upon the very Brink of entering upon that Stage of Glory where the greatest Generals and Heroes of the Age are proud to bear a Part we our selves shall with them be Actors in those Famous Tragedies which will for ever be represented in History to the end of all Ages To us is granted the inestimable Advantages of being taught and continually practising the military Discipline of Marching Watching Fasting nay and Starving too which is the Perfection and Consummation of the utmost Art of War To us it is given to divide the rich and heavy Spoils of our Enemies by the means of those constant Victories to which we have and for the same Reasons still hope to be led on by the Courage and Conduct of our Invincible Monarch But to be short How much is our Condition preferable to that of the miserable neglected Dutch They are excluded from those glorious Blessings which we True Loyal English Men enjoy nay more They are barrel'd up like Herrings and sent as poor and despicable Merchandize to every Port of England where they no sooner Arrive than they are forc't to take upon them the Nature and Condition of English Subjects by which hard Tenure they will be obliged to do the Drudgery of the Nation they will be necessited to serve in our Parliaments to be at the ungrateful Expence of serving the Country as Sheriffs Deputy Lieutenants Justices of the Peace nay as Constables and Church-wardens too And what is still an Aggravation of their Hardships which more particularly concerns our selves they will be put even upon doing our own private Drudgery they must become Husbands to our Wifes Fathers to our Children Guardians to our Orphans Stewards to our Estates Executors to our Wills they must cultivate our Pastures and plough up our fertile Fields they must thrash our Wheat in our musty Barns whilst we are reaping substantial Honour in their Fields of Mars In a word they must do all which we our selves should have done had we been left behind in their ignoble Places All this and abundantly much more which might be said will I hope fully convince you how great is the Honour Justice Equity Piety Prudence and many more innumerable Advantages of our glorious Cause Thus far as I said at first Gentlemen and Fellow Companions at Arms I have brought you and if I have detain'd you longer than I intended remember That the great Character of our most Gracious King and his innumerable good Qualities have been the occasion of it I shall now dismiss you until a fair Gale wafts us over to the Elizian Fields of Holland and Flanders where probably most of you will put an end to the many Misfortunes of a Soldier 's Life When the Colonel had ended his Discourse a brisk gentile young Fellow who came early in to the new Recruits addresses himself after this manner to his Officer Most noble Colonel your fine Speech has been I believe so pleasing to us all that for my own part I rather wish you had added something more than left off so soon but since your Honour hath been pleas'd to take all this Pains for our Satisfaction I beseech you in all Humility that your Honour will give a poor Souldier leave to mind you of one Point which may require a more full and particular Explanation The Colonel having given a gracious Nod by way of Consent the young Fellow proceeded I had the Fortune said he to be born the younger Son of an English Yeoman now call'd forsooth a Gentleman my father had 80 good Pounds per Annum he kept a good House and we had Beef and Pudden and Nogg good Store My elder Brother had the good luck to be brought up according to the way of his Ancestors that is to the Plough and a quiet Country Life but for my part my Father who was now a Gentleman resolved that I should be Book learn'd and so I was lasht from School to School until at last I become a poor Scholar in the University of Cambridge But the excessive Taxes Polls and Prizes of all Necessaries c. since this late Revolution growing extreamly burthensom to all and my Father in no Condition upon that same Account to allow any thing towards my Subsistence I was forced to beat upon the Hoof to my Father's House I had not been there long when I perceiv'd his way of Living so alter'd and our Commons so short that my poor Brains were almost turn'd with Grief and Melancholy and to add to my Afflictions the Vicar of our Parish who had been an honest good Fellow had shut up his Shop and boarded upon meer Element and Barley Dumplin at a poor Farmer 's House in the Village Lord noble Colonel had you seen this dismal Revolution in our Town it would have broke even your own Courageous Heart for my part I was not able to bear it any longer but had fixt my Thoughts upon seeking my Fortune In short I resolv'd to abandon Dwelling and saving your Presence out I went a Colonelling I had soon fixt upon the noble City of London for the Center of my hopes I had not been there long when my small Stock being almost spent I found it absolntely necessary to think of some Employment I had heard of such as Knights of the Pad and some of the Post which they said many Gentlemen through the Hardness of the times had taken upon them Or 〈◊〉 propos'd that I should admit my self into he English or Dutch Company of Clippers and Coyners but observing many hopeful young Gentlemen of those Professions sadly conducted 〈…〉 Robbers up High Holborn it quite baulkt my Fancy to any of those Trades I resolved then to ramble into the City and view the noble Street of Cheapside intending if possibly I could to bind my self Apprentice to some honest Trade but when I lookt into their Shops I found most part of the 'Prentices either playing at Shuttle Cock or asleep or the Shops as empty as if visited only by the Plague I easily invited