enough to do his Business effectually and therfore cast about how to get a new Army and took the most plausible way which was pretending to enter into a War with France and to that purpose sent Mr. Thyn to Holland who made a strict League with the States and immediatly upon it the King call'd the Parliament who gave him 1200000 Pounds to enter into an actual War with which Mony he rais'd an Army of between twenty and thirty thousand Men within less than forty Days and sent part of them to Flanders At the same time he continued his forces in France and took a Sum of Mony from that King to assist him in making a privat Peace with Holland So that instead of a War with France the Parliament had given a great Sum to raise an Army to enslave themselves But it happen'd about this time that the Popish Plot broke out which put the Nation into such a Ferment that there was no stemming the Tide so that he was forc'd to call the Parliament which met the 23d of October 78 who immediatly fell upon the Popish Piot and the Land Army Besides there were discover'd 57 Commissions granted to Papists to raise Men countersigned J. Will son for which and saying that the King might keep Guards if he could pay them he was committed to the Tower This so inrag'd the Parliament that they immediatly proceded to the disbanding of the Army and pass'd an Act that all rais'd since the 29th of September 77 should be disbanded and gave the King 693388 pounds to pay off their Arrears which he made use of to keep them up and dissolv'd the Parliament but soon after called another which pursu'd the same Counsels and pass'd a second Act to disband the Army gave a new Sum for doing it directed it to be paid into the Chamber of London appointed Commissioners of their own and pass'd a Vote That the continuance of any Standing Forces in this Nation other than the Militia was illegal and a great Grievance and Vexation to the People so that Army was disbanded Besides this they complain'd of the Forces that were in France and address'd the King again to recal them which had som Effect for he sent over no more Recruits but suffer'd them to wear out by degrees The Establishment upon the Dissolution of this Army which was in the Year 1679 80 were 5650 privat Soldiers besides Officers From this time he never agreed with his People but dissolved three Parliaments following for inquiring into the Popish Plot and in the four last Years of his Reign call'd none at all And to crown the Work Tangier is demolish'd and the Garison brought over and plac'd in the most considerable Ports in England which made the Establishment in 8¾ 8482 privat Men besides Officers It 's observable in this King's Reign that there was not one Sessions but his Guards were attack'd and never could get the least Countenance from Parliament but to be even with them the Court as much discountenanc'd the Militia and never would suffer it to be made useful Thus we see the King husbanded a few Guards so well that in a small number of Years they grew to a formidable Army notwithstanding all the endeavors of the Parliament to the contrary so difficult it is to prevent the growing of an Evil that dos not receive a check in the beginning He increas'd the Establishment in Ireland to 7700 Men Officers included wheras they never exceded in any former Reign 2000 when there was more occasion for them the Irish not long before having bin intirely reduced by Cromwel and could never have held up their Heads again without his Countenance But the truth of it was his Army was to support the Irish and the fear of the Irish was to support his Army Towards the latter end of this King's Reign the Nation had so intirely lost all sense of Liberty that they grew fond of their Chains and if his Brother would have suffer'd him to have liv'd longer or had followed his Example by this time we had bin as great Slaves as in France But it was God's great Mercy to us that he was made in another Mould Imperious Obstinat and a Bigot push'd on by the Counsels of France and Rome and the violence of his own Nature so that he quickly run himself out of breath As soon as he came to the Crown he seiz'd the Customs and Excise without Authority of Parliament He pick'd out the Scum and Scandals of the Law to make Judges upon the Bench and turn'd out all that would not sacrifice their Oaths to his Ambition by which he discharg'd the Lords out of the Tower inflicted those barbarous Punishments on Dr. Oates Mr. Johnson c. butcher'd many hundreds of Men in the West after they had bin trapan'd into a Confession by promise of Pardon murder'd Cornish got the Dispensing Power to be declar'd in Westminster-Hall turn'd the Fellows of Magdalen-College out of their Freeholds to make way for a Seminary of Priests and hang'd Soldiers for running away from their Colors He erected the Ecclesiastical Commission suspended the Bishop of London because he would not inflict the same Punishment upon Dr. Sharp for preaching against Popery He closeted the Nobility and Gentry turn'd all out of Imployment