Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 3.djvu/253

N° 44. unforeseen, have drawn out beyond the usual time; it may be some small piece of justice to so excellent an assembly, barely to mention a few of those great things they have done, for the service of their queen and country, which I shall take notice of just as they come to my memory.

The credit of the nation began mightily to suffer by a discount upon Exchequer bills, which have been generally reckoned the surest and most sacred of all securities. The present lord treasurer, then a member of the house of commons, proposed a method, which was immediately complied with, of raising them to a par with species; and so they have ever since continued.

The British colonies of Nevis and St. Christopher's had been miserably plundered by the French, their houses burnt, their plantations destroyed, and many of the inhabitants carried away prisoners; they had often, for some years past, applied in vain for relief from hence; until the present parliament, considering their condition as a case of justice and mercy, voted them one hundred thousand pounds by way of recompense, in some manner, for their sufferings.

Some persons, whom the voice of the nation authorizes me to call her enemies, taking advantage of the general naturalization act, had invited over a great number of foreigners of all religions, under the name of Palatines, who understood no trade or handicraft, yet rather chose to beg than labour; who, beside infesting our streets, bred contagious diseases, by which we lost in natives thrice the number of what we gained in foreigners. The house of commons, as a remedy against this evil, brought in a Rh