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
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
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
A Short HISTORY OF Standing Armies IN ENGLAND Captique dolis donisque coacti Quos neque Tydides nec Larissaeus Achilles Non anni domuere decem non mille Carinae Virg. Aen. ii LONDON Printed in the Year MDCXCVIII The PREFACE THERE is nothing in which the generality of Mankind are so much mistaken as when they talk of Government The different Effects of it are obvious to every one but few can trace its Causes Most Men having indigested Ideas of the Nature of it attribute all public Miscarriages to the corruption of Mankind They think the whole Mass is infected that it 's impossible to make any Reformation and so submit patiently to their Countries Calamities or else share in the Spoil whereas Complaints of this kind are as old as the World and every Age has thought their own the worst We have not only our own Experience but the Example of all Times to prove that Men in the same Circumstances will do the same things call them by what names of distinction you please A Government is a mere piece of Clockwork and having such Springs and Wheels must act after such a manner and therfore the Art is to constitute it so that it must move to the public Advantage It is certain that every Man will act for his own Interest and all wise Goverments are founded upon that Principle So that this whole Mystery is only to make the Interest of the Governors and Governed the same In an absolute Monarchy where the whole Power is in one Man his Interest will be only regarded In an Aristocracy the Interest of a few and in a free Government the Interest of every one This would be the Case of England if som Abuses that have lately crept into our Constitution were remov'd The freedom of this Kingdom depends upon the Peoples chusing the House of Commons who are a part of the Legislature and have the sole power of giving Mony Were this a true Representative and free from external Force or privat Bribery nothing could pass there but what they thought was for the public Advantage For their own Interest is so interwoven with the Peoples that if they act for themselves which every one of them will do as near as he can they must act for the common Interest of England And if a few among them should find it their Interest to abuse their Power it will be the Interest of all the rest to punish them for it and then our Government would act mechanically and a Rogue will as naturally be hang'd as a Clock strike twelve when the Hour is com This is the Fountain-Head from whence the People expect all their Happiness and the redress of their Grievances and if we can preserve them free from Corruption they will take care to keep every body else so Our Constitution seems to have provided for it by never suffering the King till Charles the Second's Reign to have a Mercenary Army to frighten them into a Compliance nor Places or Revenues great enough to bribe them into it The Places in the King's Gift were but few and most of them Patent Places for Life and the rest great Offices of State enjoy'd by single Persons which seldom fell to the share of the Commons such as the Lord Chancellor Lord Treasurer Privy-Seal Lord High-Admiral c. and when these Offices were possess'd by the Lords the Commons were severe Inquisitors into their Actions Thus the Government of England continu'd from the time that the Romans quitted the Island to the time of Charles the First who was the first I have read of that made an Opposition to himself in the House of Commons the road to Preferment of which the Earl of Strafford and Noy were the most remarkable Instances who from great Patriots became the chief Assertors of Despotic Power But this serv'd only to exasperat the rest for he had not Places enough for all that expected them nor Mony enough to bribe them 'T is true he rais'd great Sums of Mony upon the People but it being without Authority of Parliament and having no Army to back him it met with such Difficulties in the raising that it did him little good and ended at last in his ruin tho by the means of a long and miserable War which brought us from one Tyranny to another for the Army had got all things into their Power and govern'd the Nation by a Council of War which made all Parties join in calling in Charles the Second So that he came in with the general applause of the People who in a kind fit gave him a vast Revenue for Life By this he was enabled to raise an Army and bribe the Parliament which he did to the purpose but being a luxurious Prince he could not part with great Sums at once He only fed them from hand to mouth So that they found it as necessary to keep him in a constant Dependence upon them as they had upon him They knew he would give them ready Mony no longer than he had absolute necessity for them and he had not Places enough in his disposal to secure a Majority in the House for in those early days the art was not found out of splitting and multiplying Places as instead of a Lord Tr r to have Five Lords of the Tr ry instead of a Lord Ad l to have Seven Lords of the Ad ty to have Seven Commissioners of the C ms Nine of the Ex ze Fourteen of the N vy Office Ten of the St mp Office Eight of the Pr ze Office Sixteen of the Commissioners of Tr de Two of the P st Office Four of the Transports Four for Hackny Coaches Four for Wine-Licenses Four for the Victualling Office and multitudes of other Offices which are endless to enumerat I believe the Gentlemen who have the good Fortune to be in som of these Imployments will think I complement them if I should say they have not bin better executed since they were in so many hands than when in fewer and I must confess I see no reason why they may not be made twice as many and so ad infinitum unless the number be ascertain'd by Parliament and what danger this may be to our Constitution I think of with Horror For if in Ages to com they should be all given to Parliament Men what will becom of our so much boasted Liberty what shall be don when the Criminal becoms the Judg and the Malefactors are left to try themselves We may be sure their common danger will unite them and they will all stand by one another I do not speak this by guess for I have read of a Country where there was a constant Series of mismanagement for many Years together and yet no body was punish'd and even in our own Country I believe som Men now alive can remember the time when if the King had but twenty more Places in his disposal or disposed of those he had to the best
