Some reflections on a pamphlet lately published entituled An argument shewing that a standing army is inconsistent with a free government and absolutely destructive to the constitution of the English monarchy Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. 1697 Approx. 60 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A37441 Wing D848 ESTC R29705 11195807 ocm 11195807 46672 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A37441) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 46672) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1439:36) Some reflections on a pamphlet lately published entituled An argument shewing that a standing army is inconsistent with a free government and absolutely destructive to the constitution of the English monarchy Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731. The second edition. [4], 28 p. Printed for E. Whitlock ..., London : 1697. Attributed by Wing and NUC pre-1956 imprints to Daniel Defoe. Reproduction of the original in the Harvard University Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Great Britain -- History -- William and Mary, 1689-1702. Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1689-1702. 2002-07 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2002-09 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2002-10 Judith Siefring Sampled and proofread 2002-10 Judith Siefring Text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-12 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion SOME REFLECTIONS On a Pamphlet lately Publish'd , Entituled , AN ARGUMENT Shewing that A Standing Army Is inconsistent with A Free Government , AND Absolutely Destructive to the Constitution of the English MONARCHY . Hard words , Iealousies and Fears , Sets Folks together by the Ears . Hudibras Lib. 1. The Second Edition . LONDON : Printed for E. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall . 1697. The PREFACE . Mr. ABCDEFG , SIR , SInce I am to Address to you Incognito , I must be excus'd if I mistake your Quality ; and if I treat you with more or less Civility than is your due , with respect to the Names or Titles , by which you may be Dignified or Distinguish'd ; but as you are in Print , you give your self a just Title to the scandalous Name of a Pamphleteer , a Scribler , a seditious broacher of Notions and Opinions , and what not , for as is the Book such is the Author . I confess you are something difficult to be known , for your Note is so often chang'd , and your Trumpet gives such an uncertain sound , that no man can prepare himself to the Battle ; sometimes you talk like a Common Wealths Man , sometimes you applaud our present Constitution , sometimes you give high Encomiums of the King ; and then under the Covert of what Kings may be , you sufficiently Banter him ; sometimes the Army are Ragamuffins , sometimes Men of Conduct and Bravery ; sometimes our Militia are brave Fellows , and able enough to Guard us , and sometimes so inconsiderable , that a small Army may Ruine us , so that no Man alive knows where to have you . Possibly I may not have made a particular Reply to a long Rapsody of Exclamatory Heads ; for indeed , Sir , Railing is not my Talent : Had I more time to consult History , possibly I might have illustrated my Discourse with more lively instances ; but I assure you I have not look'd in a Book during the Composure , for which reason I desire to be excus'd if I have committed any Errors , as to the Dates of any of my Quotations . If I were a Member of the Army , I wou'd thank you mightily for the fine sweet words you give them at the end of your Book : you have a pretty way with you of talking of Kings , and then you don't mean this King ; and then of Armies , but you don't mean this Army ; no , by no means , and yet 't is this King that must not be trusted with Men nor Arms , and 't is this Army that must be Disbanded ; and his Majesty is exceedingly obliged to you , Sir , for your usage of him as a Soldier ; for 't is plain you are for Disbanding him as well as the Army . But of all things I magnifie you , Dear Sir , for that fine turn of Argument , that not to Disband the Army is the way to bring in King James ; but to Disband them is the most effectual way to hinder them . You have read , no doubt , of the Fable , how the Sheep were perswaded to dismiss the Dogs who they had hired to defend them against the Wolves ; the Application , Sir , is too plain ; and this is the Clause makes me suspect you for a Iacobite . Well you have driven furiously , and like Jehu called all the World to see your Zeal for the Lord ; but like him too you have not Demolished the high Places ; you have Demolish'd the Army , but you have not provided against Jacobitism ; you take care to leave the King naked to the Villany of Assassines , for you are not for leaving him so much as his Guards ; and you take care to leave the Nation naked to the insults of an Enemy , and the King and the People must defend themselves as well as they can . This is the way indeed to teach us Obedience with a Rod of Iron , and to make us pass under the Axes and Harrows of a barbarous Enemy . All your Plea is Liberty , an alluring word ; and I must tell you , Liberty or Religion has been the Mask for almost all the Publick Commotions of the World : but if Freedom be the English Man's Right , you ought to have given the King and his Parliament the Freedom of Debating this matter by themselves , without putting your self upon them to raise a Controversie , where for ought you know there may be no occasion . What is there no way but an entire Disbanding the whole Army ? Can no Expedient be found out to secure us from Enemies abroad , and from Oppression at home , &c. no way but this , Sir , How do you know what a Parliament may do ? Parliaments are Magnipotent , tho' they are not Omnipotent , and I must tell you , Sir , the Commons of England are not a Body that can be Enslaved with 20000 Men ; and all that have ever attempted it , formed their own Ruine in it , and I hope ever will do so ; but the Wicked fear where no fear is , and fly when none pursues . Sir , I wish you wou'd let us know your Character , that we might judge of the Manners by the Man , for I am sure we cannot judge well of the Man by the Manners . Your most Humble Servant , D.F. Reflections on a late Scandalous Pamphlet , Entituled , An Argument against a Standing Army . SOME Men are so fond of their own Notions , and so impatient in the Pride of their own Opinions , that they cannot leave Business of Consequence to them to whom it specially and peculiarly belongs , but must , with as much Brass as Impertinence , meddle with a Cause before it comes before them , tho' it be only to show they have more Wit than Manners . I observe this by the way , before I enter the List of Argument which a Nameless Author of a most Scandalous Pamphlet , call'd , An Argument against a standing Army . If the Author of that Pamphlet be , as he wou'd be thought , a true honest spirited English-man , who out of his meer Zeal for the Safety , Liberty , and Honour of his Country , has made this false Step , he is the more to be consider'd : But if so , why shou'd he fear his Name ? The days are over , God be thank'd , when speaking Truth was speaking Treason : Every Man may now be heard . What has any Man suffer'd in this Reign for speaking boldly , when Right and Truth has been on his side ? Nay , how often has more Liberty been taken that way than consisted with good Manners , and yet the King himself never restrain'd it , or reprov'd it ; witness Mr. Stephen's unmannerly Books , written to the King himself . But since the Author Conceals himself from all the World , how can we guess him any thing but a Male-content , a Grumbletonian , to use a foolish term , a Person dissatisfied with his not being Rewarded according to his wonderful Merit , a Ferg — , a Man — , or the like . Or a down-right Iacobite , who finding a French War won't do , wou'd fain bring in Fears and Jealousies to try if a Civil War will. I confess I cannot affirm which of these ; but I am of the Opinion he is the latter of the two , because his Insinuations are so like the Common Places of that Party , and his Sawcy Reflections on the King's Person , bear so exact a Resemblance to their usual Treatment of him , that it seems to be the very stile of a Malignant . I may be readily answer'd to this ( I confess ) Let me be what I will , what 's that to you , Answer my Argument ; If the Doctrine be true , let the Devil be the Parson ; Speak to the Point . In good time I shall : And to begin with him , I agree with him in all he says , or most part at least of his Preamble , saving some triflng Matters of Stile and of Notion , and we won't stand with him for small things . And thus I bring him to his Fourth Page without any trouble ; for indeed he might have spar'd all the Three Pages for any great signification they have , or relation to what comes after . The Fifth Paragragh in his Fourth Page , and indeed the Substance of the whole Book brings the Dispute to this short Point ; That any Army in England is inconsistent with the Safety of the Kingdom ; That Liberty and an Army are incompatible ; That the King is not to be trusted with either Men , Arms , nor Money , for the last will be the Consequence of the former ; lest he that has ventur'd his Life in the Extreamest Dangers for us , shou'd turn our Devourer and destroy us . A great deal of very handsome Language he bestows upon the King on this account , calling him , with a tacit sort of necessary Consequence , Wolf , Beast , Tyrant , and the like . He tells us , Page 3. All the Nations round us have lost their Liberty by their permitting standing Armies ; and that they permitted them from Necessity or Indiscretion . If from Necessity , 't was their Misfortune not their Fault . If from Indiscretion , that was their Fault indeed . But he is not pleas'd to give us one Instance of any People who were brought under that Necessity , and lost their Liberty by it ; and yet if he had , 't was no Argument , but that if we were reduc'd to the same Necessity , we must run the risque of it : Of which more by and by . In the same Page he lays down the Draught of our Constitution . Depending on a due Ballance between King , Lords and Commons ; and affirms from thence , That this Constitution must break the Army , or the Army destroy this Constitution : and affirms absolutely , with a Confidence Peculiar to himself , That no Nation can preserve its freedom , which maintains any other Army than such as is composed of a Militia of its own Gentry and Freeholders . And being gotten into a Positive vein , he says , What happen'd yesterday , will come to pass again ; and the same Causes will produce like Effects in all Ages . And indeed all is alike true , since nothing is more frequent , than for the same Causes to produce different Effects ; and what happened yesterday may never happen again while the World stands , of which King Iames is a visible Instance . But to descend to Particulars . I shall give you only this remarkable Instance ; King Henry VIII made as vigorous and irregular Efforts to destroy the Religion of the Kingdom ( as then 't was establish'd ) as ever King Iames did , and perhaps his Methods were more than ordinarily parallel ; he Govern'd this Nation with as absolute a despotical Power , though the Constitution was then the same it is now , as ever King Charles II. or King Iames II. attempted to have done , and yet the Effects were not Abdication , or calling in a Foreign Aid . I could go back to other Kings of this Nation , whose Stories might illustrate this ; but the Gentleman is Historian good enough , I perceive , to know it ; and by the way , 't is to be observed also , that he did this without the help of a Standing Army : From whence I only observe , as all the present use I shall make of this Instance , that there are ways for a King to tyrannize without a standing Army , if he be so resolv'd : è contra , there may be ways to prevent it with an Army , and also that I think this proves , that the same Causes does not always produce the same Effects ; and a little further , if the same Causes will produce the like Effects in all Age , why then , Sir , pray lay by your Fears , for if ever King William ( which we are sure he won't ) or any King else , goes about to destroy our Constitution , and overturn our Liberties , as King Iames did , the People will call in a Foreign Aid , and cause him to run away , as they did then ; for what happened Yesterday will come to pass again , and the same Causes will produce the like Effects in all Ages . Page the Sixth he begins very honestly , with a Recognition of our Security under the present King , and softens his Reader into a belief of his Honesty , by his Encomiums on his Majesty's Person , which would be well compar'd with his Seventeenth Page , to shew how he can frame his Stile to his Occasion ; but in short , concludes , that when he is dead , we know not who will come next ; nay , the Army may come and make who they please King , and turn the Parliament out of Doors and therefore in short , we ought not to trust any thing to him , that we wou'd not trust to the greatest Tyrant that may succeed him . So that our Condition is very hard , that the Person of a King is no part of the Consideration , but a King , be he Angel or Devil , 't is all one , is a Bugbear , and not to be trusted . A fine Story indeed , and our great Deliverer ( as he calls the King ) must not regret this , but be contented : that now he has cleared the World of all our Enemies , but himself , he should be esteem'd the great Charibdis which the Na●ion was to be split upon , and we must entirely disarm him , as a Wolf who ought not to be trusted with Teeth ; for these are his own Words . Then he tells us , No Legislators ever establisht a Free Government , but avoided this , as the Israelites , Athenians , Corinthians , Accaians , Lacedemonians , Thebanes , Sammites , Romans . Now 't is notoriously known , that all these were first establish'd Commonwealths , not Monarchies : and if this Gentleman wou'd have us return to that Estate , then I have done with him ; but I appeal to himself , if all these Governments , when they became Regal , did not maintain a Millitary Power more or less : Nay , God himself , when the Israelites would have a King , told them this would be a