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<DATE>2012-11-26</DATE>
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<NAME>Colm MacCrossan</NAME>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
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<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1" MS="y">
<P>THE Argument AGAINST <HI>A Standing Army.</HI> RECTIFY'D.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<P>THE ARGUMENT AGAINST A Standing Army Rectified, AND THE Reflections and Remarks upon it IN <HI>Several Pamphlets, Con&s;ider'd.</HI> In a Letter to a Friend. The Lords and Commons A&s;&s;embled at <HI>We&s;tmin&s;ter, January,</HI> 22. 1688. in order to &s;uch an E&s;tabli&s;hment, as that our Religion, Laws and Liberties might not again be in Danger of being &s;ubverted, declar'd, <HI>That the Rai&s;ing or Keeping a Standing Army within the Kingdom in time of Peace, unle&s;s it be by Con&s;ent of Parliament, is again&s;t Law.</HI></P>
<Q><HI>Pro Rege, &amp; Patria.</HI></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON:</HI> Printed in the Year 1697.</P>
</DIV1>
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<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="letter">
<PB REF="3">
<PB N="5" REF="3">
<HEAD>THE ARGUMENT AGAINST A Standing Army, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>SIR,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>IN An&s;wer to your De&s;ire, to &s;end you my own Thoughts, and tho&s;e of our Friends here concerning the <HI>Arguments</HI> Pro and Con about a <HI>Standing Army,</HI> I have &s;ent you them as follows, but mu&s;t tell you that we are not Opinionative, and &s;hall be glad, as al good Subjects ought to be, to acquie&s;ce in whatever the Wi&s;dom of the Nation, now A&s;&s;embled in <HI>Parliament,</HI> &s;hall think fit to determine in the&s;e Matters.</P>
<PB N="2" REF="4">
<P>The Author of the <HI>Argument</HI> hath in my Opinion di&s;covered a great deal of Rea&s;on and Wit, and no le&s;s Affection to his Prince and Country, however he may be traduc'd by &s;ome who are very much inferiour to him in alll tho&s;e good Qualifications.</P>
<P>Yet I mu&s;t beg his Leave to think that his Com|mendable Zeal for the Welfare and Security of his Country, hath carry'd him a little too far. So that in&s;tead of &s;aying po&s;itively <HI>that a Standing Army is incon&s;i&s;tent with a Free Government, and ab&s;olutely de|&s;tructive to the Engli&s;h Monarchy,</HI> he ought to have qualified it thus, <HI>That a Standing Army in time of Peace, unle&s;s it be by Con&s;ent of Parliament, is Incon&s;i|&s;tent with a Free Government, and ab&s;olutely de&s;tructive to the Engli&s;h Monarchy,</HI> or which is all one, <HI>again&s;t Law;</HI> and for this We have the Authority of the Con|vention &s;ign'd with that of Their Maje&s;ties King <HI>WILLIAM</HI> and Queen <HI>MARY,</HI> who accepted of the Crown upon Agreeing to this and other things relating to the Liberty of the Subject, as is to be &s;een in the Claim of Right.</P>
<P>But in the Thre&s;hold, I finding my &s;elf oblig'd to do the Author &s;o much Ju&s;tice as to &s;ay, that the Writers of the <HI>Reflections</HI> and <HI>Remarks</HI> upon him have &s;hew'd a great deal more of Malice and Ra&s;hne&s;s than of Rea|&s;on and Argument, when they brand him as a <HI>Ja|cobite,</HI> or a <HI>Republican:</HI> In my Opinion the Gentleman
<PB N="3" REF="4">hath &s;ufficiently provided again&s;t &s;uch Imputati|ons, by pleading all along again&s;t tho&s;e things that he thinks de&s;tructive to the <HI>Engli&s;h Monarchy:</HI> but it hath been the Con&s;tant Practice of a Certain Party in the Nation, to bla&s;t all endeavours for the Liberty of their Countrey, with the Calumny of &s;etting up for a Republick, in order to make the be&s;t Patriots hateful to the Court, and that they might either procure or be continued in places them&s;elves, or at lea&s;t to &s;erve a Faction that are for Arbitrary Go|vernment; which of the&s;e, or whether all or any of them be the Motives of tho&s;e Writers that have &s;o rudely treated the Author of the Argument, I &s;hall not &s;o much as pre&s;ume to Conjecture, becau&s;e I am alto|gether unacquainted with their Per&s;ons and Chara|cters, as I am indeed with his.</P>
<P>But to come to the matter, The Ca&s;e is now altered from what it was when either of them wrote, His Maje&s;ty, who is part of the Legi&s;lative Power, having declar'd His Opinion to the Parliament, that the Cir|cum&s;tances of Affairs abroad are &s;uch, <HI>That for the pre&s;ent,</HI> England <HI>cannot be &s;afe without a Land-force.</HI> I his coming from the Mouth of the King, who &s;its at the Helm of the Government, and of &s;uch a King as hath always demon&s;trated a fatherly care of his Sub|jects, and an inmitable Courage and Conduct in his Admini&s;tration, &s;ets the matter in quite another Light. Then &s;eeing His Maje&s;ty is undoubtedly able to &s;atisfy the Nation as to the Truth of his A&s;&s;ertion,
