Jón á Bægisá - 01.11.2008, Blaðsíða 124

Jonathan Swift — Jóhanna Gunnlaugsdóttir
such a manner, as, instead of being a charge upon their parents, or the
parish, or wanting food and raiment for the rest of their lives, they
shall, on the contrary, contribute to the feeding, and partly to the
cloathing of many thousands.
5. There is likewise another great advantage in rny scheme, that it will
prevent those voluntary abortions, and that horrid practice of women
murdering their bastard children, alas! too frequent among us, sacrific-
ing the poor innocent babes, I doubt, more to avoid the expence than
the shame, which would move tears and pity in the most savage and
inhuman breast.
6. The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one
million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hun-
dred thousand couple whose wives are breeders; from which number
I subtract thirty thousand couple, who are able to maintain their own
children, (although I apprehend there cannot be so many, under the
present distresses of the kingdom) but this being granted, there will
remain an hundred and seventy thousand breeders. I again subtract
fifty thousand, for those women who miscarry, or whose children die
by accident or disease within the year. There only remain an hundred
and twenty thousand children of poor parents annually born. The
question therefore is, How this number shall be reared, and provided
for? which, as I have already said, under the present situation of af-
fairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto proposed. For
we can neither employ them in handicraft or agriculture; we neither
build houses, (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land: they can very
seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing till they arrive at six years old;
except where they are of towardly parts, although I confess they learn
the rudiments much earlier; during which time they can however be
properly looked upon only as probationers: As I have been informed
by a principal gentleman in the county of Cavan, who protested to
me, that he never knew above one or two instances under the age of
six, even in a part of the kingdom so renowned for the quickest profi-
ciency in that art.
7. I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or a girl before twelve years
old, is no saleable commodity, and even when they come to this age,
they will not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and half a
crown at most, on the exchange;3 which cannot turn to account either
122
á .iföeeýrdiá - Tímarit um þýðingar nr. 12 / 2008