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DEDICATION,
To all those whom it may
concern.
Qui capit ille facit.
When I consider
your great Zeal to your country, how much you
have exposed your selves for its Service, and
how little you have improved your own Fortunes,
I think it is but Justice to your Merits to make
your Encomiums the Preface to the following
Discourse. 'Tis you that have abated the Pride,
and reduced the Luxury of the Kingdom: You have
been the Physicians and Divines of the
Commonwealth, by purging it of that Dross and
Dung, which corrupts the Minds, and destroys the
Souls of Men. You have convinced us that there
is no Safety in Counsellors, nor Trust to be put
in Ships under your Conduct.
Shewing, that a
Standing Army
is inconsistent with a Free Government, and
absolutely
By
LONDON;
When I consider
what a dismal Scene of Blood and Desolation hath
appeared upon the Theatre of Europe
during the Growth and Progress of the
French Power, I cannot sufficiently
applaud and admire our thrice happy Situation,
by which we have long enjoyed an uninterrupted
course of Peace and Prosperity, whilst our
Neighboring Nations have been miserably harassed
by perpetual War: For lying open to continual
Invasion, they can never enjoy Quiet and
Security, nor take a sound Sleep, but,
Hercules like, with Clubs in their hands:
So that these Halcyon Days which we enjoy amidst
such an universal Hurricane, must be solely
attributed to our Tutelar God Neptune, who with
a Guard of winged Coursers so strongly
intrenches us, that we may be said to be
media insuperabiles unda, and not unfitly
compared to the Earth, which stands fixed and
immoveable, and never to be shaken but by an
internal Convulsion. And as Nature has been thus
liberal to us in our Situation, so the
Luxuriancy of our Soil makes it productive of
numerous Commodities
fit for Trade and Commerce: And as this Trade
renders us Masters of the Silver and Gold of the
East and West without our toiling in the Mine,
so it breeds us multitudes of able-bodied and
skillful Seamen to defend the Treasures they
bring home, that even Luxury itself which has
been the Bane and Destruction of most Countries
where it has been predominant, may in some
measure be esteemed our Preservation, by
breeding up a Race of Men among us, whose manner
of Life will never suffer them to be debauched,
or enervated with Ease or Idleness. But we have
one thing more to boast of besides all these
Felicities, and that is, of being Freemen and
not Slaves in this unhappy Age, when an
universal Deluge of Tyranny has overspread the
face of the whole Earth; so that this is the Ark
out of which if the Dove be sent forth, she will
find no resting place till her Return.
this Boat of our Commonwealth, and to screen the
People against the Insults of the Prince, and
the Prince against the Popularity of the
Commons, since if either Extreme prevail so far
as to oppress the other, they are sure to he
overwhelmed in their Ruin. And the meeting of
these three States in Parliament is what we call
our Government: for without all their Consents
no Law can be made, nor a Penny of Money levied
upon the Subjects; so that the King's
Necessities do often oblige him to summon this
Court, which is the Grand Inquest of the
Kingdom, where the People speak boldly their
Grievances, and call to account overgrown
Criminals, who are above the reach of ordinary
Justice: so that the Excellence of this
Government consists in the due balance of the
several constituent Parts of it, for if either
one of them should be too hard for the other
two, there is an actual Dissolution of the
Constitution; but whilst we can continue in our
present Condition, we may without Vanity reckon
ourselves the happiest People in the World.
of Burden, and barely kept alive to support the
Luxury and Prodigality of their Masters.
appear, that no Nation ever preserved its
Liberty, that maintained an Army otherwise
constituted within the Seat of their Government:
and let us flatter ourselves as much as we
please, what happened yesterday, will come to
pass again; and the same causes will produce
like Effects in all Ages.
