The beft, and of the princes fome were fuch,
Who thought the power of monarchy too much;
Miftaken men, and patriots in their hearts;
Not wicked, but feduc'd by impious arts.
By these the springs of property were bent,
And wound fo high, they crack'd the government.
The next for intereft fought to embroil the state,
To fell their duty at a dearer rate;
And make their Jewish markets of the throne;
Pretending public good to ferve their own.
Others thought kings an ufclefs heavy load,
Who coft too much, and did too little good.
Thefe were for laying honeft David by,
On principles of pure good husbandry.
With them join'd all th' haranguers of the throng,
That thought to get preferment by the tongue.
Who follow next a double danger bring,
Not only hating David, but the king;
The Solymaan rout; well vers'd of old,
In godly faction, and in treafon bold;
Cowring and quaking at a conqueror's sword,
But lofty to a lawful prince reftor'd ;
Saw with disdain an Ethnic plot begun,
And fcorn'd by Jebufites to be outdone.
Hot Levites headed thefe; who pull'd before
From th' ark, which in the judges days they bore,
Refum'd their cant, and with a zealous cry,
Pursued their old belov'd theocracy :
Where fanhedrim and priest enflav'd the nation,
And juftify'd their spoils by infpiration :
For who fo fit to reign as Aaron's race,
If once dominion they could found in grace?
These led the pack; though not of surest scent,
Yet deepest-mouth'd against the government.
A numerous hoft of dreaming faints fucceed,
Of the true old enthusiastic breed:
'Gainft form and order they their
power employ,
Nothing to build, and all things to destroy.
But far more numerous was the herd of fuch,
Who think too little, and who talk too much,
These out of mere inftinct, they knew not why,
Ador'd their fathers God and property;
And by the fame blind benefit of fate,
The devil and the Jebufite did hate :
Born to be fav'd ev'n in their own despite,
Because they could not help believing right.
Such were the tools: but a whole Hydra more
Remains of sprouting heads too long to score.
Some of their chiefs were princes of the land;
In the first rank of thefe did Zimri ftand:
A man fo various, that he feem'd to be
Not one, but all mankind's epitome :
Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong;
Was every thing by starts, and nothing long;
But, in the courfe of one revolving moon,
Was chemift, fidler, statesman, and buffoon:
Then all for women, painting, rhyming, drinking,
Befides ten thousand freaks that dy'd in thinking.
Bleft madman, who could every hour employ,
With fomething new to with, or to enjoy!
Railing and praifing were his ufual themes;
And both, to fhew his judgment, in extremes:
So over-violent, or over-civil,
That every man with him was God or Devil.
In fquandering wealth was his peculiar art :
Nothing went unrewarded but defert.
Beggar'd by fools, whom still he found too late;
He had his jeft, and they had his estate.
He laugh'd himself from court; then fought relief
By forming parties, but could ne'er be chief:
For fpite of him the weight of bufinefs fell
On Abfalom, and wife Achitophel :
Thus, wicked but in will, of means bereft,
He left not faction, but of that was left.
Titles and names 'twere tedious to rehearse
Of lords, below the dignity of verse.
Wits, warriors, commonwealths-men, were the best:
Kind husbands, and mere nobles, all the reft.
And therefore, in the name of dulness, be
The well-hung Balaam and cold Caleb free:
And canting Nadab let oblivion damn,
Who made new porrige for the paschal lamb.
Let friendship's holy band fome names affure ;
Some their own worth, and fome let fcorn fecure.
Nor fhall the rascal rabble here have place,
Whom kings no title gave, and God no grace :
Not bull-fac'd Jonas, who could statutes draw
To mean rebellion, and make treafon law.
But he, though bad; is follow'd by a worse,
The wretch who heaven's anointed dar'd to curfe;
Shimei, whofe youth did early promise bring
Of zeal to God and hatred to his king;
Did wifely from expenfive fins refrain,
And never broke the fabbath but for gain :
Nor ever was he known an oath to vent,
Or curfe unless against the government.
Thus heaping wealth, by the most ready way
Among the Jews, which was to cheat and pray ;
The city, to reward his pious hate
Against his master, chofe him magistrate.
His hand a vase of juftice did uphold;
His neck was loaded with a chain of gold.
During his office treafon was no crime;
The fons of Belial had a glorious time:
For Shimei, though not prodigal of pelf,
Yet lov'd his wicked neighbour as himself.
When two or three were gathered to declaim
Against the monarch of Jerufalem,
Shimei was always in the midst of them :
And if they curs'd the king when he was by,
Would rather curfe than break good company.
If any durft his factious friends accuse,
He pack'd a jury of diffenting Jews ;
Whofe fellow-feeling in the godly caufe
Would free the suffering faint from human laws.
For laws are only made to punish those
Who ferve the king, and to protect his foes.
If any leisure time he had from power,
Becaufe 'tis fin to mifemploy an hour:
His business was, by writing to persuade,
That kings were useless and a clog to trade :
And that his noble style he might refine,
No Rechabite more fhun'd the fumes of wine.
Chafte were his cellars, and his fhrieval board
The grofsnefs of a city feast abhorr'd:
His cooks with long disuse their trade forgot ;
Cool was his kitchen, though his brains were hot.
Such frugal virtue malice may accufe;
But fure 'twas neceffary to the Jews:
For towns, once burnt, fuch magistrates require
As dare not tempt God's providence by fire.
With spiritual food he fed his fervants well,
But free from flesh that made the Jews rebel :
And Mofes' laws he held in more account,
For forty days of fafting in the mount.
To speak the reft, who better are forgot,
Would tire a well-breath'd witness of the plot.
Yet, Corah, thou shalt from oblivion pass;
Erect thyfelf, thou monumental brass,
High as the serpent of thy metal made,
While nations stand secure beneath thy fhade.
What though his birth were base, yet comets rife
From earthly vapours ere they shine in skies.
Prodigious actions may as well be done
By weaver's iffue, as by prince's fon.
This arch-atteftor for the public good
By that one deed ennobles all his blood.
Who ever afk'd the witnefs's high race,
Whose oath with martyrdom did Stephen grace? ·
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