<PB N="4" REF="5">The Que&s;tion is about the nece&s;&s;ity of a &s;tanding Army, how numerous that Army mu&s;t be, of what Troops Compo&s;ed, for how long they mu&s;t be kept up, and what are the mo&s;t proper methods to prevent the dangers which the Argument in&s;i&s;ts upon, to be the Natural Con&s;equences of a &s;tanding Army, in ca&s;e of His Maje&s;ties Death, and a Succe&s;&s;or, who may perhaps be Acted by other Councils, and not endowed with the Royal Qualifications that all Men allow His Maje&s;ty to be ble&s;&s;ed With. Now that this is nece&s;&s;ary to be con&s;idered will be denied by no Man that wi&s;hes well to our Religion and Li|berties, &s;eeing it mu&s;t be granted, that His Ma|je&s;ty is liable to a Violent or Natural Death as well as other Men, and more Obnoxious to the former, becau&s;e of the Malicious Plots of his exe|crable Enemies.</P>
<P>What methods are mo&s;t proper to reach tho&s;e de&s;irable Ends, mu&s;t be left to the Wi&s;dom of the King and Parliament to determine, but that there is a danger in keeping a &s;tanding Army, as well as in being without one, is &s;o obvious that it cannot well be denied, and therefore there is a nece&s;&s;ity of ma|king provi&s;ion in both re&s;pects, which no doubt may be effected without &s;uch Heat and Clamour, as the Pamphletears again&s;t the Arguments are full of, The <HI>Letter for Ballancing excepted,</HI> which is indeed mode&s;t and to the point.</P>
<PB N="5" REF="5">
<P>That we are in danger without a <HI>Standing Army</HI> is rea&s;onably enough in&s;i&s;ted on from the Power of the <HI>French</HI> King; his Levity in ob&s;er|ving former Treaties, which the An&s;wers to the Argument make a mighty noi&s;e about, and to this may be added, that the Principles of that Religion, whereof the <HI>French</HI> King is the pro|fe&s;&s;ed Champion, allows the Breach of the mo&s;t Solemn Ties, and the Perpetration of the mo&s;t horrid Crimes to advance the <HI>Roman</HI> Church. So that all tho&s;e things con&s;ider'd, there is an ab&s;olute Nece&s;&s;ity that we &s;hould be on our Guard: and as Matters are at pre&s;ent, how we can any way be reputed to be &s;o without a Standing Force, is to me unconceivable.</P>
<P>I know that to alleviate tho&s;e ju&s;t Cau&s;es of Ap|prehen&s;ion it is argued that he is now grown an|tient; that his Country is exhau&s;ted of Men, as are his Trea&s;uries of Money, that his gaining &s;o little by breach of former Treaties, hath convinc'd him that 'twill be his Intere&s;t to ob&s;erve this, and that in &s;hort his Country &s;tands in need of a time of breathing, &s;o that there's nothing now to be fear'd from that Head.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="6">
<P>To this it may be replied, that <HI>Marius Caius,</HI> the <HI>Roman</HI> Con&s;ul, recover'd him&s;elf, though an Ex|ile, &s;entenc'd to Death, and abandon'd by all Men, when well &s;tricken in Years, and aveng'd him&s;elf &s;ufficiently on tho&s;e that had reduc'd him to tho&s;e Straits; that though <HI>France</HI> be exhau&s;t|ed of Men, yet the la&s;t Campaigne is enough to demon&s;trate that he's &s;till able to match the Allies for Numbers; and though it mu&s;t be granted that his Trea&s;ures are pretty well emp|tied, yet if it be well con&s;ider'd what an Inge|nious Author of that Country did lately write in the Ruin and De&s;olation of <HI>France,</HI> demon|&s;trated his Clergy, who po&s;&s;e&s;s one half of all the E&s;tates Real and Per&s;onal in that Kingdom, are &s;till in a manner untouch'd, though po&s;&s;e&s;s'd of Immen&s;e Riches; &s;o that if he &s;hould take the &s;ame Mea&s;ures with his Popi&s;h Clergy, as <HI>Gu&s;tavus Erick&s;on,</HI> King of <HI>Sweden,</HI> did with his, or as our <HI>Henry</HI> VIII. did with ours; that is to &s;ay, turn them out of their Mona&s;teries, Ab|bies and Riches, which is ea&s;ie for him to do with his <HI>Standing Army,</HI> who by the &s;acking of Churches and Religious Hou&s;es in <HI>Germany</HI> and <HI>Flanders,</HI> have given proof enough to the World that they have no Scruple of Con&s;cience to be &s;o imploy'd: I &s;ay, If he &s;hould take this
<PB N="7" REF="6">Cour&s;e, he would quickly abound with Men and Money, and as ea&s;ily overflow his Neigh|bouring Countrys, if they had no <HI>Standing Ar|mies</HI> to re&s;i&s;t him, as the Sea driven by a &s;trong Wind, would overflow <HI>We&s;t-Friezland</HI> and <HI>Holland,</HI> if they &s;hould demoli&s;h their Banks and Dikes.</P>
<P>Then, as to the De&s;olation of his Country, it's rather an Argument that he is to be dread|ed than de&s;pi&s;ed, con&s;idering what va&s;t Numbers of Di&s;ciplined Troops he has on foot; who to be &s;ure, if they had their choice, had rather be plundering their rich Neighbours, live in Plenty, and enjoy all the Liberty that's commonly allow'd Soldiers in an Enemy's Country, than be expos'd at home to mannure De&s;olate Lands, and cultivate Ruin'd Vineyards, without the Pro&s;pect of any higher Reward than Wooden-Shooes or Canvas-Shirts, and at the &s;ame time to be liable to all manner of Exorbitant Taxes. And as a Military Life, mu&s;t needs be more Eligible to them after &s;o ma|ny Years being accu&s;tomed to it, there's no doubt but it would likewi&s;e be more agreeable to his A&s;pi|ring Genius, if he did not find him&s;elf in danger of being overmatch'd; and if we con&s;ult the Hi&s;tories of the <HI>Goths, Vandals, Alans, Huns, &amp;c.</HI> who like an Inundation, did over&s;pread <HI>Europe</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ively,
<PB N="8" REF="7">we &s;hall find that their want of a comfortable Sub|&s;i&s;tance at home was one of the main Cau&s;es of tho&s;e Eruptions they made upon their Neighbours abroad, and there's no Body acquainted with the pre&s;ent Condition of <HI>France,</HI> but knows that the Soldiers liv'd much better in the Armies than the Pea&s;ants and ordinary Trade&s;men did at home, and that was one great Rea&s;on why his Armies were always &s;o Numerous.</P>
