Selected quad for the lemma: country_n
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A35597
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The Case of a standing army army [sic] fairly and impartially stated in answer to the late History of standing armies in England, and other pamphlets on that subject.
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1698
(1698)
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Wing C873; ESTC R3955
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17,796
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39
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French We 'll forgive him one blunder however if he 'll take care what he writes hereafter but I admire how this Gentleman makes the Conquest of Ireland and a War with France the same thing for I take them to be distinct Ireland is our own Country and when we fought for that we fought for what was immediate ely our own we were not at War with France or any Foreign Prince we were reducing a People who were in actual Rebellion to the Crown of England but we 'll not quarrel about Terms tho' by the way the miseries and hardships our Fellow Subjects of Ireland felt shou'd make us terribly afraid of giving any Neighbouring Prince the least hopes of succeeding in any Attempt upon us for 't is an undeniable Maxim that opportunity makes the Thief and by Disbanding our Troops we may possibly give some grounds for hopes of Success to a Prince naturally Aspiring and Ambitious and very apt to fancy himself capable of doing more than he is able but to return I wou'd ask this Gentleman how he came to be so sure that the Parliament thought to have managed their share of this War by a Fleet at Sea which he so possitively asserts We are all sure that the Parliaments of England were of another mind in former Days or they wou'd never have contributed so largely and liberally towards an Invasion of France as they often did Nay in all our Histories I never found they ever parted with their Money more heartily than when it was for a War with that Country and yet they never so much as dream't of their carrying on a War only by a Fleet at Sea but quite the contrary for we all of us know that our Kings very frequently Transported great Armies over into Flanders Normandy or some part of France thinking it more adviseable to Seat the War in an Enemies Country rather than their own To give some Instances William the Conqueror enter'd France with a great Army William Rufus Invaded Normandy so did Henry the V. and Richard the I. Henry the III. twice Transported great Armies over to France Edward the I. twice Invaded France There were no less than five several Armies Transported over to France in the Reign of Edward the II. Henry the V. had continually an Army in France Many more Instances might be given of the like nature but these are enough to let us see that in former times our Parliaments thought it no diminution to their Wisdom to carry on their Warrs in Foreign Parts by Land-Forces tho' in those Days they were confessedly stronger at Sea than any of their Neighbours and amongst all our Princes we find none more belov'd and extoll'd than those Martial Monarchs who Transported and Headed their English Armies in Foreign Parts Besides whoever do's but consider how liberally and largely our late Parliaments have contributed towards the Expence of a ten Years War and what a happy Agreement and Union there has been all along betwixt the King and them I say whoever considers this can by no means believe he speakes truth when he tells us that the Parliament thought they might have manag'd their share of the War with France by a Fleet at Sea and that they thought the raising a Land Force a bitter Pill I think this Gentleman should be requir'd to give a more publick account of this Assertion To make us believe the King out-witted the Parliament and that the Parliament themselves acted disagreeably to their own opinions this is a New contrivance and may in time produce very evil Consequences But I hope Men of Sense will take care how they are cajol'd by such horrid Insinuations Well now he comes to his dear beloved Militia and tells us what wonders were done in Ireland by the Iniskilling-Men and those of Londonderry but pray let us stop a little to consider the matter and not suffer this Phamphleteer to run away with Noise and Nonsense The Iniskilling Men were People made desperate by the Ruins of their Estates and Fortunes almost weary of their Lives by the Cruelties and Hardships they suffer'd from the Irish Papists having the cries of their Wives and Children labouring under the greatest Miseries ever in their Ears and the deplorable condition of their Native Country before their Eyes beside they were not a Militia as our Author falsely boasts but were for the most part Gentlemen and others that sled from the Barbarities of the Irish Papists from all parts of Ireland and gather'd in a Body for their security at Iniskilling and great Numbers of them Officers and private Soldiers of the Army whom Tryconnel had Disbanded because Protestants Men that had been in Pay and Discipline a great part of the Reign of King Chales the II. So that 't is a mistake to say they were a Militia farther if it be consider'd whom they fought with there 's none will wonder at what they did they encountred poor senseless wretches that knew not their Right hands from their Left and always look behind them when they draw their Swords And if these are the Wonders they boast of they had as good be silent and say nothing of the matter In the next Page he says at last by our great Armies and Fleets and the constant Expence of maintaining them we were too hard for the OEconomy Skill and Policy of France and notwithstanding all our difficulties brought them to terms both Safe and Honourable Did we so Sir then I think we have very little reason to complain and if our Fleet and Armies procur'd us this Peace They only can preserve it by parting with either we make it precarious and to depend meerly on the Generosity of an Enemy who is not us'd to be firmer to his Word than his Interest several true sensible Englishmen are of the opinion that the longer we maintain a Standing Armed Force we shall be the longer from having Occasion to make use of them but that on the contrary the sooner we Disband them the sooner we shall be put to the trouble and charge of raising New For 't is certainly true that that Nation which is most able to wage War will be the unlikeliest to be put to the trouble of it But here he says I shall omit giving any account of the Conduct of our Fleet during this War how few Advantages we reap'd by it and how many occasions was lost of Destroying the French only thus much I will Observe that tho' a great part of it may be attributed to the Negligence Ignorance or Treachery of Inferior Officers yet it cou'd not universally happen the Gentleman is positive in what he says and unpunish'd too notwithstanding the Clamours of the Merchants and repeated complaints in Parliament unless the Cause had laid deeper Now this Gentleman shou'd take care to be well inform'd before he so possitively Asserts things of this Nature he may be call'd on to give an Account of his knowledge in the Affairs he pretends to
