e by a general combination of
almost all the surrounding princes, declares herself no longer able to
support the garrisons of the barrier, and informs us, that she intends
to recall her troops for the defence of their own country. What, then,
is more apparent, my lords, than that either these towns must fall
again into the hands of the French, and that we shall be obliged to
recover them, if they can ever be recovered, at the expense of another
ten years' war, or that either we or the Dutch must send troops to
supply the place of those which the necessities of their sovereign
oblige her to withdraw.

That the towns of Flanders should be resigned gratuitously to France,
that the enemies of mankind should be put in possession of the
strongest bulwarks in the world, surrounded by fields and pastures
able to maintain their garrisons without expense, will not be proposed
by any of this assembly. But it may easily and naturally be objected,
that the Dutch ought to garrison these towns, as more nearly
interested in their preservation, and more commodiously situated for
their defence; nor can it be, indeed, denied, that the Dutch may be
justly censured for their neglect, as they appear to leave the common
cause to our protection, and to prefer their commerce and their ease
to their own safety and the happiness of the world.

This, my lords, has been very warmly asserted in their own assemblies,
nor have there been wanting men of spirit and integrity amongst them
who have despised the gold and promises, and detected the artifices of
France; who have endeavoured by all the arts of argument and
persuasion to rouse their countrymen to remembrance of their former
danger, and to an inquiry into their real interest; who have advised
the levy of new forces, and the establishment of a new confederacy;
who have called upon the state to face danger while it is yet distant,
and to secure their own country by pouring their garrisons into the
towns and citadels by which their frontiers are protected. If their
arguments, however just, have not yet attained their end, it is to be
imputed to the constitution, embarrassed by the combination of
different interests, which must be reconciled, before any resolution
can be formed. A single town, my lords, can, by refusing its consent,
put a stand to the most necessary designs, and it is easily to be
imagined, that by a monarch equally crafty and rich, a single town may
sometimes be bribed into meas