Page:The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, Volume 3.djvu/69

N° 20. were some remains of a noble spirit among them; for, when Cæsar sent to be chosen consul notwithstanding his absence, they decreed he should come in person, give up his command, and petere more majorum.

It is not impossible, but a general may desire such a commission out of inadvertency, at the instigation of his friends, or perhaps of his enemies; or merely for the benefit and honour of it, without intending any such dreadful consequences; and in that case a wise prince, or state, may barely refuse it, without showing any marks of their displeasure. But the request, in its own nature, is highly criminal, and ought to be entered so upon record, to terrify others, in time to come, from venturing to make it.

Another maxim to be observed by a free state engaged in war, is, to keep the military power in absolute subjection to the civil, nor ever suffer the former to influence or interfere with the latter. A general and his army are servants, hired by the civil power to act, as they are directed thence, and with a commission large or limited, as the administration shall think fit; for which they are largely paid in profit and honour. The whole system, by which armies are governed, is quite alien from the peaceful institutions of states at home; and if the rewards be so inviting as to tempt a senator to take a post in the army, while he is there on his duty, he ought to consider himself in no other capacity. I know not any sort of men so apt as soldiers are, to reprimand those who presume to interfere in what relates to their trade. When they hear any of us, in a coffee house, wondering that such a victory was not pursued; complaining that such a town cost more men and money than