And tho we are secure from any Attempts of this
kind during the Reign of a Prince who hath
reduced us from a Captivity equal to what
Moses redeemed the People of Israel from;
A Prince whose Life is so necessary to the
Preservation of Europe, that both
Protestant and Popish Princes have forgot their
ancient Maxims, and laid aside their innate
Animosities, and made it their common interest
to choose him their Patron and Protector: A
Prince in whom we know no Vices but what have
been esteemed Virtues in others, viz.,
his undeserved clemency to his Enemies, and his
exposing too much that Life upon which depends
not only our Safety, but the Liberties of all
Europe, and the Protestant Religion through the
World: I say, was this most excellent Prince to
be immortal (as his Great and Glorious Actions)
we ought in common Prudence to abandon all
thoughts of Self-preservation, and wholly to
rely on his Care and Conduct. But since no
Virtue nor pitch of Glory will exempt him from
paying the common Debt to Nature, but Death hath
a Sythe which cuts off the most noble Lives; we
ought not to intrust any Power with him, which
we don't think proper to be continued to his
Successors: and doubtless our great Benefactor
will not regret this, or anything else that can
reasonably be demanded in order to complete that
Deliverance so far advanced by his invincible
Courage and Conduct for to let us, like
Moses, within view of the promised Land,
with a ne plus ultra, is the greatest of
all Human Infelicities, and such that always
take our Case to be, whilst a standing Army must
be kept up to prey upon our Entrails, and which
must in the hands of an ill Prince (which we
have the misfortune frequently to meet with)
infallibly destroy our Constitution. And this is
so evident and important a Truth, that no
Legislator ever founded a free Government, but
avoided this Caribdis, as a Rock against
which his Commonwealth must certainly be
shipwrecked, as the Israelites, Athenians,
Corinthians,
Archaians, Lacedemonians, Thebans, Samnites,
and Romans; none of which Nations whilst
they kept their Liberty were ever known to
maintain any Soldiers in constant Pay within
their Cities, or ever suffered any of their
Subject to make War their Profession well
knowing that the Sword and Sovereignty will
march hand in hand, and therefore they trained
their own Citizens and the Territories about
them perpetually in Arms, and their whole
Commonwealths by this means became so many
several formed Militias: A general Exercise of
the best of their People in the use of Arms,
was the only Bulwark of their Liberties; this
was reckoned the surest way to preserve them
both at home and abroad, the People being
secured thereby as well against the Domestic
Affronts of any of their own citizens, as
against the Foreign Invasions of ambitious and
unruly Neighbors. Their Arms were never lodged
in the hands of any who had not an Interest in
preserving the public Peace, who sought pro
aris & focis, and thought themselves,
sufficiently paid by repelling Invaders, that
they might with freedom return to their own
Affairs. In those days there was no difference
between the Citizen, the Soldier, and the
Husbandman, for all promiscuously rook Arms when
the publick Safety required it, and afterwards
laid them down with more Alacrity than they took
them up: So that we find amongst the
Romans the best and bravest of their
Generals came from the Plough, contentedly
returning when the Work was over, and never
demanded their Triumphs till they had laid down
their Commands, and reduced themselves to the
state of private Men. Nor do we find that this
famous Commonwealth ever permitted a Deposition
of their Arms in any other hands, till their
Empire increasing, Necessity constrained them to
erect a constant stipendiary Soldiery abroad in
Foreign Parts, either for the holding or winning
of Provinces: Then Luxury increasing with
Dominion, the strict Rule and Discipline
of Freedom soon abated, and Forces were kept up
at home, which soon proved of such dangerous
Consequence, that the People were forced to make
a Law to employ them at a convenient distance;
which was, that if any General marched over the
River Rubicon, he should be declared a publick
Enemy : and in the Passage of that River this
following inscription was erected Imperator
sive miles, sive Tyannus armatus quisquis
sistito, vexillumq; armaq; deponiso, nec citra
hunc amnem trajicito: and this made Cesar
when he had presumed to pass this River, to
think of nothing but pressing on to the total
Oppression of the Empire, which he shortly after
obtained.
continues him, five Years in his Command, which
gave him such opportunity to insinuate, and gain
an Interest in their Army, that he oppressed
their Liberty: and to this were owing all the
Miseries, Massacres, and Ruins which that City
suffered under him and Sylla, who made the best
Blood in the World run like Water in the Streets
of Rome, and turned the whole City into a
Shambles of the Nobility, Gentry and People.
