our +stomachs; but whichever of these reports be true or false, it is no +concern of ours. For, in this point, we have nothing to do with English +ministers; and I should be sorry to leave it in their power to redress +this grievance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> or to enforce it; for the report of the Committee has +given me a surfeit.</p> + +<p>The remedy is wholly in your own hands; and therefore I have digressed a +little, in order to refresh and continue that spirit so seasonably raised +among you; and to let you see, that by the laws of <span class="smcap">God</span>, of <span class="smcap">Nature</span>, of +<span class="smcap">Nations</span>, and of your <span class="smcap">Country</span>, you <span class="smcaplc">ARE</span>, +and <span class="smcaplc">OUGHT</span> to be, as <span class="smcaplc">FREE</span> a people +as your brethren in England....</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">THE FIFTH LETTER</span></p> + +<p>Was addressed to Viscount Molesworth, a distinguished Whig; and the author +of several works written in a patriotic spirit. His agricultural treatise +on Ireland was highly approved by Swift. This closed the series for the +present. The tone of the letter is apologetic. Hitherto he has not shaken +off the impression left by the works of Lord Molesworth himself, of Locke, +of Molyneux and Sidney, who talked of liberty as a common blessing. But +now he will “grow wiser and learn to consider my driver, the road I am in, +and with whom I am yoked.”</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>LETTER V.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Molesworth.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Directions to the Printer.</span></p> + +<p class="right"><br /><span style="padding-right: 2em;">From my shop in St. Francis’ Street,</span><br /> +<span style="padding-right: 4em;"><i>December 24th, 1724.</i></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Mr. Harding</span>,</p> + +<p>When I sent you my former papers, I cannot say I intended you either good +or hurt; and yet you have happened, through my means, to receive both. I +pray God deliver you from any more of the latter, and increase the former. +Your trade, particularly in this kingdom, is, of all others, the most +unfortunately circumstantiated; for as you deal in the most worthless kind +of trash, the penny productions of pennyless scribblers, so you often +venture your liberty, and sometimes your lives, for the purchase of +half-a-crown; and, by your own ignorance, are punished for other men’s +actions. I am afraid, you, in particular, think you have reason to +complain of me, for your own and your wife’s confinement in prison, to +your great expense as well as hardship, and for a prosecution still +impending. But I will tell you, Mr. Harding, how that matter stands.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>Since the press has lain under so strict an inspection, those who have a +mind to inform the world are become so cautious, as to keep themselves, if +possible, out of the way of danger. My custom, therefore, is, to dictate +to a ’prentice,<a name='fna_12' id='fna_12' href='#f_12'><small>[12]</small></a> who can write in a feigned hand, and what is written +we send to your house by a blackguard boy. But at the same time I do +assure you, upon my reputation, that I never did send you anything for +which I thought you could possibly be called to an account; and you will +be my witness, that I always desired you, by letter, to take some good +advice, before you ventured to print, because I knew the dexterity of +dealers in the law at finding out something to fasten on, where no evil is +meant. I am told, indeed, that you did accordingly consult several very +able persons, and even some who afterwards appeared against you; to which +I can only answer, that you must either change your advisers, or determine +to print nothing that comes from a Drapier.</p> + +<p>I desire you to send the enclosed letter, directed, “To my Lord Viscount +Molesworth, at his house at Brackdenstown, near Swords;” but I would have +it sent printed, for the convenience of his Lordship’s reading,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> because +this counterfeit hand of my apprentice is not very legible. And, if you +think fit to publish it, I would have you first get it read over by some +notable lawyer. I am assured, you will find enough of them who are friends +to the Drapier, and will do it without a fee; which, I am afraid, you can +ill-afford after all your expenses. For although I have taken so much +care, that I think it impossible to find a topic out of the following +papers for sending you again to prison, yet I will not venture to be your +guarantee.</p> + +<p>This ensuing letter contains only a short account of myself, and an humble +apology for my former pamphlets, especially the last, with little mention +of Mr. Wood for his halfpence, because I have already said enough upon +that subject, until occasion shall be given for new fears; and, in that +case, you may perhaps hear from me again.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;">I am your friend and servant,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">M. B.</span></p> + +<p>P.S.—For want of intercourse between you and me, which I never will +suffer, your people are apt to make very gross errors in the press, which +I desire you will provide against.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>A LETTER</p> +<div class="note"> +<p class="center"><i>To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Molesworth, at his house at +Brackdenstown, near Swords.</i></p></div> + +<p class="right"><br /><span style="padding-right: 2em;">From my shop in St. Francis Street,</span><br /> +<span style="padding-right: 4em;"><i>December 14th, 1724.</i></span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,</p> + +<p>I reflect too late on the maxim of common observers, “that those who +meddle in matters out of their calling will have reason to repent;” which +is now verified in me: for, by engaging in the trade of a writer, I have +drawn upon myself the displeasure of the government, signified by a +proclamation, promising a reward of three hundred pounds to the first +faithful subject who shall be able and inclined to inform against me; to +which I may add the laudable zeal and industry of my Lord Chief Justice +Whitshed, in his endeavours to discover so dangerous a person. Therefore, +whether I repent or not, I have certainly cause to do so; and the common +observation still stands good.</p> + +<p>It will sometimes happen, I know not how, in the course of human affairs, +that a man shall be made liable to legal animadversion where he has +nothing to answer for either to God or his country, and condemned at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +Westminster Hall for what he will never be charged with at the day of +judgment.</p> + +<p>After strictly examining my own heart, and consulting some divines of +great reputation, I cannot accuse myself of any malice or wickedness +against the public,—of any designs to sow sedition,—of reflecting on the +King and his ministers,—or of endeavouring to alienate the affections of +the people of this kingdom from those of England.<a name='fna_13' id='fna_13' href='#f_13'><small>[13]</small></a> All I can charge +myself with is, a weak attempt to serve a nation in danger of destruction +by a most wicked and malicious projector, without waiting until I were +called to its assistance; which attempt, however it may perhaps give me +the title of <i>pragmatical</i> and <i>overweening</i>, will never lie a burden upon +my conscience.</p> + +<p>God knows, whether I may not, with all my caution, have already run myself +into a second danger by offering thus much in my own vindication; for I +have heard of a judge, who, upon the criminal’s appeal to the dreadful day +of judgment, told him he had incurred a <i>premunire</i>, for appealing to a +foreign jurisdiction; and of another in Wales, who severely checked the +prisoner for offering the same plea, taxing him with “reflecting on the +Court<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> by such a comparison, because comparisons were odious.”</p> + +<p>But, in order to make some excuse for being more speculative than others +of my condition, I desire your Lordship’s pardon, while I am doing a very +foolish thing; which is, to give you some little account of myself.</p> + +<p>I was bred at a free school, where I acquired some little knowledge in the +Latin tongue. I served my apprenticeship in London, and there set up for +myself with good success; until, by the death of some friends, and the +misfortunes of others, I returned into this kingdom, and began to employ +my thoughts in cultivating the woollen manufacture through all its +branches, wherein I met with great discouragement and powerful opposers, +whose objections appeared to me very strange and singular. They argued, +“that the people of England would be offended if our manufactures were +brought to equal theirs;” and even some of the weaving trade were my +enemies, which I could not but look upon as absurd and unnatural. I +remember your lordship, at that time, did me the honour to come into my +shop, where I showed you a piece of black and white stuff just sent from +the dyer,<a name='fna_14' id='fna_14' href='#f_14'><small>[14]</small></a> which you were pleased to approve of, and be my customer for.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>However, I was so mortified, that I resolved, for the future, to sit +quietly in my shop, and deal in common goods, like the rest of my +brethren; until it happened, some months ago, considering with myself that +the lower and poorer sort of people wanted a plain, strong, coarse stuff, +to defend them against cold easterly winds, which then blew very fierce +and blasting for a long time together, I contrived one<a name='fna_15' id='fna_15' href='#f_15'><small>[15]</small></a> on purpose, +which sold very well all over the kingdom, and preserved many thousands +from agues. I then made a second and a third kind of stuffs<a name='fna_16' id='fna_16' href='#f_16'><small>[16]</small></a> for the +gentry with the same success; insomuch, that an ague has hardly been heard +of for some time.</p> + +<p>This incited me so far, that I ventured upon a fourth piece,<a name='fna_17' id='fna_17' href='#f_17'><small>[17]</small></a> made of +the best Irish wool I could get; and I thought it grave and rich enough to +be worn by the best lord or judge of the land. But of late some great +folks complain, as I hear, “that, when they had it on, they felt a +shuddering in their limbs,”—and have thrown it off in a rage, cursing to +hell the poor Drapier who invented it; so that I am determined never to +work for persons of quality again, except for your lordship, and a very few more.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>I assure your lordship, upon the word of an honest citizen, that I am not +richer, by the value of one of Mr. Wood’s halfpence, with the sale of all +the several stuffs I have contrived, for I give the whole profit to the +dyers and pressers;<a name='fna_18' id='fna_18' href='#f_18'><small>[18]</small></a> and, therefore, I hope you will please to believe, +that no other motive, beside the love of my country, could engage me to +busy my head and hands, to the loss of my time, and the gain of nothing +but vexation and ill-will.</p> + +<p>I have now in hand one piece of stuff, to be woven on purpose for your +lordship; although I might be ashamed to offer it to you after I have +confessed, that it will be made only from the shreds and remnants of the +wool employed in the former. However, I shall work it up as well as I can; +and, at worst, you need only give it among your tenants....</p> + +<p>I am told that the two points in my last letter, from which an occasion of +offence has been taken, are where I mention his Majesty’s answer to the +address of the House of Lords upon Mr. Wood’s patent; and where I +discourse upon Ireland’s being a dependent kingdom. As to the former, I +can only say that I have treated it with the utmost respect and caution; +and I thought it necessary to show where Wood’s patent differed, in many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> +essential parts, from all others that ever had been granted; because the +contrary had, for want of due information, been so strongly and so largely +asserted. As to the other, of Ireland’s dependency, I confess to have +often heard it mentioned, but was never able to understand what it meant. +This gave me the curiosity to inquire among several eminent lawyers, who +professed they knew nothing of the matter. I then turned over all the +statutes of both kingdoms, without the least information, farther than an +Irish act, that I quoted, of the 33rd of Henry VIII., uniting Ireland to +England under one King. I cannot say I was sorry to be disappointed in my +search, because it is certain I could be contented to depend only upon God +and my prince, and the laws of my own country, after the manner of other +nations. But since my betters are of a different opinion, and desire +farther dependencies, I shall outwardly submit; yet still insisting in my +own heart, upon the exception I made of M. B., Drapier.... All I desire +is, that the cause of my country against Mr. Wood, may not suffer by any +inadvertency of mine. Whether Ireland depends upon England or only upon +God, the King, and the law, I hope no man will assert that it depends upon +Mr. Wood. I should be heartily sorry that this commendable spirit against +me should accidentally (and what, I hope, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> never intended) strike a +damp upon that spirit in all ranks and corporations of men against the +desperate and ruinous design of Mr. Wood. Let my countrymen blot out those +parts in my last letter which they dislike; and let no rust remain on my +sword, to cure the wounds I have given to our most mortal enemy. When Sir +Charles Sedley was taking the oaths, where several things were to be +renounced, he said, “he loved renouncing;” asked, “if any more were to be +renounced; for he was ready to renounce as much as they pleased.” Although +I am not so thorough a renouncer, yet let me have but good city-security +against this pestilent coinage, and I shall be ready not only to renounce +every syllable in all my four letters, but to deliver them cheerfully with +my own hands into those of the common hangman, to be burnt with no better +company than the coiner’s effigies, if any part of it has escaped out of +the secular hands of my faithful friends, the common people. But, whatever +the sentiments of some people may be, I think it is agreed that many of +those who subscribed against me, are on the side of a vast majority in the +kingdom who opposed Mr. Wood; and it was with great satisfaction that I +observed some right honourable names very amicably joined with my own, at +the bottom of a strong declaration against him and his coin. But if the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +admission of it among us be already determined, the worthy person who is +to betray me ought in prudence to do it with all convenient speed; or else +it may be difficult to find three hundred pounds sterling for the +discharge of his hire, when the public shall have lost five hundred +thousand, if there be so much in the nation; besides four-fifths of its +annual income for ever. I am told by lawyers, that in quarrels between man +and man, it is of much weight which of them gave the first provocation, or +struck the first blow. It is manifest that Mr. Wood has done both, and +therefore I should humbly propose to have him first hanged, and his dross +thrown into the sea; after which the Drapier will be ready to stand his +trial. “It must needs be that offences come, but woe unto him by whom the +offence comes.” If Mr. Wood had held his hand, everybody else would have +held their tongues; and then there would have been little need of +pamphlets, juries, or proclamations, upon this occasion. The provocation +must needs have been very great, which could stir up an obscure, indolent +Drapier, to become an author. One would almost think, the very stones in +the street would rise up in such a cause; and I am not sure they will not +do so against Mr. Wood, if ever he comes within their reach. It is a known +story of the dumb boy, whose tongue forced a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> passage for speech by the +horror of seeing a dagger at his father’s throat. This may lessen the +wonder, that a tradesman, hid in privacy and silence should cry out when +the life and being of his political mother are attempted before his face, +and by so infamous a wretch.</p> + +<p>I am now resolved to follow (after the usual proceeding of mankind, +because it is too late) the advice given, me by a certain Dean.<a name='fna_19' id='fna_19' href='#f_19'><small>[19]</small></a> He +showed the mistake I was in of trusting to the general good-will of the +people; “that I had succeeded hitherto better than could be expected; but +that some unfortunate circumstantial lapse would bring me within the reach +of power; that my good intentions would be no security against those who +watched every motion of my pen in the bitterness of my soul.” He produced +an instance of “a writer as innocent, as disinterested, and as +well-meaning as myself; who had written a very seasonable and inoffensive +treatise, exhorting the people of this kingdom to wear their own +manufactures;<a name='fna_20' id='fna_20' href='#f_20'><small>[20]</small></a> for which, however, the printer, was prosecuted with the +utmost virulence; the jury sent back nine times; and the man given up to +the mercy of the Court.” The Dean farther observed, “that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> I was in a +manner left alone to stand the battle; while others, who had ten thousand +times better talents than a Drapier, were so prudent as to lie still; and +perhaps thought it no unpleasant amusement to look on with safety, while +another was giving them diversion at the hazard of his liberty and +fortune; and thought they made a sufficient recompense by a little +applause.” Whereupon he concluded with a short story of a Jew at Madrid, +who, being condemned to the fire on account of his religion, a crowd of +schoolboys following him to the stake, and apprehending they might lose +their sport if he should happen to recant, would often clap him on the +back, and cry, “<i>Sta firme, Moyse</i>: Moses, continue steadfast.”</p> + +<p>I allow this gentleman’s advice to have been very good, and his +observations just; and in one respect my condition is worse than that of +the Jew; for no recantation will save me. However, it should seem, by some +late proceedings, that my state is not altogether deplorable. This I can +impute to nothing but the steadiness of two impartial grand juries; which +has confirmed in me an opinion I have long entertained; that, as +philosophers say, virtue is seated in the middle; so, in another sense, +the little virtue left in the world, is chiefly to be found among the +middle rank of mankind,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> who are neither allured out of her paths by +ambition, nor driven by poverty....</p> + +<p>But, to confess the truth, my lord, I begin to grow weary of my office as +a writer, and could heartily wish it were devolved upon my brethren, the +makers of songs and ballads, who perhaps are the best qualified at present +to gather up the gleanings of this controversy. As to myself, it has been +my misfortune to begin and pursue it upon a wrong foundation. For, having +detected the frauds and falsehoods of this vile impostor Wood in every +part, I foolishly disdained to have recourse to whining, lamenting, and +crying for mercy; but rather chose to appeal to law and liberty, and the +common rights of mankind, without considering the climate I was in. Since +your last residence in Ireland, I frequently have taken my nag to ride +about your grounds, where I fancied myself to feel an air of freedom +breathing around me; and I am glad the low condition of a tradesman did +not qualify me to wait on you at your house; for then I am afraid my +writings would not have escaped severer censures. But I have lately sold +my nag, and honestly told his greatest fault, which was that of snuffing +up the air about Brackdenstown; whereby he became such a lover of liberty, +that I could scarce hold him in. I have likewise buried, at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> bottom of +a strong chest, your lordship’s writings, under a heap of others that +treat of liberty, and spread over a layer or two of Hobbes, Filmer, Bodin, +and many more authors of that stamp, to be readiest at hand whenever I +shall be disposed to take up a new set of principles in government. In the +meantime, I design quietly to look to my shop, and keep as far out of your +lordship’s influence as possible; and if you ever see any more of my +writings on this subject, I promise you shall find them as innocent, as +insipid, and without a sting, as what I have now offered you. But, if your +lordship will please to give me an easy lease of some part of your estate +in Yorkshire, thither will I carry my chest, and, turning it upside down, +resume my political reading where I left off, feed on plain homely fare, +and live and die a free, honest English farmer; but not without regret for +leaving my countrymen under the dread of the brazen talons of Mr. +Wood;—my most loyal and innocent countrymen, to whom I owe so much for +their good opinion of me, and my poor endeavours to serve them.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;">I am, with the greatest respect,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">My Lord,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Your Lordship’s most obedient, and most humble servant,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">M. B.</span></p> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">SIXTH LETTER</span></p> + +<p>Was written a little after the proclamation against the Drapier’s fourth +Letter. It is delivered with much caution, because the Author confesses +himself to be the Dean of St. Patrick’s.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />LETTER VI.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>To the Lord Chancellor Middleton.</i></p> + +<p class="right"><br /><span style="padding-right: 2em;">Deanery-house, <i>October, 1724</i>.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,</p> + +<p>I desire you will consider me as a member who comes in at the latter end +of a debate; or as a lawyer who speaks to a cause when the matter has been +almost exhausted by those who spoke before.</p> + +<p>I remember, some months ago, I was at your house upon a commission, where +I am one of the governors; but I went thither, not so much on account of +the commission, as to ask you some questions concerning Mr. Wood’s patent +to coin halfpence for Ireland; where you very freely told me, in a mixed +company, how much you had always been against that wicked project;<a name='fna_21' id='fna_21' href='#f_21'><small>[21]</small></a> +which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> raised in me an esteem for you so far that I went in a few days to +make you a visit, after many years’ intermission. I am likewise told that +your son wrote two letters from London (one of which I have seen), +empowering those to whom they were directed to assure his friends, that +whereas there was a malicious report spread of his engaging himself to Mr. +Walpole for forty thousand pounds of Wood’s coin to be received in +Ireland, the said report was false and groundless; and he had never +discoursed with that minister on this subject, nor would ever give his +consent to have one farthing of the said coin current here. And although +it be a long time since I have given myself the trouble of conversing with +people of titles or stations, yet I have been told by those who can take +up with such amusements, that there is not a considerable person of the +kingdom scrupulous in any sort to declare his opinion. But all this is +needless to allege, when we consider, that the ruinous consequences of +Wood’s patent have been so strongly represented by both Houses of +Parliament, by the Privy-council, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin; +by so many corporations; and the concurrence of the principal gentlemen in +most counties at their quarter-sessions, without any regard to party, +religion, or nation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>I conclude from hence, that the currency of these halfpence would, in the +universal opinion of our people, be utterly destructive to this kingdom; +and, consequently, that it is every man’s duty, not only to refuse this +coin himself, but, as far as in him lies, to persuade others to do the +like; and whether this be done in private or in print, is all a case; as +no layman is forbidden to write or to discourse upon religious or moral +subjects, although he may not do it in a pulpit, at least in our Church. +Neither is this an affair of State, until authority shall think fit to +declare it so, or, if you should understand it in that sense, yet you will +please to consider, that I am not now preaching.</p> + +<p>Therefore, I do think it my duty, since the Drapier will probably be no +more heard of, so far to supply his place, as not to incur his fortune; +for I have learned from old experience that there are times wherein a man +ought to be cautious as well as innocent. I therefore hope that, +preserving both those characters, I may be allowed, by offering new +arguments or enforcing old ones, to refresh the memory of my +fellow-subjects, and keep up that good spirit raised among them, to +preserve themselves from utter ruin by lawful means, and such as are +permitted by his Majesty.</p> + +<p>I believe you will please to allow me two propositions:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> First, that we +are a most loyal people; and, secondly, that we are a free people, in the +common acceptation of that word, applied to a subject under a limited +monarch. I know very well that you and I did, many years ago, in discourse +differ much in the presence of Lord Wharton about the meaning of that word +<i>liberty</i>, with relation to Ireland. But, if you will not allow us to be a +free people, there is only another appellation left, which I doubt my Lord +Chief Justice Whitshed would call me to account for, if I venture to +bestow: for I observed (and I shall never forget upon what occasion) the +device upon his coach to be, <i>Libertas et natale solum</i>, at the very point +of time when he was sitting in his court, and perjuring himself to betray +both....</p> + +<p>I am heartily sorry that any writer should, in a cause so generally +approved, give occasion to the government and council to charge him with +paragraphs “highly reflecting upon his Majesty and his ministers; tending +to alienate the affections of his good subjects in England and Ireland +from each other, and to promote sedition among the people.” I must confess +that, with many others, I thought he meant well, although he might have +the failing of better writers, not to be always fortunate in the manner of +expressing himself.</p> + +<p>However, since the Drapier is but one man, I shall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> think I do a public +service by asserting that the rest of my countrymen are wholly free from +learning, out of his pamphlets to reflect on the King or his ministers, +and to breed sedition. I solemnly declare, that I never once heard the +least reflection cast upon the King on the subject of Mr. Wood’s coin: for +in many discourses on this matter, I do not remember his Majesty’s name to +be so much as mentioned. As to the ministry in England, the only two +persons hinted at were the Duke of Grafton and Mr. Walpole; the former, as +I have heard you and a hundred others affirm, declared, “that he never saw +the patent in favour of Mr. Wood before it was passed,” although he was +then Lord-Lieutenant; and therefore, I suppose, everybody believes that +his Grace has been wholly unconcerned in it ever since. Mr. Walpole was +indeed supposed to be understood by the letter W. in several newspapers, +where it is said that some expressions fell from him not very favourable +to the people of Ireland, for the truth of which the kingdom is not to +answer, any more than for the discretion of the publishers. You observe, +the Drapier wholly clears Mr. Walpole of this charge by very strong +arguments, and speaks of him with civility.</p> + +<p>I cannot deny myself to have been often present where the company gave +their opinion that Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> Walpole favoured Mr. Wood’s projects, which I +always contradicted, and for my own part never once opened my lips against +that minister, either in mixed or particular meetings; and my reason for +this reservedness was, because it pleased him in the Queen’s time (I mean +Queen Anne, of ever-blessed memory) to make a speech directly against me +by name in the House of Commons, as I was told a very few minutes after, +in the Court of Requests, by more than fifty members....</p> + +<p>But whatever unpleasing opinion some people might conceive of Mr. Walpole, +on account of those halfpence, I dare boldly affirm it was entirely owing +to Mr. Wood. Many persons of credit come from England, have affirmed to me +and others, that they have seen letters under his hand, full of arrogance +and insolence towards Ireland, and boasting of his favour with Mr. +Walpole; which is highly probable; because he reasonably thought it for +his interest to spread such a report, and because it is the known talent +of low and little spirits, to have a great man’s name perpetually in their +mouths. Thus I have sufficiently justified the people of Ireland from +learning any bad lesson out of the Drapier’s pamphlets, with regard to his +Majesty and his ministers; and therefore, if those papers were intended to +sow sedition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> among us, God be thanked the seeds have fallen upon a very +improper soil.</p> + +<p>As to alienating the affections of the people of England and Ireland from +each other, I believe the Drapier, whatever his intentions were, has left +that matter just as he found it. I have lived long in both kingdoms, as +well in country as in town; and therefore take myself to be as well +informed as most men, in the dispositions of each people toward the other. +By the people, I understand here only the bulk of the common people: and I +desire no lawyer may distort or extend my meaning. There is a vein of +industry and parsimony, that runs through the whole people of England, +which, added to the easiness of their rents, makes them rich and sturdy.</p> + +<p>As to Ireland, they know little more of it than they do of Mexico: farther +than that it is a country subject to the King of England, full of bogs, +inhabited by wild Irish Papists, who are kept in awe by mercenary troops +sent from thence: and their general opinion is, that it were better for +England if this whole island were sunk into the sea; for they have a +tradition, that every forty years there must be a rebellion in Ireland.</p> + +<p>I have seen the grossest suppositions passed upon them: “That the wild +Irish were taken in toils; but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> that in some time they would grow so tame +as to eat out of your hands.” I have been asked by hundreds, and +particularly by my neighbours, your tenants at Pepper-harrow, “whether I +had come from Ireland by sea?” and, upon the arrival of an Irishman to a +country town, I have known crowds coming about him, and wondering to see +him look so much better than themselves.</p> + +<p>A gentleman, now in Dublin, affirms, “that, passing some months ago +through Northampton, and finding the whole town in a flurry, with bells, +bonfires, and illuminations; upon asking the cause, he was told that it +was for joy that the Irish had submitted to receive Wood’s halfpence.” +This, I think, plainly shows what sentiments that large town has of us; +and how little they made it their own case; although they lie directly in +our way to London, and therefore cannot but be frequently convinced that +we have human shapes.</p> + +<p>As to the people of this kingdom, they consist either of Irish Papists, +who are as inconsiderable in point of power as the women and children; or +of English Protestants, who love their brethren of that kingdom, although +they may possibly sometimes complain when they think they are hardly used. +However, I confess I do not see that it is of any great consequence, how +the personal <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>affections stand to each other, while the sea divides them +and while they continue in their loyalty to the same prince. And yet I +will appeal to you, whether those from England have reason to complain +when they come hither in pursuit of their fortunes? or, whether the people +of Ireland have reason to boast, when they go to England upon the same +design? My second proposition was, that we of Ireland are a free people; +this, I suppose, you will allow, at least with certain limitations +remaining in your own breast. However, I am sure it is not criminal to +affirm it; because the words liberty and property, as applied to the +subject, are often mentioned in both Houses of Parliament, as well as in +yours and other courts below; whence it must follow, that the people of +Ireland do or ought to enjoy all the benefits of the common and statute +law: such as to be tried by juries, to pay no money without their own +consent as represented in Parliament, and the like. If this be so, and if +it be universally agreed that a free people cannot by law be compelled to +take any money in payment except gold and silver, I do not see why any man +should be hindered from cautioning his countrymen against this coin of +William Wood, who is endeavouring by fraud to rob us of that property +which the laws have secured....</p> + +<p>Before I conclude, I cannot but observe that for several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> months past +there have more papers been written in this town, such as they are, all +upon the best public principle, the love of our country, than perhaps has +been known in any other nation in so short a time. I speak in general, +from the Drapier down to the maker of ballads; and all without any regard +to the common motives of writers, which are profit, favour, and +reputation. As to profit, I am assured by persons of credit, that the best +ballad upon Mr. Wood will not yield above a groat to the author; and the +unfortunate adventurer Harding<a name='fna_22' id='fna_22' href='#f_22'><small>[22]</small></a> declares he never made the Drapier any +present, except one pair of scissors. As to favour, whoever thinks to make +his court by opposing Mr. Wood, is not very deep in politics; and as to +reputation, certainly no man of worth and learning would employ his pen +upon so transitory a subject, and in so obscure a corner of the world, to +distinguish himself as an author, so that I look upon myself, the Drapier, +and my numerous brethren, to be all true patriots in our several degrees.</p> + +<p>All that the public can expect for the future is, only to be sometimes +warned to beware of Mr. Wood’s halfpence, and to be referred for +conviction to the Drapier’s reasons. For a man of the most superior +understanding will find it impossible to make the best use of it while he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +writes in constraint, perpetually softening, correcting, or blotting out +expressions for fear of bringing his printer, or himself, under a +prosecution from my Lord Chief Justice Whitshed. It calls to my +remembrance the madman in “Don Quixote,” who being soundly beaten by a +weaver for letting a stone (which he always carried on his shoulder), fall +upon a spaniel, apprehended that every cur he met was of the same species.</p> + +<p>For these reasons I am convinced, that what I have now written will appear +low and insipid; but if it contributes in the least to preserve that union +among us for opposing this fatal project of Mr. Wood, my pains will not be +altogether lost.</p> + +<p>I sent these papers to an eminent lawyer (and yet a man of virtue and +learning into the bargain), who, after many alterations, returned them +back, with assuring me that they are perfectly innocent; without the least +mixture of treason, rebellion, sedition, malice, disaffection, reflection, +or wicked insinuation whatsoever.</p> + +<p>If the bellman of each parish, as he goes his circuit, would cry out every +night “Past twelve o’clock; Beware of Wood’s halfpence,” it would probably +cut off the occasion for publishing any more pamphlets; provided that in +country towns it were done upon market-days. For my own part, as soon as +it shall be determined that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> it is not against law, I will begin the +experiment in the liberty of St. Patrick’s; and hope my example may be +followed in the whole city. But if authority shall think fit to forbid all +writings or discourses upon this subject, except such as are in favour of +Mr. Wood, I will obey, as it becomes me; only, when I am in danger of +bursting, I will go and whisper among the reeds, not any reflection upon +the wisdom of my countrymen, but only these few words, BEWARE OF WOOD’S +HALFPENCE.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;">I am, with due respect,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">Your most obedient, humble servant,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">J. S.</span></p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">SEVENTH LETTER</span></p> + +<p>Did not appear till 1735. It appears to have been written during the first +session in Lord Carteret’s government. It is much more a start on a new +course, than a continuation of the past struggle.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />LETTER VII.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>An Humble Address to Both Houses of Parliament.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">By M. B., Drapier.</span></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>“Multa gement plagasque superbi<br /> +Victoris—”</td></tr></table> + +<p><br />I have been told, that petitions and addresses, to either King or +Parliament, are the right of every subject,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> provided they consist with +that respect which is due to princes and great assemblies. Neither do I +remember, that the modest proposals or opinions of private men have been +ill-received, when they have not been delivered in the style of advice; +which is a presumption far from my thoughts. However, if proposals should +be looked upon as too assuming, yet I hope every man may be suffered to +declare his own and the nation’s wishes. For instance; I may be allowed to +wish, that some farther laws were enacted for the advancement of trade; +for the improvement of agriculture, now strangely neglected, against the +maxims of all wise nations; for supplying the manifest defects in the acts +concerning the plantation of trees; for setting the poor to work; and many +others.</p> + +<p>Upon this principle I may venture to affirm, it is the hearty wish of the +whole nation, very few excepted, that the Parliament, in this session, +would begin by strictly examining into the detestable fraud of one William +Wood, now or late of London, hardwareman; who illegally and clandestinely, +as appears by your own votes and addresses, procured a patent in England +for coining halfpence in that kingdom to be current here. This, I say, is +the wish of the whole nation, very few excepted; and upon account of those +few, is more strongly and justly the wish of the rest; those few +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>consisting either of Wood’s confederates, some obscure tradesmen, or +certain bold UNDERTAKERS,<a name='fna_23' id='fna_23' href='#f_23'><small>[23]</small></a> of weak judgment and strong ambition, who +think to find their accounts in the ruin of the nation, by securing or +advancing themselves. And because such men proceed upon a system of +politics, to which I would fain hope you will be always utter strangers, I +shall humbly lay it before you.</p> + +<p>Be pleased to suppose me in a station of fifteen hundred pounds a year, +salary and perquisites: and likewise possessed of 800<i>l.</i> a-year, real +estate. Then suppose a destructive project to be set on foot; such for +instance, as this of Wood; which, if it succeed in all the consequences +naturally to be expected from it, must sink the rents and wealth of the +kingdom one half, although I am confident it would have done so +five-sixths; suppose, I conceive that the countenancing, or privately +supporting, this project, will please those by whom I expect to be +preserved or higher exalted; nothing then remains, but to compute and +balance my gain and my loss, and sum up the whole. I suppose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> that I shall +keep my employment ten years, not to mention the fair chance of a better.</p> + +<p>This, at 1500<i>l.</i> a year, amounts in ten years to 15,000<i>l.</i> My estate, by +the success of the said project, sinks 400<i>l.</i> a-year; which, at twenty +years’ purchase, is but 8000<i>l.</i>; so that I am a clear gainer of 7000<i>l.</i> +upon the balance. And during all that period I am possessed of power and +credit, can gratify my favourites, and take vengeance on mine enemies. And +if the project miscarry, my private merit is still entire. This +arithmetic, as horrible as it appears, I knowingly affirm to have been +practised and applied, in conjunctures whereon depended the ruin or safety +of a nation; although probably the charity and virtue of a senate will +hardly be induced to believe, that there can be such monsters among +mankind. And yet the wise Lord Bacon mentions a sort of people (I doubt +the race is not yet extinct) who would “set a house on fire for the +convenience of roasting their own eggs at the flame.”</p> + +<p>But whoever is old enough to remember, and has turned his thoughts to +observe, the course of public affairs in this kingdom from the time of the +Revolution, must acknowledge, that the highest points of interest and +liberty have often been sacrificed to the avarice and ambition of +particular persons, upon the very principles and arithmetic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> that I have +supposed. The only wonder is, how these artists were able to prevail upon +numbers, and influence even public assemblies, to become instruments for +effecting their execrable designs.</p> + +<p>It is, I think, in all conscience, latitude enough for vice, if a man in +station be allowed to act injustice upon the usual principles of getting a +bribe, wreaking his malice, serving his party, or consulting his +preferment, while his wickedness terminates in the ruin only of particular +persons; but to deliver up our whole country and every living soul who +inhabits it, to certain destruction, has not, as I remember, been +permitted by the most favourable casuists on the side of corruption.</p> + +<p>It were far better, that all who have had the misfortune to be born in +this kingdom, should be rendered incapable of holding any employment +whatsoever above the degree of a constable (according to the scheme and +intention of a great minister,<a name='fna_24' id='fna_24' href='#f_24'><small>[24]</small></a> <i>gone to his own place</i>), than to live +under the daily apprehension of a few false brethren among ourselves; +because, in the former case, we should be wholly free from the danger of +being betrayed, since none could then have impudence enough to pretend any +public good. It is true, that in this desperate affair of the new +halfpence, I have not heard of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> any man above my own degree of a +shopkeeper, to have been hitherto so bold, as, in direct terms, to +vindicate the fatal project; although I have been told of some very +mollifying expressions which were used, and very gentle expedients +proposed and handed about, when it first came under debate; but since the +eyes of the people have been so far opened, that the most ignorant can +plainly see their own ruin in the success of Wood’s attempt, these grand +compounders have been more cautious.... In the small compass of my reading +(which, however, has been more extensive than is usual to men of my +inferior calling,) I have observed, that grievances have always preceded +supplies. And if ever grievances had a title to such pre-eminence, it must +be this of Wood; because it is not only the greatest grievance that any +country could suffer, but a grievance of such a kind, that, if it should +take effect, would make it impossible for us to give any supplies at all, +except in adulterate copper; unless a tax were laid, for paying the civil +and military lists and the large pensions, with real commodities instead +of money. Which, however, might be liable to some few objections, as well +as difficulties; for, although the common soldiers might be content with +beef, and mutton, and wool, and malt, and leather, yet I am in some doubt +as to the generals, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> colonels, the numerous pensioners, the civil +officers and others, who all live in England upon Irish pay, as well as +those few who reside among us only because they cannot help it. There is +one particular, which, although I have mentioned more than once in some of +my former papers, yet I cannot forbear to repeat, and a little enlarge +upon it; because I do not remember to have read or heard of the like in +the history of any age or country, neither do I ever reflect upon it +without the utmost astonishment.</p> + +<p>After the unanimous addresses to his sacred Majesty, against the patent of +Wood, from both Houses of Parliament, which are the three estates of the +kingdom, and likewise an address from the Privy-council, to whom, under +the chief governors, the whole administration is entrusted, the matter is +referred to a committee of council in London. Wood and his adherents are +heard on one side; and a few volunteers, without any trust or direction +from hence, on the other. The question, as I remember, chiefly turned upon +the want of halfpence in Ireland. Witnesses are called on the behalf of +Wood, of what credit I have formerly shown. Upon the issue, the patent is +found good and legal; all his Majesty’s officers here, not excepting the +military, commanded to be aiding and assisting to make it effectual; the +addresses of both Houses of Parliament, of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> Privy-council, and of the +city of Dublin, the declarations of most counties and corporations +throughout the kingdom, are altogether laid aside, as of no weight, +consequence, or consideration whatsoever; and the whole kingdom of Ireland +non-suited in default of appearance, as if it were a private case between +John Doe, plaintiff, and William Roe, defendant.</p> + +<p>With great respect to those honourable persons, the committee of council +in London, I have not understood them to be our governors, councillors, or +judges. Neither did our case turn at all upon the questions whether +Ireland wanted halfpence or no. For there is no doubt, but we do want both +halfpence, gold, and silver; and we have numberless other wants, and some +that we are not so much as allowed to name, although they are peculiar to +this nation; to which no other is subject, whom God has blessed with +religion and laws, or any degree of soil and sunshine; but for what +demerits on our side, I am altogether in the dark. But I do not remember +that our want of halfpence was either affirmed or denied in any of our +addresses or declarations against those of Wood. We alleged the fraudulent +obtaining and executing of his patent; the baseness of his metal; and the +prodigious sum to be coined, which might be increased by stealth, from +foreign<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> importation and his own counterfeits, as well as those at home; +whereby we must infallibly lose all our little gold and silver, and all +our poor remainder of a very limited and discouraged trade. We urged, that +the patent was passed without the least reference hither; and without +mention of any security given by Wood, to receive his own halfpence upon +demand; both which are contrary to all contrary proceedings in the like +cases.</p> + +<p>These, and many other arguments, we offered, but still the patent went on; +and at this day our ruin would have been half completed, if God in His +mercy had not raised a universal detestation of these halfpence in the +whole kingdom, with a firm resolution never to receive them; since we are +not under obligations to do so by any law, either human or divine.</p> + +<p>But, in the name of God, and of all justice and pity, when the King’s +Majesty was pleased that this patent should pass, is it not to be +understood that he conceived, believed, and intended it, as a gracious act +for the good and benefit of his subjects, for the advantage of a great and +fruitful kingdom; of the most loyal kingdom upon earth, where no hand or +voice was ever lifted up against him; a kingdom, where the passage is not +three hours from Britain; and a kingdom where Papists have less<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> power and +less land than in England? Can it be denied or doubted that his Majesty’s +ministers understood and proposed the same end, the good of this nation, +when they advised the passing of this patent? Can the person of Wood be +otherwise regarded than as the instrument, the mechanic, the head-workman, +to prepare his furnace, his fuel, his metal, and his stamps? If I employ a +shoe-boy, is it in view to his advantage, or to my own convenience? I +mention the person of William Wood alone, because no other appears; and we +are not to reason upon surmises; neither would it avail, if they had a +real foundation. Allowing therefore (for we cannot do less) that this +patent for the coining of halfpence was wholly intended by a gracious +King, and a wise public-spirited ministry, for the advantage of Ireland; +yet when the whole kingdom to a man, for whose good the patent was +designed, do, upon maturest consideration, universally join in openly +declaring, protesting, addressing, petitioning, against these halfpence, +as the most ruinous project that ever was set on foot to complete the +slavery and destruction of a poor innocent country; is it, was it, can it, +or will it, ever be a question, not, whether such a kingdom, or William +Wood, should be a gainer; but whether such a kingdom should be wholly +undone, destroyed, sunk,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> depopulated, made a scene of misery and +desolation, for the sake of William Wood? God of His infinite mercy avert +this dreadful judgment! And it is our universal wish, that God would put +it into your hearts to be His instruments for so good a work.</p> + +<p>For my own part, who am but one man, of obscure condition, I do solemnly +declare, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will suffer the most +ignominious and torturing death, rather than submit to receive this +accursed coin, or any other that shall be liable to these objections, +until they shall be forced upon me by a law of my own country; and, if +that shall ever happen, I will transport myself into some foreign land, +and eat the bread of poverty among a free people.</p> + +<p>Am I legally punishable for these expressions? shall another proclamation +issue against me, because I presume to take my country’s part against +William Wood, where her final destruction is intended? But, whenever you +shall please to impose silence upon me, I will submit; because I look upon +your unanimous voice to be the voice of the nation; and this I have been +taught, and do believe, to be in some manner the voice of God....</p> + +<p>I have sometimes wondered upon what motives the peerage of England were so +desirous to determine our controversies; because I have been assured, and +partly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> know, that the frequent appeals from hence have been very irksome +to that illustrious body: and whoever has frequented the Painted Chamber +and Courts of Requests, must have observed, that they are never so nobly +filled as when an Irish appeal is under debate.</p> + +<p>The peers of Scotland, who are very numerous, were content to reside in +their castles and houses in that bleak and barren climate; and although +some of them made frequent journeys to London, yet I do not remember any +of their greatest families, till very lately, to have made England their +constant habitation before the Union; or, if they did, I am sure it was +generally to their own advantage, and whatever they got was employed to +cultivate and increase their own estates, and by that means enrich +themselves and their country.</p> + +<p>As to the great number of rich absentees under the degree of peers, what +particular ill-effects their absence may have upon this kingdom, besides +those already mentioned, may perhaps be too tender a point to touch. But +whether those who live in another kingdom upon great estates here, and +have lost all regard to their own country, farther than upon account of +the revenues they receive from it; I say, whether such persons may not be +prevailed upon to recommend others to vacant seats,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> who have no interest +here except a precarious employment, and consequently can have no views +but to preserve what they have got, or to be higher advanced; this, I am +sure, is a very melancholy question, if it be a question at all.</p> + +<p>But, besides the prodigious profit which England receives by the +transmittal thither of two-thirds of the revenues of this old kingdom, it +has another mighty advantage, by making our country a receptacle, wherein +to disburden themselves of their supernumerary pretenders to offices; +persons of second-rate merit in their own country, who, like birds of +passage, most of them thrive and fatten here, and fly off when their +credit and employments are at an end. So that Ireland may justly say, what +Luther said of himself, POOR Ireland makes many rich!</p> + +<p>If, amid all our difficulties, I should venture to assert that we have one +great advantage, provided we could improve it as we ought, I believe most +of my readers would be long in conjecturing what possible advantage could +ever fall to our share. However, it is certain that all the regular seeds +of party and faction among us are entirely rooted out, and if any new ones +shall spring up, they must be of equivocal generation, without any seed at +all, and will be justly imputed to a degree of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> stupidity beyond even what +we have been ever charged with upon the score of our birthplace and +climate.</p> + +<p>The parties in this kingdom (including those of modern date) are, first, +of those who have been charged or suspected to favour the Pretender; and +those who were zealous opposers of him. Secondly, of those who were for +and against a toleration of Dissenters by law. Thirdly, of High and Low +Church, or (to speak in the cant of the times) of Whig and Tory. And, +fourthly, of court and country. If there be any more, they are beyond my +observation or politics; for, as to subaltern or occasional parties, they +have been all derivations from the same originals.</p> + +<p>Now it is manifest, that all these incitements to faction, party, and +division, are wholly removed from among us. For, as to the Pretender, his +cause is both desperate and obsolete. There are very few now alive who +were men in his father’s time, and in that prince’s interest; and in all +others, the obligation of conscience has no place.<a name='fna_25' id='fna_25' href='#f_25'><small>[25]</small></a> Even the Papists in +general, of any substance or estates, and their priests almost +universally, are what we call Whigs, in the sense which by that word<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> is +generally understood. They feel the smart, and see the scars of their +former wounds, and very well know, that they must be made a sacrifice to +the least attempts toward a change; although it cannot be doubted that +they would be glad to have their superstition restored, under any prince +whatsoever.</p> + +<p>Secondly, the Dissenters are now tolerated by law; neither do we observe +any murmurs at present from that quarter, except those reasonable +complaints they make of persecution, because they are excluded from civil +employments; but their number being very small in either House of +Parliament, they are not yet in a situation to erect a party: because, +however indifferent men may be with regard to religion, they are now grown +wise enough to know that if such a latitude were allowed to Dissenters, +the few small employments left us in cities and corporations would find +other hands to lay hold on them.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, the dispute between High and Low Church is now at an end; +two-thirds of the bishops having been promoted in this reign, and most of +them from England, who have bestowed all preferments in their gift to +those they could well confide in: the deaneries, all except three, and +many principal church-livings are in the donation of the Crown, so that we +already possess such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> a body of clergy as will never engage in controversy +upon that antiquated and exploded subject.</p> + +<p>Lastly, as to court and country parties, so famous and avowed under most +reigns in English Parliaments; this kingdom has not, for several years +past, been a proper scene whereon to exercise such contentions, and is now +less proper than ever; many great employments for life being in distant +hands, and the reversions diligently watched and secured; the temporary +ones of any inviting value are all bestowed elsewhere as fast as they +drop, and the few remaining are of too low consideration to create +contests about them, except among younger brothers, or tradesmen like +myself. And therefore, to institute a court and country party, without +materials would be a very new system in politics, and what I believe was +never thought on before: nor, unless in a nation of idiots, can ever +succeed; for the most ignorant Irish cottager will not sell his cow for a +groat.</p> + +<p>Therefore I conclude, that all party and faction, with regard to public +proceedings, are now extinguished in this kingdom; neither does it appear +in view how they can possibly revive, unless some new causes be +administered; which cannot be done without crossing the interests of those +who are the greatest gainers by continuing the same measures. And general +calamities,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> without hope of redress, are allowed to be the great uniters +of mankind.</p> + +<p>However we may dislike the causes, yet this effect of begetting a +universal discord among us, in all national debates, as well as in cities, +corporations, and country neighbourhoods, may keep us at least alive, and +in a condition to eat the little bread allowed us in peace and amity.</p> + +<p>I have heard of a quarrel in a tavern, where all were at daggers drawing, +till one of the company cried out, desiring to know the subject of the +quarrel; which, when none of them could tell, they put up their swords, +sat down, and passed the rest of the evening in quiet. The former has been +our case, I hope the latter will be so too; that we shall sit down +amicably together, at least until we have something that may give us a +title to fall out, since nature has instructed even a brood of goslings to +stick together, while the kite is hovering over their heads....</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE ADDRESS TO THE JURY.</h2> + + +<p>This piece, as its title expresses, was published when the bill against +the printer was to be brought before the grand jury: it warned them of +what was expected from them. Whiteshed, the Chief Justice, again attempted +to browbeat the jury, but in vain. The bill was thrown out: and the Chief +Justice could only show his resentment by dissolving the Grand Jury. +Whiteshed was so ridiculed that the vexation he suffered was thought to +have shortened his life.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><i>Seasonable Advice to the Grand Jury.</i></p> +<div class="note"> +<p class="center">Concerning the bill preparing against the printer of the Drapier’s fourth letter.</p></div> + +<p class="right"><br /><span style="padding-right: 2em;"><i>November 11th, 1724.</i></span></p> + +<p>Since a bill is preparing for the grand jury to find against the printer +of the Drapier’s last letter, there are several things maturely to be +considered by those gentlemen before they determine upon it.</p> + +<p>First, they are to consider, that the author of the said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> pamphlet did +write three other discourses on the same subject, which, instead of being +censured, were universally approved by the whole nation, and were allowed +to have raised and continued that spirit among us, which has hitherto kept +out Wood’s coin; for all men will grant, that if those pamphlets had not +been written, his coin must have overrun the nation some months ago.</p> + +<p>Secondly, it is to be considered, that this pamphlet, against which a +proclamation has been issued, is written by the same author: that nobody +ever doubted the innocence and goodness of his design; that he appears, +through the whole tenour of it, to be a loyal subject to his Majesty, and +devoted to the House of Hanover, and declares himself in a manner +peculiarly zealous against the Pretender. And if such a writer, in four +several treatises on so nice a subject, where a royal patent is concerned, +and where it was necessary to speak of England and of liberty, should in +one or two places happen to let fall an inadvertent expression, it would +be hard to condemn him, after all the good he has done, especially when we +consider that he could have no possible design in view, either of honour +or profit, but purely the <span class="smcaplc">GOOD</span> of his country.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, it ought to be well considered, whether any one expression in the +said pamphlet be really liable to a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> just exception, much less to be found +“wicked, malicious, seditious, reflecting upon his Majesty and his +ministry,” &c.</p> + +<p>The two points in that pamphlet, which it is said the prosecutors intend +chiefly to fix on, are, first, where the author mentions the penner of the +King’s answer. First, it is well known his Majesty is not master of the +English tongue; and therefore it is necessary that some other person +should be employed to pen what he has to say or write in that language. +Secondly, his Majesty’s answer is not in the first person, but in the +third. It is not said, <span class="smcaplc">WE</span> are concerned, or <span class="smcaplc">OUR</span> royal predecessors; but +<span class="smcap">his Majesty</span> is concerned, and <span class="smcaplc">HIS</span> royal predecessors. By which it is +plain, these are properly not the words of his Majesty, but supposed to be +taken from him, and transmitted hither by one of his ministers. Thirdly, +it will be easily seen, that the author of the pamphlet delivers his +sentiments upon this particular with the utmost caution and respect, as +any impartial reader will observe.</p> + +<p>The second paragraph, which it is said will be taken notice of as a motive +to find the bill, is what the author says of Ireland’s being a dependent +kingdom; he explains all the dependence he knows of, which is a law made +in Ireland, whereby it is enacted, “that whoever<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> is King of England shall +be King of Ireland.” Before this explanation be condemned, and the bill +found upon it, it would be proper that some lawyers should fully inform +the jury what other law there is, either statute or common, for this +dependency; and if there be no law, there is no transgression.</p> + +<p>The fourth thing very maturely to be considered by the jury, is, what +influence their finding the bill may have upon the kingdom; the people in +general find no fault in the Drapier’s last book, any more than in the +three former; and therefore, when they hear it is condemned by a grand +jury of Dublin, they will conclude it is done in favour of Wood’s coin; +they will think we of this town have changed our minds, and intend to take +those halfpence, and therefore it will be in vain for them to stand out: +so that the question comes to this, which will be of the worst +consequence?—to let pass one or two expressions, at the worst only +unwary, in a book written for the public service; or to leave a free, open +passage for Wood’s brass to overrun us, by which we shall be undone for +ever. The fifth thing to be considered is, that the members of the grand +jury, being merchants and principal shopkeepers, can have no suitable +temptation offered them as a recompense for the mischief they will do and +suffer by letting-in this coin;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> nor can be at any loss or danger by +rejecting the bill. They do not expect any employments in the State, to +make up in their own private advantages the destruction of their country; +whereas those who go about to advise, entice, or threaten them to find +that bill, have great employments, which they have a mind to keep, or to +get a greater; as it was likewise the case of all those who signed the +proclamation to have the author prosecuted. And therefore it is known, +that his grace the Lord Archbishop of Dublin, so renowned for his piety +and wisdom, and love of his country, absolutely refused to condemn the +book or the author.</p> + +<p>Lastly, it ought to be considered what consequence the finding of the bill +may have upon a poor man perfectly innocent. I mean the printer. A lawyer +may pick out expressions, and make them liable to exception, where no +other man is able to find any. But how can it be supposed that an ignorant +printer can be such a critic? He knew the author’s design was honest and +approved by the whole kingdom: he advised with friends, who told him there +was no harm in the book, and he could see none himself: it was sent him in +an unknown hand; but the same in which he received the three former. He +and his wife have offered to take their oaths that they knew not the +author, and therefore,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> to find a bill that may bring punishment upon the +innocent, will appear very hard, to say no worse. For it will be +impossible to find the author, unless he will please to discover himself; +although I wonder he ever concealed his name; but I suppose what he did at +first out of modesty, he continues to do out of prudence. God protect us +and him!</p> + +<p>I will conclude all with a fable ascribed to Demosthenes. He had served +the people of Athens with great fidelity in the station of an orator, +when, upon a certain occasion, apprehending to be delivered over to his +enemies, he told the Athenians, his countrymen, the following story: Once +upon a time the wolves desired a league with the sheep, upon this +condition, that the cause of the strife might be taken away, which was the +shepherds and mastiffs: this being granted, the wolves, without all fear, +made havoc of the sheep.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> +<h2>SWIFT’S DESCRIPTION OF QUILCA.</h2> + + +<p>The summers of 1724 and 1725 were spent in this country-seat, which his +friend Sheridan built for himself amongst the wildest of the Cavan heaths. +Quilca stood near a little lake surrounded by trees. Here Sheridan tried a +revival of the Roman chariot-races; the slope close by the lake was used +for a theatre; the place is redolent with memories of Swift, who loved the +place, though he perpetuated in verse the memory of its disorders, its +dilapidations, and the general shortcomings, in which it reflected its +owner’s character and that of his scolding wife.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="smcap">The Blunders, Deficiencies, Distresses, and Misfortunes of Quilca.</span></p> +<div class="note"> +<p class="center"><i>Proposed to contain one-and-twenty volumes in quarto.</i></p> + +<p class="center">Begun April 20, 1724. To be continued weekly, if due encouragement be +given.</p></div> + + +<p><br />But one lock and a half in the whole house.</p> + +<p>The key of the garden-door lost.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>The empty bottles all uncleanable.</p> + +<p>The vessels for drink very few and leaky.</p> + +<p>The new house going to ruin before it is finished.</p> + +<p>One hinge of the street-door broke off, and the people forced to go out +and come in at the back-door.</p> + +<p>The door of the Dean’s bed-chamber full of large chinks.</p> + +<p>The beaufet letting in so much wind that it almost blows out the candles.</p> + +<p>The Dean’s bed threatening every night to fall under him.</p> + +<p>The little table loose and broken in the joints.</p> + +<p>The passages open overhead, by which the cats pass continually into the +cellar, and eat the victuals, for which one was tried, condemned, and +executed by the sword.</p> + +<p>The large table in a very tottering condition.</p> + +<p>But one chair in the house fit for sitting on, and that in a very ill +state of health.</p> + +<p>The kitchen perpetually crowded with savages.</p> + +<p>Not a bit of mutton to be had in the country.</p> + +<p>Want of beds, and a mutiny thereupon among the servants, until supplied +from Kells.</p> + +<p>An egregious want of all the most common necessary utensils.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>Not a bit of turf in this cold weather; and Mrs. Johnson and the Dean in +person, with all their servants, forced to assist at the bog, in gathering +up the wet bottoms of old clumps.</p> + +<p>The grate in the ladies’ bedchamber broke, and forced to be removed, by +which they were compelled to be without fire, the chimney smoking +intolerably; and the Dean’s great-coat was employed to stop the wind from +coming down the chimney, without which expedient they must have been +starved to death.</p> + +<p>A messenger sent a mile to borrow an old broken tun-dish.</p> + +<p>Bottles stopped with bits of wood and tow, instead of corks.</p> + +<p>Not one utensil for a fire, except an old pair of tongs, which travels +through the house, and is likewise employed to take the meat out of the +pot, for want of a flesh-fork.</p> + +<p>Every servant an arrant thief as to victuals and drink, and every comer +and goer as arrant a thief of everything he or she can lay their hands on.</p> + +<p>The spit blunted with poking into bogs for timber, and tears the meat to +pieces.</p> + +<p><i>Bellum atque fæminam</i>; or a kitchen war between nurse and a nasty crew of +both sexes; she to preserve order<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> and cleanliness, they to destroy both; +and they generally are conquerors.</p> + +<p><i>April 28.</i> This morning the great fore-door quite open, dancing backward +and forward with all its weight upon the lower hinge, which must have been +broken if the Dean had not accidentally come and relieved it.</p> + +<p>A great hole in the floor of the ladies’ chamber, every hour hazarding a +broken leg.</p> + +<p>Two iron spikes erect on the Dean’s bedstead, by which he is in danger of +a broken shin at rising and going to bed.</p> + +<p>The ladies’ and Dean’s servants growing fast into the manners and +thieveries of the natives; the ladies themselves very much corrupted; the +Dean perpetually storming, and in danger of either losing all his flesh, +or sinking into barbarity for the sake of peace.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dingley full of cares for herself, and blunders and negligence for +her friends. Mrs. Johnson sick and helpless. The Dean deaf and fretting; +the lady’s maid awkward and clumsy; Robert lazy and forgetful; William a +pragmatical, ignorant, and conceited puppy; Robin and nurse the two great +and only supports of the family.</p> + +<p><i>Bellum lactæum</i>; or the milky battle, fought between the Dean and the +crew of Quilca; the latter insisting on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> their privilege of not milking +till eleven in the forenoon: whereas Mrs. Johnson wanted milk at eight for +her health. In this battle the Dean got the victory; but the crew of +Quilca begin to rebel again; for it is this day almost ten o’clock, and +Mrs. Johnson has not got her milk.</p> + +<p>A proverb on the laziness and lodgings of the servants: “The worse their +sty—the longer they lie.”</p> + +<p>Two great holes in the wall of the ladies’ bedchamber, just at the back of +the bed, and one of them directly behind Mrs. Johnson’s pillow, either of +which would blow out a candle in the calmest day.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> +<h2>ANSWER TO A PAPER,</h2> + +<p class="center">CALLED</p> + +<p class="center"><i>A Memorial of the poor Inhabitants, Tradesmen, and Labourers of the +Kingdom of Ireland.</i><a name='fna_26' id='fna_26' href='#f_26'><small>[26]</small></a></p> + + +<p class="right"><br /><span style="padding-right: 2em;">Dublin, <i>March 25th, 1738</i>.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> + +<p>I received a paper from you, whoever you are, printed without any name of +author or printer, and sent, I suppose, to me among others, without any +particular distinction. It contains a complaint of the dearness of corn, +and some schemes for making it cheaper which I cannot approve of.</p> + +<p>But pray permit me, before I go farther, to give you a short history of +the steps by which we arrived at this hopeful situation.</p> + +<p>It was, indeed, the shameful practice of too many Irish farmers, to wear +out their ground with ploughing; while, either through poverty, laziness, +or ignorance, they neither took care to measure it as they ought, nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +gave time to any part of the land to recover itself; and when their leases +were near expiring, being assured that their landlords would not renew, +they ploughed even the meadows, and made such havoc, that their landlords +were considerable sufferers by it.