that would not promise to repeal the Test put in Popish Privy-Counsellors Judges Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of Peace and to get all this confirm'd by the shew of Parliament he prosecuted the Work his Brother had begun in taking away Charters and new model'd the Corporations by a sort of Vermin call'd Regulators He receiv'd a Nuntio from Rome and sent an Ambassador thither He erected a Popish Seminary at the Savoy to pervert Youth suffer'd the Priests to go about in their Habits made Tyrconnel Lord Lieutenant of Ireland turn'd all the Protestants out of the Army and most of the Civil Imployments there and made Fitton a Papist and one detected for Perjury Chancellor of that Kingdom He issu'd out a Proclamation in Scotland wherin he asserted his Absolute Power which all his Subjects were to obey without reserve a Prerogative I think never claim'd by the Great Turk or the Mogul He issu'd out a Declaration for Liberty of Conscience order'd it to be read in all Churches and imprison'd and try'd the seven Bishops because they humbly offer'd their Reasons in a Petition against it and to consummat all that we might have no hopes of retrieving our Misfortunes he impos'd a counterfeit Prince of Wales upon the Nation Soon after he came to the Crown the Duke of Monmouth landed and in a few weeks got together six or seven thousand Men but they having neither Arms or Provisions were easily defeated by not many more than 2000 of the King's Troops Which leaves a sad prospect of the consequence of a Standing Army for here was a Prince the Darling of the common People fighting against a bigotted Papist that was hated and abbor'd by
imprisoned great numbers of the most considerable Gentry and Merchants for not paying his Arbitrary Taxes som he sent beyond Sea and the poorer sort he prest for Soldiers He kept Soldiers upon free Quarter and executed Martial Law upon them He granted Monopolies without number and broke the bounds of the Forests He erected Arbitrary Courts and inlarg'd others as the High Commission-Court the Star-Chamber Court of Honor Court of Requests c. and unspeakable Oppressions were committed in them even to Men of the first Quality He commanded the Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Lincoln not to com to Parliament committed and prosecuted a great many of the most eminent Members of the House of Commons for what they did there som for no cause at all and would not let them have the benefit of Habeas Corpus suspended and confin'd Arch-Bishop Abbot because he would not license a Sermon that asserted Despotic Power whatever other cause was pretended He suspended the Bishop of Glocester for refusing to swear never to consent to alter the Government of the Church supported all his Arbitrary Ministers against the Parliament telling them he wondred at the foolish Impudence of any one to think he would part with the meanest of his Servants upon their account and indeed in his Speeches or rather Menaces he treated them like his Footmen calling them Undutiful Seditious and Vipers He brought unheard of Innovations into the Church preferred Men of Arbitrary Principles and inclinable to Popery especially those Firebrands Laud Mountague and Manwaring one of whom had bin complain'd of in Parliament another impeach'd for advancing Popery and the third condemn'd in the House of Lords He dispensed with the Laws against Papists and both encourag'd and prefer'd them He called no Parliament for twelve years together and in that time govern'd as arbitrarily as the Grand Seignior He abetted the Irish Massacre as appears by their producing a Commission under the Great Seal of Scotland by the Letter of Charles the 2d in favor of the Marquess of Antrim by his stopping the Succors that the Parliament sent to reduce Ireland six months under the Walls of Chester by his entring into a Treaty with the Rebels after he had ingaged his Faith to the Parliament to the contrary and bringing over many thousands of them to sight against his People It is endless to enumerat all the Oppressions of his Reign but having no Army to support him his Tyranny was precarious and at last his ruin Tho he extorted great Sums from the People yet it was with so much difficulty that it did him little good Besides he spent so much in Foolish Wars and Expeditions that he was always behind-hand yet he often attemted to raise an Army Upon pretence of the Spanish and French War he rais'd many thousand Men who liv'd upon free Quarter and rob'd and destroy'd wherever they came But being unsuccessful in his Wars abroad and prest by the Clamors of the People at home he was forc'd to disband them In 1627 he sent over 30000 l. to Holland to raise 3000 German Horse to force his arbitrary Taxes but this matter taking wind and being examin'd by the Parliament Orders were sent to countermand them In the 15th year of his Reign he gave a Commission to Strafford to raise 8000 Irish to be brought into England but before they could get hither the Scots were in Arms for the like Oppressions