Selected quad for the lemma: book_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A62850
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The militia reform'd, or, An easy scheme of furnishing England with a constant land-force capable to prevent or to subdue any forein power, and to maintain perpetual quiet at home without endangering the public liberty.
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Toland, John, 1670-1722.
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1699
(1699)
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Wing T1766B_VARIANT; ESTC R32810
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36,567
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110
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The Militia Reform'd OR AN EASY SCHEME OF Furnishing ENGLAND with a Constant LAND-FORCE capable to prevent or to subdue any Forein Power and to maintain perpetual QUIET at Home without endangering the PUBLIC LIBERTY The Second Edition Tam Marte quam Mercurio LONDON Printed for Daniel Brown at the Black Swan and Bible without Temple-Bar and Andrew Bell at the Cross-Keys and Bible in Cornhil M. DC.XC.IX BOOKS sold by Andrew Bell in Cornhil DIscourses concerning Government by Algernon Sidney Son to Robert Earl of Leicester and Ambassador from the Commonwealth of England to Charles Gustavus King of Sweden Published from an Original Manuscript of the Author Price 16 s. A complete Collection of the Historical Political and Miscellaneous Works of Iohn Milton both English and Latin With some Papers never before publish'd In 3 Vol. To which is prefix'd The Life of the Author containing besides the History of his Works several extraordinary Characters of Men and Books Sects Parties and Opinions Price 40 s. The General History of England both Ecclesiastical and Civil from the earliest Accounts of Time to the Reign of his present Majesty King William III. Taken from the most antient Records Manuscripts and Historians Containing the Lives of the Kings and Memorials of the most Eminent Persons both in Church and State With the Foundations of the Noted Monasteries and both the Universities Vol. I. By Iames Tyrrel Esq Fol. Price 1 l. An Inquiry concerning Virtue in two Discourses the first of Virtue and the belief of a Deity the second of the Obligations to Virtue Price in Calf 2 s. 6 d. An Essay concerning the Power of the Magistrate and the Rights of Mankind in Matters of Religion With some Reasons in particular for the Dissenters not being oblig'd to take the Sacramental Test but in their own Churches and for a General Naturalization Together with a Postscript in answer to the Letter to a Convocation-man Price in Calf 2 s. 6 d. A Detection of the Court and State of England during the 4 last Reigns and the Interregnum consisting of private Memoirs c. With Observations and Reflections and an Appendix discovering the present State of the Nation Wherein are many Secrets never before made publick as also a more impartial Account of the Civil Wars in England than has yet been given By R. Coke Esq The 3d Edition very much corrected with an Alphabetical Table Price 7 s. An Account of the first Voyages and Discoveries made by the Spaniards in America Containing the most exact Relation hitherto publish'd of their unparallel'd Cruelties on the Indians in the destruction of above 40 Millions of People Together with the Propositions offered to the King of Spain to prevent the further Ruin of the West-Indies By Don Bartholomew de las Casas Bishop of Chiapa who was an Eye witness of their Cruelties Illustrated with Cuts To which is added The Art of Travelling shewing how a Man may dispose his Travels to the best advantage Price in Calf 4 s. The Art of Memory A Treatise useful for all especially such as are to speak in publick By Marius D' Assigny B. D. Price 1 s. A Letter to his Majesty K. William III. shewing I. The Original Foundation of the English Monarchy II. The Means by which it was removed from that Foundation III. the Expedients by which it has bin supported since that Removal IV. The best Means by which its Grandure may be for ever maintain'd Price 4 d. A Letter to a Member of Parliament shewing that a Restraint on the Press is inconsistent with the Protestant Religion and dangerous to the Liberties of the Nation Price 6 d. There are now in the Press The second Volume of Mr. Tyrrel's History of England for which Proposals are printed The second Edition of the Compleat History of Europe Or a View of the Affairs thereof Civil and Military from the beginning of the Treaty of Nimeguen 1676 to this present Year 1699. Wherein are several remarkable Transactions c. not in the former Edition The Militia Reform'd c. THE following