the antipathy to a standing army insurmountably strong even in the late Parliament, a Parliament disposed to place large confidence in them and in their master.  In the new Parliament that antipathy amounted almost to a mania.  That liberty, law, property, could never be secured while the Sovereign had a large body of regular troops at his command in time of peace, and that of all regular troops foreign troops were the most to be dreaded, had, during the recent elections, been repeated in every town hall and market place, and scrawled upon every dead wall.  The reductions of the preceding year, it was said, even if they had been honestly carved into effect, would not have been sufficient; and they had not been honestly carried into effect.  On this subject the ministers pronounced the temper of the Commons to be such that, if any person high in office were to ask for what His Majesty thought necessary, there would assuredly be a violent explosion; the majority would probably be provoked into disbanding all that remained of the army; and the kingdom would be left without a single soldier.  William, however, could not be brought to believe that the case was so hopeless.  He listened too easily to some secret adviser, Sunderland was probably the man, who accused Montague and Somers of cowardice and insincerity.  They had, it was whispered in the royal ear, a majority, whenever they really wanted one.  They were bent upon placing their friend Littleton in the Speaker’s chair; and they had carried their point triumphantly.  They would carry as triumphantly a vote for a respectable military establishment if the honour of their master and the safety of their country were as dear to them as the petty interests of their own faction.  It was to no purpose that the King was told, what was nevertheless perfectly true, that not one half of the members who had voted for Littleton, could, by any art or eloquence, be induced to vote for an augmentation of the land force.  While he was urging his ministers to stand up manfully against the popular prejudice, and while they were respectfully representing to him that by so standing up they should only make that prejudice stronger and more noxious, the day came which the Commons had fixed for taking the royal speech into consideration.  The House resolved itself into a Committee.  The great question was instantly raised; What provision should be made for the defence of the realm?  It was naturally expected that the confidential advisers of the Crown would propose something.  As they remained silent, Harley took the lead which properly belonged to them, and moved that the army should not exceed seven thousand men.  Sir Charles Sedley suggested ten thousand.  Vernon, who was present, was of opinion that this number would have been carved if it had been proposed by one who was known to speak on behalf of the King.  But few members cared to support an amendment which was certain to be less pleasing to their constituents, and did not appear to be more pleasing to the Court, than the original motion.  Harley’s resolution passed the Committee.  On the morrow it was reported and approved.  The House also resolved that all the seven thousand men who were to be retained should be natural born English subjects.  Other votes were carried without a single division either in the Committee or when the mace was on the table.