By fanhedrims and clamarous crowds thus preft,
What paffions rent the righteous David's breast!
Who knows not how t' oppofe or to comply,
Unjust to grant and dangerous 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 whofe downfal they confpire!
His abfence David does with tears advise
T'appease 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 fearce from preffing tears refrains,
And painfully his royal ftate maintains,
Who now embracing on th' extremeft fhore
Almost 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 scene to draw,
With filence charm'd as deep as their's that faw.
Not only our attending nobles weep,
But hardy failors fwell with tears the deep!
The tide reftrain'd her course, and more amaz'd,
The twin-stars on the royal brothers gaz'd :
While this fole fear-
Does trouble to our fuffering hero bring,
Left next the popular rage opprefs the king!
Thus parting, each for th' others 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, infire thy fails;
Well may fhe truft her beauties on a flood,
Where thy triumphant fleets fo oft have rode!
Safe on thy breast reclin'd her reft be deep,
Rock'd like a Nereid by the waves afleep;
While happiest 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 every 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 nobleft parts
Confefs him, and he triumphs in their hearts,
Whom to his king the best refpects commend
Of fubject, foldier, kiniman, prince, and friend;
All facred names of moft divine esteem,
And to perfection all fuftain'd by him,
Wife, juft, and conftant, courtly without art,
Swift to difcern and to reward defert;
No hour of his in fruitlefs eafe destroy'd,
But on the nobleft fubjects ftill employ'd:
Whofe fteady foul ne'er learnt to feparate
Between his monarch's intereft and the state,
But heaps thofe bleffings on the royal head,
Which he well knows must be on subjects shed.
On what pretence could then the vulgar rage Against his worth and native rights engage?
Religious fears their argument are made,
Religious fears his facred rights invade
Of future fuperftition they complain,
And Jebufitic worship in his reign:
With fuch alarms his foes the crowd deceive,
With dangers fright which not themselves believe
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 Baai's commands
Not only claim'd their confcience but their lands
They grudge God's titles, how therefore fhall the
An idol full poffeffion of the field?
[yiel
Grant fuch a prince enthron'd, we must confefs
The people's fufferings than that monarch's lefs,
Who muff to hard conditions ftill be bound,
And for his quiet with the crowd compound;
Or should his thoughts to tyranny incline,
Where are the means to compaís 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,
Net fo has Pharaoh learnt 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;
Would ne'er through wrong and right his progre
take,
Grudge his own reft, and keep the world awake
To fix a lawless prince on Judah's throne,
First to invade our rights, and then his own;
His dear-gain'd conquefts cheaply to defpoil,
And reap the harvest 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 numerously partake,
That ev'n an hoft his penfioners would make;
From these deceivers our divifions spring,
Our weakness, and the growth of Egypt's king;
Thefe with pretended friendship to the state,
Our crowd's fufpicion of their prince create,
Both pleas'd and frighten'd with the fpecious cr
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 these we groundlessly complain,
And loath the manna of a gentle reign:
Thus our forefathers crooked paths are trod,
We trust our prince no more than they their Go
But all in vain our reafoning prophets preach,
To those whom fad experience ne'er could teach
Who can commence new broils in bleeding fcars
And fresh remembrance of inteftine wars;
When the fame houshould mortal foes did yield,
And brothers ftain'd with brothers blood the fiel
When fons curft fteel the fathers gore did ftam,
And mothers mourn'd for fons by fathers flain!
When thick as Egypt's locufts on the fand, [lan
Our tribes lay flaughter'd through the promis
Whofe few furvivors with worfe fate remain,
To drag the bondage of a tyrant's reign:
Which scene of woes, unknowing, we renew,
And madly, ev'n thofe ills we fear, pursue;
While Pharaoh laughs at our domeftic broils,
And fafely crowds his tents with nations spoils.
Yet our fierce fanhedrim in reflefs rage,
Against our abfent hero ftill engage,
And chiefly urge, fuch did their frenzy prove,
The only fuit their prince forbids to move,
Which till obtain'd they ceafe affairs of state,
And real dangers wave for groundless hate.
Long David's patience waits relief to bring,
Wah all th' indulgence of a lawful king,
Expecting till the troubled waves would ceafe,
But found the raging billows ftill increase.
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 spoke,
Then Juftice wake, and Rigor take her time,
For lo our mercy is become our crime.
While halting Punishment her ftroke delays,
Our fovereign right, heaven'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 power;
Larm the fhepherd, wolves the flock devour.
Hard lot of empire o'er a ftubborn race,
Which heaven itfelf in vain has try'd with grace!