Discourse most Noble LORD begun at your Request and finish'd within the short time You prescrib'd is now made a Present to the World which if the Favour deserves any Return is oblig'd to your Lordship for the Publication You have long since justly acquir'd the Esteem of all good Men and the known measure of their Prayers when they wish their Relations happy is that they may equal your Lordship's Probity and Understanding But tho you neither want nor desire the regards of any besides the Vertuous yet no News can be more pleasing than to hear of a constant Addition to your Friends this being an infallible Sign that the Number of Publick-spirited Men increases For he must needs be your sworn Enemy who is not a hearty lover of his Country I purposely forbear to express your Name or to enlarge an Encomium which I know will not be grateful tho unsuspected of Flattery and therefore I leave your Lordship to be entertain'd by mine or your own more solid Observations 1. TO employ one's Thoughts on what he pleases and to speak as freely as he thinks is the greatest Advantage of living in a free Government the next to this is being Master of what you possess from the Favour of others or by your own Industry and then that Merit is indifferently rewarded in Persons of all Conditions and Degrees Their due Value is ordinarily set upon the two last by most Men and Life it self should be readily expos'd to maintain or acquire the first for without it to live is in my Opinion worse than any Death Under Despotick Princes none dares mutter at his own or the Sufferings of his Fellows much less put so much Confidence in his dearest Friend as to condole their common Slavery where the Informer is tempted with immense Rewards and certain Death or Disgrace attend the Accus'd This is the bless'd Unity of that Constitution which some admire so much because no Complaints are heard in it whence they would persuade us that it is also free from all Grievances But where Laws secure the Rights of the SUBJECT with the same Care as the Privileges of the MAGISTRATE no sooner is any pinch'd but he cries out and the Authors of the Peoples Oppression are oblig'd to change their Conduct or to rectify their Mistakes Either the PRINCE is disabus'd when his MINISTERS have seduc'd him by false Representations or sometimes the MINISTERS refuse to act if the PRINCE be resolv'd upon Arbitrary Courses Now 't is our peculiar Happiness in England that no other Government in Europe is equal to us whether the DIGNITY of the Magistracy or the LIBERTY of the People be consider'd But particularly in all dubious Affairs of Publick Concern 't is every Man's Duty to assist his Country by his Advice as well as with his Hand in time of Danger And Matters are as freely debated among us abroad as within their own Walls
paid for every thing then 't is as reasonable that all should enjoy the Benefit in their turns As for the Order to be observ'd to take away all occasions of Dispute there needs no more but to cast Lots at the beginning in every Class to know what County shall be the first second third and so on But if an Objection should be rais'd by any against the Number of the Classes from the Largeness of their Bounds and consequently the great Distance in many Parts from the Place of Encampment I answer that 't is not the precise Number but the Distribution for which I contend for the Kingdom may as well be divided into six Classes each containing 10000 of the MILITIA and annual CAMPS in any two of 'em at a time Thus still the Triennial Rotation remains the same and we have every Year 20000 Men besides the London-Militia encamp'd somewhere in the Kingdom to the great Terror of all our Enemies and to our own unspeakable Advantage and Reputation we have an Army of sixty thousand FREEMEN to defend the whole Nation and yet every part of it always provided with a sufficient Number either absolutely to defend themselves or to stop any Enemy till our whole Forces draw together But then this wheeling Number of sixty Thousand is very inconsiderable in comparison of many thousand FREEMEN more that are always ready to relieve to repair to succeed or to join them upon occasion to speak nothing of those exempted from Duty nor of the poor and servile all which Orders of Men are not only well disciplin'd but oblig'd also to serve upon uncommon Emergencies But to return to our CAMP there our MILITIA learns the highest Perfection of Discipline and is taught to make regular Sieges and Attacks in all Forms to storm Castles to fight Battles to gain advantageous Posts to make honorable Retreats to intrench themselves to forage decamp and in one word to perform all the other Duties of an Army Now besides the Necessity and Usefulness of all these