Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 9.djvu/350

340 the electors of Germany do to the emperor, but very near the same that he did to the king of France, for his French dominions.

In consequence of this claim from England, that kingdom may very reasonably demand the benefit of all our commodities in their natural growth, to be manufactured by their people, and a sufficient quantity of them for our use to be returned hither fully manufactured.

This, on the other side, will be of great benefit to our inhabitants the graziers; when time and labour will be too much taken up in manuring their ground, feeding their cattle, sheering their sheep, and sending over their oxen fit for slaughter; to which employments they are turned by nature, as descended from the Scythians, whose diet they are still so fond of. So Virgil describes it;

Which in English, is bonnyclabber, mingled with the blood of horses, as they formerly did, until about the beginning of the last century; when luxury, under the form of politeness, began to creep in, they changed the blood of horses for that of their black cattle; and, by consequence, became less warlike than their ancestors.

Although I proposed that the army should be collectors of the publick revenues, yet I did not thereby intend that those taxes should be paid in gold or silver; but in kind, as all other rent: For, the custom of tenants making their payments in money, is a new thing in the world, little known in former ages, nor