ons; as
that the Commonalty round _Newcastle_, wanted Firing, tho' they furnish
_London_ with their Coals. He wou'd ask, why we don't Tax such a mad
Exportation, and by laying Twelve-pence per Barrel, on all salted Beef
and Pork, raise a Fund for Premiums, to the greatest Number of Acres
plow'd in each County; that at least we may have Bread for our Natives,
who dare not hope for Flesh to eat with it. 'Tis a sad and a
reproachful Prospect to us, to observe the _Chinese_ levelling
Mountains, banking in Rivers, and draining Morasses, to improve and
Dung them for the Plow; and to see in _Ireland_, as fertile Plains as
any in the Earth, lying untill'd, and feeding Sheep and Bullocks,
instead of Men, of Industrious social thinking Creatures! The Plow is
the Cause that _China_ swarms with large Cities and Villages, and 'tis
from the want of Tillage, that I remember to have seen in _Munster_,
the wretched Tenants, as ill-housed as so many _Hottentots_; which
proceeds from the same Defect, the Country there is so little Populous.
Great Towns, and fair Villages, are not only the Strength and Ornament
of any Country, but good Dwellings do naturally encrease Children, as a
Barn does Mice, and from the same Reason too. Besides Buildings like
those in _China_, always bring Crowds of Artificers together, as they
are sure of Business and Employment from them; and thence also the
Country too, must become thicker Planted and better Peopled; but in
_Ireland_, all these Blessings are as hopeless, and as rare as Virtue,
Wisdom or Industry. Without Tillage properly follow'd and encourag'd,
'tis impossible our Numbers will ever encrease sufficiently; nay they
must necessarily decline every Day; nor shall we be able to feed
tolerably, those Remnants of our Countrymen, whom our Flocks of Sheep,
and Herds of Bullocks, don't drive to _France_ and _America_, those
great Drains of wretched _Ireland_. But what is fully as bad is, that
without Tillage, we shall be perpetually drawing off what little Money
we have, and Bread will be so dear, that 'tis impossible but other
Nations who feed cheaper, must undersell us in our Manufactures.
Besides how can there be any depending on stated Prices for our Goods,
while Bread is constantly so fluctuating in its Value, as it is in
_Ireland_; since the Wages of the Workmen, will ever depend on the
Price he pays for his Food? This is by the bye, a Circumstance, which
must for ever shut out the Linen Business from