Venice, or the great Towns of the United
Provinces; but they defend these by their own
Burghers, and quarter their Mercenaries in their
conquered Countries, viz. the
Venetians in Greece, and the
Continent of Italy, and the Dutch
in Brabant and Flanders; and the
Situation of these States makes their Armies, so
posted, not dangerous to them; for the
Venetians cannot be attacked without a
Fleet, nor the Dutch be conquered by
their own forces, their Country being so full of
strong Towns, fortified both by Art and Nature,
and defended by their own Citizens, that it
would be a fruitless Attempt for their own
Armies to invade them; for if they should march
against any of their Cities, 'tis but shutting
up their Gates, and the Design is spoiled.
them? and the Solution of that Preliminary
Question resolves the Doubt: as we see in
China, India, Tartary,
Persia, Ethiopia, Turkey,
Morocco, Moscovy, Austria,
France, Portugal, Denmark,
Sweden, Tuscany, and all the
little Principalities of Germany and
Italy, where the People live in the most
abandoned Slavery and in Countries where no
Armies are kept within the Seat of their
Government, the People are free, as Poland,
Biscay, Switzerland, the Grisons, Venice,
Holland, Genoa, Ragusa, Algeria, Tunis, Hamborg,
Lubeck, all the free Towns in
Germany, and England and
Scotland before the late Reigns. This
Truth is so obvious, that the most barefaced
Advocates for an Army do not directly deny it,
but qualify the matter by telling us, that a
Number not exceeding fifteen or twenty thousand
Men are a handful to so populous a Nation as
this: Now I think that Number will bring as
certain Ruin upon us, as if they were as many
Millions,. and I will give my Reasons for it,
as the Disease and if we have not a Power within
ourselves to defend our Laws, we are no
Government.
since in a tedious and chargeable War, at the
vast expense of Blood and Treasure, to avoid
that Captivity they had prepared for us: I say,
if any one considers this, he will be convinced
that we have enough to do to guard ourselves
against the Power of the Court, without having
an Army thrown into the Scale against us: and we
have found oftner than once by too fatal
Experience the truth of this; for if we look
back to the late Reigns, we shall see this
Nation brought to the brink of Destruction, and
breathing out the last Gasp of their Liberty;
and it is more owing to our good Fortune, than
to any effort we were able to make, that we
escaped the fatal Blow.
Revolutions of the Roman and Ottoman Empires
since were caused by the Pretorian Bands, and
the Court-Janizaries; the former of which never
exceeded eight, nor the latter twelve thousand
Men: And if no greater Numbers could make such
Disturbances in those vast Empires, what will
double the Force do with us? And they
themselves confess it, when they argue for an
Army; for they tell us we may be surprised with
ten or fifteen thousand Men from France, and
having no regular Force to oppose them, they
will overrun the Kingdom. Now if so small a
Force can oppose the King, the Militia, with the
united Power of the Nobility, Gentry and
Commons, what will an equal Power do againft the
People, when supported by the Royal Authority,
and a never-failing Interest that will attend
it, except when it acts for the Publick Good?
will grow stronger, and we shall be told we must
increase our Number: but if there should be
such a turn of Affairs in the World, that we
were no longer in apprehension of the French
Power, they may be kept up without our
Assistance; nay, the very Discontents they may
create shall be made an Argument for the
continuing of them. But, if they should be kept
from oppressing the People, in a little time
they will grow habitual to us, and almost
become a part of our Constitution, and by
degrees we shall be brought to believe them not
only not dangerous, but necessary; for everybody
sees, but few understand, and those few will
never be able to persuade the Multitude that
there is any danger in those Men they have lived
quietly with for some Years, especially when the
disbanding them will) as they will be made
believe) cost them more Money out of their own
Pockets to maintain a Militia, and of this we
have had already an unhappy Experience. For
Charles the Second being connived at in
keeping a few Guards (which were the first ever
known to an English King besides his Pentioners,
and his Beef-eaters) he sensibly increased their
Number, till he left a body of Men to his
Successor great enough to tell the Parliament,
he would be no longer bound by the Laws he had
sworn to; and under the Shelter and Protection
of these he raised an Army; that had put a
Period to our Government, if a Complication of
Causes (which may never happen again) had not
presented the Prince of Orange with a
Conjuncture to assert his own and the Nation's
Rights. And tho we have so lately escaped this
Precipice, yet Habit has made Soldiers so
familiar to us, that some Will pretend to be
zealous for Liberty, speak of it as a Hardship
to his present Majesty, to refuse him as many
Men as his Predecessors, not Considering that
the raising them then was a Violation of our
Laws, and that his Government is built upon the
Destruction of theirs, and can no more
stand upon the same Rubbish, than the Kingdom of
Heaven be founded in Unrighteousness.
