enough to do his Business effectually and therfore cast about how to get a new Army and took the most plausible way which was pretending to enter into a War with France and to that purpose sent Mr. Thyn to Holland who made a strict League with the States and immediatly upon it the King call'd the Parliament who gave him 1200000 Pounds to enter into an actual War with which Mony he rais'd an Army of between twenty and thirty thousand Men within less than forty Days and sent part of them to Flanders At the same time he continued his forces in France and took a Sum of Mony from that King to assist him in making a privat Peace with Holland So that instead of a War with France the Parliament had given a great Sum to raise an Army to enslave themselves But it happen'd about this time that the Popish Plot broke out which put the Nation into such a Ferment that there was no stemming the Tide so that he was forc'd to call the Parliament which met the 23d of October 78 who immediatly fell upon the Popish Piot and the Land Army Besides there were discover'd 57 Commissions granted to Papists to raise Men countersigned J. Will son for which and saying that the King might keep Guards if he could pay them he was committed to the Tower This so inrag'd the Parliament that they immediatly proceded to the disbanding of the Army and pass'd an Act that all rais'd since the 29th of September 77 should be disbanded and gave the King 693388 pounds to pay off their Arrears which he made use of to keep them up and dissolv'd the Parliament but soon after called another which pursu'd the same Counsels and pass'd a second Act to disband the Army gave a new Sum for doing it directed it to be paid into the Chamber of London appointed Commissioners of their own and pass'd a Vote That the continuance of any Standing Forces in this Nation other than the Militia was illegal and a great Grievance and Vexation to the People so that Army was disbanded Besides this they complain'd of the Forces that were in France and address'd the King again to recal them which had som Effect for he sent over no more Recruits but suffer'd them to wear out by degrees The Establishment upon the Dissolution of this Army which was in the Year 1679 80 were 5650 privat Soldiers besides Officers From this time he never agreed with his People but dissolved three Parliaments following for inquiring into the Popish Plot and in the four last Years of his Reign call'd none at all And to crown the Work Tangier is demolish'd and the Garison brought over and plac'd in the most considerable Ports in England which made the Establishment in 8¾ 8482 privat Men besides Officers It 's observable in this King's Reign that there was not one Sessions but his Guards were attack'd and never could get the least Countenance from Parliament but to be even with them the Court as much discountenanc'd the Militia and never would suffer it to be made useful Thus we see the King husbanded a few Guards so well that in a small number of Years they grew to a formidable Army notwithstanding all the endeavors of the Parliament to the contrary so difficult it is to prevent the growing of an Evil that dos not receive a check in the beginning He increas'd the Establishment in Ireland to 7700 Men Officers included wheras they never exceded in any former Reign 2000 when there was more occasion for them the Irish not long before having bin intirely reduced by Cromwel and could never have held up their Heads again without his Countenance But the truth of it was his Army was to support the Irish and the fear of the Irish was to support his Army Towards the latter end of this King's Reign the Nation had so intirely lost all sense of Liberty that they grew fond of their Chains and if his Brother would have suffer'd him to have liv'd longer or had followed his Example by this time we had bin as great Slaves as in France But it was God's great Mercy to us that he was made in another Mould Imperious Obstinat and a Bigot push'd on by the Counsels of France and Rome and the violence of his own Nature so that he quickly run himself out of breath As soon as he came to the Crown he seiz'd the Customs and Excise without Authority of Parliament He pick'd out the Scum and Scandals of the Law to make Judges upon the Bench and turn'd out all that would not sacrifice their Oaths to his Ambition by which he discharg'd the Lords out of the Tower inflicted those barbarous Punishments on Dr. Oates Mr. Johnson c. butcher'd many hundreds of Men in the West after they had bin trapan'd into a Confession by promise of Pardon murder'd Cornish got the Dispensing Power to be declar'd in Westminster-Hall turn'd the Fellows of Magdalen-College out of their Freeholds to make way for a Seminary of Priests and hang'd Soldiers for running away from their Colors He erected the Ecclesiastical Commission suspended the Bishop of London because he would not inflict the same Punishment upon Dr. Sharp for preaching against Popery He closeted the