For pow'r unlimited could reasons draw,
And place prerogative above the law;
Which on your fall from office grew unjust,
The laws made king, the king a flave in truft:
Whom with state-craft, to int'rest only true,
You now accufe of ills contriv'd by you.
To this hell's agent-Royal youth, fix here,
Let int'reft be the ftar by which you steer,
Hence to repofe your truft in me was wife,
Whofe int'reft moft in your advancement lies.
A tye fo firm as always will avail
When friendship, nature, and religion fail;
On our's the safety of the crowd depends ;
Secure the crowd, and we obtain our ends;
Whom I will caufe fo far our guilt to fhare,
Till they are made our champions by their fear.
What oppofition can your rival bring,
While fanhedrims are jealous of the king
His ftrength as yet in David's friendthip lies,
And what can David's felf without fupplies?
Who with exclufive bills must now difpenfe,
Debar the heir, or ftarve in his defence;
Conditions which our elders ne'er will quit,
And David's juftice never can admit.
Or forc'd by wants his brother to betray,
To your ambition next he clears the way;
For if fucceffion once to nought they bring,
Their next advance removes the present king:
Perfifting elfe his fenates to diffolve,
In equal hazard fhall his reign involve.
Ourtribes, whom Pharaoh's pow'r fomuch alarms,
Shall rife without their prince t'oppose his arms;
Nor boots it on what cause at first they join,
Their troops once up, are tools for our defign.
At least fuch fubtile cov'nants fhall be made,
Till peace itfelf is war in mafquerade;
Affociations of myfterious fenfe
Againft, but feeming for, the king's defence:
E'en on their courts of juftice fetters draw,
And from our agents muzzle up their law.
By which a conqueft, if we fail to make,
'Tis a drawn game at worst, and we fecure our
He faid, and for the dire fuccefs depends [ftake.
On various fects, by common guilt made friends.
Whofe heads, though ne'er fo diff'ring in their
creed,
I'th'point of treafon yet were well agreed.
'Mongft thefe, extorting Ifhban first appears,
Purfu'd by meagre troop of bankrupt heirs.
Bleft times when Ifhban, he whofe occupation
So long has been to cheat, reforms the nation!
Ifhban of confcience fuited to his trade,
As good a faint as us'rer ever made.
Yet Mammon has not fo engroft him quite,
But Belial lays as large a claim of spight;
Who, for thofe pardons from his prince he draws,
Returns reproaches, and cries up the caufe.
That year in which the city he did fway,
He left rebellion in a hopeful way.
Yet his ambition once was found fo bold,
To offer talents of extorted gold;
Could David's wants have fo been brib'd, to fhame
And fcandalize our peerage with his name!
For which, his dear fedition he'd forfwear,
And cv'a turn loyal to be made a peer!
Next him, let railing Rabfheka have place,
So full of zeal he has no need of grace;
A faint that can both flesh and spirit ufe,
Alike haunt conventicles and the stews :
Of whom the queftion difficult appears,
If moft i'th'preachers or the bawds arrears.
What caution could appear too much in hin
That keeps the treasure of Jerufalem !
Let David's brother but approach the town,
Double our guards, he cries, we are undone.
Protefting that he dares not fleep in's bed,
Left he should rife next morn without his head.
"Next thefe, a troop of bufy fpirits prefs,
Of little fortunes, and of confcience less;
With them the tribe, whofe luxury had drain'd
Their banks, in former fequeftrations gain'd;
Who rich and great by past rebellions grew,
And long to fish the troubled streams anew.
Some further hopes, fome prefent payment draws,
To fell their confcience and efpoufe the caufe.
Such ftipends thofe vile hirelings best befit,
Priefts without grace, and poets without wit.
Shall that falfe Hebronite efcape our curse,
Judas that keeps the rebels penfive purse;
Judas that pays the treafon-writer's fee,
Judas that well deferves his namefake's tree;
Who at Jerufalem's own gates erects
His college for a nursery of fects;
Young prophets with an early care fecures,
And with the dung of his own arts manures!
