THE Seaman's Opinion OF A Standing Army IN ENGLAND, In Opposition to a Fleet at Sea, the Best Security of This Kingdom.  
In a LETTER to a Merchant, Written by a SAILOR.  
Printed according to Order.  
〈◊〉 Printed, and Sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster, 1699.  
Price Two Pence.   

The Sea-man's Opinion of a Standing Army, etc.  
SIR,  
I Have read with no small consideration, the Arguments for and against a Standing Army, so warmly argued on both sides; one making false Weights and Measures, allowing nothing to be true Weight that is not weighed at the Court-Beam; while the others lay their Reasons and Arguments in the People's Scale, and weigh the common Interest and our Constitution against the Court Projects. I must confess, the latter are much in the right for Laws were made for the general Good of all the Subjects, and are by no means to be altered to the prejudice of the People: The English Constitution has no respect to those future Contingencies and Emergences which may happen to crowned Heads. Our Fore fathers thought those Laws which were of Force and Virtue enough to keep them in the possession of their Estates, equally powerful t● secure the Regalities of the Crown to the King, and would be alike advantageous to their Posterity; and I know no Reason why we should be of another Opinion.— The main Reason the Court-party offers for a Standing. Army, is the entire Confidence we may repose in the King on the account of the heroic Virtues inherent in him and his firm and sincere Intentions to the preservation of the Nation, and the Rights of the Subject; so that if the People of England do not trust the King with their Lives, Liberties and Estates, they would insinuate as if they did mistrust him. I may know my Neighbour to be a very honest Man and yet have no occasion to trust him with the Deed's o● my Estate, my Money or Goods: nor need the People exchange Magna Charta for the King's Letters Patents fo● their Liberties durante beneplacito; for so it must be whe● he is armed with force at any time to take it away. I have a much, nay, a greater esteem of the Royal and Princely Virtues of his Majesty, than any Courtier of them all; and though I could trust the King with a great deal, yet I should not care to trust them with a little. A Government settled by the People of England ought to be maintained by them; and without doubt the People will maintain a King in those Rights and Prerogatives they have granted and confirmed to him, otherwise it will be a Reflection which hitherto has not happened upon them: but to maintain a Government upon any other Principles, than such on which it is founded, is ridiculous. The Superstructure ought to be conform to the Foundation, the Building otherwise is irregular and inarrificial; and for the People to undermine the Foundation of their Liberties, and raze it to the ground, only to build a Pyramid of Honour, or a Triumphal Arch for a Prince, is downright Nonsense. A Government ought to be supported; but it must be considered withal how it deviated from its Institution: when we know what a Government is, we can quickly find fit props to support it, and fit Force to defend it. 'Tis pity there should be a distinction betwixt the King, and the Government, which it must be allowed when the Courties call themselves the Government: As a certain Person was committed to the Custody of a Messenger by the Secretary's Warrant, for publishing and dispersing a seditious and scandalous Libel against His Majesty and Government; whenas it only contained Matter of Fact against some Commissioners. Well then, these Commissioners are the Government; and I am of opinion, if it be thus, that 'tis not worth our while to keep up twenty thousand Men to support it. Setting themselves thus up, they lessen the King and his Prerogative; as if the King had the Legislative, and they the governing Power. Evil Ministers and Officers have in all Times proved prejudical to the Prince that employed them; or they acting after an illegal and arbitrary manner in their several Stations, cause suspicion that the Prince by whom they are commissionated, will, when enabled with Force, to the like, or worse: and though ill Ministers and Officers may act-illegally, and after an arbitrary manner, without the Knowledge, nay contrary to the Consent and Approbation of the Prince; yet all their Actions tend to the weakening of his Government, and to create Jealousies in his People. Men judge of the Fountain by the Purity o● Impurity of the Streams; and Justice being denied or delayed by Officers and Ministers, they presently look back to the orginal Contract and Coronation Oath, with a great deal of Doubt and Hesitation. It was a noble and glorious Saying of our great and renowned Prince Edw. 3 when he hanged his Chief Justice Thorp, of the King's Bench, for taking