<P>As to his being convinc'd by his gaining &s;o lit|tle by the Breach of other Treaties, that 'twill be his Intere&s;t to ob&s;erve this, I &s;hall be very willing to allow that he is po&s;&s;e&s;s'd with &s;o Generous and Magnanimous a Soul, that he abhors to do any thing that's ba&s;e; but &s;eeing he is &s;o unhappy as to be of a Church which pretends to hallow the ungodlie&s;t Means, &s;o they be but effectual to attain their end, they transform Vice in Virtue, and make him to think it his greate&s;t Glory to perpetrate &s;uch things; which without that Bia&s;s he would think highly di&s;honourable. Then as to his Gains by for|mer Breaches, tho it's true he hath had a &s;ecret Vo|mit, which hath made him to di&s;gorge many Towns and Countries, yet he is &s;till a great Gainer by the Bargain, and retains con&s;iderable Conque&s;ts both from <HI>Spain</HI> and the Empire.</P>
<PB N="9" REF="7">
<P>It is al&s;o further to be ob&s;erved, that tho the <HI>French</HI> King cannot &s;o ea&s;ily invade us as he can do his Neighbours on the Continent, yet by this Peace he hath in &s;ome mea&s;ure di&s;&s;olv'd the League, that 'twill not be ea&s;ie to a&s;&s;emble again &s;o many Troops belonging to &s;o many different Princes to oppo&s;e him, and he hath moreover thrown in a Bone of Contention betwixt the Prote&s;tant Princes of the Empire, and the Emperour who hath con|&s;ented to the Robbing of the Prote&s;tants of &s;o many of their Churches, which no doubt will highten tho&s;e mi&s;-under&s;tandings, that have been ob&s;ervable enough betwixt the Prote&s;tants and Pa|pi&s;ts in <HI>Germany</HI> during the War, and whil&s;t they are divided among&s;t them&s;elves upon a Religious Account, there's little appearance that either Branch of the Hou&s;e of <HI>Au&s;tria</HI> will give any a&s;&s;i&s;tance to us, and for the Prote&s;tants of <HI>Germany,</HI> they are likely to have work enough to defend them&s;elves, if any Rupture happen on the Account of Religi|on, &s;o that we &s;eem to be under an ab&s;olute ne|ce&s;&s;ity of putting our &s;elves in &s;uch a Condition, as we may be able to &s;tand on our own bot|tom.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="8">
<P>There's another thing &s;till, which is of very great Con&s;equence, tho &s;ome perhaps may think it re|mote, and that is the fair Pro&s;pect which the Hou&s;e of <HI>Bourbon</HI> has, of having the Crown of <HI>Spain</HI> United to that of <HI>Etance</HI> &mdash; Their hopes in this matter &s;eem not ill founded nor remote, con|&s;idering that weak State of the King of <HI>Spains</HI> Health, their being no likelihood of his having any I&s;&s;ue, the &s;trong Faction which the <HI>French</HI> King has in <HI>Spain,</HI> the weakne&s;s of that Kingdom to re|&s;i&s;t him in ca&s;e of an Inva&s;ion, and then being cut off from all Pro&s;pect of help (if they make any Efforts to pre&s;erve their Liberties) but what they may probably have from us. This Con&s;ideration alone &s;hews the nece&s;&s;ity of our having a Land-Force in readine&s;s, either to defend. <HI>Flanders,</HI> our Natural Barrier from being &s;wallowed up by the <HI>French</HI> King, who will then have a better Title to it than ever, or to be Tran&s;ported to the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the <HI>Spaniards</HI> in their own Country; for if the Crown of <HI>France</HI> become once po&s;&s;e&s;s'd of <HI>Spain</HI> in <HI>Flanders,</HI> we are, humanely &s;peaking, blockt up on all &s;ides, our Trade mu&s;t every where be at their Mercy, and we are liable to their Inva&s;ions, without any Pro&s;pect of relief; for as I have ob|&s;erv'd already, they have Created a diver&s;ion for the <HI>German</HI> Prote&s;tants, the United Provinces are in the very Mouth of the Lion, and the <HI>French</HI> will take care to da&s;h the <HI>Northern</HI> Crowns one
<PB N="11" REF="8">again&s;t another. All the&s;e things being con&s;idered, do in my Opinion demon&s;trates an unavoidable danger from the Circum&s;tances of Affairs abroad, if we be left without a Land Force at home, and therefore tho the Court in&s;i&s;t upon it, there's no Rea&s;on to &s;u&s;pect that they have any De&s;ign up|on the Liberties of their own Subjects, when there's &s;o much cau&s;e to provide again&s;t Forreign Enemies.</P>
<P>But now on the other Hand, that there is danger from a &s;tanding Army at home, is equal|ly demon&s;trable; as will appear from the following Rea&s;ons.</P>
<P N="1">1. The Country hath always look'd upon them as a Grievance in time of Peace, could never di|ge&s;t their Rude behaviour and &s;low pay, and were much di&s;gu&s;ted by their ill Morals.</P>
<P N="2">2. The renewed attempts of the Court in the Late Reigns, to en&s;lave the Country by &s;tanding Armies, hath made their aver&s;ion to them Natural and in a manner Hereditary, &s;o that the Jea|lou&s;ie on that Head is almo&s;t incurable.</P>
<PB N="12" REF="9">