</p> + +<p>This gave birth to that abominable race of graziers, who, upon expiration +of the farmers’ leases, were ready to engross great quantities of land; +and the gentlemen having been often before ill paid, and their land worn +out of heart, were too easily tempted, when a rich grazier made an offer +to take all their land, and give them security for payment. Thus a vast +tract of land, where twenty or thirty farmers lived, together with their +cottagers and labourers in their several cabins, became all desolate, and +easily managed by one or two herdsmen and their boys; whereby the master +grazier, with little trouble, seized to himself the livelihood of a +hundred people.</p> + +<p>It must be confessed, that the farmers were justly punished for their +knavery, brutality, and folly. But neither are the squires and landlords +to be excused; for to them is owing the depopulating of the country, the +vast number of beggars, and the ruin of those few sorry improvements we +had. That farmers should be limited in ploughing is very reasonable, and +practised<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> in England, and might have easily been done here by penal +clauses in their leases; but to deprive them, in a manner, altogether from +tilling their lands, was a most stupid want of thinking.</p> + +<p>Had the farmers been confined to plough a certain quantity of land, with a +penalty of ten pounds an acre for whatever they exceeded, and farther +limited for the three or four last years of their leases, all this evil +had been prevented; the nation would have saved a million of money, and +been more populous by above two hundred thousand souls.</p> + +<p>For a people, denied the benefit of trade, to manage their lands in such a +manner as to produce nothing but what they are forbidden to trade with, or +only such things as they can neither export nor manufacture to advantage, +is an absurdity that a wild Indian would be ashamed of; especially when we +add, that we are content to purchase this hopeful commerce, by sending to +foreign markets for our daily bread.</p> + +<p>The grazier’s employment is to feed great flocks of sheep, or +black-cattle, or both. With regard to sheep, as folly is usually +accompanied with perverseness, so it is here. There is something so +monstrous to deal in a commodity (farther than for our own use), which we +are not allowed to export manufactured, nor even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> unmanufactured, but to +one certain country, and only to some few ports in that country; there is, +I say, something so sottish, that it wants a name in our language to +express it by, and the good of it is, that the more sheep we have, the +fewer human creatures are left to wear the wool, or eat the flesh.</p> + +<p>Ajax was mad when he mistook a flock of sheep for his enemies; but we +shall never be sober until we have the same way of thinking.</p> + +<p>The other part of the grazier’s business is, what we call black-cattle, +producing hides, tallow, and beef for exportation: all which are good and +useful commodities, if rightly managed. But it seems the greatest part of +the hides are sent out raw, for want of bark to tan them; and that want +will daily grow stronger, for I doubt the new project of tanning without +it is at an end.</p> + +<p>Our beef, I am afraid, still continues scandalous in foreign markets, for +the old reasons; but our tallow, for anything I know, may be good. +However, to bestow the whole kingdom on beef and mutton, and thereby drive +out half the people who should eat their share, and force the rest to send +sometimes as far as Egypt for bread to eat with it, is a most peculiar and +distinguished piece of public economy, of which I have no comprehension.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>I know very well that our ancestors the Scythians, and their posterity, +our kinsmen the Tartars, lived upon the blood, and milk, and raw flesh of +their cattle, without one grain of corn; but I confess myself so +degenerate, that I am not easy without bread to my victuals....</p> + +<p>Now, sir, to return more particularly to you and your memorial. A hundred +thousand barrels of wheat, you say, should be imported hither: and ten +thousand pounds, premium to the importers. Have you looked into the purse +of the nation?</p> + +<p>I am no Commissioner of the Treasury; but am well assured that the whole +running cash would not supply you with a sum to purchase so much corn, +which, only at twenty shillings a barrel, will be a hundred thousand +pounds; and ten thousand more for the premium. But you will traffic for +your corn with other goods; and where are those goods? if you had them, +they are all engaged to pay the rents of absentees, and other occasions in +London, besides a huge balance of trade this year against us. Will +foreigners take our bankers’ paper? I suppose they will value it at little +more than so much a quire. Where are these rich farmers and engrossers of +corn, in so bad a year, and so little sowing. You are in pain for two +shillings premium, and forget<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> the twenty shillings for the price; find me +out the latter, and I will engage for the former.</p> + +<p>Your scheme for a tax for raising such a sum is all visionary, and owing +to a great want of knowledge in the miserable state of this nation. Tea, +coffee, sugar, spices, wine, and foreign clothes, are the particulars you +mention upon which this tax should be raised. I will allow the two first; +because they are unwholesome; and the last, because I should be glad if +they were all burned: but I beg you will leave us our wine to make us +awhile forget our misery, or give your tenants leave to plough for barley. +But I will tell you a secret, which I learned many years ago from the +commissioners of the customs in London: they said, when any commodity +appeared to be taxed above a moderate rate, the consequence was, to lessen +that branch of the revenue by one half; and one of those gentlemen +pleasantly told me, that the mistake of parliaments, on such occasions, +was owing to an error of computing two and two to make four, whereas, in +the business of laying impositions, two and two never made more than one; +which happens by lessening the import, and the strong temptation of +running such goods as paid high duties at least in this kingdom....</p> + +<p>You are concerned how strange and surprising it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> would be in foreign parts +to hear that the poor were starving in a <span class="smcaplc">RICH</span> country, &c. Are you in +earnest? Is Ireland the rich country you mean? Or are you insulting our +poverty? Were you ever out of Ireland? Or were you ever in it till of +late? You may probably have a good employment, and are saving all you can +to purchase a good estate in England.</p> + +<p>But by talking so familiarly of one hundred and ten thousand pounds, by a +tax upon a few commodities, it is plain you are either naturally or +affectedly ignorant of our present condition: or else you would know and +allow, that such a sum is not to be raised here, without a general excise; +since, in proportion to our wealth, we pay already in taxes more than +England ever did in the height of war. And when you have brought over your +corn, who will be the buyers?—most certainly not the poor, who will not +be able to purchase the twentieth part of it.</p> + +<p>Sir, upon the whole, your paper is a very crude piece, liable to more +objections than there are lines; but I think your meaning is good, and so +far you are pardonable.</p> + +<p>If you will propose a general contribution for supporting the poor in +potatoes and butter-milk till the new corn comes in, perhaps you may +succeed better, because the thing at least is possible; and I think if our +brethren<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> in England would contribute upon this emergency, out of the +million they gain from us every year, they would do a piece of justice as +well as charity. In the meantime, go and preach to your own tenants to +fall to the plough as fast as they can, and prevail with your neighbouring +squires to do the same with theirs; or else die with the guilt of having +driven away half the inhabitants, and starving the rest.</p> + +<p>But why all this concern for the poor? We want them not, as the country is +now managed; they may follow thousands of their leaders, and seek their +bread abroad. Where the plough has no work, one family can do the business +of fifty, and you may send away the other forty-nine. An admirable piece +of husbandry, never known or practised by the wisest nations, who +erroneously thought people to be the riches of a country!</p> + +<p>If so wretched a state of things would allow it, methinks I could have a +malicious pleasure, after all the warning I have in vain given the public, +at my own peril, for several years past, to see the consequences and +events answering in every particular. I pretend to no sagacity; what I +writ was little more than what I had discoursed to several persons, who +were generally of my opinion, and it was obvious to every common +understanding that such effects must needs follow from such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> causes—a +fair issue of things begun upon party rage, while some sacrificed the +public to fury, and others to ambition; while a spirit of faction and +oppression reigned in every part of the country, where gentlemen, instead +of consulting the ease of their tenants, or cultivating their lands, were +worrying one another upon points of Whig and Tory, of High Church and Low +Church, which no more concerned them than the long and famous controversy +of strops for razors: while agriculture was wholly discouraged, and +consequently half the farmers and labourers, and poorer tradesmen forced +to beggary or banishment. “Wisdom crieth in the streets: Because I have +called on you; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye +have set at nought all my counsels, and would none of my reproof; I also +will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh.”</p> + +<p>I have now done with your Memorial, and freely excuse your mistakes, since +you appear to write as a stranger, and as of a country which is left at +liberty to enjoy the benefits of nature, and to make the best of those +advantages which God has given it, in soil, climate, and situation.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> +<h2>MAXIMS CONTROLLED.</h2> + + +<p>The heading of this tract would imply that the theories of political +economy have no application to Ireland. Here he shows, one by one, how the +ordinary rules that guide us in regard to other nations are utterly +fallacious when applied to Ireland. What strikes us most in all these +tracts is the deliberate incisiveness of their irony, the despairing +bitterness that gives them finish and completeness.</p> + + +<p class="center"><span class="large"><br />MAXIMS CONTROULED IN IRELAND.</span></p> +<div class="note"> +<p class="center"><i>The Truth of Maxims in State and Government examined with reference to Ireland.</i></p> + +<p class="center">Written in 1724.</p></div> + +<p><br />There are certain maxims of State, founded upon long observation and +experience, drawn from the constant practice of the wisest nations, and +from the very principles of government, nor even controuled by any writer +on politics. Yet all these maxims do necessarily <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>presuppose a kingdom, or +commonwealth, to have the same natural rights common to the rest of +mankind, who have entered into civil society; for if we could conceive a +nation where each of the inhabitants had but one eye, one leg, and one +hand, it is plain, before you could institute them into a republic, that +an allowance must be made for those material defects wherein they differed +from other mortals. Or, imagine a legislature forming a system for the +government of bedlam, and, proceeding upon the maxim that man is a +sociable animal, should draw them out of their cells, and form them into +corporations or general assemblies; the consequence might probably be that +they would fall foul on each other, or burn the house over their own +heads.</p> + +<p>Of the like nature are innumerable errors committed by crude and short +thinkers, who reason upon general topics, without the least allowance for +the most important circumstances, which quite alter the nature of the +case.</p> + +<p>This has been the fate of those small dealers who are every day publishing +their thoughts, either on paper or in their assemblies, for improving the +trade of Ireland, and referring us to the practice and example of England, +Holland, France, or other nations.</p> + +<p>I shall, therefore, examine certain maxims of government,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> which generally +pass for uncontrouled in the world, and consider how far they will suit +with the present condition of this kingdom. First, It is affirmed by wise +men that the dearness of things necessary for life, in a fruitful country, +is a certain sign of wealth and great commerce; for when such necessaries +are dear, it must absolutely follow that money is cheap and plentiful.</p> + +<p>But this is manifestly false in Ireland, for the following reason. Some +years ago, the species of money here did probably amount to six or seven +hundred thousand pounds; and I have good cause to believe that our +remittances then did not much exceed the cash brought in to us. But, by +the prodigious discouragements we have since received in every branch of +our trade, by the frequent enforcement and rigorous execution of the +Navigation-act—the tyranny of under custom-house officers—the yearly +addition of absentees—the payments to regiments abroad, to civil and +military officers residing in England—the unexpected sudden demands of +great sums from the treasury—and some other drains of perhaps as great +consequence—we now see ourselves reduced to a state (since we have no +friends) of being pitied by our enemies; at least, if our enemies were of +such a kind as to be capable of any regard towards us except of hatred and +contempt.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>Forty years are now passed since the Revolution, when the contention of +the British Empire was, most unfortunately for us, and altogether against +the usual course of such mighty changes in government, decided in the +least important nation; but with such ravages and ruin executed on both +sides, as to leave the kingdom a desert, which in some sort it still +continues.</p> + +<p>Neither did the long rebellions in 1641, make half such a destruction of +houses, plantations, and personal wealth, in both kingdoms, as two years’ +campaigns did in ours, by fighting England’s battles.</p> + +<p>By slow degrees, as by the gentle treatment we received under two +auspicious reigns,<a name='fna_27' id='fna_27' href='#f_27'><small>[27]</small></a> we grew able to live without running in debt.</p> + +<p>Our absentees were but few; we had great indulgence in trade, and a +considerable share in employments of Church and State; and while the short +leases continued, which were let some years after the war ended, tenants +paid their rents with ease and cheerfulness, to the great regret of their +landlords, who had taken up a spirit of opposition that is not easily +removed. And although in these short leases, the rent was gradually to +increase<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> after short periods, yet, as soon as the terms elapsed, the land +was let to the highest bidder, most commonly without the least effectual +clause for building or planting. Yet, by many advantages, which this +island then possessed, and has since utterly lost, the rents of land still +grew higher upon every lease that expired, till they have arrived at the +present exorbitance; when the frog, over-swelling himself, burst at last.</p> + +<p>With the price of land, of necessity rose that of corn and cattle, and all +other commodities that farmers deal in; hence likewise, obviously, the +rates of all goods and manufactures among shopkeepers, the wages of +servants, and hire of labourers. But although our miseries came on fast, +with neither trade nor money left; yet neither will the landlord abate in +his rent, nor can the tenant abate in the price of what the rest must be +paid with, nor any shopkeeper, tradesman, or labourer live, at lower +expense for food and clothing, than he did before.</p> + +<p>I have been the larger upon this first head, because the same observations +will clear up and strengthen a good deal of what I shall affirm upon the +rest.</p> + +<p>The second maxim of those who reason upon trade and government, is, to +assert that low interest is a certain sign of great plenty of money in a +nation, for which, as in many other articles, they produce the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> examples +of Holland and England. But, with relation to Ireland, this maxim is +likewise entirely false.</p> + +<p>There are two reasons for the lowness of interest in any country. First, +that which is usually alleged, the great plenty of species; and this is +obvious. The second is, want of trade, which seldom falls under common +observation, although it be equally true, for, where trade is altogether +discouraged, there are few borrowers. In those countries where men can +employ a large stock, the young merchant, whose fortune may be four or +five hundred pounds, will venture to borrow as much more, and can afford a +reasonable interest. Neither is it easy, at this day, to find many of +those, whose business reaches to employ even so inconsiderable a sum, +except among the importers of wine, who, as they have most part of the +present trade in these parts of Ireland in their hands, so they are the +most exorbitant, exacting fraudulent dealers, that ever trafficked in any +nation, and are making all possible speed to ruin both themselves and the +nation.</p> + +<p>From this defect of gentlemen’s not knowing how to dispose of their ready +money, arises the high purchase of land, which in all other countries is +reckoned a sign of wealth. For, the frugal squires, who live below their +incomes, have no other way to dispose of their savings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> but by mortgage or +purchase, by which the rates of land must naturally increase; and if this +trade continues long, under the uncertainty of rents, the landed men of +ready money will find it more for their advantage to send their cash to +England, and place it in the funds; which I myself am determined to do, +the first considerable sum I shall be master of.</p> + +<p>It has likewise been a maxim among politicians, “That the great increase +of buildings in the metropolis, argues a flourishing state.” But this, I +confess, has been controuled from the example of London; when, by the long +and annual parliamentary session, such a number of senators with their +families, friends, adherents, and expectants, draw such prodigious numbers +to that city, that the old hospitable custom of lords and gentlemen living +in their ancient seats among their tenants, is almost lost in England; is +laughed out of doors; insomuch that, in the middle of summer, a legal +House of Lords and Commons might be brought in a few hours to London, from +their country villas within twelve miles round.</p> + +<p>The case in Ireland is yet somewhat worse: for the absentees of great +estates, who, if they lived at home, would have many rich retainers in +their neighbourhoods, have learned to rack their lands, and shorten their +leases,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> as much as any residing squire; and the few remaining of those +latter, having some vain hope of employments for themselves, or their +children, and discouraged by the beggarliness and thievery of their own +miserable farmers and cottagers, or seduced by the vanity of their wives, +on pretence of their children’s education (whereof the fruits are so +apparent), together with that most wonderful, and yet more unaccountable +zeal, for a seat in their assembly, though at some years’ purchase of +their whole, estates: these, and some other motives, have drawn such +concourse to this beggarly city, that the dealers of the several branches +of building have found out all the commodious and inviting places for +erecting new houses; while fifteen hundred of the old ones, which is a +seventh part of the whole city, are said to be left uninhabited, and +falling to ruin. Their method is the same with that which was first +introduced by Dr. Barebone at London, who died a bankrupt. The mason, the +bricklayer, the carpenter, the slater, and the glazier, take a lot of +ground, club to build one or more houses, unite their credit, their stock, +and their money; and when their work is finished sell it to the best +advantage they can. But, as it often happens, and more every day, that +their fund will not answer half their design, they are forced to undersell +it at the first story, and are all reduced to beggary. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>Insomuch, that I +know a certain fanatic brewer, who is reported to have some hundreds of +houses in this town, is said to have purchased the greatest part of them +at half value from ruined undertakers; has intelligence of all new houses +where the finishing is at a stand, takes advantage of the builders’ +distress, and, by the advantage of ready money, gets fifty <i>per cent.</i> at +least for his bargain.</p> + +<p>It is another undisputed maxim in government, “That people are the riches +of a nation;” which is so universally granted, that it will be hardly +pardonable to bring it into doubt. And I will grant it to be so far true, +even in this island, that if we had the African custom, or privilege, of +selling our useless bodies for slaves to foreigners, it would be the most +useful branch of our trade, by ridding us of a most unsupportable burden, +and bringing us money in the stead. But, in our present situation, at +least five children in six who are born, lie a dead weight upon us, for +want of employment. And a very skilful computer assured me, that above one +half of the souls in this kingdom supported themselves by begging and +thievery; two-thirds whereof would be able to get their bread in any other +country upon earth. Trade is the only incitement to labour; where that +fails, the poorer native must either beg, steal or starve, or be forced to +quit his country. This has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> made me often wish, for some years past, that +instead of discouraging our people from seeking foreign soil, the public +would rather pay for transporting all our unnecessary mortals, whether +Papists or Protestants, to America; as drawbacks are sometimes allowed for +exporting commodities, where a nation is overstocked. I confess myself to +be touched with very sensible pleasure, when I hear of a mortality in any +country parish or village, where the wretches are forced to pay for a +filthy cabin, and two ridges of potatoes, treble the worth; brought up to +steal or beg, for want of work; to whom death would be the best thing to +be wished for on account both of themselves and the public.</p> + +<p>Among all taxes imposed by the legislature, those upon luxury are +universally allowed to be the most equitable, and beneficial to the +subject; and the commonest reasoner on government might fill a volume with +arguments on the subject. Yet here again, by the singular fate of Ireland, +this maxim is utterly false; and the putting of it in practice may have +such a pernicious consequence, as, I certainly believe, the thoughts of +proposers were not able to reach.</p> + +<p>The miseries we suffer by our absentees, are of a far more extensive +nature than seems to be commonly understood. I must vindicate myself to +the reader so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> far, as to declare solemnly, that what I shall say of those +lords and squires, does not arise from the least regard I have for their +understandings, their virtues, or their persons: for, although I have not +the honour of the least acquaintance with any one among them (my ambition +not soaring so high), yet I am too good a witness of the situation they +have been in for thirty years past; the veneration paid them by the +people, the high esteem they are in among the prime nobility and gentry, +the particular marks of favour and distinction they receive from the +Court; the weight and consequence of their interest, added to their great +zeal and application for preventing any hardships their country might +suffer from England, wisely considering that their own fortunes and +honours were embarked in the same bottom.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> +<h2>A SHORT VIEW OF THE STATE OF IRELAND, 1727.</h2> + + +<p>Here, Swift catalogues in regular order the possible adjuncts and +conditions of prosperity, and shows how the very negative of each is +present in Ireland. “If we flourish, it is against every law of nature and +reason: like the thorn of Glastonbury, which blossoms in the midst of +winter.” He draws a fanciful picture of what Ireland might seem to a +stranger, favoured as she is by nature; but breaks from it in despair. All +his tracts have one end and aim: “Be independent.” Law cannot help; theory +is futile; English selfishness is great. Whatever you get will be by +self-assertion and by that alone. Swift was acquainted with the current +nostrums, which he despised. He saw the evil lay deeper, and that it could +be cured only by giving to Ireland the motive power of independence. He +kindled her energy by plain bald statements, withering sarcasm, derisive +scorn, and the fiercest indignation. The sarcasm and indignation are for +the English selfishness; the scorn for Irish imbecility and weakness.</p> + + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><i>A Short View of the State of Ireland, 1727.</i></p> + +<p>I am assured, that it has for some time been practised as a method of +making men’s court, when they are asked about the rate of lands, the +abilities of the tenants, the state of trade and manufacture in this +kingdom, and how their rents are paid; to answer, that in their +neighbourhood all things are in a flourishing condition, the rent and +purchase of land every day increasing. And if a gentleman happen to be a +little more sincere in his representation, besides being looked on as not +well-affected, he is sure to have a dozen contradictors at his elbow. I +think it is no manner of secret, why these questions are so cordially +asked, or so obligingly answered.</p> + +<p>But since, with regard to the affairs of this kingdom, I have been using +all endeavours to subdue my indignation, to which indeed I am not provoked +by any personal interest, not being the owner of one spot of ground in the +whole island; I shall only enumerate, by rules generally known, and never +contradicted, what are the true causes of any country’s flourishing and +growing rich; and then examine what effects arise from those causes in the +kingdom of Ireland.</p> + +<p>The first cause of a kingdom’s thriving is, the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>fruitfulness of the soil +to produce the necessaries and conveniences of life; not only sufficient +for the inhabitants, but for exportation into other countries.</p> + +<p>The second is, the industry of the people, in working up all their native +commodities to the last degree of manufacture.</p> + +<p>The third is, the conveniency of safe ports and havens, to carry out their +own goods as much manufactured, and bring in those of others as little +manufactured as the nature of mutual commerce will allow.</p> + +<p>The fourth is, that the natives should, as much as possible, export and +import their goods in vessels of their own timber, made in their own +country.</p> + +<p>The fifth is, the privilege of a free trade in all foreign countries which +will permit them, except those who are in war with their own prince or +State.</p> + +<p>The sixth is, by being governed only by laws made with their own consent; +for otherwise they are not a free people. And therefore all appeals for +justice, or applications for favour or preferment, to another country, are +so many grievous impoverishments.</p> + +<p>The seventh is, by improvement of land, encouragement of agriculture, and +thereby increasing the number of their people; without which any country, +however blessed by nature, must continue poor.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>The eighth is, the residence of the prince, or chief administrator of the +civil power.</p> + +<p>The ninth is, the concourse of foreigners, for education, curiosity, or +pleasure, or as to a general mart of trade.</p> + +<p>The tenth is, by disposing all offices of honour, profit, or trust, only +to the natives; or at least with very few exceptions, where strangers have +long inhabited the country, and are supposed to understand and regard the +interests of it as their own.</p> + +<p>The eleventh is, when the rents of land and profits of employment are +spent in the country which produced them, and not in another; the former +of which will certainly happen where the love of our native country +prevails.</p> + +<p>The twelfth is, by the public revenues being all spent and employed at +home, except on the occasions of a foreign war.</p> + +<p>The thirteenth is, where the people are not obliged unless they find it +for their own interest or conveniency, to receive any moneys, except of +their own coinage by a public mint, after the manner of all civilized +nations.</p> + +<p>The fourteenth is, a disposition of the people of a country to wear their +own manufactures, and import as few incitements to luxury, either in +clothes, furniture,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> food, or drink, as they can possibly live +conveniently without.</p> + +<p>There are many other causes of a nation’s thriving, which I at present +cannot recollect; but without advantage from at least some of these, after +turning my thoughts a long time, I am not able to discover whence our +wealth proceeds, and therefore would gladly be better informed. In the +meantime, I will here examine what share falls to Ireland of these causes, +or of the effects and consequences.</p> + +<p>It is not my intention to complain, but barely to relate facts; and the +matter is not of small importance. For it is allowed, that a man who lives +in a solitary house, far from help, is not wise in endeavouring to acquire +in the neighbourhood the reputation of being rich; because those who come +for gold, will go off with pewter and brass, rather than return empty: and +in the common practice of the world, those who possess most wealth, make +the least parade; which they leave to others, who have nothing else to +bear them out in showing their faces on the Exchange.</p> + +<p>As to the first cause of a nation’s riches, being the fertility of the +soil, as well as temperature of the climate, we have no reason to +complain; for, although the quantity of unprofitable land in this kingdom, +reckoning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> bog and rock and barren mountain, be double in proportion to +what it is in England; yet the native productions, which both kingdoms +deal in, are very near on an equality in point of goodness, and might, +with the same encouragement, be as well manufactured. I except mines and +minerals; in some of which, however, we are only defective in point of +skill and industry. In the second, which is the industry of the people, +our misfortune is not altogether owing to our own fault, but to a million +of discouragements.</p> + +<p>The conveniency of ports and havens, which nature has bestowed so +liberally on this kingdom, is of no more use to us than a beautiful +prospect to a man shut up in a dungeon.</p> + +<p>As to shipping of its own, Ireland is so utterly unprovided, that of all +the excellent timber cut down within these fifty or sixty years, it can +hardly be said that the nation has received the benefit of one valuable +house to dwell in, or one ship to trade with. Ireland is the only kingdom +I ever heard or read of, either in ancient or modern story, which was +denied the liberty of exporting their native commodities and manufactures +wherever they pleased, except to countries at war with their own prince or +State: yet this privilege, by the superiority of mere power, is refused us +in the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> momentous parts of commerce; besides an act of navigation, to +which we never consented, pinned down upon us, and rigorously executed; +and a thousand other unexampled circumstances, as grievous as they are +invidious to mention. To go on to the rest. It is too well known, that we +are forced to obey some laws we never consented to; which is a condition I +must not call by its true uncontroverted name, for fear of Lord Chief +Justice Whitshed’s ghost, with his <i>Libertas et natale solum</i> written for +a motto on his coach, as it stood at the door of the court, while he was +perjuring himself to betray both. Thus we are in the condition of +patients, who have physic sent them by doctors at a distance, strangers to +their constitution and the nature of their disease....</p> + +<p>As to the improvement of land, those few who attempt that or planting, +through covetousness, or want of skill, generally leave things worse than +they were; neither succeeding in trees nor hedges; and, by running into +the fancy of grazing, after the manner of the Scythians, are every day +depopulating the country.</p> + +<p>We are so far from having a king to reside among us, that even the viceroy +is generally absent four-fifths of his time in the government.</p> + +<p>No strangers from other countries make this a part<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> of their travels; +where they can expect to see nothing but scenes of misery and desolation.</p> + +<p>Those who have the misfortune to be born here, have the least title to any +considerable employment; to which they are seldom preferred, but upon a +political consideration. One-third part of the rents of Ireland is spent +in England; which, with the profit of employments, pensions, appeals, +journeys of pleasure or health, education at the Inns of Court and both +Universities, remittances at pleasure, the pay of all superior officers in +the army, and other incidents, will amount to a full half of the income of +the whole kingdom, all clear profit to England.</p> + +<p>We are denied the liberty of coining gold, silver, or even copper. In the +Isle of Man they coin their own silver; every petty prince, vassal to the +Emperor, can coin what money he pleases. And in this, as in most of the +articles already mentioned, we are an exception to all other states and +monarchies that were ever known in the world.</p> + +<p>As to the last, or fourteenth article, we take special care to act +diametrically contrary to it in the whole course of our lives. Both sexes, +but especially the women, despise and abhor to wear any of their own +manufactures, even those which are better made than in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> other countries; +particularly a sort of silk plaid, through which the workmen are forced to +run a kind of gold thread, that it may pass for Indian.</p> + +<p>Even ale and potatoes are imported from England, as well as corn; and our +foreign trade is little more than importation of French wine, for which I +am told we pay ready money.</p> + +<p>Now, if all this be true (upon which I could easily enlarge), I should be +glad to know, by what secret method it is that we grow a rich and +flourishing people, without liberty, trade, manufactures, inhabitants, +money, or the privilege of coining; without industry, labour, or +improvement of land; and with more than half the rent and profits of the +whole kingdom annually exported, for which we receive not a single +farthing; and to make up all this, nothing worth mentioning, except the +linen of the North, a trade, casual, corrupted, and at mercy; and some +butter from Cork. If we do flourish, it must be against every law of +nature and reason; like the thorn at Glastonbury, that blossoms in the +midst of winter....</p> + +<p>There is not one argument used to prove the riches of Ireland, which is +not a logical demonstration of its poverty. The rise of our rents is +squeezed out of the very blood, and vitals, and clothes, and dwellings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> of +the tenants, who live worse than English beggars. The lowness of interest, +in all other countries a sign of wealth, is in us a proof of misery; there +being no trade to employ any borrower. Hence alone comes the dearness of +land, since the savers have no other way to lay out their money; hence the +dearness of necessaries of life; because the tenants cannot afford to pay +such extravagant rates for land (which they must take, or go a’begging), +without raising the price of cattle and of corn, although themselves +should live upon chaff. Hence our increase of building in this city; +because workmen have nothing to do but to employ one another, and one half +of them are infallibly undone. Hence the daily increase of bankers, who +may be a necessary evil in a trading country, but so ruinous in ours; who, +for their private advantage, have sent away all our silver, and one-third +of our gold; so that within three years past the running cash of the +nation, which was about five hundred thousand pounds, is now less than +two, and must daily diminish, unless we have liberty to coin, as well as +that important kingdom the Isle of Man, and the meanest principality in +the German empire, as I before observed.</p> + +<p>I have sometimes thought, that this paradox of the kingdom’s growing rich +is chiefly owing to those worthy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> +gentlemen the <span class="smcaplc">BANKERS</span>; who, except some +custom-house officers, birds of passage, oppressive thrifty squires, and a +few others who shall be nameless, are the only thriving among us: and I +have often wished that a law were enacted to hang up half a dozen bankers +every year, and thereby interpose at least some short delay to the farther +ruin of Ireland.</p> + +<p>Ye are idle! ye are idle! answered Pharaoh to the Israelites, when they +complained to his Majesty that they were forced to make bricks without +straw.</p> + +<p>England enjoys every one of those advantages for enriching a nation which +I have above enumerated; and, into the bargain, a good million returned to +them every year without labour or hazard, or one farthing value received +on our side; but how long we shall be able to continue the payment, I am +not under the least concern. One thing I know, that, when the hen is +starved to death, there will be no more golden eggs. I think it a little +unhospitable, and others may call it a subtile piece of malice, that +because there may be a dozen families in this town able to entertain their +English friends in a generous manner at their tables, their guests upon +their return to England shall report that we wallow in riches and luxury.</p> + +<p>Yet I confess I have known an hospital, where all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> household officers +grew rich; while the poor, for whose sake it was built, were almost +starved for want of food and raiment.</p> + +<p>To conclude: If Ireland be a rich and flourishing kingdom, its wealth and +prosperity must be owing to certain causes, that are yet concealed from +the whole race of mankind; and the effects are equally invisible. We need +not wonder at strangers, when they deliver such paradoxes; but a native +and inhabitant of this kingdom, who gives the same verdict, must be either +ignorant to stupidity, or a man-pleaser, at the expense of all honour, +conscience, and truth.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE STORY OF THE INJURED LADY.</h2> + +<p class="center"><i>Written by herself, in a letter to her Friend; with his answer.</i></p> + + +<p><br /><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> + +<p>Being ruined by the inconstancy and unkindness of a lover, I hope a true +and plain relation of my misfortunes may be of use and warning to +credulous maids, never to put too much trust in deceitful men.</p> + +<p>A gentleman in the neighbourhood<a name='fna_28' id='fna_28' href='#f_28'><small>[28]</small></a> had two mistresses, another and +myself;<a name='fna_29' id='fna_29' href='#f_29'><small>[29]</small></a> and he pretended honourable love to us both. Our three houses +stood pretty near one another; his was parted from mine by a river,<a name='fna_30' id='fna_30' href='#f_30'><small>[30]</small></a> +and from my rival’s by an old broken wall.<a name='fna_31' id='fna_31' href='#f_31'><small>[31]</small></a> But before I enter into the +particulars of this gentleman’s hard usage of me, I will give a very just +and impartial character of my rival and myself.</p> + +<p>As to her person, she is tall and lean, and very <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>ill-shaped; she has bad +features, and a worse complexion. As to her other qualifies, she has no +reputation either for honesty, truth, or manners, and it is no wonder, +considering what her education has been. To sum up all, she is poor and +beggarly, and gets a sorry maintenance by pilfering wherever she comes.</p> + +<p>As for this gentleman, who is now so fond of her, she still bears him an +invincible hatred; reviles him to his face, and rails at him in all +companies. Her house is frequented by a company of rogues and thieves, and +pickpockets, whom she encourages to rob his hen-roosts, steal his corn and +cattle, and do him all manner of mischief.<a name='fna_32' id='fna_32' href='#f_32'><small>[32]</small></a> She has been known to come +at the head of these rascals, and beat her lover until he was sore from +head to foot, and then force him to pay for the trouble she was at. Once, +attended with a crew of ragamuffins, she broke into his house, turned all +things topsy-turvey, and then set it on fire. At the same time she told so +many lies among his servants that it set them all by the ears, and his +poor steward<a name='fna_33' id='fna_33' href='#f_33'><small>[33]</small></a> was knocked on the head; for which I think, and so does +all the country, that she ought to be answerable. To conclude her +character: she is of a different religion, being a Presbyterian of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +most rank and violent kind, and consequently having an inveterate hatred +to the Church; yet I am sure I have been always told, that in marriage +there ought to be a union of minds as well as of persons.</p> + +<p>I will now give my own character, and shall do it in few words, and with +modesty and truth. I was reckoned to be as handsome as any in our +neighbourhood, until I became pale and thin with grief and ill-usage. I am +still fair enough, and have, I think, no very ill features about me. They +that see me now will hardly allow me ever to have had any great share of +beauty; for, besides being so much altered, I go always mobbed and in an +undress, as well out of neglect, as indeed for want of clothes to appear +in. I might add to all this, that I was born to a good estate, although it +now turns to little account under the oppressions I endure, and has been +the true cause of all my misfortunes.</p> + +<p>Some years ago, this gentleman, taking a fancy either to my person or +fortune, made his addresses to me: which, being then young and foolish, I +too readily admitted. When he had once got possession, he began to play +the usual part of a too fortunate lover, affecting on all occasions to +show his authority, and to act like a conqueror. First, he found fault +with the government of my family, which, I grant was none of the best, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>consisting of ignorant, illiterate creatures, for at that time I knew but +little of the world. In compliance to him, therefore, I agreed to fall +into his ways and methods of living; I consented that his steward should +govern my house, and have liberty to employ an understeward,<a name='fna_34' id='fna_34' href='#f_34'><small>[34]</small></a> who +should receive his directions. My lover proceeded farther, turned away +several old servants and tenants, and supplying me with others from his +own house. These grew so domineering and unreasonable, that there was no +quiet, and I heard of nothing but perpetual quarrels, which, although I +could not possibly help, yet my lover laid all the blame and punishment +upon me; and upon every falling out still turned away more of my people, +and supplied me in their stead with a number of fellows and dependents of +his own, whom he had no other way to provide for. Overcome by love, and to +avoid noise and contention, I yielded to all his usurpations, and finding +it in vain to resist, I thought it my best policy to make my court to my +new servants, and draw them to my interests; I fed them from my own table +with the best I had, put my new tenants on the choice parts of my land, +and treated them all so kindly that they began to love me as well as their +master. In process<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> of time, all my old servants were gone, and I had not +a creature about me, nor above one or two tenants, but what were of his +choosing; yet I had the good luck, by gentle usage, to bring over the +greatest part of them to my side. When my lover observed this, he began to +alter his language; and to those who inquired about me, he would answer +that I was an old dependent upon his family, whom he had placed on some +concerns of his own; and he began to use me accordingly, neglecting, by +degrees, all common civility in his behaviour. I shall never forget the +speech he made me one morning, which he delivered with all the gravity in +the world. He put me in mind of the vast obligations I lay under to him in +sending me so many of his people for my own good, and to teach me manners: +that it had cost him ten times more than I was worth to maintain me; that +it had been much better for him if I had been burnt, or sunk to the bottom +of the sea; that it was reasonable I should strain myself as far as I was +able to reimburse him some of his charges; that from henceforward he +expected his word should be a law to me in all things; that I must +maintain a parish-watch against thieves and robbers, and give salaries to +an overseer, a constable, and others, all of his own choosing whom he +would send from time to time to be spies upon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> me; that, to enable me the +better in supporting these expenses, my tenants should be obliged to carry +all their goods across the river to his own town-market, and pay toll on +both sides, and then sell them at half value. But because we were a nasty +sort of people, and that he could not endure to touch anything that we had +a hand in, and, likewise, because he wanted work to employ his own folks, +therefore we must send all our goods to his market just in their +naturals—the milk immediately from the cow, without making into cheese or +butter; the corn in the ear; the grass as it was mowed; the wool as it +comes from the sheep’s back; and bring the fruit upon the branch, that he +might not be obliged to eat it after our filthy hands: that if a tenant +carried but a piece of bread and cheese to eat by the way, or an inch of +worsted to mend his stockings, he should forfeit his whole parcel: and +because a parcel of rogues usually plied on the river between us, who +often robbed my tenants of their goods and boats, he ordered a waterman of +his to guard them, whose manner was to be out of the way till the poor +wretches were plundered, then to overtake the thieves, and seize all as +lawful prize to his master and himself. It would be endless to repeat a +hundred other hardships he has put upon me; but it is a general rule, that +whenever he imagines the smallest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> advantage will redound to one of his +footboys by any new oppression of me and my whole family and estate, he +never disputeth it a moment. All this has rendered me so very +insignificant and contemptible at home, that some servants, to whom I pay +the greatest wages, and many tenants, who have the most beneficial leases, +are gone over to live with him, yet I am bound to continue their wages and +pay their rents; by which means one-third of my income is spent on his +estate, and above another third by his tolls and markets: and my poor +tenants are so sunk and impoverished, that instead of maintaining me +suitably to my quality, they can hardly find me clothes to keep me warm, +or provide the common necessaries of life for themselves.</p> + +<p>Matters being in this posture between me and my lover, I received +intelligence that he had been for some time making very pressing overtures +of marriage to my rival, until there happened to be some misunderstandings +between them. She gave him ill words, and threatened to break off all +commerce with him. He, on the other side, having either acquired courage +by his triumphs over me, or supposing her to be as tame a fool as I, +thought at first to carry it with a high hand, but hearing at the same +time that she had thought of making some private proposals to join with me +against him, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> doubting, with very good reason, that I would readily +accept them, he seemed very much disconcerted.<a name='fna_35' id='fna_35' href='#f_35'><small>[35]</small></a> This, I thought, was a +proper occasion to show some great example of generosity and love; and so, +without farther consideration, I sent him word, that hearing there was +likely to be a quarrel betwixt him and my rival, notwithstanding all that +had passed, and without binding him to any conditions in my own favour, I +would stand by him against her and all the world, while I had a penny in +my purse, or a petticoat to pawn. This message was subscribed by all my +chief tenants, and proved so powerful, that my rival immediately grew more +tractable upon it. The result of which was, that there is now a treaty of +marriage concluded between them,<a name='fna_36' id='fna_36' href='#f_36'><small>[36]</small></a> the wedding clothes are bought, and +nothing remains but to perform the ceremony, which is put off for some +days, because they design it to be a public wedding. And to reward my +love, constancy, and generosity, he has bestowed on me the office of being +sempstress to his grooms and footmen, which I am forced to accept or +starve.<a name='fna_37' id='fna_37' href='#f_37'><small>[37]</small></a> Yet, in the midst of this my situation, I cannot but have some +pity for this deluded man.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>For my part, I think, and so does all the country, too, that the man is +possessed; at least none of us are able to imagine what he can possibly +see in her, unless she has bewitched him, or given him some powder.</p> + +<p>I am sure I never sought this alliance, and you can bear me witness that I +might have had other matches; nay if I were lightly disposed, I could +still perhaps have offers, that some, who hold their heads higher, would +be glad to accept. But alas! I never had any such wicked thought; all I +now desire is, only to enjoy a little quiet, to be free from the +persecutions of this unreasonable man, and that he will let me manage my +own little fortune to the best advantage; for which I will undertake to +pay him a considerable pension every year, much more considerable than +what he now gets by his oppressions; for he must needs find himself a +loser at last, when he has drained me and my tenants so dry, that we shall +not have a penny for him or ourselves. There is one imposition of his I +had almost forgot, which I think unsufferable, and will appeal to you, or +any reasonable person, whether it be so or not. I told you before, that by +an old compact we agreed to have the same steward; at which time I +consented likewise to regulate my family and estate by the same method +with him, which he then showed me written down in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> form, and I approved +of. Now, the turn he thinks fit to give this compact of ours is very +extraordinary; for he pretends, that whatever orders he shall think fit to +prescribe for the future in his family, he may, if he will, compel mine to +observe them without asking my advice, or hearing my reasons.</p> + +<p>So that I must not make a lease without his consent, or give any +directions for the well-governing of my family, but what he countermands +whenever he pleases. This leaves me at such confusion and uncertainty, +that my servants know not when to obey me; and my tenants, although many +of them be very well-inclined, seem quite at a loss.</p> + +<p>But I am too tedious upon this melancholy subject, which however I hope +you will forgive, since the happiness of my whole life depends upon it. I +desire you will think awhile, and give your best advice what measures I +shall take with prudence, justice, courage, and honour, to protect my +liberty and fortune against the hardships and severities I lie under from +that unkind, inconstant man.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE ANSWER TO THE INJURED LADY.</h2> + + +<p><br /><span class="smcap">Madam</span>,</p> + +<p>I have received your ladyship’s letter, and carefully considered every +part of it, and shall give you my opinion how you ought to proceed for +your own security. But first I must beg leave to tell your ladyship, that +you were guilty of an unpardonable weakness the other day, in making that +offer to your lover of standing by him in any quarrel he might have with +your rival. You know very well, that she began to apprehend he had designs +of using her as he had done you; and common prudence might have directed +you rather to have entered into some measures with her for joining against +him, until he might at least be brought to some reasonable terms; but your +invincible hatred to that lady has carried your resentments so high, as to +be the cause of your ruin; yet if you please to consider, this aversion of +yours began a good while before she became your rival, and was taken up by +you and your family in a sort of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>compliment to your lover, who formerly +had a great abhorrence of her. It is true, since that time you have +suffered very much by her encroachments upon your estate,<a name='fna_38' id='fna_38' href='#f_38'><small>[38]</small></a> but she +never pretended to govern and direct you; and now you have drawn a new +enemy upon yourself; for I think you may count upon all the ill offices +she can possibly do you, by her credit with her husband; whereas, if, +instead of openly declaring against her, without any provocation, you had +but sat still awhile, and said nothing, that gentleman would have lessened +his severity to you out of perfect fear. This weakness of yours you call +generosity; but I doubt there was more in the matter: in short, madam, I +have good reasons to think you were betrayed to it by the pernicious +counsel of some about you; for to my certain knowledge, several of your +tenants and servants to whom you have been very kind, are as arrant +rascals as any in the country. I know the matters of fact, as you relate +them, are true, and fairly represented.</p> + +<p>My advice therefore is this: get your tenants together as soon as you +conveniently can, and make them agree to the following resolutions.</p> + +<p>First, that your family and servants have no dependence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> upon the said +gentleman, farther than by the old agreement, which obliges you to have +the same steward, and to regulate your household by such methods as you +should both agree to.</p> + +<p>Secondly, that you will not carry your goods to the market of his town, +unless you please, nor be hindered from carrying them anywhere else.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, that the servants you pay wages to shall live at home, or forfeit +their places.</p> + +<p>Fourthly, that whatever lease you make to a tenant, it shall not be in his +power to break it.</p> + +<p>If he will agree to these articles, I advise you to contribute as largely +as you can to all charges of parish and county.</p> + +<p>I can assure you, several of that gentleman’s ablest tenants and servants +are against his severe usage of you and would be glad of an occasion to +convince the rest of their error, if you will not be wanting to yourself.</p> + +<p>If the gentleman refuses these just and reasonable offers, pray let me +know it, and perhaps I may think of something else that will be more +effectual.</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;">I am,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">Madam,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 12em;">Your Ladyship’s, etc.</span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> +<h2>A LETTER TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF<br />DUBLIN,<a name='fna_39' id='fna_39' href='#f_39'><small>[39]</small></a> CONCERNING THE WEAVERS.</h2> + + +<p><br /><span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,</p> + +<p>The corporation of weavers in the woollen manufacture, who have so often +attended your Grace, and called upon me with their schemes and proposals, +were with me on Thursday last; when he who spoke for the rest, and in the +name of his absent brethren, said, “It was the opinion of the whole body, +that if somewhat was written at this time, by an able hand, to persuade +the people of this kingdom to wear their own woollen manufactures, it +might be of good use to the nation in general, and preserve many hundreds +of their trade from starving.”</p> + +<p>To which I answered, “That it was hard for any man of common spirit to +turn his thoughts to such speculations, without discovering a resentment, +which people are too delicate to bear.” For I will not deny to your Grace, +that I cannot reflect on the singular condition of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> this country, +different from all others upon the face of the earth, without some +emotion; and without often examining, as I pass the streets, whether those +animals which come in my way, with two legs and human faces, clad and +erect, be of the same species with what I have seen very like them in +England as to the outward shape, but differing in their notions, natures, +and intellectuals, more than any two kinds of brutes in the forest; which +any man of common prudence would immediately discover, by persuading them +to define what they meant by law, liberty, property, courage, reason, +loyalty, or religion.</p> + +<p>One thing, my lord, I am very confident of; that if God Almighty, for our +sins, would most justly send us a pestilence, whoever should dare to +discover his grief in public for such a visitation, would certainly be +censured for disaffection to the government; for I solemnly profess that I +do not know one calamity we have undergone these many years, which any +man, whose opinions were not in fashion, dared to lament, without being +openly charged with that imputation. And this is the harder, because +although a mother, when she has corrected her child, may sometimes force +it to kiss the rod, yet she will never give that power to the footboy or +the scullion.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>My lord, there are two things for the people of this kingdom to consider; +first, their present evil condition; and secondly, what can be done in +some degree to remedy it.... I am weary of so many abortive projects for +the advancement of trade; of so many crude proposals, in letters sent me +from unknown hands; of so many contradictory speculations, about raising +or sinking the value of gold and silver. I am not in the least sorry to +hear of the great numbers going to America, although very much for the +causes that drive them from us, since the uncontrolled maxim, “That people +are the riches of a nation,” is no maxim here under our circumstances. We +have neither manufactures to employ them about, nor food to support them. +If a private gentleman’s income be sunk irretrievably for ever, from a +hundred pounds to fifty, and he has no other method to supply the +deficiency; I desire to know, my lord, whether such a person has any other +course to take, than to sink half his expenses in every article of +economy, to save himself from ruin and a gaol.</p> + +<p>Is not this more than doubly the case of Ireland, where the want of money, +the irretrievable ruin of trade, with the other evils above-mentioned, and +many more too well known and felt, and too numerous or invidious to be +related, have been gradually sinking us, for above a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> dozen years past, to +a degree, that we are at least by two-thirds in a worse condition than was +ever known since the Revolution? Therefore, instead of dreams and projects +for the advancing of trade, we have nothing left but to find out some +expedient, whereby we may reduce our expenses to our incomes.</p> + +<p>Yet this procedure, allowed so necessary in all private families, and in +its own nature so easy to put in practice, may meet with strong opposition +by the cowardly slavish indulgence of the men, to the intolerable pride, +arrogance, vanity, and luxury of the women; who, strictly adhering to the +rules of modern education, seem to employ their whole stock of invention +in contriving new arts of profusion, faster than the most parsimonious +husband can afford: and, to compass this work the more effectually, their +universal maxim is, to despise and detest everything of the growth of +their own country, and most to value whatever comes from the very remotest +parts of the globe. And I am convinced that if the virtuosi could once +find out a world in the moon, with a passage to it, our women would wear +nothing but what directly came from thence. The prime cost of wine yearly +imported to Ireland is valued at thirty thousand pounds; and the tea +(including coffee and chocolate) at five times that sum. The laces, +silks,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> calicoes, and all other unnecessary ornaments for women, including +English cloths and stuffs, added to the former articles, make up (to +compute grossly) about four hundred thousand pounds. Now if we should +allow the thirty thousand pounds, wherein the women have their share, and +which is all we have to comfort us, and deduct seventy thousand pounds +more for over-reaching, there would still remain three hundred thousand +pounds, annually spent, for unwholesome drugs and unnecessary finery; +which prodigious sum would be wholly saved, and many thousands of our +miserable shopkeepers and manufacturers comfortably supported.</p> + +<p>Let speculative people bury their brains as they please, there is no other +way to prevent this kingdom from sinking for ever, than by utterly +renouncing all foreign dress and luxury.</p> + +<p>It is absolutely so in fact, that every husband of any fortune in the +kingdom, is nourishing a poisonous, devouring serpent in his bosom, with +all the mischief, but with none of its wisdom.</p> + +<p>If all the women were clad with the growth of their own country, they +might still vie with each other in the course of foppery; and still have +room left to vie with each other and equally show their wit and judgment, +in deciding upon the variety of Irish stuffs. And if they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> could be +contented with their native wholesome slops for breakfast, we should hear +no more of the spleen, hysterics, colics, palpitations, and asthmas. They +might still be allowed to ruin each other and their husbands at play, +because the money lost would circulate among ourselves.</p> + +<p>My lord, I freely own it a wild imagination, that any words will cure the +sottishness of men, or the vanity of women; but the kingdom is in a fair +way of producing the most effectual remedy, when there will not be money +left for the common course of buying and selling the very necessaries of +life in our markets, unless we absolutely change the whole method of our +proceedings.</p> + +<p>The corporation of weavers in woollen and silk, who have so frequently +offered proposals both to your Grace and to me, are the hottest and +coldest generation of men that I have known. About a month ago, they +attended your Grace, when I had the honour to be with you; and designed me +the same favour. They desired you would recommend to your clergy to wear +gowns of Irish stuffs which might probably spread the example among all +their brethren in the kingdom; and perhaps among the lawyers and gentlemen +of the university, and among the citizens of those corporations who appear +in gowns on solemn occasions. I then mentioned a kind of stuff, not above +eightpence a yard, which I heard had been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> contrived by some of the trade, +and was very convenient. I desired they would prepare some of that, or any +sort of black stuff, on a certain day, when your Grace would appoint as +many clergymen as could readily be found to meet at your palace; and there +give their opinions; and that your Grace’s visitation approaching, you +could then have the best opportunity of seeing what could be done in a +matter of such consequence, as they seemed to think, to the woollen +manufacture. But instead of attending, as was expected, they came to me a +fortnight after with a new proposal, that something should be written by +an acceptable and able hand, to promote in general the wearing of home +manufactures; and their civilities would fix that work upon me.</p> + +<p>I asked if they had prepared the stuffs, as they had promised, and your +Grace expected; but they had not made the least step in the matter, nor, +as it appears, thought of it more.</p> + +<p>I did, some years ago, propose to the masters and principal dealers in the +home-manufactures of silk and wool, that they should meet together; and, +after mature consideration, publish advertisements to the following +purpose:—</p> + +<p>“That in order to encourage the wearing of Irish manufactures in silk and +woollen, they gave notice to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> the nobility and gentry of the kingdom, that +they, the undersigned, would enter into bonds, for themselves and for each +other, to sell the several sorts of stuffs, cloths, and silks, made to the +best perfection they were able, for certain fixed prices; and in such a +manner, that if a child were sent to any of their shops, the buyer might +be secure of the value and goodness and measure of the ware; and, lest +this might be thought to look like a monopoly, any other member of the +trade might be admitted, upon such conditions as should be agreed on. And +if any person whatsoever should complain that he was ill-used, in the +value and goodness of what he bought, the matter should be examined, the +persons injured be fully satisfied by the whole corporation without delay, +and the dishonest seller be struck out of the society, unless it appeared +evidently that the failure proceeded only from mistake.”</p> + +<p>The mortal danger is, that if these dealers could prevail, by the goodness +and cheapness of their cloths and stuffs, to give a turn to the principal +people of Ireland in favour of their goods; they would relapse into the +knavish practice, peculiar to this kingdom, which is apt to run through +all trades, even so low as a common ale-seller; who, as soon as he gets a +vogue for his liquor, and outsells his neighbours, thinks his credit will +put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> off the worst he can buy till his customers will come no more. Thus, +I have known at London, in a general mourning, the drapers dye black all +their damaged goods, and sell them at double rates; then complain, and +petition the Court, that they are ready to starve by the continuance of +the mourning.</p> + +<p>Therefore, I say, those principal weavers who would enter into such a +compact as I have mentioned, must give sufficient security against all +such practices; for if once the women can persuade their husbands that +foreign goods, besides the finery, will be as cheap, and do more service, +our last state will be worse than the first.</p> + +<p>I do not here pretend to digest perfectly the method by which these +principal shopkeepers shall proceed, in such a proposal; but my meaning is +clear enough, and cannot be reasonably objected against.</p> + +<p>We have seen what a destructive loss the kingdom received by the +detestable fraud of the merchants, or northern linen weavers, or both; +notwithstanding all the cares of the governor of that board, when we had +an offer of commerce with the Spaniards for our linens to the value, as I +am told, of thirty thousand pounds a year. But, while we deal like +pedlars, we shall practise like pedlars, and sacrifice all honesty to the +present urging advantage.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>What I have said may serve as an answer to the desire made me by the +corporation of weavers, that I would offer my notions to the public. As to +anything farther, let them apply themselves to the Parliament in their +next session. Let them prevail on the House of Commons to grant one very +reasonable request; and I shall think there is still some spirit left in +the nation, when I read a vote to this purpose: “Resolved, <i>nemine +contradicente</i>, That this House will, for the future, wear no clothes but +such as are made of Irish growth, or of Irish manufacture, nor will permit +their wives or children to wear any other; and that they will, to the +utmost, endeavour to prevail with their friends, relations, dependents, +and tenants, to follow their example.” And if, at the same time, they +could banish tea and coffee, and china-ware, out of their families, and +force their wives to chat their scandal over an infusion of sage, or other +wholesome domestic vegetables, we might possibly be able to subsist, and +pay our absentees, pensioners, generals, civil officers, appeals, +colliers, temporary travellers, students, school boys, splenetic visitors +of Bath, Tunbridge, and Epsom, with all other smaller drains, by sending +our crude, unwrought goods to England, and receiving from thence, and all +other countries, nothing but what is fully manufactured, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> keep a few +potatoes and oatmeal for our own subsistence.</p> + +<p>I have been for a dozen years past wisely prognosticating the present +condition of this kingdom; which any human creature of common sense could +foretell, with as little sagacity as myself. My meaning is, that a +consumptive body must needs die, which has spent all its spirits, and +received no nourishment. Yet I am often tempted to pity, when I hear the +poor farmer and cottager lamenting the hardness of the times, and imputing +them either to one or two ill seasons, which better climates than ours are +more exposed to; or to scarcity of silver, which, to a nation of liberty, +would only be a slight and temporary inconvenience, to be removed at a +month’s warning.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span></p> +<h2>TWO LETTERS ON SUBJECTS RELATIVE TO<br />THE IMPROVEMENT OF IRELAND.</h2> + + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="large">I.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">To Messrs. Truman and Layfield.</span></p> + +<p><br /><span class="smcap">Gentlemen</span>,—</p> + +<p>I am inclined to think that I received a letter from you two, last summer, +directed to Dublin, while I was in the country, whither it was sent me; +and I ordered an answer to it to be printed, but it seems it had little +effect, and I suppose this will not have much more. But the heart of this +people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes +they have closed. And, gentlemen, I am to tell you another thing: that the +world is too regardless of what we write for public good; that after we +have delivered our thoughts, without any prospect of advantage, or of +reputation, which latter is not to be had but by subscribing our names, we +cannot prevail upon a printer to be at the charge of sending it into the +world<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> unless we will be at all or half the expense; and although we are +willing enough to bestow our labours, we think it unreasonable to be out +of pocket; because it probably may not consist with the situation of our +affairs.</p> + +<p>I do very much approve your good intentions, and in a great measure your +manner of declaring them; and I do imagine you intended that the world +should not only know your sentiments, but my answer, which I shall +impartially give.... Although your letter be directed to me, yet I take +myself to be only an imaginary person; for, although I conjecture I had +formerly one from you, yet I never answered it otherwise than in print; +neither was I at a loss to know the reasons why so many people of this +kingdom were transporting themselves to America.</p> + +<p>And if this encouragement were owing to a pamphlet written, giving an +account of the country of Pennsylvania, to tempt people to go thither, I +do declare that those who were tempted, by such a narrative, to such a +journey, were fools, and the author a most impudent knave; at least, if it +be the same pamphlet I saw when it first came out, which is about +twenty-five years ago, dedicated to William Penn (whom by a mistake you +call “Sir William Penn,”) and styling him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> by authority of the Scripture, +“Most noble Governor.” For I was very well acquainted with Penn, and did, +some years after, talk with him upon that pamphlet, and the impudence of +the author, who spoke so many things in praise of the soil and climate, +which Penn himself did absolutely contradict. For he did assure me, “That +this country wanted the shelter of mountains, which left it open to the +northern winds from Hudson’s Bay and the Frozen Sea, which destroyed all +plantations of trees, and was even pernicious to all common vegetables.” +But, indeed, New York, Virginia, and other parts less northward, or more +defended by mountains, are described as excellent countries; but upon what +conditions of advantage foreigners go thither, I am yet to seek. What +evils our people avoid by running from hence, is easier to be determined. +They conceive themselves to live under the tyranny of most cruel exacting +landlords, who have no views farther than increasing their rent-rolls. +Secondly, you complain of the want of trade, whereof you seem not to know +the reason. Thirdly, you lament most justly the money spent by absentees +in England. Fourthly, you complain that your linen manufacture declines. +Fifthly, that your tithe collectors oppress you. Sixthly, that your +children have no hopes of preferment in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> church, the revenue, or the +army; to which you might have added the law, and all civil employments +whatsoever. Seventhly, you are undone for want of silver, and want all +other money.