l honest, and
well-intentioned Men the firmer together, in order to support, and even to
strengthen the present Constitution. For Example, the two great Islands of
_Britain_ and _Ireland_, which are only separated by a narrow Sea, ought
not to be separated at all by different Governments, Laws, or Parliaments.
No good Reason upon Earth can be given for such a Separation: And it has
long been the ardent Wish of every true Patriot in both Nations, to see
them united. Indeed, the best that can be said for the Continuance of the
present absurd System is, that the City of _Dublin_ would be a Sufferer by
the Removal of the Court and Parliament:--I say, this is the very
Argument, which can be urged: And yet this has no Foundation at all, but
in the Prejudices of the Populace, who are almost perpetually mistaking
their own Interests. Even the City of _Dublin_ would be a very great
Gainer by such a Removal: For it would acquire _Industry_ in Exchange for
_Idleness_; and then the Hands of its Tradesmen, by being the Hands of the
Diligent, would enrich each other by reciprocal Employment;--the Hands, I
say, of those very Tradesmen, who in their present State, are almost as
poor, as the poorest in the Kingdom.--That this is the natural and
necessary Course of Things, and not an idle Theory, or visionary
Speculation, I appeal to Fact and daily Experience;--and I appeal, not
only to the Case of _Edinburgh_, which is now three Times, at least, as
rich and flourishing, as when it was the Residence of a Court, and of a
Parliament; but I appeal also to almost every Town in _Ireland_: _Cork_
and _Belfast_ for Example, have neither Courts, nor Parliaments; and yet
their Merchants, Manufacturers, and Traders are much richer in Proportion
to their Numbers, than those of _Dublin_: And what is still more
extraordinary, those little Towns, which once thought themselves happy in
procuring Barracks to be erected among them, in order to obtain, as they
fondly imagined, _the Benefit of a great Flow of Money_, are now perfectly
convinced, that Towns without Barracks, or Towns from which Barracks have
been removed, are in a much more flourishing Condition, then those which
have them.--Of so mischievous a Tendency is the Circulation of Money, when
it becomes the Means of introducing Idleness, and of preventing Industry.
For, reason as long as you will on the Subject, the actual State of Things
will ever prove itself to be this, that Idleness is the Paren