advantage the Liberty of England had bin at an end I would not be understood quite to exclude Parliament-men from having Places for a Man may serve his Country in two Capacities but I would not have it to be a Qualification for a Place because a poor Borough thinks a Man fit to represent them that therfore he must be a Statesman a Lawyer a Soldier an Admiral and what not If this method should be taken in a future Reign the People must not expect to see Men of Ability or Integrity in any Places while they hold them by no other tenure than the disservice they do their Country in the House of Commons and are sure to be turned out upon every prevalent Faction on the other side They must then never expect to see the House of Commons act vigorously for the Interest either of King or People but som will servilely comply with the Court to keep their Places others will oppose it as unreasonably to get them and those Gentlemen whose designs are for their Countries Interest will grow weary of the best form of Government in the World thinking by mistake the fault is in our Constitution I have heard of a Country where the Disputes about Offices to the value of thirty thousand Pounds per Annum have made six Millions ineffectual what by som Mens prostitute compliance and others openly clogging the Wheels it has caus'd Want and Necessity in all kinds of Men Bribery Treachery Profaneness Atheism Prodigality Luxury and all the Vices that attend a remiss and corrupt Administration and a universal neglect of the Public It is natural to run from one extreme to another and this Policy will at last turn upon any Court that uses it for if they should be resolv'd to give all Offices to Parliament-Men the People will think themselves under a necessity to obtain a Law that they shall give none which has bin more than once attemted in our own time Indeed tho there may be no great inconvenience in suffering a few Men that have Places to be in that House such as com in naturally without any indirect Means yet it will be fatal to us to have many for all wise Governments indeavor as much as possible to keep the Legislative and Executive Parts asunder that they may be a check upon one another Our Government trusts the King with no part of the Legislative but a Negative Voice which is absolutely necessary to preserve the Executive One part of the Duty of the House of Commons is to punish Offenders and redress the Grievances occasion'd by the Executive part of the Government and how can that be don if they should happen to be the same Persons unless they would be public spirited enough to hang or drown themselves But in my opinion in another thing of no less importance we deviated in Charles the Second's time from our Constitution for tho we were in a Capacity of punishing Offenders yet we did not know legally who they were The Law has bin always very tender of the Person of the King and therfore has dispos'd the Executive part of the Government in such proper Channels that whatsoever lesser Excesses are committed they are not imputed to him but his Ministers are accountable for them his Great Seal is kept by his Chancellor his Revenue by his Treasurer his Laws are executed by his Judges his Fleet is manag'd by his Lord High Admiral who are all accountable for their Misbehavior Formerly all matters of State and Discretion were debated and resolv'd in the Privy Council where every Man subscrib'd his Opinion and was answerable for it The late King Charles was the first who broke this mest excellent part of our Constitution by settling a Cabal or Cabinet Council where all matters of Consequence were debated and resolv'd and then brought to the Privy Council to be confirmed The first footsteps we have of this Council in any European Government were in Charles the Ninth's time of France when resolving to massacre the Protestants he durst not trust his Council with it but chose a few Men whom he call'd his Cabinet Council and considering what a Genealogy it had 't is no wonder it has bin so fatal both to King and People To the King for whereas our Constitution has provided Ministers in the several parts of the Government to answer for Miscarriages and to skreen him from the hatred of the People this on the contrary protects the Ministers and exposes the King to all the Complaints of his Subjects And 't is as dangerous to the People for whatever Miscarriages there are no Body can be punish'd for them for they justify themselves by a Sign Manual or perhaps a privat Direction from the King and then we have run it so far that we can't follow it The consequence of this must be continual Heartburnings between King and People and no one can see the Event A Short HISTORY OF Standing Armies IN ENGLAND IF any Man doubts whether a Standing Army is Slavery Popery Mahometism Paganism Atheism or any thing which they please let him read First The Story of Matho and Spendius at Carthage and the Mamalukes of Egypt Secondly The Historys of Strada and Bentivolio where he will find what work nine thousand Spaniards made in the 17 Provinces tho the Country was full of fortified Towns possessed by the Low Country Lords and they had assistance from Germany England and France Thirdly The History of Philip de Commines where he will find that Lewis the 11th inslaved the vast Country of France with 25000 Men and that the raising 500 Horse by Philip of Burgundy sirnamed the Good was the ruin of those Provinces Fourthly Ludlow's Memoirs where he will find that an Army raised to defend our Liberties made footballs of that Parliament at whose Actions all Europe stood amazed and in a few Years set up ten several sorts of Government contrary to the Genius of the whole Nation and the opinion of half their own Body such is the influence of a General over an Army that he can make them act like a piece of Mechanism whatever their privat Opinions are Lastly Let him read the Arguments against a Standing Army the Discourse concerning Militias the Militia Reform'd and the Answers to them but lest all this should not satisfy him I will here give a short History of Standing Armies in England I will trace this mystery of Iniquity from the beginning and show the several steps by which it has crept upon us The first footsteps I find of a Standing Army in England since the Romans left the Island were in Richard the 2d's time who raised four thousand Archers in Cheshire and suffered them to plunder live upon free Quarter beat wound ravish and kill wherever they went and afterwards he called a Parliament encompassed them with his Archers forced them to give up the whole power of Parliaments and make it Treason to endeavour to repeal any of the Arbitrary Constitutions