a Bribe of 100 l. That he being entrusted as the King's Deputy, to administer Justice in that Court, ha● as much as in him lay broken that Solemn Oath that his Majest made to his People at his Coronation. Instead of a Land Fore● to defend Evil Ministers, this wise Prince procured a Halte● to hang them. If Men in great Offices have been guilty of enomous Crimes, have lavishly spent and squander away Parliamentary Funds raised for the security of th● Nation, must the People of England make a rent in thei● Constitution, and raise and pay Twenty thousand Men t● maintain them in their vicious Practices, and secure then from the Violence and Insults of the common People They are grown already to such a height, that their is n● way of calling them to an Account. If an inferior Boar● commit a Crime, rob, (embezel; plunder the Nation, and of rich themselves with the Puplick Spoils of the Kingdoms and a complaint be made to the Lords of the T—ry, the refer it (after the Complainer has a long time attended) t● the Board complained against: after a long attendance (fiv● on six Months I have known it) a Report is made; th● T—ry acquiesces with the Report, and the Complainer frustrated of his honest Intentions. It is a Law amongst'e● never to hear the Complaint of an Inferior Officer again a Superior; as one of the Commissioners of the Ex— told a certain Person, that there was a Resolution taken u● by all the Commissioners in the Kingdom, that if an Inferior Officer complained of Mismanagement, they woul● represent him either as a Fool or a Knave, or else mak● him so uneasy that he should be forced to quit his Employment: and this appears to be true, for most, if not all th● officers that have complained of Mismanagements, hausteen discharged for so doing. How then shall these Men 〈◊〉 punished? Why the last Resort you know is a Parliament; and if you read over the List, you will soon find ●ow many Courtiers were there, Judges of their own Cause, ●nd Auditors of their own Accounts. So that, Sir, I think 〈◊〉 ashore are in a fine pickle, if ever these Men get a standing Army to support their Mismanagements by point ●f Sword, and the powerful Arguments of Pike and Gun: ●or our Controversy is not about trusting the King with a standing Army, we pay Him all the Deference imaginable; ●ut we are loath to be at the charge of guarding of those ●●at have not regarded the Public Good, nor those worthy Gentlemen that ventured their Lives to bring the King to ●●e Throne, and to promote them to Offices of Trust and ●●e greatest Profit. Their restless Endeavours to gain the ●oint of a Standing Army, have other meanings in them ●hen the specious pretence of Public Safety. When the ●ox preaches, beware of the Geese; there is some Fetch or ●ther, some Snake or other in the Grass, that will not ●●riggle itself into view, but under the Umbrage of a ●and Force. You must bear, Sir, with my homely Comparisons, as well as with my indifferent Language; we Tars don't pretend to polite Learning, and finery of Speech. But to illustrate my Discourse, I must tell you, that the ●ast Voyage I made was to New-England, the Commander of the Ship I sailed in was a Man of Virtue and Probity, very skilful in Navigation, and one that had a due regard to the Profit and Advantage of his Owners. But the Mare, Boatswain, Gunner, and other Officers, were men of vicious Principles, and worked so far upon the good Nature of the Captain, that they got entire possession of him, to the no small loss of the Merchants, and the trouble of all the honest Sailors aboard. When we came to New England, and had taken in our Loading, being homeward bound, they persuaded him to take more Men, more Forces aboard, u●der pretence of Advice they had received fr●m England of some Turkish Men of War that lay in the Chaps of the English Channel. The poor Captain believed a necessity upon such 〈…〉 or augmenting his Forces, being unwil● 〈◊〉 to have his Ship pirated from him: The Forces wer●●ailing apace, when it was discovered that these Fellow● had a design to run away with the Ship; so that had thei● Design taken effect, the good natured Captain had been thrown overboard, and I had now been among the Madagascar Pirates. Ill Men contrive all ways, first to raise themselves by Villainy, and then to support themselves in it. The same Effect your Land-Force may have upon you; Your Captain I know is a good Commander, of Principle and Address, and I verily believe designs you no harm: but his under Officers, if they designed you any good, would have done it before this time. Besides, if you have a mind to keep your King, keep him from a Standing Army: King James had been here still, had it not been for his Standing Army, an Army modelled by the Vipers which lay in his Bosom for that purpose. I like the Effects of that Design so well, that I desire no more of that nature: We have a Government founded upon good Principles; a Revolution of which every step has attended by Divine Providence; a King, who governs according to the Rules of Justice at home, and is the Head and Leader of our Armies abroad, to his own immortal Honour, and the good and welfare of his People; and every good Englishman and Christian ought to bless God for it. An English King, and an English People, suit well together; and since we are blest with both, we have no reason to promote new Whimsies in the head of one, to create Jealousies in the other. The notion of an Invasion from the Man abroad is not so much a Proposition of Horror, as the notion of our Liberties being invaded at home; and we are in more danger of those Horseleeches of Government that fill, themselves from the Veins of the State, than from Foreign Troops. Money is the Sinews of War; but the Sinews once weakened, the Body is in a tottering condition. A Standing Army must be sed, and when once without Pay, must live upon Freequarter; for there is no reason that Men raised for the service of their Country, should starve in it. I would fain know what these Men would do with a Standing Army, unless (as before) to guard them from the Violence of the Mob. Where should they encamp, to be in a readiness to oppose an Invasion? Had they as many Armies as there are Landing places in England, we might have some Security. Few of these Men that talk of Standing Armies, have had the Courage to go abroad to the Wars; but now perhaps for their Diversion, at the expense of the Kingdom, they are willing to see Namur taken at Windsor, or a Butterfly Camp at Hounslow-Heath, where the Forces must attend the Motions of the Man abroad:  
Where the Knights Errand lie Legs across.  
Expecting what must never come to pass.  
They Sky falling to the utter destruction of the whole Species of Larks; French Invaders in Fleets of flying Wheel-barrows, and abundance of such odd Chimeras, if not worse. How will they model this Army? as they have done the Civil Offices? Will they fill Commissions with rancoured Tories, confirmed Jacobites, and Nonjurors? Shall Men of Worth, Merit and Affection to the Government, be as scarce in this Army as they are in the Customs and Navy? God forbidden! How many years' Purchase must a Commission be sold for; and where will be the place of Sale, and who the Broker, now Sir Fleet is dead? Few of the King's, and their Country's Friends, have got Money to buy; must they be sold to those that got Pardon-money in the late Reigns of those that are starving since this Revolution? Well, there may be a formidable Invasion, and the Nation in a great deal of Danger thereupon. The whole strength of the Nation is not able to withstand it, and yet the Party pretend that Twenty thousand men out of that strengah shall do it; that is as much as to say, seven Millions of Men are not able to withstand an Invasion, but Twenty thousand of the seven Millions are; the Minor is of greater force, power and virtue than the Major: if the Folk in power say so, 'tis true enough; better a Nation be ruined, enslaved, or any thing else, than they be thought to err in Judgement, or miss their Ends. But suppose the worst, that a French Army should land; why then it we han't a Standing Army, the great Places at White Hall will be in a tottering condition: but suppose they don't land and we have a Standing Army in expectation of it; wh● then the great Folk at White-Hall are all the time fingering Money raised to pay them, not to their disadvantage to b● sure. 'Tis no matter whether we are invaded or no, as lon● as their Trade goes forward. Now though your Earthquake don't disturb the Element I sojourn on, yet I may give m● Opinion concerning you Affairs as well as some of you hav● as to the Management of the Fleet that know no other difference betwixt Salt Water and Fresh than by the Taste. I remember I was at an Anchor in Studland Bay, when there wa● just such another Invasion in the Isle of Purbeck, as you● Folk expect. If there was then any Standing Army, the● were guarding the Royal Ducks in St. James Park, ot otherwise employed; but I am sure they were not there. No●● without any Royal Mandate, Commission, or any Order from above, the bold Britons assembled in a hostile mane● with all the Weapons of Defence the Country could affor● and without any Ceremony marched to the Place of landing The Rumour of the French Numbers was Ten thousand, an● in 48 hours there were a Hundred thousand in Arms in Dose●shire, and the adjoining Counties, who came down tin● enough to the Sea side to engage the Invaders. I believe 〈◊〉 these Hodmandods, Rawheads and Bloody-bones, wit● which the Children of England are now scared, should appear, we shall be in a good posture of defence, without Twenty thousand Red Coats, which are morr terrifying thun an Idvasion.  