When will our reafon's long-charm'd eyes unclofe,
And Ifrael judge between her friends and foes?
When fhall we fee expir'd deceivers fway,
And credit what our God and monarchs fay?
Dembled patriots, brib'd with Egypt's gold,
Ev'n fanhedrims in blind obedience hoid;
T.. fe patriots falhood in their actions fee,
And judge by the pernicious fruit the tree;
aught for which fo loudly they declaim,
Religion, laws, and freedom, were their aim;
Our fenates in due methods they had led, [dread;
T'avoid thofe mifchiefs which they leem'd to
But first ere yet they propt the finking ftate,
Timpeach 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 rest !
0! whither will ungovern'd fenates drive,
And to what bounds licentious votes arrive?
When their injustice we are prefs'd to fhare,
The monarch urg'd t'exclude the lawful heir;
Are princes thus diftinguish'd from the crowd,
And this the privilege of royal blood?
Ett grant we should confirm the wrongs they prefs,
His tafferings yet were than the people's lefs;
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 heaven, the kingdom's bar,
Which once diffolv'd, admits the flood of war;
Waste, rapine, spoil, without, th' assault 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.
The fame rough means that fwage the crowd, ap,
peafe
Our fenates raging with the crowd's disease.
Henceforth unbiafs'd measures let them draw
From no falfe glofs, but genuine text of law;
Nor urge thofe crimes upon religion's fcore,
Themfelves fo much in Jebufites abhor.
Whom laws convict, and only they, fhall bleed,
Nor pharifees by pharifces be freed.
Impartial juftice from our throne shall shower,
All fhall have right, and we our fovereign power.
He said, 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, chas'd from Ifrael, Ifrael's peace contrives.
The field confefs'd his power in arms before,
And feas proclaim'd his triumphs to the shore;
As nobly has his fway in Hebron shown,
How fit t' inherit godlike David's throne.
Through Sion's ftreets his glad arrival's spread,
And confcious faction fhrinks her snaky 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 diftreft,
A virtue proper to the brave and beft;
'Mongst whom was Jothran, Jothran always bent
To ferve the crown, and loyal by descent,
Whofe conftancy fo firm, and conduct juft,
Deferv'd at once two royal mafters truit;
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 Mofes 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 hor our and our trade.
Such were the chiefs who moft his fufferings mourn'd,
And view'd with filent joy the prince return'd;
While thofe that fought his abfence to betray,
Prefs first their naufeous falfe refpects to pay;
Him ftill th' officious hypocrites moleft,
And with malicious duty break his reft.
While real transports thus his friends employ,
And foes are loud in their diffembled joy,
His triumhps fo refounded far and near,
Mifs'd not his young ambitious rival's ear;
And as when joyful hunters clamourous train
Some flumbering lion wakes in Moab's plain,
Who oft had forc'd the bold affailants yield,
And scatter'd his purfuers through the field,
Difdaining, furls his mane and tears the ground,
His eyes inflaming all the defert round,
With roar of feas directs his chafers way,
Provokes from far, and dares them to the fray;
Such rage ftorm'd now in Abfalom's fierce breaft,
Such indignation his fir'd eyes confest;
Where now was the instructer of his pride?
Slept the old pilot in fo rough a tide?
Whofe wiles had from the happy fhore betray'd,
And thus on fhelves the credulous youth convey'd;
In deep revolving thoughts he weighs his flate,
Secure of craft, nor doubts to baffle fate,
At least, if his ftorm'd bark must go adrift,
To baulk his charge, and for himself to fhift,
In which his dextrous wit had oft been fhewn,
And in the wreck of kingdoms fav'd his own;
But now with more than common danger preft,
Of various refolution ftands poffeft,
Perceives the crowd's unffable zeal decay,
Left their recanting chief the cause 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 threat with open arms the royal head,
Or other daring method, and un just,
That may confirm him in the people's truft.
But failing thus t' enfnare him, nor fecure
How long his foil'd ambition may endure,
Plots next to lay him by as past 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 are thy honours and thy fame betray'd,
The property of defperate villains made?
Loft power and confcious fear their crimes create,
And guilt in them was little lefs than fate;
But why should'ft thou, from every grievance free,
Forfake thy vineyards for their stormy fea?
For thee did Canaan's milk and honey flow,
Love dress'd thy bowers, and laurels fought thy
brow,
Preferment, wealth, and power, thy vassals were,
And of a monarch all things but the care.