What have the men of Hebron here to do?
What part in Ifrael's promis'd land have you!
Here Phaleg the lay-Hebronite is come,
'Caufe like the reft he could not live at home;
Who from his own poffeffions could not drain
An omer ev'n of Hebronitish grain,
Here ftruts it like a patriot, and talks high
Of injur'd fubjects, alter'd property:
An emblem of that buzzing infect juft,
That mounts the wheel, and thinks the raifes
duft.
Can dry bones live? or fkeletons produce
The vital warmth of cuckoldizing juice?
Slim Phaleg could, and at the table fed,
Return'd the grateful product to the bed.
A waiting-man to trav'ling nobles chofe,
He his own laws would faucily impofe,
'Till baftinadoed back again he went,
To learn thofe manners he to teach was fent.
Chaftis'd he ought to have retreated home;
But he reads politics to Abfalom.
For never Hebronite, though kick'd and scorn'd,
To his own country willingly return'd.
-But, leaving famifh'd Phaleg to be fed,
And to talk treafon for his daily bread,
Let Hebron, nay, let hell produce a man
So made for mifchief as Ben-Jochanan;
A Jew of humble parentage was he,
By trade a Levite, though of low degree:
His pride no higher than the desk aspir'd;
But, for the drudgery of pricfts, was hir'd
To read and pray in linen ephod brave,
And pick up fingle fhckels from the grave.
Marry'd at laft, but finding charge come fafter,
He could not live by God, but chang'd his master:
Infpir'd
Infpir'd by want, was made a factious tool;
They got a villain, and we lost a fool.
Still violent, whatever cause he took,
But most against the party he forfook;
For renegadoes, who ne'er turn by halves,
Are bound in confcience to be double knaves.
So this profe-prophet took most monftrous pains
To let his mafters fee he earn'd his gains.
But, as the devil owes all his imps a fhame,
He chofe th'apoftate for his proper theme;
With little pains he made the picture true,
And from reflexion took the rogue he drew.
A wondrous work, to prove the Jewish nation
In ev'ry age a murin'ring generation;
To trace them from their infancy of finning,
And fhew them factious from their first beginning.
To prove they could rebel, and rail, and mock,
Much to the credit of the chosen flock;
A strong authority, which must convince,
That faints owe no allegiance to their prince.
As 'tis a leading card to make a whore,
To prove her mother had turn'd up before.
But, tell me, did the drunken patriarch bless
The fon that fhew'd his father's nakedness?
Such thanks the prefent church thy pen will give,
Which proves rebellion was fo primitive.
Muft ancient failings be examples made?
Then murtherers from Cain may learn their trade.
As thou the heathen and the faint haft drawn,
Methinks th'apoftate was the better man ;
And thy hot father, waving my refpect,
Not of a mother-church, but of a fect.
And fuch he needs must be of thy inditing,
This comes of drinking affes milk and writing.
If Balack should be call'd to leave his place,
As profit is the loudest call of grace,
His temple, difpoffefs'd of one, would be
Replenish'd with fev'n devils more by thee.
The words for friend and foe alike were made;
To fetter them in verfe is all his trade.
For almonds he'll cry whore to his own mother:
And call young Abfalom king David's brother.
Let him be gallows-free by my consent,
And nothing fuffer fince he nothing meant;
Hanging fuppofes human foul and reafon;
This animal's below committing treafon :
Shall he be hang'd who never could rebel?
That's a preferment for Achitophel.
The woman that committed buggery,
Was rightly fentenc'd by the law to die ;
But 'twas hard fate that to the gallows led
The dog that never heard the statute read.
Railing in other men may be a crime,
But ought to pafs for mere inftinct in him :
Inftinct he follows, and no farther knows;
For to write verfe with him is to transprose.
'Twere pity treafon at his door to lay,
Who makes heav'n's gate a lock to its own key:
Let him rail on, let his invective Mufe
Have four-and-twenty letters to abuse;
Which, if he jumbles to one line of fente,
Indict him of a capital offence.