Consequence : as if it might be inferr'd as of absolute necessity , that a Military Power must be made use of with a Regal Power ; and as it may follow no King , no Army , so it may as well follow , no Army no King. Not that I think an Army necessary to maintain the King in his Throne , with regard to his Subjects , for I believe no Man in the World was ever the Peoples King more than his present Majesty . But I shall endeavour a little to examine by and by , what the King and Nation , so as Matters now stand in the World , wou'd be without an Army . But our Adversary rests not here , but Page 7. he proceeds ; truly he wou'd not have the King trusted with an Army ; no , nor so much as with Arms , all the Magazines too must be taken from him . And referring to the Estates , mentioned before , he says , They knew that the Sword and the Sovereignty marcht Hand in Hand , and therefore a general exercise of the People in Arms , was the Bulwark of their Liberties , and their Arms , that is , Magazines of Amunition , &c. for the Term is now changed , w●re never lodg'd in the Hands of any but the People : for so the following Words directly imply . The best and bravest of their Generals came from the Plough , and contentedly return'd to it again when the War was over . We shou'd have made a fine War against France indeed , if it had been so here . And then he goes on with Instances of Nations who lost their Liberties when ever they deviated from these Rules . At the end of these Examples , our Author tells all the World in short what he would be at : For there he has , like God Almighty , divided the World , and he has set the Sheep on his right hand , and the Goats on his left ; for he has reckon'd up all the Monarchal Governments in the World , with a Go ye cursed into the most abandon'd Slavery , as he calls it ; and all the Commonwealths in the World , on the other side , with a Come ye blessed into freedom from Kings standing Armies , &c. Nay he has brought Algiers and Tunis in for People who enjoy their Liberty , and are free . I suppose he has never been there : and truly , I believe the Freedom he mentions here , wou'd be very like that , or like the Days when there was no King in Israel , but every Man , did what was right in his own Eyes . Thus far I have follow'd him only with Remarks in general to Page 13. he proceeds then to tell us the Danger of an Army , and the Misfortune of all Countries to be forc'd sometimes to take up Arms against their Governours . A Man ought to be an universal Historian to affirm that , and I have not time to examine it now . From hence he draws this Assertion , That 't is therefore necessary to put us into a Capacity always to be able to Correct our Kings , that we may have no occasion for it ; for when we are enabled to do it , we shall never be put upon it . The English is this , Keep your King so weak that he may always be afraid of you , and he will never provoke you to hurt him . For , says he , that Nation shall be sure to live in Peace which is most capable of making War : But if the King has 20000 Men before-hand with us , observe it [ with us ] in totidem verbis I leave his meaning to be construed , the People can make no Efforts without the Assistance of a Foreign Power . Another Consequence of an Army is , They may come and force the People to choose what Members they please , to sit in Parliament , or they may besiege the Parliament-House , and the like . Now it happened that both these things have been done in England , and yet the People preserved their Liberties , which is a Demonstration beyond the Power of Words , from his old Maxim , What happen'd Yesterday , will come to pass again , and like Causes will have like Effects : The choice of Members of Parliament were obstructed , and the House of Parliament was besieged and insulted by the Soldiers , and yet the People were not depriv'd of their Liberties ; therefore it may be so again , for what happen'd Yesterday will come to pass again . Page 14. He descends to a particular , which reverst , I think , is a lively Instance what a vigorous Opposition may do against a far greater Force than 20000 Men : If King Charles the First , says he , had had but 5000 Men , the People cou'd never have struck a Stroak for their Liberties . Turn this Story , and let us but recollect what Force the Parliament had , and what the King had , and yet how many Stroaks he struck for his Crown . The Parliament had the Navy , all the Forts , Magazines and Men in their Hands : The King , when he erected his Standard at Nottingham , had neither Ships , Men , Arms , Ammunition or Money , but seem'd to be turn'd loose into the Field , to fight with the Commons of England , and all the Militia was in the Hands of the Parliament by the Commission of Array , and yet the King was ready in Keynton Field , and at the Head of an Army , sooner than the Parliament were ready to fight him , nor do the Writers of that Side pretend to call that a Victory . Then he comes to King Iames , and says he , If he had not attempted Religion ▪ but been contented with Arbitrary Power , we shou'd ha' let him bound us Hand and Foot ; and tho' King James had all the Nation , and his own Army against him , yet we account the Revolution next to a Miracle . To this I reply , No , Sir ; no Miracle at all on that Score ; for the Nobility , Gentry , and People of England did not question but they shou'd reduce him to reason , else they had never call'd in the present King , for they did not expect him to work Miracles , but to procure a Free Parliament , &c. as is at large express'd in his Majesties Decla●ation . But here lay the Miracle of the Revolution : The Providential Removal of the French Kings Forces to the Siege of Philipsburgh , against all manner of Policy , when if he had made but a feint on the Frontiers of the Dutch , they could neither have spar'd their Troops nor their Stadtholder . The wonderful Disposition of the Wind and Weather which lockt up King Iames's Fleet , so as to make the Descent easie and safe . And at last the Flight of King Iames , and the Re-settlement of the whole Kingdom without a Civil War , which was contrary to the Expectations of all the World ; this was that which was next to Miraculous . Now we must come to examine his Quotations , by which I must be excus'd to guess at the rest of his Instances , which indeed , generally speaking , are chosen very remote ; he tells us , a very small Army is capable to make a Revolution ; Oliver Cromwel left behind him but 17000 , Oportet Mendacem esse Memorem ; Oliver Cromwel did not work the Revolution which he brought to pass on the Parliament with less than 35000 Men , and if he left but 17000 behind him , which nevertheless I do not grant , there must be reckoned the Army left in Scotland , with General Monk , which was at least 12000 , and the Settlement in Ireland , which at least also took off from the old Army above 10000 Men more , besides those which had chang'd Parties and laid down their Arms : As to the Pretorian Soldiers , I don't read that they by themselves made any Revolution in the Roman Empire . Iulius Caesar had a much greater Force when he March'd out of Gaul ; and they were great