Nobility and Gentry turn'd all out of Imployment that would not promise to repeal the Test put in Popish Privy-Counsellors Judges Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of Peace and to get all this confirm'd by the shew of Parliament he prosecuted the Work his Brother had begun in taking away Charters and new model'd the Corporations by a sort of Vermin call'd Regulators He receiv'd a Nuntio from Rome and sent an Ambassador thither He erected a Popish Seminary at the Savoy to pervert Youth suffer'd the Priests to go about in their Habits made Tyrconnel Lord Lieutenant of Ireland turn'd all the Protestants out of the Army and most of the Civil Imployments there and made Fitton a Papist and one detected for Perjury Chancellor of that Kingdom He issu'd out a Proclamation in Scotland wherin he asserted his Absolute Power which all his Subjects were to obey without reserve a Prerogative I think never claim'd by the Great Turk or the Mogul He issu'd out a Declaration for Liberty of Conscience order'd it to be read in all Churches and imprison'd and try'd the seven Bishops because they humbly offer'd their Reasons in a Petition against it and to consummat all that we might have no hopes of retrieving our Misfortunes he impos'd a counterfeit Prince of Wales upon the Nation Soon after he came to the Crown the Duke of Monmouth landed and in a few weeks got together six or seven thousand Men but they having neither Arms or Provisions were easily defeated by not many more than 2000 of the King's Troops Which leaves a sad prospect of the consequence of a Standing Army for here was a Prince the Darling of the common People fighting against a bigotted Papist that was hated and abbor'd by
them and yet defeated by so small a number of Men and many of them too his Friends such is the force of Authority King James took occasion from hence to increase his Army to between fifteen and sixteen thousand Men and then unmask'd himself call'd his Parliament and in a haughty Speech told them He had increas'd his Army put in Officers not qualifi'd by the Test and that he would not part with them He ask'd a Supply and let them know he expected their compliance This was very unexpected to those Loyal Gentlemen who had given him such a vast Revenue for Life who refus'd to take any Security but his Majesty's never-failing Word for the Protestant Religion and indeed had don for him whatever he ask'd which yet was not very extraordinary since he had the choosing of most of them himself But even this Parliament turn'd short upon an Army which puts me in mind of a saying of Macchiavel viz. That it is as hard a matter for a Man to be perfectly bad as perfectly good tho if he had liv'd at this time I believe he had chang'd his Opinion The Court labor'd the matter very much and to shew that good Wits jump they told us that France was grown formidable that the Dutch Forces were much increas'd that we must be strong in proportion for the preservation of our selves and Flanders and that there was no dependence upon the Militia But this shallow Rhetoric would not pass upon them They answer'd that we had defended our selves for above a thousand Years without an Army that a King 's truest Strength is the Love of his People that they would make the Militia useful and order'd a Bill to be brought in to that purpose But all this serv'd only to fulfil their Iniquity for they had don their own Business before and now he would keep an Army up in spite of them so he prorogu'd them and call'd no other Parliament during his Reign but to frighten the City of London kept his Army encamp'd at Hounslow-Heath when the Season would permit which put not only them but the whole Nation into the utmost Terror and Confusion Towards the latter end of his Reign he had increas'd his Army in England to above twenty thousand Men and in Ireland to eight thousand seven hundred and odd This King committed two fatal Errors in his Politics The first was his falling out with his old Chronies the Priests who brought him to the Crown in spite of his Religion and would have supported him in Arbitrary Government to the utmost nay Popery especially the worst part of it viz. the Domination of the Church was not so formidable a thing to them but with a little Cookery it might have bin rendred palatable But he had Priests of another sort that were to rise upon their Ruins and he thought to play an easier Game by caressing the Dissenters imploying them and giving them Liberty of Conscience which kindness lookt so preposterous that the wise and sober Men among them could never heartily believe it and when the Prince of Orange landed turn'd against him His second Error was the disobliging his own Army by bringing over Regiments from Ireland and ordering every Company to take in so many Irish Papists by which they plainly saw he was reforming his Army and would cashire them all as fast as he could get Papists to supply their room So that he violated the Rights of the People fell