The Modern Statesman, Chapter 4 – Chapter 5
CHAP. IIII.
An Admonition to many amongst us.
WHat then may we think of ſome lately appearing amongſt us, who neither minding their own good, not their maſters buſineſſe, have been bold in the ſight of the ſun to upbraid thoſe in power with theſe latter wars, as fomented and raiſed for their luſts, and our preſſure, which by the good hand of Providence hitherto have turned to our honour, and advantage, and it may be have been a means to prevent our ruin; the common Enemy keeping us from quarrelling among our ſelves, and as it were binding up our hands from inteſtine ſlaughter: for ſo many and ſo great diviſions there were amongſt us, ſuch animoſities and heart-burnings in one party againſt the other, as in that unſetled eſtate we were in at firſt, In ſua victrices vertentes viſcera dextras, might have turned our weapons into our own bowels, had not heaven in mercy cut out work for us elſewhere, until we were a little▪ better come to our ſelves What means then the bleatings, and lowings of theſe Cattel, which are driven like beaſts to the ſlaughter? for alas fond youths, though your noddles are not full enough to render you ſuſpected of deſign, yet undoubtedly have you been ſet a going by ſome well practiz'd in the art of ſedition, and whoſe concernments and inclinations prodigiouſly meet in that fatal point, to whom it may ſeem as natural to live in the fire of contention, as profitable to fiſh in troubled waters; conſider but the bottom, and you will abhor the broachers of this deſign, who under the pretence of crying down forein, would ſtir up a civill war; and of advancing Peace, and Freedom, raiſe Rebellion and Confuſion, which would inevitably ruin your Selves, Trades, and Countrey. Let not any of theſe flie Sinons make you break down your own walls, to bring in ſo fatal an Engine, a ſecond Trojan-horſe, which will powrforth armed Tyrants in the dead of night upon you, whoſe underſtandings they have charmd aſleep with their falſe & counterfeit pretences. Timete Danaos et dona ferentes: You cannot be too miſtruſtfull of your old Enemy, of whom this deſign ſmels rank; take heed, I ſay, you loſe not your liberty in the noiſe you make for freedom, and whil'ſt you crowd out Authority, you bring not Tyranny in on pick-back; which your enemies of themſelves deſpair ever to accompliſh.
Thus have I ſeen full-grown fruit which hath withſtood the aſſaults of outward ſtorms, rot with ſuperfluity of innate moyſture, and the double-armed nut reſolv'd to duſt by a worm bred in its own kernel.
Or what ſhall we ſay to a ſecond ſort, thoſe ſons of ſloath, thoſe dregs of a lazy and luxurious peace, who as if their ſouls lay in their bellies, find no content but in eaſe and riot? whoſe whole note is, Where are thoſe golden dayes we once had? Where are our Court-revellings and Maſques? Where our Lord-Maiors Feaſts and Shews, and all thoſe joviall ſports gone, in which England was wont to pride herſelf and triumph? not a Wake, not a morrice-Dance now to be feen, are theſe the effects of a Parliament? and is this that we have got by fighting? Alas poor ſouls! you dream't (I'le warrant) a Parliament would have made the Thames flow Cuſtard, and turn'd the pebbles on the ſhore into Garoway-Comfits; have cauſed Bag-pudding to grow on every Buſh, and each pond abound with beef and brewis; have commanded the conduits to run Sack and Clarret, and the Rivers and Brooks Ale and ſtrong Beer; and welladay, your houſes are not wall'd with Haſty Pudding, neither do Pigs ready roaſted come and cry Come eat me; Lubberland is as far off now as ever, and you deceived of all your goodly expectations; but peace, put fingers out of neyes, and I will tell you what; yea, what your Countrey, your Mammee (if ſhe be not aſhamed to own you) hath got; ſhe hath gained her freedom, and regain'd her reputation; of a baffel'd, ſcorn'd, and deſpiſed Kingdom, ſhe is become a victorious, dreadfull, and renowned Common-wealth; ſhe that was contemned by aGales.Spain, cudgel'd by bRee.France, brav'd by cthe Downs.Holland, affronted bydRebellion. Irelād, & baffe'ld byeThe firſt Invaſion. Scotla. hath made thoſe with whom ſhe hath grappell'd feel the force of her arms, and taught the reſt to obſerve their due diſtance; yea ſhe hath done more in four years, than your Monarchs could do in four hundred; having quell'd Ireland, ſubdued Scotland, cudgel'd Holland, and with a Navy of near two hundred ſayl ſcoured her narrow ſeas, and ſwept her Enemies Coaſts, notwithſtanding her ſtrugglings at home with ſuch undutifull ſons as your ſelves, who have layd all the ſtumbling-blocks in her way they either could or durſt.
