The Prose Works of Jonathan Swift, D. D., Vol. VI | Page 4

TO MR. HARDING THE PRINTER
THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE LORDS OF HIS
MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE PRIVY-COUNCIL, IN
RELATION TO MR. WOOD'S HALFPENCE AND FARTHINGS,
ETC.
LETTER III. TO THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY OF THE
KINGDOM OF IRELAND
LETTER IV. TO THE WHOLE PEOPLE OF IRELAND
SEASONABLE ADVICE TO THE GRAND JURY, CONCERNING
THE BILL PREPARING AGAINST THE PRINTER OF THE
DRAPIER'S FOURTH LETTER
LETTER V. TO THE LORD CHANCELLOR MIDDLETON
LETTER VI. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORD
VISCOUNT MOLESWORTH
LETTER VII. AN HUMBLE ADDRESS TO BOTH HOUSES OF
PARLIAMENT
APPENDIXES
I. ADDRESSES TO THE KING
II. REPORT OF THE ASSAY ON WOOD'S COINAGE, MADE BY
SIR ISAAC NEWTON, EDWARD SOUTHWELL, ESQ., AND
THOMAS SCROOPE, ESQ.
III. TOM PUNSIBI'S DREAM
IV. A LETTER FROM A FRIEND TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
----
A SECOND LETTER FROM A FRIEND TO THE RIGHT
HONOURABLE ----
V. THE PRESENTMENT OF THE GRAND JURY OF THE
COUNTY OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
VI. PROCLAMATION AGAINST THE DRAPIER
VII. REPORT OF THE IRISH PRIVY COUNCIL ON WOOD'S

COINAGE
VIII. THE PATENTEE'S COMPUTATION OF IRELAND, IN A
LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE "WHITEHALL EVENING
POST" CONCERNING THE MAKING OF COPPER COIN
IX. DESCRIPTIONS OF THE VARIOUS SPECIMENS OF WOOD'S
COINS
INDEX

PLATES.
JONATHAN SWIFT. From a painting in the National Gallery of
Ireland, ascribed to Francis Bindon
HALFPENCE AND FARTHINGS coined by William Wood, 1722 and
1723
[Illustration: _Half-pence & farthings coined by William Wood, 1722
& 1723_]

LETTER I.
TO THE SHOP-KEEPERS, TRADESMEN, FARMERS, AND
COMMON-PEOPLE OF IRELAND.

NOTE
About the year 1720 it was generally acknowledged in Ireland that
there was a want there of the small change, necessary in the transaction
of petty dealings with shopkeepers and tradesmen. It has been
indignantly denied by contemporary writers that this small change
meant copper coins. They asserted that there was no lack of copper
money, but that there was a great want of small silver. Be that as it may,
the report that small change was wanting was sufficiently substantiated
to the English government to warrant it to proceed to satisfy the want.
In its dealings with Ireland, however, English governments appear to
have consistently assumed that attitude which would most likely cause
friction and arouse disturbance. In England coins for currency
proceeded from a mint established under government supervision. In
Scotland such a mint was specially provided for in the Act of Union.
But in Ireland, the government acted otherwise.
The Irish people had again and again begged that they should be

permitted to establish a mint in which coins could be issued of the same
standard and intrinsic value as those used in England. English
parliaments, however, invariably disregarded these petitions. Instead of
the mint the King gave grants or patents by which a private individual
obtained the right to mint coins for the use of the inhabitants. The right
was most often given for a handsome consideration, and held for a term
of years. In 1660 Charles II. granted such a patent to Sir Thomas
Armstrong, permitting him to coin farthings for twenty years. It appears,
however, that Armstrong never actually coined the farthings, although
he had gone to the expense of establishing a costly plant for the
purpose.
Small copper coins becoming scarce, several individuals, without
permission, issued tokens; but the practice was stopped. In 1680 Sir
William Armstrong, son of Sir Thomas, with Colonel George Legg
(afterwards Lord Dartmouth), obtained a patent for twenty-one years,
granting them the right to issue copper halfpence. Coins were actually
struck and circulated, but the patent itself was sold to John Knox in the
very year of its issue. Knox, however, had his patent specially renewed,
but his coinage was interrupted when James II. issued his debased
money during the Revolution (see Monck Mason, p. 334, and the notes
on this matter to the Drapier's Third Letter, in present edition).
Knox sold his patent to Colonel Roger Moore, who overstocked the
country with his coins to such an extent that the currency became
undervalued. When, in 1705, Moore endeavoured to obtain a renewal
of his patent, his application was refused. By 1722, owing either to
Moore's bad coinage, or to the importation of debased coins from other
countries, the copper money had degraded considerably. In a
pamphlet[1] issued by George Ewing in Dublin (1724), it is stated that
in that year, W. Trench presented a memorial to the Lords of the
Treasury, complaining of the condition of the copper coinage, and
pointing out that the evil results had been brought about by the system
of grants to private individuals. Notwithstanding this memorial, it was
attempted to overcome the difficulty by a continuance of the old
methods. A new patent was issued to an English iron merchant,
William Wood by name,