out with the Church of England made uncertain Friends of the Dissenters and disoblig'd his own Army by which means they all united against him and invited the Prince of Orange to assist them which Invitation he accepted and landed at Torbay the 5th of November 1688. publishing a Declaration which set forth all the Oppressions of the last Reign but the keeping up a Standing Army declared for a free Parliament in which things were to be so settled that there should be no danger of falling again into Slavery and promis'd to send back all his foren Forces as soon as this was don When the News of his Landing was spread thro England he was welcom'd by the universal Acclamations of the People He had the Hands the Hearts and the Prayers of all honest Men in the Nation Every one thought the long wish'd for time of their Deliverance was com King James was deserted by his own Family his Court and his Army The Ground he stood upon mouldred under him so that he sent his Queen and Foundling to France before him and himself followed soon after When the Prince came to London he disbanded most of those Regiments that were rais'd from the time he landed and King James's Army that were disbanded by Feversham were order'd to repair all again to their Colors which was thought by som a false step believing it would have bin more our Interest to have kept those Regiments which came in upon the Principle on which this Revolution is founded than Forces that were rais'd in violation of the Laws and to support a Tyrannical Government besides the miserable Condition of Ireland requir'd our speedy Assistance and these Men might have bin trusted to do that work Within a few days after he came to Town he summon'd the Lords and not long after the Members of the three last Parliaments of King Charles the 2d and was address'd to by both Houses to take upon him the Administration of the Government to take into his particular care the then present Condition of Ireland and to issue forth Circulatory Letters for the choosing a Convention of Estates All this time Ireland lay bleeding and Tyrconnel was raising an Army disarming the Protestants and dispossessing them of all the Places they held in Leinster Munster and Connaught which occasion'd frequent Applications here for Relief tho it was to send them but one or two Regiments and if that could not be don to send them Arms and Commissions which in all probability would have made the Reduction of that Kingdom very easy yet tho the Prince's and King James his Army were both in England no relief was sent by which means the Irish got possession of the whole Kingdom but Londonderry and Inniskilling the former of which Towns shut up its Gates the ninth of December declaring for the Prince of Orange and address'd for immediat Relief yet could neither get Arms or Ammunition till the 20th of March and the Forces that were sent with Cunningham and Richards arrived not there till the 15th of April and immediatly after deserted the Service and came back again bringing Lundy the Governor before appointed by his Majesty with them and alledg'd for their Excuse that it was impossible to defend the Town But notwithstanding this Treachery such was the resolution of the Besieged that they continu'd to defend themselves with the utmost bravery and sent again for Relief which under Kirk came not to them till the 7th of June nor were these poor Creatures actually reliev'd till the
that were then made but being afterwards obliged to go to Ireland to suppress a Rebellion there the People took advantage of it and dethron'd him The Nation had such a Specimen in this Reign of a Standing Army that I don't find any King from him to Charles the 1st that attemted keeping up any Forces in time of Peace except the Yeomen of the Guard who were constituted by Henry the 7th and tho there were several Armies raised in that time for French Scotch Irish other foren and domestic Wars yet they were constantly disbanded as soon as the occasion was over And in all the Wars of York and Lancaster whatever party prevail'd we don't find they ever attemted to keep up a Standing Army Such was the virtue of those times that they would rather run the hazard of forfeiting their Heads and Estates to the rage of the opposit Party than certainly inslave their Country tho they themselves were to be the Tyrants Nor would they suffer our Kings to keep up an Army in Ireland tho there were frequent Rebellions there and by that means their Subjection very precarious as well knowing they would be in England when called for In the first three hundred Years that the English had possession of that Country there were no Armies there but in times of War The first Force that was establish'd was in the 14th of Edward the forrth when 120 Archers on Horseback 40 Horsemen and 40 Pages were establish'd by Parliament there which six Years after were reduc'd to 80 Archers and 20 Spearmen on Horseback Afterwards in Henry the Eighth's time in the Year 1535 the Army