that were then made but being afterwards obliged to go to Ireland to suppress a Rebellion there the People took advantage of it and dethron'd him The Nation had such a Specimen in this Reign of a Standing Army that I don't find any King from him to Charles the 1st that attemted keeping up any Forces in time of Peace except the Yeomen of the Guard who were constituted by Henry the 7th and tho there were several Armies raised in that time for French Scotch Irish other foren and domestic Wars yet they were constantly disbanded as soon as the occasion was over And in all the Wars of York and Lancaster whatever party prevail'd we don't find they ever attemted to keep up a Standing Army Such was the virtue of those times that they would rather run the hazard of forfeiting their Heads and Estates to the rage of the opposit Party than certainly inslave their Country tho they themselves were to be the Tyrants Nor would they suffer our Kings to keep up an Army in Ireland tho there were frequent Rebellions there and by that means their Subjection very precarious as well knowing they would be in England when called for In the first three hundred Years that the English had possession of that Country there were no Armies there but in times of War The first Force that was establish'd was in the 14th of Edward the forrth when 120 Archers on Horseback 40 Horsemen and 40 Pages were establish'd by Parliament there which six Years after were reduc'd to 80 Archers and 20 Spearmen on Horseback Afterwards in Henry the Eighth's time in the Year 1535 the Army in Ireland was 300 and in 1543 they were increased to 380 Horse and 160 Foot which was the Establishment then I speak this of times of Peace for when the Irish were in Rebellion which was very frequent the Armies were much more considerable In Queen Mary's time the Standing Forces were about 1200. In most of Queen Elizabeth's Reign the Irish were in open Rebellion but when they were all suppress'd the Army establish'd was between 1500 and 2000 about which number they continued till the Army rais'd by Strafford the 15th of Charles the 1st In the Year 1602 dy'd Queen Elizabeth and with her all the Virtue of the Plantagenets and the Tudors She made the English Glory sound thro the whole Earth She first taught her Country the advantages of Trade set bounds to the Ambition of France and Spain assisted the Dutch but would neither permit them or France to build any great Ships kept the Keys of the Rivers Maes and Scheld in her own hands and died with an uncontrol'd Dominion of the Seas and Arbitress of Christendom All this she did with a Revenue not exceeding 300000 pounds per Annum and had but inconsiderable Taxes from her People No sooner was King James come to the Crown but all the Reputation we had acquir'd in her glorious Reign was eclips'd and we became the scorn of all Nations about us contemned even by that State we had created who insulted us at Sea seiz'd Amboyna Poleroon Seran and other Places in the East-Indies by which they ingross'd that most profitable Trade of Spices fish'd upon our Coasts without paying the customary Tribute and at the same time prevail'd with the King to deliver up the Cautionary Towns of Brill Ramekins and Flushing for a very small Consideration tho there were near six Millions Arrears He squandred the public Treasure discountenanc'd all the great Men who were rais'd in the glorious Reign of his Predecessor cut off Sir Walter Raleigh's Head advanc'd Favorites of his own Men of no Merit to the highest Preferment and to maintain their Profuseness he granted them Monopolies infinit Projects prostituted Honors for Mony rais'd Benevolences and Loans without Authority of Parliament And when these Grievances were complain'd of there he committed many of the principal Members without Bail or Mainprise as he did afterwards for presuming to address him against the Spanish Match He pardon'd the Earl of Somerset and his Wife for Sir Thomas Overbury's Murder after he had imprecated all the Curses of Heaven upon himself and his Posterity and it was generally thought because the Earl was Accessary to the poisoning Prince Henry He permitted his Son-in-law to be ejected out of his Principalities and the Protestant Interest to be run down in Germany and France while he was bubled nine Years together with the hopes of the Spanish Match and a great Fortune Afterwards he made a dishonorable Treaty of Marriage with France giving the Papists Liberty of Conscience and indeed as he often declared he was no otherwise an Enemy to Popery than for their deposing of Kings and King-killing Doctrin In Ireland he gave them all the Incouragement he durst which Policy has bin follow'd by all his Successors since to this present Reign and has serv'd 'em to two purposes One is by this they have had a pretence to keep up Standing Armies there to aw the Natives and the other that they might make use of the Natives against their English Subjects In this Reign that ridiculous Doctrin of Kings being Jure Divino was coin'd never before heard of even in the Eastern Tyrannies The other parts of his Government had such a mixture of Scharamuchi and Harlequin that they ought not to be spoken of seriously as Proclamations upon every Trifle som against talking of News Letters to the Parliament telling them he was an old and wise King that State Affairs were above their reach and therfore they must not meddle with them and such like Trumpery But our happiness was that this Prince was a great Coward and hated the sight of a Soldier so that he could not do much against us by open force At last he died as many have believed by Poison to make room for his Son Charles the First This King was a great Bigot which made him the Darling of the Clergy but having no great reach of his own and being govern'd by the Priests who have bin always unfortunat when they have meddled with Politics with a true Ecclesiastic Fury he drove on to the destruction of all the Liberties of England This King 's whole Reign was one continued Act against the Laws He dissolv'd his first Parliament for presuming to inquire into his Father's Death tho he lost a great Sum of Mony by it which they had voted him He entred at the same time into a War with France and Spain upon the privat Piques of Buckingham who managed them to the eternal Dishonor and Reproach of the English Nation witness the ridiculous Enterprizes upon Cadiz and the Isle of Rhee He deliver'd Pennington's Fleet into the French hands betray'd the poor Rochellers and suffered the Protestant Interest in France to be quite extirpated He rais'd Loans Excises Coat and Conduct-mony Tunnage and Poundage Knighthood and Ship-mony without Authority of Parliament impos'd new Oaths on the Subjects to discover the value of their Estates
