The time had at length arrived at which it was necessary to make a legal distinction between the soldier and the citizen.

Under the Plantagenets and the Tudors there had been no standing army.

The standing army which had existed under the last kings of the House of Stuart had been regarded by every party in the state with strong and not unreasonable aversion.

The common law gave the Sovereign no power to control his troops.

The Parliament, regarding them as mere tools of tyranny, had not been disposed to give such power by statute.