Now these Bugbears and Scare-crows, this Visionary Invasion that haunts the Ruins of White-Hall, being removed out of sight, let us recover our Senses, and scan the poin● whether the Militia regulated and disciplined may not be a● powerful to withstand an Invasion, as Twenty thousand 〈◊〉 that Militia (for every one capable of bearing Arms belong to it) listed and entered into Pay. But they say the Militia is not disciplined; whose Fault is that? Was it not in thei● power that contend for a Standing Army, to have disciplined the Militia since the Controversy in the House of Commons last Sessions about it? If the Officers of the Militia can't be trusted, 'tis the fault of those that made 'em Officers. A neligence in this Point, and trumping up a Standing Army at the same time, looks as if their Army were to do some business the Militia will not do; for it is evident the Militia can do more than twenty times the Forces they desire, when necessity shall require it. Besides, Twenty thousand Men dispersed are no Army; their being in a body makes them one, but a body can be only in one place at a time. We have abundance of Landing-places, and our Army can be but at one of them, and I know already the Invaders won't land there. Now on the other hand, they can't land no where in England, but the Militia will be at the place, enough of them to make a stand till the rest come up; so that if we had a Standing Army, the greatest use of them at that Juncture would be to come in for the Plunder of the field. But the Authors for an Army, like Mr. Bays in the Rehearsal, are resolved to present the World with something very ridiculous, and have not yet determined the point whether the two Kings of Brentford shall head their Standing Army with both Boots on, or one off.  
As I don't know the designs, so I am ignorant of the Consequences of what these Men make such a bustle about; but it tends to create a Mistrust in the King of his best Subjects, and tells him plainly he cannot be secure in his Throne, and enjoy his Prerogative, without making an Alteration in our Constitution; and that the People's Liberty, and the Regalities of the Crown cannot be safe at the same time. Now, if I should aver, that our Constitution must of necessity tumble down, if a Branch of the King's Prerogative were not lopped off to make a prop to support it, I suppose the Secretary of State would esteem it a State Crime, and I should be visited with the plague of a Messenger; when at the same time these Authors raise Bulwarks, and plant their Cannons upon them to batter down our Constitution, break down the Frences of our Liberty, and destroy those privileges which have immemorially been the Rights of our Ancestors; and all this connived at, if not encouraged. Have the Liberties of the People no Guardians? Are there none to prosecute such Offenders in the name of the Good People of England? Where is the Justice, Glory, and Honour of our Ancestors? Are all their glorious Marks obliterated in their Posterity? Are the ends of the World come upon us, that we are willing to see an end of our Liberty? Are our Rights less valuable, our Laws of no les● force than formerly? Are we ignominiously willing to give away what our Forefathers left us at the expense of their Blood? God forbidden that the Children unborn should curse us as cruel Sep-fathers' that have disinherited them of their Birthright. Will not succeeding Generations think, tha● either our Rights were not worth keeping, or that we ingloriously betrayed our Children in parting with them Will not the Roman Honour and Gallantry, which inspired Heathens newly acquainted with Laws and Principle● of Government, rise up in judgement against us, when w● prove treacherous Deserters of our Liberties, and raise and pay Twenty thousand Men to take possession of our Freehold? Are not those who surrendered Charters, gave awa● their Birthright, and betrayed the Liberties of their Country in the late Reigns, justly branded with the marks of Infamy, and their Memories handed down to Posterity as ignominious and scandalous? And shall we, who have spent 〈◊〉 many Millions to undo what they did, and retrieve our sinking State from utter Ruin, tread in their steps, act th● same Tragedy, and play over the same Game? Was a Standing Army but a few years ago, accounted a Grievance, an● now become a thing desirable? Is it not attended with th● same danger, or are we grown less sensible of it? Are we i● the same condition with those that are troubled with th● French Disease, of whom it is said, when once cured the● are more desirous to commit the Sin again? Are we clapped i● our Understandings, that we are willing to return into th● same languishing Condition, of which we are so lately recovered, and have paid so dear for the Cure? Let the Pleaders for a Standing Army consider, how much a Standing Army was accounted a Grievance in the late Reigns, and ho● much it tended to the destruction of the King that raised i● and they may esteem their designs impracticable; for it ca● be no other than a Reflection upon the Wisdom of the English Nation, voluntarily to give one King what they forced from another, to secure themselves in the peaceable possession of their Estates: and no wise Man can imagine, that in a Government founded on good and wholesome Laws, a thing that turned one King out of the Throne, should keep another in it. If you have the same People to manage this Standing Army, that managed the late K. James' you have the same People to oppose this Standing Army as opposed the other; and in all likelihood you'll be brought into the same Disorder and Confusion: wherefore I think, all things considered, you had better be without it.  
