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arms. A veteran army, indeed, kept constantly ready for marching, 

 is expensive, yet it gives a state the disposal of things among its 

 neighbors, or at least procures it a great reputation in other respects, 

 as may be clearly seen in the Spaniard, who has now, for a long suc- 

 cession of years, kept a standing army, though not always in the same 

 part of the country. 



The dominion of the sea is an epitome of monarchy. Cicero, in a 

 letter to Atticus, writing of Pompey's preparation against Caesar, says, 

 the designs of Pompey are like those of Themistocles; for he thinks 

 they who command the sea command the empire. And doubtless 

 Pompey would have wearied Caesar out, and brought him under, had 

 he not, through a vain confidence, abandoned his design. It is plain, 

 from many examples, of how great consequence sea-fights are. The 

 fight at Actium decided the empire of the world; the fight at Lepanto 

 struck a hook in the nose of the Turk; and it has frequently happened 

 that victories or defeats at sea have put a final end to the war, that is, 

 when the whole fortune of it has been committed to them. Doubtless 

 the being master of the sea leaves a nation at great liberty to act, and to 

 take as much or as little of the war as it pleases, whilst those who are 

 superior in land forces have yet numerous difficulties to struggle with. 

 And at present, amongst the European nations, a naval strength, which 

 is the portion of Great Britain, is more than ever of the greatest im- 

 portance to sovereignty, as well because most of the kingdoms of 

 Europe are not continents, but in good measure surrounded by the 

 sea, as because the treasures of both Indies seem but an accessory to 

 the dominion of the seas. 



The wars of later times seem to have been waged in the dark, com- 

 pared with the variety of glory and honor usually reflected upon the 

 military men of former ages. If is true, we have at this day certain 

 military honors designed perhaps as incentives to courage, though 

 common to men of the gown as well as the sword; we have also some 

 coats of arms and public hospitals, for soldiers worn out and disabled 

 in the service; but among the ancients, when a victory was obtained, 

 there were trophies, funeral orations, and magnificent monuments for 

 such as died in the wars. Civic crowns and military garlands were be- 

 stowed upon all the soldiers. The very name of emperor was after- 

 wards borrowed by the greatest kings from leaders in the wars; they 

 had solemn triumphs for their successful generals, they had donatives 

 and great largesses for the soldiers, when the army was disbanded; 

 these are such great and dazzling things in the eyes of mortals, as to 

 be capable of firing the most frozen spirits and inflaming them for 

 war. In particular, the manner of triumph among the Romans was 

 not a thing of pageantry or empty show, but deserving to be reckoned 

 among the wisest and most noble of their customs, as being attended 

 with these three particulars; viz., I. The glory and honor of their 

 leaders; 2. The enriching of the treasury with the spoils; and, 3. 

 Donatives to the army. But their triumphal honors were, perhaps, 

 unfit for monarchies, unless in the person of the king or his son, which 

 also obtained at Rome in the times of its emperors, who reserved the 



