But to show more fully the insufficiency of the vindication which has
been attempted, and prove, that no concession will enable the ministry
to defend their schemes, even this assertion shall be admitted. We
will allow for the present, that it is necessary to garrison an island
with numerous forces against an enemy that has no fleet. I will grant,
that invaders may be conveyed through the air, and that the
formidable, the detestable pretender may, by some subterraneous
passage, enter this kingdom, and start on a sudden into the throne.
Yet will not all this liberality avail our ministers, since it may be
objected, that new forces might easily have been raised, and our own
island have been, at once, defended, and the queen of Hungary assisted
by our native troops.
Since the necessity of expedition is urged, it may reasonably be
inquired, what it was that appeared so immediately necessary, or what
has been brought to pass by this wonderful expedition? Was it
necessary to form an army to do nothing? Could not an expedition in
which nothing was performed, in which nothing was attempted, have been
delayed for a short time, and might not the queen of Hungary have been
preserved equally, whether the troops of her allies slept and fattened
in her country or their own?
Nothing, surely, can be more ridiculous than to expatiate upon the
necessity of raising with expedition an useless body of forces, which
has only been a burden to the country in which it has been stationed,
and for which pay is now demanded, though they have neither seen a
siege nor a battle; though they have made no attempt themselves, nor
hindered any that might have been made by the enemy.
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