in Ireland was 300 and in 1543 they were increased to 380 Horse and 160 Foot which was the Establishment then I speak this of times of Peace for when the Irish were in Rebellion which was very frequent the Armies were much more considerable In Queen Mary's time the Standing Forces were about 1200. In most of Queen Elizabeth's Reign the Irish were in open Rebellion but when they were all suppress'd the Army establish'd was between 1500 and 2000 about which number they continued till the Army rais'd by Strafford the 15th of Charles the 1st In the Year 1602 dy'd Queen Elizabeth and with her all the Virtue of the Plantagenets and the Tudors She made the English Glory sound thro the whole Earth She first taught her Country the advantages of Trade set bounds to the Ambition of France and Spain assisted the Dutch but would neither permit them or France to build any great Ships kept the Keys of the Rivers 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 exceeding 300000 pounds per Annum and had but inconsiderable Taxes from her People No sooner was King James come to the Crown but all the Reputation we had acquir'd in her glorious Reign was eclips'd and we became the scorn of all Nations about us contemned even by that State we had created who insulted us at Sea seiz'd Amboyna Poleroon Seran and other Places in the East-Indies by which they ingross'd that most profitable Trade of Spices fish'd upon our Coasts without paying the customary Tribute and at the same time prevail'd with the King to deliver up the Cautionary Towns of Brill Ramekins and Flushing for a very small Consideration tho there were near six Millions Arrears He squandred the public Treasure discountenanc'd all the great Men who were rais'd in the glorious Reign of his Predecessor cut off Sir Walter Raleigh's Head advanc'd Favorites of his own Men of no Merit to the highest Preferment and to maintain their Profuseness he granted them Monopolies infinit Projects prostituted Honors for Mony rais'd Benevolences and Loans without Authority of Parliament And when these Grievances were complain'd of there he committed many of the principal Members without Bail or Mainprise as he did afterwards for presuming to address him against the Spanish Match He pardon'd the Earl of Somerset and his Wife for Sir Thomas Overbury's Murder after he had imprecated all the Curses of Heaven upon himself and his Posterity and it was generally thought because the Earl was Accessary to the poisoning Prince Henry He permitted his Son-in-law to be ejected out of his Principalities and the Protestant Interest to be run down in Germany and France while he was bubled nine Years together with the hopes of the Spanish Match and a great Fortune Afterwards he made a dishonorable Treaty of Marriage with France giving the Papists Liberty of Conscience and indeed as he often declared he was no otherwise an Enemy to Popery than for their deposing of Kings and King-killing Doctrin In Ireland he gave them all the Incouragement he durst which Policy has bin follow'd by all his Successors since to this present Reign and has serv'd 'em to two purposes One is by this they have had a pretence to keep up Standing Armies there to aw the Natives and the other that they might make use of the Natives against their English Subjects In this Reign that ridiculous Doctrin of Kings being Jure Divino was coin'd never before heard of even in the Eastern Tyrannies The other parts of his Government had such a mixture of Scharamuchi and Harlequin that they ought not to be spoken of seriously as Proclamations upon every Trifle som against talking of News Letters to the Parliament telling them he was an old and wise King that State Affairs were above their reach and therfore they must not meddle with them and such like Trumpery But our happiness was that this Prince was a great Coward and hated the sight of a Soldier so that he could not do much against us by open force At last he died as many have believed by Poison to make room for his Son Charles the First This King was a great Bigot which made him the Darling of the Clergy but having no great reach of his own and being govern'd by the Priests who have bin always unfortunat when they have meddled with Politics with a true Ecclesiastic Fury he drove on to the destruction of all the Liberties of England This King 's whole Reign was one continued Act against the Laws He dissolv'd his first Parliament for presuming to inquire into his Father's Death tho he lost a great Sum of Mony by it which they had voted him He entred at the same time into a War with France and Spain upon the privat Piques of Buckingham who managed them to the eternal Dishonor and Reproach of the English Nation witness the ridiculous Enterprizes upon Cadiz and the Isle of Rhee He deliver'd Pennington's Fleet into the French hands betray'd the poor Rochellers and suffered the Protestant Interest in France to be quite extirpated He rais'd Loans Excises Coat and Conduct-mony Tunnage and Poundage Knighthood and Ship-mony without Authority of Parliament impos'd new Oaths on the Subjects to discover the value of their Estates
