A DISCOURSE OF GOVERNMENT With relation to MILITIA'S Edinburgh Printed in the Year MDCXCVIII A DISCOURSE OF GOVERNMENT With relation to MILITIA'S THERE is not perhaps in humane Affairs any thing so unaccountable as the Indignity and Cruelty with which the far greater part of Mankind suffer themselves to be used under pretence of Government For some Men falsly perswading themselves that bad Governments are advantageous to them as most conducing to gratify their Ambition Avarice and Luxury set themselves with the utmost art and violence to procure their Establishment and by such Men almost the whole World has been trampled under foot and subjected to Tyranny for want of understanding by what means and methods they were enslaved For tho Mankind take great care and pains to instruct themselves in other Arts and Sciences yet very few apply themselves to consider the nature of Government an Enquiry so useful and necessary both to Magistrate and People Nay in most Countries the Arts of State being altogether directed either to enslave the People or to keep them under slavery it is become almost every where a Crime to reason about Matters of Government But if Men would bestow a small part of the Time and Application which they throw away upon curious but useless Studies or endless Gaming in perusing those excellent Rules and Examples of Government which the Antients have left us they would soon be enabled to discover all such Abuses and Corruptions as tend to the Ruin of Publick Societies 'T is therefore very strange that they should think Study and Knowledg necessary in every thing they go about except in the noblest and most useful of all Applications The Art of Government Now if any Man in compassion to the Miseries of a People should endeavour to disabuse them in any thing relating to Government he will certainly incur the Displeasure and perhaps be pursued by the Rage of those who think they find their Account in the oppression of the World but will hardly succeed in his Endeavours to undeceive the Multitude For the generality of all Ranks of Men are cheated by Words and Names and provided the antient Terms and outward Forms of any Government be retained let the nature of it be never so much altered they continue to dream that they shall still enjoy their former Liberty and are not to be awakned till it prove too late Of this there are many remarkable Examples in History but that particular Instance which I have chosen to insist on as most sutable to my purpose is the Alteration of Government which happened in most Countries of Europe about the year 1500. And 't is worth observation that tho this Change was fatal to their Liberty yet it was not introduced by the Contrivance of ill-designing Men nor were the mischievous Consequences perceived unless perhaps by a few wise Men who if they saw it wanted Power to prevent it Two hundred years being already passed since this Alteration began Europe has felt the Effects of it by sad Experience and the true Causes of the Change are now become more visible To lay open this matter in its full Extent it will be necessary to look farther back and examin the Original and Constitution of those Governments that were established in Europe about the year 400 and continued till this Alteration When the Goths Vandals and other warlike Nations had at different Times and under different Leaders overrun the Western Parts of the Roman Empire they introduced the following Form of Government into all the Nations they subdued The General of the Army became King of the Conquered Country and the Conquest being absolute he divided the Lands amongst the great Officers of his Army afterwards called Barons who again parcelled out their several Territories in smaller Portions to the inferiour Souldiers that had followed them in the Wars and who then became their Vassals enjoying those Lands for Military Service The King reserved to himself some Demeasnes for the maintenance of his Court and Attendance When this was done there was no longer any Standing Army kept on foot but every man went to live upon his own Lands and when the Defence of the Country required an Army the King summoned the Barons to his Standard who came attended with their Vassals Thus were the Armies of Europe composed for about eleven hundred years and this Constitution of Government put the Sword into the hands of the Subject because the Vassals depended more immediately on the Barons than on the King which effectually secured the freedom of those Governments For the Barons could not make use of their Power to destroy those limited Monarchies without destroying their own Grandeur nor could the King invade their Privileges having no other Forces than the Vassals of his own Demeasnes to rely upon for his support in such an Attempt I lay no great stress on any other Limitations of those Monarchies nor do I think any so essential to the Liberties of the People as that which placed the Sword in the hands of the Subject And since in our time most Princes of Europe are in possession of the Sword by Standing Mercenary Forces kept up in time of Peace absolutely depending upon them I say that all such Governments are changed from Monarchies to Tyrannies Nor can the Power of granting or refusing Money tho vested in the Subject be a sufficient security for Liberty where a Standing Mercenary Army is kept up in time of Peace For he that is arm'd is always Master of the Purse of him that is unarm'd And not only that Government is tyrannical which is tyrannically exercised but all Governments are tyrannical which have not in their Constitution a sufficient Security against the Arbitrary Power of the Prince I do not deny that these limited Monarchies during the greatness of the Barons had some Defects I know few Governments free from them But after all there was a Balance that kept those Governments steady and an effectual Provision against the Encroachments of the Crown I do less pretend that the present Governments can be restored to the Constitution before mentioned The following Discourse will show the impossibility of it My design in the first place is to explain the Nature of the past and present Governments of Europe and to disabuse those who think them the same because they are called by the same Names and who ignorantly clamour against such as would preserve that Liberty which is yet left In order to this and for a further and clearer Illustration of the Matter I shall deduce from their Original the Causes Occasions and the Complication of those many unforeseen Accidents which falling out much about the same time produced so great a Change And it will at first sight seem very strange when I shall name the Restoration of Learning the Invention of Printing of the Needle and of Gunpowder as the chief of them things in themselves so excellent and which the last only excepted might have