Thus far, Sir, I have ventured out of my Element, to give you my Sentiments of Affairs ashore; now suffer me to step aboard my Ship, and give an account of another Security to our Kingdom little heeded or talked of, I mean our Shipping. It is supposed these horrible Invaders will not●●y over the Seas in the Air, nor will they shove themselves over in leaden Boats under Water; they are compounded of Flesh, Blood and Bones, contrary to the nature of Spirits; ●hey are visible and tangible Substances: therefore let us consider how we Sailors may handle them; for it is a demonstrable Argument, if we can drown or burn them at Sea, you'll ●ave no occasion of a Land Army to knock 'em o'th' head ashore. By your insisting so much upon a Land Force as necessary to withstand an Invasion, you seem to yield up ●he Empire and Dominion of the Sea, which I am very unwilling to grant, knowing the English have no Rivals in ●●at Affair, nor no Nation capable of taking possession of ●hat Dominion. If we could beat an Enemy at la Hogue, and ●urn fourteen of their three Deck Ships at one time, and ●ight have quite ruined them at Sea then, had it not been or the wonderful good Nature of you know who; I say, if we could do what they have not yet been able to recruit, nor perhaps never will unless we fell 'em Timber to build more ●hips; if they have lost their Ships, and we have augmented ●urs by a far greater number than they have lost, I hope we 〈◊〉 not now less able to fight an Invader. I suppose the Dis●mbarkment of the Prince of Orange was carried on with as ●uch secrecy as an Invasion will be, yet we know how long it was talked of, and how long expected before it came. Consider in the next place, how many Ships an Invader must have to bring over Men enough to conquer this Kingdom. Now if six or seven hundred Ships were requisite to bring over at most but Fourteen thousand five hundred Men, how many well be necessary to make an Invasion upon England in order to conquer it? Their numbers must be much greater, they come without leave and undesired; and Invaders let 'em be of what Country soever, or of what Religion soever, are hated by Englishmen. The Prince of Orange's Descent upon England was no Invasion but an Invitation, and his Accession to the Throne no Conquest (whatever two or three insignifiant Priests have wrote) but the free Gift and Benevolence of the good People of England. Yet notwithstanding all Parties were agreed in his Revolution, how many Accidents happened? How often was the Fleet detained by contrary Winds? and when at Sea, forced to steer a Channel Course, and in a Line too, which made 'em seen by both shores. But this Invading Fleet that must have at least ten times the number of Men, and consequently of Shipping, are to come over undiscovered. From what place will they come? Why this is the main point; the honest Men in Offices tell of an Invasion, and it is to be done by somebody, that they will not dare name for fear of being Gazetted, and ordered to be prosecuted, as Dick Baldwin was for reflecting upon some great Person at the French Court: They had better run the hazard of Prosecution, and tell the truth; the Prosecution may be bought off, Mr. Baldwin gave but eight Guinea's to Harry B— and three to his Brother N— and the Prosecution was at an end. But this Invasion can't be bribed off the Invaders will not stay for Gratuities, all is their own when they have conquered, and into this Condition we may be brought, because our Standing Army-men are mealy mouthed and won't speak out. An Invasion may well be a Proposition of Horror to them, when the very Invaders and the Country they come from, cramp● their Tongues, and frightens them speechless, so that Twenty thousand Men and nothing else, can bring them again to their Senses. If they would tell us the Country they'll come from, I could give you my opinion in the matter; if I knew their Country, I should know their Ports, and what Conveniencies they have for shipping their Men; But I'm sure they have no Conveniency of landing them in England unless we please: All we can learn from them is, that 'tis the Man abrord, and abundance of Men there are abroad, and which of 'em 'tis we can't tell; this Man may be somebody or nobody, or anybody or everybody, since he has no name. He may be the Man in