Armies who Declared Galba , Otho , and Vespasian Emperors . Then as to the Ottoman Empire , of which this Author , I suppose , knows very little ; the Ianisaries have not been less in that Empire till this War , than 70000 Men ; what he calls the Court Ianisaries I know not , but when Selimus Depos'd and Murther'd his Father Amurath , you will find above 50000 Ianisaries and Spahis in the Action ; but if an Army of 17000 Men can enslave this Nation , as he foolishly supposes , our Militia are good for much at the same time . As to his Paragraph , p. 15. wherein he says , we are told , this Army is to be but for a time , and not to be part of our Constitution . I must say to him , I never have been told so , but I am of the Opinion , and shall acquiesce in it , that such an Army and no other , as the King and Parliament shall think needful for our Preservation shall be kept on Foot , so and so long as the said King and Parliament shall think fit ; and from them I dare say no Danger can befal our Liberty . We have a blessed happy Union between the King and the Parliament ; the King offers not to invade the Peoples Liberties , nor they his Prerogative ; he will desire no Army but for their safety , nor they will deny none that is : But here is an Author , who in the beginning of his Pamphlet says , the Safety of the Kingdoms depends upon a due Ballance ; and at the same time tells us , our Armies , no nor our Magazins , are not to be trusted with the King ; is that a due Ballance ? Then he tells you , that saying the Purse is in the Hands of the People , is no Argument at all , and that an Army will raise Money , as well as Money raise an Army ; he suggests indeed , that 't is too desperate a Course , as well he may ; for I wou'd only ask him , if he thinks an Army of 20000 Men could suppress this whole Kingdom , and live upon Free Quarter on the Inhabitants by Force . I wou'd put him in mind of the Alarum Ship Money made in England , and yet King Charles had then an Army and no Parliament Sitting . Then he supposes a shutting up the Exchequer , for indeed he is upon the Point of Supposing every thing that has but a Possibility in it , and what if the Exchequer should be shut up ? why this Gentleman wants to be told that the Money is not in Specie in the Exchequer , and it must be raised and brought thither by the Help of the Army ; so that all that amounts to the same thing as the other , raising Money by Troops of Horse , which has been try'd in England , to the Destruction of the Contrivers ; and what has been , he says , will always be again . From this he proceeds to an insolent saucy Banter on his Majesty's Person , whose Vertue , he says , we ought not to hazard by leading it into Temptation : Our Heroes , he says , are of a course Allay , and he has observed most Men to do all the Mischief they can , and therefore he is for dealing with them as with Children and Mad Men , that is , take away all Weapons from them , by which they may do either themselves or others any Mischief ; as the Sheep who addrest to Apollo , that for the future the Wolves might have no Teeth . His placing this in the Plural , the Courtiers , is too thin a Screen to blind any Man's Eyes ; but 't is as plain as if it had been said in so many Words , that all this is meant directly of the King ; for who is it we have been speaking of ? 't is the King , who is not to be trusted with an Army , or with the Arms of the Kingdom ; 't is the King who must be the Tyrant , and must raise Money , and shut up the Exchequer , and the like ; and he speaks here of nothing but what the King only can be supposed to do . In Confutation of his 18th Page , I could very plainly demonstrate , that even a Slavery under a Protestant Army would differ very much from a Slavery under a Popish and French Army . England has felt the First , and seen others feel the last : there is a Difference in Slavery , Algiers is better than Sally ; and there are Degrees of Misery ; and this is no putting an Epethite upon Tyranny , ask the Protestants of Languedoc if the French Dragoons were not worse than the Spanish Inquisition : But this is Foreign to the Point , it does not appear to any considerate Person , that here is any of these Slaveries in view , and therefore , I thank God , we are not put to the Choice . I shall leave him now , and discourse a little in Particular of the thing it self , and what other Pretensions he makes will meet their Answer in the process of the Story as they come in my way . As I said at the Beginning , what 's all this to us ? we who are English Men have the least Reason of any People in the World , to complain of any of our Laws , or of any Publick Affairs , because nothing is or can be done , but I , and every individual Free holder in England , do it our selves , we consent to it , and tacitly do it by our Representatives in the Parliament ; and since then our Liberties , aye and our Lives are committed to them , who are you , Sir ? that you shou'd run before you are sent , and dictate to the Collective Body of the Nation , what they ought or ought not to do ? if the House of Commons think fit to continue 50000 Men , there is no doubt but they will find ways so to keep them at their dispose , that even that Army shall be the Preserver of our Liberties , not the Destroyer of them , and to them let us leave it . But 't is the King is the Bugbear , a Royal Army shall destroy us , but a Parliament Army shall protect us . Page 11. Commonwealths , he says , may have Armies , but Kings may not . Now if putting Arms into the Hands of Servants is so fatal , why it 's as dangerous to make a general Muster of the Militia , as 't was to the French in the West-Indies , to give their Arms to their Servants , a standing Militia regulated and disciplin'd , such as the Vaudois or Miquelets , why that 's a Standing Army , and shall be as insolent as they , if you give them an Opportunity , and a Standing Army , as they may be regulated , shall be as safe and as far from Tyrannizing as they . And with this Gentleman's leave , I believe I could form a Proposal how an Army of 20000 Men might be kept in England , which should be so far from being destructive of , that , they should on all Occasions be the Preservers and Protectors of the Peoples Liberties , in case of a Court Invasion , for that is the Out-cry ; I confess , I do rather beg the Question here , than produce my Schemes of that Nature , because I do not think it becomes me to dictate to my Superiors , who without Question , know better what to do in that great Concern of the Government , than I could direct . The Question here may be more properly , What sort of an Army we talk of ? If 't were an Army Independant of the People , to be paid by the King , and so entirely at his absolute dispose . If 't were to be an Army of 50000 Men , why then something may be said ; but our Gentleman has not talk'd of above 20000 , and I presume he speaks of that without any Authority too , and at the same time talks of the Valour and Performances of the Militia , and wou'd have Sixty thousand of them settled and regulated . This Argument of the Militia is strangely turn'd about by him ; sometimes they are such Hero's