with Children and mad Men, that is, take away
all Weapons by which they may do either
themselves or others an Injury: As I think the
Sheep in Boccaline made a prudent Address
to Apollo, when they desired, that for
the future Wolves might have no Teeth.
embarked but eighteen thousand, he will be
assured that no Invasion can be so sudden upon
us, but we shall have time to get ready our
whole Fleet, bring some Forces from
Scotland and Ireland, and prepared
our own Militia if there shall be occasion for
it; especially in times Peace, when we shall
have the liberty of all Ports of France,
and shall or may have Intelligence from every
one of them.
Enemies in eight Years War could not get one
Opportunity of invading our Country.
and Keepers assigned them? And why may they not
defend them with as much Vigor and Courage as
Mercenaries who have nothing to lose, nor any
other Tie to engage their Fidelity, than the
inconsiderable Pay of Six-pence a day, which
they may have from the Conqueror?
I say, these and other like things may be done,
and some of them are done in our own
Plantations, and the Islands of Jersey
and Guernsey, as also in Poland,
Switzerland, and the Country of the
Grisons which are Nations much less
considerable than England,. have as formidable
Neighbors, no Sea nor Fleet to defend them,
nothing but a Militia to defend upon, and yet no
one dares attack them: And we have seen as great
Performances done formerly by the Apprentices of
London, and in the late War by the
Vandois in Savoy, the
Miquelets in Catalonia, and the
Militia in Ireland, as can be paralleled
in History:
And so it would be with us, if the Court would
give their hearty Assistance in promoting this
Design; if the King would appear in Person at
the Head of them, and give Rewards and Honor to
such as deserve them, we should quickly see the
young Nobility and Gentry appear magnificent in
Arms and Equipage, show a generous Emulation in
outvying one another in Military Exercises, and
place a noble Ambition in making themselves
serviceable to their Country as anciently the
Achaians and Thebans from being
the most contemptible Nations in Greece, by the
Conduct of Pelopidas,
Eparminondas, and Philopemen, came
to have the disciplined Troops and most
excellent Soldiers in the World.
Nay, the Pensioner-Parliament themselves turned
short upon the Court, when they expected them to
give the finishing stroke to our Ruin.
several Chapters to prove, that no Prince or
State ought to suffer any of their Subjects to
make War their Profession, and that no Nation
can be secure with any other Forces than a
settled Militia. My Lord Bacon in several places
bears his Testimony against a Standing Army, and
particularly he tells us, that a Mercenary Army
is first to invade a Country, but a Militia to
defend it; because the first have Estates to
get, and the latter to protect. Mr.
Harrington hath founded his whole
Oceana upon a trained Militia; and I have
lately read a French Book, called a History of
the Politicks of France, which says,
Enfin si on veut ruiner Les Anglois il suffit
de les obliger a tener des Troupes sur pied
Nay, I believe no Author ever treated of a Free
Government, that did not express his Abhorrence
of an Army; for (as my Lord Bacon says) whoever
does use them, tho he may spread his Feathers
for a time, he will mew them soon after; and
raise them with what Design you please, yet,
like the West India Dogs in
Boccaline, in a little time they will
certainly turn Sheep-biters.
the keeping standing Forces is necessary to make
a good Ingineer.