In fire-works give him leave to vent his fpight, Thofe are the only ferpents he can write; The height of his ambition is, we know, But to be mafter of a puppet-show; On that one stage his works may yet appear: And a month's harvest keeps him all the year. Now ftop your nofes, readers, ali and foine, For here's a ton of midnight-work to come, Og from a treafon-tavern rowling home. Round as a globe, and liquor'd ev'ry chink, Goodly and great he fails behind his link; With all this bulk there's nothing loft in Og; For ev'ry inch that is not fool is rogue : A monftrous mafs of foul corrupted matter, As all the devils had fpew'd to make the batter. When wine has giv'n him courage to blafpheme, He curfes God, but God before curft him; And, if man could have reafon, none has more, That made his paunch fo rich, and him fo poor. With wealth he was not trufted, for Heav'n knew | What 'twas of old to pamper up a Jew; To what would he on quail and pheafant fwell, That ev'n on tripe and carrion could rebel? But tho' Heav'n made him poor, with rev'rence He never was a poet of God's making; [fpeaking, The midwife laid her hand on his thick fkull, With this prophetic bleffing-" Be thou dull; Drink, fwear, and roar, forbear no lewd delight Fit for thy bulk; do any thing but write: Thou art of lafting make, like thoughtless men, A ftrong nativity-but for the pen ! Eat opium, mingle arfenic in thy drink, Still thou mayft live, avoiding pen and ink : I fee, I fee, 'tis counfel given in vain, For treafon botcht in ryhme will be thy bane: Rhyme is the rock on which thou art to wreck, 'Tis fatal to thy fame and to thy neck : Why fhould thy metre good king David blast ? A pfalm of his will furely be thy laft. Dar'ft thou prefume in verfe to meet thy foes, Thou whom the penny pamphlet foil'd in profe ›
Levi, thou art a load, I'll lay thee down, And fhew rebellion bare, without a gown; Poor flaves in metre, dull and addle-pated, Who ryhme below ev'n David's pfalms tranflated. Some in my fpeedy pace I muft out-run, As lame Mephibofheth the wizard's fon : To make quick way, I'll leap o'er heavy blocks, Shun rotten Uzza as I would the pox; And haften Og and Doeg to rehearse, Two fools that crutch their feeble sense on verfe; Who by my Mufe to all fucceeding times, Shall live in fpight of their own doggrel rhymes. Docg, though without knowing how or why, Made ftill a blund'ring kind of melody; Spurr'd boldly on, and dash'd thro' thick and thin, Thro' fenfe and nonfenfe, never out nor in; Free from all meaning, whether good or bad, And in one word, heroically mad : He was too warm on picking-work to dwell, But fagotted his notions as they fell, And if they rhym'd and rattl'd, all was well; Spiteful he is not, though he wrote a fatyr, For ftill there goes fome thinking to ill-nature: He needs no more than birds and beafts to think; All his occafions are to eat and drink. If he call rogue and rafcal from a garret, He means you no more mischief than a parrot:
Doeg, whom God for mankind's mirth has made, |
O'ertops thy talent in thý very trade;
Doeg to thee, thy paintings are fo coarfe,
A poct is, tho' he's the poet's horfe.
A double noose thou on thy neck dost puli
For writing treafon, and for writing dull;
To die for faction is a common evil;
But to be hang'd for nonfenfe is the devil!
Hadft thou the glories of thy king expreft,
Thy praifes had been fatyr at the best;
But thou in clumfy verfe, unlickt, unpointed,
Haft fhamefully defy'd the Lord's anointed:
I will not rake the dunghill of thy crimes,
For who would read thy life that reads thy rhymes?
But of king David's foes be this the doom,
May all be like the young man Abfalom!
And for my foes, may this their bleffing be,
To talk like Doeg, and to write like thee !"