44 104 780 928 Stranaver's 13 44 104 780 928  13 44 104 780 928 All the Forces in Holland 78 264 624 4680 5568  ☞ SO that his Majesty's whole Army consists of 813 3612 6420 49937 59969 Of these seven thousand eight hundred and seventy seven are Foreigners which is the first foreign Army that ever set foot in England but as Enemies Since the writing of this I am informed that Brudenall's Regiment is in being and that Eppinger's Dragoons are in English Pay which if true will make the whole Army sixty odd thousand Men but in this as well as many other Parts of the List I may be mistaken for which I hope I shall be excused when I acquaint the Reader that I was forced to pick it out from accidental Discourses with Officers having apply'd to my Lord R 's Office without Success tho I made such Interest for it as upon another occasion would not have bin refused If the Prince of Orange in his Declaration instead of telling us that we should be settled upon such a foundation that there should be no danger of our falling again into Slavery and that he would send back all his Forces as soon as that was done had promis'd us that after an eight Years War which should leave us in Debt near twenty Millions we should have a Standing Army establish'd a great many of which should be Foreigners I believe few Men would have thought such a Revolution worth the hazard of their Lives and Estates but his mighty Soul was above such abject thoughts as these his Declaration was his own these paltry Designs are our Undertakers who would shelter their own Oppressions under his Sacred Name I would willingly know whether the late King James could have inslaved us but by an Army and whether there is any way of scouring us from falling again into Slavery but by disbanding them It was in that sense I understood his Majesty's Declaration and therfore did early take up Arms for him as I shall be always ready to do It was this alone which made his assistance necessary to us otherwise we had wanted none but the Hangman 's I will venture to say that if this Army dos not make us Slaves we are the only People upon Earth in such Circumstances that ever escap'd it with the 4th part of their number It is a greater force than Alexander conquer'd the East with than Caesar had in his Conquest of Gaul or indeed the whole Roman Empire double the number that any of our Ancestors ever invaded France with Agesilaus the Persians or Huniades and Scanderbeg the Turkish Empire as many again as was in any Battel between the Dutch and Spaniards in forty Years War or betwixt the King and Parliament in England four times as many as the Prince of Orange landed with in England and in short as many as have bin on both sides in nine Battels of ten that were ever fought in the World If this Army dos not inslave us it is barely because we have a virtuous Prince that will not attemt it and 't is a most miserable thing to have no other Security for our Liberty than the Will of a Man tho the most just Man living for that is not a free Government where there is a good Prince for even the most arbitrary Governments have had somtimes a Relaxation of their Miseries but where it is so constituted that no one can be a Tyrant if he would Cicero says tho a Master dos not tyrannize yet 't is a lamentable consideration that it is in his power to do so and therfore such a Power is to be trusted to none which if it dos not find a Tyrant commonly makes one and if not him to be sure a Successor If any one during the Reign of Charles the Second when those that were call'd Whigs with a noble Spirit of Liberty both in the Parliament House and in private Companies oppos'd a few Guards as Badges of Tyranny a Destruction to our Constitution and the Foundations of a Standing Army I say if any should have told them that a Deliverer should com and rescue them from the Oppressions under which they then labor'd that France by a tedious and consumtive War should be reduc'd to half the Power it then had and even at that time they should not only be passive but use their utmost Interest and distort their Reason to find out Arguments for keeping up so vast an Army and make the Abuses of which they had bin all their lives complaining Precedents to justify those Procedings whoever would have told them this must have bin very regardless of his Reputation and bin thought to have had a great deal of ill nature But the truth is we have lived in an Age of Miracles and there is nothing so extravagant that we may not expect to see when surly Patriots grow servil Flatterers old Commonwealthsmen declare for the Prerogative and Admirals against the Fleet. But I wonder what Arguments in nature our Hirelings will think of for keeping up an Army this year Good Reasons lie within a narrow Compass and might be guessed at but non-sense is infinit The Arguments they chiefly insisted