_August 25th, 1724._
Having already written two letters to the people of my own level and
condition, and having now very pressing occasion for writing a third, I
thought I could not more properly address it than to your lordships and
worships.
The occasion is this. A printed paper was sent to me on the 18th instant,
entitled, "A Report of the Committee of the Lords of his Majesty's Most
Honourable Privy-council in England, relating to Mr. Wood's Halfpence and
Farthings."
There is no mention made where the paper was printed, but I suppose it to
have been in Dublin; and I have been told, that the copy did not come over
in the _Gazette_, but in the _London Journal_, or some other print of no
authority or consequence. And, for anything that legally appears to the
contrary, it may be a contrivance to fright us; or a project of some
printer, who has a mind to make a penny by publishing something upon a
subject which now employs all our thoughts in this kingdom. Mr. Wood, in
publishing this paper, would insinuate to the world, as if the Committee
had a greater concern for his credit, and private emolument, than for the
honour of the Privy-council and both Houses of Parliament here, and for
the quiet and welfare of this whole kingdom; for it seems intended as a
vindication of Mr. Wood, not without several severe reflections on the
Houses of Lords and Commons of Ireland. The whole is indeed written with
the turn and air of a pamphlet; as if it were a dispute between William
Wood on the one part, and the Lords Justices, Privy-council, and both
Houses of Parliament, on the other; the design of it being to clear
William Wood, and to charge the other side with casting rash and
groundless aspersions upon him.
But, if it be really what the title imputes, Mr. Wood has treated the
Committee with great rudeness, by publishing an act of theirs in so
unbecoming a manner, without their leave, and before it was communicated
to the Government and Privy-council of Ireland, to whom the Committee
advised that it should be transmitted.
But, with all deference be it spoken, I do not conceive that a Report of a
Committee of the Council in England is hitherto a law in either kingdom;
and, until any point is determined to be a law, it remains disputable by
every subject. This, may it please your lords and worships, may seem a
strange way of discoursing in an illiterate shopkeeper. I have endeavoured
(although without the help of books) to improve that small portion of
reason God has been pleased to give me; and when reason plainly appears
before me, I cannot turn away my head from it. Thus, for instance, if any
lawyer should tell me that such a point were law, from which many gross
palpable absurdities must follow, I could not believe him. If Sir Edward
Coke should positively assert (which he nowhere does, but the direct
contrary) "that a limited prince could, by his prerogative, oblige his
subjects to take half an ounce of lead, stamped with his image, for twenty
shillings in gold," I should swear he was deceived, or a deceiver; because
a power like that would leave the whole lives and fortunes of the people
entirely at the mercy of the monarch; yet this in effect is what Wood has
advanced in some of his papers, and what suspicious people may possibly
apprehend from some passages in what is called the Report.
That paper mentions such persons to have been examined, who were desirous
and willing to be heard upon this subject. I am told they were four in
all--Coleby, Brown, Mr. Finley the banker, and one more, whose name I know
not. The first of these was tried for robbing the Treasury in Ireland;
and, though he was acquited for want of legal proof, yet every person in
the Court believed him to be guilty.
The second stands recorded in the votes of the House of Commons, for
endeavouring, by perjury and subornation, to take away the life of John
Bingham, Esq.
But, since I have gone so far as to mention particular persons, it may be
some satisfaction to know who is this Wood himself, that has the honour to
have a whole kingdom at his mercy for almost two years together. I find he
is in the patent entitled _esquire_, although he were understood to be
only a hardware-man, and so I have been bold to call him in my former
letters; however a _'squire_ he is, not only by virtue of his patent, but
by having been a collector in Shropshire; where, pretending to have been
robbed, and suing the county, he was cast, and, for the infamy of the
fact, lost his employment. I have heard another story of this 'Squire
Wood, from a very honourable lady, that one Hamilton told her. Hamilton
was sent for, six years ago, by Sir Isaac Newton, to try the coinage of
four men, who then solicited a patent for coining halfpence for Ireland;
their names were Wood, Costor, Eliston, and Parker. Parker made the
fairest offer, and Wood the worst; for his coin was three halfpence in a
pound weight less value than the other. By which it is plain, with what
intentions he solicited his patent; but not so plain how he obtained it.
It is alleged in the said paper, called the Report, "that upon repeated
orders from a secretary of state, for sending over such papers and
witnesses as should be thought proper to support the objections made
against the patent by both Houses of Parliament, the Lord-Lieutenant
represented the great difficulty he found himself in, to comply with these
orders: that none of the principal members of both Houses, who were in the
King's service or council, would take upon them to advise, how any
material, person, or papers, might be sent over on this occasion," &c. And
this is often repeated, and represented as a proceeding that seems very
extraordinary; and that in a matter which had raised so great a clamour
in Ireland, no person could be prevailed upon to come over from Ireland in
support of the united sense of both Houses of Parliament in Ireland;
especially, that the chief difficulty should arise from a general
apprehension of a miscarriage, in an inquiry before his Majesty, or in a
proceeding by due course of law, in a case where both Houses of Parliament
had declared themselves so fully convinced, and satisfied upon evidence
and examinations taken in the most solemn manner.