Achitophel each rank, degree, and age,
For various ends neglects not to engage;
The wife and rich for purfe and counfel brought,
The fools and beggars for their number fought:
Who yet not only on the town depends,
For ev'n in court the faction had its friends;
Thefe thought the places they poffeft too finall,
And in their hearts with'd court and king to fall:
Whofe names the Mufe difdaining, holds i'th'dark,
Thruft in the villain herd without a mark;
With parafites and libel-fpawning imps,
Intriguing fops, dull jefters, and worse pimps.
Difdain the rafcal rabble to pursue,
Their fet cabals are yet a viler crew;
See where involv’d in common smoke they fit;
Some for our mirth, fome for our fatyr fit:
Thefe gloomy, thoughtful, and on mifchief bent,
While thofe for mere good fellowship frequent
Th'appointed club, can let fedition pafs,
Senfe, nonfenfe, any thing t'eploy the glass;
And who believe in their dull honeft hearts,
The reft talk treafon but to fhew their parts;
Who ne'er had wit or will for mifchief yet,
'Bu pleas'd to be reputed of a fet.
But in the facred annals of our plot,
Induftrious Arod never be forgot:
The labours of this midnight-magiftrate
May vie with Corah's, to preserve the state.
In fearch of arms he fail'd not to lay hold
On war's moft pow'rful, dang'rous weapon, gold.
And laft, to take from Jebufites all odds,
Their altars pillag'd, ftole their very gods!
Oft would he cry, when treafure he furpriz'd,
'Tis Baalish gold in David's coin disguis'd:
Which to his houfe with richer relics came,
While lumber idols only fed the flame:
For our wife rabble ne'er took pains t'enquire
What 'twas he burnt, fo't inade a roufing fire.
With which our elder was enricht no more
Than falfe Gehazi with the Syrian's store;
So poor, that when our chufing-tribes were met,
Ev'n for his ftinking votes he ran in debt ;
For meat the wicked, and as authors think,
The faints he chous'd for his electing drink;
Thus ev'ry fhift and fubtle method paft,
And all to be no Zaken at the last.
Now, rais'd on Tyre's fad ruins, Pharaoh's pride
Soar'd high, his legions threat'ning far and wide;
As when a battering ftorm engender'd high,
By winds upheld, hangs hov'ring in the fky,
Is gaz'd upon by ev'ry trembling (wain;
This for his vineyard fears, and that his grain;
For blooming plants, and flow'rs new opening,
thefe,
For lambs ycan'd lately, and far-labouring bees:
To guard his ftock each to the gods does call,
Uncertain where the fire-charg'd clouds will fall:
Ev'n fo the doubtful nations watch his arms,
With terror each expecting his alarms.
Where, Judah, where was now the lion's roar?
Thou only couldft the captive lands restore :
But thou, with inbred broils and faction preft,
From Egypt need'ft a guardian with the reft.
Thy prince from fanhedrims no truft allow'd,
Too much the reprefenters of the crowd,
Who for their own defence give no supply,
But what the crown's prerogatives must buy:
As if their monarch's rights to violate
More needful were than to preferve the state !
From prefent dangers they divert their care,
And all their fears are of the royal heir;
Whom now the reigning malice of his foes,
Unjudg'd would fentence, and ere crown depofe,
Religion the pretence, but their decree
To bar his reign, whate'er his faith shall be !
By fanhedrims and clam'rous crowds thus preft,
What paffions rent the righteous David's breast!
Who knows not how t'oppofe or to comply,
Unjuft to grant, and dang'rous to deny!
How near in this dark juncture Ifrael's fate,
Whofe peace one fole expedient could create,
Which yet th'extremeft virtue did require,
Ev'n of that prince whose downfal they confpire!
His abfence David does with tears advise,
T'appeafe their rage. Undaunted he complies;
Thus he who prodigal of blood and ease,
A royal life expos'd to winds and feas,
At once contending with the waves and fire,
And heading danger in the wars of Tyre,
Inglorious now forfakes his native fand,
And, like an exile, quits the promis'd land!