and marched into Northumberland which forcing him to call a Parliament prevented that design and so that Army was disbanded Soon after he rais'd an Army in England to oppose the Scots and tamper'd with them to march to London and dissolve the Parliament but this Army being composed for the most part of the Militia and the matter being communicated to the House who immediatly fell on the Officers that were Members as Ashburnham Wilmot Pollard c. the design came to nothing After this there was a Pacification between the King and the Scots and in pursuance of it both Armies were disbanded Then he went to Scotland and indeavor'd to prevail with them to invade England but that not doing he sent a Message to the Parliament desiring their concurrence in the raising 3000 Irish to be lent to the King of Spain to which the Parliament refused to consent believing he would make another use of them When he came back to London he pick'd out 3 or 400 dissolute Fellows out of Taverns gaming and brothel-Houses kept a Table for them and with this goodly Guard all arm'd he entred the House of Commons sat down in the Speaker's Chair demanding the delivery of 5 Members But the Citizens coming down by Land and Water with Musquets upon their Shoulders to defend the Parliament he attemted no further This so inrag'd the House that they chose a Guard to defend themselves against future Insults and the King soon after left London Som time before this began the Irish Rebellion where the Irish pretended the King's Authority and shew'd the Great Seal to justify themselves which whether true or false raised such a jealousy in the People that he was forced to consent to leave the management of that War to the Parliament yet he afterwards sent a Message to them telling them he would go to Ireland in Person and acquainted them that he had issued out Commissions for raising 2000 Foot and 200 Horse in Cheshire for his Guard which they protested against and prevented it By this we may see what Force was thought sufficient in his Reign to inslave the Nation and the frequent Attemts to get it Then the Civil Wars broke out between him and his People in which many bloody Battels were fought two of the most considerable were those of Newbury and Naseby both won by new Soldiers the first by the London Militia and the latter by an unexperienc'd Army which the King used to call in derision the New Nodel And som years after the Battel of Worcester was in a great measure won by the Country Militia for which Cromwel discharged them with anger and contemt as knowing them Instruments unsit to promote his Tyrannical Designs At last by the fate of the War the King became a Prisoner and the Parliament treated with him while in that condition and at the same time voted that som part of the Army should be disbanded and others sent to Ireland to reduce that Kingdom upon which the Army chose Agitators among themselves who presented a Petition to both Houses that they would proceed to settle the Affairs of the Kingdom and declare that no part of the Army should be disbanded till that was don But finding their Petition resented they sent and seiz'd the King's Person from the Parliaments Commissioners drew up a Charge of High Treason against eleven principal Members for indeavoring to disband the Army entred into a privat Treaty with the King but he not complying with their demands they seized London and notwithstanding the Parliament had voted
reproach to our Country that our Reputation at Sea should be sunk to so low an eb as to be baffled by that Nation who but a few years before had sent a blank Paper to the Parliament to prescribe to them what Laws they pleased During this War the City of London was fired not without violent suspicions that the Firebals were prepared at Whitehall Soon after this he entred into the Triple Alliance to oppose the growing greatness of France and received a great Sum from the Parliament to maintain it which he made use of to break the same League sent Mr. Coventry to Sweden to dissolve it and entred into a strict Alliance with France which was sealed with his Sister's blood In conjunction with them he made a new War upon Holland to extirpat Liberty and the Protestant Religion but knowing the Parliament were averse to the War and would not support him in it he attemted before any War declared to seize their Smirna Fleet shut up the Exchequer and became so mean as to be a Pensioner to France from whence his Predecessors with Swords in their hands had so often exacted Tribute He not only suffered but assisted them to arrive at that pitch of Greatness which all Europe since hath sufficiently felt and lamented He sent over ten thousand Men to assist in subduing Flanders and Germany by whose help they did several considerable Actions He sent them Timber Seamen Ship-Carpenters and Models contrary to the Policy of all Nations which rais'd their Naval Force to a degree almost equal to our own and for their exercise he suffered them to take multitudes of English Ships by their