II. the Arbitrary and Tyrannical Reign of the late King James and still keep up their snarling Humours even in the Mild and Easie one of his present Majesty King William So that 't is plain the fault lies only in their own corrupted Blood and vicious Tempers That such People shou'd have any regard or that any one shou'd be drawn in to mind or value much less to cry up their wicked Insinuations and mischeivous Complaints which have no other source than the too great abundance of their Spleen and their own settled ill dispositions which no Art can correct or cure is a very surprizing and sad Accident and ought to be dreaded by every good person for in the end the Consequences may prove very fatal and prejudicial Amongst these sort of Men none have made a greater Noise or seem'd to have more plausible pretences than those Persons who have employ'd their Pens in terrifying the People with the danger of a Standing Army Liberty is their Cry a Glorious Topick indeed when it is not abus'd but it has ever been made the Stalking-Horse to all Designs and dress'd up in as various shapes as the Witt and Cunning of Designing Persons found necessary and convenient to their Ends and Purposes 't is an Argument very specious and plausible never failing to dazle the Eyes of the Unthinking Vulgar who run away with the word and consider no farther than the bare out side of things Whether or no there lies any ill Designs at the bottom of the present clamour against a Standing Army I know not but I am afraid of what might follow if these Gentlemens Notions were embrac'd and their desires satisfyed I cannot but think we shou'd be in very ill Circumstances if we were left Unguarded and without Forces sufficient to secure us from the Insults of our Enemies but I hope their ill counsels will never prevail to reduce us to so lamentable a condition as to be more beholden to the Generosity or Imprudence of an Enemy than to our own Strength and Wisdom Nay I dare engage that these same Gentlemen who are now so very hot for the Disbanding the Army shou'd the Army be Disbanded wou'd be so far from being better satisfied or cur'd of the spleenetick Humours they are overrun with that they wou'd then make the Want of an Army the Grounds and Occasions of new Complaints they wou'd then with open Mouths and a full Cry and with something more reason on their side roar out that we were neither safe nor secure but left naked and defenceless to a Potent and Inveterate Enemy who might if he pleas'd make an easie Conquest of us and quickly be Master both of our Lives and Estates This wou'd then be the Out-cry and we shou'd be Impos'd on with the continual AIarms of an Invasion from abroad by the very same Persons who now endeavour to frighten us with the Loss of our Freedom and Liberties by an Army at home the grumbling Humor wou'd still find something to feed on and preserve it self alive in spite of either Cure or Poison But to begin with our Author of the History of Standing Armies in England Page first he says If any Man doubts whether a standing Army is Slavery Popery Mahometism Paganism Atheism or any thing which they please How Sir A Standing Army to be so many several things or what you please this is strange indeed and if this is all we need not fear for to be every thing or what you please is to be nothing at all I admire this Gentleman shou'd stumble on so odd a beginning but to go on let him read first the story of Matho and Spendius at Carthage Secondly the Histories of Strada and Bentivoglio where he will find what work Nine Thousand Spaniards made in the 17 Provinces tho' the Country was full of fortified Towns possess'd by the Low-Country Lords and they had assistance from Germany England and France I think this one Paragraph is a direct Confutation of the whole Book for if Nine Thousand Spaniards well Disciplin'd made such havock in the 17 Provinces tho' the Country was full of fortified Towns and in the Possession of the Low-Country Lords assisted too by Germany England and France I think we who can't boast of many strong fortified Towns nor can't reasonably expect any quick Assistance from Abroad shou'd think of keeping up a Force able and sufficient to protect us in case of Necessity and not of leaving our selves Open and Unguarded this is so very obvious to the meanest degree of Sense that I wonder how these Gentlemen or any one else can have a thought to the contrary But he goes on confuting his own Notions for he confesses that we have always had an Establish'd Force among us if so then I think the dispute may be brought into a narrow Compass for the question will not be if a Standing Force here is Legal for that 's granted but the question will be what Forces are Necessary to be kept in Pay at this time which may be immediately resolv'd by considering what an Army is rais'd and kept in Pay for and it is either to Invade and Offend our Enemies or to be a Security and Defence to our selves when we have reason to fear an Annoyance or Invasion from Abroad and I suppose all Englishmen will see the occasion of a Standing Force and a pretty large one too for if we have not an Army sufficient for our Security and Preservation we had as good have none so that all the pains this Gentleman has been at in computing the Forces now in Pay on purpose to instill Fears and Jealousies in the hearts of his Majesty's good Subjects is to no manner of purpose unless it be to give us the greater reason to rejoyce in our Security and to thank God that we are so well provided for our Defence 'T is true indeed we have just had a Peace which gives these Gentlemen occasion to say that we have nothing to fear and consequently no Use for an Army but if we consider how apt a certain Prince is to disturb and Invade his Neighbours and how able he is at this time to do it how often also he has found pretences to break the most Solemn Leagues we shou'd quickly be convinc'd of the contrary and find very good Grounds to fear an attempt upon us if we are not able to prevent it In Page 3 he highly extolls the Merits of Queen Elizabeth and deservedly too he tells us She assisted the Dutch whereby She trained up her Subjects in the Art of War That She wou'd never permit them nor France to build any great Ships kept the Keys of the Maes and Scheld in her own hands and died with an uncontrol'd Dominion of the Seas and Arbitress of Christendom all this She did with a Revenue not exceding 300000 l. per Annum and had but inconsiderable Taxes from her People To dispute with these Men we must set things in