Page:Trenchard Tracts 074-124.djvu/43

 If any one during the Reign of Charles the Second, when thoe that were called Whigs, with a noble Spirit of Liberty, both in the Parliament Houe and in private Companies, oppoed a few Guards as Badges of Tyranny, a Detruction to our Contitution, and the Foundations of a Standing Army: I ay, if any hould have told them that a Deliverer hould come and recue them from the Oppreions under which they then laboured; that France by a tedious and conumptive War hould be reduced to half the Power it then had; and even at that time they hould not only be paive, but ue their utmot Interet, and ditort their Reaon to find out Arguments for keeping up o vat an Army, and make the Abues of which they had been all their lives complaining, Precedents to jutify thoe Proceedings; whoever would have told them this, mut have been very regardles of his Reputation, and been 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 o extravagant that we may not expect to ee, when urly Patriots grow ervile Flatterers, old Commonwealthmen declare for the Prerogative, and Admirals againt the Fleet.

But I wonder what Arguments in Nature our Hirelings will think of for keeping up an Army this Year. Good Reaons lie within a narrow Compas, and might be gueed at; but nonene is infinite. The Arguments they chiefly inited upon lat year were, That it was uncertain whether the French King would deliver up any of his Towns if we dibanded 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 ome unknown Deign; that the King of Spain was dying; that there was no Militia ettled; and that they would keep them up only for a year to ee how the World went. This with a few Lies about my Lord Portlands and Boufflers quarrelling, and ome Prophecies of our being invaded in ix Months, was the ubtance of what was aid or printed.

Now in fact the French King has delivered up Giron, Roes, 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,