Our monarch scarce from preffing tears refrains,
And painfully his royal ftate maintains;
Who now embracing on th'extremeft fhore,
Almoft revokes what he enjoin'd before :
Concludes at laft more truft to be allow'd
To ftorms and feas than to the raging crowd!
Forbear, rafh Mufe, the parting fcene to draw,
With filence charm'd as deep as theirs that faw!
Not only our attending nobles weep,
But hardy failors fwell with tears the deep!
The tide reftrain'd her courfe, and more amaz'd,
The twin-ftars on the royal brothers gaz'd::
While this fole fear-
Does trouble to our suffering hero bring,
Left next the pop'lar rage opprefs the king!
Thus parting, each for th'other's danger griev'd,
The fhore the king, and feas the prince receiv'd.
Go, injur'd hero, while propitious gales,
Soft as thy confort's breath, infpire thy fails;
Well may the truft her beauties on a flood,
Where thy triumphant fleets fo oft have rode !
Safe on thy breaft reclin'd her rett be deep,
Rock'd like a Nereid by the waves afleep;
While happiett dreams her fancy entertain,
And to Elyfian fields convert the main !
Go, injur'd hero, while the fhores of Tyre
At thy approach fo filent fhall admire,
Who on thy thunder ftill their thoughts employ,
And greet thy landing with a trembling joy.
On heroes thus the prophet's fate is thrown,
Admir'd by ev'ry nation but their own;
Yet while our factious Jews his worth deny,
Their aking confcience gives their tongue the lie.
Ev'n in the worst of men the noblet parts
Confefs him, and he triumphs in their hearts,
Whom to his king the beft refpects commend
Of fubject, foldier, kinfman, prince, and friend;
All facred names of molt divine efteem,
And to perfection all sustain'd by him;
Wife, just, and conftant, courtly without art,
Swift to difcern and to reward defert;
No hour of his in fruitlefs cafe deftroy'd,
But on the noblest fubjects ftill employ'd :.
Whofe fteady foul ne'er learn'd to feparate
Between his monarch's int'reft and the ftate;
But heaps thofe bleffings on the royal head,
Which he well knows must be on fubjects thed.
On what pretence could then the vulgar rage
Againft his worth and native rights engage?
Religious fears their argument are made,
Religious fears his facred rights invade!
Of future fuperftition they complain,
And Jebutitic worthip in his reign:
With fuch alarms his foes the crowd deceive;
With dangers fright which not themselves believe.
To fix a lawlefs prince on Judah's throne, First to invade our rights, and then his own : His dear-gain'd conquets cheaply to defpoil, And reap the harveft of his crimes and toil. We grant his wealth vaft as our ocean's fand, And curfe its fatal influence on our land, Which our brib'd Jews fo num'roully partake, That ev'n an hoft his penfioners would make; From thefe deceivers our divifions spring, Our weaknefs, and the growth of Egypt's king; Thefe with pretended friendship to the fate, Our crowd's fufpicion of their prince create; Both pleas'd and frighten'd with the fpecious cry, To guard their facred rights and property; To ruin, thus the chofen flock are fold, While wolves are ta'en for guardians of the fold; Seduc'd by thefe we groundlessly complain, And loath the manna of a gentle reign: Thus our forefathers crooked paths are trod; We truft our prince no more than they their God. But all in vain our reas'ning prophets preach, To thofe whom fad experience ne'er could teach, Who can commence new broils in bleeding fears, And freth remembrance of inteftine wars; When the fame houfhold mortal foes did yield, And brothers ftain'd with brothers blood the field; When fons curit fteel the fathers gore did ftain, And mothers mourn'd for fons by fathers flain! When thick as Egypt's locuits on the fand, Our tribes lay flaughter'd thro' the promis'd land, Whofe few furvivors with worfe fate remain, To drag the bondage of a tyrant's reign: Which fcene of woes, unknowing, we renew, And madly, ev'n thofe ills we fear, purfue; While Pharaoh laughs at our domestic broils, And fafely crowds his tents with nations fpoils. Yet our fierce fanhedrim in refilefs rage, Against our abfent hero fill engage, And chiefly urge, fuch did their phrenzy prove, The only fuit their prince forbids to move; Which till obtain'd they ceafe affairs of state, And real dangers wave for groundiefs hate. Long David's patience waits relief to bring, With all th'indulgence of a lawful king, Expecting ftill the troubled waves would ccafe; But found the raging billows ftill incrcafe. The crowd, whofe infolence forbearance fwells, While he forgives too far, almost rebels. At laft his deep refentments filence broke; Th'imperial palace fhook, while thus he fpoke: Then Juftice wake, and Rigour take her time, For lo! our mercy is become our crime. While halting Punishment her ftroke delays, Our fov'reign right, Heav'n's facred truft, decays! For whofe fupport ev'n fubjects intereft, calls, Woe to that kingdom where the monarch falls! That prince who yields the leaft of regal fway, So far his people's freedom does betray. Right lives by law, and law fubfifts by pow'r; Difarm the fhepherd, wolves the flock devour. Hard lot of empire o'er a ftubborn race, Which Heav'n itself in vain has try'd with grace! Whenwill our reafon's long-charm'd eyes ung'ole, And Ifrael judge between her friends and foes?
