A LETTER TO A Member of Parliament Written upon the RUMOUR OF AN Invasion LONDON Printed in the Year M DC CX IX A LETTER TO A Member of Parliament SIR I Have been and still continue to be so much engag'd in Reviewing some Accounts and Papers of Moment that I could find no Leisure to Copy those loose Papers that contain my Project for a well Regulated Militia which I promis'd to put in Your Hands in the Easter-Week And this Session draws so near a Conclusion and the Militia-Bill now before the Honourable House being ready to pass the Third Reading I see no room for admitting my Papers to be heard in a Committee if I had 'em ready for that Purpose And I hope and with all true Englishmen expect such a Proof of the great Care and Wisdom of Your Honourable House in settling the Militia at so Critical a Juncture as this that all the Private Schemes form'd by Men that are Sincere Lovers of their Native Country shall be Infinitely out-done by the united Prudence and Vigilance of so many Glorious Asserters of our Liberties as are Members in this Present Parliament 'T is a Matter of so great Consequence to the present Government and indeed to the whole Body of the People and the Liberties of England that the Kingdom shou'd be put into a good Posture of Defence and be well provided against a Foreign Invasion that I 'm confident there 's not a Gentleman Sitting and Debating within the Walls of that Honourable House that could ever be perswaded to pardon himself if it were possible for him not to contribute all the Skill and Advice he is Master of to bring to the greatest Perfection a Bill of that Vnspeakable Importance to his Native Countrey And when I find most of my Acquaintance have the like Sentiments of Your present Deliberationâ— I confess 't is to them and to me too a sufficient Antidote against the Fears and Jealousies that every Body in a manner is amus'd withal upon the Rumour of an intended Invasion from abroad I venture to say Fears and Jealousies because I meet with a great many People every-where that are apt to fancy We should be in a very unprovided Condition if 30 or 40000 Disciplin'd Men should Land upon us now the Regular Troops are reduc'd to 7000 Men and the Invaders would meet with no Body to oppose 'em but a Raw Vnexperienced Militia and they not to be drawn into any considerable Body under a Month or Six Weeks This I assure you is a mighty uneasie reflection to many good Men and they begin with Impatience to desire Your Bill may pass out of Hand that pursuant to the Model of it We may be so well prepar'd that no Foreign State may dare to think of Invading us For my part I should be very ready to have no great Opinion of any State but ours that consisted in a Body of about 1,500,000 Men capable of bearing Arms and they possess'd a Large Fruitful Wealthy Country of above Thirty Millions of Acres and yet upon a Rumour of an Enemy of 30 or 40000 Men approaching their Frontiers should immediately fall into a Great and General Consternation and consequently run into such Confusion as to be incapable of making any Opposition but scour away like a terrify'd Mob or fly like a Flock of Sheep And yet 't is no Wonder that a Populous Country and a Generous Free People as the People of England are should be Alarum'd when they have a Fertile Soil Great and Valuable Liberties and many Thousand Lives to lose if they can trust to nothing but a Country Rabble or a Giddy Multitude for their Preservation I am therefore of Opinion 't is the happiest Policy that any State can practice so to model its Subjects and their Estates that in Cases of extreme Publick Danger the whole united Power of both may be so readily collected as to make the bravest Defence with their own Hands without sending to Foreign Countries for Assistance which every Body that has read our Chronicle knows has been often Fatal to England And I am sure it remains an Indelible Reproach upon Our Ancestors that their Discord was so Notorious and Government at some times was so Imprudent and Impotent that when they were Invaded by one Neighbour they were often oblig'd to send to others and give them an Invitation to Invade 'em to save their Liberties and when they have so done pay their Saviours with an absolute Surrender of the Liberties they came to redeem The English or the Inhabitants of this Island were often in this Humour and as often smarted for it before the Times of William the First and hardly ever succeeded but in the Case of William the Third a Prince of Vnparalell'd Virtues and an Vnalterable Friend to Liberty The petty Princes and States of Itály and Germany having but small Territories and few Subjects are often put upon this Shift Some Potent Neighbouring Princes are chosen their Protectors and because they cannot subsist alone they admit Foreign Troops into their Garrisons to secure their Towns and Government But England certainly is a Countrey of so large an extent and so well fill'd with Strong and Able Men and those Men are of so true a Natural Courage that 't is impossible for us to want help from Abroad in any occasion whatever if our own Countrymen are but well Arm'd and Disciplin'd at Home and 't is our own fault if we either have not been or are not so now and the fear of an Invasion is justly Chargeable upon our selves if we are not so well prepar'd as to let all the World know they may come if they dare For who durst think of such an Enterprize if he were sure to be receiv'd at his Landing with Sixty Thousand Brave Fellows under good Discipline and skilful Officers ready to Cut the Invaders in pieces and force 'em into the Salt Water The Thirteen Cantons of Switzerland possess a Tract of Land that in Value and Number of People I dare say don't exceed the Three Counties of Kent Sussex and Surry and tho' the Countrey makes a very rude and troublesome March yet the Militia is so well Order'd that upon occasion they can bring into the Field in Ten Days time a compleat Army of Fifty or Sixty Thousand Men and sooner too if we may believe those who have been there Now if the People here were as well Disciplin'd as the Switzers are or according to the Model I have drawn I see no manner of reason to doubt that should an Enemy of Twenty or Thirty Thousand Men Land in any part of Kent or Sussex wiâ—hin One Weeks time those Three Counties beforementioned with a Body of Men drawn out of the City of London all amounting to Sixty or S venty Thousand Men should be upon their Bones and Cut 'em off every Man But were we once but so well provided as the Swiss Cantons are we might be confident no Body would have to do with us And our Women and Children would then Despise those very Forces of which a great many Men amongst us now seem to be afraid But should any one of our Neighbours destitute of Faith and Truth make an Attempt upon us at this present Juncture the fittest Expedient that I can think of is That by a Resolve of the House His Majesty may immediately issue a Proclamation to all Officers and Soldiers that have Serv'd in the late War to render themselves by such a Day at such a Place where they shall have such Encouragements as Two Shillings per diem for a Foot Soldier Four Shillings per diem for a Dragoon and Six Shillings per diem for an Horseman during the Expedition a Gratuity of the Rebels Estates when the Service is over and a Charity to the Families of those who fall in the Service join with these the Militia of London and of the nearest Counties to the place of Invasion and I would hope these might serve our turn for the present if occasion be which God forbid And for the future I hope we shall be put in so good a Posture by the present Parliament as to make all our Neighbours utterly despair of ever succeeding in any pretended Invasion of England I am Sir With very great Veneration Your most Obedient Humble Servant H. H.