Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 16.djvu/271

Rh could fill a volume with only setting down a list of the publick absurdities, by which this kingdom has suffered within the compass of my own memory, such as could not be believed of any nation, among whom folly was not established as a law. I cannot forbear instancing a few of these, because it may be of some use to those who shall have it in their power to be more cautious for the future.

The first was, the building of the barracks, whereof I have seen above one half, and have heard enough of the rest, to affirm that the publick has been cheated of at least two thirds of the money, raised for that use, by the plain fraud of the undertakers.

Another was the management of the money raised for the Palatines; when, instead of employing that great sum in purchasing lands in some remote and cheap part of the kingdom, and there planting those people as a colony, the whole end was utterly defeated.

A third is, the insurance office against fire, by which several thousand pounds are yearly remitted to England (a trifle, it seems, we can easily spare) and will gradually increase until it comes to a good national tax: for the society marks upon our houses (under which might properly be written, "The Lord have mercy upon us") spread faster and farther than the colony of frogs. I have for above twenty

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