</p> + +<p>I could easily add some other motives, which, to men of spirit, who desire +and expect, and think they deserve the common privileges of human nature, +would be of more force, than any you have yet named, to drive them out of +this kingdom. But as these speculations may probably not much affect the +brains of your people, I shall choose to let them pass unmentioned.... I +must confess to you both, that if one reason of your people’s deserting us +be the despair of things growing better in their own country, I have not +one syllable to answer; because that would be to hope for what is +impossible, and so I have been telling the public these ten years. For +there are events which must precede any such blessing; first, a liberty of +trade; secondly, a share of preferments in all kinds, equal to the British +natives; and thirdly, a return of those absentees, who take almost one +half of the kingdom’s revenue. As to the first and second, there is +nothing left us but despair; and for the third, it will never happen till +the kingdom has no money to send them; for which, in my own particular, I +shall not be sorry. The exactions of landlords has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> indeed been a +grievance of above twenty years’ standing. But as to what you object about +the severe clauses relating to the improvement, the fault lies wholly on +the other side; for the landlords, either by their ignorance, or +greediness of making large rent-rolls, have performed this matter so ill, +as we see by experience, that there is not one tenant in five hundred who +has made any improvement worth mentioning: for which I appeal to any man +who rides through the kingdom, where little is to be found among the +tenants but beggary and desolation; the cabins of the Scotch themselves, +in Ulster, being as dirty and miserable as those of the wildest Irish. +Whereas good firm penal laws for improvement, with a tolerable easy rent, +and a reasonable period of time, would, in twenty years, have increased +the rents of Ireland at least a third part of the intrinsic value. I am +glad to hear you speak with some decency of the clergy, and to impute the +exactions you lament to the managers or farmers of the tithes. But you +entirely mistake the fact; for I defy the most wicked and most powerful +clergyman in the kingdom to oppress the meanest farmer in the parish; and +I defy the same clergyman to prevent himself from being cheated by the +same farmer, whenever that farmer shall be disposed to be knavish or +peevish.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>For, although the Ulster tithing-teller is more advantageous to the clergy +than any other in the kingdom, yet the minister can demand no more than +his tenth; and where the corn much exceeds the small tithes, as, except in +some districts, I am told it always does, he is at the mercy of every +stubborn farmer, especially of those whose sect as well as interest +incline them to opposition. However, I take it that your people bent for +America do not show the best side of their prudence in making this one +part of their complaint; yet they are so far wise, as not to make the +payment of tithes a scruple of conscience, which is too gross for any +Protestant dissenter, except a Quaker, to pretend. But do your people +indeed think, that if tithes were abolished, or delivered into the hands +of the landlord, after the blessed manner in the Scotch spiritual economy, +the tenant would sit easier in his rent under the same person, who must be +lord of the soil and of the tithe together?</p> + +<p>I am ready enough to grant, that the oppression of landlords, the utter +ruin of trade, with its necessary consequences, the want of money, half +the revenues of the kingdom spent abroad, the continued dearth of three +years, and the strong delusion in your people by false allurement from +America, may be the chief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> motives of their eagerness after such an +expedition. But there is likewise another temptation, which is not of +inconsiderable weight; which is their itch of living in a country where +their sect is predominant, and where their eyes and consciences will not +be offended by the stumbling block of ceremonies, habits, and spiritual +titles. But I was surprised to find that those calamities, whereof we are +innocent, have been sufficient to drive many families out of their +country, who had no reason to complain of oppressive landlords. For, while +I was last year in the northern parts, a person of quality, whose estate +was let above twenty years ago, and then at a very reasonable rent, some +for leases of lives, and some perpetuities, did, in a few months, purchase +eleven of those leases at a very inconsiderable price, although they were, +two years ago, reckoned to pay but half value; whence it is manifest that +our present miserable condition, and the dismal prospect of worse, with +other reasons above assigned, are sufficient to put men upon trying this +desperate experiment of changing the scene they are in, although landlords +should, by a miracle, become less inhuman.</p> + +<p>There is hardly a scheme proposed for improving the trade of this kingdom, +which does not manifestly show the stupidity and ignorance of the +proposer, and I laugh<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> with contempt at those weak wise heads, who proceed +upon general maxims, or advise us to follow the examples of Holland and +England. These empirics talk by rote, without understanding the +constitution of the kingdom: as if a physician, knowing that exercise +contributed much to health, should prescribe to his patient under a severe +fit of the gout, to walk ten miles every morning. The directions for +Ireland are very short and plain: to encourage agriculture and home +consumption, and utterly discard all importations which are not absolutely +necessary for health or life. And how few necessaries, conveniences, or +even comforts of life, are denied us by nature, or not to be attained by +labour and industry! Are those detestable extravagances of Flanders lace, +English cloths made of our own wool, and other goods, Italian or Indian +silks, tea, coffee, chocolate, chinaware, and that profusion of wines, by +the knavery of merchants growing dearer every season, with a hundred +unnecessary fopperies, better known to others than me, are these, I say, +fit for us, any more than for the beggar who could not eat his veal +without oranges?</p> + +<p>Is it not the highest indignity to human nature, that men should be such +poltroons as to suffer the kingdom and themselves to be undone by the +vanity, the folly, the pride, and wantonness of their wives, who, under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +their present corruptions, seem to be a kind of animal, suffered, for our +sins, to be sent into the world for the destruction of families, +societies, and kingdoms, and whose whole study seems directed to be as +expensive as they possibly can, in every useless article of living; who, +by long practice, can reconcile the most pernicious foreign drugs to their +health and pleasure, provided they are but expensive, as starlings grow +fat with henbane; who contract a robustness by mere practice of sloth and +luxury; who can play deep several hours after midnight, sleep beyond noon, +revel upon Indian poisons, and spend the revenues of a moderate family to +adorn a nauseous, unwholesome, living carcase? Let those few who are not +concerned in any part of this accusation, suppose it unsaid; let the rest +take it among them. Gracious God, in His mercy, look down upon a nation so +shamefully besotted!...</p> + +<p>Is there any mortal who can show me, under the circumstances we stand with +our neighbours, under their inclinations towards us, under laws never to +be repealed, under the desolation caused by absentees, under many other +circumstances not to be mentioned, that this kingdom can ever be a nation +of trade, or subsist by any other method than that of a reduced family, by +the utmost parsimony?...</p> + +<p> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="large">II.</span></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Answer to several Letters sent from unknown Hands. 1729.</span></p> + +<p><br />I am very well pleased with the good opinion you express of me, and wish +it were any way in my power to answer your expectations, for the service +of my country. I have carefully read your several schemes and proposals, +which you think should be offered to Parliament. In answer, I will assure +you, that, in another place, I have known very good proposals rejected +with contempt by public assemblies, merely because they were offered from +without doors, and yours, perhaps, might have the same fate, especially if +handed to the public by me, who am not acquainted with three members, nor +have the least interest with one. My printers have been twice prosecuted, +to my great expense, on account of discourses I writ for the public +service, without the least reflection on parties or persons, and the +success I had in those of the Drapier, was not owing to my abilities, but +to a lucky juncture, when the fuel was ready for the first hand that would +be at the pains of kindling it. It is true, both those envenomed +prosecutions were the workmanship of a judge, who is now gone <i>to his own +place</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> But, let that be as it will, I am determined, henceforth never to +be the instrument of leaving an innocent man at the mercy of that bench. +It is certain there are several particulars relating to this kingdom (I +have mentioned a few of them in one of my Drapier’s letters), which it +were heartily to be wished that the Parliament would take under their +consideration, such as will no way interfere with England, otherwise than +to its advantage.</p> + +<p>The first I shall mention, is touched at in a letter which I received from +one of you, gentlemen, about the highways; which, indeed, are almost +everywhere scandalously neglected. I know a very rich man in this city, a +true lover and saver of his money, who, being possessed of some adjacent +lands, has been at great charge in repairing effectually the roads that +lead to them, and, has assured me that his lands are thereby advanced four +or five shillings an acre, by which he gets treble interest. But, +generally speaking, all over the kingdom the roads are deplorable, and, +what is more particularly barbarous there is no sort of provision made for +travellers on foot; no, not near the city, except in a very few places, +and in a most wretched manner: whereas the English are so particularly +careful in this point, that you may travel there a hundred miles with less +inconvenience than one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> mile here. But, since this may be thought too +great a reformation, I shall only speak of roads for horses, carriages, +and cattle.</p> + +<p>Ireland is, I think, computed to be one-third smaller than England; yet, +by some natural disadvantages, it would not bear quite the same proportion +in value, with the same encouragement. However, it has so happened, for +many years past, that it never arrived to above one-eleventh part in point +of riches, and of late, by the continual decrease of trade, and the +increase of absentees, with other circumstances not here to be mentioned, +hardly to a fifteenth part; at least, if my calculations be right, which I +doubt are a little too favourable on our side.</p> + +<p>Now, supposing day-labour to be cheaper by one half here than in England, +and our roads, by the nature of our carriages, and the desolation of our +country, to be not worn and beaten above one-eighth part so much as those +of England, which is a very moderate computation, I do not see why the +mending of them would be a greater burden to this kingdom than to that.</p> + +<p>There have been, I believe, twenty Acts of Parliament, in six or seven +years of the late King, for mending long tracts of impassable ways in +several counties of England, by erecting turnpikes, and receiving +passage-money in a manner that everybody knows.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>If what I have advanced be true, it would be hard to give a reason against +the same practice here; since the necessity is as great, the advantage, in +proportion, perhaps much greater, the materials of stone and gravel as +easy to be found, and the workmanship, at least, twice as cheap.</p> + +<p>Besides, the work may be done gradually, with allowances for the poverty +of the nation, by so many perch a-year; but with a special care to +encourage skill and diligence, and to prevent fraud in the undertakers, to +which we are too liable, and which are not always confined to those of the +meaner sort; but against these, no doubt, the wisdom of the nation may and +will provide. Another evil, which, in my opinion, deserves the public +care, is the ill management of the bogs; the neglect whereof is a much +greater mischief to this kingdom than most people seem to be aware of.</p> + +<p>It is allowed, indeed, by those who are esteemed most skilful in such +matters, that the red, swelling mossy bog, whereof we have so many large +tracts in this island, is not by any means to be fully reduced; but the +skirts, which are covered with a green coat, easily may, being not +accretion, or annual growth of moss, like the other.</p> + +<p>Now, the landlords are generally so careless as to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> suffer their tenants +to cut their turf in these skirts, as well as the bog adjoined; whereby +there is yearly lost a considerable quantity of land throughout the +kingdom, never to be recovered.</p> + +<p>But this is not the greatest part of the mischief; for the main bog, +although, perhaps, not reducible to natural soil, yet, by continuing +large, deep, straight canals through the middle, cleaned at proper times +as low as the channel or gravel, would become secure summer-pasture; the +margins might, with great profit and ornament, be filled with quickens, +birch, and other trees proper for such a soil, and the canals be +convenient for water-carriage of the turf, which is now drawn upon +sled-cars, with great expense, difficulty, and loss of time, by reason of +the many turf-pits scattered irregularly through the bog, wherein great +numbers of cattle are yearly drowned. And it has been, I confess, to me a +matter of the greatest vexation, as well as wonder, to think how any +landlord could be so absurd as suffer such havoc to be made.</p> + +<p>All the acts for encouraging plantations of forest-trees are, I am told, +extremely defective; which, with great submission, must have been owing to +a defect of skill in the contrivers of them. In this climate, by the +continual blowing of the west-south-west wind, hardly any tree of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> value +will come to perfection that is not planted in groves, except very rarely, +and where there is much land-shelter. I have not, indeed, read all the +acts; but, from inquiry, I cannot learn that the planting in groves is +enjoined. And as to the effects of these laws, I have not seen the least, +in many hundred miles’ riding, except about a very few gentlemen’s houses, +and even those with very little skill or success. In all the rest, the +hedges generally miscarry, as well as the larger, slender twigs planted +upon the tops of ditches, merely for want of common skill and care.</p> + +<p>I do not believe that a greater and quicker profit could be made, than by +planting large groves of ash a few feet asunder, which in seven years +would make the best kind of hop-poles, and grow in the same or less time +to a second crop from their roots.</p> + +<p>It would likewise be of great use and beauty in our desert scenes, to +oblige cottagers to plant ash or elm before their cabins, and round their +potato-gardens, where cattle either do not or ought not to come to destroy +them.</p> + +<p>The common objection against all this, drawn from the laziness, the +perverseness, or thievish disposition of the poor native Irish, might be +easily answered by showing the true reasons for such accusations, and how +easily those people may be brought to a less savage manner of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> life; but +my printers have already suffered too much for my speculations.</p> + +<p>However, supposing the size of a native’s understanding just equal to that +of a dog or a horse, I have often seen those two animals civilized by +rewards, at least as much as by punishments.</p> + +<p>It would be a noble achievement to abolish the Irish language in this +kingdom, so far at least as to oblige all the natives to speak only +English on every occasion of business, in shops, markets, fairs, and other +places of dealing: yet I am wholly deceived, if this might not be +effectually done in less than half an age, and at a very trifling expense; +for such I look upon a tax to be of only six thousand pounds a-year, to +accomplish so great a work. This would, in a great measure, civilize the +most barbarous among them, reconcile them to our customs and manner of +living, and reduce great numbers to the national religion, whatever kind +may then happen to be established.</p> + +<p>This method is plain and simple; and although I am too desponding to +produce it, yet I could heartily wish some public thoughts were employed +to reduce this uncultivated people from that idle, savage, beastly, +thievish manner of life, in which they continue sunk to such a degree, +that it is almost impossible for a country gentleman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> to find a servant of +human capacity, or the least tincture of natural honesty, or who does not +live among his own tenants in continual fear of having his plantations +destroyed, his cattle stolen, and his goods pilfered.</p> + +<p>The love, affection, or vanity of living in England, continuing to carry +thither so many wealthy families, the consequences thereof, together with +the utter loss of all trade, except what is detrimental, which has forced +such great numbers of weavers, and others, to seek their bread in foreign +countries; the unhappy practice of stocking such vast quantities of land +with sheep and other cattle, which reduces twenty families to one; those +events, I say, have exceedingly depopulated this kingdom for several years +past. I should heartily wish therefore, under this miserable dearth of +money, that those who are most concerned would think it advisable to save +a hundred thousand pounds a year, which is now sent out of this kingdom, +to feed us with corn. There is not an older or more uncontroverted maxim +in the politics of all wise nations, than that of encouraging agriculture; +and therefore, to what kind of wisdom a practice so directly contrary +among us may be reduced I am by no means a judge. If labour and people +make the true riches of a nation, what must be the issue where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> one part +of the people are forced away, and the other have nothing to do?</p> + +<p>If it should be thought proper by wiser heads, that his Majesty might be +applied to in a national way, for giving the kingdom leave to coin +halfpence for its own use, I believe no good subject will be under the +least apprehension that such a request could meet with refusal, or the +least delay. Perhaps we are the only kingdom upon earth, or that ever was +or will be upon earth, which did not enjoy that common right of civil +society, under the proper inspection of its prince or legislature, to coin +money of all usual metals for its own occasions. Every petty prince in +Germany, vassal to the Emperor, enjoys this privilege. And I have seen in +this kingdom several silver pieces, with the inscription of <span class="smcap">Civitas +Waterford</span>, <span class="smcap">Droghedagh</span>, and other towns.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE PRESENT MISERABLE STATE OF IRELAND.</h2> + + +<p>This letter was addressed to Sir Robert Walpole on Swift’s return to +Ireland in 1726 before his final rupture with the Premier the following +year. Swift endeavoured to combat the English prejudices of the minister +on the mode of managing Ireland, seeking the emancipation of his country +rather than personal advancement. Here he seems to assume the character of +the Drapier besides adding his initials.</p> + + +<p><br /><span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> + +<p>By the last packets I had the favour of yours, and am surprised that you +should apply to a person so ill-qualified as I am, for a full and +impartial account of the state of our trade. I have always lived as +retired as possible; I have carefully avoided the perplexed honour of +city-offices; I have never minded anybody’s business but my own; upon all +which accounts, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> several others, you might easily have found among my +fellow-citizens, persons more capable to resolve the weighty questions you +put to me than I can pretend to be. But being entirely at leisure, even at +this season of the year, when I used to have scarce time sufficient to +perform the necessary offices of life, I will endeavour to comply with +your requests, cautioning you not implicitly to rely upon what I say, +excepting what belongs to that branch of trade in which I am more +immediately concerned.</p> + +<p>The Irish trade is, at present, in the most deplorable condition that can +be imagined; to remedy it, the causes of its languishment must be inquired +into. But as those causes (you may assure yourself) will not be removed, +you may look upon it as a thing past hope of recovery.</p> + +<p>The first and greatest shock our trade received was from an act passed in +the reign of King William, in the Parliament of England, prohibiting the +exportation of wool manufactured in Ireland, an act (as the event plainly +shows) fuller of greediness than good policy; an act as beneficial to +France and Spain, as it has been destructive to England and Ireland. At +the passing of this fatal act, the condition of our trade was glorious and +flourishing, though no way interfering with the English;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> we made no +broadcloths above 6<i>s.</i> per yard; coarse druggets, bays and shalloons, +worsted damasks, strong draught-works, slight half-works, and gaudy +stuffs, were the only products of our looms: these were partly consumed by +the meanest of our people, and partly sent to the northern nations, from +which we had in exchange timber, iron, hemp, flax, pitch, tar, and hard +dollars. At the time the current money of Ireland was foreign silver, a +man could hardly receive 100<i>l.</i>, without finding the coin of all the +northern powers, and every prince of the empire among it.</p> + +<p>This money was returned into England for fine cloths silks, &c., for our +own wear, for rent, for coals, for hardware, and all other English +manufactures, and in a great measure supplied the London merchants with +foreign silver for exportation.</p> + +<p>The repeated clamours of the English weavers produced this act, so +destructive to themselves and us.</p> + +<p>They looked with envious eyes upon our prosperity, and complained of being +undersold by us in those commodities which themselves did not deal in. At +their instances the act was passed, and we lost our profitable northern +trade. Have they got it? No; surely you have found out they have ever +since declined in the trade they so happily possessed? You shall find (if +I am rightly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> informed) towns without one loom in them, which subsisted +entirely upon the woollen manufactory before the passing of this unhappy +bill; and I will try if I can give the true reasons for the decay of their +trade, and our calamities.</p> + +<p>Three parts in four of the inhabitants of that district of the town where +I dwell were English manufacturers, whom either misfortunes in trade, +little petty debts contracted through idleness, or the pressures of a +numerous family, had driven into our cheap country. These were employed in +working up our coarse wool, while the finest was sent into England. +Several of these had taken the children of the native Irish apprentices to +them, who being humbled by the forfeiture of upward of three millions by +the Revolution, were obliged to stoop to a mechanic industry. Upon the +passing of this bill, we were obliged to dismiss thousands of these people +from our service. Those who had settled their affairs returned home, and +overstocked England with workmen; those whose debts were unsatisfied went +to France, Spain, and the Netherlands, where they met with good +encouragement, whereby the natives, having got a firm footing in the +trade, being acute fellows, soon became as good workmen as any we have, +and supply the foreign<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> manufactories with a constant recruit of artisans; +our island lying much more under pasture than any in Europe. The +foreigners (notwithstanding all the restrictions the English Parliament +has bound us up with) are furnished with the greatest quantity of our +choicest wool. I need not tell you, sir, that a custom-house oath is held +as little sacred here as in England, or that it is common for masters of +vessels to swear themselves bound for one of the English wool-ports, and +unload in France or Spain. By this means the trade in those ports is, in a +great measure, destroyed, and we were obliged to try our hands at finer +works, having only our own consumption to depend upon; and I can assure +you we have, in several kinds of narrow goods, even exceeded the English, +and I believe we shall in a few years more, be able to equal them in +broadcloths; but this you may depend upon, that scarce the tenth part of +English goods are now imported, of what used to be before the famous act.</p> + +<p>The only manufactured wares we are allowed to export, are linen cloth and +linen yarn, which are marketable only in England; the rest of our +commodities are wool, restrained to England, and raw hides, skins, tallow, +beef, and butter. Now these are things for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> which the northern nations +have no occasion; we are therefore obliged, instead of carrying woollen +goods to their markets, and bringing home money, to purchase their +commodities.</p> + +<p>In France, Spain, and Portugal, our wares are more valuable, though it +must be owned, our fraudulent trade in wool is the best branch of our +commerce; from hence we get wines, brandy, and fruit, very cheap, and in +great perfection; so that though England has constrained us to be poor, +they have given us leave to be merry. From these countries we bring home +moydores, pistoles, and louisdores, without which we should scarce have a +penny to turn upon.</p> + +<p>To England we are allowed to send nothing but linen cloth, yarn, raw +hides, skins, tallow, and wool. From thence we have coals, for which we +always pay ready money, India goods, English woollen and silks, tobacco, +hardware, earthenware, salt, and several other commodities. Our +exportations to England are very much overbalanced by our importations; so +that the course of exchange is generally too high, and people choose +rather to make their remittances to England in specie, than by a bill, and +our nation is perpetually drained of its little running cash.</p> + +<p>Another cause of the decay of trade, scarcity of money,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> and swelling of +exchange, is the unnatural affectation of our gentry to reside in and +about London. Their rents are remitted to them, and spent there. The +countryman wants employment from them; the country shopkeeper wants their +custom. For this reason he can’t pay his Dublin correspondent readily, nor +take off a great quantity of his wares. Therefore the Dublin merchant +can’t employ the artisan, nor keep up his credit in foreign markets.</p> + +<p>I have discoursed some of these gentlemen, persons esteemed for good +sense, and demanded a reason for this, their so unaccountable +proceeding—expensive to them for the present, ruinous to their country, +and destructive to the future value of their estates—and find all their +answers summed up under three heads, curiosity, pleasure, and loyalty to +King George. The two first excuses deserve no answer; let us try the +validity of the third. Would not loyalty be much better expressed by +gentlemen staying in their respective counties, influencing their +dependents by their examples, saving their own wealth, and letting their +neighbours profit by their necessary expenses, thereby keeping them from +misery and its unavoidable consequence, discontent? Or is it better to +flock to London, be lost in a crowd, kiss the King’s hand, and take a view +of the royal family? The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> seeing of the royal house may animate their zeal +for it; but other advantages I know not. What employment have any of our +gentlemen got by their attendance at Court, to make up to them their +expenses? Why, about forty of them have been created peers, and a little +less than a hundred of them baronets and knights. For these excellent +advantages, thousands of our gentry have squeezed their tenants, +impoverished the trader, and impaired their own fortunes! Another great +calamity is the exorbitant raising of the rents of lands. Upon the +determination of all leases made before the year 1690, a gentleman thinks +he has but indifferently improved his estate if he has only doubled his +rent-roll. Farms are screwed up to a rack-rent—leases granted but for a +small term of years—tenants tied down to hard conditions, and discouraged +from cultivating the lands they occupy to the best advantage, by the +certainty they have of their rent being raised on the expiration of their +lease, proportionably to the improvements they shall make. Thus is honest +industry restrained; the farmer is a slave to his landlord; ’tis well if +he can cover his family with a coarse, home-spun frieze. The artisan has +little dealings with him; yet he is obliged to take his provisions from +him at an extravagant price, otherwise the farmer cannot pay his rent.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>The proprietors of lands keep great part of them in their own hands for +sheep-pasture; and there are thousands of poor wretches who think +themselves blessed, if they can obtain a hut worse than the squire’s +dog-kennel, and an acre of ground for a potato plantation, on condition of +being as very slaves as any in America. What can be more deplorable than +to behold wretches starving in the midst of plenty?</p> + +<p>We are apt to charge the Irish with laziness, because we seldom find them +employed; but then we don’t consider they have nothing to do.</p> + +<p>Sir William Temple, in his excellent remarks on the United Provinces, +inquires, why Holland, which has the fewest and worst ports and +commodities of any nation in Europe, should abound in trade, and Ireland, +which has the most and best of both, should have none? This great man +attributes this surprising accident to the natural aversion man has for +labour; who will not be persuaded to toil and fatigue himself for the +superfluities of life throughout the week, when he may provide himself +with all necessary subsistence by the labour of a day or two. But, with +due submission to Sir William’s profound judgment, the want of trade with +us is rather owing to the cruel restraints we lie under, than to any +disqualifications whatsoever in our inhabitants. I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> not, sir, for +these thirty years past, since I was concerned in trade (the greatest part +of which time distresses have been flowing in upon us), ever observed them +to swell so suddenly to such a height as they have done within these few +months. Our present calamities are not to be represented; you can have no +notion of them without beholding them. Numbers of miserable objects crowd +our doors, begging us to take their wares at any price, to prevent their +families from immediate starving. We cannot part with our money to them, +both because we know not when we shall have vent for our goods, and as +there are no debts paid, we are afraid of reducing ourselves to their +lamentable circumstances. The dismal time of trade we had during Marr’s +Troubles in Scotland, are looked upon as happy days when compared with the +present. I need not tell you, sir, that this griping want, this dismal +poverty, this additional woe, must be put to the accursed stocks, which +have desolated our country more effectually than England. Stock-jobbing +was a kind of traffic we were utterly unacquainted with. We went late to +the South Sea market, and bore a great share in the losses of it, without +having tasted any of its profits.</p> + +<p>If many in England have been ruined by stocks, some have been advanced. +The English have a free and open<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> trade to repair their losses; but, above +all, a wise, vigilant, and uncorrupted Parliament and ministry, +strenuously endeavouring to restore public trade to its former happy +state. Whilst we, having lost the greatest part of our cash, without any +probability of its returning, must despair of retrieving our losses by +trade, and have before our eyes the dismal prospect of universal poverty +and desolation.</p> + +<p>I believe, sir, you are by this time heartily tired with this indigested +letter, and are firmly persuaded of the truth of what I said in the +beginning of it, that you had much better have imposed this task on some +of our citizens of greater abilities. But perhaps, sir, such a letter as +this may be, for the singularity of it, entertaining to you, who +correspond with the politest and most learned men in Europe. But I am +satisfied you will excuse its want of exactness and perspicuity when you +consider my education, my being unaccustomed to writings of this nature, +and, above all, those calamitous objects which constantly surround us, +sufficient to disturb the clearest imagination, and the soundest judgment.</p> + +<p>Whatever cause I have given you, by this letter, to think worse of my +sense and judgment, I fancy I have given you a manifest proof that I am, +sir,</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 8em;">Your most obedient, humble servant,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">J. S.</span></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> +<h2>“A PROPOSAL FOR THE UNIVERSAL USE<br />OF IRISH MANUFACTURES.” 1720.</h2> + + +<p>The social condition of Ireland at the above period has been already +briefly described. When the landlord class were degraded and the tenantry +debased by the iniquitous laws of Charles II. and William III., which +suppressed the trade of the country, the oppressed people found in Swift a +mouthpiece for their wrongs. The above proposal was the voice of the +nation rendered articulate by his utterance. It proposes in effect a +reprisal on England for her restrictions, by a refusal to use anything +that comes thence. A confederation is to be formed, pledged to use nothing +that is not of Irish manufacture. Everything, he trusts, will be burned +that comes from England, except the people and the coals. Swift’s proposal +was faulty in political economy. Of this the age knew little, and Swift +cared less. The printer of this pamphlet was prosecuted. The Chief Justice +(Whitshed) sent back the jury nine times, and kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> them eleven hours +before they would consent to bring in a “special verdict.” The +unpopularity of the prosecution became so great that it was at last +dropped.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="smcap">A Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture</span>,</p> +<div class="note"> +<p class="center"><i>In clothes and furniture of houses, &c.</i></p> + +<p class="center">Utterly rejecting and renouncing everything wearable that comes from England. 1720.</p></div> + +<p><br />It is the peculiar felicity and prudence of the people in this kingdom, +that whatever commodities and productions lie under the greatest +discouragements from England, those are what they are sure to be most +industrious in cultivating and spreading.</p> + +<p>Agriculture, which has been the principal care of all wise nations, and +for the encouragement whereof there are so many statute laws in England, +we countenance so well, that the landlords are everywhere, by penal +clauses, absolutely prohibiting their tenants from ploughing;<a name='fna_40' id='fna_40' href='#f_40'><small>[40]</small></a> not +satisfied to confine them within certain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> limitations, as is the practice +of the English: one effect of which is already seen in the prodigious +dearness of corn, and the importation of it from London, as the cheaper +market. And because people are the riches of a country, and that our +neighbours have done, and are doing, all that in them lies to make our +wool a drug to us, and a monopoly to them; therefore, the politic +gentlemen of Ireland have depopulated vast tracts of the best land for the +feeding of sheep.</p> + +<p>I could fill a volume as large as the history of the Wise Men of Gotham, +with a catalogue only of some wonderful laws and customs we have observed +within thirty years past. It is true, indeed, our beneficial traffic of +wool with France has been our only support for several years, furnishing +us with all the little money we have to pay our rents, and go to market. +But our merchants assure me, this trade has received a great damp by the +present fluctuating condition of the coin in France; and that most of +their wine is paid for in specie, without carrying thither any commodity +from hence.</p> + +<p>However, since we are so universally bent upon enlarging our flocks, it +may be worth inquiring what we shall do with our wool, in case Barnstaple +should be overstocked, and our French commerce should fail.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>I could wish the Parliament had thought fit to have suspended their +regulation of church matters, and enlargements of the prerogative, until a +more convenient time, because they did not appear very pressing, at least +to the persons principally concerned; and, instead of these great +refinements in politics and divinity, had amused themselves and their +committees a little with the state of the nation. For example: What if the +House of Commons had thought fit to make a resolution, <i>nemine +contradicente</i>, against wearing any cloth or stuff in their families, +which were not of the growth and manufacture of this kingdom? What if they +had extended it so far as utterly to exclude all silks, velvets, calicoes, +and the whole lexicon of female fopperies; and declared, that whoever +acted otherwise should be deemed and reputed an enemy to the nation? What +if they had sent up such a resolution to be agreed to by the House of +Lords, and by their own practice and encouragement, spread the execution +of it in their several countries? What if we should agree to make burying +in woollen a fashion, as our neighbours have made it a law? What if the +ladies would be content with Irish stuffs for the furniture of their +houses, for gowns and petticoats for themselves and their daughters? Upon +the whole, and to crown all the rest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> let a firm resolution be taken, by +male and female, never to appear with one single shred that comes from +England, and let all the people say <span class="smcaplc">AMEN</span>.</p> + +<p>I hope and believe, that nothing could please his Majesty better than to +hear that his loyal subjects of both sexes in this kingdom celebrated his +birthday (now approaching) universally clad in their own manufacture. Is +there virtue enough left in this deluded people to save them from the +brink of ruin? If men’s opinions may be taken, the ladies will look as +handsome in stuffs as in brocades; and since all will be equal, there may +be room enough to employ their wit and fancy, in choosing and matching +patterns and colours.</p> + +<p>I heard the late Archbishop of Tuam mention a pleasant observation of +somebody’s, that Ireland would never be happy, till a law were made for +burning everything that came from England, except their people and their +coals.</p> + +<p>I must confess, that as to the former, I should not be sorry if they would +stay at home; and for the latter, I hope in a little time we shall have no +occasion for them.</p> + +<p class="poem">Non tanti mitra est, non tanti judicis ostrum—</p> + +<p>but I should rejoice to see a stay-lace from England<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> be thought +scandalous, and become a topic for censure at visits and tea-tables.</p> + +<p>If the unthinking shopkeepers in this town had not been utterly destitute +of common sense, they would have made some proposal to the Parliament, +with a petition to the purpose I have mentioned; promising to improve the +cloths and stuffs of the nation into all possible degrees of fineness and +colours, and engaging not to play the knave, according to their custom, by +exacting and imposing upon the nobility and gentry, either as to the +prices or the goodness.</p> + +<p>For I remember, in London, upon a general mourning, the rascally mercers +and woollen-drapers would in twenty-four hours raise their cloths and +silks to above a double price, and if the mourning continued long, then +come whining with petitions to the court, that they were ready to starve, +and their fineries lay upon their hands.</p> + +<p>I could wish our shopkeepers would immediately think on this proposal, +addressing it to all persons of quality and others; but, first, be sure to +get somebody who can write sense, to put it into form.</p> + +<p>I think it needless to exhort the clergy to follow this good example; +because, in a little time, those among them who are so unfortunate as to +have had their birth and education in this country, will think themselves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> +abundantly happy when they can afford Irish crape, and an Athlone hat; and +as to the others, I shall not presume to direct them. I have, indeed, seen +the present Archbishop of Dublin clad from head to foot in our own +manufacture; and yet, under the rose be it spoken, his Grace deserves as +good a gown as if he had not been born among us.</p> + +<p>I have not courage enough to offer one syllable on this subject to their +honours of the army; neither have I sufficiently considered the great +importance of scarlet and gold lace.</p> + +<p>The fable in Ovid of Arachne and Pallas is to this purpose.—The goddess +had heard of one Arachne, a young virgin, very famous for spinning and +weaving. They both met upon a trial of skill; and Pallas, finding herself +almost equalled in her own art, stung with rage and envy, knocked her +rival down, and turned her into a spider; enjoining her to spin and weave +for ever out of her own bowels, and in a very narrow compass.</p> + +<p>I confess, that, from a boy, I always pitied poor Arachne, and could never +heartily love the goddess, on account of so cruel and unjust a sentence; +which, however, is fully executed upon us by England, with farther +additions of rigour and severity; for the greatest part<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> of our bowels and +vitals is extracted, without allowing us the liberty of spinning and +weaving them.</p> + +<p>The Scripture tells us, that “oppression makes a wise man mad;” therefore, +consequently speaking, the reason why some men are not mad is because they +are not wise. However it were to be wished, that oppression would in time +teach a little wisdom to fools.</p> + +<p>I was much delighted with a person, who has a great estate in this +kingdom, upon his complaints to me, how grievously poor England suffers by +impositions from Ireland:—That we convey our wool to France, in spite of +all the harpies at the custom-house; that Mr. Shuttleworth and others, on +the Cheshire coast, are such fools to sell us their bark at a good price +for tanning our own hides into leather; with other enormities of the like +weight and kind. To which I will venture to add more:—That the mayoralty +of this city is always executed by an inhabitant, and often by a native, +which might as well be done by a deputy with a moderate salary, whereby +poor England loses at least one thousand pounds a-year upon the balance; +that the governing of this kingdom costs the Lord-Lieutenant three +thousand six hundred pounds a year—so much net loss to poor England; that +the people of Ireland presume to dig for coals on their own grounds; and +the farmers in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> the county of Wicklow send their turf to the very market +of Dublin, to the great discouragement of the coal trade of Mostyn and +Whitehaven; that the revenues of the post-office here, so righteously +belonging to the English treasury, as arising chiefly from our commerce +with each other, should be remitted to London clogged with that grievous +burden of exchange; and the pensions paid out of the Irish revenues to +English favourites, should lie under the same disadvantage, to the great +loss of the grantees. When a divine is sent over to a bishopric here, with +the hopes of five-and-twenty hundred pounds a year, and, upon his arrival, +he finds, alas! a dreadful discount of ten or twelve per cent.; a judge, +or a commissioner of the revenue, has the same cause of complaint.... +These are a few among the many hardships we put upon that poor kingdom of +England, for which, I am confident, every honest man wishes a remedy. And +I hear there is a project on foot for transporting our best wheaten straw, +by sea and land carriage, to Dunstable, and obliging us, by a law, to take +off yearly so many ton of straw hats, for the use of our women; which will +be a great encouragement to the manufacture of that industrious town.</p> + +<p>I should be glad to learn among the divines, whether a law to bind men +without their own consent be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> obligatory <i>in foro conscientiæ</i>; because I +find Scripture, Sanderson, and Suarez, are wholly silent on the matter. +The oracle of reason, the great law of nature, and general opinion of +civilians, wherever they treat of limited governments, are indeed decisive +enough.</p> + +<p>It is wonderful to observe the bias among our people in favour of things, +persons, and wares of all kinds, that come from England. The printer tells +his hawkers, that he has got an excellent new song just brought from +London. I have somewhat of a tendency that way myself; and, upon hearing a +coxcomb from thence displaying himself, with great volubility, upon the +park, the playhouse, the opera, the gaming ordinaries, it was apt to beget +in me a kind of veneration for his parts and accomplishments. It is not +many years since I remember a person, who, by his style and literature, +seems to have been the corrector of a hedge-press in some blind alley +about Little Britain, proceed gradually to be an author, at least a +translator of a lower rate, although somewhat of a larger bulk, than any +that now flourishes in Grub Street; and, upon the strength of this +foundation, come over here, erect himself up into an orator and +politician, and lead a kingdom after him. This, I am told, was the very +motive that prevailed on the author<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> of a play, called “Love in a Hollow +Tree,” to do us the honour of a visit; presuming, with very good reason, +that he was a writer of a superior class. I know another, who, for thirty +years past, has been the common standard of stupidity in England, where he +was never heard a minute in any assembly, or by any party, with common +Christian treatment; yet, upon his arrival here, could put on a face of +importance and authority, talk more than six, without either gracefulness, +propriety, or meaning, and, at the same time, be admired and followed as +the pattern of eloquence and wisdom.</p> + +<p class="center"><strong><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span></strong></p> + +<p>I would now expostulate a little with our country landlords; who, by +immeasurable screwing and racking their tenants all over the kingdom, have +already reduced the miserable people to a worse condition than the +peasants in France, or the vassals in Germany and Poland; so that the +whole species of what we call substantial farmers, will, in a very few +years, be utterly at an end. It was pleasant to observe these gentlemen +labouring, with all their might, for preventing the bishops from letting +their revenues at a moderate half value (whereby the whole order would, in +an age, have been reduced to manifest beggary), at the very instant when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> +they were everywhere canting<a name='fna_41' id='fna_41' href='#f_41'><small>[41]</small></a> their own land upon short leases, and +sacrificing their oldest tenants for a penny an acre advance.... I have +heard great divines affirm, that nothing is so likely to call down a +universal judgment from Heaven upon a nation as universal oppression; and +whether this be not already verified in part, their worships the +landlords, are now at full leisure to consider. Whoever travels this +country, and observes the face of nature, or the faces, and habits, and +dwellings of the natives, will hardly think himself in a land where law, +religion, or common humanity is professed. I cannot forbear saying one +word upon a thing they call a bank, which, I fear, is projecting in this +town.<a name='fna_42' id='fna_42' href='#f_42'><small>[42]</small></a> I never saw the proposals, nor understood any one particular of +their scheme. What I wish for at present, is only a sufficient provision +of hemp, and caps and bells, to distribute according to the several +degrees of honesty and prudence in some persons. I hear only of a +monstrous sum already named; and if others do not soon hear of it too, and +hear with a vengeance, then I am a gentleman of less sagacity than myself, +and very few beside myself, take me to be. And the jest will be still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> the +better if it be true, as judicious persons have assured me, that one half +of this money will be real, and the other half altogether imaginary. The +matter will be likewise much mended, if the merchants continue to carry +off our gold, and our goldsmiths to melt down our heavy silver.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> +<h2>A MODEST PROPOSAL. 1729.</h2> + + +<p>This came out when the people were starving in hundreds through famine, +and the dead were left unburied before their own doors. English +civilization was shamed by the sight. His sarcasm was never applied with +more deadly seriousness of purpose. There is no strain in the language +with which the state of matters is described: the very simplicity and +matter-of-fact tone that are assumed, make the description all the more +telling. With the calm deliberation of a statistician calculating the food +supply of the country, Swift brings forward his suggestion. No work of +Swift has been more grievously misunderstood. Some have esteemed it a +heartless piece of ridicule, a callous laugh raised out of abject misery. +The interpretation is as wrong as the Frenchman who took it as a grave and +practical suggestion, and who fancied that Swift in sober earnest proposed +that infants in Ireland should be used for food. In truth the ridicule is +but a thin disguise. From beginning to end, it is laden with grave and +torturing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> bitterness. Each touch, if calm and ghastly human, is added +with the gravity of a surgeon who probes a wound to the quick. There is +nothing like it in all literature.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br /><span class="smcap">A Modest Proposal</span></p> + +<div class="note"><p class="hang"><i>For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a +burden to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the public. 1729.</i></p></div> + +<p>It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town, or +travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin +doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or +six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms. +These mothers, instead of being able to work for an honest livelihood, are +forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their +helpless infants; who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for the want +of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in +Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes.</p> + +<p>I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of +children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, +and frequently of their fathers,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> is, in the present deplorable state of +the kingdom, a very great additional grievance; and, therefore, whoever +could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children +sound, useful members of the commonwealth, would deserve so well of the +public, as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation.</p> + +<p>But my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the +children of professed beggars; it is of a much greater extent, and shall +take in the whole number of infants at a certain age, who are born of +parents in effect as little able to support them, as those who demand +charity in our streets.</p> + +<p>As to my own part, having turned my thoughts for many years upon this +important subject, and maturely weighed the several schemes of our +projectors, I have always found them grossly mistaken in their +computation. It is true, a child, just dropped from its dam, may be +supported by her milk for a solar year, with little other nourishment; at +most, not above the value of two shillings, which the mother may certainly +get, or the value in scraps, by her lawful occupation of begging; and it +is exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them in such a +manner, as, instead of being a charge upon their parents, or the parish, +or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> shall, on +the contrary, contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of +many thousands....</p> + +<p>The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and +a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand +couple whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty +thousand couple, who are able to maintain their own children, (although I +apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the +kingdom); but this being granted, there will remain a hundred and seventy +thousand breeders. I again subtract fifty thousand for those women who +miscarry, or whose children die by accident or disease within the year. +There only remains a hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents +annually born. The question therefore is: How this number shall be reared +and provided for?—which, as I have already said, under the present +situation of affairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto +proposed. For we can neither employ them in handicraft or agriculture; we +neither build houses (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land; they can +very seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing, till they arrive at six +years old, except where they are of towardly parts; although I confess +they learn the rudiments much earlier; during<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> which time they can, +however, be properly looked upon only as probationers; as I have been +informed by a principal gentleman in the county of Cavan, who protested to +me, that he never knew above one or two instances under the age of six, +even in a part of the kingdom so renowned for the quickest proficiency in +that art.</p> + +<p>I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or girl before twelve years old +is no saleable commodity; and even when they come to this age, they will +not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and half-a-crown at most, on +the exchange; which cannot turn to account either to the parents or +kingdom, the charge of nutriment and rags having been at least four times +that value. I shall now, therefore, humbly propose my own thoughts, which +I hope will not be liable to the least objection.</p> + +<p>I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in +London, that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most +delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked +or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee +or a ragout.</p> + +<p>I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration, that of the +hundred and twenty thousand children already<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> computed, twenty thousand +may be reserved for breed. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a +year old, be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune through +the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in +the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A +child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the +family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, +and, seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on +the fourth day, especially in winter.</p> + +<p>I have reckoned, upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh twelve +pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, will increase to +twenty-eight pounds. I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and +therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured +most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children....</p> + +<p>I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggar’s child (in which +list I reckon all cottagers, labourers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to +be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no +gentleman would require to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good +fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent +nutritive meat, when he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> has only some particular friend, or his own +family to dine with him. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, +and grow popular among his tenants; and the mother will have eight +shillings net profit.</p> + +<p>Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess that times require) may flay +the carcass; the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable +gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen. As to our city of +Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose in the most convenient +parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although +I rather recommend buying the children alive, then dressing them hot from +the knife, as we do roasting pigs.</p> + +<p>A very worthy person, a true lover of his country, and whose virtue I +highly esteem, was lately pleased, in discoursing on this matter, to offer +a refinement upon my scheme. He said, that many gentlemen of this kingdom, +having of late destroyed their deer, he conceived that the want of venison +might be well supplied by the bodies of young lads and maidens, not +exceeding fourteen years of age, nor under twelve; so great a number of +both sexes in every country being now ready to starve for want of work and +service; and these to be disposed of by their parents, if alive, or +otherwise by their nearest relations. But, with due deference to so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +excellent a friend, and so deserving a patriot, I cannot be altogether in +his sentiments; for as to the males, my American acquaintance assured me, +from frequent experience, that their flesh was generally tough and lean +like that of our schoolboys, by continual exercise, and their taste +disagreeable; and to fatten them would not answer the charge; and besides, +it is not improbable that some scrupulous people might be apt to censure +such a practice (although indeed very unjustly), as a little bordering +upon cruelty; which, I confess, has always been with me the strongest +objection against any project, how well soever intended.</p> + +<p>But in order to justify my friend, he confessed that this expedient was +put into his head by the famous Psalmanazar, a native of the island +Formosa, who came from thence to London above twenty years ago; and in +conversation told my friend, that in his country, when any young person +happened to be put to death the executioner sold the carcass to persons of +quality as a prime dainty; and that in his time the body of a plump girl +of fifteen, who was crucified for an attempt to poison the emperor, was +sold to his imperial Majesty’s prime minister of state, and other great +mandarins of the court, in joints from the gibbet, at four hundred crowns.</p> + +<p>Neither indeed can I deny, that if the same use were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> made of several +plump young girls in this town, who without one single groat to their +fortunes, cannot stir abroad without a chair, and appear at playhouse and +assemblies in foreign fineries which they will never pay for, the kingdom +would not be the worse.</p> + +<p>Some persons of a desponding spirit are in great concern about that vast +number of poor people, who are aged, diseased, or maimed; and I have been +desired to employ my thoughts, what course may be taken to ease the nation +of so grievous an encumbrance. But I am not in the least pain upon that +matter, because it is very well known, that they are every day dying by +cold and famine, as fast as can be reasonably expected. And as to the +young labourers, they are now in almost as hopeful a condition: they +cannot get work, and consequently pine away for want of nourishment, to a +degree, that if at any time they are accidentally hired to common labour, +they have not strength to perform it; and thus the country and themselves +are happily delivered from the evils to come.</p> + +<p>I have too long digressed, and therefore shall return to my subject. I +think the advantages by the proposal which I have made, are obvious and +many, as well as of the highest importance.</p> + +<p>For first, it would greatly lessen the number of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> Papists, with whom we +are yearly overrun, being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as +our most dangerous enemies, and who stay at home on purpose to deliver the +kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of +so many good Protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country +than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an Episcopal +curate.</p> + +<p>Secondly, The poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, +which by law may be made liable to distress, and help to pay their +landlord’s rent; their corn and cattle being already seized, and money a +thing unknown.</p> + +<p>Thirdly, Whereas the maintenance of a hundred thousand children, from two +years old and upward, cannot be computed at less than ten shillings +a-piece per annum, the nation’s stock will be thereby increased fifty +thousand pounds per annum, beside the profit of a new dish introduced to +the tables of all gentlemen of fortune in the kingdom, who have any +refinement in taste. And the money will circulate among ourselves, the +goods being entirely of our own growth and manufacture.</p> + +<p>Fourthly, The constant breeders, besides the gain of eight shillings +sterling per annum by the sale of their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> children, will be rid of the +charge of maintaining them after the first year.</p> + +<p>Fifthly, This food would likewise bring great custom to taverns; where the +vintners will certainly be so prudent as to procure the best receipts for +dressing it to perfection, and, consequently, have their houses frequented +by all the fine gentlemen, who justly value themselves upon their +knowledge in good eating; and a skilful cook, who understands how to +oblige his guests, will contrive to make it as expensive as they please.</p> + +<p>Sixthly, This would be a great inducement to marriage, which all wise +nations have either encouraged by rewards, or enforced by laws and +penalties. It would increase, the care and tenderness of mothers towards +their children, when they were sure of a settlement for life to the poor +babes, provided in some sort by the public, to their annual profit or +expense. We should see an honest emulation among the married women, which +of them could bring the fattest child to the market....</p> + +<p>I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this +proposal, unless it should be urged that the number of people will be +thereby much lessened in the kingdom. This I freely own, and it was indeed +one principal design in offering it to the world. I desire the reader will +observe that I calculate my remedy for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> this one individual kingdom of +Ireland, and for no other that ever was, is, or, I think, ever can be, +upon earth. Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients: of taxing +our absentees at five shillings a pound; of using neither clothes, nor +household furniture, except what is our own growth and manufacture; of +utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign +luxury; of curing the expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming +in our women: of introducing a vein of parsimony, prudence, and +temperance; of learning to love our country, in the want of which we +differ even from Laplanders, and the inhabitants of Topinamboo; of +quitting our animosities and factions, nor acting any longer like the +Jews, who were murdering one another at the very moment their city was +taken; of being a little cautious not to sell our country and conscience +for nothing; of teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy +toward their tenants: lastly, of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, +and skill into our shopkeepers; who, if a resolution could now be taken to +buy only our negative goods, would immediately unite to cheat and exact +upon us in the price, the measure, and the goodness, nor could never yet +be brought to make one fair proposal of just dealing, though often and +earnestly invited to it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like +expedients, till he has at least some glimpse of hope that there will be +ever some hearty and sincere attempt to put them in practice.</p> + +<p>But as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering +vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of +success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal; which as it is wholly new, +so it has something solid and real, of no expense and little trouble, full +in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging +England. For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, the flesh +being of too tender a consistence to admit a long continuance in salt, +although perhaps I could name a country which would be glad to eat up our +whole nation without.</p> + +<p>After all, I am not so violently bent upon my own opinion as to reject any +offer proposed by wise men, which shall be found equally innocent, cheap, +easy, and effectual. But before something of that kind shall be advanced +in contradiction to my scheme, and offering a better, I desire the author +or authors will be pleased maturely to consider two points. First, as +things now stand, how they will be able to find food and raiment for a +hundred thousand useless mouths and backs. And, secondly, there being a +round million of creatures of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> human figure throughout this kingdom, whose +whole subsistence put into a common stock would leave them in debt two +millions of pounds sterling, adding those who are beggars by profession, +to the bulk of farmers, cottagers, and labourers, with the wives and +children who are beggars in effect. I desire those politicians who dislike +my overture, and may perhaps be so bold as to attempt an answer that they +will first ask the parents of these mortals, whether they would not at +this day think it a great happiness to have been sold for food at a year +old, in the manner I prescribe, and thereby have avoided a perpetual scene +of misfortunes, as they have since gone through, by the oppression of +landlords, the impossibility of paying rent without money or trade, the +want of common sustenance, with neither house nor clothes to cover them +from the inclemencies of the weather, and the most inevitable prospect of +entailing the like, or greater miseries, upon their breed for ever.</p> + +<p>I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least +personal interest in endeavouring to promote this necessary work, having +no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our +trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure +to the rich. I have no children by which I can propose to get a single +penny; the youngest being nine years old and my wife past child-bearing.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> +<h2>A CHARACTER, PANEGYRIC, AND DESCRIPTION<br />OF THE LEGION CLUB, 1736.</h2> + + +<p>Swift levelled his heaviest invective against the corrupt practices of the +so-called Irish Parliament, which did not contain a single representative +of the people who comprised the bulk of the nation. The colonial +representation were of the most degraded order, most of the characters +described in the poem were hit off with caustic precision. The portraits +were so true to life that many recognized themselves. The piece is +generally accepted as a good skit on the House.</p> + + +<p class="center"><br />A CHARACTER, PANEGYRIC, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LEGION CLUB, 1736.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="5" summary="table"> +<tr><td>As I stroll the city, oft I<br /> +See a building large and lofty,<br /> +Not a bow-shot from the college;<br /> +Half the globe from sense and knowledge:<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>By the prudent architect,<br /> +Placed against the church direct,<br /> +Making good my granddam’s jest,<br /> +“Near the church,”—you know the rest.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Tell us what the pile contains?</span><br /> +Many a head that holds no brains,<br /> +These demoniacs let me dub<br /> +With the name of Legion Club.<br /> +Such assemblies, you might swear,<br /> +Meet when butchers bait a bear:<br /> +Such a noise, and such haranguing,<br /> +When a brother thief is hanging;<br /> +Such a rout and such a rabble<br /> +Run to hear Jackpudding gabble.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Could I from the building’s top</span><br /> +Hear the rattling thunder drop,<br /> +While the devil upon the roof<br /> +(If the devil be thunder-proof)<br /> +Should with poker fiery red<br /> +Crack the stones, and melt the lead;<br /> +Drive them down on every skull,<br /> +When the den of thieves is full;<br /> +Quite destroy that harpies’ nest;<br /> +How might then our isle be blest!<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>For divines allow, that God<br /> +Sometimes makes the devil his rod;<br /> +And the gospel will inform us,<br /> +He can punish sins enormous.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Yet should Swift endow the schools,</span><br /> +For his lunatics and fools,<br /> +With a rood or two of land,<br /> +I allow the pile may stand.<br /> +You perhaps will ask me, Why so?<br /> +But it is with this proviso;<br /> +Since the house is like to last,<br /> +Let the royal grant be pass’d,<br /> +That the club have right to dwell<br /> +Each within his proper cell,<br /> +With a passage left to creep in,<br /> +And a hole above for peeping.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Let them, when they once get in,</span><br /> +Sell the nation for a pin;<br /> +While they sit a-picking straws,<br /> +Let them rave at making laws;<br /> +Let them form a grand committee,<br /> +How to plague and starve the city;<br /> +Let them stare, and storm, and frown,<br /> +When they see a clergy gown;<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>Let them, with their gosling quills,<br /> +Scribble senseless heads of bills.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><strong><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span><span class="spacer">·</span></strong></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Come, assist me, Muse obedient!</span><br /> +Let us try some new expedient;<br /> +Shift the scene for half an hour,<br /> +Time and place are in thy power.<br /> +Thither, gentle Muse, conduct me;<br /> +I shall ask, and you instruct me.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">See, the Muse unbars the gate;</span><br /> +Hark, the monkeys, how they prate!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">All ye gods who rule the soul;</span><br /> +Styx, through Hell whose waters roll!<br /> +Let me be allowed to tell<br /> +What I heard in yonder Hell.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Near the door an entrance gapes,</span><br /> +Crowded round with antic shapes,<br /> +Poverty, and Grief, and Care,<br /> +Causeless Joy, and true Despair;<br /> +Discord periwigg’d with snakes,<br /> +See the dreadful strides she takes!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By this odious crew beset,</span><br /> +I began to rage and fret,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>And resolved to break their pates,<br /> +Ere we entered at the gates;<br /> +Had not Clio in the nick<br /> +Whispered me, “Lay down your stick.”<br /> +What! said I, is this the madhouse?<br /> +These, she answer’d, are but shadows,<br /> +Phantoms bodiless and vain,<br /> +Empty visions of the brain.