Since nothing can our facred rites remove, Whate'er the faith of the fucceffor prove : Our Jews their ark fhall undisturb'd retain, At least while their religion is their gain, Who know, by old experience, Baal's commands Not only claim'd their confcience but their lands; They grudge God's tythes, how therefore fhall An idol full poffeffion of the field? [they yield Grant fuch a prince enthron'd, we must confefs The people's fufferings than that monarch's lefs, Who muft to hard conditions ftill be bound, And for his quiet with the crowd compound; Or fhould his thoughts to tyranny incline, Where are the means to compafs the defign? Our crown's revenues are too short a store, And jealous fanhedrims would give no more. As vain our fears of Egypt's potent aid, Not fo has Pharaoh learn'd ambition's trade, Nor ever with fuch measures can comply, As fhock the common rules of policy; None dread like him the growth of Ifrael's king; And he alone fufficient aids can bring; Who knows that prince to Egypt can give law; That on our stubborn tribes his yoke could draw, At fuch profound expence he has not stood, Nor dy'd for this his hands fo deep in blood; [take, Would ne'er thro' wrong and right his progrefs Grudge his own reft, and keep the world awake,
When fhall we see expir'd deceivers sway,
And credit what our God and monarchs fay?
Diffembled patriots, brib'd with Egypt's gold,
Ev'n fanhedrims in blind obedience hold;
Those patriots falfhood in their actions fec,
And judge by the pernicious fruit the tree;
If aught for which fo loudly they declaim,
Religion, laws, and freedom, were their aim;
Our fenates in due methods they had led,
T'avoid thofe mifchiefs which they feem'd todread;
But firft ere yet they propt the finking state,
T'impeach and charge, as urg'd by private hate;
Proves that they ne'er believ'd the fears they preft,
But barbarously deftroy'd the nation's reft!
O! whither will ungovern'd fenates drive,
And to what bounds licentious votes arrive?
When their injuftice we are prefs'd to fhare,
The monarch urg'd t'exclude the lawful heir;
Are princes thus distinguish'd from the crow'd,
And this the privilege of royal blood?
But grant we thould confirm the wrongs they prefs,
His fufferings vet were than the people's lets;
Condemn'd for life the murdering fword to wield,
And on their heirs entail a bloody field:
Thus madly their own freedom they betray,
And for th'oppreffion which they fear make way;
Succeffion fix'd by Heav'n, the kingdom's bar,
Which once diffolv'd, admits the flood of war,
Wafte, rapine, fpoil, without, th'affault begin;
And our mad tribes fupplant the fence within.
Since then their good they will not understand,
'Tis time to take the monarch's power in hand;
Authority and force to join with skill,
And fave the lunatics against their will. [peafe
The fame rough means that fwage the crowd, ap-
Our fenate's raging with the crowd's difeafe.