But your Purſes pay for this you cry, I warrant you, and ſo they did for the Puppets and Pageants, the hobby-horſes and bells, and all the reſt of the Trumperies your ſouls ſo much delighted in; as I conceive too you were wont to pay ſubſidies for your Charters, and your Petition of Right, which you hung by and gaz'd on with as much benefit to your ſelves then, as now on your Scotch Covenant; as alſo Ship-mony, Knighthood-mony, Coat and Conduct-mony, and now and then you received a Privy-ſeal; your Carts now and then did attend the Court, and your Oxen, Sheep, Horſes, Hay, Straw, Oats, &c. were taken up at the Kings price, and that payd too, when you could get it; there were ſlaviſh tenures, and a Court of Wards, a Star-Chamber, and an High-Commiſſion Court with its appurtenances in each Dioceſſe; Juſtices in Eire, and Forreſt laws, &c. which coſt you ſomething; but you will be wiſer upon ſecond thoughts, put on your conſidering caps than, for you know not what you may come too; what though you are out of hopes of being Courtiers you may be Patriots, and inſtead of being ſlaves to flattery, become Patrones of liberty; what though you cannot buy Knighthoods, and Lordſhips, yet may you purchaſe never-dying honour to your names by faithfully ſerving your God, and Countrey. Act then vertuouſly, and let poſterity find your names in the Van of good Commonwealths-men, among the firſt Ranks of the Aſſertors of Liberty. Which of you, were you to chooſe, would not rather be read in hiſtory a Brutus, than a Tarquin; an Ariſtogiton, than a Piſiſtratus; a Pelopidas, than an Archas; a Timoleon, than a Dionyſius? whether doth the name of Lancaſter, or Gaveston, Hereford, or Spencer, make the pleaſinger found in Engliſh ears? and which were accounted Martyrs, which Traitor, in the thoughts of your generous Anceſtors? and if all this will not prevail with you, if duty and honour appear ſmall in your eyes, yet profit ſure will do much; it is the way to thrive; for it is more than probable that the Common-wealth will ſurvive its enemies, and there are certain ſymptomes of its welfare.
That Providence which hath hitherto brooded upon it, and hatcht it into this perfection, that hand of Omnipotency which hath given aſſured tokens of aſſiſtance from heaven, hath in text-letters written its fortune on its forehead, ſo that the leaſt read in Phyſiognomy may ſpell it out. The Schoolmen obſerve, Divina voluntas, licet ſimpliciter libera ſit ad extra, ex ſuppoſitione tamen unius actus liberi, poteſt neceſſitari ad alium. We ſhall not go ſo high, but this we ſhall ſay, that where God hath ſo viſibly owned a nation, he will never draw back his hand unleſſe upon ſome notorious provocation. Lift up your eyes then, Os homini ſublime dedit, coelumque videre Juſſit, & erectos ad ſidera tollere vultus, which were given you to this end, and contemplate the works of your gracious Creator, it is your duty ſo to do, and he expects it at your hands; be not rebels to nature, nor make fruſtrate the admirable frame of your creation, wch wil argue you not only ingrate, but worſe than brutiſh, yea put you in the lower form, to the beaſts that periſh, for as the Heathen Satyriſt,
Senſum è coeleſti demiſſum traximus arce,
Cujus egent prona, & terram ſpectantia; mundi
Principio indulſit communis Conditor illis
Tantùm animas, nobis animum quoque.