that they are able to defend us , and why should they not , and the like , page 20 , 21. and sometimes so weak that 20000 Men will ruine us all ; nay , any thing of an Army . If they are strong enough to defend us from all the World , a small number of standing Troops cannot hurt us ; if they are not , then we must have an Army , or be exposed to every Invader . I wonder therefore this Gentleman does not descend to show us a time when the Militia of any Country did any Service singly , without the help of the Regulated Troops ; I can give him a great many Instances when they did not . The best time that ever the Militia of England can boast of doing any Service , was in our Civil War ; and yet I can name a Gentleman , who is now alive , who was an Officer of Horse in the Parliament Army , he was posted by the General at a Defile , to dispute the Passage of some of the King's Horse , who advanc'd from Warrington-Bridge in Cheshire , finding himself prest , he sent away to the General for some Foot to support him : He sent him a Company of Foot of the Militia , and a Detachment of Dragoons ; the Foot were plac'd behind the Hedges to line the Pass where they might have fir'd almost under Covert , as behind a Breast-work ; but as soon as ever the King's Horse appear'd , without firing one shot , they run all away . These were Regulated Militia . But our Author gives us three Instances of Countries , whose Militia defend them ; and three more of the bravery of a Country Militia , which Instances I must a little examine . Poland , Switzerland , and the Grisons are his Instances of Nations who defend themselves against powerful Neighbours without a standing Army . As to Poland , I shall shew afterward at what a rate they have defended themselves . The Swiss and Grisons subsist between formidable Enemies , just as the Duke of Savoy defends himself between the French and the Spaniards , or as Hamburgh between the Danes and the Dukes of Zel , or as Geneva between the French and the Saveyard ; not but that eithre side is able to devour them , but because when ever one side Ataques them , the others defend them ; for 't is neither sides Interest to see the others have them . But now we come to the Militia , the London Apprentices in the late War , and the Vaudois and Miquelets in this . As to the London Auxiliaries , which they call Apprentices , they behav'd themselves very well , but it was in Conjunction with the Regulated Troops , when I must also say , the King's Army at that time were but raw , and not much better than themselves . The Vaudois are Les Enfans perdue , a People grown desperate by all the Extremities which make Cowards fight ; a small handful of Ruin'd Men , exasperated by the Murder of their Families , and loss of their Estates , and are to be lookt upon as Men metamorphised into Dragons and Furies ; and yet even the Vaudois have never fought but on Parties , Skirmishes , Surprizes , Beating up Quarters , and the like , back'd with Retreats into inaccessible Rocks , and skulking behind the Cliffs , from whence , like Lightning , they break out on the Enemy , and are gone before they could well find where they were . The Miquelets in Catalonia are another Instance , and these are but People , who by the Advantages of the Mountains , lye in wait to intercept Convoys , and surprize Parties , and have done the French exceeding Dammage , on account of the Distance of the French Armies in that Country from their Magazines ; for 't is necessary to state Matters very exactly , to debate with so cunning a Disputant . But for the Service of either the Vaudois or Miquelets in the open Field , it has not been extraordinary . As to the Militia in Ireland , all their Fame is owing to the despicable wretched Conduct of the Irish ; for what Army but that of a Rabble of Irish , could Iniskilling and London-Derry have stood out against , at the rate they did . So that these Wonders of the Militia are all Phantosms , and not applicable to the present Case at all . I shall a little urge here by way of Reply , That there seems to be a Necessity upon the People of England at this time , to stand in a Posture of Defence more than usually ; if I cannot prove this , then I say nothing First , This Necessity arises from the Posture of our Neighbours : In former times , says our Authour , there was no difference betweon the Citizen , the Souldier , and the Husband-man ; but 't is otherwise now , Sir , War is become a Science , and Arms an Employment , and all our Neighbours keep standing Forces , Troops of Veteran Experienced Soldiers ; and we must be strangely expos'd if we do not . In former times the way of Fighting was Common to all , and if Men ran from the Field to the Camp , so did their Neighbours , and 't was as good for one as another . But how did the Romans preserve their Frontiers , and plant their Colonies ? That was not done by Citizens of Rome , but by Legionary Troops ; and shall we Disarm , while our Neighbours keep standing Armies of Disciplin'd Souldiers on foot ? Who shall secure us against a sudden Rupture ? Whoever will give himself the trouble to look into the Treaties of Westphalia and Nimeguen and to Examine the Conduct of the French King they will find , He did not then account Leagues such Sacred things as to bind him against a visible Advantage ; and why should we lead him into Temptation ? Let any one but reflect on the several Treaties between him and the Duke of Lorrain , the Duke of Savoy , and the Spaniards ; after which ensued , the Prize of all Lorrain , the taking of all Savoy , and the taking of the City and Country of Luxemburgh ; let them look on his surprising the Principality of Orange , directly contrary to the Peace of Nimeguen , and the like , and is this a Neighbour to live by Naked and without an Army ? Who shall be Guarrantee that the French shall not insult us , if he finds us utterly Disarmed . To answer this Necessity says this wise Gentleman , We will have an Equivalent ; why , we will not have a Land Army , but we will have a Sea Army , that is , a good Fleet. A fine Tale truly , and is not this some of Mr. Iohnson's false Heraldry , as well as ' tother ? Is it not all one to be Slaves to an Army of Masqueteers , as a Rabble of Tarrs . Our very Scituation , which the Author is in his Altitudes about , and blesses his God Neptune for at such a rate ; that very Scituation exposes us to more Tyranny from a Navy , than from an Army : Nay I would undertake , if I were Admiral of a good Fleet , to Tyrannize more over this Nation , than I should if I were General of 40000 Men. I remember 't was a great cry among the Iacobite Party , about four Year ago ; what a vast Charge are we at about a War for the Confederates , Damn the Confederates , let us keep a good Fleet , and we are able to defend our selves against all the World ; let who will go down , and who will go up , no Body will dare to meddle with us : But God be thanked , the King knew better than these , what was the true Interest of England ; a War in Flanders is a War in England , let who will be the Invaders ; for a good Barrier between a Kingdom and a powerful Enemy , is a thing of such Consequence , that the Dutch always thought it