the Moon for aught we know, and then we are in a fine condition; his is a Country we know nothing of, nor what kind of People he will bring with him, nor what sort of Weapons they use in Battle: He is certainly an Enemy, because he is no Friend and a powerful Enemy too; his Dominions are very large, and for aught we know very populous; and if he should descend upon Salisbury Plain with two or three hundred thousand Mortals, why then the Cathedral Church there will be invaded by Men of a Religion, that have not been educated to mumble the Prayers in usum S●rum; and the best stake in the Hedge of one of our Bishops is quite lost, The more I think of it, the more am I terrified at the Apprehension of such an Invasion; what a horrid terrifying Spectacle will it be to see Men (nay for aught we know Monsters) descend like Hail upon our Country; where our Ships can't come, and nothing but Twenty thousand regular Troops can oppose? How will our Women and Children be frighted, and our old Men astonished at such an Apparition, worse than that at Pu●beck! Now I should think it most proper, to prevent an Invasion from this Country, to send an Ambassador thither: We have not given the Man nor any of his Subjects, any affront that I know of; and a Truce or Peace is far better than War, as the Turks and Germans on both sides affirm; and we have Men of Parts and Sense enough in our Nation to send on such an Embassy: We know the Country is very high, yet we are provided with very high Flyers in our Government that have mounted from Footboys, Journeymen and Valets, to Commissioners, and other great Officers; one or two of these on this Embassy may put an end to our Fears, and render Twenty thousand armed Men useless: I could pick a Man or two out of our Officers fit for this Embassy, that have risen with a wonderful Impudence at home, and will no doubt carry a good Stock abroad with them. These high Flyers have one Convenieecy in mounting above the rest of Mankind▪ they have no weight of Brains to retard their Flight upwards; and if there is any M●ney in the World in the Moon, they I load enough in their Pockets to hasten their descent downwards. If they say my Invasion is ridiculous, I say so of theirs, as also Twenty thousand Men to withstand it, and keep out a Force which all. England  beside do.— Well, it seems we must still be in the dark about this Invasion; the Army Authors won●t tell us whence it will come, and yet tell us a dismal Story of its coming; so that we are left to bare supposition, which puts nothing at all into being, but in the Foster-father of Non entities: We have supposed it from above the Clouds already, let us descend and view the Terrestrial Globe, view the Coasts of our Neighbours, and see from which of them all a Fleet of Ships ca●lanch forth into the deep, and pass the Ocean with an Army without Obstruction from the Royal Navy: 'Tis Nonsense to suppose this Invasi●● to come from Holland, which solately assisted us with Forces in order 〈◊〉 recover our lost Liberties; those that helped knock our Fetters off, w●●● not be for putting them on so soon already. But suppose Holland had design upon England, let us consider how impracticable such a design wou●● be, whilst England has so good a Fleet of Sheep's of War: Those Auxillar 〈◊〉 Forces they lent the good People of England upon the Revelution, m●● with abundance of Obstacles and Difficulties in shipping the Horse's a●● Men, which kept the Enterprise so far back, that the very Regiments, th● Names of the Colonels commanding those Regiments, and an exact Accounted of the Number of the Men House and Foot, was printed in th● English Gazette long before they saw the Coast of England; so that th●● the English Nation had then as much time to prepare to oppose them, ha● they been as willing, as they had to prepare to receive them; Volen●● non fit injuria. The Revolution pleased the Nation, if the major part 〈◊〉 the People may be called so. The Fleet under the Command of th● Earl of Dartmouth, and in a proper Station too, could easily have obstructed that Expedition: But the Seamen were in a Confederay with th● Landmen in the Interest of their Country, and I hope in God ever wil● be; and it is not often the Engilish Fleet has let an Atmed Navy pa●● through their Channel without one Broadside.  
