The full paragraph from which this quotation was taken can be be viewed below (front page quote in bold):
It may perhaps be asked, by way of objection, why did not standing armies
spring up out of the contentions which so often distracted the ancient
republics of Greece? Different answers equally satisfactory, may be given
to this question. The industrious habits of the people of the present day,
absorbed in the pursuits of gain, and devoted to the improvements of agriculture
and commerce, are incompatible with the condition of a nation of soldiers,
which was the true condition of the people of those republics. The means
of revenue, which have been so greatly multiplied by the increase of gold
and silver, and of the arts of industry, and the science of finance, which
is the offspring of modern times, concurring with the habits of nations,
have produced an entire revolution in the system of war, and have rendered
disciplined armies, distinct from the body of the citizens, the inseparable
companion of frequent hostility.
There is a wide difference also, between military establishments in a
country which, by its situation, is seldom exposed to invasions, and in
one which is often subject to them, and always apprehensive of them. The
rulers of the former can have no good pretext, if they are even so inclined,
to keep on foot armies so numerous as must of necessity be maintained in
the latter. These armies being, in the first case, rarely, if at all, called
into activity for interior defence, the people are in no danger of being
broken to military subordination. The laws are not accustomed to relaxations,
in favour of military exigencies; the civil state remains in full vigour,
neither corrupted nor confounded with the principles or propensities of
the other state. The smallness of the army forbids competition with the
natural strength of the community, and the citizens, not habituated to
look up to the military power for protection, or to submit to its oppressions,
neither love nor fear the soldiery: they view them with a spirit of jealous
acquiescence in a necessary evil, and stand ready to resist a power which
they suppose may be exerted to the prejudice of their rights.
The army under such circumstances, though it may usefully aid the magistrate
to suppress a small faction, or an occasional mob, or insurrection, will
be utterly incompetent to the purpose of enforcing encroachments against
the united efforts of the great body of the people.
But in a country, where the perpetual menacings of
danger oblige the government to be always prepared to repel it, her armies
must be numerous enough for instant defence. The continual necessity
for his services enhances the importance of the soldier, and proportionably
degrades the condition of the citizen. The military state becomes elevated
above the civil. The inhabitants of territories often the theatre of
war, are unavoidably subjected to frequent infringements on their rights,
which serve to weaken their sense of those rights; and by degrees, the
people are brought to consider the soldiery not only as their protectors,
but as their superiors. The transition from
this disposition to that of considering them as masters, is neither remote
nor difficult: but it is very difficult to prevail upon a people under
such impressions, to make a bold, or effectual resistance, to usurpations
supported by the military power.
The kingdom of Great Britain falls within the first description.
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