Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 5.djvu/230

222 American colonies upon the continent, the people enjoy the liberty of cutting the little money among them into halves and quarters, for the conveniencies of small traffick. How happy should we be, in comparison of our present condition, if the like privilege were granted to us of employing the sheers, for want of a mint, upon our foreign gold, by clipping it into half crowns, and shillings, and even lower denominations; for beggars must be content to live upon scraps; and it would be our felicity, that these scraps could never be exported to other countries, while any thing better was left.

If neither of these projects will avail, I see nothing left us but to truck and barter our goods, like the wild Indians, with each other, or with our too powerful neighbours; only with this disadvantage on our side, that the Indians enjoy the product of their own land; whereas the better half of ours is sent away, without so much as a recompense in bugles or glass in return.

It must needs be a very comfortable circumstance in the present juncture, that some thousand families are gone, are going, or preparing to go from hence, and settle themselves in America: the poorer sort for want of work; the farmers, whose beneficial bargains are now become a rackrent too hard to be born, and those who have any ready money, or can purchase any by the sale of their goods or leases, because they find their fortunes hourly decaying, that their goods will bear no price, and that few or none have any money to buy the very necessaries of life, are hastening to follow their departed neighbours. It is true, corn among us carries a very high price; but it is for the same son,