Exercises they will be extraordinary entertaining too The whole Country round will come to divert themselves in this Place and pass that Season the most agreeably of all the Year It would be a superfluous Labor to spend more Words in Commendation of this part of our MODEL and so I come to make one Remark concerning the Expences after taking notice that the yearly general Exercise prescrib'd by the Act for regulating our MILITIA yet in force is to continue but only the space of four Days The Assessments laid by this same Act are so grievous as well as useless that a long Experience and the general Out-cry against them spare me the pains of shewing their Defects nor will I for the same Reasons make any stop at the Abuse of calling People so often from their Business for no other end but to fill the Muster-master's Pockets neither will I insist upon the intolerable Grievance of Trophy-money all those things as I said before being so universally known that every body can prescribe a proper Remedy I propos'd three Weeks and I still think it time enough for the Annual Encampment viz. a Fortnight for actual Service and the other eight days upon the supposition of three Classes for coming and going and fewer will do if the Classes be six in Number But suppose another Week be added then 't is plain that the Charge of a hundred and twenty thousand Men during one Month is no more than the Pay of ten Thousand for a Year whence every body may infer how much cheaper we may entertain 〈◊〉 thousand FREEMEN for a Fortnight or three Weeks than ten thousand MERCENARIES for a Twelve-month making all reasonable Allowance in the Difference of their Pay The Expence in our MODEL then is both laid out to much better purpose and made a great deal easier than any of this nature heretofore Nay the very Rotation should recommend it self to all Mens Approbation seeing it comes with respect to the Charge but every third Year to the turn of each County and as to the Duty much seldomer to particular Persons whereas the Rotation of the Iews was monthly and took in the whole People in a Year They had 24000 Men under Arms every Month and I don't propose twenty thousand for one Month in twelve But the Iewish MILITIA kept Guards and Garisons too Now the Children of Israel after their Names says the Author of the first Book of their Chronicles the chief Fathers and the Captains of Thousands and Hundreds and their Officers that serv'd the King in any Matter of the Courses which came in and went out Month by Month throughout all the Months of the Year of every Course wâ—â—e twenty and four thousand Therâ— needs no more to be said on this Head only that the Cities of London and Westminster with their Suburbs and Liberties together with the Borough of Southwark are not to be comprehended within any of the Classes but to have their own CAMP annually in some convenient Place adjacent 10. So far of the Persons qualified to serve in the MILITIA and the several degrees of training them Now we shall speak of their AGE for altho this Particular is generally neglected in Mercenary Armies yet it has been ever carefully consider'd in all free Governments because the Design of these being to render the People happy they impartially assign Labor and Ease to those Periods of Life to which they are most sutable Then my Fifth Proposition is THAT EVERY FREEMAN WHEN HIS TURN COMES BE OBLIG'D TO PERSONAL SERVICE IN THE MILITIA FROM THE EIGHTEENTH TO THE FIFTIETH YEAR OF HIS AGE AND THAT ALL ABOVE OR UNDER THESE YEARS BE EXEMPTED FROM THE SERVICE THO NOT FROM THE CHARGE The Romans oblig'd their Citizens to Arms from the seventeenth to the six and fortieth Year of their Age in which time every Man was to go upon the Service of the Commonwealth in case of need if he were of the Horse ten or of the Foot twenty times and if he was hinder'd by Sickness or otherwise from compleating this Number he might be compell'd to do it until he was fifty But all under seventeen or above fifty were absolutely excus'd unless upon those extraordinary Occasions whereof we spoke before and then the Veterans and Emeriti for so they call'd the superannuated Soldiers might not only be forc'd to take up Arms but they ordinarily came in of themselves when their Country was in danger and by their Valor and Experience did often save it from Destruction In like manner when any General of great Reputation was to go upon some glorious Expedition several Veterans us'd to offer him their Service voluntarily which was very acceptable being most useful both by their Example to the rest and their own personal Exploits But I expect to be told that GENTLEMEN will never consent their Sons should be train'd like Common Souldiers Now it may be easily perceiv'd