<P N="3">3. So long as there's a Party in the Kingdom that is not &s;ufficiently purged of the old Leaven of Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience, and the Army not reform'd in Morals; the pre&s;ent Government, which is found|ed upon Principles diametrically oppo&s;ite to the former, and hath alway, declar'd it &s;elf again&s;t Debauchery, can never be &s;afe, if ever the late King or his pretended Son &s;hould land with a <HI>French</HI> Power, except the Army be othtrwi&s;e modell'd than at pre&s;ent; for if the debauch'd Soldiers be once po&s;&s;e&s;s'd by the&s;e Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience-Men, and the Jacobite Gentry in the Country, who have always declar'd a greater good Liking to Popery than to Di&s;&s;enters; that the pre&s;ent Government is not throughly well affected to the Church, which is the common Topick of the di&s;affected Party, be|cau&s;e of the King's being bred in <HI>Holland,</HI> his grant|ing Liberty of Con&s;cience in <HI>England,</HI> and e&s;tabli&s;h|ing Presbytry in <HI>Scotland;</HI> I &s;ay, that if once the Army be poy&s;on'd with tho&s;e Sugge&s;tions, that to gether with the continual Exclamations of the Jacobite Party again&s;t the <HI>Dutch,</HI> may very much endanger the pre&s;ent government, by the revolt of &s;uch a <HI>Standing Army,</HI> in ca&s;e of any &s;uch Inva&s;ion as above men|tioned.</P>
<PB N="13" REF="9">
<P>So long as a &s;tanding Army continues on the pre|&s;ent footing, not only the Di&s;&s;enters, but all the moderate Church of <HI>England</HI> men, and tho&s;e called Whiggs in general, will continue unea&s;ie and be afraid of Inva&s;i|ons, in ca&s;e of his Maje&s;ty's Death, upon their Liberty and Property, as it happened in the late Reign, &s;o that there is cau&s;e to fear that the Jealou&s;ies of the two Par|ties may throw the Nation into new Convul&s;ions, and the Army, as in all probability it will, joining with the Court, Liberty and Property will be again in danger of being &s;wallowed up, the Nation engag'd in a Civil War, and expos'd to a Foreign Conque&s;t after the two Par|ties have weaken'd them&s;elves by mutual Slaughter and Blood&s;hed.</P>
<P>The Ca&s;e then being thus, and the dangers Great and Eminent in both re&s;pects, it follows of cour&s;e, that the neare&s;t ought to be provided again&s;t fir&s;t, and that is to be done by a Land Force, till &s;uch time as the K. and Parliament are &s;atisfied that the danger from abroad is over.</P>
<P>But then, con&s;idering on the other hand that we have no Lea&s;e of the Kings Life, provi&s;ion ought to be made again&s;t the other as &s;peedily as may be; but the me|thods of doing this mu&s;t be cho&s;en and determined by the King and Parliament.</P>
<P>The Argument propo&s;es as a defence again&s;t Foreign Inva&s;ion, the Regulating the Militia, &s;o as to make them &s;erviceable: The training up of all the Subjects in the u&s;e of Arms, and keeping a good Fleet, &s;o di&s;po&s;ed in Convenient Ports as to prevent an Inva&s;ion.</P>
<PB N="14" REF="10">
<P>This in my opinion is highly rea&s;onable, and were it brought to pa&s;s, would prove a very effectual Remedy both again&s;t Invaders from abroad and Tyrants at home; but the mi&s;chief on't is, that it is neither done nor like to be done time enough to an&s;wer the Ends; and &s;ee|ing it is &s;o, no rea&s;onable Man can think that the Nation &s;hould be laid naked without a defence in the mean time; and this I confe&s;s is the main thing wherein I di&s;&s;ent from that Ingenious Paper: I am far from the opinion of his Adver&s;aries, who reproach him as a Republican, Apo&s;tate Whigg, Jacobite, &s;owre Tem|per'd, Whim&s;ical and Melancholy Fellow, nor do I think they di&s;cover much Judgment in ridiculing his propo|&s;al as to the Militia and Navy. It is ceretain that for|merly this Nation did as Remarkable Exploits again&s;t the <HI>French</HI> and <HI>Scotch</HI> when they had no &s;tanding Ar|my, as ever they have done &s;ince, and that the Battles betwixt the two Hou&s;es of <HI>Lanca&s;ter</HI> and <HI>York,</HI> and be|twixt the Barons and the King were fought with as much bravery and order, tho' the Armies con&s;i&s;ted only of the Country Men and Retainers of either Party, as ever have been done &s;ince &s;tanding Armies came in fa&s;hion. Nor can there be any rea&s;on a&s;&s;igned why the Militia &s;hould not equal the Regular Forces, as they are now called, either for Valour or Di&s;cipline, provided they were equally Train'd as all the people of the Nation were in tho&s;e times; but the true rea&s;on why the Mi|litia come &s;o far &s;hort of the Regular Troops now is that the Court having in the late Reigns framed to them|&s;elves a di&s;tinct Intere&s;t from the Country, they dur&s;t not entru&s;t them with Arms, nor encourage their being train'd up in the u&s;e of them; but ble&s;&s;ed be God the ca&s;e is otherwi&s;e now, his Maje&s;ty is &s;en&s;ible, and hath
<PB N="15" REF="10">from time to time expre&s;s'd his &s;en&s;e of the Affections of his people, and declar'd <HI>That he neither has nor can have any Intere&s;t di&s;tinct from theirs.</HI> It was their affect|on &s;ettled him on the Throne, and hath ever &s;ince kept him in it, &s;o that the better his Subjects are train'd up in martial Di&s;cipline, the more firmly is his Crown fix'd.</P>