Privateers without so much as demanding satisfaction During this War he issued out a Declaration suspending the Penal Laws which appears to be designed in favor of the Papists by his directing a Bill afterwards to be stolen away out of the House of Lords for indulging Protestant Dissenters whom he persecuted violently most of his Reign while he both countenanced and preferred Papists broke the Act of Settlement in Ireland restored them to their Estates issued forth a Proclamation giving the Papists liberty to inhabit in Corporations and married the Duke of York not only to a Papist but one in the French Interest notwithstanding the repeated Addresses of the Parliament to the contrary It was in this Reign that that cursed and detestable Policy was much improved of bribing Parliaments by distributing all the great Imployments in England among them and supplying the want of places with Grants of Lands and Mony No Man could be preferred to any Imployment in Church or State till he had declared himself an open Enemy to our Constitution by asserting Despotic Power under that nonsensical Phrase of Passive Obedience which was more preach'd up than all the Laws of God and Man The Hellish Popish Plot was stifled proved since too true by fatal experience and in the room of it Protestant ones were forged and Men trapan'd into others as the Meal-Tub Fitz Harris's the Rye-House Newmarket and Black-Heath Plots and by these Pretences and the help of packt Judges and Juries they butchered som of the best Men in England set immoderat Fines upon others gave probable suspicion of cutting the Lord Essex's Throat and to finish our destruction they took away the Charters as fast as they were able of all the Corporations in England that would not choose the Members prescribed them But he durst not have dreamt of all these Violations if he had not had an Army to justify them He had thoughts at first of keeping up the Parliament-Army which was several times in debate But Chancellor Hyde prevailed upon him by this Argument that they were a body of Men that had cut off his Father's Head that they had set up and pulled down ten several sorts of Government and that it might be his own turn next So that his fears prevailing over his ambition he consented to disband them but soon found how vain and abortive a thing Arbitrary Power would prove without an Army He therfore try'd all ways to get one and first he attemted it in Scotland and by means of the Duke of Lauderdale got an Act passed there wherby the Kingdom of Scotland was obliged to raise 20000 Foot and 2000 Horse at his Majesty's Call to march into any part of his Dominions and this Law is in being at this day Much about the same time he rais'd Guards in England a thing unheard of before in our English Constitution and by degrees increas'd them till they became a formidable Army for first they were but very few but by adding insensibly more Men to a Troop or Company and then more Troops or Companies to a Regiment before the second Dutch War he had multiplied them to near 5000 Men. He then began that War in conjunction with France and the Parliament gave him two Millions and a half to maintain it with part of which Mony he rais'd about 12000 Men which were called the Black-Heath Army appointing Marshal Shomberg to be their General and Fitz Gerald an Irish Papist their Lieutenant-General and pretended he rais'd them to attack Holland but instead of using them to that purpose he kept them encamped upon Black-Heath hovering over the City of London which put both the Parliament and City in such confusion that the King was forced at last to disband them But there were several accidents contributed to it First the ill success he had in the War with the Dutch such Gallantries being not to be attemted but in the highest Raptures of Fortune Next the never to be forgotten Generosity of that great Man General Shomberg whose mighty Genius scorn'd so ignoble an Action as to put Chains upon a free People and last of all the Army themselves mutini'd for want of Pay which added to the ill Humors that were then in the Nation made the King willing to disband them But at the same time contrary to the Articles of Peace with the Dutch he continu'd ten thousand Men in the French Service for the most part under Popish Officers to be season'd there in slavish Principles that they might be ready to execute any Commands when they were sent for over The Parliament never met but they address'd the King to recal these Forces out of France and disband them and several times prepar'd Bills to that purpose which the King always prevented by a Prorogation but at last was prevail'd upon to issue forth a Proclamation to recal them yet at the same time supply'd them with Recruits incourag'd som to go voluntarily into that Service and press'd imprison'd and carri'd over others by main Force besides he only disbanded the new rais'd Regiments and not all them neither for he kept up in England five thousand eight hundred and ninety privat Men besides Officers which was his Establishment in 1673. The King having two great designs to carry on together viz. Popery and Arbitrary Power thought this Force not