We must imagine it not come from France immediately after the Ratification of a solemn Peace, so honourable to the English Nation: Bu● suppose France at any time should have the Vanity to invade England, wil● not our Naby ●e sufficient to put a stop to such an Invasion? The French Councils perhaps are as secret as any in the World, and though vulgar Eye● cannot pry into the Cabinets of thot Prince, yet his first and second Rat● Men of War are easily discerned; I hope they'll rig their Ship before the● put them to Sea, they'll careen, and gun, and man them, and all thi● can't be done in a Chimney-Corner: Their Caulkers, Hammers, and Carpenters adzes, will make some noise; we shall hear something of i●● sure. Consider their Ports, and where their Ships are laid up, and you may easily conclude they can't soon join upon such a design. Besides, the● must rendezvouz somewhere, and that Wind which brings one half o● the Fleet to the place of rendezvouz, keeps the other half back; so tha● if the Peace did not put us out of this danger, our Fleet would be a sufficient Guard ogainst it.— Spain is in a firm Alliance with us, and had good Bellyful of Invaons●in 83, which is not yet digested, and the Nor●then Crowns never made any Pretensions of this nature; so that I dare boldly affirm we are in no danger of an Invasion from any known par● of the World, and the Terra Incognita is a long way off.  
In the short view I have taken of the Condition of our Neighbours and their strength in Shipping, compared with the Naval Force and Maritime Strength of England, I believe if all of them should intent an Invasion upon England, they could not accomplish it. For, as I have said before, it cannot be done but we must have notice of it; and while they ●re fitting out their Fleet we may do the same: our Fleet being out, and divided into Squardons, appointed in proper Stations, would easily intercept them.  
Now the Usefulness of a Fleet, as the best Guard to England, is evident, not only from Reason, but from undoubted History, and plain Matter of Fact; many Instances whereof our Tars often at Sea talk and boast of, many of which I ●ould instance in, were I not too far gone already beyond the Limits of a Letter. But however I must tack about again ●pon your Land-Army Folk; and to avoid all Animosities, Quarters and Heats, I shall not tell how much nor how little was done during this War by the Land-Army in Flanders; ●ut shall only hint what might rationally have been done by ●he Fleet under a good Management and Conduct. Of so ●any Millions of Money that have been spent during this War in Land ●orces, suppose some of that Money and those Forces had been used on ●oard the Navy, would not fifteen or twenty Thousand of them thus em●oyd, have done more Mischief to the Enemy than fifty or threescore ●housand in Flanders? They might have landed in their Country, their fusible part, which we have so gently touched; such a Force would have ●een sufficient to have ravaged 10 or 20 Miles round in their Country, ●nd when the Enemy had got sufficient Force together to repel them, they ●ight even have marched aboard again with their Plunder: and coasting ●ong their Country, in two or three days time have landed again a hunted d Miles from the place they landed in before, and retired aboard as ●●fore, and practised this Trade along their Coast from East to West; ●is would have been a tiresome Diversion indeed: They would thus have ●●d no time to sow or reap, or dre●s their Vineyards; this would have ●vorted their Armies abroad, perpetually harassed their Arrear-ban at ●●me, kept their Peasants from their Employment, and filled 'em with ●●ars and Alarms. Being kept continually waking, it might have altered ●●e temper of an imperious aspiring Enemy; waking they say will tame a ●●d Horse, why not a mad Tyrant? But whether our Mismanagements ●●ve been occasioned thro' Ignorance of the Managers, or thro' an evil De●●●n against our Country, is yet left to determine; but both are equally ●●xious to a Nation, and by continued Successions of Grievances without address, the most flourishing