for our Deliverance The Subjects formerly had a real Security for their Liberty by having the Sword in their own hands That Security which is the greatest of all others is lost and not only so but the Sword is put into the hand of the King by his Power over the Militia All this is not enough but we must have in both Kingdoms Standing Armies of Mercenaries who for the most part have no other way to subsist and consequently are capable to execute any Commands And yet every Man must think his Liberties as safe as ever under pain of being thought disaffected to the Monarchy But sure it must not be the antient limited and legal Monarchies of Scotland and England that these Gentlemen mean It must be a French Fashion of Monarchy where the King has power to do what he pleases and the People no security for any thing they possess We have quitted our antient Security and put the Militia into the power of the King The only remaining Security we have is That no Standing Armies were ever yet allowed in time of Peace the Parliament of England having so often and so expresly declared them to be contrary to Law and that of Scotland having not only declar'd them to be a Grievance but made the keeping them up an Article in the Forfeiture of the late King James If a Standing Army be allow'd What Difference will there be between the Government we shall then live under and any kind of Government under a good Prince Of which there have been some in the most despotick Tyrannies If these be limited and not absolute Monarchies then as there are Conditions so there ought to be Securities on both sides The Barons never pretended that their Militia's should be constantly on foot and together in Bodies in times of Peace 'T is evident that would have subverted the Constitution and made every one of them a petty Tyrant And 't is as evident that Standing Forces are the fittest Instruments to make a Tyrant Whoever is for making the King's Power too great or too little is an Enemy to the Monarchy But to give him Standing Armies puts his Power beyond controul and consequently makes him absolute If the People had any other real Security for their Liberty than that there be no Standing Armies in time of Peace there might be some colour to demand them But if that only remaining Security be taken away from the People we have destroyed these Monarchies 'T is pretended we are in hazard of being invaded by a powerful Enemy shall we therefore destory our Government What is it then that we would defend It is our Persons by the ruin of our Government In what then shall we be gainers In saving our Lives by the loss of our Liberties If our Pleasures and Luxury make us live like Brutes it seems we must not pretend to reason any better than they I would fain know if there be any other way of making a Prince Absolute than by allowing him a Standing Army if by it all Princes have not been made Absolute if without it any Whether our Enemies shall conquer us is uncertain but whether Standing Armies will enslave us neither Reason nor Experience will suffer us to doubt 'T is therefore evident that no pretence of danger from abroad can be an Argument to keep up Standing Armies or any Mercenary Forces Let us now consider whether we may not be able to defend our selves by well-regulated Militia's against any Foreign Force tho never so formidable that these Nations may be free from the fears of Invasion from abroad as well as from the danger of Slavery at home After the Barons had lost the Military Service of their Vassals Militia's of some kind or other were established in most parts of Europe But the Prince having every where the power of naming and preferring the Officers of these Militia's they could be no Balance in Government as the former were And he that will consider what has been said in this Discourse will easily perceive that the essential Quality requisite to such a Militia as might fully answer the Ends of the former must be that the Officers should be named and preferr'd as well as they and the Souldiers paid by the People that set them out So that if Princes look upon the present Militia's as not capable of defending a Nation against Foreign Armies the People have little reason to entrust them with the Defence of their Liberties And tho upon the dissolution of that Antient Militia under the Barons which made these Nations so Great and Glorious by setting up Militia's generally through Europe the Sword came not into the hands of the Commons which was the only thing could have continued the former Balance of Government but was every-where put into the hands of the King Nevertheless ambitious Princes who aimed at Absolute Power thinking they could never use it effectually to that end unless it were wielded by Mercenaries and Men that had no other Interest in the Commonwealth than their Pay have still endeavoured by all means to discredit Militia's and render them burdensom to the People by never suffering them to be upon any right or so much as tolerable Foot and all to perswade the Necessity of Standing Forces And indeed they have succeeded too well in this Design For the greatest part of the World has been fool'd into an opinion That a Militia cannot be made serviceable I shall not say 't was only Militia's could conquer the World and that Princes to have succeeded fully in the Design before-mentioned must have destroyed all the History and Memory of Antient Governments where the Accounts of so many excellent Models of Militia are yet extant I know the Prejudice and Ignorance of the World concerning the Art of War as it was practised by the Antients tho what remains of that Knowledg in their Writings be sufficient to give a mean Opinion of the Modern Discipline For this reason I shall examine by what has passed of late Years in these Nations whether Experience have convinced us that Officers bred in Foreign Wars be so far preferable to others who have been under no other Discipline than that of an ordinary and ill-regulated Militia and if the Commonalty of both Kingdoms at their first entrance upon Service be not as capable of a resolute Military Action as any Standing Forces This doubt will be fully resolved by considering the Actions of the Marquess of Montrose which may be compared all Circumstances considered with those of Cesar as well for the Military Skill as the bad tendency of them tho the Marquess had never served abroad nor seen any Action before the six Victories which with Numbers much inferior to those of his Enemies he obtained in one Year and the most considerable of them were chiefly gained by the assistance of the Tenants and Vassals of the Family of Gordon The Battel of Naseby will be a farther illustration of this matter which is
