inistration a faction disaffected to his majesty, which might mislead
him into more pernicious measures. The majority of those who really
entertained revolution principles, opposed the court from apprehension
that a standing army, once established, would take root and grow into an
habitual maxim of government; that should the people be disarmed and the
sword left in the hands of mercenaries, the liberties of the nation
must be entirely at the mercy of him by whom these mercenaries should
be commanded. They might overawe elections, dictate to parliaments, and
establish a tyranny, before the people could take any measures for their
own protection. They could not help thinking it was possible to form
a militia, that, with the concurrence of a fleet, might effectually
protect the kingdom from the dangers of an invasion. They firmly
believed that a militia might be regularly trained to arms, so as to
acquire the dexterity of professed soldiers; and they did not doubt they
would surpass those hirelings in courage, considering that they would
be animated by every concurring motive of interest, sentiment, and
affection. Nay, they argued, that Britain, surrounded as it was by a
boisterous sea, secured by floating bulwarks, abounding with stout and
hardy inhabitants, did not deserve to be free if her sons could not
protect their liberties without the assistance of mercenaries, who were
indeed the only slaves of the kingdom. Yet among the genuine friends
of their country, some individuals espoused the opposite maxims. They
observed that the military system of every government in Europe was now
altered, that war was become a trade, and discipline a science not to be
learned but by those who made it their sole profession; that therefore,
while France kept up a large standing army of veterans ready to embark
on the opposite coast, it would be absolutely necessary for the safety
of the nation to maintain a small standing force, which should be voted
in parliament from year to year. They might have suggested another
expedient which in a few years would have produced a militia of
disciplined men. Had the soldiers of this small standing army been
enlisted for a term of years, at the expiration of which they might have
claimed their discharge, volunteers would have offered themselves from
all parts of the kingdom, even from the desire of learning the use and
exercise of arms, the ambition of being concerned in scenes of actual
service, and