upon last year were That it was uncertain whether the French King would deliver up any of his Towns if we disbanded our Army that King James had 18000 Men at his devotion kept by the King of France that a great Fleet was preparing there upon som unknown Design that the King of Spain was dying that there was no Militia settled and that they would keep them up only for a year to see how the world went This with a few Lies about my Lord Portland's and Bouffler's quarrelling and som Prophecies of our being invaded in six months was the substance of what was said or printed Now in fact the French King has deliver'd up Giron Roses Belver Barcelona and a great part of the Province of Catalonia The Town and Province of Luxemburg and the County of Chiny the Towns of Mons Charleroy Courtray and Aeth in the Spanish Provinces to the King of Spain The Town of Dinant to the Bishop of Leige The Towns of Pignerol Cazal Susa Montmelian Nice Villa Franca all Savoy and part of Piemont to the Duke of Savoy The Cities of Treves Germensheim and the Palatinat the County of Spanheim Veldentz and Dutchy of Deuxponts the County of Mombelliand and som Possessions of Burgundy the Forts of Kiel Friburg St. Peterfort Destoile the Town of Philipsburg and most of Alsace Eberenburg and the Dutchy of Lorrain to the Empire has demolished Hunningen Montroyal and Kernburg He has delivered up the Principality of Orange to the King of England These are vast Countries and contain in bigness as much ground as the Kingdom of England and maintained the King of France above 100000 Men besides he had laid out vast Sums in the Fortifications he delivered up and demolished Add to this his Kingdom is miserably impoverished and
the same Method not our Policy Occonomy or Conduct we must encounter them hereafter and in order to it should put our selves in such Circumstances that our Enemies may dread a new Quarrel which can be no otherwise don but by lessening our Expences and paying off the public Ingagements as fast as we are able 'T is a miserable thing to consider that we pay near 4000000 l. a year upon the account of Funds no part wherof can be apply'd to the public Service unless they design to shut up the Exchequer which would not be very prudent to own I would therfore ask som of our Men of Management Suppose there should be a new War how they propose to maintain it For we all now know the end of our Line we have nothing left but a Land-Tax a Poll and som few Excises if the Parliament can be prevailed upon to consent to them And for once I will suppose that all together with what will fall in a Twelvemonth will amount to 3000000 l. and a half which is not probable and we will complement them by supposing they shall not in case of a new War give above fourteen or fifteen per cent for Premiums and Interest then the Remainder will be 3000000 l. I believe I may venture to say they will not be very fond of lessening the Civil List and lose their Salaries and Pensions Then if we deduct 700000 pound per annum upon that account there will be 2300000 pound per annum for the use of the War if the People pay the utmost penny they are able so that the Question will not be as in the last War how we shall carry it on against France at large but how 2300000 pound shall be disposed of to the greatest advantage which I presume every one will believe ought to be in a good Fleet. This leads me to consider what will be the best if not the only way of managing a new War in case of the King of Spain's death and a new Rupture with France and I will suppose the Nation to be as perfectly free from all incumbrances as before the War Most men at this time of day I believe will agree with me that 't is not our business to throw Squibs in Flanders send out vast Sums of Mony to have our Men play at bopeep with the French and at best to have their brains beat out against stone Walls but if a War is necessary there 't is our Interest to let the Dutch and Germans manage it which is proper for their Situation and let our Province be to undertake the Sea yet if we have not wit and honesty enough to make such a bargain with them but that we bring our selves again to a necessity of maintaining Armies there we may hire Men from Germany for half the price we can raise them here and they will be sooner ready than they can be transported from hence that Country being full of Men all Soldiers inured to Fatigue and serving for much less pay than we give our own besides we shall carry on the War at the expence of others blood and save our own People which are the strength and riches of all Governments we shall save the charge of providing for the Officers when the War is don and not meet with such difficulties in disbanding them There are som Gentlemen that have started a new method of making War with France and tell us it will be necessary to send Forces to Spain to hinder the French from possessing that Country and therfore we must keep them up here to be ready for that service which by the