<P>It is equally certain that there are fewer Mercenary Soldiers and Officers in the Militia; as Originally con&s;ti|tuted, and more of the Free-holders and Sub&s;tantial Men of the Nation, than in a &s;tanding Army, and no man can doubt but the Ma&s;ter of a Family, his Son or tru&s;ty Servant, will fight with another &s;ort of Zeal for their own Property and Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ions, than a Mercenary Soldier, who, as the Argument &s;ays too true, makes a Profe&s;&s;ion to be a Butcher of Men for 6 <HI>d.</HI> per. day with|out con&s;idering what Cau&s;e he engages in, and that there are too many &s;uch in our Army, cannot be denied by any Per&s;on that hath not bankrupt all his mode&s;ty; and as for tho&s;e &s;illy in&s;tances which his Advar&s;aries in&s;i&s;t up|on of the Militia's not having acted their parts, the rea&s;on is plain they were not Di&s;ciplin'd, which was the fault of the Government and not of the people; it is moreover a very fal&s;e way of Argumentation to conclude, becau&s;e the Militia as neglected in the late Reigns, were not to be compared to the Regular Troop can never be brought to be as u&s;efull in the defence o|ther Country as a &s;tanding Army in other Reigns, but the truth of the matter is, tho&s;e Authors are not willing to have it put to the Experiment.</P>
<PB N="16" REF="11">
<P>The Argument owns that the Militia is not &s;o pro|per for Conpue&s;ts indeed as for Defence, and for Con|que&s;ts we have no occa&s;ion to make any, nor were we ever very happy in pre&s;erving them. Yet if all the Males of the Nation were brought up to the u&s;e of Arms on Holy-days, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> which were a more commendable way of &s;pending their time than has of late been practi&s;ed. We &s;hould not need to fear our King's wanting di&s;ci|plined Men to go abroad with him on occa&s;ion, with|out putting the 10000 <HI>l.</HI> Men as one of the Pamphlets calls them to the trouble of doing &s;o; nor is it very decent in any per&s;on to ca&s;t &s;uch an unbecomeing re|flection upon that Royal Regiment of Citizens, whom his Maje&s;ty honoured to be their Colonel him&s;elf, but per&s;ons of tho&s;e Authors kidney had rather belike &s;ee Arms in the hands of a Dammee, than in the hands of a Sober Citizen: Vice is always afraid of Virtue, but &s;pecially when in a Capacity to &s;uppre&s;s it. Some of the Gang remember the blows &s;till they received from the hands of the Citizens, in the late Parliament Wars, and don't care to rencounter with &s;uch Adver&s;aries any more, they had rather contribute to debauch them in Taverns and Play-hou&s;es, as being indeed the readier way to have their Wives and Daughters, nay and their Pur&s;es too at their Devotion.</P>
<P>The Argument does al&s;o propo&s;e a mixing of the Standing Army, or part of 'em at lea&s;t with the Militia, in order to train them, and to provide for them&s;elves, which his Adver&s;aries do mightily ridicule and alledge that all the dangers he fancies from a Standing Army would continue in that ca&s;e, but I mu&s;t beg leave to di&s;&s;ent from tho&s;e Gentlemen, they know well enough that the frequent exchange of Gari&s;ons on the Frontiers
<PB N="17" REF="11">of Kingdoms is practi&s;ed as an effectual means to pre|vent traiterous Corri&s;pondences in tho&s;e Gari&s;ons, and that the mixing of numerous De&s;erters among other Troops, is lookt on as a good way to prevent any ill de|&s;igns they may have in de&s;erting; then why &s;hould not the mixing of the Regular Troops among&s;t the whole Mi|litia of the Kingdom, where the Soldiers have neither the &s;ame Officers, Comrades nor the like opportunities to do mi&s;chief were they &s;o inclined, as they had when in a &s;eparate &s;tanding Army: And moreover the Officers of the Militia are or ought all to be Men of E&s;tate or Note, and of good Report and Credit where they live, and the Militia Men them&s;elves not making War their Trade, but being only called out upon an Exigent for the Defence of their Country, they can never be &s;up|po&s;ed to be &s;o rude and de&s;tructive to the places where they are quartered, as the Souldiers of a Standing Army generally are, many of who&s;e Officers, e&s;pecially &s;ince buying and &s;elling of Commi&s;&s;ions came in fa&s;hion, are known to be Men of no E&s;tate nor Reputation, but preferr'd either for their Money or becau&s;e perhaps they have been <HI>Valet de Chambres,</HI> or otherwi&s;e ferviceable to a Superiour Officer, and &s;o have neither Honour nor Probity to re&s;train them from ill practi&s;es them&s;elves, or to oblige them to puni&s;h them in others, as Gentle|men of Note in their re&s;pective Counties have or ought to have, or otherwi&s;e are not fit to be intru&s;ted with Command.</P>
<P>The&s;e Gentlemen do likewi&s;e ridicule the Arguments propo&s;al of a Good Fleet at Sea, as not &s;ufficient to prevent an Inva&s;ion, becau&s;e his pre&s;ent Maje&s;ty made his De&s;cent notwith&s;tanding K. <HI>James</HI>'s Fleet; and that the <HI>French</HI> landed Men in <HI>Ireland,</HI> and have gone out
<PB N="18" REF="12">and into their own Ports, when our Squadrons have been lying before them, and chiefly becau&s;e they &s;uppo&s;e that the &s;ame Wind which brings the <HI>French</HI> from their Coa&s;ts, may keep our fleet Wind-bound upon our own.</P>
