sented to procure the surrender of the patent. In the speech from the throne, the Lord-lieutenant observed, I have his Majesty's commands at the opening of this session, to acquaint you, that an entire end is put to the patent formerly granted to Mr Wood, for the coining of copper halfpence and farthings for this kingdom, by a full and effectual surrender thereof to his Majesty, an exemplification of which, under the Great Seal of Britain, shall be laid before you. So remarkable an instance of his Majesty's royal favour and condescension, must fill the hearts of a loyal and obedient people with the highest sense of duty and gratitude; and I doubt not you will make such suitable returns, as may convince the world that you are truly sensible of the happiness you have enjoyed under his Majesty's most mild and gracious government, ever since his accession to the throne of these kingdoms; and that the preservation of all our civil and religious rights must ever be owing, under God, to the support of his Majesty's government and the succession of his royal house."-COXE'S Memoirs of Walpole, vol. I. p. 388-400. In this quotation, Mr Coxe points out distinctly the secret hinges upon which this whole project turned. When deprived of the decent colouring with which the biographer has invested it, Sir Robert Walpole's conduct falls far short of our idea of an upright and patriotic minister, although it may claim sympathy from those who think it worth while to retain ministerial power at the expense of every compliance that may be exacted from them. According to Mr Coxe, Walpole was fully aware of the danger attending the scheme of Wood's halfpence; but that he was hampered between the danger of inflaming the spirit of opposition in Ireland to actual rebellion, and that of displeasing the King's mistress, who was to have a share in the profits of the patent. The biographer of this great statesman has indeed argued, that the project was in itself not only innocent, but salutary, and that nothing bnt misrepresentation could have excited against it the popular clamour. Were this even true in the fullest extent, the very existence of that popular irritation would have been of itself a sufficient reason for substituting, in place of the obnoxious measures, some scheme which should be attended with equal benefit and less odium. But the ingenious historian industriously avoids the real subject of dispute, which was less the exceptions taken to the coinage, than that Wood's patent, being forced upon the people of Ireland, was a death-blow to the independence of that kingdom. This was the real cause of Swift's opposition, although the nature of the controversy ren dered it necessary that he should veil it under specific objections to Wood's scheme, rather than engage in a perilous discussion upon the abstract question of the independence of the kingdom of Ireland. It was not until the minds of men were sufficiently prepared, and when so many friends to the revolution were engaged in the opposition, that the cry of Tory and Jacobite would have been raised in vain, that Swift ventured, in the fourth Drapier's Letter, plainly to assert, that the Parliament of England could not, without manifest usurpation, maintain the power of binding Ireland by the laws which they themselves enacted. No sooner was this patriotic aphorism avouched, than the arm of government was raised against the writer who dared to affirm it, and those legal measures were attempted which are detailed in the Life of our author, as well as in the Notes in this volume, and which ended in the triumph of Swift, the revocation of Wood's patent, and the total discomfiture of this ill-considered project. LETTER I. TO THE TRADESMEN, SHOPKEEPERS, FARMERS, AND COUNTRY-PEOPLE IN GENERAL, OF THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND, CONCERNING THE BRASS HALFPENCE COINED BY ONE 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, entirely depend 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 a-piece. 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.* It had no other design, said nothing against the King or Parliament, or any person whatsoever; 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. if you However, I cannot but warn you once more of the manifest destruction before your eyes, do not behave yourselves 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 *A Proposal for the Use of Irish Manufactures." See p. 271 of this volume. 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/.* 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 brasier, 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 brasier would not give you above a penny of good money for a shilling of his; so that this sum of 108,000l. 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 108,000l., 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 a-piece, 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 no * Four score and ten thousand; (this runs throughout the first edition.) |