They did indeed admit of very different interpretations.

The force which was actually in England in 1680 hardly amounted to five thousand men.

But the garrison of Tangier and the regiments in the pay of the Batavian federation, which, as they were available for the defence of England against a foreign or domestic enemy, might be said to be in some sort part of the English army, amounted to at least five thousand more.

The construction which the ministers put on the resolution of the eleventh of December was, that the army was to consist of ten thousand men; and in this construction the House acquiesced.

It was not held to be necessary that the Parliament should, as in our time, fix the amount of the land force.