the King's Concessions a ground for a future Settlement they resolved to put him to Death and in order therto purged the House as they called it that is placed Guards upon them and excluded all Members that were for agreeing with the King and then they cut off his Head After this they let the Parliament govern for five years who made their Name famous thro the whole Earth conquered their Enemies in England Scotland and Ireland reduced the Kingdom of Portugal to their own Terms recovered our Reputation at Sea overcame the Dutch in several famous Battels secured our Trade and managed the public Expences with so much frugality that no Estates were gained by privat Men upon the public Miseries and at last were passing an Act for their own Dissolution and settling the Nation in a free and impartial Common-wealth of which the Army being afraid thought it necessary to dissolve them and accordingly Cromwel next day called two Files of Musqueteers into the House and pulled the Speaker out of the Chair behaving himself like a Madman vilifying the Members and calling one a Whoremaster another a Drunkard bidding the Soldiers take away that fools bauble the Mace and so good night to the Parliament When they had don this Act of violence the Council of Officers set up a new form of Government and chose a certain number of Persons out of every County and City of England Scotland and Ireland and these they invested with the Supreme Power but soon after expelled them and then Cromwel set up himself and framed a new Instrument of Government by a Protector and a House of Commons in pursuance of which he called a Parliament But they not answering his Expectations he excluded all that would not subscribe his Instrument and those that remained not proving for his purpose neither he dissolved them with a great deal of opprobrious Language He then divided England into several Districts or Divisions and placed Major Generals or Intendents over them who governed like so many Bashaws decimating the Cavaliers and raising Taxes at their pleasure Then forsooth he had a mind to make himself King and called another Parliament to that purpose after his usual manner secluding such Members as he did not like To this Assembly he offered another Instrument of Government which was by a Representative of the People a 2d House composed of 70 Members in the nature of a House of Lords and a single Person and left a Blank for what name he should be called which this worthy Assembly filled up with that of King addressed to Cromwel that he would be pleased to accept it and gave him power to nominat the Members of the Other House This the great Officers of the Army resented for it destroyed all their hopes of being Tyrants in their turn and therefore addressed the Parliament against the Power and Government of a King which made Cromwel decline that Title and content himself with a greater Power under the name of Protector Afterwards he nam'd the Other House as it was called for the most part out of the Officers of the Army but even this Parliament not pleasing him he dissolved them in a fury and govern'd the Nation without any Parliament at all till he died After his death the Army set up his Son Richard who called a new Parliament but their procedings being not agreable to the humor of the Soldiery they forced the Protector to dissolve them then they deposed him and took the power into their own hands but being unable to weild it they restored the Commonwealth and soon after expelled them again because they would not settle the Military Sword independent of the Civil then they governed the Nation by a Council of War at Willingford-House and those a Committee of Safety for the executive part of the Government but that Whim lasted but a little time before they chose Conservators of Liberty and that not doing neither they agreed that every Regiment should choose two Representatives and this worthy Council should settle the Nation when they met somtimes they were for calling a new Parliament somtimes for restoring the old which was at last don By this means all things fell into Confusion which gave Monk an opportunity of marching into England where he acted his part so dexterously that he restor'd the King with part of that Army which had cut off his Father's Head This is a true and lively Example of a Government with an Army an Army that was raised in the cause and for the sake of Liberty composed for the most part of Men of Religion and Sobriety If this Army could commit such violences upon a Parliament always successful that had acquired so much Reputation both at home and abroad at a time when the whole People were trained in Arms and the Pulse of the Nation beat high for Liberty what are we to expect if in a future Age an ambitious Prince should arise with a dissolute and debauched Army a flattering Clergy a prostitute Ministry a Bankrupt House of L ds a Pensioner House of C ns and a slavish and corrupted Nation By this means came in Charles the Second a luxurious effeminat Prince a deep Dissembler and if not a Papist himself yet a great favorer of them but the People had suffered so much from the Army that he was received with the utmost Joy and Transport The Parliament in the Honymoon passed what Laws he pleased gave a vast Revenue for life being three times as much as any of his Predecessors ever enjoyed and several Millions besides to be spent in his Pleasures This made him conceive vaster hopes of Arbitrary Power than any that went before him and in order to it he debauched and enervated the whole Kingdom His Court was a scene of Adulteries Drunkenness and Irreligion appearing more like Stews or the Feasts of Bacchus than the Family of a Chief Magistrate and in a little time the Contagion spread thro the whole Nation that it was out of the fashion not to be leud and scandalous not to be a public Enemy which has bin the occasion of all the Miseries that have since happened and I am afraid will not be extinguished but by our ruin He was no sooner warm in his Seat but he rejected an advantageous Treaty of Commerce which Oliver made with France as don by a Usurper suffer'd the French to lay Impositions upon all our Goods which amounted to a Prohibition insomuch that they got a Million a year from us in the overbalance of Trade He sold that important Fortress of Dunkirk let the French seize St. Christophers and other places in North America He began a foolish and unjust War with the Dutch and tho the Parliament gave him vast Sums to maintain it yet he spent so much upon his Vices that they got great advantages of us and burnt our Fleet at Chatham At last he made as dishonorable a Peace with them as he had don a War a perpetual