them and yet defeated by so small a number of Men and many of them too his Friends such is the force of Authority King James took occasion from hence to increase his Army to between fifteen and sixteen thousand Men and then unmask'd himself call'd his Parliament and in a haughty Speech told them He had increas'd his Army put in Officers not qualifi'd by the Test and that he would not part with them He ask'd a Supply and let them know he expected their compliance This was very unexpected to those Loyal Gentlemen who had given him such a vast Revenue for Life who refus'd to take any Security but his Majesty's never-failing Word for the Protestant Religion and indeed had don for him whatever he ask'd which yet was not very extraordinary since he had the choosing of most of them himself But even this Parliament turn'd short upon an Army which puts me in mind of a saying of Macchiavel viz. That it is as hard a matter for a Man to be perfectly bad as perfectly good tho if he had liv'd at this time I believe he had chang'd his Opinion The Court labor'd the matter very much and to shew that good Wits jump they told us that France was grown formidable that the Dutch Forces were much increas'd that we must be strong in proportion for the preservation of our selves and Flanders and that there was no dependence upon the Militia But this shallow Rhetoric would not pass upon them They answer'd that we had defended our selves for above a thousand Years without an Army that a King 's truest Strength is the Love of his People that they would make the Militia useful and order'd a Bill to be brought in to that purpose But all this serv'd only to fulfil their Iniquity for they had don their own Business before and now he would keep an Army up in spite of them so he prorogu'd them and call'd no other Parliament during his Reign but to frighten the City of London kept his Army encamp'd at Hounslow-Heath when the Season would permit which put not only them but the whole Nation into the utmost Terror and Confusion Towards the latter end of his Reign he had increas'd his Army in England to above twenty thousand Men and in Ireland to eight thousand seven hundred and odd This King committed two fatal Errors in his Politics The first was his falling out with his old Chronies the Priests who brought him to the Crown in spite of his Religion and would have supported him in Arbitrary Government to the utmost nay Popery especially the worst part of it viz. the Domination of the Church was not so formidable a thing to them but with a little Cookery it might have bin rendred palatable But he had Priests of another sort that were to rise upon their Ruins and he thought to play an easier Game by caressing the Dissenters imploying them and giving them Liberty of Conscience which kindness lookt so preposterous that the wise and sober Men among them could never heartily believe it and when the Prince of Orange landed turn'd against him His second Error was the disobliging his own Army by bringing over Regiments from Ireland and ordering every Company to take in so many Irish Papists by which they plainly saw he was reforming his Army and would cashire them all as fast as he could get Papists to supply their room So that he violated the Rights of the People fell out with the Church of England made uncertain Friends of the Dissenters and disoblig'd his own Army by which means they all united against him and invited the Prince of Orange to assist them which Invitation he accepted and landed at Torbay the 5th of November 1688. publishing a Declaration which set forth all the Oppressions of the last Reign but the keeping up a Standing Army declared for a free Parliament in which things were to be so settled that there should be no danger of falling again into Slavery and promis'd to send back all his foren Forces as soon as this was don When the News of his Landing was spread thro England he was welcom'd by the universal Acclamations of the People He had the Hands the Hearts and the Prayers of all honest Men in the Nation Every one thought the long wish'd for time of their Deliverance was com King James was deserted by his own Family his Court and his Army The Ground he stood upon mouldred under him so that he sent his Queen and Foundling to France before him and himself followed soon after When the Prince came to London he disbanded most of those Regiments that were rais'd from the time he landed and King James's Army that were disbanded by Feversham were order'd to repair all again to their Colors which was thought by som a false step believing it would have bin more our Interest to have kept those Regiments which came in upon the Principle on which this Revolution is founded than Forces that were rais'd in violation of the Laws and to support a Tyrannical Government besides the miserable Condition of Ireland requir'd our speedy Assistance and these Men might have