By their own arts, 'tis righteously decreed,
Those dire artificers of death shall bleed.
Against themselves their witnesses will swear,
Till, viper-like, their mother-plot they tear,
And suck for nutriment that bloody gore,
Which was their principle of life before:
Their Belial with their Beelzebub will fight;
foes foes shall do me right.
Nor doubt the' event; for factious crowds engage,
In their first onset, all their brutal rage.
Then let them take an unresisted course:
Retire, and traverse, and delude their force:
But when they stand all breathless, urge the fight,
And rise upon them with redoubled might:
For lawful power is still superior found;
When long driven back, at length it stands the ground.'
He said: the' Almighty nodding gave consent, And peals of thunder shook the firmament. Henceforth a series of new time began, The mighty years in long procession ran; Once more the godlike David was restored, And willing nations knew their lawful lord.
-Si quis tamen hæc quoque, si quis
Captus amore leget.
SINCE men like beasts each other's prey were made,
Since trade began, and priesthood grew a trade;
Since realms were form'd, none sure so curst as those
That madly their own happiness oppose;
There Heaven itself, and godlike kings, in vain
Shower down the manna of a gentle reign,
While pamper'd crowds to mad sedition run,
And monarchs by indulgence are undone :
Thus David's clemency was fatal grown,
While wealthy Faction awed the wanting throne.
For now their sovereign's orders to contemn
Was held the charter of Jerusalem;
His rights to' invade, his tributes to refuse,
A privilege peculiar to the Jews;
In the year 1680, Mr. Dryden undertook the Poem of Absalom and Achitophel, upon the desire of King Charles II. The performance was applauded by every one; and several persons pressing him to write a second Part, he, upon declining it himself, spoke to Mr. Tate to write one, and gave him his advice in the direction of it; and that part, beginning
[Next these a troop of busy spirits press,'
To talk like Doeg, and to write like thee.'] containing near two hundred verses, were entirely Mr. Dryden's composition, besides some touches in other places. The preceding lines, upwards of three hundred in number, were written by Mr. Tate. The Poem is here printed entire : and Dryden's portion of it is enclosed in brackets.
As if from heavenly call this licence fell,
And Jacob's seed were chosen to rebel!
Achitophel with triumph sees his crimes
Thus suited to the madness of the times;
And Absalom, to make his hopes succeed,
Of flattering charms no longer stands in need;
While fond of change, though ne'er so dearly
bought,
Our tribes outstrip the youth's ambitious thought;
His swiftest hopes with swifter homage meet,
And crowd their servile necks beneath his feet.
Thus to his aid, while pressing tides repair,
He mounts and spreads his streamers in the air.
The charms of empire might his youth mislead,
But what can our besotted Israel plead?
Sway'd by a monarch whose serene command
Seems half the blessing of our Promised Land;
Whose only grievance is excess of ease,
Freedom our pain, and plenty our disease!
Yet as all folly would lay claim to sense,
And wickedness ne'er wanted a pretence,
With arguments they'd make their treason good,
And righteous David's self with slander's load:
That arts of foreign sway he did affect,
And guilty Jebusites from law protect,
Whose very chiefs, convict, were never freed,
Nay we have seen their sacrificers bleed!
Accusers' infamy is urged in vain,
While in the bounds of sense they did contain,
But soon they launch'd into the' unfathom'd tide,
And in the depths they knew, disdain'd to ride:
For probable discoveries to dispense
Was thought below a pension'd evidence;
Mere truth was dull, nor suited with the port
Of pamper'd Corah when advanced to court.
No less than wonders now they will impose,
And projects void of grace or sense disclose.
Such was the change on pious Michal brought,
Michal, that ne'er was cruel e'en in thought,
The best of queens, and most obedient wife,
Impeach'd of cursed designs on David's life!
His life, the theme of her eternal
prayer,
Tis scarce so much his guardian angel's care!
Not summer morns such mildness can disclose,
The Hermon lily, nor the Sharon rose.
Neglecting each vain pomp of majesty,
Transported Michal feeds her thoughts on high;
She lives with angels, and, as angels do,
Quits Heaven sometimes to bless the world below;
Where, cherish'd by her bounty's plenteous spring,
Reviving widows smile, and orphans sing.
Oh! when rebellious Israel's crimes at height,
Are threaten'd with her Lord's approaching fate,
The pieties of Michal then remain
In Heaven's remembrance, and prolong his reign.
Less desolation did the pest pursue,
That from Dan's limits to Beersheba slew;
Less fatal the repeated wars of Tyre,
And less Jerusalem's avenging fire:
With gentler terror these our state o'erran,
Than since our Evidencing days began!
On every cheek a pale confusion sat,
Continued fear beyond the worst of fate!
Trust was no more; art, science, useless made;
All occupations lost, but Corah's trade.
Meanwhile a guard on modest Corah wait,.
If not for safety, needful yet for state.
Well might he deem each peer and prince his slave, And lord it o'er the tribes which he could save: E'en vice in him was virtue-what sad fate, But for his honesty, had seized our state! And with what tyranny had we been cursed, Had Corah never proved a villain first! To' have told his knowledge of the' intrigue in gross Had been, alas! to our deponent's loss: The travell'd Levite had the experience got To husband well, and make the best of 's plot; And therefore, like an evidence of skill, With wise reserves secured his pension still; Nor quite of future power himself bereft, But limbos large for unbelievers left. And now his writ such reverence had got, "Twas worse than plotting to suspect his plot. Some were so well convinced, they made no doubt Themselves to help the founder'd swearers out; Some had their sense imposed on by their fear, But more for interest's sake believe and swear: E'en to that height with some the frenzy grew They raged to find their danger not prove true. Yet than all these a viler crew remain, Who with Achitophel the cry maintain; Not urged by fear, nor through misguided sense; Blind zeal and starving need had some pretence; But for the good old cause, that did excite The original rebels' wiles, revenge and spite. These raise the plot, to have the scandal thrown Upon the bright successor of the crown, Whose virtue with such wrongs they had pursued, As seem'd all hope of pardon to exclude. Thus, while on private ends their zeal is built, The cheated crowd applaud and share their guilt.
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