30th of July tho there appears no reason why he might not have don it when he first came into the Harbor which was more than seven Weeks before Thus we see the Resolution of these poor Men weari'd out all their Disappointments When the Convention met they resolv'd upon twenty eight Articles as the Preliminaries upon which they would dispose the Crown but this design dwindled into a Declaration of our Rights which was in thirteen Articles and the most considerable viz. That the raising and keeping up a Standing Army in times of Peace is contrary to Law had tag'd to it these words without Authority of Parliament as if the consent of the Parliament would not have made it Legal without those words or that their Consent would make it less dangerous This made the Jacobites say in those early days that som evil Counsellors design'd to play the same game again of a Standing Army and attributed unjustly the neglect of Ireland to the same Cause because by that omission it was made necessary to raise a greater Army to reduce it with which the King acquainted the Parliament the 8th of March when speaking of the deplorable Condition of Ireland he declar'd he thought it not advisable to attemt the reducing it with less than 20000 Horse and Foot This was a bitter Pill to the Parliament who thought they might have manag'd their share of the War with France at Sea but there was no remedy a greater Army must be rais'd or Ireland lost and to gild it all the Courtiers usher'd in their Speeches with this Declaration That they would be the first for disbanding them when the War was over and this Declaration has bin made as often as an Army has bin debated since during the War and I suppose punctually observ'd last Sessions At last the thing was consented to and the King issu'd forth Commissions for the raising of Horse Foot and Dragoons In this Army very few Gentlemen of Estates in Ireland could get Imployments tho they were in a miserable Condition here and made their utmost Application for them it being a common objection by som Colonels that a Man had an Estate there which in all likelihood would have made him more vigorous in reducing the Kingdom It was long after this Army was rais'd before they could be ready to be transported and even then it was commonly said that Shomberg found many things out of order and when they were at last transported which was about the middle of August they were not in a Condition to fight the Enemy tho lately baffled before Londonderry especially their Carriages coming not to them till the 24th of September when it was high time to go into Winter-Quarters By this means the Irish got Strength and Courage and three fourths of our Army perish'd at the Camp at Dundalk But tho our Army could do nothing yet the Militia of the Country almost without Arms or Clothes performed Miracles witness that memorable Siege of Londonderry the defeat of General Mackarty who was intrench'd in a Bog with ten thousand regular Troops and attack'd by fifteen hundred Inniskilling men defeated himself made a Prisoner and three thousand of his Men kill'd and a great many other gallant Actions they perform'd for which they were dismiss'd by Kirk with Scorn and Ignominy and most of their Officers left to starve Thus the War in Ireland was nurs'd up either thro Chance Inadvertency or the necessity of our Affairs for I am unwilling to think it was Design till at last it was grown so big that nothing less than his Majesty's great Genius and the usual Success that has always attended his Conduct could have overcom it When the Parliament met that Winter they fell upon the examination of the Irish Affairs and finding Commissary Shales was the cause of a great part of the Miscarriages they address'd his Majesty that he would be pleas'd to acquaint the House who it was that advis'd the imploying him which his Majesty did not remember They then address'd that he would be pleas'd to order him to be taken into Custody and it was don accordingly upon which Shales sent a Letter to the Speaker desiring he might be brought over to England where he would vindicat himself and justify what he had don Then the House address'd his Majesty again that he might be brought over with all convenient speed and the King was pleas'd to answer that he had given such Orders already Then the House refer'd the matter to a privat Committee but before any Report made or Shales could be brought to England the Parliament was prorogu'd and after dissolv'd and soon after he fell sick and died The neglect of Ireland this Year made it necessary to raise more Forces and increase our Establishment which afterwards upon pretence of invading France was advanc'd to eighty seven thousand six hundred ninety eight Men. At last by our great Armies and Fleets and the constant expence of maintaining them we were too hard for the Oeconomy Skill and Policy of France and notwithstanding all our Difficulties brought them to Terms both Safe and Honorable It not being to be purpose of this Discourse I shall omit giving any account of the Conduct of our Fleet during this War how few Advantages we reap'd by it and how many Opportunities we lost of destroying the French Only thus much I will observe that tho a great part of it may be attributed to the Negligence Ignorance or Treachery of inferior Officers yet it could not so universally happen thro the whole course of the War and unpunish'd too notwithstanding the clamors of the Merchants and repeated complaints in Parliament unless the cause had laid deeper What that is I shall not presume to enquire but I am sure there has bin a very ill Argument drawn from it viz. That a Fleet is no security to us As soon as the Peace was made his Majesty discharg'd a great part of the foren Forces and an Advertisment was publish'd in the Gazet that ten Regiments should be forthwith disbanded and we were told as soon as it was don that more should follow their example But these Resolutions it seems were alter'd and the modish Language was that we must keep up a Standing Army Their Arguments were turn'd topsy turvy for as during the War the People were prevail'd upon to keep up the Army in hopes of a Peace so now we must keep them up for fear of a War The Condition of France which they had bin decrying for many Years was now magnifi'd we were told that it was doubtful whether the French King would deliver up any of his Towns that he was preparing a vast Fleet upon the Lord knows what Design that it was impossible to make a Militia useful that the warlike King Jemmy had an Army of eighteen thousand Irish Hero's in France who would be ready when call'd for and that the King of Spain was dying The Members of Parliament were discours'd