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In the porch Briareus stands,</span><br /> +Shows a bribe in all his hands;<br /> +Briareus the secretary,<br /> +But we mortals call him Carey.<a name='fna_43' id='fna_43' href='#f_43'><small>[43]</small></a><br /> +When the rogues their country fleece,<br /> +They may hope for pence a-piece.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Clio, who had been so wise</span><br /> +To put on a fool’s disguise,<br /> +To bespeak some approbation,<br /> +And be thought a near relation,<br /> +When she saw three hundred brutes<br /> +All involved in wild disputes,<br /> +Roaring till their lungs were spent,<br /> +<span class="smcap">Privilege of Parliament</span>,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>Now a new misfortune feels,<br /> +Dreading to be laid by th’ heels.<br /> +Never durst a Muse before<br /> +Enter that infernal door:<br /> +Clio, stifled with the smell,<br /> +Into spleen and vapours fell,<br /> +By the Stygian steams that flew<br /> +From the dire infectious crew.<br /> +Not the stench of Lake Avernus<br /> +Could have more offended her nose<br /> +Had she flown but o’er the top,<br /> +She had felt her pinions drop.<br /> +And by exhalations dire,<br /> +Though a goddess, must expire.<br /> +In a fright she crept away,<br /> +Bravely I resolved to stay.<br /> +When I saw the keeper frown,<br /> +Tipping him with half-a-crown,<br /> +Now, said I, we are alone,<br /> +Name your heroes one by one.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Who is that hell-featured brawler?</span><br /> +Is it Satan? No, ’tis Waller.<br /> +In what figure can a bard dress<br /> +Jack the grandson of Sir Hardress?<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>Honest keeper, drive him further,<br /> +In his looks are Hell and murther;<br /> +See the scowling visage drop,<br /> +Just as when he murder’d Throp.<br /> +Keeper, show me where to fix<br /> +On the puppy pair of Dicks:<br /> +By their lantern jaws and leathern,<br /> +You might swear they both are brethren:<br /> +Dick Fitzbaker, Dick the player,<br /> +Old acquaintance are you there?<br /> +Tie them, keeper, in a tether,<br /> +Let them starve and sink together;<br /> +Both are apt to be unruly,<br /> +Lash them daily, lash them duly;<br /> +Though ’tis hopeless to reclaim them,<br /> +Scorpion rods, perhaps, may tame them.<br /> +Keeper, yon old dotard smoke,<br /> +Sweetly snoring in his cloak:<br /> +Who is he? ’Tis humdrum Wynne,<br /> +Half encompassed by his kin:<br /> +There observe the tribe of Bingham,<br /> +For he never fails to bring ’em;<br /> +While he sleeps the whole debate,<br /> +They submissive round him wait;<br /> +Yet would gladly see the hunks,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>In his grave, and search his trunks,<br /> +See, they gently twitch his coat,<br /> +Just to yawn and give his vote,<br /> +Always firm in his vocation,<br /> +For the court against the nation.<br /> +Those are Allens Jack and Bob,<br /> +First in every wicked job,<br /> +Son and brother to a queer<br /> +Brain-sick brute, they call a peer.<br /> +We must give them better quarter<br /> +For their ancestor trod mortar,<br /> +And at Hoath, to boast his fame,<br /> +On a chimney cut his name.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">There sit Clements, Dilks, and Harrison;</span><br /> +How they swagger from their garrison!<br /> +Such a triplet could you tell<br /> +Where to find on this side Hell?<br /> +Harrison, and Dilks, and Clements,<br /> +Keeper, see they have their payments,<br /> +Every mischief’s in their hearts;<br /> +If they fail ’tis want of parts.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Bless us! Morgan, art thou there, man?</span><br /> +Bless mine eyes! art thou the chairman?<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>Chairman to yon damn’d committee!<br /> +Yet I look on thee with pity.<br /> +Dreadful sight! what, learned Morgan<br /> +Metamorphosed to a Gorgon!<br /> +For thy horrid looks, I own,<br /> +Half convert me to a stone.<br /> +Hast thou been so long at school,<br /> +Now to turn a factious tool?<br /> +Alma Mater was thy mother,<br /> +Every young divine thy brother.<br /> +Thou ungrateful to thy teachers,<br /> +Who are all grown reverend preachers!<br /> +Morgan, would it not surprise one!<br /> +Turn thy nourishment to poison!<br /> +When you walk among your books,<br /> +They reproach you with their looks;<br /> +Bind them fast, or from their shelves<br /> +They will come and right themselves:<br /> +Homer, Plutarch, Virgil, Flaccus,<br /> +All in arms prepare to back us;<br /> +Soon repent, or put to slaughter<br /> +Every Greek and Roman author.<br /> +Will you, in your faction’s phrase,<br /> +Send the clergy all to graze;<br /> +And to make your project pass,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>Leave them not a blade of grass?<br /> +Now I want thee, humorous Hogarth!<br /> +Thou, I hear, a pleasant rogue art.<br /> +Were but you and I acquainted,<br /> +Every monster should be painted:<br /> +You should try your graving tools<br /> +On this odious group of fools;<br /> +Draw the beasts as I describe them:<br /> +From their features while I gibe them;<br /> +Draw them like; for I assure you,<br /> +You will need no <i>car’catura</i>;<br /> +Draw them so that we may trace<br /> +All the soul in every face.<br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Keeper, I must now retire,</span><br /> +You have done what I desire:<br /> +But I feel my spirits spent<br /> +With the noise, the sight, the scent.<br /> +“Pray, be patient; you shall find<br /> +Half the best are still behind!<br /> +You have hardly seen a score;<br /> +I can show two hundred more.”<br /> +Keeper, I have seen enough,<br /> +Taking then a pinch of snuff,<br /> +I concluded, looking round them,<br /> +“May their god, the devil, confound them!”</td></tr></table> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> +<h2>ON DOING GOOD.</h2> + +<p class="center"><i>A Sermon on the Occasion of Wood’s Project.</i></p> + +<p class="center">(WRITTEN IN 1724.)</p> + +<p class="center">“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men.” +(<span class="smcap">Galatians</span> vi. 10.)</p> + + +<p><br />Nature directs every one of us, and God permits us, to consult our own +private good, before the private good of any other person whatsoever. We +are, indeed, commanded to love our neighbour as ourselves, but not as well +as ourselves. The love we have for ourselves, is to be the pattern of that +love we ought to have toward our neighbour; but as the copy doth not equal +the original, so my neighbour cannot think it hard, if I prefer myself, +who am the original, before him, who is only the copy. Thus, if any matter +equally concern the life, the reputation, the profit of my neighbour and +my own; the law of nature, which is the law of God, obligeth me to take +care of myself first, and afterward of him. And this I need not be at much +pains in persuading you to; for the want of self-love, with regard to +things<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> of this world, is not among the faults of mankind. But then, on +the other side, if, by a small hurt and loss to myself, I can procure a +great good to my neighbour, in that case his interest is to be preferred. +For example, if I can be sure of saving his life, without great danger to +my own; if I can preserve him from being undone without ruining myself; or +recover his reputation without blasting mine; all this I am obliged to do, +and if I sincerely perform it, I do then obey the command of God, in +loving my neighbour as myself.</p> + +<p>But, besides this love we owe to every man in his particular capacity, +under the title of our neighbour, there is yet a duty of a more large +extensive nature incumbent on us; our love to our neighbour in his public +capacity, as he is a member of that great body the commonwealth, under the +same government with ourselves; and this is usually called love of the +public, and is a duty to which we are more strictly obliged, than even +that of loving ourselves; because therein ourselves are also contained, as +well as all our neighbours, in one great body. This love of the public, or +of the commonwealth, or love of our country, was in ancient times properly +known by the name of virtue, because it was the greatest of all virtues, +and was supposed to contain all virtues in it; and many great examples of +this virtue<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> are left us on record, scarcely to be believed or even +conceived, in such a base, corrupted, wicked age as this we live in. In +those times it was common for men to sacrifice their lives for the good of +their country, although they had neither hope nor belief of future +rewards; whereas, in our days, very few make the least scruple of +sacrificing a whole nation, as well as their own souls, for a little +present gain; which often hath been known to end in their own ruin in this +world; as it certainly must in that to come. Have we not seen men, for the +sake of some petty employment, give up the very natural rights and +liberties of their country, and of mankind, in the ruin of which +themselves must at last be involved? Are not these corruptions gotten +among the meanest of our people, who, for a piece of money, will give +their votes at a venture, for the disposal of their own lives and +fortunes, without considering whether it be to those who are most likely +to betray or defend them? But, if I were to produce only one instance of a +hundred, wherein we fail in this duty of loving our country, it would be +an endless labour, and therefore I shall not attempt it.</p> + +<p>But here I would not be misunderstood; by the love of our country, I do +not mean loyalty to our King, for that is a duty of another nature; and a +man may be very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> loyal, in the common sense of the word, without one grain +of public good at his heart.</p> + +<p>Witness this very kingdom we live in. I verily believe, that since the +beginning of the world, no nation upon earth ever showed (all +circumstances considered) such high constant marks of loyalty, in all +their actions and behaviour, as we have done; and, at the same time, no +people ever appeared more utterly void of what is called a public spirit. +When I say the people, I mean the bulk or mass of the people, for I have +nothing to do with those in power. Therefore I shall think my time not +ill-spent, if I can persuade most or all of you who hear me, to show the +love you have for your country, by endeavouring, in your several +situations, to do all the public good you are able.</p> + +<p>For I am certainly persuaded, that all our misfortunes arise from no other +original cause than that general disregard among us to the public welfare. +I therefore undertake to show you three things:—</p> + +<p><i>First</i>, That there are few people so weak or mean, who have it not +sometimes in their power to be useful to the public.</p> + +<p><i>Secondly</i>, That it is often in the power of the meanest among mankind to +do mischief to the public.</p> + +<p>And, <i>lastly</i>, That all wilful injuries done to the public,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> are very +great and aggravated sins in the sight of God.</p> + +<p><i>First</i>, There are few people so weak or mean, who have it not sometimes +in their power to be useful to the public.</p> + +<p>Solomon tells us of a poor wise man, who saved a city by his counsel. It +hath often happened that a private soldier, by some unexpected brave +attempt, hath been instrumental in obtaining a great victory. How many +obscure men have been authors of very useful inventions, whereof the world +now reaps the benefit. The very example of honesty and industry in a poor +tradesman, will sometimes spread through a neighbourhood, when others see +how successful he is; and thus so many useful members are gained, for +which the whole body of the public is the better. Whoever is blessed with +a true public spirit, God will certainly put it in his way to make use of +that blessing, for the ends it was given him, by some means or other: and +therefore it hath been observed, in most ages that the greatest actions +for the benefit of the commonwealth, have been performed by the wisdom or +courage, the contrivance or industry, of particular men, and not of +numbers, and that the safety of a kingdom hath often been owing to those +hands whence it was least expected.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>But, <i>secondly</i>, It is often in the power of the meanest among mankind to +do mischief to the public, and hence arise most of those miseries with +which the states and kingdoms of the earth are infested. How many great +princes have been murdered by the meanest ruffians!</p> + +<p>The weakest hand can open a flood-gate to drown a country, which a +thousand of the strongest cannot stop. Those who have thrown off all +regard for public good, will often have it in their way to do public evil, +and will not fail to exercise that power whenever they can.</p> + +<p>The greatest blow given of late to this kingdom, was by the dishonesty of +a few manufacturers; by imposing bad wares at foreign markets, in almost +the only traffic permitted to us, did half ruin that trade; by which this +poor unhappy kingdom still suffers in the midst of sufferings. I speak not +here of persons in high stations who ought to be free from all reflection, +and are supposed always to intend the welfare of the community: but we now +find by experience, that the meanest instrument may, by the concurrence of +accidents, have it in his power to bring a whole kingdom to the very brink +of destruction, and is at this present endeavouring to finish his work; +and hath agents among ourselves who are contented to see their own country +undone, to be small sharers in that iniquitous gain, which at last<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> must +end in their own ruin, as well as ours. I confess it was chiefly the +consideration of that great danger we are in, which engaged me to +discourse to you on this subject, to exhort you to a love of your country, +and a public spirit, when all you have is at stake; to prefer the interest +of your prince and your fellow-subjects, before that of one destructive +impostor, and a few of his adherents.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it may be thought by some, that this way of discoursing is not so +proper from the pulpit. But, surely, when an open attempt is made, and far +carried on, to make a great kingdom one large poorhouse, to deprive us of +all means to exercise hospitality or charity, to turn our cities and +churches into ruins, to make the country a desert for wild beasts and +robbers, to destroy all arts and sciences, all trades and manufactures, +and the very tillage of the ground, only to enrich one obscure, +ill-designing projector and his followers; it is time for the pastor to +cry out, “that the wolf is getting into his flock,” to warn them to stand +together, and all to consult the common safety. And God be praised for His +infinite goodness in raising such a spirit of union among us, at least in +this point, in the midst of all our former divisions; which union, if it +continue, will in all probability defeat the pernicious design of this +pestilent enemy to the nation!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>But hence it clearly follows how necessary the love of our country, or a +public spirit, is, in every particular man, since the wicked have so many +opportunities of doing public mischief. Every man is upon his guard for +his private advantage; but where the public is concerned, he is apt to be +negligent, considering himself as only one among two or three millions, +among whom the loss is equally shared; and thus, he thinks, he can be no +great sufferer. Meanwhile the trader, the farmer, and the shopkeeper, +complain of the hardness and deadness of the times, and wonder whence it +comes; while it is in a great measure owing to their own folly, for want +of that love of their country, and public spirit and firm union among +themselves, which are so necessary to the prosperity of every nation.</p> + +<p>Another method, by which the meanest wicked man may have it in his power +to injure the public, is false accusation; whereof this kingdom hath +afforded too many examples; neither is it long since no man, whose +opinions were thought to differ from those in fashion could safely +converse beyond his nearest friends, for fear of being sworn against, as a +traitor, by those who made a traffic of perjury and subornation; by which +the very peace of the nation was disturbed, and men fled from each other +as they would from a lion or a bear got loose.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> And it is very remarkable, +that the pernicious project now in hand, to reduce us to beggary, was +forwarded by one of these false accusers, who had been convicted of +endeavouring, by perjury and subornation, to take away the lives of +several innocent persons here among us; and, indeed, there could not be a +more proper instrument for such a work.</p> + +<p>Another method, by which the meanest people may do injury to the public, +is the spreading of lies and false rumours; thus raising a distrust among +the people of a nation, causing them to mistake their true interest, and +their enemies for their friends; and this hath been likewise too +successful a practice among us, where we have known the whole kingdom +misled by the grossest lies, raised upon occasion to serve some particular +turn. As it hath also happened in the case I lately mentioned, where one +obscure man, by representing our wants where they were least, and +concealing them where they were greatest, had almost succeeded in a +project of utterly ruining this whole kingdom; and may still succeed, if +God doth not continue that public spirit, which He hath almost +miraculously kindled in us upon this occasion.</p> + +<p>Thus we see the public is many times, as it were, at the mercy of the +meanest instrument, who can be wicked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> enough to watch opportunities of +doing it mischief, upon the principles of avarice or malice, which I am +afraid are deeply rooted in too many breasts, and against which there can +be no defence, but a firm resolution in all honest men, to be closely +united and active in showing their love to their country, by preferring +the public interest to their present private advantage. If a passenger, in +a great storm at sea, should hide his goods, that they might not be thrown +overboard to lighten the ship, what would be the consequence? The ship is +cast away, and he loses his life and goods together.</p> + +<p>We have heard of men, who, through greediness of gain, have brought +infected goods into a nation; which bred a plague, whereof the owners and +their families perished first. Let those among us consider this and +tremble, whose houses are privately stored with those materials of beggary +and desolation, lately brought over to be scattered like a pestilence +among their countrymen, which may probably first seize upon themselves and +their families, until their houses shall be made a dunghill.</p> + +<p>I shall mention one practice more, by which the meanest instruments often +succeed in doing public mischief; and this is, by deceiving us with +plausible arguments, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> make us believe that the most ruinous project +they can offer is intended for our good, as it happened in the case so +often mentioned. For the poor ignorant people, allured by the appearing +convenience in their small dealings, did not discover the serpent in the +brass, but were ready, like the Israelites, to offer incense to it; +neither could the wisdom of the nation convince them, until some, of good +intentions, made the cheat so plain to their sight, that those who run may +read. And thus the design was to treat us, in every point, as the +Philistines treated Samson (I mean when he was betrayed by Delilah), first +to put out our eyes, and then to bind us with fetters of brass.</p> + +<p>I proceed to the last thing I proposed, which was to show you that all +wilful injuries done to the public, are very great and aggravating in the +sight of God.</p> + +<p><i>First</i>, It is apparent from Scripture, and most agreeable to reason, that +the safety and welfare of nations are under the most peculiar care of +God’s providence. Thus He promised Abraham to save Sodom, if only ten +righteous men could be found in it. Thus the reason which God gave to +Jonah for not destroying Nineveh was, because there were six score +thousand men in that city.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>All government is from God, who is the God of order; and therefore whoever +attempts to breed confusion or disturbances among a people, doth his +utmost to take the government of the world out of God’s hands, and to put +it into the hands of the devil, who is the author of confusion. By which +it is plain, that no crime, how heinous soever, committed against +particular persons, can equal the guilt of him who does injury to the +public.</p> + +<p><i>Secondly</i>, All offenders against their country lie under this grievous +difficulty: that it is impossible to obtain a pardon or make restitution. +The bulk of mankind are very quick at resenting injuries, and very slow at +forgiving them: and how shall one man be able to obtain the pardon of +millions, or repair the injury he hath done to millions? How shall those, +who, by a most destructive fraud, got the whole wealth of our neighbouring +kingdom into their hands, be ever able to make a recompense? How will the +authors and promoters of that villainous project, for the ruin of this +poor country, be able to account with us for the injuries they have +already done, although they should no farther succeed? The deplorable care +of such wretches must entirely be left to the unfathomable mercies of God: +for those who know the least in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> religion are not ignorant, that without +our utmost endeavours to make restitution to the person injured, and to +obtain his pardon, added to a sincere repentance, there is no hope of +salvation given in the Gospel.</p> + +<p><i>Lastly</i>, All offences against our own country have this aggravation, that +they are ungrateful and unnatural. It is to our country we owe those laws, +which protect us in our lives, our liberties, our properties, and our +religion. Our country produced us into the world, and continues to nourish +us, so that it is usually called our mother; and there have been examples +of great magistrates, who have put their own children to death for +endeavouring to betray their country, as if they had attempted the life of +their natural parent.</p> + +<p>Thus I have briefly shown you how terrible a sin it is to be an enemy to +our country, in order to incite you to the contrary virtue, which at this +juncture is so highly necessary, when every man’s endeavour will be of +use. We have hitherto been just able to support ourselves under many +hardships; but now the axe is laid to the root of the tree, and nothing +but a firm union among us can prevent our utter undoing. This we are +obliged to, in duty to our gracious King, as well as to ourselves.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> Let us +therefore preserve that public spirit, which God hath raised in us, for +our own temporal interest. For, if this wicked project should succeed, +which it cannot do but by our own folly; if we sell ourselves for nought, +the merchant, the shopkeeper, the artificer, must fly to the desert with +their miserable families, there to starve, or live upon rapine, or at +least exchange their country for one more hospitable than that where they +were born.</p> + +<p>Thus much I thought it my duty to say to you who are under my care, to +warn you against those temporal evils which may draw the worst of +spiritual evils after them; such as heart-burnings, murmurings, +discontents, and all manner of wickedness, which a desperate condition of +life may tempt men to.</p> + +<p>I am sensible that what I have now said will not go very far, being +confined to this assembly; but I hope it may stir up others of my brethren +to exhort their several congregations, after a more effectual manner, to +show their love for their country on this important occasion. And this, I +am sure, cannot be called meddling in affairs of state.</p> + +<p>I pray God protect his most gracious Majesty, and his kingdom long under +his government; and defend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> us from all ruinous projectors, deceivers, +suborners perjurers, false accusers, and oppressors; from the virulence of +party and faction; and unite us in loyalty to our King, love to our +country, and charity to each other.</p> + + +<p> </p> +<p class="center"><small>LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED,<br /> +ST. JOHN’S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL ROAD.</small></p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><strong>Footnotes:</strong></p> + +<p><a name='f_1' id='f_1' href='#fna_1'>[1]</a> See the “Proposal for the Use of Irish Manufactures.”</p> + +<p><a name='f_2' id='f_2' href='#fna_2'>[2]</a> Four score and ten thousand, this runs throughout the first edition.</p> + +<p><a name='f_3' id='f_3' href='#fna_3'>[3]</a> A coarse kind of barley.</p> + +<p><a name='f_4' id='f_4' href='#fna_4'>[4]</a> At that time the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons.</p> + +<p><a name='f_5' id='f_5' href='#fna_5'>[5]</a> An allusion to the debasement of the coin by James II. during his +unfortunate campaign in Ireland.</p> + +<p><a name='f_6' id='f_6' href='#fna_6'>[6]</a> An equestrian statue of George I. at Essex Bridge, Dublin.</p> + +<p><a name='f_7' id='f_7' href='#fna_7'>[7]</a> The Duke of Grafton.</p> + +<p><a name='f_8' id='f_8' href='#fna_8'>[8]</a> Mr. Hopkins, the Duke of Grafton’s secretary.</p> + +<p><a name='f_9' id='f_9' href='#fna_9'>[9]</a> Lord Carteret, afterwards Earl Granville. As the ally of Bolingbroke, +and opponent of Walpole, he was to some extent a favourite of Swift.</p> + +<p><a name='f_10' id='f_10' href='#fna_10'>[10]</a> This was especially the case in the reign of William III., when the +doctrine of English supremacy was assumed in order to discredit the +authority of the Irish Parliament summoned by James II.</p> + +<p><a name='f_11' id='f_11' href='#fna_11'>[11]</a> William Molineux, the friend of Locke, who wrote a pamphlet, +published in 1698, against the oppressive laws adopted by England in +regard to Irish Manufactures.</p> + +<p><a name='f_12' id='f_12' href='#fna_12'>[12]</a> There was a certain amount of truth in this. The Dean’s butler acted +as amanuensis.</p> + +<p><a name='f_13' id='f_13' href='#fna_13'>[13]</a> Articles mentioned in the indictment and proclamation.</p> + +<p><a name='f_14' id='f_14' href='#fna_14'>[14]</a> His “Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufactures.”</p> + +<p><a name='f_15' id='f_15' href='#fna_15'>[15]</a> The first “Letter.”</p> + +<p><a name='f_16' id='f_16' href='#fna_16'>[16]</a> The second and third “Letters.”</p> + +<p><a name='f_17' id='f_17' href='#fna_17'>[17]</a> The fourth “Letter,” the cause of the indictment and proclamation.</p> + +<p><a name='f_18' id='f_18' href='#fna_18'>[18]</a> Printers.</p> + +<p><a name='f_19' id='f_19' href='#fna_19'>[19]</a> He probably speaks of himself.</p> + +<p><a name='f_20' id='f_20' href='#fna_20'>[20]</a> The “Proposal for the Use of Irish Manufactures.”</p> + +<p><a name='f_21' id='f_21' href='#fna_21'>[21]</a> Though he signed the proclamation against the author of the Drapier’s +Letters, Lord Middleton was himself inimical to Wood’s project.</p> + +<p><a name='f_22' id='f_22' href='#fna_22'>[22]</a> The printer of the Drapier’s Letters.</p> + +<p><a name='f_23' id='f_23' href='#fna_23'>[23]</a> Undertakers:—a name which was, in Charles II.’s time applied to +those ministers who gained power by undertaking to carry through pet +measures of the Crown. Swift here uses it ambiguously.</p> + +<p><a name='f_24' id='f_24' href='#fna_24'>[24]</a> The Earl of Sunderland.</p> + +<p><a name='f_25' id='f_25' href='#fna_25'>[25]</a> The obligation arising from their having sworn allegiance to him.</p> + +<p><a name='f_26' id='f_26' href='#fna_26'>[26]</a> The memorial was written by Sir John Browne.</p> + +<p><a name='f_27' id='f_27' href='#fna_27'>[27]</a> Ireland was, for political reasons, much favoured by the Crown, +during the reigns of Charles II. and James II.</p> + +<p><a name='f_28' id='f_28' href='#fna_28'>[28]</a> England.</p> + +<p><a name='f_29' id='f_29' href='#fna_29'>[29]</a> Scotland and Ireland.</p> + +<p><a name='f_30' id='f_30' href='#fna_30'>[30]</a> The Irish Sea.</p> + +<p><a name='f_31' id='f_31' href='#fna_31'>[31]</a> The Pict’s Wall.</p> + +<p><a name='f_32' id='f_32' href='#fna_32'>[32]</a> An allusion to the border raids of the Highlanders.</p> + +<p><a name='f_33' id='f_33' href='#fna_33'>[33]</a> Charles I.</p> + +<p><a name='f_34' id='f_34' href='#fna_34'>[34]</a> The Lord-Lieutenant.</p> + +<p><a name='f_35' id='f_35' href='#fna_35'>[35]</a> An allusion to the strained relations between England and Scotland, +caused by the passing of the Scottish Act of Security.</p> + +<p><a name='f_36' id='f_36' href='#fna_36'>[36]</a> The Union.</p> + +<p><a name='f_37' id='f_37' href='#fna_37'>[37]</a> An allusion to the Irish linen trade.</p> + +<p><a name='f_38' id='f_38' href='#fna_38'>[38]</a> An allusion to the Scotch Colonists in Ulster.</p> + +<p><a name='f_39' id='f_39' href='#fna_39'>[39]</a> Dr. William King, the friend and correspondent of Swift.</p> + +<p><a name='f_40' id='f_40' href='#fna_40'>[40]</a> It was the practice among the farmers to wear out their ground with +ploughing, neither manuring nor letting it lie fallow; and when their +leases were nearly out, they even ploughed their meadows, so that the +landlords, unable to check them by other means, were obliged to resort to +this pernicious measure.</p> + +<p><a name='f_41' id='f_41' href='#fna_41'>[41]</a> Putting up at auction.</p> + +<p><a name='f_42' id='f_42' href='#fna_42'>[42]</a> A project for establishing an Irish Bank, which was soon after placed +before Parliament, but rejected.</p> + +<p><a name='f_43' id='f_43' href='#fna_43'>[43]</a> The Right Honourable Walter Carey. 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Bowles (John Bowles) Daly, Edited by J. Bowles (John +Bowles) Daly + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Ireland in the Days of Dean Swift + Irish Tracts, 1720 to 1734 + + +Author: Jonathan Swift and J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly + +Editor: J. Bowles (John Bowles) Daly + +Release Date: August 21, 2011 [eBook #37156] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN +SWIFT*** + + +E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +(http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by +Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/irelandindaysofd00swif + + + + + +IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN SWIFT. + +London: +Printed by Gilbert and Rivington, Limited, +St. John's House, Clerkenwell Road. + + +IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN SWIFT. + +(_Irish Tracts, 1720 To 1734._) + + +by + +J. BOWLES DALY, LL.D. + +Author of "Broken Ideals," "Radical Pioneers of the 18th Century," +etc., etc. + + + + + + + +London--Chapman and Hall, +Limited. +1887. + + + + + TO THE RIGHT HON. JOHN MORLEY, M.P., + THE FIRST CHIEF SECRETARY OF IRELAND + WHOSE UNFLINCHING COURAGE AND OUTSPOKEN SYMPATHY + HAS SECURED HIM THE GRATITUDE OF THE IRISH PEOPLE, + THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH THE ADMIRATION OF + THE AUTHOR. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + INTRODUCTION 1 + + THE DRAPIER'S LETTERS 25 + + THE ADDRESS TO THE JURY 131 + + SWIFT'S DESCRIPTION OF QUILCA 137 + + ANSWER TO A PAPER 142 + + MAXIMS CONTROLLED 151 + + A SHORT VIEW OF THE STATE OF IRELAND, 1727 162 + + THE STORY OF THE INJURED LADY 174 + + THE ANSWER TO THE INJURED LADY 184 + + A LETTER TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN, CONCERNING THE + WEAVERS 187 + + TWO LETTERS ON SUBJECTS RELATIVE TO THE IMPROVEMENT + OF IRELAND 198 + + THE PRESENT MISERABLE STATE OF IRELAND 216 + + "A PROPOSAL FOR THE UNIVERSAL USE OF IRISH + MANUFACTURES." 1720 227 + + A MODEST PROPOSAL. 1729 240 + + A CHARACTER, PANEGYRIC, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE + LEGION CLUB, 1736 254 + + ON DOING GOOD 264 + + + + +IRELAND IN THE DAYS OF DEAN SWIFT. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +The shifting combinations of party, from the settlement of the +constitution at the Revolution to a later period, is an attractive study +to any who wish to find the origin of abuses which have long vexed the +political life of England. Besides, it is wholesome and instructive to be +carried away from the modern difficulty to the broader issues which have +gradually led to the present complication. + +William III. was a Whig, and his successor a Tory, but except for short +periods no Tory party was able in either reign to carry on the government +upon Tory principles. William made no complete change of ministry during +his reign, only modifying its composition according to what appeared the +prevailing sentiment of the parliament or the nation. It was composed of +both parties; the Whigs predominated till the close of the reign, when +their opponents acquired ascendency. Anne's first ministry was Tory, but a +change was soon wrought by a favourite of the court who happened to be a +Whig and who soon turned the scale. Some knowledge of the character of the +monarch is indispensable to a clear understanding of the times. In 1702, +Anne ascended the throne. The queen's notions of government were those of +her family--narrow and despotic. She would have been as arbitrary in her +conduct as Elizabeth, but that her actions were restrained by the +imbecility of her mind. The queen was the constant slave of favourites +who, in their turn, were the tools of intriguing politicians. Events of +the greatest importance were crowded into the short space of the twelve +years which covered her reign, and the most distinguished intellects +adorned the period. + +It was because the queen was fascinated by the Duchess of Marlborough that +her reign was adorned by the glories of Ramillies and Blenheim: it was +because Mrs. Abigail Masham artfully supplanted her benefactress in royal +favour, that a stop was put to the war which ravaged the Continent, while +by a chambermaid's intrigue Bolingbroke triumphed over his rival, the Earl +of Oxford. + +During the first part of Anne's reign, Marlborough was paramount in the +Houses of Parliament and his wife in the closet. The Tories came into +power on the queen's accession, with Marlborough and Godolphin as leaders. +They substantially maintained the policy of King William in prosecuting +the war with France, which resulted in making England illustrious in +Europe. + +Whig principles soon acquired a decided majority in the House, when an act +of national importance took place, the effect of which thrilled the +empire. The queen and the duchess quarrelled, and the intriguing +waiting-maid stepped into the latter's place. Besides the queen's whims +she had a superstitious reverence for the Church; and had been taught to +regard the Whigs as Republicans and Dissenters, who wished to subvert the +monarchy. Harley traded on this weakness through the instrumentality of +Mrs. Masham. This lady was used by him to oust Marlborough and Godolphin, +and she continued the tool of Harley and St. John, who now became the +chiefs of the new ministry. A jealousy between these two ministers +afterwards sprang up, which finally resulted in a quarrel and separation. +St. John, created Viscount Bolingbroke, plotted with Mrs. Masham to +procure the crown for the Pretender, but the cabal oozed out and alarmed +the Tories. The last night of the queen's life was spent in listening to +an open quarrel between the waiting-maid and the minister. At two o'clock +in the morning she went out of the room to die; she had strength, however, +to defeat the schemers by consigning the staff of state to Lord +Shrewsbury. "Take it," she said, "for the good of my country." They were +the last, perhaps the most pathetic words of her life. When Bolingbroke +was defeated, the Whigs came into power and continued in office till the +reign of George III. + +It was during the reign of William III. that Swift began his political +career as a Whig. His patron, Sir William Temple, introduced him to the +king, who was so impressed with his talents that he offered to make him a +captain of dragoons. Had he accepted this offer, he might have become a +second Cromwell. As this distinction was declined, the king promised to +see to his future interest. On the death of Temple, Swift edited the works +of his patron, dedicated them to the sovereign, and reminded him of his +promise. Neither the dedication nor the memorial was noticed. Swift had to +fall back on the post of chaplain and private secretary to the Earl of +Berkeley, one of the Lords Justices of Ireland. He became a political +writer on the side of the Whigs, and associated with Addison, Steele, and +Halifax. From the party leaders he received scores of promises and in the +end was neglected. The cup of preferment was twice dashed from his hand; +on the first occasion when Lord Berkeley would have given him a bishopric, +his name was vetoed by the Primate on the grounds of his youth, and on the +second when he was named for a vacant canonry, but at the last moment the +prize was given to another. + +During Anne's reign Swift paid frequent visits to England, and became +closely connected with the leading Tories. In 1710 he broke with the Whigs +and united with Harley and the Tory administration. The five last years of +Anne's government found him playing a prominent part in English politics +as the leading political writer of the Tories. He was on terms of the +closest intimacy with Oxford (Harley) and Bolingbroke, and attempted to +heal the breach between the rival statesmen. He helped the Tories in a +paper called the _Examiner_, upholding the policy of the ministers and +supplying his party with the arguments they would have used if they had +had the brains to think of them. This series of articles culminated in the +"Conduct of the Allies," a pamphlet which brought about the disgrace of +Marlborough and made the peace popular. In it the author denounced the war +as the plot of a ring of Whig stock-jobbers and monied men. These weekly +papers in the _Examiner_ produced a great effect upon the public mind and +called forth a multitude of opponents. Swift gave the Press the wonderful +position it holds now. He almost created the "leading article;" and though +his contributions will not bear comparison with the light style of our own +day, they suited his times. They were written in a plain, homely style, +for Swift had a thorough contempt for abstract thought and abstract +politics; indeed, his low estimate of men convinced him that they were +about as good for flying as for thinking. Mr. Leslie Stephen aptly states +that Swift's pamphlets were rather "blows than words;" he had serious +political effects to produce, and what he had to prove it was necessary to +say in plain words, for honest Tory squires of the country party to +understand and obey. + +The _Examiner_, the _Medley_, the _Tattler_, and the pamphlets of that day +bear no analogy to the modern newspaper; their influence did not penetrate +to the lower classes of the community, who were still without education. + +Swift is condemned by many who are not conversant with his character, his +writings, or the times in which he lived. In detached views, no man was +more liable to be misunderstood; his individual acts must be compared +with his entire conduct, in order to give him his proper place in the +gallery of historical characters. The charge of deserting his party is +answered by Dr. Johnson, whose evidence is of greater value as he never +professed to be his friend. "Swift, by early education, had been +associated with the Whigs; but he deserted them when they deserted their +principles, yet he never ran into the opposite extreme; for he continued +throughout his life to retain the disposition which he assigned to the +Church of England man, of thinking commonly with the Whigs of the State +and with the Tories of the Church." + +"Swift," say his opponents, "rails at the whole human race;" so he does, +and so do we all, at particular times and seasons; when long experience +has shown us the selfishness of some, the hollowness of others, and the +base ingratitude of the world. Not having lifted his voice in protestation +against the terrible penal laws inflicted on his Catholic brethren, and +enacted before his door, is, perhaps, the heaviest indictment brought +against his name, and the one which, on examination, will prove the most +futile. He was the last man who, from his connection with a discarded Tory +party, could have taken action with any effect; for if he had made the +attempt, and if complaints had originated from it, they would have been +interpreted into murmurs of rebellion. One revolt had been put down in +Scotland, in which it was supposed that every Catholic in Ireland was +implicated, and another which was hatching in the country, broke out in +1745; consequently, any interference of Swift on behalf of the Roman +Catholics would have drawn upon him the total displeasure of the +government and have caused him to be voted an enemy to his country, as was +done in the case of Lucas, twenty years after. His words on another +occasion show that he was not wanting in sympathy towards the native +Irish. "The English should be ashamed of the reproaches they cast on their +ignorance, dullness, and want of courage; defects arising only from the +poverty and slavery they suffer from their inhuman neighbours, and the +base, corrupt spirit of too many of the gentry. By such treatment as this +the very Grecians are grown slavish, ignorant, and superstitious. I do +assert that from several experiments I have made in travelling in both +England and Ireland, I have found the poor cottagers in the latter +kingdom, who could speak our language, to have a much better natural taste +for good sense, humour, and raillery than ever I observed among people of +the sort in England. But the million of oppressions the national Irish lie +under, the tyranny of their landlords, the ridiculous zeal of their +priests and the general misery of the whole nation, have been enough to +damp the best spirits under the sun." + +When Swift's friends were out of power, Oxford no longer at Court and +Bolingbroke in exile, he returned to Ireland, and after visiting several +parts of the country, and making himself acquainted with the exact +condition of the people, he took up the cause of Ireland with a vigour +rarely exhibited by any patriot. The last twenty-five years of his sane +life were given to his country, during which time he devoted almost all +his energy to Irish concerns. His stern sense of justice prompted him to +lay bare the wrongs of his native land with the cool calculation of a +banker examining accounts, or that of a surgeon cutting open a tumour. His +letters, pamphlets, and sermons are full of allusions to the miseries and +disabilities of the Irish. In writing to Pope, he disclaims the title of +Patriot, and gives us exactly his motive. "What I do," he says, "is owing +to perfect rage and resentment, and the mortifying sight of slavery, +folly, and baseness about me, among which I am forced to live." It is said +that he was a disappointed, mortified man. I allow he was. Swift was +ill-used as well as his country. Was he therefore not to resent the +injuries offered her because wrongs were heaped on himself, or, after +remaining quiet under the disappointments of years, are we to suppose +that at the end of that period his own private grievances ceased to be +intolerable, and that the public provocations which became urgent had no +effect upon him? + +About 1720, a narrow, exclusive clique governed Ireland in avowed contempt +of all phases of Irish opinion. The need of reform had occupied the +attention only of an insignificant handful. None had yet succeeded in +rousing a national spirit to resist the people's wrongs, an +over-insistence of which wrongs was looked upon as veiled Jacobitism. No +doubt Swift's first motive was opposition to Walpole and his party. He +looked back with bitterness to the fall of his friends. He disliked the +cant of the Whigs and their travesty of liberty; from that moment his real +interest in Ireland began. Swift scorned Jacobitism, and had a righteous +contempt for "divine right and absolute prerogative." He justified the +Revolution; was opposed to a Popish successor; had a mortal antipathy to a +standing army in time of peace; desired that parliaments should be annual; +disliked the monied interest in opposition to the territorial; feared the +growth of the national debt; and dreaded further encroachments on the +liberty of the subject. He believed the Whig government of Ireland to be +founded on corruption. All these opinions went to swell the current of +his indignation against Irish wrongs, and it was in consequence of them +that he lashed the government with his scorpion pen. + +The papers written by Swift during the years 1720 to 1734 are now little +studied by the people or their representatives; nevertheless, if carefully +examined, they will be found useful in throwing light upon the unsolved +problem. They deal with everything connected with the country: with banks, +currency, agriculture, fisheries, grazing, beggars, planting, +bog-reclaiming and road-making; and all in a style peculiarly his own, a +style seldom equalled and never surpassed. His pictures of the state of +the country present curious parallels to what we find to-day. There are, +of course, references to grievances which have long ceased to exist; such +as the penal laws, and the restriction on trade, but there are many +long-standing evils which are not much better now than they were in +Swift's day. The rack-renting, absentee landlords are more numerous in +1887 than they were in 1730, while the improvements effected by the +tenants were as much a dead loss of capital in the time of Swift, as in +the days of Gladstone. + +The secret of Swift's forcible utterances is that he infused himself into +everything he wrote; and his writings, in consequence, exhibit, not merely +his intellectual power, but also his moral nature, his principles, his +prejudices, even his temper. Swift possessed the most masculine intellect +of his age, and was the most earnest thinker of his times. He wrote like a +man of the world, and a gentleman; scorning the conceits of rhetorical +flourish, and never stooping to _ad misericordiam_ appeals for sympathy. + +Of all writers of the English language, his style most approximates to +that of the old orators of Greece in force, rapidity, directness, +dexterity, luminous statement, and honest homeliness. The reader is +impelled with his vigour, as a soldier by the blast of a trumpet; while +his feelings are captivated by his author's manifest sincerity; his +outburst of derisive scorn and withering invective, alternately heat and +chill the blood. Perhaps his merit is most revealed in the profound +sagacity of his political observations, infusing into his country that +spirit which enabled her to demand those rights she at last established. +Swift's character rose in Ireland with his defence of it in 1724; for, by +his conduct then, he acquired an esteem and influence which can never be +forgotten. The question of consideration at that day was not whether +Wood's halfpence were good or bad:--the question was, whether an +enterprising manufacturer of copper should prevail against Ireland. An +insulting patent, obtained in the most insidious way, was issued by the +British Cabinet without consulting the legitimate rulers of the country. +Against it the grand juries protested, the corporations protested, the +Irish parliament protested. All failed. At last there stood forth a +private clergyman, whose party was proscribed and himself persecuted, and +he carried the country at his back and forced the British minister to +retire within his trenches. Ireland, trampled on by a British minister, by +a British and Irish parliament; Ireland that had lost her trade, her +judicature, her parliament; sunk with the weight of oppression, prevails +under the direction of a solitary priest, who not only inspired but +instructed his countrymen in a magnificent vindication of their liberty +and the most noble repudiation of dependence ever taught a nation; telling +them, "that by the law of God, of nature, of nations, and of their country +they are and ought to be as free a people as their brethren in England." + +The patriot rose above the divine. He taught his country to protest +against her grievances, and gave her a spirit by which she redressed them. +Besides, he created a public opinion in "a nation of slaves" and used it +as a political force against a vicious system of government. "For my own +part," says Swift, referring to the imposition of the copper coinage, "who +am but a man of obscure condition, I do solemnly declare in the presence +of Almighty God that I will suffer the most ignominious torturing death, +rather than submit to receive this accursed coin, or any other that shall +be liable to these objections, until they shall be forced upon me by a law +of my own country, and if that shall ever happen, I will transport myself +into some foreign land, and eat the bread of poverty among a free people." + +And who was this man who touched with fire the hearts of a nation and +played on their feelings as a skilful musician runs his fingers over the +keys of an instrument? A simple journalist, of obscure origin, without +rank or station, with nothing but a beggarly Irish living to fall back +upon, yet endowed with heaven-born genius and the pride of an insulted +god. He treated art like man: with the same sovereign pride scribbling his +articles in haste, scorning the wretched necessity for reading them over, +putting his name to nothing he wrote; letting every piece make its way on +its own merits, recommended by none. Swift had the soul of a dictator and +the heart of a woman. + +This self-devouring heart could not understand the callousness and +indifference of the world. He asked: "Do not the corruptions and +villainies of men eat your flesh and consume your spirits?" Swift, like +his great Master, was moved by compassion for the multitude. He knew what +poverty and scorn were, even at an age when the mind expands and the path +of life is sown with generous hopes. At that time, his career was crushed +with the iron ring of poverty; maintained by the alms of his family; +secretary to a flattered, gouty courtier, at the magnificent salary of +20_l._ a year, and a seat at the servants' table: obliged to submit to the +whims of my lord and the fancies of an acidulous virgin, my lord's sister; +lured with false hopes; and forced, after an attempt at independence, to +resume the livery which scorched his soul. When writing his directions to +servants, he was relating with bitterness what he himself had suffered; +his proud heart bursting at the memory of indignities received while his +lips were locked. Under an outward calm, a tempest of wrath and desire +lashed his soul. Twenty years of insult and humiliation, the inner tempest +raging, as all his brilliant dreams faded from hope deferred;--such was +the man who moved his country to its centre and won her eternal gratitude. + +In discussing the burning topics of the day, Swift had against him the +king, his parliament, and all the people of England, together with the +Irish government and the Irish judges. The Irish parliament, whose cause +he defended, could not have saved him: that sycophant assembly could not +save itself, and was besides so lowered and debased by the over-ruling +power of England, that it was more likely to become his prosecutor than +his protector. Swift stood like Atlas, unmoved, and so laid the foundation +of his country's liberty. + +"Swift was honoured," says Johnson, "by the populace of Ireland as their +champion, patron, and instructor, and gained such power as, considered +both in its extent and duration, scarce any man has ever enjoyed without +greater wealth or higher station. The benefit was indeed great. He had +rescued Ireland from a very oppressive and predatory invasion: and the +popularity which he had gained he was very diligent to keep, by appearing +forward and zealous on every occasion when the public interest was +supposed to be involved. He showed clearly that wit, confederated with +truth, had such fire as authority was not able to resist. He said truly of +himself that Ireland was his debtor. It was from this time, when he first +began to patronize the Irish, that they may date their riches and +prosperity. He taught them first to know their own interest, their weight +and their strength; and gave them spirit to assert that equality with +their fellow-subjects, to which they have ever since been making vigorous +advances, and to claim those rights which they have at last established. +Nor can they be charged with ingratitude to their benefactor, for they +reverenced him as a guardian and obeyed him as a dictator." + +The birth of political and patriotic spirit in Ireland may be traced to +the "Drapier's Letters." No agitation that has since taken place in the +country has been so immediately and completely successful. The whole power +of the English government was found ineffectual to cope with the +opposition that had been roused, and marshalled by one man. The Letters +brought Swift fame and influence, and from the date of their publication, +he became the most powerful and popular man in Ireland. The Irish obeyed +his words as if they were the fiat of an oracle. + +Swift was no hack writer, lending his pen to any administration that paid +for his services; his individuality placed him above the herd of writers, +and he scorned to be used in this way. When Harley sent him a 50_l._ +cheque for his first articles in the _Examiner_, he returned it, and +haughtily demanded an apology, which was promptly given. He warned the +ministers that he acted with them on terms of equality, and that he would +not tolerate even coldness on their part; "for it is what I would hardly +bear from a crowned head; no subject's favour was worth it." He +afterwards explained, "If we let these great ministers pretend too much, +there will be no governing them." + +After the publication of the fourth Drapier's Letter, the government +offered a reward for the apprehension of the printer; Swift was so enraged +at this proceeding that he suddenly entered the reception-room, elbowed +his way up to the Lord-Lieutenant, and, with indignation on his +countenance and thunder in his voice, said: "So, my Lord, this is a +glorious exploit you performed yesterday in suffering a proclamation +against a poor shop-keeper, whose only crime is an honest endeavour to +save his country from ruin;" and then added, with a bitter laugh, "I +suppose your lordship will expect a statue in copper for your services to +Mr. Wood." + +The accession of George I. exiled Swift to Ireland, at that time the most +impoverished country on the face of the globe. Swift regarded Dublin as a +"good enough place to die in." No wonder, when he showed that there were +not found in it five gentlemen who could give a dinner at which a scholar +and gentleman could find congenial companionship. Ireland then was in a +state of national ruin and semi-barbarism; one of the most palpable evils +of Irish life was absenteeism. It was the habit of the English officials +elected to remunerative offices, to employ a deputy to perform the duty on +the tenth of the salary--to come over in batches, landing at Ringsend on +Saturday night, receiving the sacrament at the nearest church on Sunday +morning, taking the oaths on Monday in the Courts, and setting sail for +England in the afternoon, leaving no trace of their existence in Ireland, +save their names on the civil list as recipients of a salary. + +Out of a total rental of 1,800,000_l._ about 600,000_l._ was spent in +England. There was nothing to encourage a landlord to live in the country; +no political career was open to him; all the offices in his country went +to strangers. He was without education or any intellectual interest; +nothing was left him but lavish displays of brutal luxury, endless +carouses, and barbaric hospitality. The Irish landlords were despised for +their rude manners by the fresh importations from England; they repaid +this contempt on their tenants. + +The vast majority of the Catholics were without the protection of the law; +absolutely ignorant and sunk in an abyss of poverty. The poor peasant, as +soon as the potatoes were planted, shut up his damp, smoky hut, and +started soliciting alms through the country: idle and lazy, he wandered +from house to house. Begging became a recognized profession. Adepts were +hired to complete the family group, and these shared the spoils of the +season; girls were debauched, in order that they might, as fictitious +widows, move compassion and earn alms. In winter they camped together in +companies; the length and breadth of the country was cursed with a brood +of hedgers, born of adultery and incest, herding together in troops, when +the ties of relationship were as completely lost as in a herd of cattle. + +The English clique at the Castle were too much occupied in checking +fancied disaffection and dispensing patronage to secure the support of +hungry partisans, to care for the welfare of the masses. The local gentry, +despised by the governing clique, allowed matters to drift from bad to +worse. The better part of the population left the country in disgust. Such +was the condition of Ireland when Swift stood out as its defender. The +wrongs of Ireland cried to heaven for adjustment. + +Since the days of Charles II. the Irish had been forbidden to seek a +market in England for their cattle. Since the last years of William III. +harsh laws crushed out the woollen trade, restricting it to a precarious +market formed by a contraband trade with France, every year getting worse. +Misery wanted only a voice to utter its lamentation. Swift assumed this +function in his "Proposal for the universal use of manufactures," +published in 1720. Comments on the pamphlets are needless. + +The evil of absenteeism was of ancient date and the efforts to eradicate +it still older. By a statute of Richard II., two-thirds of the estate of +an absentee were forfeited to the Crown. The Lancastrian kings pursued the +same policy. Henry VIII. made a strong effort to correct the abuse, by +resuming whole Irish estates of some English nobles who were habitual +absentees. Under the early Stuarts the same course was pursued, but the +evil continues to our own day without any abatement. In Swift's time, +residence had not been encouraged; statutes to enforce it remained on the +statute-book, but they were a dead letter. The landlord drew the rent from +Ireland, without helping to pay the taxes. He spent it in England and +frequently more than the amount, leaving the estates encumbered with +mortgages in the hands of English mortgagees. The holder of an Irish +office thought only of its emoluments, and was indignant at any suggestion +of living in the country burdened with his support, and nominally entitled +to his services. The land was reduced to a state of bankruptcy and +desolation; famine swept through it, and the people were perishing in +thousands. It was at this terrible juncture that Swift put forth in +despair his "Modest Proposal," one of the last efforts of his marvellous +genius, and it shamed the government into taking some steps to redress the +suffering which prevailed. + +"Swift's pieces relating to Ireland," says Edmund Burke, "are those of a +public nature, in which the Dean appears, as usual, in the best light, +because they do honour to his heart as well as his head, furnishing some +additional proofs, that though he was very free in his abuse of the +inhabitants of that country, as well natives as foreigners, he had their +interest sincerely at heart, and perfectly understood it. His sermon on +doing good, though peculiarly adapted to Ireland, and Wood's design upon +it, contains perhaps the best motives to Patriotism that was ever +delivered within so small a compass." + +There is no need to refer here to the other works of genius that came from +his pen; they are well known. The object of the present writer is to deal +exclusively with what has reference to Ireland, and while exhibiting Swift +as a patriot, no attempt is made to exclude his faults or deny his +imperfections; those faults were redeemed by devoted friendship and noble +generosity. + +His friendship with Addison continued till the day of his death, and so +strong was the bond between them, that when the two met for an evening, +they never wished for a third person to support or enliven the +conversation. Of him, Pope said:--"Nothing of you can die; nothing of you +can decay; nothing of you can suffer; nothing of you can be obscured or +locked up from esteem and admiration, except what is at the Deanery. May +the rest of you be as happy hereafter as honest men may expect and need +not doubt, while they know that their Maker is merciful." One can imagine +how dear he was to those friends, when Bolingbroke writes:--"I love you +for a thousand things, for none more than for the just esteem and love +which you have for all the sons of Adam." No one esteemed Swift more than +Lord Carteret, who, when hearing of his illness, wrote:--"That you may +enjoy the continuation of all happiness is my wish. As to futurity I know +your name will be remembered, when the names of Kings, Lord-Lieutenants, +Archbishops, and Parliamentary politicians will be forgotten. At last you +yourself must fall into oblivion, which may be less than one thousand +years, though the term may be uncertain and will depend on the progress +that barbarity and ignorance may make, notwithstanding the sedulous +endeavours of the great Prelates in this and succeeding ages." + +The account of Swift thus coming from men of the greatest genius of their +age, carries with it incontestable evidence in his favour, and completely +pulverizes the slanderous accusations heaped on him by his enemies. The +manly tone of his writing penetrated the character of the whole English +colony and bore fruit, long after the proud heart was laid at rest in the +great Irish cathedral. The place is marked by an inscription written by +himself, and touchingly refers to a time when the heart can no longer be +tortured with fierce indignation born from the contemplation of licensed +injustice. The character of Swift has long been vindicated, for animosity +perishes, but humanity is eternal. + + + + +THE DRAPIER'S LETTERS. + + +There was a lack of copper coin in Ireland, which hampered the small +transactions of the poor, and rendered the payment of weekly or daily +wages a matter of difficulty. This want was reported to the English +Cabinet; it was taken up, not as a grievance to be met with redress, but +as a new opportunity for a job. A patent to make a copper coinage was +granted to William Wood, a gentleman whose antecedents were not +creditable. According to the habits of the day, the patent had to pass +through various officials, each of whom had doubtless to be paid: a sort +of black-mail on the transaction. The amount of the coinage had to be +large to enable Wood to recoup himself and make his own profit. It was +fixed at 108,000_l._, a sum vastly in excess of its need. The greatest +share of the plunder was to fall to the king's mistress. The Duchess of +Kendal was to receive 10,000_l._ from Wood, to whom she farmed the patent. +It was from the bottom to the top a scandalous job, and to add to its +depravity, it was passed without consulting the responsible governors of +the country. It was only when all efforts to defeat its passage were +concluded, that Swift stepped in. The indignation of the country had +risen to boiling-point; he gave it a voice. In describing the patent, +Swift exaggerated its consequences. It is absurd to suppose that what he +said of it was absolutely true, or that Swift thought it to be true. His +object was to put a scandalous transaction in the grossest aspect +possible. Swift adopted the ordinary recognized methods of political +controversy. Apart from exaggeration, there was enough of injustice in the +matter to justify any language which would tend to remove it. + + +LETTER I. + +_To the Tradesmen, Shopkeepers, Farmers, and Country-people in general, of +the Kingdom of Ireland_, + +Concerning the brass halfpence coined by one William Wood, Hardwareman, +with a design to have them pass in this kingdom! + +Wherein is shewn the power of his Patent, the value of his Halfpence, and +how far every person may be obliged to take the same in payments, and how +to behave himself, in case such an attempt should be made by Wood, or any +other person. + +(VERY PROPER TO BE KEPT IN EVERY FAMILY.) + +By M. B., DRAPIER, 1724. + + +BRETHREN, FRIENDS, COUNTRYMEN, AND FELLOW-SUBJECTS. + +What I intend now to say to you, is, next to your duty to God, and the +care of your salvation, of the greatest concern to yourselves and your +children; your bread and clothing, and every common necessary of life, +depend entirely upon it. Therefore I do most earnestly exhort you as men, +as Christians, as parents, and as lovers of your country, to read this +paper with the utmost attention, or get it read to you by others; which, +that you may do at the less expense, I have ordered the printer to sell it +at the lowest rate. + +It is a great fault among you, that when a person writes with no other +intention than to do you good, you will not be at the pains to read his +advices. One copy of this paper may serve a dozen of you, which will be +less than a farthing apiece. It is your folly, that you have no common or +general interest in your view, not even the wisest among you; neither do +you know, or inquire, or care, who are your friends, or who are your +enemies. + +About four years ago, a little book was written to advise all people to +wear the manufactures of this our own dear country.