bin trusted to do that work Within a few days after he came to Town he summon'd the Lords and not long after the Members of the three last Parliaments of King Charles the 2d and was address'd to by both Houses to take upon him the Administration of the Government to take into his particular care the then present Condition of Ireland and to issue forth Circulatory Letters for the choosing a Convention of Estates All this time Ireland lay bleeding and Tyrconnel was raising an Army disarming the Protestants and dispossessing them of all the Places they held in Leinster Munster and Connaught which occasion'd frequent Applications here for Relief tho it was to send them but one or two Regiments and if that could not be don to send them Arms and Commissions which in all probability would have made the Reduction of that Kingdom very easy yet tho the Prince's and King James his Army were both in England no relief was sent by which means the Irish got possession of the whole Kingdom but Londonderry and Inniskilling the former of which Towns shut up its Gates the ninth of December declaring for the Prince of Orange and address'd for immediat Relief yet could neither get Arms or Ammunition till the 20th of March and the Forces that were sent with Cunningham and Richards arrived not there till the 15th of April and immediatly after deserted the Service and came back again bringing Lundy the Governor before appointed by his Majesty with them and alledg'd for their Excuse that it was impossible to defend the Town But notwithstanding this Treachery such was the resolution of the Besieged that they continu'd to defend themselves with the utmost bravery and sent again for Relief which under Kirk came not to them till the 7th of June nor were these poor Creatures actually reliev'd till the
the same Method not our Policy Occonomy or Conduct we must encounter them hereafter and in order to it should put our selves in such Circumstances that our Enemies may dread a new Quarrel which can be no otherwise don but by lessening our Expences and paying off the public Ingagements as fast as we are able 'T is a miserable thing to consider that we pay near 4000000 l. a year upon the account of Funds no part wherof can be apply'd to the public Service unless they design to shut up the Exchequer which would not be very prudent to own I would therfore ask som of our Men of Management Suppose there should be a new War how they propose to maintain it For we all now know the end of our Line we have nothing left but a Land-Tax a Poll and som few Excises if the Parliament can be prevailed upon to consent to them And for once I will suppose that all together with what will fall in a Twelvemonth will amount to 3000000 l. and a half which is not probable and we will complement them by supposing they shall not in case of a new War give above fourteen or fifteen per cent for Premiums and Interest then the Remainder will be 3000000 l. I believe I may venture to say they will not be very fond of lessening the Civil List and lose their Salaries and Pensions Then if we deduct 700000 pound per annum upon that account there will be 2300000 pound per annum for the use of the War if the People pay the utmost penny they are able so that the Question will not be as in the last War how we shall carry it on against France at large but how 2300000 pound shall be disposed of to the greatest advantage which I presume every one will believe ought to be in a good Fleet. This leads me to consider what will be the best if not the only way of managing a new War in case of the King of Spain's death and a new Rupture with France and I will suppose the Nation to be as perfectly free from all incumbrances as before the War Most men at this time of day I believe will agree with me that 't is not our business to throw Squibs in Flanders send out vast Sums of Mony to have our Men play at bopeep with the French and at best to have their brains beat out against stone Walls but if a War is necessary there 't is our Interest to let the Dutch and Germans manage it which is proper for their Situation and let our Province be to undertake the Sea yet if we have not wit and honesty enough to make such a bargain with them but that we bring our selves again to a necessity of maintaining Armies there we may hire Men from Germany for half the price we can raise them here and they will be sooner ready than they can be transported from hence that Country being full of Men all Soldiers inured to Fatigue and serving for much less pay than we give our own besides we shall carry on the War at the expence of others blood and save our own People which are the strength and riches of all Governments we shall save the charge of providing for the Officers when the War is don and not meet with such difficulties in disbanding them There are som Gentlemen that have started a new method of making War with France and tell us it will be necessary to send Forces to Spain to hinder the French from possessing that Country and therfore we must keep them