Historie & policie re-viewed, in the heroick transactions of His Most Serene Highnesse, Oliver, late Lord Protector; from his cradle, to his tomb: declaring his steps to princely perfection; as they are drawn in lively parallels to the ascents of the great patriarch Moses, in thirty degrees, to the height of honour. / By H.D. Esq.

The fifteenth Ascent. (Book 15)

MOses was a most absolute great States∣man, a perfect Master of the Politick Science; which, though it may be suffi∣ciently argued, by all the advantages which he had of breeding within the Tropicks of Pharaohs Court;* 1.1 so must of necessity have suckt in the very quintessence of all State in∣fluencies, as also being trained up in all the Learning of the Egyptians,* 1.2 then the most know∣ing people in the World, as we have already seen: Yet, is made more clear, by the Lords own designation of him, to the Civil,* 1.3 as well as Military Government, of his people, by his prudent managery of Affairs, and by the most excellent Laws and Ordinances that he made for their Government, in peace as well as war; which proves irrefragably, that he understood how to command Towns, as well as Armies, and to conduct Citizens, as well as Souldiers; but above all, he appeared a most perfect Polititian, in sticking close to the in∣trests of God, not swerving in the least from his Divine Will; and for that we have the Lords own attestation,* 1.4 that he was faithful in all his house, and that must of necessity be the highest point of Policy.

The Parallel.

* 1.5Ingens sanè, & arduum opus est, recte imperare, saith Xenophon, It is the highest, and the hard∣est thing in the World, to command well, who, as he gave us, Effigiem justi imperii, as Cicero describes him, the Portraiture of a just Empire, under the name of Cyrus, must of necessity mean, that of the Civil, as well as Martial Go∣vernment. And doubtlesse this Politick ver∣tue, which is to constitute a true, and excel∣lent Statesman, is the most rare, and sublima∣ted Piece, and as it were, the very creame, and most purified part of humane wisdom, and of which, great and Noble spirits, are onely capable.* 1.6 And therefore, Titus Livius, tells us, that Ars quâ civem regant, (That art of Policy, or good Government, was ever more as ho∣nourable, if not more, than that) Quâ hostem superent, the art of War it self: and the same Livius gives the reason in another place, Pa∣rare & quaerere arduum,* 1.7 tueri vero difficilius; from whence the Poet seems to have borrowed, O faciles dare summa Deos, eademque tueri, Dif∣ficiles;* 1.8 It is much easier to attain the ends of high desires, than to keep them being got; and better is the assurance of seeking, than of possessing any thing. For to be great, and of a large proportion, doth not at all take away the casualties of inconveniencies, nor can any

greatnesse give priviledge to free things from distemperature; Tall men, we see, are as sub∣ject to Fevers, as others of lesse stature; and great Empires are as easily disturbed, as the States of petit Princes. Besides, an excellent Author tells us, Tueri quaesita, difficilius est quàm acquirere, quoniam in acquirendo, ignavia possidentis saepe plus confert, quam propria virtus, tueri autem quaesita, sine propria virtute nemo potest. It is harder to hold, than to Conquer; for the sloth and negligence of the Possessor, may more conduce to the acquiring of any thing, than the vertue of the Conquerour; but hold what is so acquired, none can, but by especial vertue.

Now both these pieces of incomparable Prudence, had our most Renowned Lord Protector, our second Moses; and I dare say, in equal proportion with the former, he go∣verned the War it self, like a compleat States∣man, and managed peace, like a prudent Cap∣tain. He knew as well as Caesar did,* 1.9 that Non minus est Imperatoris, consilio superare, quam gladio, A good General will Conquer more by his Counsel, than Sword: And as applicable to his Highnesse, was that which King Anti∣gonus said of himself, That his warfare, was rather of times and seasons, than of Armes, and no lesse did we see made good by his High∣nesse upon all occasions, what Polybius tells us, that the least things which are done in war, are those which are handled with sword and violence; but the most eminent of all, are

executed by the knowledge, how fitly to man∣age an opportunity. If this piece of warlike, as well as State prudence, were ever verified in any Person, it has been most remarkably made good in all our second Moses his State dispatches, as well as Warlike Expeditions: for had he not in the very nick of time, crusht several eggs, of cursed Cockatrices, that had been laid against him, he must have hatched them in his own bosome, that would have de∣stroyed both him, and us.