How shall I, a poor ignorant shopkeeper, utterly unskilled in law, be able
to answer so weighty an objection? I will try what can be done by plain
reason, unassisted by art, cunning, or eloquence.
In my humble opinion, the Committee of Council has already prejudged the
whole case, by calling the united sense of both Houses of Parliament in
Ireland "a universal clamour." Here the addresses of the Lords and Commons
of Ireland, against a ruinous destructive project of an obscure single
undertaker, is called "a clamour." I desire to know, how such a style
would be resented in England from a Committee of Council there to a
Parliament; and how many impeachments would follow upon it? But supposing
the appellation to be proper, I never heard of a wise minister who
despised the universal clamour of a people; and if that clamour can be
quieted by disappointing the fraudulent practice of a single person, the
purchase is not exorbitant.
But, in answer to this objection; first, it is manifest, that if this
coinage had been in Ireland, with such limitations as have been formerly
specified in other patents, and granted to persons of this kingdom, or
even of England, able to give sufficient security, few or no
inconveniences could have happened which might not have been immediately
remedied....
Put the case that the two Houses of Lords and Commons of England, and the
Privy-council there should address his Majesty to recall a patent, from
whence they apprehend the most ruinous consequences to the whole kingdom;
and to make it stronger, if possible, that the whole nation almost to a
man, should thereupon discover "the most dismal apprehensions," as Mr.
Wood styles them; would his Majesty debate half an hour what he had to do?
Would any minister dare to advise him against recalling such a patent? Or
would the matter be referred to the Privy-council, or to Westminster Hall;
the two Houses of Parliament plaintiffs, and William Wood defendant? And
is there even the smallest difference between the two cases? Were not the
people of Ireland born as free as those of England? How have they
forfeited their freedom? Is not their Parliament as fair a representative
of the people as that of England? And has not their Privy-council as
great, or a greater share in the administration of public affairs? Are not
they subjects of the same King? Does not the same sun shine upon them? And
have they not the same God for their protector? Am I a freeman in England,
and do I become a slave in six hours by crossing the Channel? No wonder,
then, if the boldest persons were cautious to interpose in a matter
already determined by the whole voice of the nation, or to presume to
represent the representatives of the kingdom; and were justly apprehensive
of meeting such a treatment as they would deserve at the next session. It
would seem very extraordinary, if any inferior court in England should
take a great matter out of the hands of the high court of Parliament
during a prorogation, and decide it against the opinion of both Houses. It
happens so, however, that although no persons were so bold as to go over
as evidences, to prove the truth of the objections made against this
patent by the high court of Parliament here, yet these objections stand
good, notwithstanding the answers made by Mr. Wood and his counsel.
The Report says, "That upon an assay made of the fineness, weight, and
value of this copper, it exceeded in every article." This is possible
enough in the pieces on which the assay was made, but Wood must have
failed very much in point of dexterity, if he had not taken care to
provide a sufficient quantity of such halfpence as would bear the trial,
which he was able to do, although they were taken out of several parcels,
since it is now plain that the bias of favour has been wholly on his
side....
As to what is alleged, that these halfpence far exceed the like coinage
for Ireland in the reigns of his Majesty's predecessors, there cannot well
be a more exceptional way of arguing, although the fact were true; which,
however, is altogether mistaken, not by any fault in the Committee, but by
the fraud and imposition of Wood, who certainly produced the worst
patterns he could find; such as were coined in small numbers by
permissions to private men, as butchers' halfpence, black dogs, and others
the like; or perhaps the small St. Patrick's coin which passes now for a
farthing, or at best some of the smallest raps of the latest kind. For I
have now by me halfpence coined in the year 1680, by virtue of the patent
granted to my Lord Dartmouth, which was renewed to Knox, and they are
heavier by a ninth part than those of Wood, and of much better metal, and
the great St. Patrick's halfpence are yet larger than either.
But what is all this to the present debate?
If, under the various exigencies of former times, by wars, rebellions, and
insurrections, the Kings of England were sometimes forced to pay their
armies here with mixed or base money, God forbid that the necessities of
turbulent times should be a precedent for times of peace, and order, and
settlement.
In the patent above-mentioned, granted to Lord Dartmouth in the reign of
King Charles II., and renewed to Knox, the securities given into the
exchequer, obliging the patentee to receive his money back upon every
demand, were an effectual remedy against all inconveniences, and the
copper was coined in our own kingdom; so that we were in no danger to
purchase it with the loss of all our silver and gold carried over to
another, nor to be at the trouble of going to England for the redressing
of any abuse....