one or two of them to drink a Pot of Ale where they told me most dismal Stories of Trade and in a word They swore to me that a Man in these times had better be a Hang-man than a Trades-man I soon took leave of my young 'Prentices and resolv'd to view the remoter Parts of the City thinking with my self That possibly the Calamity might not have spread so far I found my self at last about Spittle Fields but noble Colonel had your Honour seen the poor English Weavers Button-makers c. sitting at their Doors all along the Streets with their Heads in their Hands whilst their Wives were cursing the French Dogs as they call'd them who had taken the Bread out of their Childrens Mouths for which they were sadly Bawling had you heard them blaspheme the Government or had your Honour 's delicate Nose smelt the strong Smell of Garlick Onions and Cabbage which abounded your Honour would have thought
your self rather in some Common Shore than in the famous City of London I soon took my leave of this sad Country and seeing no hopes of Employment at Land I resolv'd to try my Fortune at Sea to that purpose I travell'd down to Wapping hoping to meet with some honest Master that might entertain me but would you believe it the Sea-men had fled with as much diligence from thence as I had taken care to get thither so that I scarce found any body besides whole Shoals of Sea mens Widows and Wives with their Children and Orphans all bitterly cursing Press-masters the Navy Office c. nor did they spare Whitehall or Kensington I was soon weary of this Place also which I lookt upon as a Representation of Hell it self for I found nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth Back then I return'd to Holborn where hearing the Noise of a Drum and seeing the Majesty of a Sergeant and his Halbard marching before it and observing the Huzza's of three or four Children at the end of God save King W. and Queen M. I was so animated at this time that I resolved immediately right or wrong to List my self a Souldier I enquir'd after the Colonel which I found to be your Honour and hearing all People give you a good word I was presently entertain'd and here I am at your Service I have troubled you with all this noble Colonel only to shew you That it was Necessity which brought me hither I neither regard the Justice nor Injustice of the Cause I neither fight for King W. nor against King J. but I venture my Life to preserve my Life by Bread and Pay Your Honour is sensible that a young Man's Life is valued at Seven years Purchase and to venture Seven years Purchase against Nothing is such a Bargain as the Devil himself would be ashamed to accept Now if we want our Pay we want all Things and by consequence have Nothing which I hope will never be our sad Case And now most noble Colonel I only beg the Liberty of one word more Since I was admitted into this Honourable Employment I have kept Company with many of my own Profession some serv'd in Flanders under the D. of Monmouth and these unanimously applaud the good Usage and the Pay they received in that Service I have converst with others who serv'd under the late King J. and when I enquire of them how they were treated and paid in those days they fall a sighing and sobbing as if their Hearts would break and I can scarce get any thing from them but ah shall we never see those days again And such Raptures of Grief and Love for his Memory that they almost amazed me But truly noble Colonel when I discourse with those who have made these late Campaigns in Flanders all of them universally except those in your Honours Regiment have given us a Relation so contrary in all Particulars to those of the former Reigns and especially as to the main points of Pay and good Usage that if your Honour will vouchsafe to give us a Satisfactory word or two particularly to those two points which I can assure you are the great Motives and Concern of us all your Honour may be confident that we will follow you through Fire as well as Water even to the Gates of Paris if you command us The young Fellow having made a low obeisance the Colonel smiling thus replied Young Man I have heard your long Speech with Patience and forgive many Impertinences in it But that nothing may be wanting to your entire Satisfaction take this in answer to the two main Points you speak off First Gentlemen I do solemly promise that your Usage in Flanders shall always be worthy of English Men and the Goodness and Justice of our Cause and next as to your Pay I do here plight my Troth and my dear Honour which I value above my Life that you shall be all of you constantly certainly and soundly Paid before you come back In the mean time return to your Quarters till further Orders Having said this he mounted Pad and took the fresh Air. FINIS
A true Copy of a Speech made by an English Colonel to his Regiment immediately before their late Transportation for Flanders at Harwich THus far Gentlemen and Fellow Souldiers I have conducted you in order to your Transportation for Flanders The Honour of that Post which I now enjoy is due only to his Majesties Goodness but the Happiness which I propose to my self in possessing it is a Gift which none but your selves can bestow upon me Your Civil Deportment and Strict Obedience hitherto I take as an Earnest to me of my good Hopes and Successes for the future and when I consider'd you are English Men whose Loyalty to your Kings and Natural Courage are celebrated and fear'd all Europe over I once thought I might have spared both my self and you the trouble of this Meeting But though long Speeches are now grown out of Date yet having Something of high Importance to communicate to you I was resolved to be rather out of Fashion