Are you not yet ashamed of your ingrati∣tude, you viperous brood of Rebells? that have so often endeavoured to eat through the heart, and bowels of him, that has given you so often a life? Do you not know, that when one Star riseth, the opposite must fall? Be no longer like ungrateful Prentises, who usually when they are at liberty, spurne at their Guides, and are not onely content to set up Shops for themselves; but seek by all means they can, to discredit their Masters.

By this time, methinks, you should be sensible, that you have too long opposed your selves, against his late Highnesse, most pious, and prudent intentions, who with sword in one hand, and trowel in the other, that is, armes, and policy, as a Statesman, and a Soul∣dier, at once did defend, and build the walls of our Jerusalem.

It is time for you sure to give over busying your selves about your Babylon, and its buil∣ding, which when you have done all you can,

will appear to be but like a City, which I have seen in ancient painting, built upon ruines, in a land of Quicksilver, cimented with blood, and overthrown with frequent Earthquakes, and outragious windes: You see by your own sad experience, if you please to make use of it, that if the arm of the Lord sustain not an Affaire, the more advancement it receives, the deeper ruines it findes; and that all Maxims of State, that depend not on the Max∣ims of God, are but the meer effects of carnal prudence, and so must consequently end in flesh, and faile like it: And all Councils of State whatsoever, that depend not, and rest themselves upon him, who with three fingers supporteth the Globe of the Universe, rather pursue the way of precipice, than path of ex∣altation; Give over, I say, in time your Antichristian contentions, lest you be found to fight against God. Imitate, now at last, this blessed and most worthy Piece of our Mosai∣cal wisdom, which our Great Prototype, and his Typified Parallel, have so closely pursued, that is, in the first place to seek the interests of God, and then all other things will be ad∣ded, as we have seen proved upon both them, a constant successe attending all their under∣takings. On the other side, we finde what∣soever Machiavel may object to the contrary, that God Almighty is pleased, sometimes, to stupifie the most practised Statists in the world, that are the greatest professors too of Policy, and Knowledge, and make them so drink of

the cup of errour, that we coming afterwards, to discourse upon their judgements, find they have committed some grosser faults, in the governments of Kingdoms, and Common∣wealths, than the simplest, and most illiterate Peasants would have done, in the direction of their own houses; all which we have seen most particularly made good upon the late King and his Counsellours, and to be foretold likewise by the Spirit of God himself, dicta∣ting to the person of the Prophet Isaiah, who speaking of the wicked Counsellours of Pha∣raoh,* 1.10 sayes, The Princes of Tanais, are become fooles, the Princes of Memphis are withered away, they have deceived Egypt with all the strength, and beauty of her people: God hath sent amongst them, the spirit of giddinesse, and made them reel up and down, in all their actions, like drunken men.* 1.11 No lesse doth holy Job tell us, in these terms; God suffereth the wise Counsellours to fall into the hazards of senselesse men; God makes the Judges stupid, takes away the sword and belt from Kings, to engird their reines with a cord; God maketh the Priests to appear infamous, supplant∣eth the principal of the people, changeth the lips of truth speakers, takes away the doctrine of old men, and poureth out contempt upon Prin∣ces, &c.

There is no man, that has either been Actor, or Spectator, in our troubles, but will take, I presume, those Scriptures, to be directly poin∣ted at our times, and to be an exact prophesie, of part of our late Wars: so will neither re∣quire

any more comment, application, or pa∣rallel. It is a most certain truth, and that his late Highnesse knew full well, and as frequent∣ly declared, that no wisdom or policy, meer∣ly humane, can be perfect: such as forsake God, in the curiosities of their Counsells, shall be forsaken by him, and shall finde each where, a long web of perplexities, and a rowling wheel of immortal troubles.