<P>In this part as in all the re&s;t, they deal very unfair|ly with our Ingenious Author, he does not propo&s;e the relying upon a Fleet only, but would have the whole Nation train'd in the Exerci&s;e of Arms, to oppo&s;e any Invader: Nor do they at all take notice of his Project, of having ur Fleet &s;o di&s;po&s;ed into Squadrons, as at the Lands End, <HI>Plimouth,</HI> &amp;c. That it would be impra|cticable for the <HI>French</HI> to Invade us, let the Wind lie how it will, without expo&s;ing their Tran&s;port Ships at lea&s;t to one or other of tho&s;e Squadrons. As to their In&s;tan|ces of the King's making his De&s;cent notwith&s;tanding King <HI>James</HI>'s Fleet, it is nothing to the purpo&s;e, had the &s;aid Fleet been &s;o di&s;pos'd as our Author propo&s;es the <HI>Dutch</HI> Fleet could not &s;o ea&s;ily have e&s;caped them; but we are moreover to believe that the Prince of <HI>Orange</HI> had his Friends in the Fleet as well as in the Army, which does perfectly alter the Ca&s;e.</P>
<P>Then as to the <HI>French</HI> having landed Men in <HI>Ireland,</HI> and gone out and into their own Ports, notwith&s;tand|ing our Squadrons lying before them, the Authors know that in mo&s;t or all of tho&s;e Ca&s;es, there have been &s;hrewd &s;u&s;picions of Treachery, or a real or pretended want of Orders, Provi&s;ions, or &s;omewhat: Nay, as I remem|ber, the e&s;cape of the <HI>Thoulon</HI> Fleet through the Straits once, and their getting into <HI>Brest</HI> at another time, have been que&s;tioned in Parliament, and there pa&s;t a Vote in the Hou&s;e, that there was a notorious Treach|ery in &s;ome of our Mi&s;carriages of that nature, &s;o that
<PB N="19" REF="12">the An&s;werers of the Argument can conclude nothing from this, for that Author always &s;uppo&s;es our Fleet to be hone&s;t; and the King's Ships to be Commanded either by Gentlemen of known Integrity, or &s;uch true Tarrs as the Captain called <HI>Honour and Glory,</HI> and not by Lap dogs as one of our Lampoons repre&s;ented them after <HI>Torrington</HI>'s Defeat, who have &s;pent more of their time in the School of <HI>Venus,</HI> than in that of <HI>Mars.</HI> Then as to the equal danger that tho&s;e Authors &s;ug|ge&s;t from a &s;tanding Fleet as from a &s;tanding Army, it is very ea&s;ie to &s;hew them their mi&s;take. In the fir&s;t place, they can give us no in&s;tance of it, that ever our Fleet pillaged or plundred their own Country, what|ever &s;ome few Ships may have done either under <HI>Charles</HI> II. when Prince of <HI>Wales,</HI> or at other times, whereas it is very well known that the Army under <HI>Charles</HI> the I, treated the Subjects in as barbarous a manner as a for|reign Enemy would almo&s;t have done&mdash; and the Country does &s;till remeber what horrid di&s;orders were committed by tho&s;e of <HI>Charles</HI> and <HI>James</HI> II. In the next place, it is plain that if the Fleet &s;hould revolt again&s;t the nation, they forfeit all tho&s;e pledges they have on &s;hoar which are much more con&s;iderable in proportion than the tho&s;e of the Land Army, for though we &s;hould grant that many of the Land Officers have E&s;tates and Families, yet few of the Soldiers have, whereas the far greater part of the Marine Officers have E&s;tates and Families and but few of the Seamen are without the latter; and to give them their due, they &s;eem to have a better &s;en&s;e of the true Intere&s;t of the Nation than the Land Soldiers general|ly have, and hence it came to pa&s;s that the Wappeners were &s;o much expos'd to Reflections in the late Reign, and that they have appear'd &s;o Zealous for this, and from
<PB N="20" REF="13">the &s;ame Cau&s;e it mu&s;t needs proceed, that not one Ship of the Navy Revolted from the pre&s;ent Government tho' <HI>Dumbarton</HI>'s and other Regiments of the &s;tanding Army did. But to give tho&s;e Gentlemen all the &s;cope they can de&s;ire, we will &s;uppo&s;e what no man in his right Wits will ever &s;uppo&s;e to be practicable, that the whole Navy &s;hould Revolt, and bring in a <HI>French</HI> Army up|on us; that could not hinder the Nation from calling in the a&s;&s;i&s;tance of the <HI>Dutch, Dani&s;h,</HI> and <HI>Swedi&s;h</HI> Men of War to oppo&s;e them, which their own Intere&s;t would &s;oon prompt them to do, nor yet prevent the people's Arming like one Man to make head again&s;t the Fo|reign Invader, whereas if a &s;tanding Army &s;hould by the Authority of any &s;ucceeding Prince join with him to &s;wallow up the Liberties of the people, they can effect it &s;peedily, as being in the mid&s;t of us, where they have opportunity to cut off the whole Parliament at a blow, as <HI>Chri&s;tiern</HI> of <HI>Denmark</HI> did that of <HI>Sweden,</HI> or to Lop of the oppo&s;ite Nobility and Gentry by de|grees, and &s;o the people having none to Conduct them mu&s;t &s;ubmit like Sheep without a Shepherd, and I wonder at tho&s;e Gentlemen who think this impracti|cable, when <HI>Charles</HI> I. came into the Parliament Hou&s;e with an Armed Force and demanded the five Mem|bers, and <HI>Oliver</HI> by Military Force modelled the Hou&s;e as he him&s;elf pleas'd, &s;o that in either of tho&s;e Ca&s;es the King and the U&s;urper had not God re&s;train'd them, might have done the &s;ame thing as <HI>Chri&s;tiern</HI> of <HI>Den|mark</HI> did &mdash;</P>
<P>There's another plea&s;ant Fancy which one of tho&s;e Authors has broached, <HI>viz.</HI> That there's no &s;lavery to be fear'd but in Conjunction with Popery, when the whole Nation remembers to this day how near we were
<PB N="25" REF="13">en&s;laved by <HI>Charles</HI> II. and many of them do &s;till re|member that had it not been for the <HI>Scotch, Charles</HI> I. had &s;wallowed up their Libertys after the defeat of the Parliaments Forces in the We&s;t, if not before ever the Parliament &s;truck one &s;troke; and yet Father and Son and <HI>Oliver</HI> the U&s;urper too, were all three Prote&s;tants. And for tho&s;e Gentlemen's further Conviction, let them look abroad into <HI>Denmark</HI> and <HI>Sweden,</HI> and tell us whe|ther tho&s;e Nations did not lo&s;e their Liberty under Pro|te&s;tant Princes.</P>