than out of Humour at an old Custom at this time so necessary for the good of the Nation and service of Our King I must acquaint you then that notwithstanding our Loyalty and Courage may be at as high a pitch as any mortal Men upon Earth can boast of yet the greatest Loyalty may be debaucht and Courage daunted by the false Suggestions and malicious Insinuations of our cunning Enemies at home which captivating our Understandings and perverting our Judgments disarm us more effectually than the Force of our declared Foes abroad could have done Honour is such an inseparable Qualification of a Souldier that when the Honour is gone the Souldier dies though the Man perhaps may drag on miserably a despised Life Now the Justice of the Cause in which we engage hath ever been esteemed the first and greatest Motive to Men of Honour to venture their Lives and Fortunes to endure all the Hardships of a tedious War and to appear Glorious with all those Wounds those Scars and Deformities upon them which still from the Justice of the Cause have been ever reputed Honourable What Man of Honour then would appear in a villanous Cause and venture his Limbs and Life nay and his Salvation too in an unjust War Slaughter in such becomes Murther Plunder is Robbery and Theft and Victory it self if ever it happens to them oftentimes ends in their Destruction Having premised these things I must now mind you that probably most of your selves as well as I cannot but have observed how industrious our Enemies at home have been in representing our Cause as unjust nay as Villanous and Scandalous to the Reputation and Name of an English Man much more of Christian and with Grief and Abhorrence I must acknowledge that the Generality of most Towns Cities and Provinces too have of late so alter'd their Opinions and so publickly asperst our Cause with injurious terms not now to be repeated that I think my self bound in Conscience to put some stop to this growing Mischief especially since our Courts themselves have not been free from the Contagion no not that most Honourable Court in Parliament assembled in which to our Grief and great Amazement some of those very Men have appeared the most constant Enemies to our Cause who have been reputed Men of the best Estates and to this day lookt upon as the truest Patriots of the English Nation What then can be less expected from me who have the Honour to command such brave Men as you are than to instruct you in those things which may preserve your Loyalty as well as inform and teach you that military Discipline which may animate your Courage Most of you have come in Volunteers to recruit that Regiment of mine the greatest part whereof lye buried in the Bed of Honour To you therefore who have never crost the Seas it may be acceptable to know what kind of Entertainment and Reception you are like to meet with abroad You Gentlemen and Fellow Soldiers who have been Partners of our Sufferings and our repeated Victories abroad will be informed of what hath past at home since you left your Native Country and All of you will be convinc'd I hope how Just and Honourable the Cause is in which we are engaged I shall begin at the Fountain and Head of all Justice and Honour I mean the King and follow the Stream of his most admirable Qualifications until they are Lost in the Vast Ocean of noble Thought First then he is our Natural and Hereditary King and Sovereign Leige Lord and We his Natural-born Subjects Had I no more but this to say of him it were more than sufficient to confirm our bounden Duty and Loyalty to him What can be more Just and Honourable than to observe the inviolable Laws of Nature especially when they are inforced by the positive Laws of God What Man of Honour can forbear to Blush or Rage with Indignation should he hear himself accused of some unnatural Sin The Crimes which we commit against Nature make us degenerate below the Condition of unreasonable Beasts who even without Reason preserve the Law of Nature From the Kid and its Dam to the Lion's Whelp and the fiercest Lioness all Creatures by Nature love and follow those which nourish and preserve them and shall we whose Profession and Reward is Honour forsake our Natural Hereditary King who is our Father and Protector too But to proceed Were he not our King yet since he is so Who doth not wish him so He it is who at the hazzard of his own dear and pretious Life and at his own vast Expence for our sakes alone accepted of Three troublesome Crowns to deliver us from those two dreadful Monsters Popery and Slavery He it is who brought in Peace and Plenty among us and hath entail'd them upon us too beyond the Prospect of the most descerning Eye He it is who so tenderly and compassionately Loves us that he holds our Lives in the Palms of his Hands and is so Cautious of exposing them to the ordinary Dangers of an Enemy that he heaps up his own dear Countrymen as a mighty Bulwark before us whilst himself remains in the Rear as a safe retreat when dangers overtake us In his nature he is Affable Courtious and Liberal event to a fault He is Merciful and so free from Ambition and Tyranny the Common and darling Vices of Kings that he hath divided his Throne with the Consort of his Bed and hath entrusted his Power to the Will of his People But not to dwell too long upon Words let us proceed to Effects which are the more convincing by how much they are the more sensible to us And First How free have we been from the intolerable burden of Eternal Taxes How do we wallow in Wealth and Plenty and secure even from the Noise and Rumour of War Is not our Trade encreast and our Merchants freed from the anxious Fears Dangers and Losses of the Seas Do not their Numbers daily grow