remove our fears of a Standing Army by sending them threescore miles off from whence they may recal them upon a few days notice Nay an Army kept in Ireland is more dangerous to us than at home for here by perpetual converse with their Relations and Acquaintance som few of them perhaps may warp towards their Country wheras in Ireland they are kept as it were in a Garison where they are shut up from the communication of their Countrymen and may be nurs'd up in another Interest This is so true that 't is a common Policy among Arbitrary Princes often to shift their Soldiers Quarters lest they should contract friendship among the Natives and by degrees fall into their Interest It may be said perhaps That the People of Ireland will pay them which makes the matter so much the worse for they are less likely to have any regard to their Country Besides if we consider the Lords Justices Speech to that Parliament wherin they are let know that his Majesty EXPECTS that they will continue the Subsistence to the disbanded Officers and support the present Establishment which by the way is near three times as great as Charles the 2d's and this without any other ceremony or qualification of Time with which his Majesty was pleas'd to express himself to his English and Scotch Parliaments we may be convinc'd that they are not in a condition to dispute this matter especially at a time when they apprehend Hardships will be put upon them in relation to their Trade and therfore we may be sure they will gratify the Court to the utmost of their Power in hopes if they can't prevent the passing a Law against them to obtain a connivance in the execution We may add by this means they will keep their Mony in their own Country a great part wherof came formerly to England and have an opportunity of returning the Complement we design'd them last Year if we don't prevent it by disbanding the Army there as Strafford's Army in Ireland was formerly in the 15th of Charles the first and lately another in 78 by our English Parliaments I can't avoid taking notice here how different the modish Sentiments are in Ireland and England for there the Language is We must comply with the Court in keeping up the Army or otherwise the Woollen Manufacture is gon and here the Men in fashion tell us that an Army must be kept in Ireland to destroy the Woollen Manufacture and execute the Laws we make against them and in order to it the People of Ireland are to pay them This project of sending Men to Ireland was so transparent that they durst not rely upon it and therfore they told us that as fast as Mony could be got they would disband more Regiments The People were in great expectation when it would be don and several times it was taken notice of in Parliament and the Courtiers always assur'd them that nothing hindred it but the want of Mony to pay them off 'T was considently said in all public places that eighteen Regiments more would be disbanded and the Regiments were nam'd and I have heard it with great Assurance affirm'd by the Agents and Officers themselves that the King had sign'd it in Council Thus the Session was worn out till the House of Commons tir'd with Expectation address'd his Majesty That be would be pleas'd to give order that a List be laid before the House of the Army disbanded and intended to be disbanded and of the Officers Names who are to have half pay and his Majesty was pleas'd to answer That he would comply with the desires of the House as soon as conveniently be couid but the Parliament sitting not above a Month afterwards his Majesty sent them no farther answer At last the Parliament rose and instead of disbanding they brought over a great many foreign Regiments and sent them to Ireland as well as three more English ones But even all this would not bring their Army in England down to ten thousand Men so that they made another Reform and since have incorporated the Officers of the disbanded Regiments in Ireland into the Standing Troops by which means they have not an Army of Officers wheras if these Gentlemen design their Army to defend us against a sudden Invasion or to be in readiness against the King of Spain's Death in my poor opinion they should have kept up the privat Soldiers and disbanded all the Officers but such as are just necessary to exercise them for Officers will be always ready to accept good Imployments whereas the privat Soldiers will be very difficultly listed again in a new War tho we all know they are easily to be got together when they are only to insult their Countrymen One good effect of this Army has already appear'd for I presume every body has heard how prevailing an Argument it was in the late Elections That if we choose such a Man we shall be free from Quarters and I wish this Argument dos not every day grow stronger Nay who knows but in another Reign the Corporations may be told that his Majesty expects they will choose the Officers of the Army and the Parliament be told that he expects they will maintain them But to set this matter in a full view I will here put down the Establishment of King Charles the Second in 88 which was the foundation of the Vote of the 11th of December as also his present Majesty's and in this as well as my other Computations I do not pretend but I may be mistaken in many Particulars tho I have taken what care I could not to be so nor is it material to my purpose so the variation from Truth is not considerable I shall also set down King William's Establishment as the Regiments were before the Reform because all the Officers still remain and a great part of the privat Soldiers which I take to be in effect full Regiments the rest being to be rais'd again in a few days if they are design'd for home Service but as I said before the hardest to be got if they are designed for Spain or Flanders But herein if any Man differs from me he may make his own deductions The Establishment of Charles the 2d in England in the Year Eighty Horse and Dragoons in England Troops and Companies Commis Officers Non-Commis Officers Private Men. Total Number Troops of Guards 3 48 15 600 663 The Royal Regiment of Horse 8 34 40 400 474 A Troop of Dragoons raised in July 1680. 1 4 8 40 52 Total Horse and Dragoons 12 86 63 1040 1189 Foot in England  Gentlemen Pensioners 1 6 0 40 46 Yeomen of the Guard 1 7 0 100 107 The first Regiment of Foot-Guards 24 75 192 1440 1707 The Coldstream Regiment 12 39 96 720 855 The Duke of York's Regiment 12 39 96 630 765 The Holland Regiment 12 39 96 600 735 Independent Companies 26 78 208 1260 1546 Total Foot in England 88 283