<P>I &s;hall agree with tho&s;e Authors, that his pre&s;ent Ma|je&s;ty is uncapable of any &s;uch thing, that the whole Tenour of his Life, both before and &s;ince his coming to the Crown, &s;ecures us again&s;t any &s;uch fears from him&s;elf; it is evident to the world that in&s;tead of his &s;eeking after a Crown, there were three Crowns that &s;ought after him, el&s;e we had never been troubled with &s;uch long and learned debates, whither there was an Abdication and Vacaney of the Throne or not. I &s;hall moreover be as willing as any of them to &s;uppo&s;e that none of tho&s;e nam'd in the Succe&s;&s;ion as now limited will attempt any &s;uch thing: But we mu&s;t grant what <HI>Solomon</HI> &s;ays to be true, <HI>That none knowns who &s;hall &s;uc|ceed him, whether a Wi&s;e Man or a Fool.</HI> We cannot al|ways promi&s;e our &s;elves a Queen <HI>Elizabeth,</HI> or &s;uch an one as our late Queen <HI>Mary,</HI> nor yet, that every young Prince will prove an <HI>Edward</HI> VI. or that every Fo|reign Prince that may happen to be match'd with our Heire&s;&s;es, &s;hall have &s;o near a Relation to the Crown as the Prince of <HI>Orange,</HI> or have &s;o much Zeal, Cou|rage and Power as he to re&s;cue us out of the Jaws of Oppre&s;&s;ors; and therefore &s;eeing it is the practice of all Wi&s;e Men to provide in a Calm again&s;t a Storm;
<PB N="20" REF="14">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="25" REF="14">
<GAP DESC="duplicate" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 page">
<PB N="26" REF="15">I &s;ee no rea&s;on why the Author of the Argument &s;hould be treated as one di&s;affected to his Maje&s;ty's Per&s;on or Government. Charity, which is almo&s;t lo&s;t in this Age, would rather think that he has the high|e&s;t Opinion of his Maje&s;ty that can be, when he takes it for granted that he will agree to &s;uch Methods in his own Reign, as will &s;ecure us from Tyranny in tho&s;e of others, which any Man with half an Eye may &s;ee to be unavoidable, if the Maxim of the Reflecti|ons be true, <HI>viz. No Army, no King,</HI> when all the World knows there have been and may be, great Kings with|out &s;tanding Armies.</P>
<P>I have exceeded the bounds that I intended at fir&s;t, and &s;hall now ha&s;ten to a Conclu&s;ion. It has been &s;aid already that it would &s;eem now no more to be the de|bate, a &s;tanding Army or no &s;tanding Army, but how great an Army, of what Troops Compos'd, how long they mu&s;t continue, and what Methods are proper to prevent tho&s;e ill Con&s;equences that the Argument &s;ugge&s;ts. It's certain the Parliament is the fitte&s;t Judges of all tho&s;e things, yet &s;eeing every one of the An&s;werers has propo&s;ed his own Methods, its hop'd they will not be angry if I tell them what I have heard propo&s;ed by others,</P>
<P>It has been a long time the opinion of &s;ome Men, that had his Maje&s;ty been advi&s;ed to have kept that Volun|teer Army on foot, which ro&s;e for him on their own ac|count, we had prevented the Rebellion in <HI>Ireland</HI> and <HI>Sctoland,</HI> and brought <HI>France</HI> to rea&s;on much &s;ooner; but &s;ome Men out of a pretended Zeal to the Church, prevail|ed to have the contrary method taken, to the no &s;mall danger of the State. But if rea&s;on may take place, now that the Church is &s;ecured as much as Law can &s;ecure
<PB N="27" REF="15">her, and that &s;he has a Te&s;t to a&s;&s;ure her Di&s;cipline, or rather Government.</P>
<P>I &s;ay &s;eeing &s;he has a Te&s;t to &s;ecure her Government, its but rea&s;onable the people &s;hould have a Te&s;t too, to pre&s;erve their Property: And their's a Friend of mine &s;ays that were he to have a Te&s;t of his making, it &s;hould be &s;ome &s;uch one as this, <HI>viz. That, whereas all men in the late Reigns, that came into places of Power and Tru&s;t, were obliged to abhore that Traterous po&s;ition of taking up Arms by the Kings Authority again&s;t his Per&s;on, and that they declared there was no obligation upon them&s;elves or any o|thers by that Trea&s;oinable Oath, called the League and Co|venant.</HI> So now none &s;hould be admitted into any place of Power and Tru&s;t, without declaring their ab|horrence of the Tyranny of the late Reigns, complain'd of in the Claim of Right, and that they account them&s;elves and others under no obligation to believe the Tyrannical Doctrine of Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience and Non-re|&s;i&s;tance, as explained and under&s;tood in the late Reign: But I know my Friend is hot Headed, and that this Pill is not well enough guilded to go down: Yet there are others who are more moderate, that are of opinion, if the Government think fit to allow of a &s;tanding Army, the Country would be the more &s;atisfied if all or mo&s;t of the Officers be Men of E&s;tates and Intere&s;t in the Nation, and known to be &s;uch as think they may go to Heaven without believing the Doctrine of Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience, in the &s;en&s;e above mentioned; and that the &s;aid Army be compo&s;ed as much as may be of tho&s;e that have been rai&s;ed, or are now well mixed by &s;uch Gentlemen as always oppo&s;ed the Tyranny of the late Reigns, and that at the &s;ame time the Militia and Fleet be al&s;o put into &s;uch hands, and the former di&s;ciplin'd