Henceforth unbiais'd measures let them draw
From no falfe glofs, but genuine text of law;
Nor urge thofe crimes upon religion's score,
Themfelves fo much in Jebufites abhor.
Whom laws convict, and only they, shall bleed,
Nor Pharifees by Pharifces be freed.
Impartial juftice from our throne shall show'r;
All thall have right, and we our fov'reign pow'r.
He faid; th'attendants heard with awful joy,
And glad prefages their fix'd thoughts employ;
From Hebron now the fuffering heir return'd,
A realm that long with civil difcord mourn'd;
Till his approach, like fome arriving god,
Compos'd and heal'd the place of his abode;
The deluge check'd that to Judea spread,
And flopp'd fedition at the fountain's head.
Thus in forgiving David's paths he drives,
And, chacid from Ifrael, Ifrael's peace contrives,
The field confefs'd his power in arms before,
And feas proclaim'd his triumphs to the fhore;
As nobly has his fway in Hebron fhown,
How fit t'inherit godlike David's throne.
Thro' Sion's ftrcets his glad arrival's fpread,
And confcious faction fhrinks her fnaky head;
His train their fufferings think o'erpaid, to fee
The crowd's applaufe with virtue once agree.
Succefs charms all, but zeal for worth distrest
A virtue proper to the brave and beft;
'Mongft whom was Jothran, Jothran always bent
To ferve the crown, and loyal by defcent;
Whofe conftancy fo firm, and conduct just,
Deferv'd at once two royal mafters trust;
Who Tyre's proud arms had manfully withstood
On feas, and gather'd laurels from the flood;
Of learning yet, no portion was deny'd;
Friend to the Mufes, and the Mufes pride.
Nor can Benaiah's worth forgotten lie,
Of steady foul when public ftorms were high;
Whofe conduct, while the Moor fierce onfets made,
Secur'd at once our honour and our trade.
Such were the chiefs who most his fufferings
mourn'd,
And view'd with filent joy the prince return'd;
While those that fought his abfence to betray,
Prefs firft their naufeous falfe refpects to pay;
Him ftill th'officious hypocrites moleft,
And with malicious duty break his rest.
While real tranfports thus his friends employ,
And foes are loud in their diffembled joy,
His triumphs fo refounded far and near,
Mifs'd not his young ambitious rival's ear;
And as when joyful hunters clamorous train
Some flumbering lion wakes in Moab's plain,
Who oft had forc'd the bold affailants yield,
And fcatter'd his purfuers thro' the field,
Difdaining, furls his mane and tears the ground,
His eyes enflaming all the defart round,
With roar of feas directs his chacers way,
Provokes from far, and dares them to the fray;
Such rage ftorm'd now in Absalom's fierce breaft,
Such indignation his fir'd eyes confest;
Where now was the inftructor of his pride?
Slept the old pilot in so rough a tide ?
Whofe wiles had from the happy fhore betray'd,
And thus on fhelves the credulous youth con-
In deep revolving thoughts he weighs his ftate, Secure of craft, nor doubts to baffle fate; | At least, if his storm'd bark must go adrift, To baulk his charge, and for himself to shift, In which his dext'rous wit had oft been shown, And in the wreck of kingdoms fav'd his own; But now with more than common danger preft, Of various refolutions ftands poffeft, Perceives the crowd's unftable zeal decay, Left their recanting chief the caufe betray; Who on a father's grace his hopes may ground, And for his pardon with their heads compound, Him therefore, ere his fortune flip her time, The ftatefman plots t'engage in fome bold crime Paft pardon, whether to attempt his bed, Or treat with open arms the royal head, Or other daring method, and unjust, That may confirm him in the people's truft; But failing thus t'enfnare him, nor secure How long his foil'd ambition may endure, Plots next to lay him by as paft his date, And try fome new pretender's luckier fate; Whofe hopes with equal toil he would pursue, Nor cares what claimer's crown'd, except the true, Wake, Abfalom, approaching ruin shun, And fee, O fee, for whom thou art undone ! How
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