well worth the Charges of a War to assist the Spaniard ; for thereby they kept the War from their own Borders and so do we . In defending this silly Equivalent of a Fleet , he has the Vanity to say , If our Fleet be well mann'd , 't is a ridiculous thing to think of any Princes Invading us ; and yet we found it otherwise . This very War we found King Iames invaded Ireland , and the French sent him an Aid of 8000 Men , who stood their Ground so well at the Battle of the Boyn , that if King Iames had done his part as well , it might have been a dearer Victory than is was ; after this he fetch'd those 8000 off again ; and after that sent Monsieur St. Ruth ; and after that a Relief to Limerick , tho' it came too late ; and all this notwithstanding we had the greatest Fleet at Sea , that ever England had before th● time , since it was a Nation . Thus Experience Bafles this foolish Equivalent , for Armies are not Transported with so much Difficulty ; and the Six hundred Sail the P. of Orange brought with him , had not been absolutely necessary for 14000 Men ; but there were vast Stores , Artillery , Arms , and heavy Baggage with them , which are not always necessary ; for we know Monsieur Pointy carried 4500 Men with him , on his Expedition to Cartagena in but 16 Ships ; and the 8000 Men before-mentioned , sent to Ireland , were carried in not above 35 or 38 Sail. Another wretched Equivalent , which this Author would have us trust to , is the Militia ; and these he magnifies , as sufficient to defend us against all the Enemies in the World ; and yet at the same time so Debases them , as to make them nothing in Comparison of a small Army : Nay , he owns , that notwithstanding these we are undone , and our Liberties destroyed , if the King be trusted but with a few Guards . This is such a piece of Logick as no Man can understand . If a Militia be regulated and Disciplin'd , I say they may enslave us as well as an Army ; and if not , they cannot be able to defend us ; if they are unable to Defend us , they are insignificant ; and if able , dangerous ; But , says the Author , there is no danger from the Militia , for they are our selves , and their Officers are Country Gentlemen of Estates : And is not our Army full of English Gentlemen , of Estates and Fortunes ; and have we not found them as inflexible to the Charms of Tyranny , when closetted in the late Reign ; and as true to the Protestant Interest and Liberties of England , as any Country Gentlemen , or Freeholders , or Citizens in England . Did they not lay down their Commissions , did they not venture to disobey his illegal Commands ? when the Cowardly Citizens address'd him with their nauseous Flattering , fulsome Harrangues ; thank'd him for their Bondage , and gave up their Charters and Priviledges , even before he ask'd for them ; These are the Persons that must guard our Liberties ; and they would be finely Guarded , God help us . I remember a Speech which I have to show in Manuscript of Sir Walter Rawleigh , on the Subject of the Spanish Invasion , which comes directly to this Case . The Author of this Pamphlet , to instance in the prodigious Navy that is necessary to bring over a small Army , tells us , the Spanish Armado Embark'd but 18000 Men , but he forgot that they were to take the Prince of Parma on Board from Flanders with 28000 old Low Country Soldiers more ▪ with which Army , as Sir Walter Rawleigh observ'd to that Gentleman , it was no improbable thing to think of Conquering this Kingdom ; and Queen Elizabeth was so sensible of it , that she often told Sir Walter , that if they had not been beaten at Sea , they had been all undone , for her Armies were all Tumultuary Troops , Militia , and the like . To proceed , I 'll grant all the Improbabilities which he suggests of the French King 's reviving a War , which has been so fatal to him : And as to King Iames Coming , truly I 'll allow the Militia are fittest at all times to deal with him ; but to use his own Method of supposing the worst , I 'll suppose the French King waving the Ceremony of a League , and a Declaration of War , when he has recovered Breath a little , shou'd as much on a sudden as can be , break with us single , and pour in an Army of 50000 Men upon us ; I 'll suppose our Fleet may be by accident so lockt in , as King Iames's was , for what has been may be , and they take that Opportunity , and get on Shore , and to oppose their Army , truly we raise the Militia , a Fine Shew they wou'd make , but what wou'd they do against 60 Batalions of French and Swiss Infantry ? wou'd this Gentleman venture to be hang'd if they run all away and did not fire a Gun at them ? I am sure I wou'd not . But on the other Hand , if the Militia are a sufficient Guard against a Foreign Power , so they are against a Home Power , especially since this Home Power may be kept down to a due Ballance , so as may but suffice to keep us from being insulted by a Foreign Enemy ; for Instance , suppose the King were to entertain in constant Pay , 20000 Men , including his Guards and Garrisons , the Militia of England Regulated and Disciplin'd , join'd to these , might do somewhat , but by themselves nothing . I can give him innumerable Instances of the Services of the Militia , but I never heard or read of any real Bravery from them , but when join'd with Regular Troops . To Instance once for all , 't is notorious that when the Prince of Conde attackt the Citizens of Paris at Charento● , that Populous City being all in an Uproar , sent a Detachment of 20000 Men to dislodge the Prince , who with 1500 Horse and Dragoons , drove them all away , and they never lookt behind them , till they got within the City Walls . Another Necessity for keeping up a certain Number of Troops , is the vast Expence and Difficulty of making a New-rais'd Army fit for Service ; I am bold to say , as the Nature of Fighting is now chang'd , and the Art of War improv'd , were the King now to raise a New Army , and to be Commanded by New Officers , Gentlemen who had seen no Service , it should cost him Three Years Time , and 30000 Mens Lives to bring them into a Capacity to face an Enemy . Fighting is not like what it has been ; I find our Author is but a Book Soldier , for he says , Men may learn to be Engineers out of a Book ; but I never heard that a Book Gunner could Bombard a Town ; the Philosophy of it may be Demonstrated in Scales and Diagrams , but 't is the Practice that produces the Experiments ; 't is not handling a Musket , and knowing the Words of Command , will raise a Man's Spirit , and teach him to Storm a Counterscarp ; Men must make the Terrors of the War familiar to them by Custom , before they can be brought to those Degrees of Gallantry . Not that there is an intrinsick Value in a Red Coat ; and yet the Argument is not at all enforced by the Foul Language he gives the Souldiers , while they are fighting in Flanders , and laying down their Lives in the Face of the Enemy to purchase our Liberty ; 't is hard and unkind to be treated by a rascally Pamphleteer with the scandalous Term of Ragamuffins , and Hen-roost Robbers . I am no Soldier , nor ever was , but I am sensible we enjoy the present Liberty , the King his Crown , and