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Show .r r. a<"_.___-w.--___-__-‘,.._ - ,...- . . a n... (43) iiration ot government-'till pofterity forget or diiregard the inftitutions of their remote anceflors. 1n antient time, THE MILITXA of England was raifed oflrcml and conducted by. common (oryé'm'. It's mi/z'tia was the ornament of the realm in peace and for ages fine defence in war. continued the only and Was the King himfelf ge- neral of an army-it was by the [Mycnt of b‘ispeopk. Thus when the Romans Vifited the ifland of Britain, Caihbelan was the Prince and chief commander in war; but it was by the olefiioiz of [/10 great Common Council, 82477172151 belli (fays Caefar) COMMUNI concrLio,Cq[fibc/ano traditur. Nor will this feem firange, when we confider that it was the lirft {late maxim with the Druids n: loquz' d: republica, mki per (ozzci/ium-not even to fpcak upon a matter ot'itate but in council. Nor is it to CIVITAS jig/[647107072 probavcrit. Such was the {e« curity of the people from the calamities ot a {tanding armyiz-happy indeed if their iuccellors could boalt a limilar provifion--Britain would not now be groaning under opprcflion-~nor her dii'tant children itruggling for their freedom. A fpirited nation thus embodied in a well diftiplined militia will foon become warlike, and fnch a people more fitted for acTion than debate, always haiten to a conclufion on the {ubjec't of grie- vances and public wrongs, and bring their deliberations to the fhortell ilfue. With them ‘- it is " the work of but one day, to examine and relolve " the nice queition, concerning the behaviour " of fubje€ts towards a ruler who abufes his pow~ 5, CI‘". " be wondered that inch politicians informed Caefar, that they had been to long accuiiomed to liberty, that they knew not the meaning of tribufc and f/avory ; and [but him word, that flu}! bad as good blood 61.!" be, and frm' i/Jc flzme founia/Iz. Surely a mcfiage that was received by a Roman, may be lent to a Bruin Czeiar. Thefe were thole w- mrab/e Dmitri, who had infpired the Gauls, of whom Caeiar reports this memorable boaft ; Pl?! (an [all or appeal to fuch a Great Common Comm], as all the world cannot reliit. Tacitus, fpeaking of our Saxon anceitors, relates, Rage: ex rzobi/ilate, DZICL'J‘ €.X"l'il'fllt€ 1'72 iifdem coma/175 e/igzmz‘ur. The great council, or the parliament of the fiate, had, not only the appointment of the prinapos militias, but the conduct of all military forces, from the an: erection of the itandard to it's lodgment ill the (litidel; for as the lame noble writer informs, it was their general cultom- not to in-""'£"? ""7 WW "Wit/J {/25 (While; 9/" arm, mzthuam CIVITAS Ai‘tfillclifrembliiigs and plaufible pretenccs are always adopted in order to introduce regular troops. Dyonyfius became the tyrant of Syraenle, the molt opulent of all the Grecian cities, by feigning a lblicitude for the people and a fear of his own perfon. Ile humbly prayed only a guard for his protection: they eafily granted, what he readily took-the power of plundering by military force and entailing his fovereignty by a (levife of his fword. Agathocles, a fnccellor to the Dyonyfian family and to the command of the army, continued the military tyranny, and butchered the en~ flaved people by centuries. ‘ Cardinal Ximenes, who made the Kill innovatiOn of this kind in Spain, difguifed the mealure under the pious and popular appearance of refilling theprogrefs of the lnfidels. The Nobles law his views and excited oppofition in the chief towns of the F Kingdonr * See Dr. Robertfon'sliilt. of Scotland. 1 Val. p. 234,5. |