up here to be ready for that service which by the way is acknowledging the Horse ought to be disbanded since I presume they don't design to send them to Spain But to give this a full Answer I believe it is every ones opinion that there ought to be a strong Fleet kept up at Cales or in the Mediterranean superior to the French and then 't will be easier and cheaper to bring the Emperor's Forces by the way of Final to Spain than to send Men from hence and they are more likely to be acceptable there being of the same Religion and Subjects to the House of Austria whereas 't is to be feared our Men would be in as much danger from that bigotted Nation as from the French besides the King of Potugal is arming for his own defence and a sum of Mony well disposed there will enable him to raise double the Forces upon the spot as can be sent from hence with the same charge But for once I will admit it necessary we should send Forces both to Flanders and Spain yet 't is no consequence that we must keep up a Standing Army in England till that time coms We may remember Chrles the 2d rais'd between 20 and 30000 Men to fight against France in less than forty days and the Regiments this King raised the first year of his Reign were compleated in a very short time fart I am of opinion that a new Army may be raised before Ships and Provisions will be ready for their transportation at least if the management is no better than 't was once upon a time and perhaps it may happen that the King of Spain will not die in the summer time and then we shall have the winter before us We may add to this that the King of France has disbanded a great many men that his Country now lies open in a great many places that the Germans and Dutch keep great numbers of Men in constant pay and in all probability there will be a Peace with the Turks That Portugal and the Italian Princes must enter into the Confederacy in their own defence and that the French will lie under an equal necessity to raise Forces with a much less Country than in the former War to oppose such a mighty Union of Princes who will attach him upon the first attemt he makes upon Spain And after all what 's the mighty Advantage we propose by keeping this Force Why forsooth having a small number of Men more for the Officers will always be ready and now a great part of the private Soldiers are to be rais'd in case of a new War ready six Weeks sooner to attack France And I durst almost appeal to these Gentlemen themselves whether so small a Balance against France is equivalent to the hazard of our Liberties destructiion of our Constitution and the constant Expence of keeping them up to expect when the King of Spain will be pleased to die If these Gentlemen are really afraid of a new War and don 't use it as a Bugbear to fright us out of our Liberties and to gain their little party-Ends the way to bring the People into it heartily is to shew them that all their Actions tend to the public Advantage to lessen the National Expences to manage the Revenue with the greatest frugality to postpone part of their own Salaries and not grow rich while their Country grows poor to give their hearty Assistance for appropriating the Irish Lands gain'd by the Peoples Blood and Sweat to the public Service as was promis'd by his Majesty and not to shew an unhappy Wit in punishing som Men and excusing others for the same fault and spend three Months in Intrigues how to keep up a Standing Army to the dread of the greatest part of the Nation for let them fancy what they please the People will never consent to the raising a new Army till they are satisfied they shall be rid of them when the War is don and there is no way of convincing them of that but the disbanding these with willingness When we see this don we shall believe they are in earnest and the People will join unanimously in a new War otherwise there will always be a considerable part of the Nation whatever personal Honor they have for his Majesty or fears of France that will lie upon the Wheels with all their weight and do them more harm than their Army will do them good To conclude we have a wise and virtuous Prince who has always indeavor'd to please his People by taking those Men into his Councils which they have recommended to him by their own Choice and when their Interest has declin'd he has gratified the Nation by turning them out I would therfore give this seasonable advice to those who were once call'd Whigs that the way to preserve their Interest with his Majesty is to keep it with the People that their old Friends will not desert them till they desert their Country which when they do they will be left to their own proper Merits and tho I am not much given to believing Prophecys yet I dare be a Prophet for once and foretel that then they will meet with the fate of King Phys. and King Vsh in the Rehearsal Their new Masters will turn them off and no Body else will take them THE END ERRATA Pref. pag. 6. l. 8 9. r. the then King P. 15. l. 25. for four r. three P. 36. l. 17. for since r. and.