<PB N="28" REF="16">with as much &s;peed as may be, now that we have plenty of experienced Officers and Soldiers to do it.</P>
<P>My Friends are al&s;o of opinion, that it is our Intere&s;t to Cultivate a Good Corre&s;pondence with <HI>Scotland,</HI> in order to which an Union of the Nations would be much more effectual than the Union of the Crowns; for that leaves room for Princes of Arbitrary Tempers to da&s;h us one again&s;t another, and to make us the In&s;tru|ments of their Tyranny by turns. Thus King <HI>Charles</HI> the I. threatned to Invade <HI>Scotland,</HI> and actually did it with an Army from <HI>England;</HI> and King <HI>Charles</HI> the II. procured an Act of Parliament in <HI>Scotland</HI> for 20000 Hor&s;e and Foot, with &s;o many days Provi&s;ions, to march to any part of his Dominions that he plea&s;ed, which con&s;idering the party in this Nation that would have joyned them, might have been fatal to all the three Kingdoms, had not that Prince been more given to his plea&s;ures than to his Sword. Such an Union, as no doubt it might be effected, to the Honour and Advan|tage of both Nations, would al&s;o &s;ecure this Nation ve|ry much in ca&s;e of any future War with <HI>France,</HI> or o|thers; whereas if the <HI>Scotch</HI> be alays treated with Con|tempt, or govern'd by the Councils of a Party, this Na|tion that hates them, on the account of their Civil and Religious Principles, it may have ill Con&s;equences at &s;ome|time or other. The Royal Line which Cements them at pre&s;ent, is not very numerous in Off-&s;pring, and that failing, they have Princes of their own Blood at home, who if they &s;trengthen them&s;elves by powerful foreign Alliances may prove trouble&s;ome Neighbours, when we are engaged in a foreign War, e&s;pecially con&s;ider|ing the great plantation of their Countrymen of the &s;ame Principles with them&s;elves in <HI>Ireland.</HI></P>
<PB N="29" REF="16">
<P>Which Kingdom my Friends are al&s;o of opinion ought to be treated &s;o as they may look upon them&s;elves as fel|low Subjects, and that &s;ome &s;tronger efforts &s;hould be made, and more Chri&s;tian methods taken to Civilize and Convert the Popi&s;h Natives than have hitherto been practi&s;ed, and then we &s;hall be in no danger of having our Brethrens Throats cut by them in their Country, nor of being Invaded by them in our own, as in the time of <HI>Charles</HI> I. and <HI>James</HI> II. If <HI>Scotland</HI> and <HI>Ireland</HI> were both united to this Kingdom, upon terms Honourable and Advantagious to us and them, we might &s;it as Queen in the Seas, retain our Soveraignty undi&s;|puted, keep the Ballance of <HI>Europe,</HI> nay, of the Uni|ver&s;e in our hands, be &s;ecure again&s;t Tyranny at home, and Inva&s;ion from abroad, and <HI>England</HI> would be the unenvi'd Head of the Union. I have al&s;o heard &s;ome Gen|tlemen give their opinion that 'twere the Intere&s;t of this Nation, to have methods laid down for entertaining a perpetual Amity with <HI>Holland,</HI> le&s;t future Princes may da&s;h us again&s;t one another as formerly, to the endan|gering of the Prote&s;tant Religion, and the Civil Liber|ties of <HI>Europe.</HI> The only thing that we can have any occa&s;ion to quarrel about, is our rivalling one another in point of Trade, and as Providence did formerly put an opportunity into the hands of this Nation, of taking away the Hereditary Enmity that had been for &s;ome Centuries betwixt us and <HI>Scotland,</HI> by uniting the Crowns, kind Heaven hath now al&s;o put an opportunity into our hands of fixing a perpetual Friend&s;hip with <HI>Holland,</HI> our King and their Stadholder being one and the &s;ame per&s;on, and equally the darling of both People; &s;o that there's no rea&s;on to doubt, but in &s;uch an au&s;picious Con|juncture, matters may be &s;o concerted by the Govern|ment
<PB N="30" REF="17">of both Nations, as to prevent any &s;uch competition in time to come, as may occa&s;ion a Rupture. There's cer|tainly room enough in the World for both of us to Trade, and if we entertain a good Corre&s;pondence, we may in a manner divide the Trade of the Univer&s;e betwixt us; but if by the implacable malice of a certain Faction in this Kingdom again&s;t that Indu&s;trious and brave Peo|ple, becau&s;e of their Government being founded upon Principles contrary to Pa&s;&s;ive Obedience, we be kept off from &s;etling a parpetual Friend&s;hip with them, it will certainly argue our infatuation, for there's no Allies we can have that are in any capacity to a&s;&s;i&s;t us again&s;t <HI>France,</HI> in ca&s;e that already over-grown Monarchy &s;hould be yet further aggrandiz'd by addition of the Do|minions of <HI>Spain,</HI> of which as I have &s;aid already, they have &s;o fair and near a Pro&s;pect.</P>
<P>The&s;e are the ha&s;ty thoughts, Sir, of our Friends here in Town, as to the Arguments <HI>pro</HI> and <HI>con</HI> about a &s;tand|ing Army, which are all at pre&s;ent the Common Sub|ject of Conver&s;ation. I am</P>
<CLOSER><SALUTE>Sir,</SALUTE>
<SIGNED>Your humble Servant.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
<PB REF="17">
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</TEXT>
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</ETS>