[1] It had no other +design, said nothing against the King or Parliament, or any persons +whatever; yet the poor printer was prosecuted two years with the utmost +violence, and even some weavers themselves (for whose sake it was +written), being upon the JURY, found him guilty. This would be enough to +discourage any man from endeavouring to do you good, when you will either +neglect him, or fly in his face for his pains, and when he must expect +only danger to himself, and to be fined and imprisoned, perhaps to his +ruin. + +However, I cannot but warn you once more of the manifest destruction +before your eyes, if you do not behave yourself, as you ought. + +I will therefore first tell you the plain story of the fact, and then I +will lay before you how you ought to act, in common prudence according to +the laws of your country. + +The fact is this: It having been many years since COPPER HALFPENCE OR +FARTHINGS were last coined in this kingdom, they have been for some time +very scarce, and many counterfeits passed about under the name of _raps_, +several applications were made to England that we might have liberty to +coin new ones, as in former times we did; but they did not succeed. At +last, one Mr. Wood, a mean ordinary man, a hardware dealer, procured a +patent under his Majesty's broad seal to coin 108,000_l._[2] in copper for +this kingdom; which patent, however, did not oblige any one here to take +them, unless they pleased. Now you must know, that the halfpence and +farthings in England pass for very little more than they are worth; and if +you should beat them to pieces, and sell them to the brazier, you would +not lose much above a penny in a shilling. But Mr. Wood made his halfpence +of such base metal, and so much smaller than the English ones, that the +brazier would not give you above a penny of good money for a shilling of +his; so that this sum of 108,000_l._ in good gold and silver, must be +given for trash, that will not be worth eight or nine thousand pounds real +value. But this is not the worst; for Mr. Wood, when he pleases, may, by +stealth, send over another 108,000_l._, and buy all our goods for eleven +parts in twelve under the value. For example, if a hatter sells a dozen of +hats for five shillings apiece, which amounts to three pounds, and +receives the payment in Wood's coin, he really receives only the value of +five shillings. + +Perhaps you will wonder how such an ordinary fellow as this Mr. Wood could +have so much interest as to get his Majesty's broad seal for so great a +sum of bad money to be sent to this poor country; and that all the +nobility and gentry here could not obtain the same favour, and let us make +our own halfpence, as we used to do. Now I will make that matter very +plain: We are at a great distance from the King's court, and have nobody +there to solicit for us, although a great number of lords and 'squires, +whose estates are here, and are our countrymen, spend all their lives and +fortunes there; but this same Mr. Wood was able to attend constantly for +his own interest; he is an Englishman, and had great friends; and, it +seems, knew very well where to give money to those that would speak to +others, that could speak to the King, and would tell a fair story. And his +Majesty, and perhaps the great lord or lords who advise him, might think +it was for our country's good; and so, as the lawyers express it, "The +King was deceived in his grant," which often happens in all reigns. And I +am sure if his Majesty knew that such a patent, if it should take effect +according to the desire of Mr. Wood, would utterly ruin this kingdom, +which has given such great proofs of its loyalty, he would immediately +recall it, and perhaps show his displeasure to somebody or other; but a +word to the wise is enough. Most of you must have heard with what anger +our honourable House of Commons received an account of this Wood's patent. +There were several fine speeches made upon it, and plain proofs that it +was all a wicked cheat from the bottom to the top; and several smart votes +were printed, which that same Wood had the assurance to answer likewise in +print; and in so confident a way, as if he were a better man than our +whole Parliament put together. + +This Wood, as soon as his patent was passed, or soon after, sends over a +great many barrels of those halfpence to Cork, and other seaport towns; +and to get them off, offered a hundred pounds in his coin, for seventy or +eighty in silver; but the collectors of the King's customs very honestly +refused to take them, and so did almost everybody else. And since the +Parliament has condemned them, and desired the King that they might be +stopped, all the kingdom do abominate them. + +But Wood is still working underhand to force his halfpence upon us; and if +he can, by the help of his friends in England, prevail so far as to get an +order, that the commissioners and collectors of the King's money shall +receive them, and that the army is to be paid with them, then he thinks +his work shall be done. And this is the difficulty you will be under in +such a case: for the common soldier, when he goes to the market, or +alehouse, will offer this money; and if it be refused, perhaps he will +swagger and hector, and threaten to beat the butcher or ale-wife, or take +the goods by force, and throw them the bad halfpence. In this and the like +cases, the shopkeeper or victualler, or any other tradesman, has no more +to do, than to demand ten times the price of his goods, if it is to be +paid in Wood's money; for example, twenty pence of that money for a quart +of ale and so in all things else, and not part with his goods till he gets +the money. + +For, suppose you go to an ale-house with that base money, and the landlord +gives you a quart for four of those halfpence, what must the victualler +do? his brewer will not be paid in that coin; or, if the brewer should be +such a fool, the farmers will not take it from them for their bere,[3] +because they are bound, by their leases, to pay their rent in good and +lawful money of England; which this is not, nor of Ireland neither; and +the 'squire, their landlord, will never be so bewitched to take such trash +for his land; so that it must certainly stop somewhere or other; and +wherever it stops, it is the same thing, and we are all undone. + +The common weight of these halfpence is between four and five to an +ounce--suppose five, then three shillings and four pence will weigh a +pound, and consequently twenty shillings will weigh six pounds butter +weight. Now there are many hundred farmers, who pay two hundred pounds a +year rent; therefore, when one of these farmers comes with his half-year's +rent, which is one hundred pounds, it will be at least six hundred +pounds' weight, which is three horses' load. + +If a 'squire has a mind to come to town to buy clothes and wine, and +spices for himself and family, or perhaps to pass the winter here, he must +bring with him five or six horses well loaden with sacks, as the farmers +bring their corn; and when his lady comes in her coach to our shops, it +must be followed by a car loaded with Mr. Wood's money. And I hope we +shall have the grace to take it for no more than it is worth. + +They say 'Squire Conolly[4] has sixteen thousand pounds a-year; now, if he +sends for his rent to town, as it is likely he does, he must have two +hundred and fifty horses to bring up his half-year's rent, and two or +three great cellars in his house for stowage. But what the bankers will do +I cannot tell; for I am assured, that some great bankers keep by them +forty thousand pounds in ready cash, to answer all payments; which sum, in +Mr. Wood's money, would require twelve hundred horses to carry it. + +For my own part, I am already resolved what to do; I have a pretty good +shop of Irish stuffs and silks; and instead of taking Mr. Wood's bad +copper, I intend to truck with my neighbours, the butchers, and bakers, +and brewers, and the rest, goods for goods; and the little gold and +silver I have, I will keep by me, like my heart's blood, till better +times, or until I am just ready to starve; and then I will buy Mr. Wood's +money, as my father did the brass money in King James's time,[5] who could +buy ten pounds of it with a guinea; and I hope to get as much for a +pistole, and so purchase bread from those who will be such fools as to +sell it me. These halfpence, if they once pass, will soon be +counterfeited, because it may be cheaply done, the stuff is so base. The +Dutch, likewise, will probably do the same thing, and send them over to us +to pay for our goods; and Mr. Wood will never be at rest, but coin on: so +that in some years we shall have at least five times 108,000_l._ of this +lumber. Now the current money of this kingdom is not reckoned to be above +four hundred thousand pounds in all; and while there is a silver sixpence +left, these bloodsuckers will never be quiet. When once the kingdom is +reduced to such a condition, I will tell you what must be the end: the +gentlemen of estates will all turn off their tenants for want of payments, +because, as I told you before, the tenants are obliged by their leases to +pay sterling, which is lawful current money of England; then they will +turn their own farmers, as too many of them do already, run all into +sheep, where they can, keeping only such other cattle as are necessary; +then they will be their own merchants, and send their wool, and butter, +and hides, and linen beyond sea, for ready money, and wine, and spices, +and silks. They will keep only a few miserable cottagers; the farmers must +rob, or beg, or leave their country; the shopkeepers in this, and every +other town, must break and starve; for it is the landed man that maintains +the merchant, and shopkeeper, and handicraftsman. + +But when the 'squire turns farmer and merchant himself, all the good money +he gets from abroad he will hoard up to send for England, and keep some +poor tailor or weaver and the like in his own house, who will be glad to +get bread at any rate. + +I should never have done, if I were to tell you all the miseries that we +shall undergo, if we be so foolish and wicked as to take this cursed coin. +It would be very hard if all Ireland should be put into one scale, and +this sorry fellow, Wood, into the other; that Mr. Wood should weigh down +this whole kingdom, by which England gets above a million of good money +every year clear into their pockets; and that is more than the English do +by all the world besides. + +But your great comfort is, that as his Majesty's patent does not oblige +you to take this money, so the laws have not given the crown a power of +forcing the subject to take what money the King pleases; for then, by the +same reason, we might be bound to take pebble-stones, or cockle-shells, or +stamped leather, for current coin, if ever we should happen to live under +an ill prince; who might likewise, by the same power, make a guinea pass +for ten pounds, a shilling for twenty shillings, and so on; by which he +would, in a short time, get all the silver and gold of the kingdom into +his own hands, and leave us nothing but brass or leather, or what he +pleased. Neither is anything reckoned more cruel and oppressive in the +French government than their common practice of calling in all their +money, after they have sunk it very low, and then coining it anew at a +much higher value; which, however, is not the thousandth part so wicked as +this abominable project of Mr. Wood. For the French give their subjects +silver for silver, and gold for gold; but this fellow will not so much as +give us good brass or copper for our gold and silver, nor even a twelfth +part of their worth. Having said thus much, I will now go on to tell you +the judgment of some great lawyers in this matter, whom I fee'd on purpose +for your sakes, and got their opinions under their hands, that I might be +sure I went upon good grounds.... I will now, my dear friends, to save you +the trouble, set before you, in short, what the law obliges you to do, and +what it does not oblige you to. + +First, you are obliged to take all money in payments which is coined by +the King, and is of the English standard or weight, provided it be of gold +or silver. + +Secondly, you are not obliged to take any money which is not of gold or +silver; not only the halfpence or farthings of England, but of any other +country. And it is merely for convenience or ease, that you are content to +take them; because the custom of coining silver halfpence and farthings +has long been left off; I suppose on account of their being subject to be +lost. + +Thirdly, much less are you obliged to take those vile halfpence of the +same Wood, by which you must lose almost eleven pence in every shilling. +Therefore, my friends, stand to it one and all; refuse this filthy trash. +It is no treason to rebel against Mr. Wood. His Majesty in his patent, +obliges nobody to take these halfpence, our gracious prince has no such +ill-advisers about him; or, if he had, yet you see the laws have not left +it in the King's power to force us to take any coin but what is lawful, of +right standard, gold and silver. Therefore you have nothing to fear. + +And let me in the next place apply myself particularly to you who are the +poorer sort of tradesmen. Perhaps you may think you will not be so great +losers as the rich, if these halfpence should pass; because you seldom see +any silver, and your customers come to your shops or stalls with nothing +but brass, which you likewise find hard to be got. But you may take my +word, whenever this money gains footing among you, you will be utterly +undone. If you carry these halfpence to a shop for tobacco or brandy, or +any other thing that you want, the shopkeeper will advance his goods +accordingly, or else he must break, and leave the key under the door. "Do +you think I will sell you a yard of tenpenny stuff for twenty of Mr. +Wood's halfpence? No, not under two hundred at least; neither will I be at +the trouble of counting, but weigh them in a lump." I will tell you one +thing farther, that if Mr. Wood's project should take, it would ruin even +our beggars; for when I give a beggar a halfpenny, it will quench his +thirst, or go a good way to fill his belly; but the twelfth part of a +halfpenny will do him no more service than if I should give him three pins +out of my sleeve. + +In short, these halfpence are like "the accursed thing, which," as the +Scripture tells us, "the children of Israel were forbidden to touch." They +will run about like the plague, and destroy every one who lays his hand +upon them. I have heard scholars talk of a man who told the King, that he +had invented a way to torment people, by putting them into a bull of brass +with fire under it; but the prince put the projector first into it, to +make the experiment. This very much resembles the project of Mr. Wood; and +the like of this may probably be Mr. Wood's fate; that the brass he +contrived to torment this kingdom with, may prove his own torment, and his +destruction at last. + +N.B. The author of this paper is informed by persons, who have made it +their business to be exact in their observations on the true value of +these halfpence, that any person may expect to get a quart of twopenny ale +for thirty-six of them. + +I desire that all families may keep this paper carefully by them, to +refresh their memories whenever they shall have farther notice of Mr. +Wood's halfpence, or any other the like imposture. + + +SECOND LETTER. + +Walpole recommended his Majesty to compromise the grave issue which had +risen. An order was issued restricting the importation of Wood's copper +coin to the sum of 40,000_l._ instead of 108,000_l._, to be current only +amongst those who should be willing to accept them. But the dispute had +risen too high to admit of accommodation. The real grievance of this +measure lay rather in its principle than its immediate effects. The merits +and details of the question are now laid aside. Even Wood is almost +forgotten in the vehemence of rage, that a nation should be exposed to the +menaces or mercies of such an adventurer. + + +LETTER II. + +_To Mr. Harding, the Printer_, + +On occasion of a paragraph in his newspaper of August 1, 1724, relating to +Mr. Wood's halfpence. + + +_August 4, 1724._ + +In your Newsletter of the first instant, there is a paragraph, dated from +London, July 25, relating to Wood's halfpence; whereby it is plain, what I +foretold in my letter to the shopkeepers, &c., that this vile fellow would +never be at rest; and that the danger of our ruin approaches nearer; and +therefore the kingdom requires new and fresh warning. However, I take this +paragraph to be, in a great measure, an imposition upon the public; at +least I hope so, because I am informed that Mr. Wood is generally his own +newswriter. I cannot but observe from that paragraph, that this public +enemy of ours, not satisfied to ruin us with his trash, takes every +occasion to treat this kingdom with the utmost contempt. He represents +several of our merchants and traders, upon examination before a committee +of council, agreeing, that there was the utmost necessity of copper money +here, before his patent; so that several gentlemen have been forced to +tally with their workmen, and give them bits of cards sealed and +subscribed with their names. What then? If a physician prescribe to a +patient a dram of physic, shall a rascal apothecary cram him with a pound, +and mix it up with poison? And is not a landlord's hand and seal to his +own labourers a better security for five or ten shillings, than Wood's +brass, ten times below the real value, can be to the kingdom for a hundred +and eight thousand pounds? + +Who are these merchants and traders of Ireland that made this report of +the utmost necessity we are under for copper money? They are only a few +betrayers of their country, confederates with Wood, from whom they are to +purchase a great quantity of coin, perhaps at half the price that we are +to take it, and vend it among us to the ruin of the public, and their own +private advantages. Are not these excellent witnesses, upon whose +integrity the fate of the kingdom must depend, evidences in their own +cause, and sharers in this work of iniquity? + +If we could have deserved the liberty of coining for ourselves as we +formerly did--and why we have it not is everybody's wonder as well as +mine--ten thousand pounds might have been coined here in Dublin of only +one-fifth below the intrinsic value, and this sum, with the stock of +halfpence we then had, would have been sufficient. But Wood, by his +emissaries--enemies to God and this kingdom--has taken care to buy up as +many of our old halfpence as he could, and from thence the present want of +change arises; to remove which, by Mr. Wood's remedy, would be to cure a +scratch on the finger by cutting off the arm. But, supposing there were +not one farthing of change in the whole nation, I will maintain that +five-and-twenty thousand pounds would be a sum fully sufficient to answer +all our occasions. I am no inconsiderable shopkeeper in this town. I have +discoursed with several of my own and other trades, with many gentlemen +both of city and country, and also with great numbers of farmers, +cottagers, and labourers, who all agree that two shillings in change for +every family would be more than necessary in all dealings. Now, by the +largest computation--even before that grievous discouragement of +agriculture, which has so much lessened our numbers--the souls in this +kingdom are computed to be one million and a half; which allowing six to a +family, makes two hundred and fifty thousand families, and, consequently, +two shillings to each family will amount only to five-and-twenty thousand +pounds; whereas this honest, liberal hardwareman, Wood, would impose upon +us above four times that sum. Your paragraph relates further, that Sir +Isaac Newton reported an assay taken at the Tower of Wood's metal, by +which it appears, that Wood had in all respects performed his contract. +His contract!--With whom? Was it with the Parliament or people of Ireland? +Are not they to be the purchasers? But they detest, abhor, and reject it, +as corrupt, fraudulent, mingled with dirt and trash. Upon which he grows +angry, goes to law, and will impose his goods upon us by force. + +But your newsletter says, that an assay was made of the coin. How impudent +and insupportable is this! Wood takes care to coin a dozen or two +halfpence of good metal, sends them to the Tower, and they are approved; +and these must answer all that he has already coined, or shall coin for +the future. It is true, indeed, that a gentleman often sends to my shop +for a pattern of stuff; I cut it fairly off, and, if he likes it, he +comes, or sends, and compares the pattern with the whole piece, and +probably we come to a bargain. But if I were to buy a hundred sheep, and +the grazier should bring me one single wether, fat and well-fleeced, by +way of pattern, and expect the same price round for the whole hundred, +without suffering me to see them before he was paid, or giving me good +security to restore my money for those that were lean, or shorn, or +scabby, I would be none of his customer. I have heard of a man who had a +mind to sell his house, and therefore carried a piece of brick in his +pocket, which he showed as a pattern to encourage purchasers; and this is +directly the case in point with Mr. Wood's assay. + +The next part of the paragraph contains Mr. Wood's voluntary proposals for +preventing any further objections or apprehensions. + +His first proposal is, "That whereas he has already coined seventeen +thousand pounds, and has copper prepared to make it up forty thousand +pounds, he will be content to coin no more, unless the EXIGENCIES OF TRADE +REQUIRE IT, although his patent empowers him to coin a far greater +quantity." + +To which if I were to answer, it should be thus:--"Let Mr. Wood, and his +crew of founders and tinkers coin on, till there is not an old kettle +left in the kingdom,--let them coin old leather, tobacco-pipe clay, or the +dirt in the street, and call their trumpery by what name they please, from +a guinea to a farthing,--we are not under concern to know how he and his +tribe of accomplices think fit to employ themselves. But I hope and trust, +that we are all to a man fully determined to have nothing to do with him +or his ware." + +The King has given him a patent to coin halfpence, but has not obliged us +to take them; and I have already shown, in my letter to the shopkeepers, +&c., that the law has not left it in the power of the prerogative to +compel the subject to take any money besides gold and silver, of the right +sterling and standard. + +Wood further proposes, if I understand him right--for his expressions are +dubious--that he will not coin above forty thousand pounds, unless the +exigencies of trade require it. + +First, I observe, that this sum of forty thousand pounds is almost double +to what I proved to be sufficient for the whole kingdom, although we had +not one of our old halfpence left. + +Again, I ask, who is to be judge when the exigencies of trade require it? +Without doubt he means himself; for as to us of this poor kingdom, who +must be utterly ruined if this project should succeed, we were never once +consulted till the matter was over, and he will judge of our exigencies by +his own. Neither will these ever be at an end till he and his accomplices +think they have enough; and it now appears, that he will not be content +with all our gold and silver, but intends to buy up our goods and +manufactures with the same coin.... His last proposal, being of a peculiar +strain and nature, deserves to be very particularly considered, both on +account of the matter and the style. It is as follows:-- + +"Lastly, in consideration of the direful apprehensions which prevail in +Ireland, that Mr. Wood will, by such coinage, drain them of their gold and +silver, he proposes to take their manufactures in exchange, and that no +person be obliged to receive more than fivepence halfpenny at one +payment." + +First, observe this little impudent hardwareman turning into ridicule the +direful apprehensions of a whole kingdom, priding himself as the cause of +them, and daring to prescribe what no King of England ever attempted, how +far a whole nation shall be obliged to take his brass coin. And he has +reason to insult; for sure there was never an example in history of a +great kingdom kept in awe for above a year, in daily dread of utter +destruction--not by a powerful invader, at the head of twenty thousand +men--not by a plague or a famine--not by a tyrannical prince (for we never +had one more gracious), or a corrupt administration--but by one single, +diminutive, insignificant mechanic.... His proposals conclude with perfect +high treason. He promises, that no person shall be obliged to receive more +than fivepence halfpenny of his coin in one payment. By which it is plain, +that he pretends to oblige every subject in this kingdom to take so much +in every payment if it be offered; whereas his patent obliges no man, nor +can the prerogative, by law, claim such a power, as I have often observed; +so that here Mr. Wood takes upon him the entire legislature, and an +absolute dominion over the properties of the whole nation. + +Good God! who are this wretch's advisers? Who are his supporters, +abettors, encouragers, or sharers? Mr. Wood will oblige me to take +fivepence halfpenny of his brass in every payment; and I will shoot Mr. +Wood and his deputies through the head, like highwaymen or housebreakers, +if they dare to force one farthing of their coin on me in the payment of a +hundred pounds. It is no loss of honour to submit it to the lion; but who, +with the figure of a man, can think with patience of being devoured alive +by a rat? He has laid a tax upon the people of Ireland of seventeen +shillings, at least, in the pound; a tax, I say, not only upon lands, but +interest-money, goods, manufactures, the hire of handicraftsmen, +labourers, and servants. + +Shopkeepers, look to yourselves!--Wood will oblige and force you to take +fivepence halfpenny of his trash in every payment, and many of you receive +twenty, thirty, forty payments in one day, or else you can hardly find +bread. And, pray, consider how much that will amount to in a year. Twenty +times fivepence halfpenny is nine shillings and twopence, which is above a +hundred and sixty pounds a year; wherein you will be losers of at least +one hundred and forty pounds by taking your payments in his money. If any +of you be content to deal with Mr. Wood on such conditions, you may; but, +for my own particular, let his money perish with him! If the famous Mr. +Hampden rather chose to go to prison than pay a few shillings to King +Charles I. without authority of Parliament, I will rather choose to be +hanged than have all my substance taxed at seventeen shillings in the +pound, at the arbitrary will and pleasure of the venerable Mr. Wood. + +The paragraph concludes thus:--"N.B." that is to say, _nota bene_, or +_mark well_, "No evidence appeared from Ireland, or elsewhere, to prove +the mischiefs complained of, or any abuses whatsoever committed, in the +execution of the said grant." + +The impudence of this remark exceeds all that went before. First, the +House of Commons in Ireland, which represents the whole people of the +kingdom, and, secondly, the Privy-council, addressed his Majesty against +these halfpence. What could be done more to express the universal sense of +the nation? If his copper were diamonds, and the kingdom were entirely +against it, would not that be sufficient to reject it? Must a committee of +the whole House of Commons, and our whole Privy-council, go over to argue +_pro_ and _con_ with Mr. Wood? To what end did the King give his patent +for coining halfpence for Ireland? Was it not because it was represented +to his sacred Majesty, that such a coinage would be of advantage to the +good of this kingdom, and of all his subjects here? It is to the +patentee's peril if this representation be false, and the execution of his +patent be fraudulent and corrupt. Is he so wicked and foolish to think, +that his patent was given him to ruin a million and a half of people, that +he might be a gainer of three or four score thousand pounds to himself? +Before he was at the charge of passing a patent, much more of raking up +so much filthy dross, and stamping it with his Majesty's image and +superscription, should he not first, in common sense, in common equity, +and common manners, have consulted the principal party concerned,--that is +to say, the people of the kingdom, the House of Lords, or Commons, or the +Privy-council? If any foreigner should ask us, whose image and +superscription there is on Wood's coin? we should be ashamed to tell him +it was Caesar's. In that great want of copper halfpence which he alleges we +were, our city set up our Caesar's statue[6] in excellent copper, at an +expense that is equal to thirty thousand pounds of his coin, and we will +not receive his image in worse metal. + +I observe many of our people putting a melancholy case on this subject. +"It is true," say they, "we are all undone if Wood's halfpence must pass; +but what shall we do if his Majesty puts out a proclamation, commanding us +to take them?" This has often been dinned in my ears; but I desire my +countrymen to be assured that there is nothing in it. The King never +issues out a proclamation but to enjoin what the law permits him. He will +not issue out a proclamation against law; or, if such a thing should +happen by a mistake, we are no more obliged to obey it, than to run our +heads into the fire. + +Besides, his Majesty will never command us by a proclamation, what he does +not offer to command us in the patent itself. + +There he leaves it to our discretion, so that our destruction must be +entirely owing to ourselves; therefore, let no man be afraid of a +proclamation which will never be granted, and if it should, yet, upon this +occasion, will be of no force. + +The King's revenues here are near four hundred thousand pounds a-year. Can +you think his ministers will advise him to take them in Wood's brass, +which will reduce the value to fifty thousand pounds? England gets a +million sterling by this nation; which, if this project goes on, will be +almost reduced to nothing. And do you think those who live in England upon +Irish estates, will be content to take an eight or tenth part by being +paid in Wood's dross? + +If Wood and his confederates were not convinced of our stupidity, they +never would have attempted so audacious an enterprise. He now sees a +spirit has been raised against him, and he only watches till it begin to +flag: he goes about watching when to devour us. He hopes we shall be weary +of contending with him; and at last, out of ignorance or fear, or of +being perfectly tired with opposition, we shall be forced to yield; and +therefore, I confess, it is my chief endeavour to keep up your spirits and +resentments. If I tell you, "there is a precipice under you, and that if +you go forward you will certainly break your necks;" if I point to it +before your eyes, must I be at the trouble of repeating it every morning? +Are our people's hearts waxed gross? Are their ears dull of hearing? And +have they closed their eyes? I fear there are some few vipers among us, +who for ten or twenty pounds' gain would sell all their souls and their +country; although at last it should end in their own ruin, as well as +ours. Be not like "the deaf adder, who refuseth to hear the voice of the +charmer, charm he never so wisely." + +Although my letter be directed to you, Mr. Harding, yet I intend it for +all my countrymen. I have no interest in this affair, but what is common +to the public. I can live better than many others; I have some gold and +silver by me, and a shop well furnished; and shall be able to make a shift +when many of my betters are starving. But I am grieved to see the coldness +and indifference of many people with whom I discourse. Some are afraid of +a proclamation; others shrug up their shoulders, and cry, "What would you +have us to do?" Some give out there is no danger at all; others are +comforted, that it will be a common calamity, and they shall fare no worse +than their neighbours. Will a man who hears midnight robbers at his door, +get out of bed, and raise his whole family for a common defence; and shall +a whole kingdom lie in a lethargy, while Mr. Wood comes, at the head of +his confederates, to rob them of all they have, to ruin us and our +posterity for ever? If a highwayman meets you on the road, you give him +your money to save your life; but, God be thanked, Mr. Wood cannot touch a +hair of your heads. You have all the laws of God and man on your side; +when he or his accomplices offer you his dross, it is but saying no, and +you are safe. If a madman should come into my shop with a handful of dirt +raked out of the kennel, and offer it in payment for ten yards of stuff, I +would pity or laugh at him; or, if his behaviour deserved it, kick him out +of my doors. And if Mr. Wood comes to demand my gold and silver, or +commodities for which I have paid my gold and silver, in exchange for his +trash, can he deserve or expect better treatment? + +When the evil day is come (if it must come), let us mark and observe those +who persevere to offer these halfpence in payment. Let their names and +trades, and places of abode, be made public, that every one may be aware +of them, as betrayers of their country, and confederates with Mr. Wood. +Let them be watched at markets and fairs; and let the first honest +discoverer give the word about that Mr. Wood's halfpence have been +offered, and caution the poor innocent people not to receive them. + +Perhaps I have been too tedious, but there would never be an end if I +attempted to say all that this melancholy subject will bear. I will +conclude with humbly offering one proposal; which, if it were put into +practice, would blow up this destructive project at once. Let some +skilful, judicious pen draw up an advertisement to the following +purpose:-- + +"Whereas one William Wood, hardwareman, now or lately sojourning in the +city of London, has, by many misrepresentations, procured a patent for +coining a hundred and eight thousand pounds in copper halfpence for this +kingdom, which is a sum five times greater than our occasions require: And +whereas it is notorious, that the said Wood has coined his halfpence of +such base metal and false weight, that they are at least six parts in +seven below the real value: And whereas we have reason to apprehend, that +the said Wood may at any time hereafter clandestinely coin as many more +halfpence as he pleases: And whereas the said patent neither does, nor +can, oblige his Majesty's subjects to receive the said halfpence in any +payment, but leaves it to their voluntary choice; because by law the +subject cannot be obliged to take any money, except gold or silver: And +whereas, contrary to the letter and meaning of the said patent, the said +Wood has declared that every person shall be obliged to take fivepence +halfpenny of his coin in every payment: And whereas the House of Commons +and Privy-council have severally addressed his most sacred Majesty, +representing the ill consequences which the said coinage would have upon +this kingdom: And lastly, whereas it is universally agreed, that the whole +nation to a man (except Mr. Wood and his confederates) are in the utmost +apprehensions of the ruinous consequences that must follow from the said +coinage; Therefore, we, whose names are underwritten, being persons of +considerable estates in this kingdom, and residers therein, do unanimously +resolve and declare, that we will never receive one farthing or halfpenny +of the said Wood's coining; and that we will direct all our tenants to +refuse the said coin from any person whatsoever; of which, that they may +not be ignorant, we have sent them a copy of this advertisement, to be +read to them by our stewards, receivers," &c. + +I could wish, that a paper of this nature might be drawn up, and signed +by two or three hundred principal gentlemen of this kingdom; and printed +copies thereof sent to their several tenants. I am deceived if anything +could sooner defeat this execrable design of Wood and his accomplices. +This would immediately give the alarm, and set the kingdom on their guard; +this would give courage to the meanest tenant and cottager. + +"How long, O Lord, righteous and true," &c. + +I must tell you in particular, Mr. Harding, that you are much to blame. +Several hundred persons have inquired at your house for my "Letter to the +Shopkeepers," &c., and you had none to sell them. Pray keep yourself +provided with that letter and with this; you have got very well by the +former; but I did not then write for your sake, any more than I do now. +Pray advertise both in every newspaper; and let it not be your fault or +mine, if our countrymen will not take warning. I desire you likewise to +sell them as cheap as you can. + + I am your servant, + M. B. + + +THIRD LETTER. + +The object of this Letter is no longer to argue against a scheme which is +universally condemned. The independence of Ireland is what he insists on: +and the duty of her leading men is to assert that independence. In this he +assumed a freedom of spirit which did not really exist. The sketch was +skilfully drawn, so as to prepare men for a new appeal, and was far from +being the last word. Two months after the fourth and greatest Letter +appeared. + + +LETTER III. + +_Some observations on a paper, called, The report of the committee of the +most honourable the Privy-council in England, relating to Wood's +halfpence._ + +TO THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY OF THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND. + + +_August 25th, 1724._ + +Having already written two letters to the people of my own level and +condition, and having now very pressing occasion for writing a third, I +thought I could not more properly address it than to your lordships and +worships. + +The occasion is this. A printed paper was sent to me on the 18th instant, +entitled, "A Report of the Committee of the Lords of his Majesty's Most +Honourable Privy-council in England, relating to Mr. Wood's Halfpence and +Farthings." + +There is no mention made where the paper was printed, but I suppose it to +have been in Dublin; and I have been told, that the copy did not come over +in the _Gazette_, but in the _London Journal_, or some other print of no +authority or consequence. And, for anything that legally appears to the +contrary, it may be a contrivance to fright us; or a project of some +printer, who has a mind to make a penny by publishing something upon a +subject which now employs all our thoughts in this kingdom. Mr. Wood, in +publishing this paper, would insinuate to the world, as if the Committee +had a greater concern for his credit, and private emolument, than for the +honour of the Privy-council and both Houses of Parliament here, and for +the quiet and welfare of this whole kingdom; for it seems intended as a +vindication of Mr. Wood, not without several severe reflections on the +Houses of Lords and Commons of Ireland. The whole is indeed written with +the turn and air of a pamphlet; as if it were a dispute between William +Wood on the one part, and the Lords Justices, Privy-council, and both +Houses of Parliament, on the other; the design of it being to clear +William Wood, and to charge the other side with casting rash and +groundless aspersions upon him. + +But, if it be really what the title imputes, Mr. Wood has treated the +Committee with great rudeness, by publishing an act of theirs in so +unbecoming a manner, without their leave, and before it was communicated +to the Government and Privy-council of Ireland, to whom the Committee +advised that it should be transmitted. + +But, with all deference be it spoken, I do not conceive that a Report of a +Committee of the Council in England is hitherto a law in either kingdom; +and, until any point is determined to be a law, it remains disputable by +every subject. This, may it please your lords and worships, may seem a +strange way of discoursing in an illiterate shopkeeper. I have endeavoured +(although without the help of books) to improve that small portion of +reason God has been pleased to give me; and when reason plainly appears +before me, I cannot turn away my head from it. Thus, for instance, if any +lawyer should tell me that such a point were law, from which many gross +palpable absurdities must follow, I could not believe him. If Sir Edward +Coke should positively assert (which he nowhere does, but the direct +contrary) "that a limited prince could, by his prerogative, oblige his +subjects to take half an ounce of lead, stamped with his image, for twenty +shillings in gold," I should swear he was deceived, or a deceiver; because +a power like that would leave the whole lives and fortunes of the people +entirely at the mercy of the monarch; yet this in effect is what Wood has +advanced in some of his papers, and what suspicious people may possibly +apprehend from some passages in what is called the Report. + +That paper mentions such persons to have been examined, who were desirous +and willing to be heard upon this subject. I am told they were four in +all--Coleby, Brown, Mr. Finley the banker, and one more, whose name I know +not. The first of these was tried for robbing the Treasury in Ireland; +and, though he was acquited for want of legal proof, yet every person in +the Court believed him to be guilty. + +The second stands recorded in the votes of the House of Commons, for +endeavouring, by perjury and subornation, to take away the life of John +Bingham, Esq. + +But, since I have gone so far as to mention particular persons, it may be +some satisfaction to know who is this Wood himself, that has the honour to +have a whole kingdom at his mercy for almost two years together. I find he +is in the patent entitled _esquire_, although he were understood to be +only a hardware-man, and so I have been bold to call him in my former +letters; however a _'squire_ he is, not only by virtue of his patent, but +by having been a collector in Shropshire; where, pretending to have been +robbed, and suing the county, he was cast, and, for the infamy of the +fact, lost his employment. I have heard another story of this 'Squire +Wood, from a very honourable lady, that one Hamilton told her. Hamilton +was sent for, six years ago, by Sir Isaac Newton, to try the coinage of +four men, who then solicited a patent for coining halfpence for Ireland; +their names were Wood, Costor, Eliston, and Parker. Parker made the +fairest offer, and Wood the worst; for his coin was three halfpence in a +pound weight less value than the other. By which it is plain, with what +intentions he solicited his patent; but not so plain how he obtained it. + +It is alleged in the said paper, called the Report, "that upon repeated +orders from a secretary of state, for sending over such papers and +witnesses as should be thought proper to support the objections made +against the patent by both Houses of Parliament, the Lord-Lieutenant +represented the great difficulty he found himself in, to comply with these +orders: that none of the principal members of both Houses, who were in the +King's service or council, would take upon them to advise, how any +material, person, or papers, might be sent over on this occasion," &c. And +this is often repeated, and represented as a proceeding that seems very +extraordinary; and that in a matter which had raised so great a clamour +in Ireland, no person could be prevailed upon to come over from Ireland in +support of the united sense of both Houses of Parliament in Ireland; +especially, that the chief difficulty should arise from a general +apprehension of a miscarriage, in an inquiry before his Majesty, or in a +proceeding by due course of law, in a case where both Houses of Parliament +had declared themselves so fully convinced, and satisfied upon evidence +and examinations taken in the most solemn manner. + +How shall I, a poor ignorant shopkeeper, utterly unskilled in law, be able +to answer so weighty an objection? I will try what can be done by plain +reason, unassisted by art, cunning, or eloquence. + +In my humble opinion, the Committee of Council has already prejudged the +whole case, by calling the united sense of both Houses of Parliament in +Ireland "a universal clamour." Here the addresses of the Lords and Commons +of Ireland, against a ruinous destructive project of an obscure single +undertaker, is called "a clamour." I desire to know, how such a style +would be resented in England from a Committee of Council there to a +Parliament; and how many impeachments would follow upon it? But supposing +the appellation to be proper, I never heard of a wise minister who +despised the universal clamour of a people; and if that clamour can be +quieted by disappointing the fraudulent practice of a single person, the +purchase is not exorbitant. + +But, in answer to this objection; first, it is manifest, that if this +coinage had been in Ireland, with such limitations as have been formerly +specified in other patents, and granted to persons of this kingdom, or +even of England, able to give sufficient security, few or no +inconveniences could have happened which might not have been immediately +remedied.... + +Put the case that the two Houses of Lords and Commons of England, and the +Privy-council there should address his Majesty to recall a patent, from +whence they apprehend the most ruinous consequences to the whole kingdom; +and to make it stronger, if possible, that the whole nation almost to a +man, should thereupon discover "the most dismal apprehensions," as Mr. +Wood styles them; would his Majesty debate half an hour what he had to do? + +Would any minister dare to advise him against recalling such a patent? Or +would the matter be referred to the Privy-council, or to Westminster Hall; +the two Houses of Parliament plaintiffs, and William Wood defendant? And +is there even the smallest difference between the two cases? Were not the +people of Ireland born as free as those of England? How have they +forfeited their freedom? Is not their Parliament as fair a representative +of the people as that of England? And has not their Privy-council as +great, or a greater share in the administration of public affairs? Are not +they subjects of the same King? Does not the same sun shine upon them? And +have they not the same God for their protector? Am I a freeman in England, +and do I become a slave in six hours by crossing the Channel? No wonder, +then, if the boldest persons were cautious to interpose in a matter +already determined by the whole voice of the nation, or to presume to +represent the representatives of the kingdom; and were justly apprehensive +of meeting such a treatment as they would deserve at the next session. It +would seem very extraordinary, if any inferior court in England should +take a great matter out of the hands of the high court of Parliament +during a prorogation, and decide it against the opinion of both Houses. It +happens so, however, that although no persons were so bold as to go over +as evidences, to prove the truth of the objections made against this +patent by the high court of Parliament here, yet these objections stand +good, notwithstanding the answers made by Mr. Wood and his counsel. + +The Report says, "That upon an assay made of the fineness, weight, and +value of this copper, it exceeded in every article." This is possible +enough in the pieces on which the assay was made, but Wood must have +failed very much in point of dexterity, if he had not taken care to +provide a sufficient quantity of such halfpence as would bear the trial, +which he was able to do, although they were taken out of several parcels, +since it is now plain that the bias of favour has been wholly on his +side.... + +As to what is alleged, that these halfpence far exceed the like coinage +for Ireland in the reigns of his Majesty's predecessors, there cannot well +be a more exceptional way of arguing, although the fact were true; which, +however, is altogether mistaken, not by any fault in the Committee, but by +the fraud and imposition of Wood, who certainly produced the worst +patterns he could find; such as were coined in small numbers by +permissions to private men, as butchers' halfpence, black dogs, and others +the like; or perhaps the small St. Patrick's coin which passes now for a +farthing, or at best some of the smallest raps of the latest kind. For I +have now by me halfpence coined in the year 1680, by virtue of the patent +granted to my Lord Dartmouth, which was renewed to Knox, and they are +heavier by a ninth part than those of Wood, and of much better metal, and +the great St. Patrick's halfpence are yet larger than either. + +But what is all this to the present debate? + +If, under the various exigencies of former times, by wars, rebellions, and +insurrections, the Kings of England were sometimes forced to pay their +armies here with mixed or base money, God forbid that the necessities of +turbulent times should be a precedent for times of peace, and order, and +settlement. + +In the patent above-mentioned, granted to Lord Dartmouth in the reign of +King Charles II., and renewed to Knox, the securities given into the +exchequer, obliging the patentee to receive his money back upon every +demand, were an effectual remedy against all inconveniences, and the +copper was coined in our own kingdom; so that we were in no danger to +purchase it with the loss of all our silver and gold carried over to +another, nor to be at the trouble of going to England for the redressing +of any abuse.... + +Among other clauses mentioned in this patent, to show how advantageous it +is to Ireland, there is one which seems to be of a singular nature: "That +the patentee shall be obliged, during his term, to pay eight hundred +pounds a year to the Crown, and two hundred pounds a year to the +comptroller." I have heard, indeed, that the King's council do always +consider, in the passing of a patent, whether it will be of advantage to +the Crown; but I have likewise heard, that it is at the same time +considered whether passing of it may be injurious to any other persons or +bodies politic. However, although the attorney and solicitor be servants +to the King, and therefore bound to consult his Majesty's interest, yet I +am under some doubt whether eight hundred pounds a year to the Crown would +be equivalent to the ruin of a kingdom. It would be far better for us to +have paid eight thousand pounds a-year into his Majesty's coffers, in the +midst of all our taxes (which, in proportion, are greater in this kingdom +than ever they were in England, even during the war), than purchase such +an addition to the revenue at the price of our utter undoing. But here it +is plain that fourteen thousand pounds are to be paid by Wood, only as a +small circumstantial charge for the purchase of his patent. What were his +other visible costs I know not, and what were his latent is variously +conjectured, but he must surely be a man of some wonderful merit. Has he +saved any other kingdom at his own expense, to give him a title of +reimbursing himself by the destruction of ours? Has he discovered the +longitude or the universal medicine? No; but he has found the +philosopher's stone after a new manner, by debasing copper, and resolving +to force it upon us for gold. + +When the two Houses represented to his Majesty that the patent to Wood was +obtained in a clandestine manner, surely the Committee could not think the +Parliament would insinuate, that it had not passed in the common forms, +and run through every office where fees and perquisites were due. They +knew very well, that persons in places were no enemies to grants; and that +the officers of the Crown could not be kept in the dark. But the late +Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland[7] affirmed it was a secret to him; and who +will doubt his veracity, especially when he swore to a person of quality, +from whom I had it, "that Ireland should never be troubled with these +halfpence"? It was a secret to the people of Ireland, who were to be the +only sufferers; and those who but knew the state of the kingdom, and were +most able to advise in such an affair, were wholly strangers to it. + +It is allowed by the Report, that this patent was passed without the +knowledge of the chief governor or officers of Ireland; and it is there +elaborately shown, that former patents have passed in the same manner, and +are good in law. I shall not dispute legality of patents, but am ready to +suppose it in his Majesty's power to grant a patent for stamping round +bits of copper to every subject he has. + +Therefore, to lay aside the point of law, I would only put the question, +whether, in reason and justice, it would not have been proper, in an +affair upon which the welfare of this depends, that the said King should +have received timely notice; and the matter not be carried on between the +patentee, and the officers of the Crown, who were to be the only gainers +by it.... + +But suppose there were not one single halfpenny of copper coin in this +whole kingdom (which Mr. Wood seems to intend, unless we will come to his +terms, as appears by employing his emissaries to buy up our old ones at a +penny in the shilling more than they pass for), it could not be any real +evil to us, although it might be some inconvenience. We have many sorts of +small silver coins, to which they are strangers in England; such as the +French threepences, fourpence-halfpennies, and eightpence-farthings, the +Scotch fivepences and tenpences, besides their twenty-pences and +three-and-four-pences, by which we are able to make change to a halfpenny +of almost any piece of gold and silver; and if we are driven to the +expedient of a sealed card, with the little gold and silver still +remaining, it will, I suppose, be somewhat better, than to have nothing +left, but Wood's adulterated copper, which he is neither obliged by his +patent, nor HITHERTO able by his estate, to make good.... + +The sum of the whole is this. The Committee advises the King to send +immediate orders to all his officers here, that Wood's coin be suffered +and permitted, without any let, suit, trouble, &c., to pass and be +received as current money, by such as shall be willing to receive the +same. It is probable that the first willing receivers may be those who +must receive it whether they will or not, at least under the penalty of +losing an office. But the landed undepending men, the merchants, the +shopkeepers, and bulk of the people, I hope and am almost confident, will +never receive it. What must the consequence be? The owners will sell it +for as much as they can get. + +Wood's halfpence will come to be offered for six a penny (yet then he will +be a sufficient gainer), and the necessary receivers will be losers of +two-thirds in their salaries or pay. + +I am very sensible that such a work as I have undertaken might have +worthily employed a much better pen; but when a house is attempted to be +robbed, it often happens the weakest in the family runs first to the +door. All the assistance I had were some informations from an eminent +person; whereof I am afraid I have spoiled a few, by endeavouring to make +them of a piece with my own productions, and the rest I was not able to +manage. I was in the case of David, who could not move in the armour of +Saul; and therefore I chose to attack this uncircumcised Philistine (Wood, +I mean) with a sling and a stone. And I may say, for Wood's honour, as +well as my own, that he resembles Goliah in many circumstances very +applicable to the present purpose; for Goliah had "a helmet of brass upon +his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat +was five thousand shekels of brass; and he had greaves of brass upon his +legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders." + +In short, he was like Mr. Wood, all over brass, and he defied the armies +of the living God. Goliah's conditions of combat were likewise the same +with those of Wood's, "If he prevail against us, then shall we be his +servants." But if it happens that I prevail over him, I renounce the other +part of the condition: "He shall never be a servant of mine; for I do not +think him fit to be trusted in any honest man's shop." + + +FOURTH LETTER. + +Ireland is here summoned to assert her independence in the indignant voice +of a nation that has borne the yoke of slavery far too long. Every line in +this letter is instinct with life, and thrilling with sarcastic force. No +more waste of words. The question is simply one of might against right: as +old as human nature, but never brought into shorter compass. The printer +of this letter was thrown into prison, as if to shame the undoubted author +into surrender. Ireland was now under a new rule, the refined and +cultivated Carteret was appointed Lord-Lieutenant in 1724. Swift used the +privilege of an old friend in writing to him freely on the subject of the +coinage. He was sorry to see his friend used as the tool of the +Government, which occasioned the outburst, "What in God's name do _you_ +here? Get you gone, and send us our boobies again." + + +LETTER IV. + +_To the whole People of Ireland._ + + +_October 23rd, 1724._ + +MY DEAR COUNTRYMEN, + +Having already written three letters upon so disagreeable a subject as Mr. +Wood and his halfpence, I conceived my task was at an end; but I find +that cordials must be frequently applied to weak constitutions, political +as well as natural. A people long used to hardships lose by degrees the +very notions of liberty. They look upon themselves as creatures at mercy, +and that all impositions, laid on them by a stronger hand, are, in the +phrase of the Report, legal and obligatory. Hence proceed that poverty and +lowness of spirit, to which a kingdom may be subject, as well as a +particular person. And when Esau came fainting from the field at the point +to die, it is no wonder that he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. +I thought I had sufficiently shown, to all who could want instruction, by +what methods they might safely proceed, wherever this coin should be +offered to them; and, I believe, there has not been, for many ages, an +example of any kingdom so firmly united in a point of great importance, as +this of ours is at present against that detestable fraud. But, however, it +so happens, that some weak people begin to be alarmed anew by rumours +industriously spread. Wood prescribes to the newsmongers in London what +they are to write. In one of their papers, published here by some obscure +printer, and certainly with a bad design, we are told, "That the Papists +in Ireland have entered into an association against his coin," although it +be notoriously known, that they never once offered to stir in the matter; +so that the two Houses of Parliament, the Privy-council, the great number +of corporations, the Lord Mayor and aldermen of Dublin, the grand juries, +and principal gentlemen of several counties, are stigmatized in a lump +under the name of "Papists." This impostor and his crew do likewise give +out, that, by refusing to receive his dross for sterling, we "dispute the +King's prerogative, are grown ripe for rebellion, and ready to shake off +the dependency of Ireland upon the crown of England." + +To countenance which reports, he has published a paragraph in another +newspaper, to let us know, that "the Lord-Lieutenant is ordered to come +over immediately to settle his halfpence." + +I entreat you, my dear countrymen, not to be under the least concern upon +these and the like rumours, which are no more than the last howls of a dog +dissected alive, as I hope he has sufficiently been. These calumnies are +the only reserve that is left him. For surely our continued and (almost) +unexampled loyalty, will never be called in question, for not suffering +ourselves to be robbed of all that we have by one obscure ironmonger. + +As to disputing the King's prerogative, give me leave to explain, to those +who are ignorant, what the meaning of that word _prerogative_ is. + +The Kings of these realms enjoy several powers, wherein the laws have not +interposed. So, they can make war and peace without the consent of +Parliament--and this is a very great prerogative; but if the Parliament +does not approve of the war, the King must bear the charge of it out of +his own purse--and this is a great check on the crown. + +So, the King has a prerogative to coin money without consent of +Parliament; but he cannot compel the subject to take that money, except it +be sterling gold or silver, because herein he is limited by law. Some +princes have, indeed, extended their prerogative farther than the law +allowed them; wherein, however, the lawyers of succeeding ages, as fond as +they are of precedents, have never dared to justify them. But, to say the +truth, it is only of late times that prerogative has been fixed and +ascertained; for, whoever reads the history of England will find, that +some former Kings, and those none of the worst, have, upon several +occasions, ventured to control the laws, with very little ceremony or +scruple, even later than the days of Queen Elizabeth. In her reign, that +pernicious counsel of sending base money hither, very narrowly failed of +losing the kingdom--being complained of by the lord-deputy, the council, +and the whole body of the English here; so that, soon after her death, it +was recalled by her successor, and lawful money paid in exchange. + +Having thus given you some notion of what is meant by "the King's +prerogative," as far as a tradesman can be thought capable of explaining +it, I will only add the opinion of the great Lord Bacon: "That, as God +governs the world by the settled laws of nature, which He has made, and +never transcends those laws but upon high important occasions, so among +earthly princes, those are the wisest and the best, who govern by the +known laws of the country, and seldomest make use of their prerogative." + +Now here you may see, that the vile accusation of Wood and his +accomplices, charging us with disputing the King's prerogative by refusing +his brass, can have no place--because compelling the subject to take any +coin which is not sterling, is no part of the King's prerogative, and I am +very confident, if it were so, we should be the last of his people to +dispute it; as well from that inviolable loyalty we have always paid to +his Majesty, as from the treatment we might, in such a case, justly expect +from some, who seem to think we have neither common sense nor common +senses. But, God be thanked, the best of them are only our +fellow-subjects, and not our masters. One great merit I am sure we have, +which those of English birth can have no pretence to--that our ancestors +reduced this kingdom to the obedience of England; for which we have been +rewarded with a worse climate--the privilege of being governed by laws to +which we do not consent--a ruined trade--a House of Peers without +jurisdiction--almost an incapacity for all employments--and the dread of +Wood's halfpence. + +But we are so far from disputing the King's prerogative in coining, that +we own he has power to give a patent to any man for selling his royal +image and superscription upon whatever materials he pleases, and liberty +to the patentee to offer them in any country from England to Japan; only +attended with one small limitation--that nobody alive is obliged to take +them.... + +Let me now say something concerning the other great cause of some people's +fear, as Wood has taught the London newswriter to express it, that his +excellency the Lord-Lieutenant is coming over to settle Wood's halfpence. +We know very well, that the Lord-Lieutenants for several years past, have +not thought this kingdom worthy the honour of their residence longer than +was absolutely necessary for the King's business, which, consequently, +wanted no speed in the despatch. And therefore it naturally fell into +most men's thoughts, that a new governor, coming at an unusual time, must +portend some unusual business to be done; especially if the common report +be true, that the Parliament, prorogued to I know not when, is, by a new +summons, revoking that prorogation, to assemble soon after the arrival; +for which extraordinary proceeding, the lawyers on the other side the +water have, by great good fortune, found two precedents. + +All this being granted, it can never enter into my head, that so little a +creature as Wood could find credit enough with the King and his ministers, +to have the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland sent hither in a hurry upon his +errand. + +For, let us take the whole matter nakedly as it lies before us, without +the refinements of some people, with which we have nothing to do. + +Here is a patent granted under the great seal of England, upon false +suggestions, to one William Wood for coining copper halfpence for Ireland. +The Parliament here, upon apprehensions of the worst consequences from the +said patent, address the King to have it recalled. This is refused; and a +Committee of the Privy-council report to his Majesty, that Wood has +performed the conditions of his patent. He then is left to do the best he +can with his halfpence, no man being obliged to receive them; the people +here, being likewise left to themselves, unite as one man, resolving they +will have nothing to do with his ware. + +By this plain account of the fact it is manifest, that the King and his +ministry are wholly out of the case, and the matter is left to be disputed +between him and us. Will any man, therefore, attempt to persuade me, that +a Lord-Lieutenant is to be despatched over in great haste before the +ordinary time, and a Parliament summoned by anticipating a prorogation, +merely to put a hundred thousand pounds into the pocket of a sharper by +the ruin of a most loyal kingdom? + +But, supposing all this to be true, by what arguments could a +Lord-Lieutenant prevail on the same Parliament, which addressed with so +much zeal and earnestness against this evil, to pass it into a law? I am +sure their opinion of Wood and his project is not mended since their last +prorogation; and, supposing those methods should be used, which detractors +tell us have been sometimes put in practice for gaining votes, it is well +known, that, in this kingdom, there are few employments to be given; and, +if there were more, it is as well known to whose share they must fall. +But, because great numbers of you are altogether ignorant of the affairs +of your country, I will tell you some reasons why there are so few +employments to be disposed of in this kingdom. All considerable offices +for life are here possessed by those to whom the reversions were granted; +and these have been generally followers of the chief governors, or persons +who had interest in the Court of England. So, the Lord Berkeley of +Stratton holds that great office of Master of the rolls; the Lord +Palmerstown is first remembrancer, worth near 2000_l._ per annum. One +Doddington, secretary to the Earl of Pembroke, begged the reversion of +clerk of the pells, worth 2500_l._ a-year, which he now enjoys by the +death of the Lord Newtown. Mr. Southwell is secretary of State, and the +Earl of Burlington lord high treasurer of Ireland by inheritance. These +are only a few among many others which I have been told of, but cannot +remember. Nay, the reversion of several employments, during pleasure, is +granted the same way. This, among many others, is a circumstance, whereby +the kingdom of Ireland is distinguished from all other nations upon earth; +and makes it so difficult an affair to get into a civil employ, that Mr. +Addison was forced to purchase an old obscure place, called keeper of the +records in Bermingham's Tower, of 10_l._ a year, and to get a salary of +400_l._ annexed to it, though all the records there are not worth +half-a-crown, either for curiosity or use. And we lately saw a favourite +secretary descend to be master of the revels,[8] which, by his credit and +extortion, he has made pretty considerable. I say nothing of the +under-treasurership, worth about 9000_l._ a year, nor of the commissioners +of the revenue, four of whom generally live in England, for I think none +of these are granted in reversion; but the jest is, that I have known, +upon occasion, some of these absent officers as keen against the interest +of Ireland, as if they had never been indebted to her for a single groat. + +I confess, I have been sometimes tempted to wish that this project of +Wood's might succeed; because I reflected with some pleasure, what a jolly +crew it would bring over among us of lords and squires, and pensioners of +both sexes, and officers civil and military, where we should live together +as merry and sociable as beggars, only with this one abatement, that we +should neither have meat to feed, nor manufactures to clothe us, unless we +could be content to prance about in coats of mail, or eat brass as +ostriches do iron. + +I return from this digression to that which gave me the occasion of making +it. And I believe you are now convinced, that if the Parliament of +Ireland were as temptable as any other assembly within a mile of +Christendom (which God forbid!), yet the managers must of necessity fail +for want of tools to work with. But I will yet go one step farther, by +supposing that a hundred new employments were erected on purpose to +gratify compliers, yet still an insuperable difficulty would remain. For +it happens, I know not how, that money is neither Whig nor Tory--neither +of town nor country party, and it is not improbable that a gentleman would +rather choose to live upon his own estate, which brings him gold and +silver, than with the addition of an employment, when his rents and salary +must both be paid in Wood's brass, at above eighty per cent. discount. + +For these, and many other reasons, I am confident you need not be +under the least apprehension from the sudden expectation of the +Lord-Lieutenant,[9] while we continue in our present hearty disposition, +to alter which no suitable temptation can possibly be offered. And if, as +I have often asserted from the best authority, the law has not left a +power in the crown to force any money, except sterling, upon the subject, +much less can the crown devolve such a power upon another.... + +Another slander spread by Wood and his emissaries is, "That by opposing +him we discover an inclination to throw off our dependence upon the crown +of England." Pray observe how important a person is this same William +Wood, and how the public weal of two kingdoms is involved in his private +interest. First, all those who refuse to take his coin are Papists; for he +tells us, "That none but Papists are associated against him." Secondly, +"they dispute the King's prerogative." Thirdly, "they are ripe for +rebellion." And, fourthly "they are going to shake off their dependence +upon the crown of England;" that is to say, they are going to choose +another king, for there can be no other meaning in this expression, +however some may pretend to strain it. + +And this gives me an opportunity of explaining to those who are ignorant, +another point, which has often swelled in my breast. Those who come over +hither to us from England, and some weak people among ourselves, whenever +in discourse we make mention of liberty and property, shake their heads, +and tell us that Ireland is a depending kingdom; as if they would seem by +this phrase to intend that the people of Ireland are in some state of +slavery or dependence different from those of England; whereas a depending +kingdom is a modern term of art, unknown, as I have heard, to all ancient +civilians, and writers upon government; and Ireland is, on the contrary, +called in some statutes "an imperial crown," as held only from God, which +is as high a style as any kingdom is capable of receiving. Therefore, by +this expression, "a depending kingdom," there is no more to be understood +than that, by a statute made here in the thirty-third year of Henry VIII., +the King and his successors are to be kings imperial of this realm, as +united and knit to the imperial crown of England. I have looked over all +the English and Irish statutes, without finding any law that makes Ireland +depend upon England, any more than England does upon Ireland. We have, +indeed, obliged ourselves to have the same King with them, and +consequently they are obliged to have the same King with us. For the law +was made by our own Parliament, and our ancestors then were not such fools +(whatever they were in the preceding reign) to bring themselves under I +know not what dependence, which is now talked of, without any ground of +law, reason, or common sense. Let whoever thinks otherwise, I, M. B., +Drapier, desire to be excepted; for I declare, next under God, I depend +only on the King my sovereign, and on the laws of my own country. And I +am so far from depending on the people of England, that if ever they +should rebel against my sovereign (which God forbid!) I would be ready, at +the first command from his Majesty, to take arms against them, as some of +my countrymen did against theirs at Preston. And if such a rebellion +should prove so successful as to fix the Pretender on the throne of +England, I would venture to transgress that statute so far as to lose +every drop of my blood to hinder him from being King of Ireland. + +It is true, indeed, that within the memory of man, the Parliaments of +England have sometimes assumed the power of binding this kingdom by laws +enacted there;[10] wherein they were at first openly opposed (as far as +truth, reason and justice,[11] are capable of opposing) by the famous Mr. +Molineux, an English gentleman born here, as well as by several of the +greatest patriots and best Whigs in England; but the love and torrent of +power prevailed. Indeed the arguments on both sides were invincible. For, +in reason, all government without the consent of the governed, is the very +definition of slavery; but, in fact, eleven men well armed will certainly +subdue one single man in his shirt. But I have done; for those who have +used to cramp liberty, have gone so far as to resent even the liberty of +complaining; although a man upon the rack was never known to be refused +the liberty of roaring as loud as he thought fit. + +And as we are apt to sink too much under unreasonable fears, so we are too +soon inclined to be raised by groundless hopes, according to the nature of +all consumptive bodies like ours. Thus it has been given about, for +several days past, that somebody in England empowered a second somebody, +to write to a third somebody here, to assure us that we should no more be +troubled with these halfpence. And this is reported to have been done by +the same person, who is said to have sworn some months ago, "that he would +ram them down our throats," though I doubt they would stick in our +stomachs; but whichever of these reports be true or false, it is no +concern of ours. For, in this point, we have nothing to do with English +ministers; and I should be sorry to leave it in their power to redress +this grievance, or to enforce it; for the report of the Committee has +given me a surfeit. + +The remedy is wholly in your own hands; and therefore I have digressed a +little, in order to refresh and continue that spirit so seasonably raised +among you; and to let you see, that by the laws of GOD, of NATURE, of +NATIONS, and of your COUNTRY, you ARE, and OUGHT to be, as FREE a people +as your brethren in England.... + + +THE FIFTH LETTER + +Was addressed to Viscount Molesworth, a distinguished Whig; and the author +of several works written in a patriotic spirit. His agricultural treatise +on Ireland was highly approved by Swift. This closed the series for the +present. The tone of the letter is apologetic. Hitherto he has not shaken +off the impression left by the works of Lord Molesworth himself, of Locke, +of Molyneux and Sidney, who talked of liberty as a common blessing. But +now he will "grow wiser and learn to consider my driver, the road I am in, +and with whom I am yoked." + + +LETTER V. + +_To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Molesworth._ + +DIRECTIONS TO THE PRINTER. + + +From my shop in St. Francis' Street, + +_December 24th, 1724._ + +MR. HARDING, + +When I sent you my former papers, I cannot say I intended you either good +or hurt; and yet you have happened, through my means, to receive both. I +pray God deliver you from any more of the latter, and increase the former. +Your trade, particularly in this kingdom, is, of all others, the most +unfortunately circumstantiated; for as you deal in the most worthless kind +of trash, the penny productions of pennyless scribblers, so you often +venture your liberty, and sometimes your lives, for the purchase of +half-a-crown; and, by your own ignorance, are punished for other men's +actions. I am afraid, you, in particular, think you have reason to +complain of me, for your own and your wife's confinement in prison, to +your great expense as well as hardship, and for a prosecution still +impending. But I will tell you, Mr. Harding, how that matter stands. + +Since the press has lain under so strict an inspection, those who have a +mind to inform the world are become so cautious, as to keep themselves, if +possible, out of the way of danger. My custom, therefore, is, to dictate +to a 'prentice,[12] who can write in a feigned hand, and what is written +we send to your house by a blackguard boy. But at the same time I do +assure you, upon my reputation, that I never did send you anything for +which I thought you could possibly be called to an account; and you will +be my witness, that I always desired you, by letter, to take some good +advice, before you ventured to print, because I knew the dexterity of +dealers in the law at finding out something to fasten on, where no evil is +meant. I am told, indeed, that you did accordingly consult several very +able persons, and even some who afterwards appeared against you; to which +I can only answer, that you must either change your advisers, or determine +to print nothing that comes from a Drapier. + +I desire you to send the enclosed letter, directed, "To my Lord Viscount +Molesworth, at his house at Brackdenstown, near Swords;" but I would have +it sent printed, for the convenience of his Lordship's reading, because +this counterfeit hand of my apprentice is not very legible. And, if you +think fit to publish it, I would have you first get it read over by some +notable lawyer. I am assured, you will find enough of them who are friends +to the Drapier, and will do it without a fee; which, I am afraid, you can +ill-afford after all your expenses. For although I have taken so much +care, that I think it impossible to find a topic out of the following +papers for sending you again to prison, yet I will not venture to be your +guarantee. + +This ensuing letter contains only a short account of myself, and an humble +apology for my former pamphlets, especially the last, with little mention +of Mr. Wood for his halfpence, because I have already said enough upon +that subject, until occasion shall be given for new fears; and, in that +case, you may perhaps hear from me again. + + I am your friend and servant, + M. B. + +P.S.--For want of intercourse between you and me, which I never will +suffer, your people are apt to make very gross errors in the press, which +I desire you will provide against. + + +A LETTER + +_To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Molesworth, at his house at +Brackdenstown, near Swords._ + + +From my shop in St. Francis Street, + +_December 14th, 1724._ + +MY LORD, + +I reflect too late on the maxim of common observers, "that those who +meddle in matters out of their calling will have reason to repent;" which +is now verified in me: for, by engaging in the trade of a writer, I have +drawn upon myself the displeasure of the government, signified by a +proclamation, promising a reward of three hundred pounds to the first +faithful subject who shall be able and inclined to inform against me; to +which I may add the laudable zeal and industry of my Lord Chief Justice +Whitshed, in his endeavours to discover so dangerous a person. Therefore, +whether I repent or not, I have certainly cause to do so; and the common +observation still stands good. + +It will sometimes happen, I know not how, in the course of human affairs, +that a man shall be made liable to legal animadversion where he has +nothing to answer for either to God or his country, and condemned at +Westminster Hall for what he will never be charged with at the day of +judgment. + +After strictly examining my own heart, and consulting some divines of +great reputation, I cannot accuse myself of any malice or wickedness +against the public,--of any designs to sow sedition,--of reflecting on the +King and his ministers,--or of endeavouring to alienate the affections of +the people of this kingdom from those of England.