And they suffer no Forces to remain within those inaccessible places which are the chief seats of their power Carthage that had not those advantages of situation and yet used Mercenary Forces was brought to the brink of ruin by them in a time of Peace beaten in three Wars and at last subdued by the Romans If ever any Government stood in need of such a sort of Men 't was that of antient Rome because they were engaged in perpetual War The Argument can never be so strong in any other Case But the Romans well knowing such Men and Liberty to be incompatible and yet being under a necessity of having Armies constantly on foot made frequent Changes of the Men that served in them who when they had been some time in the Army were permitted to return to their Possessions Trades or other Emploiments And to show how true a Judgment that wise State made of this Matter it is sufficient to observe that those who subverted that Government the greatest that ever was amongst Men found themselves obliged to continue the same Souldiers always in constant Pay and Service If during the late War we had followed so wise a course as that of Rome there had been thrice as many trained Men in the Nations as at present there are no difficulties about Recruits nor debates about keeping up Armies in time of Peace because some Men resolve to live by Arms in time of Peace whether it be for the good of the Nations or not And since such was the practice of Rome I hope no man will have the confidence to say that this method was not as effectual for War as any other If it be objected that Rome had perpetual Wars and therefore that might be a good practice among them which would not be so with us I confess I cannot see the Consequence for if Rome had perpetual Wars the Romans ought still to have continued the same men in their Armies that they might according to the Notion of these men render their Troops more useful And if we did change our men during a War we should have more men that would understand something of it If any man say not so much as if they continued in the Army I answer that many of those who continue in the Army are afterwards swept away by the War and live not to be of use in time of Peace that those who escape the War being fewer than in the other case are soon consumed and that Mercenary Standing Forces in time of Peace if not employed to do mischief soon become like those of Holland in 72 fit only to lose forty strong places in forty days There is another thing which I would not mention if it were not absolutely necessary to my present purpose and that is the usual Manners of those who are engaged in Mercenary Armies I speak now of Officers in other Parts of Europe and not of those in our Armies allowing them to be the best and if they will have it so quite different from all others I will not apply to them any part of what I shall say concerning the rest They themselves best know how far any thing of that Nature may be applicable to them I say then most Princes of Europe having put themselves upon the foot of keeping up Forces rather numerous than well entertain'd can give but small Allowance to Officers and that likewise is for the most part very ill paid in order to render them the more necessitous and depending and yet they permit them to live in all that extravagancy which mutual example and emulation prompts them to By which means the Officers become insensibly engaged in numberless Frauds Oppressions and Cruelties the Colonels against the Captains and the Captains against the inferiour Souldiers and all of them against all persons with whom they have any kind of business So that there is hardly any sort of Men who are less Men of Honour than the Officers of Mercenary Forces and indeed Honour has now no other signification amongst them than Courage Besides most Men that enter into those Armies whether Officers or Souldiers as if they were obliged to show themselves new Creatures and perfectly regenerate if before they were modest or sober immediately turn themselves to all manner of Debauchery and Wickedness committing all kind of Injustice and Barbarity against poor and defenceless People Now tho the natural Temper of our Men be more just and honest than that of the French or of any other People yet may it not be feared that such bad Manners may prove contagious And if such Manners do not fit Men to enslave a Nation Devils only must do it On the other hand if it should happen that the Officers of Standing Armies in Britain should live with greater Regularity and Modesty than was ever yet seen in that sort of Men it might very probably fall out that being quarter'd in all Parts of the Country some of them might be returned Members of Parliament for divers of the Electing Boroughs and of what Consequence that would be I leave all Men to judg So that whatever be the Conduct of a Mercenary Army we can never be secure as long as any such Force is kept up in Britain But the Vndertakers for a Standing Army will say Will you turn so many Gentlemen to starve who have faithfully serv'd the Government This Question I allow to be founded upon some reason For it ought to be acknowledg'd in justice to our Souldiery that on all occasions and in all actions both Officers and Souldiers have done their part and therefore I think it may be reasonable that all Officers and Souldiers of above forty years in consideration of their unfitness to apply themselves at that age to any other Employment should be recommended to the bounty of both Parliaments I confess I do not see by what Rules of good Policy any Mercenary Forces have been connived at either in Scotland England or Ireland Sure 't is allowing the dispensing Power in the most essential Point of the Constitution of Government in these Nations Scotland and England are Nations that were formerly very jealous of Liberty of which there are many remarkable Instances in the Histories of these Countries And we may hope that the late Revolution having given such a blow to Arbitary power in these Kingdoms they will be very careful to preserve their Rights and Privileges And sure it is not very sutable to these that any Standing Forces be kept up in Britain or that there should be any Scots English or Irish Regiments maintained in Ireland or any where abroad or Regiments of any Nation at the charge of England I shall not say how readily the Regiments that were in the service of Holland came over against the Duke of Monmouth He was a Rebel and did not succeed But we all know with what expedition the Irish Mercenary Forces were brought into Britain to oppose his present Majesty in that glorious Enterprize