688 4790 5761 King Charles the Second's Establishment in Ireland in the Year Eighty  Troops and Companies Commis Officers Non-Commis Officers Private Men. Total Number Troops of Horse 24 96 196 1080 1372 His Foot in Ireland  Yeomen of the Guard 1 3 0 60 63 A Regiment of Guards 12 40 99 1120 1259 Single Companies 74 222 444 4440 5166 Total Foot in Ireland 87 265 543 5620 6428 I have not here put down the Garison of Tangier which was about three thousand Men because that place is now lost and consequently wants no Garison I will now set down his present Majesty's Establishment and then compare them both together Horse and Dragoons upon the English Establishment  Three Troops of Horse Guards 3 48 15 600 663 One Troop of Dutch Guards 1 15 5 200 220 One Troop of Horse Granadiers 1 11 20 180 211 Lord Oxford's Regiment 9 40 45 531 616 Lord Portland's Horse Dutch Regiment 9 42 54 603 699 Lumley's Regiment 9 40 45 531 616  Troops and Companies Commis Officers Non-Commis Officers Private Men. Total Number Wood's 6 28 36 354 412 Arran's 6 28 36 354 412 Windham's 6 28 36 354 412 Schomberg's 6 28 36 354 412 Macclesfield's 6 28 36 354 412 Raby's Dragoons 8 37 72 480 589 Flood 's Dragoons 8 37 72 480 589 Lord Essex's Dragoons 8 37 72 480 589 Total Horse and Dragoons in England 86 447 580 5855 6876 Foot on the English Establishment  Gentlemen Pensioners 1 6 0 40 46 Yeomen of the Guard 1 7 0 100 107 Lord Rumney's four Battalions 28 99 222 2240 2563 Lord Cutt's two Battalions 14 51 112 1120 1283 The blew Guards a Dutch Regiment four Battalions 26 96 208 2366 2670 Earl of Orkney's a Scotch Regiment 26 88 208 1560 1656 Selwin's 13 44 104 780 928 Churchil's 13 44 104 780 928 Trelawny's 13 44 104 780 928 Earle's 13 44 104 780 928 Seymour's 13 44 104 780 928 Colt's 13 44 104 780 928 Mordant's 13 44 104 780 928 Sir David Collier's 13 44 104 780 928 Sir Charles Hero's Fusileers in Jersey 13 46 104 780 930  Troops and Companies Commission Officers Non-Commis Officers Private Men. Total Number Collingwood's 13 46 104 780 928 A Company at Vpnor Castle 1 2 6 50 58 Total Foot in England 227 793 1796 15276 17865 Horse and Dragoons upon the Irish Establishment  Luson's 6 42 30 354 412 Langston's 6 42 30 354 412 Lord Gallaway's a French Regiment 9 113 45 531 689 Ross's Dragoons 8 37 72 480 589 Ecklins's 8 37 72 480 589 Cunningham's 8 37 72 480 589 Mermon's a French Regiment 8 74 144 480 698 Total Horse and Dragoons in Ireland 53 338 465 3159 3962 Foot upon the Irish Establishment with the disbanded Officers incorporated  Fairfax's 13 66 104 780 950 Collumbine's 13 66 104 780 950 Webb's 13 66 104 780 950 Granvill's 13 66 104 780 950 Brewer's 13 66 104 780 950 Jacob's 13 66 104 780 950 How 's 13 66 104 780 950 Steward's 13 66 104 780 950 Hanmore's 13 66 104 780 950 Titcomb's 13 66 104 780 950 Stanley's 13 66 104 780 950 Bridges's 13 66 104 780 950 Fr. Hamilton's 13 66 104 780 950 Ingoldsby's 13 66 104 780 950 Pisar's 13 66 104 780 950 Bellasis's 13 66 104 780 950 Gustavus Hamilton's 13 66 104 780 950 Tiffany's 13 66 104 780 950 Martoon's a French Regiment 13 83 104 780 967 Lamellioneer's a French Regiment 13 83 104 780 967 Beleastle's a French Regiment 13 83 104 780 967 Holt's Regiment in the West-Indies which is not upon the Irish Establishment 13 44 104 780 928 Total Foot in Ireland 286 1481 2288 17160 20929 I will now compare both Establishments together  Troops and Companies Commission Officers Non-Commis Officers Private Men. Total Number Charles the 2d's Horse in Eighty in England 12 86 63 1040 1189 His Foot in England 88 283 688 4790 5761 His Horse and Foot in England 100 369 751 5830 6950 His Establishment in Ireland His Horse in Ireland 24 96 196 1080 1372 His Foot in Ireland 87 265 543 5620 6428 His Horse and Foot in Ireland 111 361 739 6700 7800 All his Army in England and Ireland Troops and Companies Commission Officers Non-Commis Officers Private Men. Total Number His Horse in England and Ireland 36 182 259 2120 2561 His Foot in England and Ireland 175 548 1231 10410 12189 All his Army in England and Ireland 211 730 1490 12530 14750 King William's Establishment His Horse in England 86 441 580 5855 6876 His Foot in England 227 793 1796 15276 17865 All his Forces in England 313 1234 2376 21131 24741 His Establishment in Ireland His Horse in Ireland 53 338 465 3159 3962 His Foot in Ireland 286 1481 2288 17160 20929 All his Forces in Ireland 339 1819 2753 20319 24891 All his Army in England and Ireland His Horse and Dragoons in England and Ireland 139 779 1045 9014 10838 His Foot in England and Ireland 513 2274 4084 32436 38794 All his Army in England and Ireland 652 3053 5129 41450 49632 So that his present Majesty in England and Ireland alone has above three times as many Troops and Companies as Charles the Second had in the Year eighty almost five times as many Commission Officers near four times as many Non-Commission Officers and when the Commanders shall have Orders to recruit their Companies will have more than three times the number of common Soldiers besides the disbanded Officers which are not incorporated into other Regiments and upon the Establishment they now stand are as much Creatures to the Court as if their Regiments were in being His Majesty's Forces in Scotland which in the Year Eighty consisted of 2806 Men.  Troops and Companies Commission Officers Non-Commis Officers Private Men. Total Number The Troop of Guards 1 15 5 120 140 The Royal Regiment of Dragoons 8 37 72 320 429 Jedborough's Dragoons 6 27 54 240 321 The Royal Regiment of Foot Guards 16 51 128 912 1091 Rew's Fusileers 16 51 128 640 819 Collier or Hamilton's 16 51 128 640 819 Maitland's 16 51 128 640 819 In Garisons 4 12 24 295 331 All his Forces in Scotland 83 295 667 3807 4769 These Forces are as they are now reduc'd and allow'd by the Parliament of Scotland for Reasons best known to themselves which without doubt must be very good ones since 't is commonly said that ten Privy Counsellors of that Kingdom who appear'd against the Army are turn'd out of the Council which if true I presume will be a sufficient warning to our Gentlemen at home However there is this use in the Scotch Army that if the Parliament of England shall be prevail'd on to think any Forces necessary a lesser Number will be sufficient His Majesty's Forces in Holland Troops and Companies Commission Officers Non-Commis Officers Private Men. Total Number Lawder's 13 44 104 780 928 William Collins 13 44 104 780 928 Murray's 13 44 104 780 928 Ferguson's 13