Oh fhould our crimes again that curie draw down,
And rebel-arms once more attempt the crown,
Sure ruin waits unhappy Abfalom,
Alike by conqueft or defeat undone;
Who could relentlefs fee fuch youth and charms,
Expire with wretched fate in impious arms?
A prince fo form'd with earth's and heaven's ap-
plaufe,
To triumph o'er crown'd heads in David's caufe:
Or grant him victor, ftill his hopes must fail,
Who conquering would not for himself prevail;
The faction whom he trufts for future sway,
Him and the public would alike betray;
Amongst themfelves divide the captive ftate,
And found their hydra-empire in his fate!
'Thus having beat the clouds with painful flight,
The pity'd youth, with fcepters in his fight,
So have their cruel politics decreed,
Muft, by that crew that made him guilty, bleed!
For could their pride brook any prince's fway,
Whom but mild David would they chufe t' obey
Who once at fuch a gen le reign repine,
The fall of monarchy itfelf defign;
From hate to that their reformations fpring,
And David not their grievance, but the king.
Seiz'd now with panic fear the faction lies,
Left this clear truth strike Abfalom's charm
Left he perceive, from long enchantment free,
What all befide the flatter'd youth muft fee.
But whate'er doubts his troubled bofom swell,
Fair carriage ftill became Achitophel.
Who now an envious feftival inftals,
And to furvey their flrength the faction calls,
Which fraud, religious worship too must gild;
But oh how weakly does fedition build?
For lo the royal mandate issues forth,
Dafhing at once their treafon, zeal, and mirth!
So have I feen difaftrous chance invade,
Where careful emmets had their forage laid,
Whether fierce Vulcan's rage the furzy plain
Had feiz'd, engender'd by fome carelefs fwain;
Or fwelling Neptune lawless inroads made,
And to their cell of ftore his flood convey'd;
The commonwealth broke up, distracted go,
And in wild hafte their loaded mates o'erthrow
Ev'n fo our scatter'd guests confus'dly meet,
With boil'd, bak'd, roast, all juftling in the stree
Dejecting all, and ruefully diímay'd,
For fheke! without treat or treafon paid,
Sedition's dark eclipfe now fainter fhews,
More bright each hour the royal planet grows,
Of force the clouds of envy to difperfe,
In kind conjunction of affifting flars.
Here, labouring Mufe, thofe glorious chiefs rela
That turn'd the doubtful fcale of David's fate;
The rest of that illuftrious band rehearse,
Immortaliz'd in laurel'd Asaph's verfe:
Hard task! yet will not I thy flight recal,
View heaven, and then enjoy thy glorious fall.
First write Bezaliel, whofe illustrious name Foreftalls our praife, and gives his poet fame. The Kenites rocky province his command, A barren limb of fertile Canaan's land; Which for its generous natives yet could be Held worthy fuch a prefident as he! Bezaliel with each grace and virtue fraught, Serene his looks; ferene his life and thought; On whom fo largely nature heap'd her ftore, There fearce remain'd for arts to give him more To aid the crown and state his greatest zeal, His fecond care that fervice to conceal; Of dues obfervant, firm to every truft, And to the needy always more than just. Who truth from fpecious falfhood can divide, Has all the gownfmens kill without their pride Thus crown'd with worth from heights of hon
Sees all his glories copy'd in his fon,
Whofe forward fame fhould every Mufe engag Whofe youth boafts fkill deny'd to others' age. Men, manners, language, books of nobleft kind Already are the conquest of his mind.
Whofe loyalty before its date was prime;
Nor waited the dull courfe of rolling time:
The moniter faction early he difmay'd,
And David's caufe long fince confefs'd his aid.
Brave Abdael o'er the prophet's fchool was
plac'd;
Abdael with all his father's virtue grac'd;
A hero, who, while stars look'd wondering down,
Without one Hebrew's blood reftor'd the crown.
That praise was his; what therefore did remain
For following chiefs, but boldly to maintain
That crown reftar'd; and in this rank of fame,
Brave Abdael with the first a place must claim.
Proceed, illuftrious, happy chief' proceed,
Ferefeize the garlands for thy brow decreed,
While th' infpir'd tribe attend with noblest strain
To regifter the glories thou shalt gain:
For fure the dew fhall Gilboah's hills forfake,
And Jordan mix his stream with Sodom's lake ;
Or feas retir'd their fecret ftores difclofe,
And to the fun their scaly brood expose,
Or fwell'd above the clifts their billows raise,
Before the Mules leave their patron's praife.