the Nation their Peace , bought with the Price of the Blood of these Ragamuffins , as he calls them , and I am for being civil to them at least . I might descend a little to examine what a strange Country England would be , when quite dismantled of all her Heroes ( as he calls them ) ; truly were I but a Pirate with a Thousand Men , I wou'd engage to keep the Coast in a Constant Alarm . We must never pretend to bear any Reputation in the World : No Nation would value our Friendship , or fear to affront us . Not our Trade Abroad would be secure , nor our Trade at Home . Our Peace , which we see now establish'd on a good Foundation , what has procur'd it ? a War , and the Valour of our Arms , speaking of Second Causes . And what will preserve it ? truly nothing but the Reputation of the same Force ; and if that be sunk , how long will it continue ? Take away the Cause , and our Peace , which is the Effect , will certainly follow . Let me now a little examine the History of Nations who have run the same risque this Gentleman would have us do , and not to go back to remote Stories of the Carthaginians , who the Romans could never vanquish till they got them to dismiss their Auxiliary Troops . The Citizens of Constantinople , who always deny'd their Emperor the Assistance of an Army , were presently ruin'd by the Turks . We will come nearer home : The Emperor Ferdinand II. over-run the whole Protestant Part of Germany , and was at the point of Dissolving the very Constitution of their Government , and all for what of their having a Competent Force on foot to defend themselves ; and if they had not been deliver'd by the Great Gustavus Adolphus , God Almighty must have wrought a Miracle to have sav'd them Next look into Poland , which our Author reckons to be one of the Free Countries who defend themselves without a standing Army . First he must understand , for I perceive he knows little of the Matter , that Poland has not defended it self ; or if it has , it has been at a very sorry rate , God knows , much such a one as we should do without an Army , or at much such a rate as we did of old , when the Picts and Scots were our Hostile Neighbours . Pray let us see how Poland , which enjoys its freedom without a standing Army , has defended it self : First , It has been ravag'd on the side of Lithuania by the Effeminate Muscovites , and tho' the Poles always beat them in the Field , yet they had devoured their Country first before the Polanders Militia could get together . On the other hand , the Tartars , in several volant Excursions , have over-run all Vpper Poland , Vkrania and Volhinia , even to the Gates of Crakow ; and in about Fifty years 't is allow'd they have carried away a Million of this wretchedly free People into Slavery , so that all Asia was full of Polish Slaves . On the East side Carolus Gustavus , King of Sweden , over-run the whole Kingdom , took Warsaw , Crackow , and beat King Casimir out of the Country into Silesia , and all in one Campaign , and only indeed for want of a Force ready to meet him upon the Frontiers ; for as soon as Casimir had time to recover himself , and Collect an Army , he lookt him in the Face , and with an Invinsible Resolution fought him wherever he met him : But the ruin of the Country was irrepairable in an Age. To come nearer home , and nearer to the Matter in hand , our Neighbours the Dutch , in the Minority of the present King , and under the manage of Barnavelt's Principles reviv'd in the Persons of the De Witts , to preserve their Liberties , as they pretended , they would suppress the Power of the House of Orange , and Disband their old Army which had establish't their Freedom by the Terror of their Arms ; and to secure themselves , they came to a regulated Militia , the very thing this Gentleman talks of : Nay , this Militia had the Face of an Army , and were entertain'd in Pay ; but the Commissions were given to the Sons of the principal Burghers , and the Towns had Governors from among themselves . This is just what our Gentleman wou'd have ; and what came of this ? These brave Troops were plac'd in Garrisons in the Frontier Towns : And in the Year 1672. the French King , this very individual French King now regnant , during the continuance of the Sacred Peace of Westphalia , enters the Country at the Head of two dreadful Armies , and these Soldiers , that were the Bulwark of the Peoples Liberties , surrendred the most impregnable Towns , garrison'd some with 2000 , some 3000 Men , nay some with 6000 , without striking a stroke , nay faster than the French cou'd well take Possession of them ; so that in about Forty days he had taken 42 strong Towns , which would cost him Seven years to take now , tho' no Army were in the Field to disturb him ; and then the People saw their Error , and gave themselves the Satisfaction of Tearing to Pieces the Authors of that pernicious Advice . And truly , I think these Instances are so lively , that I wonder our Author , who I perceive is not so ignorant , as not to know these things , shou'd not have provided some Answer to it , for he could not but expect it in any Reply to him . These things may a little tell us what is the Effects of a Nations being disarm'd while their Neighbours are in Arms , and all this must be answer'd with a Fleet ; and that may be answer'd with this , We may be invaded notwithstanding a Fleet , unless you can keep up such a Fleet as can Command the Seas in all parts at the same time , or can , as Queen Elizabeth did , forbid your Neighbours to build Ships . But the French King is none of those , and his Power at Sea is not be slighted : Nor is it so small , but it may with too much ease protect an Invasion , and it is not safe to put it to that hazard . Another Necessity of an Army seems to me to lye among our ●●●●es : There are Accidents which require the help of an Army , tho' the King and People were all of a Mind , and all of a side . King Iames and his Parliament had a full understanding , and they were as Vigorous for him , as ever Parliament was for a King , and yet what had become of both if he had not had Regular Troops to have resisted the Duke of Monmouth ? If they had been to be raised then , he must have gone to France then , as he did now , or have stay'd at home and have far'd worse ; for they wou'd hardly have us'd him so tenderly as the present King did to my knowledge . I am loth to mention the Iacobite Party as an Argument worth while , to maintain any thing of force , but just enough to prevent Assassinations and private Murthers on the King's Person ; for as they never dar'd look him in the face when powerfully assisted by the French ; so I dare say they will never have the Courage to disturb our Peace with Sword in hand ; what they do , will be by Caballing to foment Distrusts and Discontents to embroil , if possible , the King with his People or by private villainous Assassinates to destroy him , and by that means to involve the whole Nation in Blood and Disorder . I allow the Speech of Queen Elizabeth to the Duke D'Alanzon was very great and brave in her ; but pray had Queen Elizabeth no standing Army ? On the contrary , she was never without them ; she never had less in the Low Countreys , in aid of the Dutch , in France in aid of the King of Navar , and in her Wars in Ireland , than 30000 Men ; and all the difference was , that she kept them abroad , employ'd for the Assistance of her Neighbours , and had them absolutely at Command ; and so sensible she was of the want of them on the approach of the Spanish Armado , that she never lest her self so bare of them afterwards : and therefore to compare her Enemies and ours , and her Force with ours , without an Army , as he does p. 19. is a Deceptio visus upon our Understanding , and a presumption that no body has read any History but himself . Then we come to K. Charles the Second's time in p. 26. and then , he says , we thought a much less Army than is now contended for a grievance . To which I answer , Quatenus an Army , they were not thought a Grievance , but attended with the Circumstances of Popish Confederacies and Leagues , and a Popish Successor in view , and then visibly managing them they might be thought so ; and yet the Grand Iury presenting them , made them no more a Grievance than if they had presented the Parliament which granted an establisht number of Troops to King Charles . Another bold Assertion he makes p. 27. That a standing Army is the only way to bring in K. James . This is a strange preposterous Supposition , and has no Argument brought to prove it , but the uncertain capricious Humour of the Souldiery , who in all Ages have produc'd violent Revolutions , may bring it to pass ; that is in short , the Thing is possible , and that is all he can say ; and 't is every jot as possible , that K. William himself should change his Mind , Abdicate the Throne , and Call in K. James again , therefore pray let us have no King at all , for really when all is done these Kings are strange things , and have occasion'd more violent Revolutions in the World than ever have been known in unarm'd Governments . Besides , if we had no King , then a standing Army might be safe enough ; for he tells you , in Commonwealths they may be allow'd , p. 11. but in Monarchies they are the Devil and all : Nay he gives two Instances when we had Armies turn'd out their Masters , Oliver Cromwel and General Monk , and yet both these were in the time of a Commonwealth . Now I would know if ever an Army turn'd out their King ; as for K Iames , his instance is false , he really run away from his Army , his Army did not turn him out ; 't is true , part of it deserted : but I am bold to say , had K. Iames , with the Remainder , made good his Retreat , Souldier like , either to London , or under the Canon of Portsmouth , or to both , which he might ha' done , for no Body pursued him , till the French King had reliev'd him , it might have been a Civil War to this Hour . And thus I have followed him to his last Page , I think I have not omitted any of his material Arguments or Examples ; whether he is answered or not , in point of Argument , I leave to the Reader : what I have discovered in his Sophistical straining of Arguments , and misapplying his Quotations to gild by his Wit the want of his Proof , is what I thought needful ; his malicious Spirit every where discovers it self , and to me he seems to be a disconted unsatisfied sort of a Person , that is for any thing but what shou'd be , and borrows the Pretence of Liberty , to vent his Malice at the Government : Nor is it a new Invention , when ever any Person had a mind to disturb the Roman Government , Liberty was always the Word , and so it is now . CONCLUSION . I Shall say no more as to Argument , but desire the Favour of a Word in General , as to the present Controversy . To me it seems one of the most impudent Actions that ever was suffered in this Age , that a Private Person shou'd thus attack the King , after all that he has done for the Preservation of our Liberties and the Establishing our Peace , after all the Hazards of his Person and Family , and the Fatiegues of a bloody War , to be represented at his Return , as a Person now as much to be feared as King James was ; to be trusted no more than a Mad Man , and the like , before he so much as knows whether there shall ever be any Dispute about the Matter , or no. Has the King demanded a Standing Army ? Has he propos'd it ? Does he insist upon it ? How if no such thought be in him ? 'T is a Sign what a Government we live under , and 't is a Sign what Spirit governs some Men , who will abuse the most indulgent Goodness . It had been but time to have wrote such an Invective upon the King and the Army , when we had found the Parliament of England strugling to disband them , and the King resolute to maintain them : But This ! when the King and the House are all Union and Harmony ! 't is intollerable , and the King ought to have some Satisfaction made him , and I doubt not but he will. I am not , nor , I think , I have no where shown as if I were for the Government by an Army ; but I cannot but suppose , with Submission to the House of Commons , that they will find it necessary to keep us in a Posture of Defence sufficient to maintain that Peace which has cast so much Blood and Treasure to procure , and I leave the Method to them , and so I think this Author ought to have done . I do not question but in that great Assembly all things will be done for the Maintenance of our Liberty with a due respect to the Honour and Safety of his Majesty , that is possible : They have shown themselves the most steady and Zealous for his Interest and the Publick , of any Body that ever filled that House ; and I could never see , and yet I have not been a slight observer of Affairs neither . I say , I could never see the least symptom of an Inclination in the King's Actions , to dislike or contradict what they offered : has he not left them to be the entire judges of their own Grievances , and freely left them to be as entire judges of the Remedies ? Has he ever skreened a Malefactor from their Justice , or a Favourite from their Displeasure ? Has he ever infring'd their Priviledges ? and as to who shall come after , we have his Royal Declaration at his coming to these Kingdoms ; That his Design was to establish our Liberties on such Foundations , as that it might not be in the power of any Prince for the future to invade them , and he has never yet attempted to break it ; And how is this to be done ? not at the direction of a Pamphlet , but by the King , Lords and Commons , who have not taken a false Step yet in the Matter ; To them let it be left , and if they agree , be it with an Army , or without an Army ; be it by a Militia regulated , or by an Army regulated , what is that to him ? I have indeed heard much of a Militia regulated into an Army , and truly I doubt not , but an Army might be regulated into a Militia , with Safety and Honour to the King , and the Peoples Liberties . But as I have said , I leave that to the Government to determine , and conclude with only this Observation ; If ever the Gentleman who is the Author of this Pamphlet be trac'd , I verily believe he will appear to be one , who thinking he has deserv'd more Respect from the Government than he has found , has taken this Way to let them know , they ought to have us'd him better or us'd him worse . FINIS .