When a man goes on in the right way, he is probable to finde an end, but if he wander acrosse the fields, he makes steps without number, runs into errours without measure, and falls into miseries without remedy. Let all the Politicians of the World take example by our second Moses, and take into their se∣rious consideration, as his Highnesse did, that the greatnesse of a Statesman, consists not in treasuring up the Common-wealth of Plato, and Xenophon, in his imagination, nor in amas∣sing together a huge heape of politick Pre∣cepts, nor in being acquainted with all the Cabales, and Mysteries of the World, nor in the profession of great subtilties, and strata∣gems; for we have seen by the experience of all Ages, that in affairs, there is a certain stroak of the Divine Providence, which daz∣leth all the worldly wise, disarmes the strong, and blindeth all the most Politick, with their own lights: for swimming up and down, as they do, in the vast Ocean of businesse, and the infinities of reasons of their proper inven∣tions, they resemble bodies over-charged

with abundance of blood, who through that great and extravagant excesse, finde death, in the very treasure of life. Then seeking to withdraw themselves, from the road of com∣mon understandings, they figure to themselves strange subtilties, and chymera's, which are but as the Towers of the Lamiae, that Ter∣tullian speakes of, which no wise man did ever really believe, or will; which is the true cause that their spirits floating still in such a great tyde of thoughts, seldom meet with a hap∣py dispatch of affairs. Not unlike the Sun, that sometimes draws up such a great quan∣tity of vapours, that he cannot dissipate; so these undertaking Politicians, do but lay up together, a vast lump of businesse in their braines, which their judgements can never dissolve into any successeful expedition.

He that will take the pains to read the lives of Otho, Vitellius, Galba, Piso, Balbinus, Floria∣nus, Basilius, Silvianus, Tacitus, Quintilius, Ma∣ximus, and Michael Colophates: or behold the falls of Parmenio, under Alexander, Sejanus un∣der Tiberius, Cleander under Commodus, Ab∣lavius under Constantine, Eutropius under Ar∣cadius, Vignius under Frederick, Brocas under Philip, Cabreca under Peter, and others of the like kind, must find, or be wholly insensible, that to raise a State, and build Fortune, as well as to conserve it, we are to proceed, as his late Highnesse did, securely therein, with a principal eye upon the Maxims of Faith, Religion, and Honesty, unlesse that we will

expect, in the course of an uncertain life, a most certain ruin.

It will manifestly, I say, appear, out of all Histories, as well sacred as prophane, how (con∣trary to Machiavillian doctrine) all they, who disunited from the Eternal Wisdom, thought to play the Politicks and prosper in Governments, Honours, and worldly Affairs, have proved but as so many Icarus's, that counterfeit birds, with waxen wings, with which they may soare aloft indeed, for some little time; but the least ray proceeding from the Throne of the Lamb, will sure dissolve them to nothing, and make their heights, which they so foolishly flye at, serve them for no other use, but to render their falls, the more remarkable.

I shall now onely adde, for the further con∣fusion of all Machiavillians, and satisfaction of good men, one excellent observation, out of Paulus Orosius, who, in his Book of History,* 1.12 dedicated to the great Augustin, remarkes, that the very tracks of our proud and politick Pharaohs Chariots, after his most detestable death, and the destruction of his whole Army, remained a long time, on the sands of the Red Sea, to be a preaching example to all Posterity, to inform them, how dangerous a thing it is, to go about, as he did, by any State-tricks, and devilish subtilties, to fight against God. Let then our Master Machiavillians, march on still, if they think fit, amongst so many shel∣ves, and precipices, not so much as once open∣ing

their eyes to behold the Abysse, they have under their feet: So many heads crusht in pieces, under the Dvine vengeance, which lie like broken masts, and shivers of a shipwrack, advanced upon the promontories of Rocks, to give notice of their deplorable events, whose steps they still pursue. Let them look on still, I say, with arms acrosse, and dally with those dangers, like wanton Victims, that leape and skip, between the ax and the knife, whilst we the happy people of England, and all good Christians, shall fully satisfie our selves, in fol∣lowing the examples of our two Mosaical Ma∣sters, who used no other line of Policy, but such as they derived from Heaven, alwayes managing their great Charges, and Govern∣ment of others, by their own duties, and obe∣dience to Almighty God: and that is the highest point of State-Wisdom, which our se∣cond Moses had in its perfection: As we shall see more in the 21. Ascent.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Exod. 2.
• * 1.2

  Acts 7.12.
• * 1.3

  Exod. Levit. Num. Deut.
• * 1.4

  Num. 12.7.
• * 1.5

  Xenoph. l. 1. de instit. Cypri.
• * 1.6

  Tit. Liv. lib. 2. Dec.
• * 1.7

  lib. 37.
• * 1.8

  Lucan.
• * 1.9

  Caesar Com∣ment. 6. belli gall.
• * 1.10

  Isa. 19.
• * 1.11

  Job. 12.
• * 1.12

  Paulus Orosius, lib. 1. cap. 18.