depopulated by this War his Manufactures much impaired great numbers of Offices have bin erected which like Leeches draw away the Peoples blood prodigious Debts contracted and a most beneficial Trade with England lost These things being considered there can be little danger of their shewing over much wantonness especially for som years and yet still we must be bullied by the name of France and the Fear of it must do what their Power could never yet effect which is a little too gross considering they were inslaved by the same means For in Lewis the 11th's time the French gave up their Liberties for fear of England and now we must give up ours for fear of France Secondly Most of King James's English and Irish Forces which we have bin so often threatned with are disbanded and he is said to subsist upon his Majesty's Charity which will be a sufficient Caution for his good behaviour Thirdly The French Fleet which was another Bugbear exceeded not this year 20 Sail nor attemted any thing tho we had no Fleet out to oppose them Fourthly The King of Spain is not dead nor in a more dangerous Condition than he has bin for som years and we are not without hopes that his Majesty by his extraordinary Prudence has taken such care as to prevent a new War in case he should die Fifthly As to the Militia I suppose every Man is now satisfied that we must never expect to see it made useful till we have disbanded the Army I would not be here understood to throw the whole odium of that matter upon the Court for there are several other Parties in England that are not over-zealous for a Militia First those who are for restoring K. James's Trumpery and would have the Army disbanded and no Force settled in the room of it Next there are a mungrel sort of Men who are not direct Enemies to the King yet because their fancied merit is not rewarded at their own price they are so shagreen that they will not let him have the Reputation of so noble an Establishment Besides these there are others that having no notion of any Militia but our own and being utterly unacquainted with antient and modern History think it impracticable and som wretched things are against it because of the Charge whereas if their Mothers had taught them to cast account they would have found out that 52000 Men for a month will be but the same charge to the Subject as four thousand for a year supposing the pay to be the same and reckoning it to be a third part greater it will be equivalent to the charge of 6000 and if we should allow them to be out a fortnight longer than was designed by the last Bill for exercising in lesser Bodies then the utmost Charge of such a Militia will be no more than to keep up 9000 Men the year round None of the Parties I mention'd will openly oppose a Militia tho they would be all glad to drop it and I believe no body will be so hardy as to deny but if the Court would shew as much vigor in prosecuting it as they did last year to keep up a Standing Army that a Bill would pass which they will certainly do if we disband the Army and they think it necessary and if they do not we have no reason to think an Army so When they tell us we may be invaded in the mean time they are not in earnest for we all know if the King of France has any designs they look another way besides he has provided no Transports nor is in any readiness to make an Invasion and if he was we have a Fleet to hinder him nay even the Militia we have in London and som other Counties are moderatly exercis'd and I believe those who speak most contemtibly of them will allow 'em to have natural Courage and as good Limbs as other People and if they will allow nothing else then here is an Army of a hundred or sixscore thousand Men ready listed regimented horsed and armed and if there should be any occasion his Majesty can put what Officers he pleases of the old Army over them and the Parliament will be sitting to give him what Powers shall be necessary We may add to this that the disbanded Soldiers in all probability will be part of this body and then what fear can there be of a scambling Invasion of a few Men I have avoided in this place discoursing of the nature of Militia's that Subject having been so fully handled already only thus much I will observe that a Standing Army in Peace will grow more effeminat by living dissolutely in Quarters than a Militia that for the most part will be exercised with hard labor So that upon the whole matter a Standing Army in Peace will be worse than a Militia and in War a Militia will soon becom a disciplin'd Army Sixthly The Army has bin kept up for a Year which is all was pretended to and notwithstanding their Prophecies we have had no Invasion nor danger of one Lastly The Earl of Portland and Marshal Boufflers were so far from quarrelling that perhaps no English Ambassador was ever received in France with more Honor. But further there is a Crisis in all Affairs which when once lost is never to be retrieved Several Accidents concur to make the disbanding the Army practicable now which may not happen again We have a new Parliament uncorrupted by the Intrigues of the Courtiers besides the Soldiers themselves hitherto have known little but the Fatigues of a War and have bin so paid since that the privat Men would be glad to be disbanded and the Officers would not be very uneasy at it considering they are to have half Pay which we must not expect them hereafter when they have lived in Riot and Luxury Add to this we have a good Prince whose Inclinations as well as Circumstances will oblige him to comply with the reasonable Desires of his People But let us not flatter our selves this will not be always so If the Army should be continued a few years they will be accounted part of the Prerogative and 't will be thought as great a violation to attemt the disbanding them as the Guards in Charles the Second's time it shall be interpreted a design to dethrone the King and be made an Argument for the keeping them up But there are other Reasons yet The public Necessities call upon us to contract our charge that we may be the sooner out of debt and in a condition to make a new War and t is not the keeping great Armies on foot that will inable us to do so but putting our selves in a capacity to pay them We have had the experience of this in eight years War for we have not bin successful against France in one Battel and yet we have neighed it down by mere natural Strength as I haxe seen a heavy Country Booby sometimes do a nimble Wrestler and by