way is acknowledging the Horse ought to be disbanded since I presume they don't design to send them to Spain But to give this a full Answer I believe it is every ones opinion that there ought to be a strong Fleet kept up at Cales or in the Mediterranean superior to the French and then 't will be easier and cheaper to bring the Emperor's Forces by the way of Final to Spain than to send Men from hence and they are more likely to be acceptable there being of the same Religion and Subjects to the House of Austria whereas 't is to be feared our Men would be in as much danger from that bigotted Nation as from the French besides the King of Potugal is arming for his own defence and a sum of Mony well disposed there will enable him to raise double the Forces upon the spot as can be sent from hence with the same charge But for once I will admit it necessary we should send Forces both to Flanders and Spain yet 't is no consequence that we must keep up a Standing Army in England till that time coms We may remember Chrles the 2d rais'd between 20 and 30000 Men to fight against France in less than forty days and the Regiments this King raised the first year of his Reign were compleated in a very short time fart I am of opinion that a new Army may be raised before Ships and Provisions will be ready for their transportation at least if the management is no better than 't was once upon a time and perhaps it may happen that the King of Spain will not die in the summer time and then we shall have the winter before us We may add to this that the King of France has disbanded a great many men that his Country now lies open in a great many places that the Germans and Dutch keep great numbers of Men in constant pay and in all probability there will be a Peace with the Turks That Portugal and the Italian Princes must enter into the Confederacy in their own defence and that the French will lie under an equal necessity to raise Forces with a much less Country than in the former War to oppose such a mighty Union of Princes who will attach him upon the first attemt he makes upon Spain And after all what 's the mighty Advantage we propose by keeping this Force Why forsooth having a small number of Men more for the Officers will always be ready and now a great part of the private Soldiers are to be rais'd in case of a new War ready six Weeks sooner to attack France And I durst almost appeal to these Gentlemen themselves whether so small a Balance against France is equivalent to the hazard of our Liberties destructiion of our Constitution and the constant Expence of keeping them up to expect when the King of Spain will be pleased to die If these Gentlemen are really afraid of a new War and don 't use it as a Bugbear to fright us out of our Liberties and to gain their little party-Ends the way to bring the People into it heartily is to shew them that all their Actions tend to the public Advantage to lessen the National Expences to manage the Revenue with the greatest frugality to postpone part of their own Salaries and not grow rich while their Country grows poor to give their hearty Assistance for appropriating the Irish Lands gain'd by the Peoples Blood and Sweat to the public Service as was promis'd by his Majesty and not to shew an unhappy Wit in punishing som Men and excusing others for the same fault and spend three Months in Intrigues how to keep up a Standing Army to the dread of the greatest part of the Nation for let them fancy what they please the People will never consent to the raising a new Army till they are satisfied they shall be rid of them when the War is don and there is no way of convincing them of that but the disbanding these with willingness When we see this don we shall believe they are in earnest and the People will join unanimously in a new War otherwise there will always be a considerable part of the Nation whatever personal Honor they have for his Majesty or fears of France that will lie upon the Wheels with all their weight and do them more harm than their Army will do them good To conclude we have a wise and virtuous Prince who has always indeavor'd to please his People by taking those Men into his Councils which they have recommended to him by their own Choice and when their Interest has declin'd he has gratified the Nation by turning them out I would therfore give this seasonable advice to those who were once call'd Whigs that the way to preserve their Interest with his Majesty is to keep it with the People that their old Friends will not desert them till they desert their Country which when they do they will be left to their own proper Merits and tho I am not much given to believing Prophecys yet I dare be a Prophet for once and foretel that then they will meet with the fate of King Phys. and King Vsh in the Rehearsal Their new Masters will turn them off and no Body else will take them THE END ERRATA Pref. pag. 6. l. 8 9. r. the then King P. 15. l. 25. for four r. three P. 36. l. 17. for since r. and.