[13] All I can charge +myself with is, a weak attempt to serve a nation in danger of destruction +by a most wicked and malicious projector, without waiting until I were +called to its assistance; which attempt, however it may perhaps give me +the title of _pragmatical_ and _overweening_, will never lie a burden upon +my conscience. + +God knows, whether I may not, with all my caution, have already run myself +into a second danger by offering thus much in my own vindication; for I +have heard of a judge, who, upon the criminal's appeal to the dreadful day +of judgment, told him he had incurred a _premunire_, for appealing to a +foreign jurisdiction; and of another in Wales, who severely checked the +prisoner for offering the same plea, taxing him with "reflecting on the +Court by such a comparison, because comparisons were odious." + +But, in order to make some excuse for being more speculative than others +of my condition, I desire your Lordship's pardon, while I am doing a very +foolish thing; which is, to give you some little account of myself. + +I was bred at a free school, where I acquired some little knowledge in the +Latin tongue. I served my apprenticeship in London, and there set up for +myself with good success; until, by the death of some friends, and the +misfortunes of others, I returned into this kingdom, and began to employ +my thoughts in cultivating the woollen manufacture through all its +branches, wherein I met with great discouragement and powerful opposers, +whose objections appeared to me very strange and singular. They argued, +"that the people of England would be offended if our manufactures were +brought to equal theirs;" and even some of the weaving trade were my +enemies, which I could not but look upon as absurd and unnatural. I +remember your lordship, at that time, did me the honour to come into my +shop, where I showed you a piece of black and white stuff just sent from +the dyer,[14] which you were pleased to approve of, and be my customer +for. + +However, I was so mortified, that I resolved, for the future, to sit +quietly in my shop, and deal in common goods, like the rest of my +brethren; until it happened, some months ago, considering with myself that +the lower and poorer sort of people wanted a plain, strong, coarse stuff, +to defend them against cold easterly winds, which then blew very fierce +and blasting for a long time together, I contrived one[15] on purpose, +which sold very well all over the kingdom, and preserved many thousands +from agues. I then made a second and a third kind of stuffs[16] for the +gentry with the same success; insomuch, that an ague has hardly been heard +of for some time. + +This incited me so far, that I ventured upon a fourth piece,[17] made of +the best Irish wool I could get; and I thought it grave and rich enough to +be worn by the best lord or judge of the land. But of late some great +folks complain, as I hear, "that, when they had it on, they felt a +shuddering in their limbs,"--and have thrown it off in a rage, cursing to +hell the poor Drapier who invented it; so that I am determined never to +work for persons of quality again, except for your lordship, and a very +few more. + +I assure your lordship, upon the word of an honest citizen, that I am not +richer, by the value of one of Mr. Wood's halfpence, with the sale of all +the several stuffs I have contrived, for I give the whole profit to the +dyers and pressers;[18] and, therefore, I hope you will please to believe, +that no other motive, beside the love of my country, could engage me to +busy my head and hands, to the loss of my time, and the gain of nothing +but vexation and ill-will. + +I have now in hand one piece of stuff, to be woven on purpose for your +lordship; although I might be ashamed to offer it to you after I have +confessed, that it will be made only from the shreds and remnants of the +wool employed in the former. However, I shall work it up as well as I can; +and, at worst, you need only give it among your tenants.... + +I am told that the two points in my last letter, from which an occasion of +offence has been taken, are where I mention his Majesty's answer to the +address of the House of Lords upon Mr. Wood's patent; and where I +discourse upon Ireland's being a dependent kingdom. As to the former, I +can only say that I have treated it with the utmost respect and caution; +and I thought it necessary to show where Wood's patent differed, in many +essential parts, from all others that ever had been granted; because the +contrary had, for want of due information, been so strongly and so largely +asserted. As to the other, of Ireland's dependency, I confess to have +often heard it mentioned, but was never able to understand what it meant. +This gave me the curiosity to inquire among several eminent lawyers, who +professed they knew nothing of the matter. I then turned over all the +statutes of both kingdoms, without the least information, farther than an +Irish act, that I quoted, of the 33rd of Henry VIII., uniting Ireland to +England under one King. I cannot say I was sorry to be disappointed in my +search, because it is certain I could be contented to depend only upon God +and my prince, and the laws of my own country, after the manner of other +nations. But since my betters are of a different opinion, and desire +farther dependencies, I shall outwardly submit; yet still insisting in my +own heart, upon the exception I made of M. B., Drapier.... All I desire +is, that the cause of my country against Mr. Wood, may not suffer by any +inadvertency of mine. Whether Ireland depends upon England or only upon +God, the King, and the law, I hope no man will assert that it depends upon +Mr. Wood. I should be heartily sorry that this commendable spirit against +me should accidentally (and what, I hope, was never intended) strike a +damp upon that spirit in all ranks and corporations of men against the +desperate and ruinous design of Mr. Wood. Let my countrymen blot out those +parts in my last letter which they dislike; and let no rust remain on my +sword, to cure the wounds I have given to our most mortal enemy. When Sir +Charles Sedley was taking the oaths, where several things were to be +renounced, he said, "he loved renouncing;" asked, "if any more were to be +renounced; for he was ready to renounce as much as they pleased." Although +I am not so thorough a renouncer, yet let me have but good city-security +against this pestilent coinage, and I shall be ready not only to renounce +every syllable in all my four letters, but to deliver them cheerfully with +my own hands into those of the common hangman, to be burnt with no better +company than the coiner's effigies, if any part of it has escaped out of +the secular hands of my faithful friends, the common people. But, whatever +the sentiments of some people may be, I think it is agreed that many of +those who subscribed against me, are on the side of a vast majority in the +kingdom who opposed Mr. Wood; and it was with great satisfaction that I +observed some right honourable names very amicably joined with my own, at +the bottom of a strong declaration against him and his coin. But if the +admission of it among us be already determined, the worthy person who is +to betray me ought in prudence to do it with all convenient speed; or else +it may be difficult to find three hundred pounds sterling for the +discharge of his hire, when the public shall have lost five hundred +thousand, if there be so much in the nation; besides four-fifths of its +annual income for ever. I am told by lawyers, that in quarrels between man +and man, it is of much weight which of them gave the first provocation, or +struck the first blow. It is manifest that Mr. Wood has done both, and +therefore I should humbly propose to have him first hanged, and his dross +thrown into the sea; after which the Drapier will be ready to stand his +trial. "It must needs be that offences come, but woe unto him by whom the +offence comes." If Mr. Wood had held his hand, everybody else would have +held their tongues; and then there would have been little need of +pamphlets, juries, or proclamations, upon this occasion. The provocation +must needs have been very great, which could stir up an obscure, indolent +Drapier, to become an author. One would almost think, the very stones in +the street would rise up in such a cause; and I am not sure they will not +do so against Mr. Wood, if ever he comes within their reach. It is a known +story of the dumb boy, whose tongue forced a passage for speech by the +horror of seeing a dagger at his father's throat. This may lessen the +wonder, that a tradesman, hid in privacy and silence should cry out when +the life and being of his political mother are attempted before his face, +and by so infamous a wretch. + +I am now resolved to follow (after the usual proceeding of mankind, +because it is too late) the advice given, me by a certain Dean.[19] He +showed the mistake I was in of trusting to the general good-will of the +people; "that I had succeeded hitherto better than could be expected; but +that some unfortunate circumstantial lapse would bring me within the reach +of power; that my good intentions would be no security against those who +watched every motion of my pen in the bitterness of my soul." He produced +an instance of "a writer as innocent, as disinterested, and as +well-meaning as myself; who had written a very seasonable and inoffensive +treatise, exhorting the people of this kingdom to wear their own +manufactures;[20] for which, however, the printer, was prosecuted with the +utmost virulence; the jury sent back nine times; and the man given up to +the mercy of the Court." The Dean farther observed, "that I was in a +manner left alone to stand the battle; while others, who had ten thousand +times better talents than a Drapier, were so prudent as to lie still; and +perhaps thought it no unpleasant amusement to look on with safety, while +another was giving them diversion at the hazard of his liberty and +fortune; and thought they made a sufficient recompense by a little +applause." Whereupon he concluded with a short story of a Jew at Madrid, +who, being condemned to the fire on account of his religion, a crowd of +schoolboys following him to the stake, and apprehending they might lose +their sport if he should happen to recant, would often clap him on the +back, and cry, "_Sta firme, Moyse_: Moses, continue steadfast." + +I allow this gentleman's advice to have been very good, and his +observations just; and in one respect my condition is worse than that of +the Jew; for no recantation will save me. However, it should seem, by some +late proceedings, that my state is not altogether deplorable. This I can +impute to nothing but the steadiness of two impartial grand juries; which +has confirmed in me an opinion I have long entertained; that, as +philosophers say, virtue is seated in the middle; so, in another sense, +the little virtue left in the world, is chiefly to be found among the +middle rank of mankind, who are neither allured out of her paths by +ambition, nor driven by poverty.... + +But, to confess the truth, my lord, I begin to grow weary of my office as +a writer, and could heartily wish it were devolved upon my brethren, the +makers of songs and ballads, who perhaps are the best qualified at present +to gather up the gleanings of this controversy. As to myself, it has been +my misfortune to begin and pursue it upon a wrong foundation. For, having +detected the frauds and falsehoods of this vile impostor Wood in every +part, I foolishly disdained to have recourse to whining, lamenting, and +crying for mercy; but rather chose to appeal to law and liberty, and the +common rights of mankind, without considering the climate I was in. Since +your last residence in Ireland, I frequently have taken my nag to ride +about your grounds, where I fancied myself to feel an air of freedom +breathing around me; and I am glad the low condition of a tradesman did +not qualify me to wait on you at your house; for then I am afraid my +writings would not have escaped severer censures. But I have lately sold +my nag, and honestly told his greatest fault, which was that of snuffing +up the air about Brackdenstown; whereby he became such a lover of liberty, +that I could scarce hold him in. I have likewise buried, at the bottom of +a strong chest, your lordship's writings, under a heap of others that +treat of liberty, and spread over a layer or two of Hobbes, Filmer, Bodin, +and many more authors of that stamp, to be readiest at hand whenever I +shall be disposed to take up a new set of principles in government. In the +meantime, I design quietly to look to my shop, and keep as far out of your +lordship's influence as possible; and if you ever see any more of my +writings on this subject, I promise you shall find them as innocent, as +insipid, and without a sting, as what I have now offered you. But, if your +lordship will please to give me an easy lease of some part of your estate +in Yorkshire, thither will I carry my chest, and, turning it upside down, +resume my political reading where I left off, feed on plain homely fare, +and live and die a free, honest English farmer; but not without regret for +leaving my countrymen under the dread of the brazen talons of Mr. +Wood;--my most loyal and innocent countrymen, to whom I owe so much for +their good opinion of me, and my poor endeavours to serve them. + + I am, with the greatest respect, + My Lord, + Your Lordship's most obedient, and most humble servant, + M. B. + + +SIXTH LETTER + +Was written a little after the proclamation against the Drapier's fourth +Letter. It is delivered with much caution, because the Author confesses +himself to be the Dean of St. Patrick's. + + +LETTER VI. + +_To the Lord Chancellor Middleton._ + + +Deanery-house, _October, 1724_. + +MY LORD, + +I desire you will consider me as a member who comes in at the latter end +of a debate; or as a lawyer who speaks to a cause when the matter has been +almost exhausted by those who spoke before. + +I remember, some months ago, I was at your house upon a commission, where +I am one of the governors; but I went thither, not so much on account of +the commission, as to ask you some questions concerning Mr. Wood's patent +to coin halfpence for Ireland; where you very freely told me, in a mixed +company, how much you had always been against that wicked project;[21] +which raised in me an esteem for you so far that I went in a few days to +make you a visit, after many years' intermission. I am likewise told that +your son wrote two letters from London (one of which I have seen), +empowering those to whom they were directed to assure his friends, that +whereas there was a malicious report spread of his engaging himself to Mr. +Walpole for forty thousand pounds of Wood's coin to be received in +Ireland, the said report was false and groundless; and he had never +discoursed with that minister on this subject, nor would ever give his +consent to have one farthing of the said coin current here. And although +it be a long time since I have given myself the trouble of conversing with +people of titles or stations, yet I have been told by those who can take +up with such amusements, that there is not a considerable person of the +kingdom scrupulous in any sort to declare his opinion. But all this is +needless to allege, when we consider, that the ruinous consequences of +Wood's patent have been so strongly represented by both Houses of +Parliament, by the Privy-council, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of Dublin; +by so many corporations; and the concurrence of the principal gentlemen in +most counties at their quarter-sessions, without any regard to party, +religion, or nation. + +I conclude from hence, that the currency of these halfpence would, in the +universal opinion of our people, be utterly destructive to this kingdom; +and, consequently, that it is every man's duty, not only to refuse this +coin himself, but, as far as in him lies, to persuade others to do the +like; and whether this be done in private or in print, is all a case; as +no layman is forbidden to write or to discourse upon religious or moral +subjects, although he may not do it in a pulpit, at least in our Church. +Neither is this an affair of State, until authority shall think fit to +declare it so, or, if you should understand it in that sense, yet you will +please to consider, that I am not now preaching. + +Therefore, I do think it my duty, since the Drapier will probably be no +more heard of, so far to supply his place, as not to incur his fortune; +for I have learned from old experience that there are times wherein a man +ought to be cautious as well as innocent. I therefore hope that, +preserving both those characters, I may be allowed, by offering new +arguments or enforcing old ones, to refresh the memory of my +fellow-subjects, and keep up that good spirit raised among them, to +preserve themselves from utter ruin by lawful means, and such as are +permitted by his Majesty. + +I believe you will please to allow me two propositions: First, that we +are a most loyal people; and, secondly, that we are a free people, in the +common acceptation of that word, applied to a subject under a limited +monarch. I know very well that you and I did, many years ago, in discourse +differ much in the presence of Lord Wharton about the meaning of that word +_liberty_, with relation to Ireland. But, if you will not allow us to be a +free people, there is only another appellation left, which I doubt my Lord +Chief Justice Whitshed would call me to account for, if I venture to +bestow: for I observed (and I shall never forget upon what occasion) the +device upon his coach to be, _Libertas et natale solum_, at the very point +of time when he was sitting in his court, and perjuring himself to betray +both.... + +I am heartily sorry that any writer should, in a cause so generally +approved, give occasion to the government and council to charge him with +paragraphs "highly reflecting upon his Majesty and his ministers; tending +to alienate the affections of his good subjects in England and Ireland +from each other, and to promote sedition among the people." I must confess +that, with many others, I thought he meant well, although he might have +the failing of better writers, not to be always fortunate in the manner of +expressing himself. + +However, since the Drapier is but one man, I shall think I do a public +service by asserting that the rest of my countrymen are wholly free from +learning, out of his pamphlets to reflect on the King or his ministers, +and to breed sedition. I solemnly declare, that I never once heard the +least reflection cast upon the King on the subject of Mr. Wood's coin: for +in many discourses on this matter, I do not remember his Majesty's name to +be so much as mentioned. As to the ministry in England, the only two +persons hinted at were the Duke of Grafton and Mr. Walpole; the former, as +I have heard you and a hundred others affirm, declared, "that he never saw +the patent in favour of Mr. Wood before it was passed," although he was +then Lord-Lieutenant; and therefore, I suppose, everybody believes that +his Grace has been wholly unconcerned in it ever since. Mr. Walpole was +indeed supposed to be understood by the letter W. in several newspapers, +where it is said that some expressions fell from him not very favourable +to the people of Ireland, for the truth of which the kingdom is not to +answer, any more than for the discretion of the publishers. You observe, +the Drapier wholly clears Mr. Walpole of this charge by very strong +arguments, and speaks of him with civility. + +I cannot deny myself to have been often present where the company gave +their opinion that Mr. Walpole favoured Mr. Wood's projects, which I +always contradicted, and for my own part never once opened my lips against +that minister, either in mixed or particular meetings; and my reason for +this reservedness was, because it pleased him in the Queen's time (I mean +Queen Anne, of ever-blessed memory) to make a speech directly against me +by name in the House of Commons, as I was told a very few minutes after, +in the Court of Requests, by more than fifty members.... + +But whatever unpleasing opinion some people might conceive of Mr. Walpole, +on account of those halfpence, I dare boldly affirm it was entirely owing +to Mr. Wood. Many persons of credit come from England, have affirmed to me +and others, that they have seen letters under his hand, full of arrogance +and insolence towards Ireland, and boasting of his favour with Mr. +Walpole; which is highly probable; because he reasonably thought it for +his interest to spread such a report, and because it is the known talent +of low and little spirits, to have a great man's name perpetually in their +mouths. Thus I have sufficiently justified the people of Ireland from +learning any bad lesson out of the Drapier's pamphlets, with regard to his +Majesty and his ministers; and therefore, if those papers were intended to +sow sedition among us, God be thanked the seeds have fallen upon a very +improper soil. + +As to alienating the affections of the people of England and Ireland from +each other, I believe the Drapier, whatever his intentions were, has left +that matter just as he found it. I have lived long in both kingdoms, as +well in country as in town; and therefore take myself to be as well +informed as most men, in the dispositions of each people toward the other. +By the people, I understand here only the bulk of the common people: and I +desire no lawyer may distort or extend my meaning. There is a vein of +industry and parsimony, that runs through the whole people of England, +which, added to the easiness of their rents, makes them rich and sturdy. + +As to Ireland, they know little more of it than they do of Mexico: farther +than that it is a country subject to the King of England, full of bogs, +inhabited by wild Irish Papists, who are kept in awe by mercenary troops +sent from thence: and their general opinion is, that it were better for +England if this whole island were sunk into the sea; for they have a +tradition, that every forty years there must be a rebellion in Ireland. + +I have seen the grossest suppositions passed upon them: "That the wild +Irish were taken in toils; but that in some time they would grow so tame +as to eat out of your hands." I have been asked by hundreds, and +particularly by my neighbours, your tenants at Pepper-harrow, "whether I +had come from Ireland by sea?" and, upon the arrival of an Irishman to a +country town, I have known crowds coming about him, and wondering to see +him look so much better than themselves. + +A gentleman, now in Dublin, affirms, "that, passing some months ago +through Northampton, and finding the whole town in a flurry, with bells, +bonfires, and illuminations; upon asking the cause, he was told that it +was for joy that the Irish had submitted to receive Wood's halfpence." +This, I think, plainly shows what sentiments that large town has of us; +and how little they made it their own case; although they lie directly in +our way to London, and therefore cannot but be frequently convinced that +we have human shapes. + +As to the people of this kingdom, they consist either of Irish Papists, +who are as inconsiderable in point of power as the women and children; or +of English Protestants, who love their brethren of that kingdom, although +they may possibly sometimes complain when they think they are hardly used. +However, I confess I do not see that it is of any great consequence, how +the personal affections stand to each other, while the sea divides them +and while they continue in their loyalty to the same prince. And yet I +will appeal to you, whether those from England have reason to complain +when they come hither in pursuit of their fortunes? or, whether the people +of Ireland have reason to boast, when they go to England upon the same +design? My second proposition was, that we of Ireland are a free people; +this, I suppose, you will allow, at least with certain limitations +remaining in your own breast. However, I am sure it is not criminal to +affirm it; because the words liberty and property, as applied to the +subject, are often mentioned in both Houses of Parliament, as well as in +yours and other courts below; whence it must follow, that the people of +Ireland do or ought to enjoy all the benefits of the common and statute +law: such as to be tried by juries, to pay no money without their own +consent as represented in Parliament, and the like. If this be so, and if +it be universally agreed that a free people cannot by law be compelled to +take any money in payment except gold and silver, I do not see why any man +should be hindered from cautioning his countrymen against this coin of +William Wood, who is endeavouring by fraud to rob us of that property +which the laws have secured.... + +Before I conclude, I cannot but observe that for several months past +there have more papers been written in this town, such as they are, all +upon the best public principle, the love of our country, than perhaps has +been known in any other nation in so short a time. I speak in general, +from the Drapier down to the maker of ballads; and all without any regard +to the common motives of writers, which are profit, favour, and +reputation. As to profit, I am assured by persons of credit, that the best +ballad upon Mr. Wood will not yield above a groat to the author; and the +unfortunate adventurer Harding[22] declares he never made the Drapier any +present, except one pair of scissors. As to favour, whoever thinks to make +his court by opposing Mr. Wood, is not very deep in politics; and as to +reputation, certainly no man of worth and learning would employ his pen +upon so transitory a subject, and in so obscure a corner of the world, to +distinguish himself as an author, so that I look upon myself, the Drapier, +and my numerous brethren, to be all true patriots in our several degrees. + +All that the public can expect for the future is, only to be sometimes +warned to beware of Mr. Wood's halfpence, and to be referred for +conviction to the Drapier's reasons. For a man of the most superior +understanding will find it impossible to make the best use of it while he +writes in constraint, perpetually softening, correcting, or blotting out +expressions for fear of bringing his printer, or himself, under a +prosecution from my Lord Chief Justice Whitshed. It calls to my +remembrance the madman in "Don Quixote," who being soundly beaten by a +weaver for letting a stone (which he always carried on his shoulder), fall +upon a spaniel, apprehended that every cur he met was of the same species. + +For these reasons I am convinced, that what I have now written will appear +low and insipid; but if it contributes in the least to preserve that union +among us for opposing this fatal project of Mr. Wood, my pains will not be +altogether lost. + +I sent these papers to an eminent lawyer (and yet a man of virtue and +learning into the bargain), who, after many alterations, returned them +back, with assuring me that they are perfectly innocent; without the least +mixture of treason, rebellion, sedition, malice, disaffection, reflection, +or wicked insinuation whatsoever. + +If the bellman of each parish, as he goes his circuit, would cry out every +night "Past twelve o'clock; Beware of Wood's halfpence," it would probably +cut off the occasion for publishing any more pamphlets; provided that in +country towns it were done upon market-days. For my own part, as soon as +it shall be determined that it is not against law, I will begin the +experiment in the liberty of St. Patrick's; and hope my example may be +followed in the whole city. But if authority shall think fit to forbid all +writings or discourses upon this subject, except such as are in favour of +Mr. Wood, I will obey, as it becomes me; only, when I am in danger of +bursting, I will go and whisper among the reeds, not any reflection upon +the wisdom of my countrymen, but only these few words, BEWARE OF WOOD'S +HALFPENCE. + + I am, with due respect, + Your most obedient, humble servant, + J. S. + + +SEVENTH LETTER + +Did not appear till 1735. It appears to have been written during the first +session in Lord Carteret's government. It is much more a start on a new +course, than a continuation of the past struggle. + + +LETTER VII. + +_An Humble Address to Both Houses of Parliament._ + +BY M. B., DRAPIER. + + "Multa gement plagasque superbi + Victoris--" + +I have been told, that petitions and addresses, to either King or +Parliament, are the right of every subject, provided they consist with +that respect which is due to princes and great assemblies. Neither do I +remember, that the modest proposals or opinions of private men have been +ill-received, when they have not been delivered in the style of advice; +which is a presumption far from my thoughts. However, if proposals should +be looked upon as too assuming, yet I hope every man may be suffered to +declare his own and the nation's wishes. For instance; I may be allowed to +wish, that some farther laws were enacted for the advancement of trade; +for the improvement of agriculture, now strangely neglected, against the +maxims of all wise nations; for supplying the manifest defects in the acts +concerning the plantation of trees; for setting the poor to work; and many +others. + +Upon this principle I may venture to affirm, it is the hearty wish of the +whole nation, very few excepted, that the Parliament, in this session, +would begin by strictly examining into the detestable fraud of one William +Wood, now or late of London, hardwareman; who illegally and clandestinely, +as appears by your own votes and addresses, procured a patent in England +for coining halfpence in that kingdom to be current here. This, I say, is +the wish of the whole nation, very few excepted; and upon account of those +few, is more strongly and justly the wish of the rest; those few +consisting either of Wood's confederates, some obscure tradesmen, or +certain bold UNDERTAKERS,[23] of weak judgment and strong ambition, who +think to find their accounts in the ruin of the nation, by securing or +advancing themselves. And because such men proceed upon a system of +politics, to which I would fain hope you will be always utter strangers, I +shall humbly lay it before you. + +Be pleased to suppose me in a station of fifteen hundred pounds a year, +salary and perquisites: and likewise possessed of 800_l._ a-year, real +estate. Then suppose a destructive project to be set on foot; such for +instance, as this of Wood; which, if it succeed in all the consequences +naturally to be expected from it, must sink the rents and wealth of the +kingdom one half, although I am confident it would have done so +five-sixths; suppose, I conceive that the countenancing, or privately +supporting, this project, will please those by whom I expect to be +preserved or higher exalted; nothing then remains, but to compute and +balance my gain and my loss, and sum up the whole. I suppose that I shall +keep my employment ten years, not to mention the fair chance of a better. + +This, at 1500_l._ a year, amounts in ten years to 15,000_l._ My estate, by +the success of the said project, sinks 400_l._ a-year; which, at twenty +years' purchase, is but 8000_l._; so that I am a clear gainer of 7000_l._ +upon the balance. And during all that period I am possessed of power and +credit, can gratify my favourites, and take vengeance on mine enemies. And +if the project miscarry, my private merit is still entire. This +arithmetic, as horrible as it appears, I knowingly affirm to have been +practised and applied, in conjunctures whereon depended the ruin or safety +of a nation; although probably the charity and virtue of a senate will +hardly be induced to believe, that there can be such monsters among +mankind. And yet the wise Lord Bacon mentions a sort of people (I doubt +the race is not yet extinct) who would "set a house on fire for the +convenience of roasting their own eggs at the flame." + +But whoever is old enough to remember, and has turned his thoughts to +observe, the course of public affairs in this kingdom from the time of the +Revolution, must acknowledge, that the highest points of interest and +liberty have often been sacrificed to the avarice and ambition of +particular persons, upon the very principles and arithmetic that I have +supposed. The only wonder is, how these artists were able to prevail upon +numbers, and influence even public assemblies, to become instruments for +effecting their execrable designs. + +It is, I think, in all conscience, latitude enough for vice, if a man in +station be allowed to act injustice upon the usual principles of getting a +bribe, wreaking his malice, serving his party, or consulting his +preferment, while his wickedness terminates in the ruin only of particular +persons; but to deliver up our whole country and every living soul who +inhabits it, to certain destruction, has not, as I remember, been +permitted by the most favourable casuists on the side of corruption. + +It were far better, that all who have had the misfortune to be born in +this kingdom, should be rendered incapable of holding any employment +whatsoever above the degree of a constable (according to the scheme and +intention of a great minister,[24] _gone to his own place_), than to live +under the daily apprehension of a few false brethren among ourselves; +because, in the former case, we should be wholly free from the danger of +being betrayed, since none could then have impudence enough to pretend any +public good. It is true, that in this desperate affair of the new +halfpence, I have not heard of any man above my own degree of a +shopkeeper, to have been hitherto so bold, as, in direct terms, to +vindicate the fatal project; although I have been told of some very +mollifying expressions which were used, and very gentle expedients +proposed and handed about, when it first came under debate; but since the +eyes of the people have been so far opened, that the most ignorant can +plainly see their own ruin in the success of Wood's attempt, these grand +compounders have been more cautious.... In the small compass of my reading +(which, however, has been more extensive than is usual to men of my +inferior calling,) I have observed, that grievances have always preceded +supplies. And if ever grievances had a title to such pre-eminence, it must +be this of Wood; because it is not only the greatest grievance that any +country could suffer, but a grievance of such a kind, that, if it should +take effect, would make it impossible for us to give any supplies at all, +except in adulterate copper; unless a tax were laid, for paying the civil +and military lists and the large pensions, with real commodities instead +of money. Which, however, might be liable to some few objections, as well +as difficulties; for, although the common soldiers might be content with +beef, and mutton, and wool, and malt, and leather, yet I am in some doubt +as to the generals, the colonels, the numerous pensioners, the civil +officers and others, who all live in England upon Irish pay, as well as +those few who reside among us only because they cannot help it. There is +one particular, which, although I have mentioned more than once in some of +my former papers, yet I cannot forbear to repeat, and a little enlarge +upon it; because I do not remember to have read or heard of the like in +the history of any age or country, neither do I ever reflect upon it +without the utmost astonishment. + +After the unanimous addresses to his sacred Majesty, against the patent of +Wood, from both Houses of Parliament, which are the three estates of the +kingdom, and likewise an address from the Privy-council, to whom, under +the chief governors, the whole administration is entrusted, the matter is +referred to a committee of council in London. Wood and his adherents are +heard on one side; and a few volunteers, without any trust or direction +from hence, on the other. The question, as I remember, chiefly turned upon +the want of halfpence in Ireland. Witnesses are called on the behalf of +Wood, of what credit I have formerly shown. Upon the issue, the patent is +found good and legal; all his Majesty's officers here, not excepting the +military, commanded to be aiding and assisting to make it effectual; the +addresses of both Houses of Parliament, of the Privy-council, and of the +city of Dublin, the declarations of most counties and corporations +throughout the kingdom, are altogether laid aside, as of no weight, +consequence, or consideration whatsoever; and the whole kingdom of Ireland +non-suited in default of appearance, as if it were a private case between +John Doe, plaintiff, and William Roe, defendant. + +With great respect to those honourable persons, the committee of council +in London, I have not understood them to be our governors, councillors, or +judges. Neither did our case turn at all upon the questions whether +Ireland wanted halfpence or no. For there is no doubt, but we do want both +halfpence, gold, and silver; and we have numberless other wants, and some +that we are not so much as allowed to name, although they are peculiar to +this nation; to which no other is subject, whom God has blessed with +religion and laws, or any degree of soil and sunshine; but for what +demerits on our side, I am altogether in the dark. But I do not remember +that our want of halfpence was either affirmed or denied in any of our +addresses or declarations against those of Wood. We alleged the fraudulent +obtaining and executing of his patent; the baseness of his metal; and the +prodigious sum to be coined, which might be increased by stealth, from +foreign importation and his own counterfeits, as well as those at home; +whereby we must infallibly lose all our little gold and silver, and all +our poor remainder of a very limited and discouraged trade. We urged, that +the patent was passed without the least reference hither; and without +mention of any security given by Wood, to receive his own halfpence upon +demand; both which are contrary to all contrary proceedings in the like +cases. + +These, and many other arguments, we offered, but still the patent went on; +and at this day our ruin would have been half completed, if God in His +mercy had not raised a universal detestation of these halfpence in the +whole kingdom, with a firm resolution never to receive them; since we are +not under obligations to do so by any law, either human or divine. + +But, in the name of God, and of all justice and pity, when the King's +Majesty was pleased that this patent should pass, is it not to be +understood that he conceived, believed, and intended it, as a gracious act +for the good and benefit of his subjects, for the advantage of a great and +fruitful kingdom; of the most loyal kingdom upon earth, where no hand or +voice was ever lifted up against him; a kingdom, where the passage is not +three hours from Britain; and a kingdom where Papists have less power and +less land than in England? Can it be denied or doubted that his Majesty's +ministers understood and proposed the same end, the good of this nation, +when they advised the passing of this patent? Can the person of Wood be +otherwise regarded than as the instrument, the mechanic, the head-workman, +to prepare his furnace, his fuel, his metal, and his stamps? If I employ a +shoe-boy, is it in view to his advantage, or to my own convenience? I +mention the person of William Wood alone, because no other appears; and we +are not to reason upon surmises; neither would it avail, if they had a +real foundation. Allowing therefore (for we cannot do less) that this +patent for the coining of halfpence was wholly intended by a gracious +King, and a wise public-spirited ministry, for the advantage of Ireland; +yet when the whole kingdom to a man, for whose good the patent was +designed, do, upon maturest consideration, universally join in openly +declaring, protesting, addressing, petitioning, against these halfpence, +as the most ruinous project that ever was set on foot to complete the +slavery and destruction of a poor innocent country; is it, was it, can it, +or will it, ever be a question, not, whether such a kingdom, or William +Wood, should be a gainer; but whether such a kingdom should be wholly +undone, destroyed, sunk, depopulated, made a scene of misery and +desolation, for the sake of William Wood? God of His infinite mercy avert +this dreadful judgment! And it is our universal wish, that God would put +it into your hearts to be His instruments for so good a work. + +For my own part, who am but one man, of obscure condition, I do solemnly +declare, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will suffer the most +ignominious and torturing death, rather than submit to receive this +accursed coin, or any other that shall be liable to these objections, +until they shall be forced upon me by a law of my own country; and, if +that shall ever happen, I will transport myself into some foreign land, +and eat the bread of poverty among a free people. + +Am I legally punishable for these expressions? shall another proclamation +issue against me, because I presume to take my country's part against +William Wood, where her final destruction is intended? But, whenever you +shall please to impose silence upon me, I will submit; because I look upon +your unanimous voice to be the voice of the nation; and this I have been +taught, and do believe, to be in some manner the voice of God.... + +I have sometimes wondered upon what motives the peerage of England were so +desirous to determine our controversies; because I have been assured, and +partly know, that the frequent appeals from hence have been very irksome +to that illustrious body: and whoever has frequented the Painted Chamber +and Courts of Requests, must have observed, that they are never so nobly +filled as when an Irish appeal is under debate. + +The peers of Scotland, who are very numerous, were content to reside in +their castles and houses in that bleak and barren climate; and although +some of them made frequent journeys to London, yet I do not remember any +of their greatest families, till very lately, to have made England their +constant habitation before the Union; or, if they did, I am sure it was +generally to their own advantage, and whatever they got was employed to +cultivate and increase their own estates, and by that means enrich +themselves and their country. + +As to the great number of rich absentees under the degree of peers, what +particular ill-effects their absence may have upon this kingdom, besides +those already mentioned, may perhaps be too tender a point to touch. But +whether those who live in another kingdom upon great estates here, and +have lost all regard to their own country, farther than upon account of +the revenues they receive from it; I say, whether such persons may not be +prevailed upon to recommend others to vacant seats, who have no interest +here except a precarious employment, and consequently can have no views +but to preserve what they have got, or to be higher advanced; this, I am +sure, is a very melancholy question, if it be a question at all. + +But, besides the prodigious profit which England receives by the +transmittal thither of two-thirds of the revenues of this old kingdom, it +has another mighty advantage, by making our country a receptacle, wherein +to disburden themselves of their supernumerary pretenders to offices; +persons of second-rate merit in their own country, who, like birds of +passage, most of them thrive and fatten here, and fly off when their +credit and employments are at an end. So that Ireland may justly say, what +Luther said of himself, POOR Ireland makes many rich! + +If, amid all our difficulties, I should venture to assert that we have one +great advantage, provided we could improve it as we ought, I believe most +of my readers would be long in conjecturing what possible advantage could +ever fall to our share. However, it is certain that all the regular seeds +of party and faction among us are entirely rooted out, and if any new ones +shall spring up, they must be of equivocal generation, without any seed at +all, and will be justly imputed to a degree of stupidity beyond even what +we have been ever charged with upon the score of our birthplace and +climate. + +The parties in this kingdom (including those of modern date) are, first, +of those who have been charged or suspected to favour the Pretender; and +those who were zealous opposers of him. Secondly, of those who were for +and against a toleration of Dissenters by law. Thirdly, of High and Low +Church, or (to speak in the cant of the times) of Whig and Tory. And, +fourthly, of court and country. If there be any more, they are beyond my +observation or politics; for, as to subaltern or occasional parties, they +have been all derivations from the same originals. + +Now it is manifest, that all these incitements to faction, party, and +division, are wholly removed from among us. For, as to the Pretender, his +cause is both desperate and obsolete. There are very few now alive who +were men in his father's time, and in that prince's interest; and in all +others, the obligation of conscience has no place.[25] Even the Papists in +general, of any substance or estates, and their priests almost +universally, are what we call Whigs, in the sense which by that word is +generally understood. They feel the smart, and see the scars of their +former wounds, and very well know, that they must be made a sacrifice to +the least attempts toward a change; although it cannot be doubted that +they would be glad to have their superstition restored, under any prince +whatsoever. + +Secondly, the Dissenters are now tolerated by law; neither do we observe +any murmurs at present from that quarter, except those reasonable +complaints they make of persecution, because they are excluded from civil +employments; but their number being very small in either House of +Parliament, they are not yet in a situation to erect a party: because, +however indifferent men may be with regard to religion, they are now grown +wise enough to know that if such a latitude were allowed to Dissenters, +the few small employments left us in cities and corporations would find +other hands to lay hold on them. + +Thirdly, the dispute between High and Low Church is now at an end; +two-thirds of the bishops having been promoted in this reign, and most of +them from England, who have bestowed all preferments in their gift to +those they could well confide in: the deaneries, all except three, and +many principal church-livings are in the donation of the Crown, so that we +already possess such a body of clergy as will never engage in controversy +upon that antiquated and exploded subject. + +Lastly, as to court and country parties, so famous and avowed under most +reigns in English Parliaments; this kingdom has not, for several years +past, been a proper scene whereon to exercise such contentions, and is now +less proper than ever; many great employments for life being in distant +hands, and the reversions diligently watched and secured; the temporary +ones of any inviting value are all bestowed elsewhere as fast as they +drop, and the few remaining are of too low consideration to create +contests about them, except among younger brothers, or tradesmen like +myself. And therefore, to institute a court and country party, without +materials would be a very new system in politics, and what I believe was +never thought on before: nor, unless in a nation of idiots, can ever +succeed; for the most ignorant Irish cottager will not sell his cow for a +groat. + +Therefore I conclude, that all party and faction, with regard to public +proceedings, are now extinguished in this kingdom; neither does it appear +in view how they can possibly revive, unless some new causes be +administered; which cannot be done without crossing the interests of those +who are the greatest gainers by continuing the same measures. And general +calamities, without hope of redress, are allowed to be the great uniters +of mankind. + +However we may dislike the causes, yet this effect of begetting a +universal discord among us, in all national debates, as well as in cities, +corporations, and country neighbourhoods, may keep us at least alive, and +in a condition to eat the little bread allowed us in peace and amity. + +I have heard of a quarrel in a tavern, where all were at daggers drawing, +till one of the company cried out, desiring to know the subject of the +quarrel; which, when none of them could tell, they put up their swords, +sat down, and passed the rest of the evening in quiet. The former has been +our case, I hope the latter will be so too; that we shall sit down +amicably together, at least until we have something that may give us a +title to fall out, since nature has instructed even a brood of goslings to +stick together, while the kite is hovering over their heads.... + + + + +THE ADDRESS TO THE JURY. + + +This piece, as its title expresses, was published when the bill against +the printer was to be brought before the grand jury: it warned them of +what was expected from them. Whiteshed, the Chief Justice, again attempted +to browbeat the jury, but in vain. The bill was thrown out: and the Chief +Justice could only show his resentment by dissolving the Grand Jury. +Whiteshed was so ridiculed that the vexation he suffered was thought to +have shortened his life. + + +_Seasonable Advice to the Grand Jury._ + +Concerning the bill preparing against the printer of the Drapier's fourth +letter. + +_November 11th, 1724._ + +Since a bill is preparing for the grand jury to find against the printer +of the Drapier's last letter, there are several things maturely to be +considered by those gentlemen before they determine upon it. + +First, they are to consider, that the author of the said pamphlet did +write three other discourses on the same subject, which, instead of being +censured, were universally approved by the whole nation, and were allowed +to have raised and continued that spirit among us, which has hitherto kept +out Wood's coin; for all men will grant, that if those pamphlets had not +been written, his coin must have overrun the nation some months ago. + +Secondly, it is to be considered, that this pamphlet, against which a +proclamation has been issued, is written by the same author: that nobody +ever doubted the innocence and goodness of his design; that he appears, +through the whole tenour of it, to be a loyal subject to his Majesty, and +devoted to the House of Hanover, and declares himself in a manner +peculiarly zealous against the Pretender. And if such a writer, in four +several treatises on so nice a subject, where a royal patent is concerned, +and where it was necessary to speak of England and of liberty, should in +one or two places happen to let fall an inadvertent expression, it would +be hard to condemn him, after all the good he has done, especially when we +consider that he could have no possible design in view, either of honour +or profit, but purely the GOOD of his country. + +Thirdly, it ought to be well considered, whether any one expression in the +said pamphlet be really liable to a just exception, much less to be found +"wicked, malicious, seditious, reflecting upon his Majesty and his +ministry," &c. + +The two points in that pamphlet, which it is said the prosecutors intend +chiefly to fix on, are, first, where the author mentions the penner of the +King's answer. First, it is well known his Majesty is not master of the +English tongue; and therefore it is necessary that some other person +should be employed to pen what he has to say or write in that language. +Secondly, his Majesty's answer is not in the first person, but in the +third. It is not said, WE are concerned, or OUR royal predecessors; but +HIS MAJESTY is concerned, and HIS royal predecessors. By which it is +plain, these are properly not the words of his Majesty, but supposed to be +taken from him, and transmitted hither by one of his ministers. Thirdly, +it will be easily seen, that the author of the pamphlet delivers his +sentiments upon this particular with the utmost caution and respect, as +any impartial reader will observe. + +The second paragraph, which it is said will be taken notice of as a motive +to find the bill, is what the author says of Ireland's being a dependent +kingdom; he explains all the dependence he knows of, which is a law made +in Ireland, whereby it is enacted, "that whoever is King of England shall +be King of Ireland." Before this explanation be condemned, and the bill +found upon it, it would be proper that some lawyers should fully inform +the jury what other law there is, either statute or common, for this +dependency; and if there be no law, there is no transgression. + +The fourth thing very maturely to be considered by the jury, is, what +influence their finding the bill may have upon the kingdom; the people in +general find no fault in the Drapier's last book, any more than in the +three former; and therefore, when they hear it is condemned by a grand +jury of Dublin, they will conclude it is done in favour of Wood's coin; +they will think we of this town have changed our minds, and intend to take +those halfpence, and therefore it will be in vain for them to stand out: +so that the question comes to this, which will be of the worst +consequence?--to let pass one or two expressions, at the worst only +unwary, in a book written for the public service; or to leave a free, open +passage for Wood's brass to overrun us, by which we shall be undone for +ever. The fifth thing to be considered is, that the members of the grand +jury, being merchants and principal shopkeepers, can have no suitable +temptation offered them as a recompense for the mischief they will do and +suffer by letting-in this coin; nor can be at any loss or danger by +rejecting the bill. They do not expect any employments in the State, to +make up in their own private advantages the destruction of their country; +whereas those who go about to advise, entice, or threaten them to find +that bill, have great employments, which they have a mind to keep, or to +get a greater; as it was likewise the case of all those who signed the +proclamation to have the author prosecuted. And therefore it is known, +that his grace the Lord Archbishop of Dublin, so renowned for his piety +and wisdom, and love of his country, absolutely refused to condemn the +book or the author. + +Lastly, it ought to be considered what consequence the finding of the bill +may have upon a poor man perfectly innocent. I mean the printer. A lawyer +may pick out expressions, and make them liable to exception, where no +other man is able to find any. But how can it be supposed that an ignorant +printer can be such a critic? He knew the author's design was honest and +approved by the whole kingdom: he advised with friends, who told him there +was no harm in the book, and he could see none himself: it was sent him in +an unknown hand; but the same in which he received the three former. He +and his wife have offered to take their oaths that they knew not the +author, and therefore, to find a bill that may bring punishment upon the +innocent, will appear very hard, to say no worse. For it will be +impossible to find the author, unless he will please to discover himself; +although I wonder he ever concealed his name; but I suppose what he did at +first out of modesty, he continues to do out of prudence. God protect us +and him! + +I will conclude all with a fable ascribed to Demosthenes. He had served +the people of Athens with great fidelity in the station of an orator, +when, upon a certain occasion, apprehending to be delivered over to his +enemies, he told the Athenians, his countrymen, the following story: Once +upon a time the wolves desired a league with the sheep, upon this +condition, that the cause of the strife might be taken away, which was the +shepherds and mastiffs: this being granted, the wolves, without all fear, +made havoc of the sheep. + + + + +SWIFT'S DESCRIPTION OF QUILCA. + + +The summers of 1724 and 1725 were spent in this country-seat, which his +friend Sheridan built for himself amongst the wildest of the Cavan heaths. +Quilca stood near a little lake surrounded by trees. Here Sheridan tried a +revival of the Roman chariot-races; the slope close by the lake was used +for a theatre; the place is redolent with memories of Swift, who loved the +place, though he perpetuated in verse the memory of its disorders, its +dilapidations, and the general shortcomings, in which it reflected its +owner's character and that of his scolding wife. + + +THE BLUNDERS, DEFICIENCIES, DISTRESSES, AND MISFORTUNES OF QUILCA. + +_Proposed to contain one-and-twenty volumes in quarto._ + +Begun April 20, 1724. To be continued weekly, if due encouragement be +given. + + +But one lock and a half in the whole house. + +The key of the garden-door lost. + +The empty bottles all uncleanable. + +The vessels for drink very few and leaky. + +The new house going to ruin before it is finished. + +One hinge of the street-door broke off, and the people forced to go out +and come in at the back-door. + +The door of the Dean's bed-chamber full of large chinks. + +The beaufet letting in so much wind that it almost blows out the candles. + +The Dean's bed threatening every night to fall under him. + +The little table loose and broken in the joints. + +The passages open overhead, by which the cats pass continually into the +cellar, and eat the victuals, for which one was tried, condemned, and +executed by the sword. + +The large table in a very tottering condition. + +But one chair in the house fit for sitting on, and that in a very ill +state of health. + +The kitchen perpetually crowded with savages. + +Not a bit of mutton to be had in the country. + +Want of beds, and a mutiny thereupon among the servants, until supplied +from Kells. + +An egregious want of all the most common necessary utensils. + +Not a bit of turf in this cold weather; and Mrs. Johnson and the Dean in +person, with all their servants, forced to assist at the bog, in gathering +up the wet bottoms of old clumps. + +The grate in the ladies' bedchamber broke, and forced to be removed, by +which they were compelled to be without fire, the chimney smoking +intolerably; and the Dean's great-coat was employed to stop the wind from +coming down the chimney, without which expedient they must have been +starved to death. + +A messenger sent a mile to borrow an old broken tun-dish. + +Bottles stopped with bits of wood and tow, instead of corks. + +Not one utensil for a fire, except an old pair of tongs, which travels +through the house, and is likewise employed to take the meat out of the +pot, for want of a flesh-fork. + +Every servant an arrant thief as to victuals and drink, and every comer +and goer as arrant a thief of everything he or she can lay their hands on. + +The spit blunted with poking into bogs for timber, and tears the meat to +pieces. + +_Bellum atque faeminam_; or a kitchen war between nurse and a nasty crew of +both sexes; she to preserve order and cleanliness, they to destroy both; +and they generally are conquerors. + +_April 28._ This morning the great fore-door quite open, dancing backward +and forward with all its weight upon the lower hinge, which must have been +broken if the Dean had not accidentally come and relieved it. + +A great hole in the floor of the ladies' chamber, every hour hazarding a +broken leg. + +Two iron spikes erect on the Dean's bedstead, by which he is in danger of +a broken shin at rising and going to bed. + +The ladies' and Dean's servants growing fast into the manners and +thieveries of the natives; the ladies themselves very much corrupted; the +Dean perpetually storming, and in danger of either losing all his flesh, +or sinking into barbarity for the sake of peace. + +Mrs. Dingley full of cares for herself, and blunders and negligence for +her friends. Mrs. Johnson sick and helpless. The Dean deaf and fretting; +the lady's maid awkward and clumsy; Robert lazy and forgetful; William a +pragmatical, ignorant, and conceited puppy; Robin and nurse the two great +and only supports of the family. + +_Bellum lactaeum_; or the milky battle, fought between the Dean and the +crew of Quilca; the latter insisting on their privilege of not milking +till eleven in the forenoon: whereas Mrs. Johnson wanted milk at eight for +her health. In this battle the Dean got the victory; but the crew of +Quilca begin to rebel again; for it is this day almost ten o'clock, and +Mrs. Johnson has not got her milk. + +A proverb on the laziness and lodgings of the servants: "The worse their +sty--the longer they lie." + +Two great holes in the wall of the ladies' bedchamber, just at the back of +the bed, and one of them directly behind Mrs. Johnson's pillow, either of +which would blow out a candle in the calmest day. + + + + +ANSWER TO A PAPER, + +CALLED + +_A Memorial of the poor Inhabitants, Tradesmen, and Labourers of the +Kingdom of Ireland._[26] + + +Dublin, _March 25th, 1738_. + +SIR, + +I received a paper from you, whoever you are, printed without any name of +author or printer, and sent, I suppose, to me among others, without any +particular distinction. It contains a complaint of the dearness of corn, +and some schemes for making it cheaper which I cannot approve of. + +But pray permit me, before I go farther, to give you a short history of +the steps by which we arrived at this hopeful situation. + +It was, indeed, the shameful practice of too many Irish farmers, to wear +out their ground with ploughing; while, either through poverty, laziness, +or ignorance, they neither took care to measure it as they ought, nor +gave time to any part of the land to recover itself; and when their leases +were near expiring, being assured that their landlords would not renew, +they ploughed even the meadows, and made such havoc, that their landlords +were considerable sufferers by it. + +This gave birth to that abominable race of graziers, who, upon expiration +of the farmers' leases, were ready to engross great quantities of land; +and the gentlemen having been often before ill paid, and their land worn +out of heart, were too easily tempted, when a rich grazier made an offer +to take all their land, and give them security for payment. Thus a vast +tract of land, where twenty or thirty farmers lived, together with their +cottagers and labourers in their several cabins, became all desolate, and +easily managed by one or two herdsmen and their boys; whereby the master +grazier, with little trouble, seized to himself the livelihood of a +hundred people. + +It must be confessed, that the farmers were justly punished for their +knavery, brutality, and folly. But neither are the squires and landlords +to be excused; for to them is owing the depopulating of the country, the +vast number of beggars, and the ruin of those few sorry improvements we +had. That farmers should be limited in ploughing is very reasonable, and +practised in England, and might have easily been done here by penal +clauses in their leases; but to deprive them, in a manner, altogether from +tilling their lands, was a most stupid want of thinking. + +Had the farmers been confined to plough a certain quantity of land, with a +penalty of ten pounds an acre for whatever they exceeded, and farther +limited for the three or four last years of their leases, all this evil +had been prevented; the nation would have saved a million of money, and +been more populous by above two hundred thousand souls. + +For a people, denied the benefit of trade, to manage their lands in such a +manner as to produce nothing but what they are forbidden to trade with, or +only such things as they can neither export nor manufacture to advantage, +is an absurdity that a wild Indian would be ashamed of; especially when we +add, that we are content to purchase this hopeful commerce, by sending to +foreign markets for our daily bread. + +The grazier's employment is to feed great flocks of sheep, or +black-cattle, or both. With regard to sheep, as folly is usually +accompanied with perverseness, so it is here. There is something so +monstrous to deal in a commodity (farther than for our own use), which we +are not allowed to export manufactured, nor even unmanufactured, but to +one certain country, and only to some few ports in that country; there is, +I say, something so sottish, that it wants a name in our language to +express it by, and the good of it is, that the more sheep we have, the +fewer human creatures are left to wear the wool, or eat the flesh. + +Ajax was mad when he mistook a flock of sheep for his enemies; but we +shall never be sober until we have the same way of thinking. + +The other part of the grazier's business is, what we call black-cattle, +producing hides, tallow, and beef for exportation: all which are good and +useful commodities, if rightly managed. But it seems the greatest part of +the hides are sent out raw, for want of bark to tan them; and that want +will daily grow stronger, for I doubt the new project of tanning without +it is at an end. + +Our beef, I am afraid, still continues scandalous in foreign markets, for +the old reasons; but our tallow, for anything I know, may be good. +However, to bestow the whole kingdom on beef and mutton, and thereby drive +out half the people who should eat their share, and force the rest to send +sometimes as far as Egypt for bread to eat with it, is a most peculiar and +distinguished piece of public economy, of which I have no comprehension. + +I know very well that our ancestors the Scythians, and their posterity, +our kinsmen the Tartars, lived upon the blood, and milk, and raw flesh of +their cattle, without one grain of corn; but I confess myself so +degenerate, that I am not easy without bread to my victuals.... + +Now, sir, to return more particularly to you and your memorial. A hundred +thousand barrels of wheat, you say, should be imported hither: and ten +thousand pounds, premium to the importers. Have you looked into the purse +of the nation? + +I am no Commissioner of the Treasury; but am well assured that the whole +running cash would not supply you with a sum to purchase so much corn, +which, only at twenty shillings a barrel, will be a hundred thousand +pounds; and ten thousand more for the premium. But you will traffic for +your corn with other goods; and where are those goods? if you had them, +they are all engaged to pay the rents of absentees, and other occasions in +London, besides a huge balance of trade this year against us. Will +foreigners take our bankers' paper? I suppose they will value it at little +more than so much a quire. Where are these rich farmers and engrossers of +corn, in so bad a year, and so little sowing. You are in pain for two +shillings premium, and forget the twenty shillings for the price; find me +out the latter, and I will engage for the former. + +Your scheme for a tax for raising such a sum is all visionary, and owing +to a great want of knowledge in the miserable state of this nation. Tea, +coffee, sugar, spices, wine, and foreign clothes, are the particulars you +mention upon which this tax should be raised. I will allow the two first; +because they are unwholesome; and the last, because I should be glad if +they were all burned: but I beg you will leave us our wine to make us +awhile forget our misery, or give your tenants leave to plough for barley. +But I will tell you a secret, which I learned many years ago from the +commissioners of the customs in London: they said, when any commodity +appeared to be taxed above a moderate rate, the consequence was, to lessen +that branch of the revenue by one half; and one of those gentlemen +pleasantly told me, that the mistake of parliaments, on such occasions, +was owing to an error of computing two and two to make four, whereas, in +the business of laying impositions, two and two never made more than one; +which happens by lessening the import, and the strong temptation of +running such goods as paid high duties at least in this kingdom.... + +You are concerned how strange and surprising it would be in foreign parts +to hear that the poor were starving in a RICH country, &c. Are you in +earnest? Is Ireland the rich country you mean? Or are you insulting our +poverty? Were you ever out of Ireland? Or were you ever in it till of +late? You may probably have a good employment, and are saving all you can +to purchase a good estate in England. + +But by talking so familiarly of one hundred and ten thousand pounds, by a +tax upon a few commodities, it is plain you are either naturally or +affectedly ignorant of our present condition: or else you would know and +allow, that such a sum is not to be raised here, without a general excise; +since, in proportion to our wealth, we pay already in taxes more than +England ever did in the height of war. And when you have brought over your +corn, who will be the buyers?