to year, been kept up by parliamentary authority; and afforded very fine provision for numberless gentlemen, who, otherwise, would have been in a starving condition. No wonder then we hear it not said of these, as it was said of those, by the parliament-men of that time," "There go our masters."-These standing guards, in time of peace, all the great lawyers of England declared to be illegal from the first; and such a force upon the nation as the law abhors. The lord chief justice Vaughan had the honesty and courage to tell my lord Macclesfield so, though he then commanded and was at the head of them. My lord very honourably remembered this, as an instance of that great man's integrity. -But the guards became more formidable afterwards, when an undertaker offered, with a thousand of their horse, of which they had always more, to go and conquer the city of London, in a contemptuous manner; and when, with their detachments, and filling up again with new men, they could at any time form an army. They had likewise their nursery of Tangier within call; and, when they saw their time, it came over -Mr. Johnson has not heightened the apprehensions men, at this time, had of these guards or forces. For we find Mr. Russel, in the house of commons, saying, "Without betraying our trust, we must vote these standing forces a griev ance. There are still designs, about the king, to ruin religion and property. Public business is the least of their concern. A few upstart people, making hay whilst the sun shines, set up an army to establish their interest: and he would have care taken, for the future, that no army be raised for a cabal-interest. It was said the last session, by a gentleman, that the war was b " a made rather for the army, than the army for the war. This government, with a standing army, can never be safe: we cannot be secure in this house; and some of us may have our heads taken off.". -Sir Robert Atkyns, speaking of lord Russel's accusation, in his indictment, of conspiring to seize and destroy the king's guards, says, "The guards; what guards? What or whom does the law understand or allow to be the kings guards for the preservation of his person? Whom shall the court that tried this noble lord, whom shall the judges of the law that were then present, and upon their oaths, whom shall they judge or legally understand by these guards? They never read of them in all their law-books. There is not any statutelaw that makes the least mention of any guards. The law of England takes no notice of any such guards; and therefore the indictment is uncertain and void. The king is guarded by the special protection of Almighty God, by whom he reigns, and whose vicegerent he is. He has an invisible guard; a guard of glorious angels. "Non eget Mauri jaculis, nec arcu ; Nec venenatis gravida sagittis (Crede) pharetra. "The king is guarded by the love of his subjects; the next under God, and the surest guard. He is guarded by the law, and courts of justice. The militia and the trained bands are his legal guard, and the whole kingdoms guard. The very judges that tried this noble lord were the kings guards, and the kingdoms guards, and this lord Russels guard against all erroneous and imperfect indictments, from all false evidence. and proof, from all strains of wit and oratory misapplied and abused by counsel. What other guards are a Grey's Debates, vol. II. p. 393. there? We know of no law for more. King Henry the Seventh of this kingdom (as history tells us) was. the first that set up the band of pensioners: since this, the yeomen of the guard; since them, certain armed bands, commonly now-a-days called (after the French mode) the kings life-guard, ride about, and appearing with naked swords, to the terror of the nation. But where is the law? where is the authority for them?". -Thus talked some of our fathers, who had been witness to the mischiefs perpetrated by mercenary, illegal bands. -Let us now hear what was said in defence of the keeping up standing forces. Our army in England," said lord Mulgrave, in answer to lord Halifax's character of a trimmer, " augmented as it is, and well disciplined as it ought to be, is but an assistance to the posse-comitatus; and a general, in effect, does but obey a constable. Upon this ground I dare conclude, that a competent force, in defence of the kings person and prerogative, is as necessary a support of the government as the law-courts are in Westminster-hall: but who can help it if the trimmers eyes are so dazzled with the glittering of a little army on Putney-heath, and his ears so stunned with trumpets and kettle-drums, that he has quite forgotten the opposition that has been made, these last fifty years, to the undoubted right of the crown; and, consequently, to the peace of the nation? Let him but think well of the factious and republican principles among us, and of the unparalleled boldness our nation always shews in the worst designs as well as the best; and my good opinion of our trimmer gives me almost an assurance, that he will conclude, ten thousand soldiers are now as necessary to the kings safety, and the peoples quiet, as Defence of Lord Russel's Innocency, p. 14, fol. Lond. 1689. An ever the band of pensioners and yeomen of the guard .were heretofore. And I am confident, that he will believe that, as in times of great oppression and injustice, it would not be indecent for the house of commons to desire moderate laws for their future preservation against it; and that they ought not for that to be suspected of rebellion: so when the balance is too much on the other side, and kings only are in danger; it is sure at least as fitting, and as reasonable, for them to increase their guards and strength, which ought not to breed the least suspicion in their subjects.' admirable sort of reasoning this, truly! to see chains forging for us, and yet to be without suspicion of the forgers intending to manacle and inslave us! But the writer had a command in the army; was a prerogative man; and devoted to the measures, the infamous measures, of his master.-The danger from these men is well described by many political writers. Among these, Mr. Gordon observes, " that no government can subsist but by force; and wherever that force lies, there it is that government is or soon will be. Free states therefore," adds he, "have preserved themselves, and their liberties, by arming all their people; because all the people are interested in preserving those liberties : by drawing out numbers of them thus armed, to serve their country occasionally; and by dissolving them (when that occasion was over) into the mass of the people again: by often changing the chief officers; or, if they continued the same, by letting their commissions be temporary, and always subject to the controul of the supream power, often to that of other co-ordinate power, as the Dutch generals are to the deputies. It is indeed but rare, that states, who have not taken is evident from many of his answers to them; his violating" their privileges; and, such precaution, have not lost their liberties: their generals have set up for themselves; and turned the arms put into their hands against their masters. This did Marius, Sylla, Cæsar, Dionysius, Agathocles, Charles Martel, Oliver Cromwell, and many others. And this they all did by the same means: it is still frequently done in the Eastern monarchies; and by the same means all the Christian princes of Europe, who were arbitrary, became so. For as the experience of all ages shews us, that all mens views are to attain dominion and riches; it is ridiculous to hope that they will not use the means in their power to attain them, and madness to trust them with those means. They will never want pretences, either from their own safety or the public good, to justify the measures which have succeeded: and they know well, that the success will always justify itself; that great numbers will be found to sanctify their power; most of the rest will submit to it, and in time will think it just and necessary; perhaps, at last, believe it to be obtained miraculously, and to have been the immediate act of heaven"." 29 His answers-his violating privileges-and disuse of parliaments.] Nothing is more common than for princes to speak fair in the beginning. Like lovers, in the honey-moon, they caress their people, and are caressed by them: but having once gratified their desires, or finding themselves unable by their cajolings to accomplish the views they entertained; they grow cool, and at length have a loathing. At the conclusion of his first parliament, Charles was taught to say, a Gordon's Discourses on Tacitus, vol. IV. p. 342, VOL, V. X |