Among other clauses mentioned in this patent, to show how advantageous it
is to Ireland, there is one which seems to be of a singular nature: "That
the patentee shall be obliged, during his term, to pay eight hundred
pounds a year to the Crown, and two hundred pounds a year to the
comptroller." I have heard, indeed, that the King's council do always
consider, in the passing of a patent, whether it will be of advantage to
the Crown; but I have likewise heard, that it is at the same time
considered whether passing of it may be injurious to any other persons or
bodies politic. However, although the attorney and solicitor be servants
to the King, and therefore bound to consult his Majesty's interest, yet I
am under some doubt whether eight hundred pounds a year to the Crown would
be equivalent to the ruin of a kingdom. It would be far better for us to
have paid eight thousand pounds a-year into his Majesty's coffers, in the
midst of all our taxes (which, in proportion, are greater in this kingdom
than ever they were in England, even during the war), than purchase such
an addition to the revenue at the price of our utter undoing. But here it
is plain that fourteen thousand pounds are to be paid by Wood, only as a
small circumstantial charge for the purchase of his patent. What were his
other visible costs I know not, and what were his latent is variously
conjectured, but he must surely be a man of some wonderful merit. Has he
saved any other kingdom at his own expense, to give him a title of
reimbursing himself by the destruction of ours? Has he discovered the
longitude or the universal medicine? No; but he has found the
philosopher's stone after a new manner, by debasing copper, and resolving
to force it upon us for gold.
When the two Houses represented to his Majesty that the patent to Wood was
obtained in a clandestine manner, surely the Committee could not think the
Parliament would insinuate, that it had not passed in the common forms,
and run through every office where fees and perquisites were due. They
knew very well, that persons in places were no enemies to grants; and that
the officers of the Crown could not be kept in the dark. But the late
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland[7] affirmed it was a secret to him; and who
will doubt his veracity, especially when he swore to a person of quality,
from whom I had it, "that Ireland should never be troubled with these
halfpence"? It was a secret to the people of Ireland, who were to be the
only sufferers; and those who but knew the state of the kingdom, and were
most able to advise in such an affair, were wholly strangers to it.
It is allowed by the Report, that this patent was passed without the
knowledge of the chief governor or officers of Ireland; and it is there
elaborately shown, that former patents have passed in the same manner, and
are good in law. I shall not dispute legality of patents, but am ready to
suppose it in his Majesty's power to grant a patent for stamping round
bits of copper to every subject he has.
Therefore, to lay aside the point of law, I would only put the question,
whether, in reason and justice, it would not have been proper, in an
affair upon which the welfare of this depends, that the said King should
have received timely notice; and the matter not be carried on between the
patentee, and the officers of the Crown, who were to be the only gainers
by it....
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 eightpence-farthings, the
Scotch fivepences and tenpences, besides their twenty-pences 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 we are driven to the
expedient of a sealed card, with the little gold and silver still
remaining, it will, I suppose, be somewhat better, than to have nothing
left, but Wood's adulterated copper, which he is neither obliged by his
patent, nor HITHERTO able by his estate, to make good....
The sum of the whole is this. The Committee advises the King to send
immediate orders to all his officers here, that Wood's coin be suffered
and permitted, without any let, suit, trouble, &c., to pass and be
received as current money, by such as shall be willing to receive the
same. It is probable that the first willing receivers may be those who
must receive it whether they will or not, at least under the penalty of
losing an office. But the landed undepending men, the merchants, the
shopkeepers, and bulk of the people, I hope and am almost confident, will
never receive it. What must the consequence be? The owners will sell it
for as much as they can get.
Wood's halfpence will come to be offered for six a penny (yet then he will
be a sufficient gainer), and the necessary receivers will be losers of
two-thirds in their salaries or pay.
I am very sensible that such a work as I have undertaken might have
worthily employed a much better pen; but when a house is attempted to be
robbed, it often happens the weakest in the family runs first to the
door. All the assistance I had were some informations from an eminent
person; whereof I am afraid I have spoiled a few, by endeavouring to make
them of a piece with my own productions, and the rest I was not able to
manage. I was in the case of David, who could not move in the armour of
Saul; and therefore I chose to attack this uncircumcised Philistine (Wood,
I mean) with a sling and a stone. And I may say, for Wood's honour, as
well as my own, that he resembles Goliah in many circumstances very
applicable to the present purpose; for Goliah had "a helmet of brass upon
his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat
was five thousand shekels of brass; and he had greaves of brass upon his
legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders."
In short, he was like Mr. Wood, all over brass, and he defied the armies
of the living God. Goliah's conditions of combat were likewise the same
with those of Wood's, "If he prevail against us, then shall we be his
servants." But if it happens that I prevail over him, I renounce the other
part of the condition: "He shall never be a servant of mine; for I do not
think him fit to be trusted in any honest man's shop."