People (who received her in Crowds with repeated
Acclamations) These, said she, my Lord, are my
Guards; These have their Hands, their Hearts,
and their Purses always ready at my Command: and
these were Guards indeed, who defended her
through a long and successful Reign of forty
four Years against all the Machinations of
Rome, the Power of Spain, a
disputed Title, and the perpetual Conspiracies
of her own Popish subjects; a Security the Roman
Emperors could not boast of with their Pretorian
Bands, and their Eastern and Western Armies.
ancient Chaos, when most countries would have
sunk under the misfortune, and repined at their
Deliverance (as Men in Sickness commonly quarrel
with their dearest Friends) I say, if at that
time he had so great and universal an Interest,
there can be no doubt but in times of Peace,
when the People reap the Fruits of that Courage
and Conduct he hath shown in their Defense, he
will be the most Beloved and Glorious Prince
that every filled the English Throne.
of Examples of this kind: but we need not go any
farther than our own Country, where we have but
twice kept Armies in times of Peace, and both
times they turned out their own Masters. The
first under Cromwell, expelled that Parliament
under which they had fought successfully for
many Years; afterwards under General Monk they
destroyed the Government they before set up, and
brought back Charles the Second and he
afterwards disbanded them lest they might have
turned him out again. These other Instance is
fresh in every one's memory, how King James's
Army joined with the Prince of Orange,
now our Rightful and Lawful King. And what could
have been expected otherwise from Men of
dissolute and debauched Principles, who call
themselves Soldiers of Fortune? who make Murder
their Profession, and enquire no farther into
the Justice of the Cause, than how they shall be
paid; who must be false rapacious and cruel in
their own Defense. For having no other
Profession or Subsistence to depend upon, they
are forced to stir up the Ambition of Princes,
and engage them in perpetual Quarrels, that they
may share of the Spoils they make. Such Men,
like some sort of ravenous Fish, fare best in a
Storm; and therefore we may reasonably suppose
they will be better pleased with the Tyrannical
Government of the late King, than the mild and
gracious Administration of this Present Majesty,
who came over to England to rescue us from
Oppression, and he has done it, and triumphs in
it in spight of his Enemies,
Quarters the
rendering so many Men useless to labor, and
almost Propagation, together with a much greater
Destruction of them, by taking them from a
laborious way of living to a loose idle Life;
and before this, the Insolence of the 0fficers,
and the Debaucheries that are committed both by
them and their Soldiers in all the Towns they
come in, to the ruin of multitudes of Women,
Dishonor of the Families, and ill Example to
others; and a numerous train of Mischiefs
besides, almost endless to enumerate. These are
trivial as well as particular Grievances in
respect to those I have treated about, which
strike at the Heart's-blood of our Constitution,
and therefore I thought these not considerable
enough to bear a part in a Discourse of this
nature: Besides they often procure their own
Remedy, working Miracles, and making some Men
see that were born blind, and impregnable
against all the Artillery of Reason; for
experience is the only Mistress of Fools: A wise
Man will know a Pike will bite when he sees his
Teeth, which another will not make discovery of
but by the loss of a Finger.
they have procured for their Country; and I
doubt not but the Generosity and Gratitude of
the parliament will give them a Donative equal
to their Commissions, which, when the Foreigners
are paid and sent home, will amount to no
extraordinary Sum; at most 'tis but supposing
the War to have six months longer continuance,
which is an easy Composition for the Charge of
keeping them. But if there are any gentlemen
amongst them who think we can no otherwise
express our Gratitude, but by signing the
sealing our own Ruin, I hope we shall disappoint
their Expectations, and not give the world
occasion to tell so foolish a story of us, as
they we turned to grass one of the most powerful
Monarchs in the World for breaking our Laws,
that we have maintained an eight Years War at
the Expense of forty Millions of money, and the
Blood of three hundred thousand Men, to justify
the glorious Actions we have done; that by it we
preserved all Europe besides, and lost
our own Liberties; at least I hope it shall not
be said we consented to it.
It's not about guns...
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A.B.C.D.E.F.G.
destructive to the Constitution of
the English Monarchy
JOHN TRENCHARD
with
WALTER MOYLE
Printed in the Year 1697.
Omnia dat quie justa negat.
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