Kingdom, the most glorious Monarch, and ●●ost warlike. People may at once be empoverish'd at home, and grow ●●ndalous abroad; for nothing conduces more to the Honour and Glory 〈◊〉 a Nation than the good opininion foreign States and Governments ●●ve of their Management; they'll give respect according to the Polity of ●●eir Government; if wise they'll court its Favour, if foolish they'll densely: The a Man be strong and rich, his Adversary values it not, know●● his blind side, and how to cully him out of his Birthright. The ma●●●ment of our Maritime Affairs has been the common Subject of all Tongues, as it has been the common Grievance of the Nation; and wh● makes it the more resented by those that have paid Money to the managers, and been at the Charge of our Naval Force, is the mighty Advantage England has had over the Enemy in this point. Let us conf●●● the natural Advantage of our Dominions, the happy Situation of our Territories in order to annoy our Enemy: Let us (and that not without sham● look into the Aquitain Sea, and behold there the Islands of Jerzey, Guersey, &c in our possession, just upon the Enemy's Coast, provided w●● Harbours, convenient Peers, safe Roads for Ships to ride in secure of Tempests, overlooking the Enemy's Ships as they pass from St. Malo, Gr●vile, etc. and at the same to consider that they have been of no other advantage during the War than an accidental Shelter to such of our Ships 〈◊〉 have touched there, is matter of amazement as well as miscarriage. 〈◊〉 the time of the Civil Wars Sir Geo. Carteret was then Governor of the Is●a●● of Jerzey in trust for the Royal Family, and with about twelve or so very small Frigate, so annoyed England, that the Government then in b●ing was forced to send a Fleet with considerable Forces to reduce th●● Island. Had we been wanting of Shipping during the War, the case wou●● have been altered; but had a small number of our Ships cruized in t●● Station, the very Prizes they would have taken had been sufficient to h●●● paid the charge of the Ships, provided the said Prizes had not been ●verted to private uses, and sunk in Grants. I have often wondered t●● French during the War did not repossess themselves of those Islands, notwithstanding the sincere Affection of the Inhabitants to the present Government, their good Discipline and Native Courage: they would ●●●tainly have made some Insults upon those Islands, had they not repeat●● a greater Advantage by them than the possession of them would have, 〈◊〉 mounted 〈◊〉, for from thence they were supplied with Lead, Pitch, 〈◊〉 and other Necessaries of War, besides a settled Intelligence of the Affa●● or England, and all that 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 Kings Officers, 〈◊〉 Mismana●●ments every body knows, and we have complainers enough, but the diff●●●cies we labour under is to find out Punisherr: We have had sufficient experience that the punishing of Criminals with good Offices and Employments, has had an Effect answerable to the Folly of the Project, to pun●●● a Captain for giving away a 5th Rate to the Enemy, with preferring 〈◊〉 to a fourth Rate, will never do our business. If you officer your Sh●● of War with Rigbies, and man them with Landmen, christened by the na●● of Marceners, you●l make but an indifferent spot of work of it. 〈◊〉 now I mention Mareeners, I would beg the favour of you, Sir, to 〈◊〉 them at home, and se●●m Sentinels over the Farmer's Cocks and H●●● for they do us no other service here than to eat up our Provisions, 〈◊〉 us lousy, and stand in our ways These amphibious Soldiers, that live ●●ther on Land or Water, are a Scandal to both, and serviceable on nei●●● We don't want Sailors now, and are willing to be freed from the F●●gu●● Land-Lubbers; yet you see the Army, folk are desirous of 'em, any thing ●●ther than lose their point; an Army thy would have, though if were of Ta●demations, while the Credit, Reputation, and Usefulness of the Eng●●● Navy is sunk, and overset by a sort of Men that have a Necessity fo●● Land Force, to the ruin of our Country, and the loss of our Birth rig●●  
FINIS.