--most certainly not the poor, who will not +be able to purchase the twentieth part of it. + +Sir, upon the whole, your paper is a very crude piece, liable to more +objections than there are lines; but I think your meaning is good, and so +far you are pardonable. + +If you will propose a general contribution for supporting the poor in +potatoes and butter-milk till the new corn comes in, perhaps you may +succeed better, because the thing at least is possible; and I think if our +brethren in England would contribute upon this emergency, out of the +million they gain from us every year, they would do a piece of justice as +well as charity. In the meantime, go and preach to your own tenants to +fall to the plough as fast as they can, and prevail with your neighbouring +squires to do the same with theirs; or else die with the guilt of having +driven away half the inhabitants, and starving the rest. + +But why all this concern for the poor? We want them not, as the country is +now managed; they may follow thousands of their leaders, and seek their +bread abroad. Where the plough has no work, one family can do the business +of fifty, and you may send away the other forty-nine. An admirable piece +of husbandry, never known or practised by the wisest nations, who +erroneously thought people to be the riches of a country! + +If so wretched a state of things would allow it, methinks I could have a +malicious pleasure, after all the warning I have in vain given the public, +at my own peril, for several years past, to see the consequences and +events answering in every particular. I pretend to no sagacity; what I +writ was little more than what I had discoursed to several persons, who +were generally of my opinion, and it was obvious to every common +understanding that such effects must needs follow from such causes--a +fair issue of things begun upon party rage, while some sacrificed the +public to fury, and others to ambition; while a spirit of faction and +oppression reigned in every part of the country, where gentlemen, instead +of consulting the ease of their tenants, or cultivating their lands, were +worrying one another upon points of Whig and Tory, of High Church and Low +Church, which no more concerned them than the long and famous controversy +of strops for razors: while agriculture was wholly discouraged, and +consequently half the farmers and labourers, and poorer tradesmen forced +to beggary or banishment. "Wisdom crieth in the streets: Because I have +called on you; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye +have set at nought all my counsels, and would none of my reproof; I also +will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh." + +I have now done with your Memorial, and freely excuse your mistakes, since +you appear to write as a stranger, and as of a country which is left at +liberty to enjoy the benefits of nature, and to make the best of those +advantages which God has given it, in soil, climate, and situation. + + + + +MAXIMS CONTROLLED. + + +The heading of this tract would imply that the theories of political +economy have no application to Ireland. Here he shows, one by one, how the +ordinary rules that guide us in regard to other nations are utterly +fallacious when applied to Ireland. What strikes us most in all these +tracts is the deliberate incisiveness of their irony, the despairing +bitterness that gives them finish and completeness. + + +MAXIMS CONTROULED IN IRELAND. + +_The Truth of Maxims in State and Government examined with reference to +Ireland._ + +Written in 1724. + +There are certain maxims of State, founded upon long observation and +experience, drawn from the constant practice of the wisest nations, and +from the very principles of government, nor even controuled by any writer +on politics. Yet all these maxims do necessarily presuppose a kingdom, or +commonwealth, to have the same natural rights common to the rest of +mankind, who have entered into civil society; for if we could conceive a +nation where each of the inhabitants had but one eye, one leg, and one +hand, it is plain, before you could institute them into a republic, that +an allowance must be made for those material defects wherein they differed +from other mortals. Or, imagine a legislature forming a system for the +government of bedlam, and, proceeding upon the maxim that man is a +sociable animal, should draw them out of their cells, and form them into +corporations or general assemblies; the consequence might probably be that +they would fall foul on each other, or burn the house over their own +heads. + +Of the like nature are innumerable errors committed by crude and short +thinkers, who reason upon general topics, without the least allowance for +the most important circumstances, which quite alter the nature of the +case. + +This has been the fate of those small dealers who are every day publishing +their thoughts, either on paper or in their assemblies, for improving the +trade of Ireland, and referring us to the practice and example of England, +Holland, France, or other nations. + +I shall, therefore, examine certain maxims of government, which generally +pass for uncontrouled in the world, and consider how far they will suit +with the present condition of this kingdom. First, It is affirmed by wise +men that the dearness of things necessary for life, in a fruitful country, +is a certain sign of wealth and great commerce; for when such necessaries +are dear, it must absolutely follow that money is cheap and plentiful. + +But this is manifestly false in Ireland, for the following reason. Some +years ago, the species of money here did probably amount to six or seven +hundred thousand pounds; and I have good cause to believe that our +remittances then did not much exceed the cash brought in to us. But, by +the prodigious discouragements we have since received in every branch of +our trade, by the frequent enforcement and rigorous execution of the +Navigation-act--the tyranny of under custom-house officers--the yearly +addition of absentees--the payments to regiments abroad, to civil and +military officers residing in England--the unexpected sudden demands of +great sums from the treasury--and some other drains of perhaps as great +consequence--we now see ourselves reduced to a state (since we have no +friends) of being pitied by our enemies; at least, if our enemies were of +such a kind as to be capable of any regard towards us except of hatred and +contempt. + +Forty years are now passed since the Revolution, when the contention of +the British Empire was, most unfortunately for us, and altogether against +the usual course of such mighty changes in government, decided in the +least important nation; but with such ravages and ruin executed on both +sides, as to leave the kingdom a desert, which in some sort it still +continues. + +Neither did the long rebellions in 1641, make half such a destruction of +houses, plantations, and personal wealth, in both kingdoms, as two years' +campaigns did in ours, by fighting England's battles. + +By slow degrees, as by the gentle treatment we received under two +auspicious reigns,[27] we grew able to live without running in debt. + +Our absentees were but few; we had great indulgence in trade, and a +considerable share in employments of Church and State; and while the short +leases continued, which were let some years after the war ended, tenants +paid their rents with ease and cheerfulness, to the great regret of their +landlords, who had taken up a spirit of opposition that is not easily +removed. And although in these short leases, the rent was gradually to +increase after short periods, yet, as soon as the terms elapsed, the land +was let to the highest bidder, most commonly without the least effectual +clause for building or planting. Yet, by many advantages, which this +island then possessed, and has since utterly lost, the rents of land still +grew higher upon every lease that expired, till they have arrived at the +present exorbitance; when the frog, over-swelling himself, burst at last. + +With the price of land, of necessity rose that of corn and cattle, and all +other commodities that farmers deal in; hence likewise, obviously, the +rates of all goods and manufactures among shopkeepers, the wages of +servants, and hire of labourers. But although our miseries came on fast, +with neither trade nor money left; yet neither will the landlord abate in +his rent, nor can the tenant abate in the price of what the rest must be +paid with, nor any shopkeeper, tradesman, or labourer live, at lower +expense for food and clothing, than he did before. + +I have been the larger upon this first head, because the same observations +will clear up and strengthen a good deal of what I shall affirm upon the +rest. + +The second maxim of those who reason upon trade and government, is, to +assert that low interest is a certain sign of great plenty of money in a +nation, for which, as in many other articles, they produce the examples +of Holland and England. But, with relation to Ireland, this maxim is +likewise entirely false. + +There are two reasons for the lowness of interest in any country. First, +that which is usually alleged, the great plenty of species; and this is +obvious. The second is, want of trade, which seldom falls under common +observation, although it be equally true, for, where trade is altogether +discouraged, there are few borrowers. In those countries where men can +employ a large stock, the young merchant, whose fortune may be four or +five hundred pounds, will venture to borrow as much more, and can afford a +reasonable interest. Neither is it easy, at this day, to find many of +those, whose business reaches to employ even so inconsiderable a sum, +except among the importers of wine, who, as they have most part of the +present trade in these parts of Ireland in their hands, so they are the +most exorbitant, exacting fraudulent dealers, that ever trafficked in any +nation, and are making all possible speed to ruin both themselves and the +nation. + +From this defect of gentlemen's not knowing how to dispose of their ready +money, arises the high purchase of land, which in all other countries is +reckoned a sign of wealth. For, the frugal squires, who live below their +incomes, have no other way to dispose of their savings but by mortgage or +purchase, by which the rates of land must naturally increase; and if this +trade continues long, under the uncertainty of rents, the landed men of +ready money will find it more for their advantage to send their cash to +England, and place it in the funds; which I myself am determined to do, +the first considerable sum I shall be master of. + +It has likewise been a maxim among politicians, "That the great increase +of buildings in the metropolis, argues a flourishing state." But this, I +confess, has been controuled from the example of London; when, by the long +and annual parliamentary session, such a number of senators with their +families, friends, adherents, and expectants, draw such prodigious numbers +to that city, that the old hospitable custom of lords and gentlemen living +in their ancient seats among their tenants, is almost lost in England; is +laughed out of doors; insomuch that, in the middle of summer, a legal +House of Lords and Commons might be brought in a few hours to London, from +their country villas within twelve miles round. + +The case in Ireland is yet somewhat worse: for the absentees of great +estates, who, if they lived at home, would have many rich retainers in +their neighbourhoods, have learned to rack their lands, and shorten their +leases, as much as any residing squire; and the few remaining of those +latter, having some vain hope of employments for themselves, or their +children, and discouraged by the beggarliness and thievery of their own +miserable farmers and cottagers, or seduced by the vanity of their wives, +on pretence of their children's education (whereof the fruits are so +apparent), together with that most wonderful, and yet more unaccountable +zeal, for a seat in their assembly, though at some years' purchase of +their whole, estates: these, and some other motives, have drawn such +concourse to this beggarly city, that the dealers of the several branches +of building have found out all the commodious and inviting places for +erecting new houses; while fifteen hundred of the old ones, which is a +seventh part of the whole city, are said to be left uninhabited, and +falling to ruin. Their method is the same with that which was first +introduced by Dr. Barebone at London, who died a bankrupt. The mason, the +bricklayer, the carpenter, the slater, and the glazier, take a lot of +ground, club to build one or more houses, unite their credit, their stock, +and their money; and when their work is finished sell it to the best +advantage they can. But, as it often happens, and more every day, that +their fund will not answer half their design, they are forced to undersell +it at the first story, and are all reduced to beggary. Insomuch, that I +know a certain fanatic brewer, who is reported to have some hundreds of +houses in this town, is said to have purchased the greatest part of them +at half value from ruined undertakers; has intelligence of all new houses +where the finishing is at a stand, takes advantage of the builders' +distress, and, by the advantage of ready money, gets fifty _per cent._ at +least for his bargain. + +It is another undisputed maxim in government, "That people are the riches +of a nation;" which is so universally granted, that it will be hardly +pardonable to bring it into doubt. And I will grant it to be so far true, +even in this island, that if we had the African custom, or privilege, of +selling our useless bodies for slaves to foreigners, it would be the most +useful branch of our trade, by ridding us of a most unsupportable burden, +and bringing us money in the stead. But, in our present situation, at +least five children in six who are born, lie a dead weight upon us, for +want of employment. And a very skilful computer assured me, that above one +half of the souls in this kingdom supported themselves by begging and +thievery; two-thirds whereof would be able to get their bread in any other +country upon earth. Trade is the only incitement to labour; where that +fails, the poorer native must either beg, steal or starve, or be forced to +quit his country. This has made me often wish, for some years past, that +instead of discouraging our people from seeking foreign soil, the public +would rather pay for transporting all our unnecessary mortals, whether +Papists or Protestants, to America; as drawbacks are sometimes allowed for +exporting commodities, where a nation is overstocked. I confess myself to +be touched with very sensible pleasure, when I hear of a mortality in any +country parish or village, where the wretches are forced to pay for a +filthy cabin, and two ridges of potatoes, treble the worth; brought up to +steal or beg, for want of work; to whom death would be the best thing to +be wished for on account both of themselves and the public. + +Among all taxes imposed by the legislature, those upon luxury are +universally allowed to be the most equitable, and beneficial to the +subject; and the commonest reasoner on government might fill a volume with +arguments on the subject. Yet here again, by the singular fate of Ireland, +this maxim is utterly false; and the putting of it in practice may have +such a pernicious consequence, as, I certainly believe, the thoughts of +proposers were not able to reach. + +The miseries we suffer by our absentees, are of a far more extensive +nature than seems to be commonly understood. I must vindicate myself to +the reader so far, as to declare solemnly, that what I shall say of those +lords and squires, does not arise from the least regard I have for their +understandings, their virtues, or their persons: for, although I have not +the honour of the least acquaintance with any one among them (my ambition +not soaring so high), yet I am too good a witness of the situation they +have been in for thirty years past; the veneration paid them by the +people, the high esteem they are in among the prime nobility and gentry, +the particular marks of favour and distinction they receive from the +Court; the weight and consequence of their interest, added to their great +zeal and application for preventing any hardships their country might +suffer from England, wisely considering that their own fortunes and +honours were embarked in the same bottom. + + + + +A SHORT VIEW OF THE STATE OF IRELAND, 1727. + + +Here, Swift catalogues in regular order the possible adjuncts and +conditions of prosperity, and shows how the very negative of each is +present in Ireland. "If we flourish, it is against every law of nature and +reason: like the thorn of Glastonbury, which blossoms in the midst of +winter." He draws a fanciful picture of what Ireland might seem to a +stranger, favoured as she is by nature; but breaks from it in despair. All +his tracts have one end and aim: "Be independent." Law cannot help; theory +is futile; English selfishness is great. Whatever you get will be by +self-assertion and by that alone. Swift was acquainted with the current +nostrums, which he despised. He saw the evil lay deeper, and that it could +be cured only by giving to Ireland the motive power of independence. He +kindled her energy by plain bald statements, withering sarcasm, derisive +scorn, and the fiercest indignation. The sarcasm and indignation are for +the English selfishness; the scorn for Irish imbecility and weakness. + + +_A Short View of the State of Ireland, 1727._ + +I am assured, that it has for some time been practised as a method of +making men's court, when they are asked about the rate of lands, the +abilities of the tenants, the state of trade and manufacture in this +kingdom, and how their rents are paid; to answer, that in their +neighbourhood all things are in a flourishing condition, the rent and +purchase of land every day increasing. And if a gentleman happen to be a +little more sincere in his representation, besides being looked on as not +well-affected, he is sure to have a dozen contradictors at his elbow. I +think it is no manner of secret, why these questions are so cordially +asked, or so obligingly answered. + +But since, with regard to the affairs of this kingdom, I have been using +all endeavours to subdue my indignation, to which indeed I am not provoked +by any personal interest, not being the owner of one spot of ground in the +whole island; I shall only enumerate, by rules generally known, and never +contradicted, what are the true causes of any country's flourishing and +growing rich; and then examine what effects arise from those causes in the +kingdom of Ireland. + +The first cause of a kingdom's thriving is, the fruitfulness of the soil +to produce the necessaries and conveniences of life; not only sufficient +for the inhabitants, but for exportation into other countries. + +The second is, the industry of the people, in working up all their native +commodities to the last degree of manufacture. + +The third is, the conveniency of safe ports and havens, to carry out their +own goods as much manufactured, and bring in those of others as little +manufactured as the nature of mutual commerce will allow. + +The fourth is, that the natives should, as much as possible, export and +import their goods in vessels of their own timber, made in their own +country. + +The fifth is, the privilege of a free trade in all foreign countries which +will permit them, except those who are in war with their own prince or +State. + +The sixth is, by being governed only by laws made with their own consent; +for otherwise they are not a free people. And therefore all appeals for +justice, or applications for favour or preferment, to another country, are +so many grievous impoverishments. + +The seventh is, by improvement of land, encouragement of agriculture, and +thereby increasing the number of their people; without which any country, +however blessed by nature, must continue poor. + +The eighth is, the residence of the prince, or chief administrator of the +civil power. + +The ninth is, the concourse of foreigners, for education, curiosity, or +pleasure, or as to a general mart of trade. + +The tenth is, by disposing all offices of honour, profit, or trust, only +to the natives; or at least with very few exceptions, where strangers have +long inhabited the country, and are supposed to understand and regard the +interests of it as their own. + +The eleventh is, when the rents of land and profits of employment are +spent in the country which produced them, and not in another; the former +of which will certainly happen where the love of our native country +prevails. + +The twelfth is, by the public revenues being all spent and employed at +home, except on the occasions of a foreign war. + +The thirteenth is, where the people are not obliged unless they find it +for their own interest or conveniency, to receive any moneys, except of +their own coinage by a public mint, after the manner of all civilized +nations. + +The fourteenth is, a disposition of the people of a country to wear their +own manufactures, and import as few incitements to luxury, either in +clothes, furniture, food, or drink, as they can possibly live +conveniently without. + +There are many other causes of a nation's thriving, which I at present +cannot recollect; but without advantage from at least some of these, after +turning my thoughts a long time, I am not able to discover whence our +wealth proceeds, and therefore would gladly be better informed. In the +meantime, I will here examine what share falls to Ireland of these causes, +or of the effects and consequences. + +It is not my intention to complain, but barely to relate facts; and the +matter is not of small importance. For it is allowed, that a man who lives +in a solitary house, far from help, is not wise in endeavouring to acquire +in the neighbourhood the reputation of being rich; because those who come +for gold, will go off with pewter and brass, rather than return empty: and +in the common practice of the world, those who possess most wealth, make +the least parade; which they leave to others, who have nothing else to +bear them out in showing their faces on the Exchange. + +As to the first cause of a nation's riches, being the fertility of the +soil, as well as temperature of the climate, we have no reason to +complain; for, although the quantity of unprofitable land in this kingdom, +reckoning bog and rock and barren mountain, be double in proportion to +what it is in England; yet the native productions, which both kingdoms +deal in, are very near on an equality in point of goodness, and might, +with the same encouragement, be as well manufactured. I except mines and +minerals; in some of which, however, we are only defective in point of +skill and industry. In the second, which is the industry of the people, +our misfortune is not altogether owing to our own fault, but to a million +of discouragements. + +The conveniency of ports and havens, which nature has bestowed so +liberally on this kingdom, is of no more use to us than a beautiful +prospect to a man shut up in a dungeon. + +As to shipping of its own, Ireland is so utterly unprovided, that of all +the excellent timber cut down within these fifty or sixty years, it can +hardly be said that the nation has received the benefit of one valuable +house to dwell in, or one ship to trade with. Ireland is the only kingdom +I ever heard or read of, either in ancient or modern story, which was +denied the liberty of exporting their native commodities and manufactures +wherever they pleased, except to countries at war with their own prince or +State: yet this privilege, by the superiority of mere power, is refused us +in the most momentous parts of commerce; besides an act of navigation, to +which we never consented, pinned down upon us, and rigorously executed; +and a thousand other unexampled circumstances, as grievous as they are +invidious to mention. To go on to the rest. It is too well known, that we +are forced to obey some laws we never consented to; which is a condition I +must not call by its true uncontroverted name, for fear of Lord Chief +Justice Whitshed's ghost, with his _Libertas et natale solum_ written for +a motto on his coach, as it stood at the door of the court, while he was +perjuring himself to betray both. Thus we are in the condition of +patients, who have physic sent them by doctors at a distance, strangers to +their constitution and the nature of their disease.... + +As to the improvement of land, those few who attempt that or planting, +through covetousness, or want of skill, generally leave things worse than +they were; neither succeeding in trees nor hedges; and, by running into +the fancy of grazing, after the manner of the Scythians, are every day +depopulating the country. + +We are so far from having a king to reside among us, that even the viceroy +is generally absent four-fifths of his time in the government. + +No strangers from other countries make this a part of their travels; +where they can expect to see nothing but scenes of misery and desolation. + +Those who have the misfortune to be born here, have the least title to any +considerable employment; to which they are seldom preferred, but upon a +political consideration. One-third part of the rents of Ireland is spent +in England; which, with the profit of employments, pensions, appeals, +journeys of pleasure or health, education at the Inns of Court and both +Universities, remittances at pleasure, the pay of all superior officers in +the army, and other incidents, will amount to a full half of the income of +the whole kingdom, all clear profit to England. + +We are denied the liberty of coining gold, silver, or even copper. In the +Isle of Man they coin their own silver; every petty prince, vassal to the +Emperor, can coin what money he pleases. And in this, as in most of the +articles already mentioned, we are an exception to all other states and +monarchies that were ever known in the world. + +As to the last, or fourteenth article, we take special care to act +diametrically contrary to it in the whole course of our lives. Both sexes, +but especially the women, despise and abhor to wear any of their own +manufactures, even those which are better made than in other countries; +particularly a sort of silk plaid, through which the workmen are forced to +run a kind of gold thread, that it may pass for Indian. + +Even ale and potatoes are imported from England, as well as corn; and our +foreign trade is little more than importation of French wine, for which I +am told we pay ready money. + +Now, if all this be true (upon which I could easily enlarge), I should be +glad to know, by what secret method it is that we grow a rich and +flourishing people, without liberty, trade, manufactures, inhabitants, +money, or the privilege of coining; without industry, labour, or +improvement of land; and with more than half the rent and profits of the +whole kingdom annually exported, for which we receive not a single +farthing; and to make up all this, nothing worth mentioning, except the +linen of the North, a trade, casual, corrupted, and at mercy; and some +butter from Cork. If we do flourish, it must be against every law of +nature and reason; like the thorn at Glastonbury, that blossoms in the +midst of winter.... + +There is not one argument used to prove the riches of Ireland, which is +not a logical demonstration of its poverty. The rise of our rents is +squeezed out of the very blood, and vitals, and clothes, and dwellings of +the tenants, who live worse than English beggars. The lowness of interest, +in all other countries a sign of wealth, is in us a proof of misery; there +being no trade to employ any borrower. Hence alone comes the dearness of +land, since the savers have no other way to lay out their money; hence the +dearness of necessaries of life; because the tenants cannot afford to pay +such extravagant rates for land (which they must take, or go a'begging), +without raising the price of cattle and of corn, although themselves +should live upon chaff. Hence our increase of building in this city; +because workmen have nothing to do but to employ one another, and one half +of them are infallibly undone. Hence the daily increase of bankers, who +may be a necessary evil in a trading country, but so ruinous in ours; who, +for their private advantage, have sent away all our silver, and one-third +of our gold; so that within three years past the running cash of the +nation, which was about five hundred thousand pounds, is now less than +two, and must daily diminish, unless we have liberty to coin, as well as +that important kingdom the Isle of Man, and the meanest principality in +the German empire, as I before observed. + +I have sometimes thought, that this paradox of the kingdom's growing rich +is chiefly owing to those worthy gentlemen the BANKERS; who, except some +custom-house officers, birds of passage, oppressive thrifty squires, and a +few others who shall be nameless, are the only thriving among us: and I +have often wished that a law were enacted to hang up half a dozen bankers +every year, and thereby interpose at least some short delay to the farther +ruin of Ireland. + +Ye are idle! ye are idle! answered Pharaoh to the Israelites, when they +complained to his Majesty that they were forced to make bricks without +straw. + +England enjoys every one of those advantages for enriching a nation which +I have above enumerated; and, into the bargain, a good million returned to +them every year without labour or hazard, or one farthing value received +on our side; but how long we shall be able to continue the payment, I am +not under the least concern. One thing I know, that, when the hen is +starved to death, there will be no more golden eggs. I think it a little +unhospitable, and others may call it a subtile piece of malice, that +because there may be a dozen families in this town able to entertain their +English friends in a generous manner at their tables, their guests upon +their return to England shall report that we wallow in riches and luxury. + +Yet I confess I have known an hospital, where all the household officers +grew rich; while the poor, for whose sake it was built, were almost +starved for want of food and raiment. + +To conclude: If Ireland be a rich and flourishing kingdom, its wealth and +prosperity must be owing to certain causes, that are yet concealed from +the whole race of mankind; and the effects are equally invisible. We need +not wonder at strangers, when they deliver such paradoxes; but a native +and inhabitant of this kingdom, who gives the same verdict, must be either +ignorant to stupidity, or a man-pleaser, at the expense of all honour, +conscience, and truth. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE INJURED LADY. + +_Written by herself, in a letter to her Friend; with his answer._ + + +SIR, + +Being ruined by the inconstancy and unkindness of a lover, I hope a true +and plain relation of my misfortunes may be of use and warning to +credulous maids, never to put too much trust in deceitful men. + +A gentleman in the neighbourhood[28] had two mistresses, another and +myself;[29] and he pretended honourable love to us both. Our three houses +stood pretty near one another; his was parted from mine by a river,[30] +and from my rival's by an old broken wall.[31] But before I enter into the +particulars of this gentleman's hard usage of me, I will give a very just +and impartial character of my rival and myself. + +As to her person, she is tall and lean, and very ill-shaped; she has bad +features, and a worse complexion. As to her other qualifies, she has no +reputation either for honesty, truth, or manners, and it is no wonder, +considering what her education has been. To sum up all, she is poor and +beggarly, and gets a sorry maintenance by pilfering wherever she comes. + +As for this gentleman, who is now so fond of her, she still bears him an +invincible hatred; reviles him to his face, and rails at him in all +companies. Her house is frequented by a company of rogues and thieves, and +pickpockets, whom she encourages to rob his hen-roosts, steal his corn and +cattle, and do him all manner of mischief.[32] She has been known to come +at the head of these rascals, and beat her lover until he was sore from +head to foot, and then force him to pay for the trouble she was at. Once, +attended with a crew of ragamuffins, she broke into his house, turned all +things topsy-turvey, and then set it on fire. At the same time she told so +many lies among his servants that it set them all by the ears, and his +poor steward[33] was knocked on the head; for which I think, and so does +all the country, that she ought to be answerable. To conclude her +character: she is of a different religion, being a Presbyterian of the +most rank and violent kind, and consequently having an inveterate hatred +to the Church; yet I am sure I have been always told, that in marriage +there ought to be a union of minds as well as of persons. + +I will now give my own character, and shall do it in few words, and with +modesty and truth. I was reckoned to be as handsome as any in our +neighbourhood, until I became pale and thin with grief and ill-usage. I am +still fair enough, and have, I think, no very ill features about me. They +that see me now will hardly allow me ever to have had any great share of +beauty; for, besides being so much altered, I go always mobbed and in an +undress, as well out of neglect, as indeed for want of clothes to appear +in. I might add to all this, that I was born to a good estate, although it +now turns to little account under the oppressions I endure, and has been +the true cause of all my misfortunes. + +Some years ago, this gentleman, taking a fancy either to my person or +fortune, made his addresses to me: which, being then young and foolish, I +too readily admitted. When he had once got possession, he began to play +the usual part of a too fortunate lover, affecting on all occasions to +show his authority, and to act like a conqueror. First, he found fault +with the government of my family, which, I grant was none of the best, +consisting of ignorant, illiterate creatures, for at that time I knew but +little of the world. In compliance to him, therefore, I agreed to fall +into his ways and methods of living; I consented that his steward should +govern my house, and have liberty to employ an understeward,[34] who +should receive his directions. My lover proceeded farther, turned away +several old servants and tenants, and supplying me with others from his +own house. These grew so domineering and unreasonable, that there was no +quiet, and I heard of nothing but perpetual quarrels, which, although I +could not possibly help, yet my lover laid all the blame and punishment +upon me; and upon every falling out still turned away more of my people, +and supplied me in their stead with a number of fellows and dependents of +his own, whom he had no other way to provide for. Overcome by love, and to +avoid noise and contention, I yielded to all his usurpations, and finding +it in vain to resist, I thought it my best policy to make my court to my +new servants, and draw them to my interests; I fed them from my own table +with the best I had, put my new tenants on the choice parts of my land, +and treated them all so kindly that they began to love me as well as their +master. In process of time, all my old servants were gone, and I had not +a creature about me, nor above one or two tenants, but what were of his +choosing; yet I had the good luck, by gentle usage, to bring over the +greatest part of them to my side. When my lover observed this, he began to +alter his language; and to those who inquired about me, he would answer +that I was an old dependent upon his family, whom he had placed on some +concerns of his own; and he began to use me accordingly, neglecting, by +degrees, all common civility in his behaviour. I shall never forget the +speech he made me one morning, which he delivered with all the gravity in +the world. He put me in mind of the vast obligations I lay under to him in +sending me so many of his people for my own good, and to teach me manners: +that it had cost him ten times more than I was worth to maintain me; that +it had been much better for him if I had been burnt, or sunk to the bottom +of the sea; that it was reasonable I should strain myself as far as I was +able to reimburse him some of his charges; that from henceforward he +expected his word should be a law to me in all things; that I must +maintain a parish-watch against thieves and robbers, and give salaries to +an overseer, a constable, and others, all of his own choosing whom he +would send from time to time to be spies upon me; that, to enable me the +better in supporting these expenses, my tenants should be obliged to carry +all their goods across the river to his own town-market, and pay toll on +both sides, and then sell them at half value. But because we were a nasty +sort of people, and that he could not endure to touch anything that we had +a hand in, and, likewise, because he wanted work to employ his own folks, +therefore we must send all our goods to his market just in their +naturals--the milk immediately from the cow, without making into cheese or +butter; the corn in the ear; the grass as it was mowed; the wool as it +comes from the sheep's back; and bring the fruit upon the branch, that he +might not be obliged to eat it after our filthy hands: that if a tenant +carried but a piece of bread and cheese to eat by the way, or an inch of +worsted to mend his stockings, he should forfeit his whole parcel: and +because a parcel of rogues usually plied on the river between us, who +often robbed my tenants of their goods and boats, he ordered a waterman of +his to guard them, whose manner was to be out of the way till the poor +wretches were plundered, then to overtake the thieves, and seize all as +lawful prize to his master and himself. It would be endless to repeat a +hundred other hardships he has put upon me; but it is a general rule, that +whenever he imagines the smallest advantage will redound to one of his +footboys by any new oppression of me and my whole family and estate, he +never disputeth it a moment. All this has rendered me so very +insignificant and contemptible at home, that some servants, to whom I pay +the greatest wages, and many tenants, who have the most beneficial leases, +are gone over to live with him, yet I am bound to continue their wages and +pay their rents; by which means one-third of my income is spent on his +estate, and above another third by his tolls and markets: and my poor +tenants are so sunk and impoverished, that instead of maintaining me +suitably to my quality, they can hardly find me clothes to keep me warm, +or provide the common necessaries of life for themselves. + +Matters being in this posture between me and my lover, I received +intelligence that he had been for some time making very pressing overtures +of marriage to my rival, until there happened to be some misunderstandings +between them. She gave him ill words, and threatened to break off all +commerce with him. He, on the other side, having either acquired courage +by his triumphs over me, or supposing her to be as tame a fool as I, +thought at first to carry it with a high hand, but hearing at the same +time that she had thought of making some private proposals to join with me +against him, and doubting, with very good reason, that I would readily +accept them, he seemed very much disconcerted.[35] This, I thought, was a +proper occasion to show some great example of generosity and love; and so, +without farther consideration, I sent him word, that hearing there was +likely to be a quarrel betwixt him and my rival, notwithstanding all that +had passed, and without binding him to any conditions in my own favour, I +would stand by him against her and all the world, while I had a penny in +my purse, or a petticoat to pawn. This message was subscribed by all my +chief tenants, and proved so powerful, that my rival immediately grew more +tractable upon it. The result of which was, that there is now a treaty of +marriage concluded between them,[36] the wedding clothes are bought, and +nothing remains but to perform the ceremony, which is put off for some +days, because they design it to be a public wedding. And to reward my +love, constancy, and generosity, he has bestowed on me the office of being +sempstress to his grooms and footmen, which I am forced to accept or +starve.[37] Yet, in the midst of this my situation, I cannot but have some +pity for this deluded man. + +For my part, I think, and so does all the country, too, that the man is +possessed; at least none of us are able to imagine what he can possibly +see in her, unless she has bewitched him, or given him some powder. + +I am sure I never sought this alliance, and you can bear me witness that I +might have had other matches; nay if I were lightly disposed, I could +still perhaps have offers, that some, who hold their heads higher, would +be glad to accept. But alas! I never had any such wicked thought; all I +now desire is, only to enjoy a little quiet, to be free from the +persecutions of this unreasonable man, and that he will let me manage my +own little fortune to the best advantage; for which I will undertake to +pay him a considerable pension every year, much more considerable than +what he now gets by his oppressions; for he must needs find himself a +loser at last, when he has drained me and my tenants so dry, that we shall +not have a penny for him or ourselves. There is one imposition of his I +had almost forgot, which I think unsufferable, and will appeal to you, or +any reasonable person, whether it be so or not. I told you before, that by +an old compact we agreed to have the same steward; at which time I +consented likewise to regulate my family and estate by the same method +with him, which he then showed me written down in form, and I approved +of. Now, the turn he thinks fit to give this compact of ours is very +extraordinary; for he pretends, that whatever orders he shall think fit to +prescribe for the future in his family, he may, if he will, compel mine to +observe them without asking my advice, or hearing my reasons. + +So that I must not make a lease without his consent, or give any +directions for the well-governing of my family, but what he countermands +whenever he pleases. This leaves me at such confusion and uncertainty, +that my servants know not when to obey me; and my tenants, although many +of them be very well-inclined, seem quite at a loss. + +But I am too tedious upon this melancholy subject, which however I hope +you will forgive, since the happiness of my whole life depends upon it. I +desire you will think awhile, and give your best advice what measures I +shall take with prudence, justice, courage, and honour, to protect my +liberty and fortune against the hardships and severities I lie under from +that unkind, inconstant man. + + + + +THE ANSWER TO THE INJURED LADY. + + +MADAM, + +I have received your ladyship's letter, and carefully considered every +part of it, and shall give you my opinion how you ought to proceed for +your own security. But first I must beg leave to tell your ladyship, that +you were guilty of an unpardonable weakness the other day, in making that +offer to your lover of standing by him in any quarrel he might have with +your rival. You know very well, that she began to apprehend he had designs +of using her as he had done you; and common prudence might have directed +you rather to have entered into some measures with her for joining against +him, until he might at least be brought to some reasonable terms; but your +invincible hatred to that lady has carried your resentments so high, as to +be the cause of your ruin; yet if you please to consider, this aversion of +yours began a good while before she became your rival, and was taken up by +you and your family in a sort of compliment to your lover, who formerly +had a great abhorrence of her. It is true, since that time you have +suffered very much by her encroachments upon your estate,[38] but she +never pretended to govern and direct you; and now you have drawn a new +enemy upon yourself; for I think you may count upon all the ill offices +she can possibly do you, by her credit with her husband; whereas, if, +instead of openly declaring against her, without any provocation, you had +but sat still awhile, and said nothing, that gentleman would have lessened +his severity to you out of perfect fear. This weakness of yours you call +generosity; but I doubt there was more in the matter: in short, madam, I +have good reasons to think you were betrayed to it by the pernicious +counsel of some about you; for to my certain knowledge, several of your +tenants and servants to whom you have been very kind, are as arrant +rascals as any in the country. I know the matters of fact, as you relate +them, are true, and fairly represented. + +My advice therefore is this: get your tenants together as soon as you +conveniently can, and make them agree to the following resolutions. + +First, that your family and servants have no dependence upon the said +gentleman, farther than by the old agreement, which obliges you to have +the same steward, and to regulate your household by such methods as you +should both agree to. + +Secondly, that you will not carry your goods to the market of his town, +unless you please, nor be hindered from carrying them anywhere else. + +Thirdly, that the servants you pay wages to shall live at home, or forfeit +their places. + +Fourthly, that whatever lease you make to a tenant, it shall not be in his +power to break it. + +If he will agree to these articles, I advise you to contribute as largely +as you can to all charges of parish and county. + +I can assure you, several of that gentleman's ablest tenants and servants +are against his severe usage of you and would be glad of an occasion to +convince the rest of their error, if you will not be wanting to yourself. + +If the gentleman refuses these just and reasonable offers, pray let me +know it, and perhaps I may think of something else that will be more +effectual. + + I am, + Madam, + Your Ladyship's, etc. + + + + +A LETTER TO THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN,[39] CONCERNING THE WEAVERS. + + +MY LORD, + +The corporation of weavers in the woollen manufacture, who have so often +attended your Grace, and called upon me with their schemes and proposals, +were with me on Thursday last; when he who spoke for the rest, and in the +name of his absent brethren, said, "It was the opinion of the whole body, +that if somewhat was written at this time, by an able hand, to persuade +the people of this kingdom to wear their own woollen manufactures, it +might be of good use to the nation in general, and preserve many hundreds +of their trade from starving." + +To which I answered, "That it was hard for any man of common spirit to +turn his thoughts to such speculations, without discovering a resentment, +which people are too delicate to bear." For I will not deny to your Grace, +that I cannot reflect on the singular condition of this country, +different from all others upon the face of the earth, without some +emotion; and without often examining, as I pass the streets, whether those +animals which come in my way, with two legs and human faces, clad and +erect, be of the same species with what I have seen very like them in +England as to the outward shape, but differing in their notions, natures, +and intellectuals, more than any two kinds of brutes in the forest; which +any man of common prudence would immediately discover, by persuading them +to define what they meant by law, liberty, property, courage, reason, +loyalty, or religion. + +One thing, my lord, I am very confident of; that if God Almighty, for our +sins, would most justly send us a pestilence, whoever should dare to +discover his grief in public for such a visitation, would certainly be +censured for disaffection to the government; for I solemnly profess that I +do not know one calamity we have undergone these many years, which any +man, whose opinions were not in fashion, dared to lament, without being +openly charged with that imputation. And this is the harder, because +although a mother, when she has corrected her child, may sometimes force +it to kiss the rod, yet she will never give that power to the footboy or +the scullion. + +My lord, there are two things for the people of this kingdom to consider; +first, their present evil condition; and secondly, what can be done in +some degree to remedy it.... I am weary of so many abortive projects for +the advancement of trade; of so many crude proposals, in letters sent me +from unknown hands; of so many contradictory speculations, about raising +or sinking the value of gold and silver. I am not in the least sorry to +hear of the great numbers going to America, although very much for the +causes that drive them from us, since the uncontrolled maxim, "That people +are the riches of a nation," is no maxim here under our circumstances. We +have neither manufactures to employ them about, nor food to support them. +If a private gentleman's income be sunk irretrievably for ever, from a +hundred pounds to fifty, and he has no other method to supply the +deficiency; I desire to know, my lord, whether such a person has any other +course to take, than to sink half his expenses in every article of +economy, to save himself from ruin and a gaol. + +Is not this more than doubly the case of Ireland, where the want of money, +the irretrievable ruin of trade, with the other evils above-mentioned, and +many more too well known and felt, and too numerous or invidious to be +related, have been gradually sinking us, for above a dozen years past, to +a degree, that we are at least by two-thirds in a worse condition than was +ever known since the Revolution? Therefore, instead of dreams and projects +for the advancing of trade, we have nothing left but to find out some +expedient, whereby we may reduce our expenses to our incomes. + +Yet this procedure, allowed so necessary in all private families, and in +its own nature so easy to put in practice, may meet with strong opposition +by the cowardly slavish indulgence of the men, to the intolerable pride, +arrogance, vanity, and luxury of the women; who, strictly adhering to the +rules of modern education, seem to employ their whole stock of invention +in contriving new arts of profusion, faster than the most parsimonious +husband can afford: and, to compass this work the more effectually, their +universal maxim is, to despise and detest everything of the growth of +their own country, and most to value whatever comes from the very remotest +parts of the globe. And I am convinced that if the virtuosi could once +find out a world in the moon, with a passage to it, our women would wear +nothing but what directly came from thence. The prime cost of wine yearly +imported to Ireland is valued at thirty thousand pounds; and the tea +(including coffee and chocolate) at five times that sum. The laces, +silks, calicoes, and all other unnecessary ornaments for women, including +English cloths and stuffs, added to the former articles, make up (to +compute grossly) about four hundred thousand pounds. Now if we should +allow the thirty thousand pounds, wherein the women have their share, and +which is all we have to comfort us, and deduct seventy thousand pounds +more for over-reaching, there would still remain three hundred thousand +pounds, annually spent, for unwholesome drugs and unnecessary finery; +which prodigious sum would be wholly saved, and many thousands of our +miserable shopkeepers and manufacturers comfortably supported. + +Let speculative people bury their brains as they please, there is no other +way to prevent this kingdom from sinking for ever, than by utterly +renouncing all foreign dress and luxury. + +It is absolutely so in fact, that every husband of any fortune in the +kingdom, is nourishing a poisonous, devouring serpent in his bosom, with +all the mischief, but with none of its wisdom. + +If all the women were clad with the growth of their own country, they +might still vie with each other in the course of foppery; and still have +room left to vie with each other and equally show their wit and judgment, +in deciding upon the variety of Irish stuffs. And if they could be +contented with their native wholesome slops for breakfast, we should hear +no more of the spleen, hysterics, colics, palpitations, and asthmas. They +might still be allowed to ruin each other and their husbands at play, +because the money lost would circulate among ourselves. + +My lord, I freely own it a wild imagination, that any words will cure the +sottishness of men, or the vanity of women; but the kingdom is in a fair +way of producing the most effectual remedy, when there will not be money +left for the common course of buying and selling the very necessaries of +life in our markets, unless we absolutely change the whole method of our +proceedings. + +The corporation of weavers in woollen and silk, who have so frequently +offered proposals both to your Grace and to me, are the hottest and +coldest generation of men that I have known. About a month ago, they +attended your Grace, when I had the honour to be with you; and designed me +the same favour. They desired you would recommend to your clergy to wear +gowns of Irish stuffs which might probably spread the example among all +their brethren in the kingdom; and perhaps among the lawyers and gentlemen +of the university, and among the citizens of those corporations who appear +in gowns on solemn occasions. I then mentioned a kind of stuff, not above +eightpence a yard, which I heard had been contrived by some of the trade, +and was very convenient. I desired they would prepare some of that, or any +sort of black stuff, on a certain day, when your Grace would appoint as +many clergymen as could readily be found to meet at your palace; and there +give their opinions; and that your Grace's visitation approaching, you +could then have the best opportunity of seeing what could be done in a +matter of such consequence, as they seemed to think, to the woollen +manufacture. But instead of attending, as was expected, they came to me a +fortnight after with a new proposal, that something should be written by +an acceptable and able hand, to promote in general the wearing of home +manufactures; and their civilities would fix that work upon me. + +I asked if they had prepared the stuffs, as they had promised, and your +Grace expected; but they had not made the least step in the matter, nor, +as it appears, thought of it more. + +I did, some years ago, propose to the masters and principal dealers in the +home-manufactures of silk and wool, that they should meet together; and, +after mature consideration, publish advertisements to the following +purpose:-- + +"That in order to encourage the wearing of Irish manufactures in silk and +woollen, they gave notice to the nobility and gentry of the kingdom, that +they, the undersigned, would enter into bonds, for themselves and for each +other, to sell the several sorts of stuffs, cloths, and silks, made to the +best perfection they were able, for certain fixed prices; and in such a +manner, that if a child were sent to any of their shops, the buyer might +be secure of the value and goodness and measure of the ware; and, lest +this might be thought to look like a monopoly, any other member of the +trade might be admitted, upon such conditions as should be agreed on. And +if any person whatsoever should complain that he was ill-used, in the +value and goodness of what he bought, the matter should be examined, the +persons injured be fully satisfied by the whole corporation without delay, +and the dishonest seller be struck out of the society, unless it appeared +evidently that the failure proceeded only from mistake." + +The mortal danger is, that if these dealers could prevail, by the goodness +and cheapness of their cloths and stuffs, to give a turn to the principal +people of Ireland in favour of their goods; they would relapse into the +knavish practice, peculiar to this kingdom, which is apt to run through +all trades, even so low as a common ale-seller; who, as soon as he gets a +vogue for his liquor, and outsells his neighbours, thinks his credit will +put off the worst he can buy till his customers will come no more. Thus, +I have known at London, in a general mourning, the drapers dye black all +their damaged goods, and sell them at double rates; then complain, and +petition the Court, that they are ready to starve by the continuance of +the mourning. + +Therefore, I say, those principal weavers who would enter into such a +compact as I have mentioned, must give sufficient security against all +such practices; for if once the women can persuade their husbands that +foreign goods, besides the finery, will be as cheap, and do more service, +our last state will be worse than the first. + +I do not here pretend to digest perfectly the method by which these +principal shopkeepers shall proceed, in such a proposal; but my meaning is +clear enough, and cannot be reasonably objected against. + +We have seen what a destructive loss the kingdom received by the +detestable fraud of the merchants, or northern linen weavers, or both; +notwithstanding all the cares of the governor of that board, when we had +an offer of commerce with the Spaniards for our linens to the value, as I +am told, of thirty thousand pounds a year. But, while we deal like +pedlars, we shall practise like pedlars, and sacrifice all honesty to the +present urging advantage. + +What I have said may serve as an answer to the desire made me by the +corporation of weavers, that I would offer my notions to the public. As to +anything farther, let them apply themselves to the Parliament in their +next session. Let them prevail on the House of Commons to grant one very +reasonable request; and I shall think there is still some spirit left in +the nation, when I read a vote to this purpose: "Resolved, _nemine +contradicente_, That this House will, for the future, wear no clothes but +such as are made of Irish growth, or of Irish manufacture, nor will permit +their wives or children to wear any other; and that they will, to the +utmost, endeavour to prevail with their friends, relations, dependents, +and tenants, to follow their example." And if, at the same time, they +could banish tea and coffee, and china-ware, out of their families, and +force their wives to chat their scandal over an infusion of sage, or other +wholesome domestic vegetables, we might possibly be able to subsist, and +pay our absentees, pensioners, generals, civil officers, appeals, +colliers, temporary travellers, students, school boys, splenetic visitors +of Bath, Tunbridge, and Epsom, with all other smaller drains, by sending +our crude, unwrought goods to England, and receiving from thence, and all +other countries, nothing but what is fully manufactured, and keep a few +potatoes and oatmeal for our own subsistence. + +I have been for a dozen years past wisely prognosticating the present +condition of this kingdom; which any human creature of common sense could +foretell, with as little sagacity as myself. My meaning is, that a +consumptive body must needs die, which has spent all its spirits, and +received no nourishment. Yet I am often tempted to pity, when I hear the +poor farmer and cottager lamenting the hardness of the times, and imputing +them either to one or two ill seasons, which better climates than ours are +more exposed to; or to scarcity of silver, which, to a nation of liberty, +would only be a slight and temporary inconvenience, to be removed at a +month's warning. + + + + +TWO LETTERS ON SUBJECTS RELATIVE TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF IRELAND. + + +I. + +TO MESSRS. TRUMAN AND LAYFIELD. + +GENTLEMEN,-- + +I am inclined to think that I received a letter from you two, last summer, +directed to Dublin, while I was in the country, whither it was sent me; +and I ordered an answer to it to be printed, but it seems it had little +effect, and I suppose this will not have much more. But the heart of this +people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes +they have closed. And, gentlemen, I am to tell you another thing: that the +world is too regardless of what we write for public good; that after we +have delivered our thoughts, without any prospect of advantage, or of +reputation, which latter is not to be had but by subscribing our names, we +cannot prevail upon a printer to be at the charge of sending it into the +world unless we will be at all or half the expense; and although we are +willing enough to bestow our labours, we think it unreasonable to be out +of pocket; because it probably may not consist with the situation of our +affairs. + +I do very much approve your good intentions, and in a great measure your +manner of declaring them; and I do imagine you intended that the world +should not only know your sentiments, but my answer, which I shall +impartially give.... Although your letter be directed to me, yet I take +myself to be only an imaginary person; for, although I conjecture I had +formerly one from you, yet I never answered it otherwise than in print; +neither was I at a loss to know the reasons why so many people of this +kingdom were transporting themselves to America. + +And if this encouragement were owing to a pamphlet written, giving an +account of the country of Pennsylvania, to tempt people to go thither, I +do declare that those who were tempted, by such a narrative, to such a +journey, were fools, and the author a most impudent knave; at least, if it +be the same pamphlet I saw when it first came out, which is about +twenty-five years ago, dedicated to William Penn (whom by a mistake you +call "Sir William Penn,") and styling him, by authority of the Scripture, +"Most noble Governor." For I was very well acquainted with Penn, and did, +some years after, talk with him upon that pamphlet, and the impudence of +the author, who spoke so many things in praise of the soil and climate, +which Penn himself did absolutely contradict. For he did assure me, "That +this country wanted the shelter of mountains, which left it open to the +northern winds from Hudson's Bay and the Frozen Sea, which destroyed all +plantations of trees, and was even pernicious to all common vegetables." +But, indeed, New York, Virginia, and other parts less northward, or more +defended by mountains, are described as excellent countries; but upon what +conditions of advantage foreigners go thither, I am yet to seek. What +evils our people avoid by running from hence, is easier to be determined. +They conceive themselves to live under the tyranny of most cruel exacting +landlords, who have no views farther than increasing their rent-rolls. +Secondly, you complain of the want of trade, whereof you seem not to know +the reason. Thirdly, you lament most justly the money spent by absentees +in England. Fourthly, you complain that your linen manufacture declines. +Fifthly, that your tithe collectors oppress you. Sixthly, that your +children have no hopes of preferment in the church, the revenue, or the +army; to which you might have added the law, and all civil employments +whatsoever. Seventhly, you are undone for want of silver, and want all +other money. + +I could easily add some other motives, which, to men of spirit, who desire +and expect, and think they deserve the common privileges of human nature, +would be of more force, than any you have yet named, to drive them out of +this kingdom. But as these speculations may probably not much affect the +brains of your people, I shall choose to let them pass unmentioned.... I +must confess to you both, that if one reason of your people's deserting us +be the despair of things growing better in their own country, I have not +one syllable to answer; because that would be to hope for what is +impossible, and so I have been telling the public these ten years. For +there are events which must precede any such blessing; first, a liberty of +trade; secondly, a share of preferments in all kinds, equal to the British +natives; and thirdly, a return of those absentees, who take almost one +half of the kingdom's revenue. As to the first and second, there is +nothing left us but despair; and for the third, it will never happen till +the kingdom has no money to send them; for which, in my own particular, I +shall not be sorry. The exactions of landlords has indeed been a +grievance of above twenty years' standing. But as to what you object about +the severe clauses relating to the improvement, the fault lies wholly on +the other side; for the landlords, either by their ignorance, or +greediness of making large rent-rolls, have performed this matter so ill, +as we see by experience, that there is not one tenant in five hundred who +has made any improvement worth mentioning: for which I appeal to any man +who rides through the kingdom, where little is to be found among the +tenants but beggary and desolation; the cabins of the Scotch themselves, +in Ulster, being as dirty and miserable as those of the wildest Irish. +Whereas good firm penal laws for improvement, with a tolerable easy rent, +and a reasonable period of time, would, in twenty years, have increased +the rents of Ireland at least a third part of the intrinsic value. I am +glad to hear you speak with some decency of the clergy, and to impute the +exactions you lament to the managers or farmers of the tithes. But you +entirely mistake the fact; for I defy the most wicked and most powerful +clergyman in the kingdom to oppress the meanest farmer in the parish; and +I defy the same clergyman to prevent himself from being cheated by the +same farmer, whenever that farmer shall be disposed to be knavish or +peevish. + +For, although the Ulster tithing-teller is more advantageous to the clergy +than any other in the kingdom, yet the minister can demand no more than +his tenth; and where the corn much exceeds the small tithes, as, except in +some districts, I am told it always does, he is at the mercy of every +stubborn farmer, especially of those whose sect as well as interest +incline them to opposition. However, I take it that your people bent for +America do not show the best side of their prudence in making this one +part of their complaint; yet they are so far wise, as not to make the +payment of tithes a scruple of conscience, which is too gross for any +Protestant dissenter, except a Quaker, to pretend. But do your people +indeed think, that if tithes were abolished, or delivered into the hands +of the landlord, after the blessed manner in the Scotch spiritual economy, +the tenant would sit easier in his rent under the same person, who must be +lord of the soil and of the tithe together? + +I am ready enough to grant, that the oppression of landlords, the utter +ruin of trade, with its necessary consequences, the want of money, half +the revenues of the kingdom spent abroad, the continued dearth of three +years, and the strong delusion in your people by false allurement from +America, may be the chief motives of their eagerness after such an +expedition. But there is likewise another temptation, which is not of +inconsiderable weight; which is their itch of living in a country where +their sect is predominant, and where their eyes and consciences will not +be offended by the stumbling block of ceremonies, habits, and spiritual +titles. But I was surprised to find that those calamities, whereof we are +innocent, have been sufficient to drive many families out of their +country, who had no reason to complain of oppressive landlords. For, while +I was last year in the northern parts, a person of quality, whose estate +was let above twenty years ago, and then at a very reasonable rent, some +for leases of lives, and some perpetuities, did, in a few months, purchase +eleven of those leases at a very inconsiderable price, although they were, +two years ago, reckoned to pay but half value; whence it is manifest that +our present miserable condition, and the dismal prospect of worse, with +other reasons above assigned, are sufficient to put men upon trying this +desperate experiment of changing the scene they are in, although landlords +should, by a miracle, become less inhuman. + +There is hardly a scheme proposed for improving the trade of this kingdom, +which does not manifestly show the stupidity and ignorance of the +proposer, and I laugh with contempt at those weak wise heads, who proceed +upon general maxims, or advise us to follow the examples of Holland and +England. These empirics talk by rote, without understanding the +constitution of the kingdom: as if a physician, knowing that exercise +contributed much to health, should prescribe to his patient under a severe +fit of the gout, to walk ten miles every morning. The directions for +Ireland are very short and plain: to encourage agriculture and home +consumption, and utterly discard all importations which are not absolutely +necessary for health or life. And how few necessaries, conveniences, or +even comforts of life, are denied us by nature, or not to be attained by +labour and industry! Are those detestable extravagances of Flanders lace, +English cloths made of our own wool, and other goods, Italian or Indian +silks, tea, coffee, chocolate, chinaware, and that profusion of wines, by +the knavery of merchants growing dearer every season, with a hundred +unnecessary fopperies, better known to others than me, are these, I say, +fit for us, any more than for the beggar who could not eat his veal +without oranges? + +Is it not the highest indignity to human nature, that men should be such +poltroons as to suffer the kingdom and themselves to be undone by the +vanity, the folly, the pride, and wantonness of their wives, who, under +their present corruptions, seem to be a kind of animal, suffered, for our +sins, to be sent into the world for the destruction of families, +societies, and kingdoms, and whose whole study seems directed to be as +expensive as they possibly can, in every useless article of living; who, +by long practice, can reconcile the most pernicious foreign drugs to their +health and pleasure, provided they are but expensive, as starlings grow +fat with henbane; who contract a robustness by mere practice of sloth and +luxury; who can play deep several hours after midnight, sleep beyond noon, +revel upon Indian poisons, and spend the revenues of a moderate family to +adorn a nauseous, unwholesome, living carcase? Let those few who are not +concerned in any part of this accusation, suppose it unsaid; let the rest +take it among them. Gracious God, in His mercy, look down upon a nation so +shamefully besotted!... + +Is there any mortal who can show me, under the circumstances we stand with +our neighbours, under their inclinations towards us, under laws never to +be repealed, under the desolation caused by absentees, under many other +circumstances not to be mentioned, that this kingdom can ever be a nation +of trade, or subsist by any other method than that of a reduced family, by +the utmost parsimony?... + + +II. + +ANSWER TO SEVERAL LETTERS SENT FROM UNKNOWN HANDS. 1729. + +I am very well pleased with the good opinion you express of me, and wish +it were any way in my power to answer your expectations, for the service +of my country. I have carefully read your several schemes and proposals, +which you think should be offered to Parliament. In answer, I will assure +you, that, in another place, I have known very good proposals rejected +with contempt by public assemblies, merely because they were offered from +without doors, and yours, perhaps, might have the same fate, especially if +handed to the public by me, who am not acquainted with three members, nor +have the least interest with one. My printers have been twice prosecuted, +to my great expense, on account of discourses I writ for the public +service, without the least reflection on parties or persons, and the +success I had in those of the Drapier, was not owing to my abilities, but +to a lucky juncture, when the fuel was ready for the first hand that would +be at the pains of kindling it. It is true, both those envenomed +prosecutions were the workmanship of a judge, who is now gone _to his own +place_. But, let that be as it will, I am determined, henceforth never to +be the instrument of leaving an innocent man at the mercy of that bench. +It is certain there are several particulars relating to this kingdom (I +have mentioned a few of them in one of my Drapier's letters), which it +were heartily to be wished that the Parliament would take under their +consideration, such as will no way interfere with England, otherwise than +to its advantage. + +The first I shall mention, is touched at in a letter which I received from +one of you, gentlemen, about the highways; which, indeed, are almost +everywhere scandalously neglected. I know a very rich man in this city, a +true lover and saver of his money, who, being possessed of some adjacent +lands, has been at great charge in repairing effectually the roads that +lead to them, and, has assured me that his lands are thereby advanced four +or five shillings an acre, by which he gets treble interest. But, +generally speaking, all over the kingdom the roads are deplorable, and, +what is more particularly barbarous there is no sort of provision made for +travellers on foot; no, not near the city, except in a very few places, +and in a most wretched manner: whereas the English are so particularly +careful in this point, that you may travel there a hundred miles with less +inconvenience than one mile here. But, since this may be thought too +great a reformation, I shall only speak of roads for horses, carriages, +and cattle. + +Ireland is, I think, computed to be one-third smaller than England; yet, +by some natural disadvantages, it would not bear quite the same proportion +in value, with the same encouragement. However, it has so happened, for +many years past, that it never arrived to above one-eleventh part in point +of riches, and of late, by the continual decrease of trade, and the +increase of absentees, with other circumstances not here to be mentioned, +hardly to a fifteenth part; at least, if my calculations be right, which I +doubt are a little too favourable on our side. + +Now, supposing day-labour to be cheaper by one half here than in England, +and our roads, by the nature of our carriages, and the desolation of our +country, to be not worn and beaten above one-eighth part so much as those +of England, which is a very moderate computation, I do not see why the +mending of them would be a greater burden to this kingdom than to that. + +There have been, I believe, twenty Acts of Parliament, in six or seven +years of the late King, for mending long tracts of impassable ways in +several counties of England, by erecting turnpikes, and receiving +passage-money in a manner that everybody knows. + +If what I have advanced be true, it would be hard to give a reason against +the same practice here; since the necessity is as great, the advantage, in +proportion, perhaps much greater, the materials of stone and gravel as +easy to be found, and the workmanship, at least, twice as cheap. + +Besides, the work may be done gradually, with allowances for the poverty +of the nation, by so many perch a-year; but with a special care to +encourage skill and diligence, and to prevent fraud in the undertakers, to +which we are too liable, and which are not always confined to those of the +meaner sort; but against these, no doubt, the wisdom of the nation may and +will provide. Another evil, which, in my opinion, deserves the public +care, is the ill management of the bogs; the neglect whereof is a much +greater mischief to this kingdom than most people seem to be aware of. + +It is allowed, indeed, by those who are esteemed most skilful in such +matters, that the red, swelling mossy bog, whereof we have so many large +tracts in this island, is not by any means to be fully reduced; but the +skirts, which are covered with a green coat, easily may, being not +accretion, or annual growth of moss, like the other. + +Now, the landlords are generally so careless as to suffer their tenants +to cut their turf in these skirts, as well as the bog adjoined; whereby +there is yearly lost a considerable quantity of land throughout the +kingdom, never to be recovered. + +But this is not the greatest part of the mischief; for the main bog, +although, perhaps, not reducible to natural soil, yet, by continuing +large, deep, straight canals through the middle, cleaned at proper times +as low as the channel or gravel, would become secure summer-pasture; the +margins might, with great profit and ornament, be filled with quickens, +birch, and other trees proper for such a soil, and the canals be +convenient for water-carriage of the turf, which is now drawn upon +sled-cars, with great expense, difficulty, and loss of time, by reason of +the many turf-pits scattered irregularly through the bog, wherein great +numbers of cattle are yearly drowned. And it has been, I confess, to me a +matter of the greatest vexation, as well as wonder, to think how any +landlord could be so absurd as suffer such havoc to be made. + +All the acts for encouraging plantations of forest-trees are, I am told, +extremely defective; which, with great submission, must have been owing to +a defect of skill in the contrivers of them. In this climate, by the +continual blowing of the west-south-west wind, hardly any tree of value +will come to perfection that is not planted in groves, except very rarely, +and where there is much land-shelter. I have not, indeed, read all the +acts; but, from inquiry, I cannot learn that the planting in groves is +enjoined. And as to the effects of these laws, I have not seen the least, +in many hundred miles' riding, except about a very few gentlemen's houses, +and even those with very little skill or success. In all the rest, the +hedges generally miscarry, as well as the larger, slender twigs planted +upon the tops of ditches, merely for want of common skill and care. + +I do not believe that a greater and quicker profit could be made, than by +planting large groves of ash a few feet asunder, which in seven years +would make the best kind of hop-poles, and grow in the same or less time +to a second crop from their roots. + +It would likewise be of great use and beauty in our desert scenes, to +oblige cottagers to plant ash or elm before their cabins, and round their +potato-gardens, where cattle either do not or ought not to come to destroy +them. + +The common objection against all this, drawn from the laziness, the +perverseness, or thievish disposition of the poor native Irish, might be +easily answered by showing the true reasons for such accusations, and how +easily those people may be brought to a less savage manner of life; but +my printers have already suffered too much for my speculations. + +However, supposing the size of a native's understanding just equal to that +of a dog or a horse, I have often seen those two animals civilized by +rewards, at least as much as by punishments. + +It would be a noble achievement to abolish the Irish language in this +kingdom, so far at least as to oblige all the natives to speak only +English on every occasion of business, in shops, markets, fairs, and other +places of dealing: yet I am wholly deceived, if this might not be +effectually done in less than half an age, and at a very trifling expense; +for such I look upon a tax to be of only six thousand pounds a-year, to +accomplish so great a work. This would, in a great measure, civilize the +most barbarous among them, reconcile them to our customs and manner of +living, and reduce great numbers to the national religion, whatever kind +may then happen to be established. + +This method is plain and simple; and although I am too desponding to +produce it, yet I could heartily wish some public thoughts were employed +to reduce this uncultivated people from that idle, savage, beastly, +thievish manner of life, in which they continue sunk to such a degree, +that it is almost impossible for a country gentleman to find a servant of +human capacity, or the least tincture of natural honesty, or who does not +live among his own tenants in continual fear of having his plantations +destroyed, his cattle stolen, and his goods pilfered. + +The love, affection, or vanity of living in England, continuing to carry +thither so many wealthy families, the consequences thereof, together with +the utter loss of all trade, except what is detrimental, which has forced +such great numbers of weavers, and others, to seek their bread in foreign +countries; the unhappy practice of stocking such vast quantities of land +with sheep and other cattle, which reduces twenty families to one; those +events, I say, have exceedingly depopulated this kingdom for several years +past. I should heartily wish therefore, under this miserable dearth of +money, that those who are most concerned would think it advisable to save +a hundred thousand pounds a year, which is now sent out of this kingdom, +to feed us with corn. There is not an older or more uncontroverted maxim +in the politics of all wise nations, than that of encouraging agriculture; +and therefore, to what kind of wisdom a practice so directly contrary +among us may be reduced I am by no means a judge. If labour and people +make the true riches of a nation, what must be the issue where one part +of the people are forced away, and the other have nothing to do? + +If it should be thought proper by wiser heads, that his Majesty might be +applied to in a national way, for giving the kingdom leave to coin +halfpence for its own use, I believe no good subject will be under the +least apprehension that such a request could meet with refusal, or the +least delay. Perhaps we are the only kingdom upon earth, or that ever was +or will be upon earth, which did not enjoy that common right of civil +society, under the proper inspection of its prince or legislature, to coin +money of all usual metals for its own occasions. Every petty prince in +Germany, vassal to the Emperor, enjoys this privilege. And I have seen in +this kingdom several silver pieces, with the inscription of CIVITAS +WATERFORD, DROGHEDAGH, and other towns. + + + + +THE PRESENT MISERABLE STATE OF IRELAND. + + +This letter was addressed to Sir Robert Walpole on Swift's return to +Ireland in 1726 before his final rupture with the Premier the following +year. Swift endeavoured to combat the English prejudices of the minister +on the mode of managing Ireland, seeking the emancipation of his country +rather than personal advancement. Here he seems to assume the character of +the Drapier besides adding his initials. + + +SIR, + +By the last packets I had the favour of yours, and am surprised that you +should apply to a person so ill-qualified as I am, for a full and +impartial account of the state of our trade. I have always lived as +retired as possible; I have carefully avoided the perplexed honour of +city-offices; I have never minded anybody's business but my own; upon all +which accounts, and several others, you might easily have found among my +fellow-citizens, persons more capable to resolve the weighty questions you +put to me than I can pretend to be. But being