But leſt there ſhould be ſome ſo ignorant that they cannot, others ſo lazy that they will not take the pains to read this hand-writing from heaven, I will endeavour ſo plainly to ſet it before them, that Fronaque ſi ſpectent animalia, if they look but downwards, will they, nill they, they ſhal perceive it, unles they blindfold themſelves, and wink out of deſign; and for ſuch Moles, let them enjoy their dark Caverns, and there delve and dig untill they have laid themſelves as low as they deſire, or deſerve; let their affected ſhades envelope them, and not the ſmalleſt ſtar diſturb their Cimmaerian enjoyments; let the nights black Quiriſters, Ravens and Scrich-Owls, ſing Anthems and Requiems to their ſouls, and no ſun ariſe to diſturb the muſick, and diſſolve the lucky conſort.
CHAP. V.
How England became a Commonwealth, and what may be expected from ſuch a Beginning.
THe Engliſh Nation by a long and bloody civill War being awak't out of that ſleep which had almoſt brought a Lethargy upon her, (like an angry Lion rows'd and enrag'd with the ſmart of his wounds) reſolutely, and with a courage not unworthy the nobility of her Stock, ſets upon the foe that had ſo gall'd her, and ſoon brought him under her feet; then disdaining to wear the fetters of a conquered enemy, aſſumes the power God then, and Nature at firſt had inveſted her with, and aſſumes her priſtine freedom.
Thus Bellona was the Midwife which brought England to bed of the Common-wealth, which was no ſooner born, but ſhe ſwadled her in Enſigns torn from her proudeſt foes, and adorned her cradle with Trophies of victory! O ſacred and happy birth! what Triumphs attend thy youth, and what Lawrells ſhall encircle thy manly front? Thou that haſt ſtrangled ſerpents in thy cradle, giveſt us hopes, that the ſeaven-headed Hydra ſhall fall by thee when thou haſt attained thy full ſtrength; and who haſt made it as it were thy ſport to pull down petty Tyrants, wilt make it thy buſineſſe to deſtroy the grand Impoſtor; that as with thy fiſt thou haſt given him a box on the ear, ſo with thy ſword thou wilt divide his head from his ſhoulders; For what leſſe than a Triple Crown can attend thy Chariot, whoſe go-cart is lackied on by Crowns in couples? for great, even for ſo great things ſure hath Providence reſerv'd thee, whom ſhe hath ſo carefully tended in thy infancy; for though ſhe hath ſuffered thine enemies to riſe againſt thee, yet ſo tender a regard hath ſhe had of thy youth, that ſhe put hooks as it were in their noſtrils, and reſtrained them from uniting, whom ſingle ſhe knew thee able to grapple with; ſo that their malice hath augmented thy glory, and by their endeavouring to ruin thee, they have encreaſed thy power, making themſelves but Touchſtones to convince the world of the purity of thy metal, and on their own ſhoulders advancing thee above an ordinary height, that the World might take notice of thy growth, and ſtature; and as with thee, ſo hath ſhe done with others, even with all all thoſe whom ſhe intended to advance; examples of which, both divine, and humane hiſtories abundantly offer to our veiw. Thus was it with Iſrael in their conquering the promiſed land, Sihon king of the Amorites firſt ſets upon them, then Og king of Baaſhan came out againſt them, &c. thus we find it with divers others in other Authors, which to avoid prolixity I ſhall paſſe by, inſtancing in one and that ſo well known, that few, if any therebe, but have heard thereof, and that the Common-wealth of Rome, which from a ſmall beginning grew up into ſo vaſt a body, that her Eagles-wings ſpread over the greateſt part of the then known world.