PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

Mi/itor1 Establishments. 483
to vindicate; more quarrels, 1110re enemies, more
rebellions to encounter; a greater force to keep up
by sea and land; more services to provide for, and
more establi~bmc=nts to pay? And, in order to draw
from th!:~ acquisitions some!hing that Inay make up
for the charge of keeping them, a revenue is to be
extorted, or a monopoly to be enforced and watch~,·
at an expense whic h cost." half their ~roduce- 1bus
the provinces are oppressed, in order to pay for l'eing
ill governed; and the original state is exhausted
in ~aintaining a feeble authority over disconte&~ed
subjects. No as~igtlable portion of country is b(:De.r
fitted by the change ; and if the sovereign appear to
himself to be enriched or strengthened, when every
pan of his dominion is made poorer and wfaker tban
it was~ it is probable that he is deceived by appearances.
Or, were it true that the grandeur of the
prince is magnified by those exploits; the glory
which is purchased, and the ambition which is gratified,
by the distl-ess of one country \vithout adding to
the happiness of another, which at the same time enslaves
the new and impoverishes the ancient pan of
t~e enlpire, by whatever names it may be known or
flattered, ought to be an object of universal execra ..
tion; and oftentimes not more so to the vanqui~hed,
than to the very people who- e armies or who~e tre~s ..
ures have achiev/~d the victory.
l"'here are, il1dee~, two cases in \\lhich the extension
of territory, may be of re'al advantage, and to
both parties. The first is, where an empire thereby
reaches to tlle natural boundaries \\,hich tiivide it
fr~m the rest of the \vorld. Thus \ve account the
British Channel the natural boundary which separatfs
the nations of Englalld and France: and if France
possessed any COUll tries on this, or England any CIties
or pro\,inces on that side of the sea, the recovery of
such towns. a!ld di~tricts to what may be called their
natural sovereign, though it nlay not be a jilst reason
for commencing war ~ would be a proper use to make
of vict0ry. The other case is, where neighbouring
states, being severally too small and weak to defeud