Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 9.djvu/70

60 to prosecute him, for endeavouring to take away the life of John Bingham esq. member of parliament, by perjury and subornation. He asserted, that he was forced to tally with his labourers for want of small money, which has often been practised in England by sir Ambrose Crawley, and others; but those who knew him better, give a different reason, if there be any truth at all in the fact, that he was forced to tally with his labourers not for want of halfpence, but of more substantial money; which is highly possible, because the race of suborners, forgers, perjurers, and ravishers, are usually people of no fortune, or of those who have run it out by their vices and profuseness. Mr. Finley, the third witness, honestly confessed, that he was ignorant whether Ireland wanted copper or not; but his only intention was to buy a certain quantity from Wood at a large discount, and sell them as well as he could; by which he hoped to get two or three thousand pounds for himself.

But suppose there were not one single halfpenny of copper coin in this whole kingdom, (which Mr. Wood seems to intend, unless we will come to his terms, as appears by employing his emissaries to buy up our old ones at a penny in the shilling more than they pass for) it could not be any real evil to us, although it might be some inconvenience. We have many sorts of small silver coins, to which they are strangers in England; such as the French threepences, fourpence-halfpennies, and eight-pence farthings, the Scotch fivepences and tenpences, beside their twentypences and three-and-four-pences, by which we are able to make change to a halfpenny of almost any piece of gold and silver; and if