that an address should be presented to him, reminding him that he
could not legally continue to employ officers who refused to
qualify, and pressing him to give such directions as might quiet
the apprehensions and jealousies of his people.22

A motion was then made that the Lords should be requested to join
in the address. Whether this motion was honestly made by the
opposition, in the hope that the concurrence of the peers would
add weight to the remonstrance, or artfully made by the
courtiers, in the hope that a breach between the Houses might be
the consequence, it is now impossible to discover. The
proposition was rejected.23

The House then resolved itself into a committee, for the purpose
of considering the amount of supply to be granted. The King
wanted fourteen hundred thousand pounds: but the ministers saw
that it would be vain to ask for so large a sum. The Chancellor
of the Exchequer mentioned twelve hundred thousand pounds. The
chiefs of the opposition replied that to vote for such a grant
would be to vote for the permanence of the present military
establishment: they were disposed to give only so much as might
suffice to keep the regular troops on foot till the militia could
be remodelled and they therefore proposed four hundred thousand
pounds. The courtiers exclaimed against this motion as unworthy
of the House and disrespectful to the King: but they were
manfully encountered. One of the western members, John Windham,
who sate for Salisbury, especially distinguished himself. He had
always, he said, looked with dread and aversion on standing
armies; and recent experience had strengthened those feelings. He
then ventured to touch on a theme which had hitherto been