Franco-Gallia | Page 8

worthy (thro their Numbers and Wealth) of being represented.
A Whig is against the raising or keeping up a Standing Army in Time of Peace: but with this Distinction, that if at any time an Army (tho even in Time of Peace) shou'd be necessary to the Support of this very Maxim, a Whig is not for being too hasty to destroy that which is to be the Defender of his Liberty. I desire to be well understood. Suppose then, that Persons, whose known Principle and Practice it has been (during the Attempts for arbitrary Government) to plead for and promote such an Army in Time of Peace, as wou'd be subservient to the Will of a Tyrant, and contribute towards the enslaving the Nation; shou'd, under a legal Government (yet before the Ferment of the People was appeas'd) cry down a Standing Army in Time of Peace: I shou'd shrewdly suspect, that the Principles of such Persons are not changed, but that either they like not the Hands that Army is in, or the Cause which it espouses; and look upon it as an Obstruction to another Sort of Army, which they shou'd like even in Time of Peace. I say then, that altho the Maxim in general be certainly true, yet a Whig (without the just Imputation of having deserted his Principles) may be for the keeping up such a Standing Army even in Time of Peace, till the Nation have recover'd its Wits again, and chuses Representatives who are against Tyranny in any Hands whatsoever; till the Enemies of our Liberties want the Power of raising another Army of _quite different Sentiments: for till that time, a Whiggish Army is the Guardian of our Liberties, and secures to us the Power of disbanding its self_, and prevents the raising of another of a different Kidney. As soon as this is done effectually, by my Consent, no such thing as a mercenary Soldier should subsist in England. And therefore The arming and training of all the Freeholders of England, as it is our undoubted ancient Constitution, and consequently our Right; so it is the Opinion of most Whigs, that it ought to be put in Practice. This wou'd put us out of all Fear of foreign Invasions, or disappoint any such when attempted: This wou'd soon take away the Necessity of maintaining Standing Armies of Mercenaries in Time of Peace: This wou'd render us a hundred times more formidable to our Neighbours than we are; and secure effectually our Liberties against any King that shou'd have a mind to invade them at home, which perhaps was the Reason some of our late Kings were so averse to it: And whereas, as the Case now stands, Ten Thousand disciplin'd Soldiers (once landed) might march without considerable Opposition from one End of England to the other; were our Militia well regulated, and Fire-Arms substituted in the Place of Bills, Bows, and Arrows (the Weapons in Use when our _training Laws_ were in their Vigor, and for which our Laws are yet in Force) we need not fear a Hundred Thousand Enemies, were it possible to land so many among us. At every Mile's End, at every River and Pass, the Enemy wou'd meet with fresh Armies, consisting of Men as well skill'd in military Discipline as themselves; and more resolv'd to fight, because they do it for Property: And the farther such an Enemy advanced into the Country, the stronger and more resolved he wou'd find us; as Hanibal did the Romans, when he encamped under the Walls of Rome, even after such a Defeat as that at Cann?. And why? Because they were all train'd Soldiers, they were all Freemen that fought _pro aris & focis_: and scorn'd to trust the Preservation of their Lives and Fortunes to Mercenaries or Slaves, tho never so able-body'd: They thought Weapons became not the Hands of such as had nothing to lose, and upon that Account were unfit Defenders of their Masters Properties; so that they never tried the Experiment but in the utmost Extremity.
That this is not only practicable but easy, the modern Examples of the Swissers and Swedes is an undeniable Indication. Englishmen have as much Courage, as great Strength of Body, and Capacity of Mind, as any People in the Universe: And if our late Monarchs had the enervating their free Subjects in View, that they might give a Reputation to Mercenaries, who depended only on the Prince for their Pay (as 'tis plain they had) I know no Reason why their Example shou'd be followed in the Days of Liberty, when there is no such Prospect. The Preservation of the Game is but a very slender Pretence for omitting it. I hope no wise Man will put a Hare