entirely at leisure, even at +this season of the year, when I used to have scarce time sufficient to +perform the necessary offices of life, I will endeavour to comply with +your requests, cautioning you not implicitly to rely upon what I say, +excepting what belongs to that branch of trade in which I am more +immediately concerned. + +The Irish trade is, at present, in the most deplorable condition that can +be imagined; to remedy it, the causes of its languishment must be inquired +into. But as those causes (you may assure yourself) will not be removed, +you may look upon it as a thing past hope of recovery. + +The first and greatest shock our trade received was from an act passed in +the reign of King William, in the Parliament of England, prohibiting the +exportation of wool manufactured in Ireland, an act (as the event plainly +shows) fuller of greediness than good policy; an act as beneficial to +France and Spain, as it has been destructive to England and Ireland. At +the passing of this fatal act, the condition of our trade was glorious and +flourishing, though no way interfering with the English; we made no +broadcloths above 6_s._ per yard; coarse druggets, bays and shalloons, +worsted damasks, strong draught-works, slight half-works, and gaudy +stuffs, were the only products of our looms: these were partly consumed by +the meanest of our people, and partly sent to the northern nations, from +which we had in exchange timber, iron, hemp, flax, pitch, tar, and hard +dollars. At the time the current money of Ireland was foreign silver, a +man could hardly receive 100_l._, without finding the coin of all the +northern powers, and every prince of the empire among it. + +This money was returned into England for fine cloths silks, &c., for our +own wear, for rent, for coals, for hardware, and all other English +manufactures, and in a great measure supplied the London merchants with +foreign silver for exportation. + +The repeated clamours of the English weavers produced this act, so +destructive to themselves and us. + +They looked with envious eyes upon our prosperity, and complained of being +undersold by us in those commodities which themselves did not deal in. At +their instances the act was passed, and we lost our profitable northern +trade. Have they got it? No; surely you have found out they have ever +since declined in the trade they so happily possessed? You shall find (if +I am rightly informed) towns without one loom in them, which subsisted +entirely upon the woollen manufactory before the passing of this unhappy +bill; and I will try if I can give the true reasons for the decay of their +trade, and our calamities. + +Three parts in four of the inhabitants of that district of the town where +I dwell were English manufacturers, whom either misfortunes in trade, +little petty debts contracted through idleness, or the pressures of a +numerous family, had driven into our cheap country. These were employed in +working up our coarse wool, while the finest was sent into England. +Several of these had taken the children of the native Irish apprentices to +them, who being humbled by the forfeiture of upward of three millions by +the Revolution, were obliged to stoop to a mechanic industry. Upon the +passing of this bill, we were obliged to dismiss thousands of these people +from our service. Those who had settled their affairs returned home, and +overstocked England with workmen; those whose debts were unsatisfied went +to France, Spain, and the Netherlands, where they met with good +encouragement, whereby the natives, having got a firm footing in the +trade, being acute fellows, soon became as good workmen as any we have, +and supply the foreign manufactories with a constant recruit of artisans; +our island lying much more under pasture than any in Europe. The +foreigners (notwithstanding all the restrictions the English Parliament +has bound us up with) are furnished with the greatest quantity of our +choicest wool. I need not tell you, sir, that a custom-house oath is held +as little sacred here as in England, or that it is common for masters of +vessels to swear themselves bound for one of the English wool-ports, and +unload in France or Spain. By this means the trade in those ports is, in a +great measure, destroyed, and we were obliged to try our hands at finer +works, having only our own consumption to depend upon; and I can assure +you we have, in several kinds of narrow goods, even exceeded the English, +and I believe we shall in a few years more, be able to equal them in +broadcloths; but this you may depend upon, that scarce the tenth part of +English goods are now imported, of what used to be before the famous act. + +The only manufactured wares we are allowed to export, are linen cloth and +linen yarn, which are marketable only in England; the rest of our +commodities are wool, restrained to England, and raw hides, skins, tallow, +beef, and butter. Now these are things for which the northern nations +have no occasion; we are therefore obliged, instead of carrying woollen +goods to their markets, and bringing home money, to purchase their +commodities. + +In France, Spain, and Portugal, our wares are more valuable, though it +must be owned, our fraudulent trade in wool is the best branch of our +commerce; from hence we get wines, brandy, and fruit, very cheap, and in +great perfection; so that though England has constrained us to be poor, +they have given us leave to be merry. From these countries we bring home +moydores, pistoles, and louisdores, without which we should scarce have a +penny to turn upon. + +To England we are allowed to send nothing but linen cloth, yarn, raw +hides, skins, tallow, and wool. From thence we have coals, for which we +always pay ready money, India goods, English woollen and silks, tobacco, +hardware, earthenware, salt, and several other commodities. Our +exportations to England are very much overbalanced by our importations; so +that the course of exchange is generally too high, and people choose +rather to make their remittances to England in specie, than by a bill, and +our nation is perpetually drained of its little running cash. + +Another cause of the decay of trade, scarcity of money, and swelling of +exchange, is the unnatural affectation of our gentry to reside in and +about London. Their rents are remitted to them, and spent there. The +countryman wants employment from them; the country shopkeeper wants their +custom. For this reason he can't pay his Dublin correspondent readily, nor +take off a great quantity of his wares. Therefore the Dublin merchant +can't employ the artisan, nor keep up his credit in foreign markets. + +I have discoursed some of these gentlemen, persons esteemed for good +sense, and demanded a reason for this, their so unaccountable +proceeding--expensive to them for the present, ruinous to their country, +and destructive to the future value of their estates--and find all their +answers summed up under three heads, curiosity, pleasure, and loyalty to +King George. The two first excuses deserve no answer; let us try the +validity of the third. Would not loyalty be much better expressed by +gentlemen staying in their respective counties, influencing their +dependents by their examples, saving their own wealth, and letting their +neighbours profit by their necessary expenses, thereby keeping them from +misery and its unavoidable consequence, discontent? Or is it better to +flock to London, be lost in a crowd, kiss the King's hand, and take a view +of the royal family? The seeing of the royal house may animate their zeal +for it; but other advantages I know not. What employment have any of our +gentlemen got by their attendance at Court, to make up to them their +expenses? Why, about forty of them have been created peers, and a little +less than a hundred of them baronets and knights. For these excellent +advantages, thousands of our gentry have squeezed their tenants, +impoverished the trader, and impaired their own fortunes! Another great +calamity is the exorbitant raising of the rents of lands. Upon the +determination of all leases made before the year 1690, a gentleman thinks +he has but indifferently improved his estate if he has only doubled his +rent-roll. Farms are screwed up to a rack-rent--leases granted but for a +small term of years--tenants tied down to hard conditions, and discouraged +from cultivating the lands they occupy to the best advantage, by the +certainty they have of their rent being raised on the expiration of their +lease, proportionably to the improvements they shall make. Thus is honest +industry restrained; the farmer is a slave to his landlord; 'tis well if +he can cover his family with a coarse, home-spun frieze. The artisan has +little dealings with him; yet he is obliged to take his provisions from +him at an extravagant price, otherwise the farmer cannot pay his rent. + +The proprietors of lands keep great part of them in their own hands for +sheep-pasture; and there are thousands of poor wretches who think +themselves blessed, if they can obtain a hut worse than the squire's +dog-kennel, and an acre of ground for a potato plantation, on condition of +being as very slaves as any in America. What can be more deplorable than +to behold wretches starving in the midst of plenty? + +We are apt to charge the Irish with laziness, because we seldom find them +employed; but then we don't consider they have nothing to do. + +Sir William Temple, in his excellent remarks on the United Provinces, +inquires, why Holland, which has the fewest and worst ports and +commodities of any nation in Europe, should abound in trade, and Ireland, +which has the most and best of both, should have none? This great man +attributes this surprising accident to the natural aversion man has for +labour; who will not be persuaded to toil and fatigue himself for the +superfluities of life throughout the week, when he may provide himself +with all necessary subsistence by the labour of a day or two. But, with +due submission to Sir William's profound judgment, the want of trade with +us is rather owing to the cruel restraints we lie under, than to any +disqualifications whatsoever in our inhabitants. I have not, sir, for +these thirty years past, since I was concerned in trade (the greatest part +of which time distresses have been flowing in upon us), ever observed them +to swell so suddenly to such a height as they have done within these few +months. Our present calamities are not to be represented; you can have no +notion of them without beholding them. Numbers of miserable objects crowd +our doors, begging us to take their wares at any price, to prevent their +families from immediate starving. We cannot part with our money to them, +both because we know not when we shall have vent for our goods, and as +there are no debts paid, we are afraid of reducing ourselves to their +lamentable circumstances. The dismal time of trade we had during Marr's +Troubles in Scotland, are looked upon as happy days when compared with the +present. I need not tell you, sir, that this griping want, this dismal +poverty, this additional woe, must be put to the accursed stocks, which +have desolated our country more effectually than England. Stock-jobbing +was a kind of traffic we were utterly unacquainted with. We went late to +the South Sea market, and bore a great share in the losses of it, without +having tasted any of its profits. + +If many in England have been ruined by stocks, some have been advanced. +The English have a free and open trade to repair their losses; but, above +all, a wise, vigilant, and uncorrupted Parliament and ministry, +strenuously endeavouring to restore public trade to its former happy +state. Whilst we, having lost the greatest part of our cash, without any +probability of its returning, must despair of retrieving our losses by +trade, and have before our eyes the dismal prospect of universal poverty +and desolation. + +I believe, sir, you are by this time heartily tired with this indigested +letter, and are firmly persuaded of the truth of what I said in the +beginning of it, that you had much better have imposed this task on some +of our citizens of greater abilities. But perhaps, sir, such a letter as +this may be, for the singularity of it, entertaining to you, who +correspond with the politest and most learned men in Europe. But I am +satisfied you will excuse its want of exactness and perspicuity when you +consider my education, my being unaccustomed to writings of this nature, +and, above all, those calamitous objects which constantly surround us, +sufficient to disturb the clearest imagination, and the soundest judgment. + +Whatever cause I have given you, by this letter, to think worse of my +sense and judgment, I fancy I have given you a manifest proof that I am, +sir, + + Your most obedient, humble servant, + J. S. + + + + +"A PROPOSAL FOR THE UNIVERSAL USE OF IRISH MANUFACTURES." 1720. + + +The social condition of Ireland at the above period has been already +briefly described. When the landlord class were degraded and the tenantry +debased by the iniquitous laws of Charles II. and William III., which +suppressed the trade of the country, the oppressed people found in Swift a +mouthpiece for their wrongs. The above proposal was the voice of the +nation rendered articulate by his utterance. It proposes in effect a +reprisal on England for her restrictions, by a refusal to use anything +that comes thence. A confederation is to be formed, pledged to use nothing +that is not of Irish manufacture. Everything, he trusts, will be burned +that comes from England, except the people and the coals. Swift's proposal +was faulty in political economy. Of this the age knew little, and Swift +cared less. The printer of this pamphlet was prosecuted. The Chief Justice +(Whitshed) sent back the jury nine times, and kept them eleven hours +before they would consent to bring in a "special verdict." The +unpopularity of the prosecution became so great that it was at last +dropped. + + +A PROPOSAL FOR THE UNIVERSAL USE OF IRISH MANUFACTURE, + +_In clothes and furniture of houses, &c._ + +Utterly rejecting and renouncing everything wearable that comes from +England. 1720. + +It is the peculiar felicity and prudence of the people in this kingdom, +that whatever commodities and productions lie under the greatest +discouragements from England, those are what they are sure to be most +industrious in cultivating and spreading. + +Agriculture, which has been the principal care of all wise nations, and +for the encouragement whereof there are so many statute laws in England, +we countenance so well, that the landlords are everywhere, by penal +clauses, absolutely prohibiting their tenants from ploughing;[40] not +satisfied to confine them within certain limitations, as is the practice +of the English: one effect of which is already seen in the prodigious +dearness of corn, and the importation of it from London, as the cheaper +market. And because people are the riches of a country, and that our +neighbours have done, and are doing, all that in them lies to make our +wool a drug to us, and a monopoly to them; therefore, the politic +gentlemen of Ireland have depopulated vast tracts of the best land for the +feeding of sheep. + +I could fill a volume as large as the history of the Wise Men of Gotham, +with a catalogue only of some wonderful laws and customs we have observed +within thirty years past. It is true, indeed, our beneficial traffic of +wool with France has been our only support for several years, furnishing +us with all the little money we have to pay our rents, and go to market. +But our merchants assure me, this trade has received a great damp by the +present fluctuating condition of the coin in France; and that most of +their wine is paid for in specie, without carrying thither any commodity +from hence. + +However, since we are so universally bent upon enlarging our flocks, it +may be worth inquiring what we shall do with our wool, in case Barnstaple +should be overstocked, and our French commerce should fail. + +I could wish the Parliament had thought fit to have suspended their +regulation of church matters, and enlargements of the prerogative, until a +more convenient time, because they did not appear very pressing, at least +to the persons principally concerned; and, instead of these great +refinements in politics and divinity, had amused themselves and their +committees a little with the state of the nation. For example: What if the +House of Commons had thought fit to make a resolution, _nemine +contradicente_, against wearing any cloth or stuff in their families, +which were not of the growth and manufacture of this kingdom? What if they +had extended it so far as utterly to exclude all silks, velvets, calicoes, +and the whole lexicon of female fopperies; and declared, that whoever +acted otherwise should be deemed and reputed an enemy to the nation? What +if they had sent up such a resolution to be agreed to by the House of +Lords, and by their own practice and encouragement, spread the execution +of it in their several countries? What if we should agree to make burying +in woollen a fashion, as our neighbours have made it a law? What if the +ladies would be content with Irish stuffs for the furniture of their +houses, for gowns and petticoats for themselves and their daughters? Upon +the whole, and to crown all the rest, let a firm resolution be taken, by +male and female, never to appear with one single shred that comes from +England, and let all the people say AMEN. + +I hope and believe, that nothing could please his Majesty better than to +hear that his loyal subjects of both sexes in this kingdom celebrated his +birthday (now approaching) universally clad in their own manufacture. Is +there virtue enough left in this deluded people to save them from the +brink of ruin? If men's opinions may be taken, the ladies will look as +handsome in stuffs as in brocades; and since all will be equal, there may +be room enough to employ their wit and fancy, in choosing and matching +patterns and colours. + +I heard the late Archbishop of Tuam mention a pleasant observation of +somebody's, that Ireland would never be happy, till a law were made for +burning everything that came from England, except their people and their +coals. + +I must confess, that as to the former, I should not be sorry if they would +stay at home; and for the latter, I hope in a little time we shall have no +occasion for them. + + Non tanti mitra est, non tanti judicis ostrum-- + +but I should rejoice to see a stay-lace from England be thought +scandalous, and become a topic for censure at visits and tea-tables. + +If the unthinking shopkeepers in this town had not been utterly destitute +of common sense, they would have made some proposal to the Parliament, +with a petition to the purpose I have mentioned; promising to improve the +cloths and stuffs of the nation into all possible degrees of fineness and +colours, and engaging not to play the knave, according to their custom, by +exacting and imposing upon the nobility and gentry, either as to the +prices or the goodness. + +For I remember, in London, upon a general mourning, the rascally mercers +and woollen-drapers would in twenty-four hours raise their cloths and +silks to above a double price, and if the mourning continued long, then +come whining with petitions to the court, that they were ready to starve, +and their fineries lay upon their hands. + +I could wish our shopkeepers would immediately think on this proposal, +addressing it to all persons of quality and others; but, first, be sure to +get somebody who can write sense, to put it into form. + +I think it needless to exhort the clergy to follow this good example; +because, in a little time, those among them who are so unfortunate as to +have had their birth and education in this country, will think themselves +abundantly happy when they can afford Irish crape, and an Athlone hat; and +as to the others, I shall not presume to direct them. I have, indeed, seen +the present Archbishop of Dublin clad from head to foot in our own +manufacture; and yet, under the rose be it spoken, his Grace deserves as +good a gown as if he had not been born among us. + +I have not courage enough to offer one syllable on this subject to their +honours of the army; neither have I sufficiently considered the great +importance of scarlet and gold lace. + +The fable in Ovid of Arachne and Pallas is to this purpose.--The goddess +had heard of one Arachne, a young virgin, very famous for spinning and +weaving. They both met upon a trial of skill; and Pallas, finding herself +almost equalled in her own art, stung with rage and envy, knocked her +rival down, and turned her into a spider; enjoining her to spin and weave +for ever out of her own bowels, and in a very narrow compass. + +I confess, that, from a boy, I always pitied poor Arachne, and could never +heartily love the goddess, on account of so cruel and unjust a sentence; +which, however, is fully executed upon us by England, with farther +additions of rigour and severity; for the greatest part of our bowels and +vitals is extracted, without allowing us the liberty of spinning and +weaving them. + +The Scripture tells us, that "oppression makes a wise man mad;" therefore, +consequently speaking, the reason why some men are not mad is because they +are not wise. However it were to be wished, that oppression would in time +teach a little wisdom to fools. + +I was much delighted with a person, who has a great estate in this +kingdom, upon his complaints to me, how grievously poor England suffers by +impositions from Ireland:--That we convey our wool to France, in spite of +all the harpies at the custom-house; that Mr. Shuttleworth and others, on +the Cheshire coast, are such fools to sell us their bark at a good price +for tanning our own hides into leather; with other enormities of the like +weight and kind. To which I will venture to add more:--That the mayoralty +of this city is always executed by an inhabitant, and often by a native, +which might as well be done by a deputy with a moderate salary, whereby +poor England loses at least one thousand pounds a-year upon the balance; +that the governing of this kingdom costs the Lord-Lieutenant three +thousand six hundred pounds a year--so much net loss to poor England; that +the people of Ireland presume to dig for coals on their own grounds; and +the farmers in the county of Wicklow send their turf to the very market +of Dublin, to the great discouragement of the coal trade of Mostyn and +Whitehaven; that the revenues of the post-office here, so righteously +belonging to the English treasury, as arising chiefly from our commerce +with each other, should be remitted to London clogged with that grievous +burden of exchange; and the pensions paid out of the Irish revenues to +English favourites, should lie under the same disadvantage, to the great +loss of the grantees. When a divine is sent over to a bishopric here, with +the hopes of five-and-twenty hundred pounds a year, and, upon his arrival, +he finds, alas! a dreadful discount of ten or twelve per cent.; a judge, +or a commissioner of the revenue, has the same cause of complaint.... +These are a few among the many hardships we put upon that poor kingdom of +England, for which, I am confident, every honest man wishes a remedy. And +I hear there is a project on foot for transporting our best wheaten straw, +by sea and land carriage, to Dunstable, and obliging us, by a law, to take +off yearly so many ton of straw hats, for the use of our women; which will +be a great encouragement to the manufacture of that industrious town. + +I should be glad to learn among the divines, whether a law to bind men +without their own consent be obligatory _in foro conscientiae_; because I +find Scripture, Sanderson, and Suarez, are wholly silent on the matter. +The oracle of reason, the great law of nature, and general opinion of +civilians, wherever they treat of limited governments, are indeed decisive +enough. + +It is wonderful to observe the bias among our people in favour of things, +persons, and wares of all kinds, that come from England. The printer tells +his hawkers, that he has got an excellent new song just brought from +London. I have somewhat of a tendency that way myself; and, upon hearing a +coxcomb from thence displaying himself, with great volubility, upon the +park, the playhouse, the opera, the gaming ordinaries, it was apt to beget +in me a kind of veneration for his parts and accomplishments. It is not +many years since I remember a person, who, by his style and literature, +seems to have been the corrector of a hedge-press in some blind alley +about Little Britain, proceed gradually to be an author, at least a +translator of a lower rate, although somewhat of a larger bulk, than any +that now flourishes in Grub Street; and, upon the strength of this +foundation, come over here, erect himself up into an orator and +politician, and lead a kingdom after him. This, I am told, was the very +motive that prevailed on the author of a play, called "Love in a Hollow +Tree," to do us the honour of a visit; presuming, with very good reason, +that he was a writer of a superior class. I know another, who, for thirty +years past, has been the common standard of stupidity in England, where he +was never heard a minute in any assembly, or by any party, with common +Christian treatment; yet, upon his arrival here, could put on a face of +importance and authority, talk more than six, without either gracefulness, +propriety, or meaning, and, at the same time, be admired and followed as +the pattern of eloquence and wisdom. + + * * * * * + +I would now expostulate a little with our country landlords; who, by +immeasurable screwing and racking their tenants all over the kingdom, have +already reduced the miserable people to a worse condition than the +peasants in France, or the vassals in Germany and Poland; so that the +whole species of what we call substantial farmers, will, in a very few +years, be utterly at an end. It was pleasant to observe these gentlemen +labouring, with all their might, for preventing the bishops from letting +their revenues at a moderate half value (whereby the whole order would, in +an age, have been reduced to manifest beggary), at the very instant when +they were everywhere canting[41] their own land upon short leases, and +sacrificing their oldest tenants for a penny an acre advance.... I have +heard great divines affirm, that nothing is so likely to call down a +universal judgment from Heaven upon a nation as universal oppression; and +whether this be not already verified in part, their worships the +landlords, are now at full leisure to consider. Whoever travels this +country, and observes the face of nature, or the faces, and habits, and +dwellings of the natives, will hardly think himself in a land where law, +religion, or common humanity is professed. I cannot forbear saying one +word upon a thing they call a bank, which, I fear, is projecting in this +town.[42] I never saw the proposals, nor understood any one particular of +their scheme. What I wish for at present, is only a sufficient provision +of hemp, and caps and bells, to distribute according to the several +degrees of honesty and prudence in some persons. I hear only of a +monstrous sum already named; and if others do not soon hear of it too, and +hear with a vengeance, then I am a gentleman of less sagacity than myself, +and very few beside myself, take me to be. And the jest will be still the +better if it be true, as judicious persons have assured me, that one half +of this money will be real, and the other half altogether imaginary. The +matter will be likewise much mended, if the merchants continue to carry +off our gold, and our goldsmiths to melt down our heavy silver. + + + + +A MODEST PROPOSAL. 1729. + + +This came out when the people were starving in hundreds through famine, +and the dead were left unburied before their own doors. English +civilization was shamed by the sight. His sarcasm was never applied with +more deadly seriousness of purpose. There is no strain in the language +with which the state of matters is described: the very simplicity and +matter-of-fact tone that are assumed, make the description all the more +telling. With the calm deliberation of a statistician calculating the food +supply of the country, Swift brings forward his suggestion. No work of +Swift has been more grievously misunderstood. Some have esteemed it a +heartless piece of ridicule, a callous laugh raised out of abject misery. +The interpretation is as wrong as the Frenchman who took it as a grave and +practical suggestion, and who fancied that Swift in sober earnest proposed +that infants in Ireland should be used for food. In truth the ridicule is +but a thin disguise. From beginning to end, it is laden with grave and +torturing bitterness. Each touch, if calm and ghastly human, is added +with the gravity of a surgeon who probes a wound to the quick. There is +nothing like it in all literature. + + +A MODEST PROPOSAL + + _For preventing the children of poor people in Ireland from being a + burden to their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to + the public. 1729._ + +It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town, or +travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin +doors, crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or +six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms. +These mothers, instead of being able to work for an honest livelihood, are +forced to employ all their time in strolling to beg sustenance for their +helpless infants; who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for the want +of work, or leave their dear native country to fight for the Pretender in +Spain, or sell themselves to the Barbadoes. + +I think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of +children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, +and frequently of their fathers, is, in the present deplorable state of +the kingdom, a very great additional grievance; and, therefore, whoever +could find out a fair, cheap, and easy method of making these children +sound, useful members of the commonwealth, would deserve so well of the +public, as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation. + +But my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the +children of professed beggars; it is of a much greater extent, and shall +take in the whole number of infants at a certain age, who are born of +parents in effect as little able to support them, as those who demand +charity in our streets. + +As to my own part, having turned my thoughts for many years upon this +important subject, and maturely weighed the several schemes of our +projectors, I have always found them grossly mistaken in their +computation. It is true, a child, just dropped from its dam, may be +supported by her milk for a solar year, with little other nourishment; at +most, not above the value of two shillings, which the mother may certainly +get, or the value in scraps, by her lawful occupation of begging; and it +is exactly at one year old that I propose to provide for them in such a +manner, as, instead of being a charge upon their parents, or the parish, +or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall, on +the contrary, contribute to the feeding, and partly to the clothing, of +many thousands.... + +The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and +a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand +couple whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty +thousand couple, who are able to maintain their own children, (although I +apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the +kingdom); but this being granted, there will remain a hundred and seventy +thousand breeders. I again subtract fifty thousand for those women who +miscarry, or whose children die by accident or disease within the year. +There only remains a hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents +annually born. The question therefore is: How this number shall be reared +and provided for?--which, as I have already said, under the present +situation of affairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto +proposed. For we can neither employ them in handicraft or agriculture; we +neither build houses (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land; they can +very seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing, till they arrive at six +years old, except where they are of towardly parts; although I confess +they learn the rudiments much earlier; during which time they can, +however, be properly looked upon only as probationers; as I have been +informed by a principal gentleman in the county of Cavan, who protested to +me, that he never knew above one or two instances under the age of six, +even in a part of the kingdom so renowned for the quickest proficiency in +that art. + +I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or girl before twelve years old +is no saleable commodity; and even when they come to this age, they will +not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and half-a-crown at most, on +the exchange; which cannot turn to account either to the parents or +kingdom, the charge of nutriment and rags having been at least four times +that value. I shall now, therefore, humbly propose my own thoughts, which +I hope will not be liable to the least objection. + +I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in +London, that a young healthy child, well nursed, is, at a year old, a most +delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked +or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee +or a ragout. + +I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration, that of the +hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty thousand +may be reserved for breed. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a +year old, be offered in sale to the persons of quality and fortune through +the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in +the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A +child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the +family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, +and, seasoned with a little pepper or salt, will be very good boiled on +the fourth day, especially in winter. + +I have reckoned, upon a medium, that a child just born will weigh twelve +pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, will increase to +twenty-eight pounds. I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and +therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured +most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.... + +I have already computed the charge of nursing a beggar's child (in which +list I reckon all cottagers, labourers, and four-fifths of the farmers) to +be about two shillings per annum, rags included; and I believe no +gentleman would require to give ten shillings for the carcass of a good +fat child, which, as I have said, will make four dishes of excellent +nutritive meat, when he has only some particular friend, or his own +family to dine with him. Thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, +and grow popular among his tenants; and the mother will have eight +shillings net profit. + +Those who are more thrifty (as I must confess that times require) may flay +the carcass; the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable +gloves for ladies, and summer boots for fine gentlemen. As to our city of +Dublin, shambles may be appointed for this purpose in the most convenient +parts of it, and butchers we may be assured will not be wanting; although +I rather recommend buying the children alive, then dressing them hot from +the knife, as we do roasting pigs. + +A very worthy person, a true lover of his country, and whose virtue I +highly esteem, was lately pleased, in discoursing on this matter, to offer +a refinement upon my scheme. He said, that many gentlemen of this kingdom, +having of late destroyed their deer, he conceived that the want of venison +might be well supplied by the bodies of young lads and maidens, not +exceeding fourteen years of age, nor under twelve; so great a number of +both sexes in every country being now ready to starve for want of work and +service; and these to be disposed of by their parents, if alive, or +otherwise by their nearest relations. But, with due deference to so +excellent a friend, and so deserving a patriot, I cannot be altogether in +his sentiments; for as to the males, my American acquaintance assured me, +from frequent experience, that their flesh was generally tough and lean +like that of our schoolboys, by continual exercise, and their taste +disagreeable; and to fatten them would not answer the charge; and besides, +it is not improbable that some scrupulous people might be apt to censure +such a practice (although indeed very unjustly), as a little bordering +upon cruelty; which, I confess, has always been with me the strongest +objection against any project, how well soever intended. + +But in order to justify my friend, he confessed that this expedient was +put into his head by the famous Psalmanazar, a native of the island +Formosa, who came from thence to London above twenty years ago; and in +conversation told my friend, that in his country, when any young person +happened to be put to death the executioner sold the carcass to persons of +quality as a prime dainty; and that in his time the body of a plump girl +of fifteen, who was crucified for an attempt to poison the emperor, was +sold to his imperial Majesty's prime minister of state, and other great +mandarins of the court, in joints from the gibbet, at four hundred crowns. + +Neither indeed can I deny, that if the same use were made of several +plump young girls in this town, who without one single groat to their +fortunes, cannot stir abroad without a chair, and appear at playhouse and +assemblies in foreign fineries which they will never pay for, the kingdom +would not be the worse. + +Some persons of a desponding spirit are in great concern about that vast +number of poor people, who are aged, diseased, or maimed; and I have been +desired to employ my thoughts, what course may be taken to ease the nation +of so grievous an encumbrance. But I am not in the least pain upon that +matter, because it is very well known, that they are every day dying by +cold and famine, as fast as can be reasonably expected. And as to the +young labourers, they are now in almost as hopeful a condition: they +cannot get work, and consequently pine away for want of nourishment, to a +degree, that if at any time they are accidentally hired to common labour, +they have not strength to perform it; and thus the country and themselves +are happily delivered from the evils to come. + +I have too long digressed, and therefore shall return to my subject. I +think the advantages by the proposal which I have made, are obvious and +many, as well as of the highest importance. + +For first, it would greatly lessen the number of Papists, with whom we +are yearly overrun, being the principal breeders of the nation, as well as +our most dangerous enemies, and who stay at home on purpose to deliver the +kingdom to the Pretender, hoping to take their advantage by the absence of +so many good Protestants, who have chosen rather to leave their country +than stay at home and pay tithes against their conscience to an Episcopal +curate. + +Secondly, The poorer tenants will have something valuable of their own, +which by law may be made liable to distress, and help to pay their +landlord's rent; their corn and cattle being already seized, and money a +thing unknown. + +Thirdly, Whereas the maintenance of a hundred thousand children, from two +years old and upward, cannot be computed at less than ten shillings +a-piece per annum, the nation's stock will be thereby increased fifty +thousand pounds per annum, beside the profit of a new dish introduced to +the tables of all gentlemen of fortune in the kingdom, who have any +refinement in taste. And the money will circulate among ourselves, the +goods being entirely of our own growth and manufacture. + +Fourthly, The constant breeders, besides the gain of eight shillings +sterling per annum by the sale of their children, will be rid of the +charge of maintaining them after the first year. + +Fifthly, This food would likewise bring great custom to taverns; where the +vintners will certainly be so prudent as to procure the best receipts for +dressing it to perfection, and, consequently, have their houses frequented +by all the fine gentlemen, who justly value themselves upon their +knowledge in good eating; and a skilful cook, who understands how to +oblige his guests, will contrive to make it as expensive as they please. + +Sixthly, This would be a great inducement to marriage, which all wise +nations have either encouraged by rewards, or enforced by laws and +penalties. It would increase, the care and tenderness of mothers towards +their children, when they were sure of a settlement for life to the poor +babes, provided in some sort by the public, to their annual profit or +expense. We should see an honest emulation among the married women, which +of them could bring the fattest child to the market.... + +I can think of no one objection, that will possibly be raised against this +proposal, unless it should be urged that the number of people will be +thereby much lessened in the kingdom. This I freely own, and it was indeed +one principal design in offering it to the world. I desire the reader will +observe that I calculate my remedy for this one individual kingdom of +Ireland, and for no other that ever was, is, or, I think, ever can be, +upon earth. Therefore let no man talk to me of other expedients: of taxing +our absentees at five shillings a pound; of using neither clothes, nor +household furniture, except what is our own growth and manufacture; of +utterly rejecting the materials and instruments that promote foreign +luxury; of curing the expensiveness of pride, vanity, idleness, and gaming +in our women: of introducing a vein of parsimony, prudence, and +temperance; of learning to love our country, in the want of which we +differ even from Laplanders, and the inhabitants of Topinamboo; of +quitting our animosities and factions, nor acting any longer like the +Jews, who were murdering one another at the very moment their city was +taken; of being a little cautious not to sell our country and conscience +for nothing; of teaching landlords to have at least one degree of mercy +toward their tenants: lastly, of putting a spirit of honesty, industry, +and skill into our shopkeepers; who, if a resolution could now be taken to +buy only our negative goods, would immediately unite to cheat and exact +upon us in the price, the measure, and the goodness, nor could never yet +be brought to make one fair proposal of just dealing, though often and +earnestly invited to it. + +Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like +expedients, till he has at least some glimpse of hope that there will be +ever some hearty and sincere attempt to put them in practice. + +But as to myself, having been wearied out for many years with offering +vain, idle, visionary thoughts, and at length utterly despairing of +success, I fortunately fell upon this proposal; which as it is wholly new, +so it has something solid and real, of no expense and little trouble, full +in our own power, and whereby we can incur no danger in disobliging +England. For this kind of commodity will not bear exportation, the flesh +being of too tender a consistence to admit a long continuance in salt, +although perhaps I could name a country which would be glad to eat up our +whole nation without. + +After all, I am not so violently bent upon my own opinion as to reject any +offer proposed by wise men, which shall be found equally innocent, cheap, +easy, and effectual. But before something of that kind shall be advanced +in contradiction to my scheme, and offering a better, I desire the author +or authors will be pleased maturely to consider two points. First, as +things now stand, how they will be able to find food and raiment for a +hundred thousand useless mouths and backs. And, secondly, there being a +round million of creatures of human figure throughout this kingdom, whose +whole subsistence put into a common stock would leave them in debt two +millions of pounds sterling, adding those who are beggars by profession, +to the bulk of farmers, cottagers, and labourers, with the wives and +children who are beggars in effect. I desire those politicians who dislike +my overture, and may perhaps be so bold as to attempt an answer that they +will first ask the parents of these mortals, whether they would not at +this day think it a great happiness to have been sold for food at a year +old, in the manner I prescribe, and thereby have avoided a perpetual scene +of misfortunes, as they have since gone through, by the oppression of +landlords, the impossibility of paying rent without money or trade, the +want of common sustenance, with neither house nor clothes to cover them +from the inclemencies of the weather, and the most inevitable prospect of +entailing the like, or greater miseries, upon their breed for ever. + +I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least +personal interest in endeavouring to promote this necessary work, having +no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our +trade, providing for infants, relieving the poor, and giving some pleasure +to the rich. I have no children by which I can propose to get a single +penny; the youngest being nine years old and my wife past child-bearing. + + + + +A CHARACTER, PANEGYRIC, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LEGION CLUB, 1736. + + +Swift levelled his heaviest invective against the corrupt practices of the +so-called Irish Parliament, which did not contain a single representative +of the people who comprised the bulk of the nation. The colonial +representation were of the most degraded order, most of the characters +described in the poem were hit off with caustic precision. The portraits +were so true to life that many recognized themselves. The piece is +generally accepted as a good skit on the House. + + +A CHARACTER, PANEGYRIC, AND DESCRIPTION OF THE LEGION CLUB, 1736. + + As I stroll the city, oft I + See a building large and lofty, + Not a bow-shot from the college; + Half the globe from sense and knowledge: + By the prudent architect, + Placed against the church direct, + Making good my granddam's jest, + "Near the church,"--you know the rest. + + Tell us what the pile contains? + Many a head that holds no brains, + These demoniacs let me dub + With the name of Legion Club. + Such assemblies, you might swear, + Meet when butchers bait a bear: + Such a noise, and such haranguing, + When a brother thief is hanging; + Such a rout and such a rabble + Run to hear Jackpudding gabble. + + Could I from the building's top + Hear the rattling thunder drop, + While the devil upon the roof + (If the devil be thunder-proof) + Should with poker fiery red + Crack the stones, and melt the lead; + Drive them down on every skull, + When the den of thieves is full; + Quite destroy that harpies' nest; + How might then our isle be blest! + For divines allow, that God + Sometimes makes the devil his rod; + And the gospel will inform us, + He can punish sins enormous. + + Yet should Swift endow the schools, + For his lunatics and fools, + With a rood or two of land, + I allow the pile may stand. + You perhaps will ask me, Why so? + But it is with this proviso; + Since the house is like to last, + Let the royal grant be pass'd, + That the club have right to dwell + Each within his proper cell, + With a passage left to creep in, + And a hole above for peeping. + + Let them, when they once get in, + Sell the nation for a pin; + While they sit a-picking straws, + Let them rave at making laws; + Let them form a grand committee, + How to plague and starve the city; + Let them stare, and storm, and frown, + When they see a clergy gown; + Let them, with their gosling quills, + Scribble senseless heads of bills. + + * * * * * + + Come, assist me, Muse obedient! + Let us try some new expedient; + Shift the scene for half an hour, + Time and place are in thy power. + Thither, gentle Muse, conduct me; + I shall ask, and you instruct me. + See, the Muse unbars the gate; + Hark, the monkeys, how they prate! + All ye gods who rule the soul; + Styx, through Hell whose waters roll! + Let me be allowed to tell + What I heard in yonder Hell. + + Near the door an entrance gapes, + Crowded round with antic shapes, + Poverty, and Grief, and Care, + Causeless Joy, and true Despair; + Discord periwigg'd with snakes, + See the dreadful strides she takes! + By this odious crew beset, + I began to rage and fret, + And resolved to break their pates, + Ere we entered at the gates; + Had not Clio in the nick + Whispered me, "Lay down your stick." + What! said I, is this the madhouse? + These, she answer'd, are but shadows, + Phantoms bodiless and vain, + Empty visions of the brain. + + In the porch Briareus stands, + Shows a bribe in all his hands; + Briareus the secretary, + But we mortals call him Carey.[43] + When the rogues their country fleece, + They may hope for pence a-piece. + + Clio, who had been so wise + To put on a fool's disguise, + To bespeak some approbation, + And be thought a near relation, + When she saw three hundred brutes + All involved in wild disputes, + Roaring till their lungs were spent, + PRIVILEGE OF PARLIAMENT, + Now a new misfortune feels, + Dreading to be laid by th' heels. + Never durst a Muse before + Enter that infernal door: + Clio, stifled with the smell, + Into spleen and vapours fell, + By the Stygian steams that flew + From the dire infectious crew. + Not the stench of Lake Avernus + Could have more offended her nose + Had she flown but o'er the top, + She had felt her pinions drop. + And by exhalations dire, + Though a goddess, must expire. + In a fright she crept away, + Bravely I resolved to stay. + When I saw the keeper frown, + Tipping him with half-a-crown, + Now, said I, we are alone, + Name your heroes one by one. + + Who is that hell-featured brawler? + Is it Satan? No, 'tis Waller. + In what figure can a bard dress + Jack the grandson of Sir Hardress? + Honest keeper, drive him further, + In his looks are Hell and murther; + See the scowling visage drop, + Just as when he murder'd Throp. + Keeper, show me where to fix + On the puppy pair of Dicks: + By their lantern jaws and leathern, + You might swear they both are brethren: + Dick Fitzbaker, Dick the player, + Old acquaintance are you there? + Tie them, keeper, in a tether, + Let them starve and sink together; + Both are apt to be unruly, + Lash them daily, lash them duly; + Though 'tis hopeless to reclaim them, + Scorpion rods, perhaps, may tame them. + Keeper, yon old dotard smoke, + Sweetly snoring in his cloak: + Who is he? 'Tis humdrum Wynne, + Half encompassed by his kin: + There observe the tribe of Bingham, + For he never fails to bring 'em; + While he sleeps the whole debate, + They submissive round him wait; + Yet would gladly see the hunks, + In his grave, and search his trunks, + See, they gently twitch his coat, + Just to yawn and give his vote, + Always firm in his vocation, + For the court against the nation. + Those are Allens Jack and Bob, + First in every wicked job, + Son and brother to a queer + Brain-sick brute, they call a peer. + We must give them better quarter + For their ancestor trod mortar, + And at Hoath, to boast his fame, + On a chimney cut his name. + + There sit Clements, Dilks, and Harrison; + How they swagger from their garrison! + Such a triplet could you tell + Where to find on this side Hell? + Harrison, and Dilks, and Clements, + Keeper, see they have their payments, + Every mischief's in their hearts; + If they fail 'tis want of parts. + + Bless us! Morgan, art thou there, man? + Bless mine eyes! art thou the chairman? + Chairman to yon damn'd committee! + Yet I look on thee with pity. + Dreadful sight! what, learned Morgan + Metamorphosed to a Gorgon! + For thy horrid looks, I own, + Half convert me to a stone. + Hast thou been so long at school, + Now to turn a factious tool? + Alma Mater was thy mother, + Every young divine thy brother. + Thou ungrateful to thy teachers, + Who are all grown reverend preachers! + Morgan, would it not surprise one! + Turn thy nourishment to poison! + When you walk among your books, + They reproach you with their looks; + Bind them fast, or from their shelves + They will come and right themselves: + Homer, Plutarch, Virgil, Flaccus, + All in arms prepare to back us; + Soon repent, or put to slaughter + Every Greek and Roman author. + Will you, in your faction's phrase, + Send the clergy all to graze; + And to make your project pass, + Leave them not a blade of grass? + Now I want thee, humorous Hogarth! + Thou, I hear, a pleasant rogue art. + Were but you and I acquainted, + Every monster should be painted: + You should try your graving tools + On this odious group of fools; + Draw the beasts as I describe them: + From their features while I gibe them; + Draw them like; for I assure you, + You will need no _car'catura_; + Draw them so that we may trace + All the soul in every face. + + Keeper, I must now retire, + You have done what I desire: + But I feel my spirits spent + With the noise, the sight, the scent. + "Pray, be patient; you shall find + Half the best are still behind! + You have hardly seen a score; + I can show two hundred more." + Keeper, I have seen enough, + Taking then a pinch of snuff, + I concluded, looking round them, + "May their god, the devil, confound them!" + + + + +ON DOING GOOD. + +_A Sermon on the Occasion of Wood's Project._ + +(WRITTEN IN 1724.) + + "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men." + (GALATIANS vi. 10.) + + +Nature directs every one of us, and God permits us, to consult our own +private good, before the private good of any other person whatsoever. We +are, indeed, commanded to love our neighbour as ourselves, but not as well +as ourselves. The love we have for ourselves, is to be the pattern of that +love we ought to have toward our neighbour; but as the copy doth not equal +the original, so my neighbour cannot think it hard, if I prefer myself, +who am the original, before him, who is only the copy. Thus, if any matter +equally concern the life, the reputation, the profit of my neighbour and +my own; the law of nature, which is the law of God, obligeth me to take +care of myself first, and afterward of him. And this I need not be at much +pains in persuading you to; for the want of self-love, with regard to +things of this world, is not among the faults of mankind. But then, on +the other side, if, by a small hurt and loss to myself, I can procure a +great good to my neighbour, in that case his interest is to be preferred. +For example, if I can be sure of saving his life, without great danger to +my own; if I can preserve him from being undone without ruining myself; or +recover his reputation without blasting mine; all this I am obliged to do, +and if I sincerely perform it, I do then obey the command of God, in +loving my neighbour as myself. + +But, besides this love we owe to every man in his particular capacity, +under the title of our neighbour, there is yet a duty of a more large +extensive nature incumbent on us; our love to our neighbour in his public +capacity, as he is a member of that great body the commonwealth, under the +same government with ourselves; and this is usually called love of the +public, and is a duty to which we are more strictly obliged, than even +that of loving ourselves; because therein ourselves are also contained, as +well as all our neighbours, in one great body. This love of the public, or +of the commonwealth, or love of our country, was in ancient times properly +known by the name of virtue, because it was the greatest of all virtues, +and was supposed to contain all virtues in it; and many great examples of +this virtue are left us on record, scarcely to be believed or even +conceived, in such a base, corrupted, wicked age as this we live in. In +those times it was common for men to sacrifice their lives for the good of +their country, although they had neither hope nor belief of future +rewards; whereas, in our days, very few make the least scruple of +sacrificing a whole nation, as well as their own souls, for a little +present gain; which often hath been known to end in their own ruin in this +world; as it certainly must in that to come. Have we not seen men, for the +sake of some petty employment, give up the very natural rights and +liberties of their country, and of mankind, in the ruin of which +themselves must at last be involved? Are not these corruptions gotten +among the meanest of our people, who, for a piece of money, will give +their votes at a venture, for the disposal of their own lives and +fortunes, without considering whether it be to those who are most likely +to betray or defend them? But, if I were to produce only one instance of a +hundred, wherein we fail in this duty of loving our country, it would be +an endless labour, and therefore I shall not attempt it. + +But here I would not be misunderstood; by the love of our country, I do +not mean loyalty to our King, for that is a duty of another nature; and a +man may be very loyal, in the common sense of the word, without one grain +of public good at his heart. + +Witness this very kingdom we live in. I verily believe, that since the +beginning of the world, no nation upon earth ever showed (all +circumstances considered) such high constant marks of loyalty, in all +their actions and behaviour, as we have done; and, at the same time, no +people ever appeared more utterly void of what is called a public spirit. +When I say the people, I mean the bulk or mass of the people, for I have +nothing to do with those in power. Therefore I shall think my time not +ill-spent, if I can persuade most or all of you who hear me, to show the +love you have for your country, by endeavouring, in your several +situations, to do all the public good you are able. + +For I am certainly persuaded, that all our misfortunes arise from no other +original cause than that general disregard among us to the public welfare. +I therefore undertake to show you three things:-- + +_First_, That there are few people so weak or mean, who have it not +sometimes in their power to be useful to the public. + +_Secondly_, That it is often in the power of the meanest among mankind to +do mischief to the public. + +And, _lastly_, That all wilful injuries done to the public, are very +great and aggravated sins in the sight of God. + +_First_, There are few people so weak or mean, who have it not sometimes +in their power to be useful to the public. + +Solomon tells us of a poor wise man, who saved a city by his counsel. It +hath often happened that a private soldier, by some unexpected brave +attempt, hath been instrumental in obtaining a great victory. How many +obscure men have been authors of very useful inventions, whereof the world +now reaps the benefit. The very example of honesty and industry in a poor +tradesman, will sometimes spread through a neighbourhood, when others see +how successful he is; and thus so many useful members are gained, for +which the whole body of the public is the better. Whoever is blessed with +a true public spirit, God will certainly put it in his way to make use of +that blessing, for the ends it was given him, by some means or other: and +therefore it hath been observed, in most ages that the greatest actions +for the benefit of the commonwealth, have been performed by the wisdom or +courage, the contrivance or industry, of particular men, and not of +numbers, and that the safety of a kingdom hath often been owing to those +hands whence it was least expected. + +But, _secondly_, It is often in the power of the meanest among mankind to +do mischief to the public, and hence arise most of those miseries with +which the states and kingdoms of the earth are infested. How many great +princes have been murdered by the meanest ruffians! + +The weakest hand can open a flood-gate to drown a country, which a +thousand of the strongest cannot stop. Those who have thrown off all +regard for public good, will often have it in their way to do public evil, +and will not fail to exercise that power whenever they can. + +The greatest blow given of late to this kingdom, was by the dishonesty of +a few manufacturers; by imposing bad wares at foreign markets, in almost +the only traffic permitted to us, did half ruin that trade; by which this +poor unhappy kingdom still suffers in the midst of sufferings. I speak not +here of persons in high stations who ought to be free from all reflection, +and are supposed always to intend the welfare of the community: but we now +find by experience, that the meanest instrument may, by the concurrence of +accidents, have it in his power to bring a whole kingdom to the very brink +of destruction, and is at this present endeavouring to finish his work; +and hath agents among ourselves who are contented to see their own country +undone, to be small sharers in that iniquitous gain, which at last must +end in their own ruin, as well as ours. I confess it was chiefly the +consideration of that great danger we are in, which engaged me to +discourse to you on this subject, to exhort you to a love of your country, +and a public spirit, when all you have is at stake; to prefer the interest +of your prince and your fellow-subjects, before that of one destructive +impostor, and a few of his adherents. + +Perhaps it may be thought by some, that this way of discoursing is not so +proper from the pulpit. But, surely, when an open attempt is made, and far +carried on, to make a great kingdom one large poorhouse, to deprive us of +all means to exercise hospitality or charity, to turn our cities and +churches into ruins, to make the country a desert for wild beasts and +robbers, to destroy all arts and sciences, all trades and manufactures, +and the very tillage of the ground, only to enrich one obscure, +ill-designing projector and his followers; it is time for the pastor to +cry out, "that the wolf is getting into his flock," to warn them to stand +together, and all to consult the common safety. And God be praised for His +infinite goodness in raising such a spirit of union among us, at least in +this point, in the midst of all our former divisions; which union, if it +continue, will in all probability defeat the pernicious design of this +pestilent enemy to the nation! + +But hence it clearly follows how necessary the love of our country, or a +public spirit, is, in every particular man, since the wicked have so many +opportunities of doing public mischief. Every man is upon his guard for +his private advantage; but where the public is concerned, he is apt to be +negligent, considering himself as only one among two or three millions, +among whom the loss is equally shared; and thus, he thinks, he can be no +great sufferer. Meanwhile the trader, the farmer, and the shopkeeper, +complain of the hardness and deadness of the times, and wonder whence it +comes; while it is in a great measure owing to their own folly, for want +of that love of their country, and public spirit and firm union among +themselves, which are so necessary to the prosperity of every nation. + +Another method, by which the meanest wicked man may have it in his power +to injure the public, is false accusation; whereof this kingdom hath +afforded too many examples; neither is it long since no man, whose +opinions were thought to differ from those in fashion could safely +converse beyond his nearest friends, for fear of being sworn against, as a +traitor, by those who made a traffic of perjury and subornation; by which +the very peace of the nation was disturbed, and men fled from each other +as they would from a lion or a bear got loose. And it is very remarkable, +that the pernicious project now in hand, to reduce us to beggary, was +forwarded by one of these false accusers, who had been convicted of +endeavouring, by perjury and subornation, to take away the lives of +several innocent persons here among us; and, indeed, there could not be a +more proper instrument for such a work. + +Another method, by which the meanest people may do injury to the public, +is the spreading of lies and false rumours; thus raising a distrust among +the people of a nation, causing them to mistake their true interest, and +their enemies for their friends; and this hath been likewise too +successful a practice among us, where we have known the whole kingdom +misled by the grossest lies, raised upon occasion to serve some particular +turn. As it hath also happened in the case I lately mentioned, where one +obscure man, by representing our wants where they were least, and +concealing them where they were greatest, had almost succeeded in a +project of utterly ruining this whole kingdom; and may still succeed, if +God doth not continue that public spirit, which He hath almost +miraculously kindled in us upon this occasion. + +Thus we see the public is many times, as it were, at the mercy of the +meanest instrument, who can be wicked enough to watch opportunities of +doing it mischief, upon the principles of avarice or malice, which I am +afraid are deeply rooted in too many breasts, and against which there can +be no defence, but a firm resolution in all honest men, to be closely +united and active in showing their love to their country, by preferring +the public interest to their present private advantage. If a passenger, in +a great storm at sea, should hide his goods, that they might not be thrown +overboard to lighten the ship, what would be the consequence? The ship is +cast away, and he loses his life and goods together. + +We have heard of men, who, through greediness of gain, have brought +infected goods into a nation; which bred a plague, whereof the owners and +their families perished first. Let those among us consider this and +tremble, whose houses are privately stored with those materials of beggary +and desolation, lately brought over to be scattered like a pestilence +among their countrymen, which may probably first seize upon themselves and +their families, until their houses shall be made a dunghill. + +I shall mention one practice more, by which the meanest instruments often +succeed in doing public mischief; and this is, by deceiving us with +plausible arguments, to make us believe that the most ruinous project +they can offer is intended for our good, as it happened in the case so +often mentioned. For the poor ignorant people, allured by the appearing +convenience in their small dealings, did not discover the serpent in the +brass, but were ready, like the Israelites, to offer incense to it; +neither could the wisdom of the nation convince them, until some, of good +intentions, made the cheat so plain to their sight, that those who run may +read. And thus the design was to treat us, in every point, as the +Philistines treated Samson (I mean when he was betrayed by Delilah), first +to put out our eyes, and then to bind us with fetters of brass. + +I proceed to the last thing I proposed, which was to show you that all +wilful injuries done to the public, are very great and aggravating in the +sight of God. + +_First_, It is apparent from Scripture, and most agreeable to reason, that +the safety and welfare of nations are under the most peculiar care of +God's providence. Thus He promised Abraham to save Sodom, if only ten +righteous men could be found in it. Thus the reason which God gave to +Jonah for not destroying Nineveh was, because there were six score +thousand men in that city. + +All government is from God, who is the God of order; and therefore whoever +attempts to breed confusion or disturbances among a people, doth his +utmost to take the government of the world out of God's hands, and to put +it into the hands of the devil, who is the author of confusion. By which +it is plain, that no crime, how heinous soever, committed against +particular persons, can equal the guilt of him who does injury to the +public. + +_Secondly_, All offenders against their country lie under this grievous +difficulty: that it is impossible to obtain a pardon or make restitution. +The bulk of mankind are very quick at resenting injuries, and very slow at +forgiving them: and how shall one man be able to obtain the pardon of +millions, or repair the injury he hath done to millions? How shall those, +who, by a most destructive fraud, got the whole wealth of our neighbouring +kingdom into their hands, be ever able to make a recompense? How will the +authors and promoters of that villainous project, for the ruin of this +poor country, be able to account with us for the injuries they have +already done, although they should no farther succeed? The deplorable care +of such wretches must entirely be left to the unfathomable mercies of God: +for those who know the least in religion are not ignorant, that without +our utmost endeavours to make restitution to the person injured, and to +obtain his pardon, added to a sincere repentance, there is no hope of +salvation given in the Gospel. + +_Lastly_, All offences against our own country have this aggravation, that +they are ungrateful and unnatural. It is to our country we owe those laws, +which protect us in our lives, our liberties, our properties, and our +religion. Our country produced us into the world, and continues to nourish +us, so that it is usually called our mother; and there have been examples +of great magistrates, who have put their own children to death for +endeavouring to betray their country, as if they had attempted the life of +their natural parent. + +Thus I have briefly shown you how terrible a sin it is to be an enemy to +our country, in order to incite you to the contrary virtue, which at this +juncture is so highly necessary, when every man's endeavour will be of +use. We have hitherto been just able to support ourselves under many +hardships; but now the axe is laid to the root of the tree, and nothing +but a firm union among us can prevent our utter undoing. This we are +obliged to, in duty to our gracious King, as well as to ourselves. Let us +therefore preserve that public spirit, which God hath raised in us, for +our own temporal interest. For, if this wicked project should succeed, +which it cannot do but by our own folly; if we sell ourselves for nought, +the merchant, the shopkeeper, the artificer, must fly to the desert with +their miserable families, there to starve, or live upon rapine, or at +least exchange their country for one more hospitable than that where they +were born. + +Thus much I thought it my duty to say to you who are under my care, to +warn you against those temporal evils which may draw the worst of +spiritual evils after them; such as heart-burnings, murmurings, +discontents, and all manner of wickedness, which a desperate condition of +life may tempt men to. + +I am sensible that what I have now said will not go very far, being +confined to this assembly; but I hope it may stir up others of my brethren +to exhort their several congregations, after a more effectual manner, to +show their love for their country on this important occasion. And this, I +am sure, cannot be called meddling in affairs of state. + +I pray God protect his most gracious Majesty, and his kingdom long under +his government; and defend us from all ruinous projectors, deceivers, +suborners perjurers, false accusers, and oppressors; from the virulence of +party and faction; and unite us in loyalty to our King, love to our +country, and charity to each other. + + + LONDON: + PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LIMITED, + ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL ROAD. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] See the "Proposal for the Use of Irish Manufactures." + +[2] Four score and ten thousand, this runs throughout the first edition. + +[3] A coarse kind of barley. + +[4] At that time the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. + +[5] An allusion to the debasement of the coin by James II. during his +unfortunate campaign in Ireland. + +[6] An equestrian statue of George I. at Essex Bridge, Dublin. + +[7] The Duke of Grafton. + +[8] Mr. Hopkins, the Duke of Grafton's secretary. + +[9] Lord Carteret, afterwards Earl Granville. As the ally of Bolingbroke, +and opponent of Walpole, he was to some extent a favourite of Swift. + +[10] This was especially the case in the reign of William III., when the +doctrine of English supremacy was assumed in order to discredit the +authority of the Irish Parliament summoned by James II. + +[11] William Molineux, the friend of Locke, who wrote a pamphlet, +published in 1698, against the oppressive laws adopted by England in +regard to Irish Manufactures. + +[12] There was a certain amount of truth in this. The Dean's butler acted +as amanuensis. + +[13] Articles mentioned in the indictment and proclamation. + +[14] His "Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufactures." + +[15] The first "Letter." + +[16] The second and third "Letters." + +[17] The fourth "Letter," the cause of the indictment and proclamation. + +[18] Printers. + +[19] He probably speaks of himself. + +[20] The "Proposal for the Use of Irish Manufactures." + +[21] Though he signed the proclamation against the author of the Drapier's +Letters, Lord Middleton was himself inimical to Wood's project. + +[22] The printer of the Drapier's Letters. + +[23] Undertakers:--a name which was, in Charles II.'s time applied to +those ministers who gained power by undertaking to carry through pet +measures of the Crown. Swift here uses it ambiguously. + +[24] The Earl of Sunderland. + +[25] The obligation arising from their having sworn allegiance to him. + +[26] The memorial was written by Sir John Browne. + +[27] Ireland was, for political reasons, much favoured by the Crown, +during the reigns of Charles II. and James II. + +[28] England. + +[29] Scotland and Ireland. + +[30] The Irish Sea. + +[31] The Pict's Wall. + +[32] An allusion to the border raids of the Highlanders. + +[33] Charles I. + +[34] The Lord-Lieutenant. + +[35] An allusion to the strained relations between England and Scotland, +caused by the passing of the Scottish Act of Security. + +[36] The Union. + +[37] An allusion to the Irish linen trade. + +[38] An allusion to the Scotch Colonists in Ulster. + +[39] Dr. William King, the friend and correspondent of Swift. + +[40] It was the practice among the farmers to wear out their ground with +ploughing, neither manuring nor letting it lie fallow; and when their +leases were nearly out, they even ploughed their meadows, so that the +landlords, unable to check them by other means, were obliged to resort to +this pernicious measure. + +[41] Putting up at auction. + +[42] A project for establishing an Irish Bank, which was soon after placed +before Parliament, but rejected. + +[43] The Right Honourable Walter Carey. 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