Eliab our next labour does invite,
And hard the task to do Eliab right:
Long with the royal wanderer he rov'd,
And firm in all the turns of fortune prov'd!
Such ancient service and defert fo large,
Well cla.m'd the royal houfhold for his charge.
His age with only one mild heiress bleft,
In all the bloom of fmiling nature dreft,
And bleft again to fee his flower ally'd [bride!
To David's ftock, and made young Othniel's
The bright reftorer of his father's youth,
Devoted to a fon's and subject's truth:
Relolv'd to bear that prize of duty home,
So bravely fought, while fought by Abfalom.
Ah prince! th' illuftrious planet of thy birth,
And thy more powerful virtue guard thy worth;
That no Achitophel thy ruin boast;
Ifrael too much in one fuch wreck has loft.
Ev'n envy must cenfent to Helon's worth,
Whole foul, though Egypt glories in his birth,
Could for our captive-ark its zeal retain,
And Pharaoh's altars in their pomp difdain:
To flight his gods was finall; with nobler pride,
He all th' allurements of his court defy'd.
Whom profit nor example could betray,
But Ifrael's friend, and true to David's fway.
What acts of favour in his province fall,
On merit he confers, and freely all.
Our lift of nobles next let Amri grace,
Whfe merits claim'd the Abethdin's high place;
Who with a loyalty that did excel,
Brought all th' endowments of Achitophel.
Sincere was Amri, and not only knew,
But Ifrael's fanctions into practice drew;
Our laws. that did a boundless ocean fecm,
Were coafted all, and fathom'd all by him.
No rabbin fpeaks like him their mystic sense,
So juft, and with fuch charms of eloquence;
To whom the double bleffing does belong,
With Moles' infpiration, Aaron's tongue.
Then Sheva none more loyal zeal have shown,
Wakeful as Judah's lign for the crown,
Who for that caufe ftill combats in his age,
For which his youth with danger did engage.
In vain our factious priefts the cant revive;
In vain feditious fcribes with libel strive
T'enflame the crowd; while he with watchful eye
Obferves, and fhoots their treafons as they fly:
Their weekly frauds his keen replies detect;
He undeceives more fast than they infect.
So Mofes, when the peft on legions proy'd,
Advanc'd his fignal, and the plague was stay'd.
Once more, my fainting Muse, thy pinions try,
And ftrength's exhausted store let love fupply.
What tribute, Asaph, shall we render thee?
We'll crown thee with a wreath from thy own
tree!
Thy laurel grove no envy's flash can blaft;
The fong of Afaph fhall for ever last.
With wonder late pofterity fhall dwell
On Abfalom and falfe Achitophel :
Thy ftrains fhall be our flumbring prophets dream,
And when our Sion virgins fing their theme;
Our jubilees fhall with thy verfe he grac'd,
The fong of Afaph shall for ever last.
How fierce his fatyr loof'd; restrain'd, how
How tender of th' offending young man's fame!
How well his worth, and brave adventures ftil'd;
Juft to his virtues, to his error mild.
No page of thine, that fears the strictest view,
But teems with just reproof, or praise as due ;
Not Eden could a fairer profpect yield,
All paradife without one barren field:
Whofe wit the cenfure of his foes has paft,
The fong of Afaph fhall for ever last.
Still Hebron's honour'd happy foil retains
Our royal hero's beauteous dear remains;
Who now fails off with winds nor wishes flack,
To bring his sufferings' bright companion back,
But ere fuch transport can our fense employ,
A bitter grief muft poifon half our joy;
Nor can our coafts reftor'd those bleffings fee
Without a bribe to envious definy!
Curs'd Sodom's doom for ever fix the tide
Where by inglorious chance the valiant dy'd!
Give not infulting Afkalon to know,
Nor let Gath's daughters triumph in our woe!
No failor with the news fwell Egypt's pride,
By what inglorious fate our valiant dy'd!
Weep, Arhon! Jordan, wecp thy fountains dry,
While Sion's rock diffolves for a fupply.
Calm were the elements, night's filence deep, The waves scarce murmuring, and the winds afleep; Yet fate for ruin takes fo ftill an hour, And treacherous fands the princely bark devour; Then death unworthy feiz'd a generous race, To virtue's fcandal, and the stars difgrace! Oh! had th' indulgent powers vouchfal'd to yield, Inftead of faithlefs fhelves, a lifted field: A lifted field of Heaven's and David's foes, Fierce as the troops that did his youth oppofe, Each life had on his flaughter'd heap retir'd, Not tamely, and unconquering thus expir'd: But deftiny is now their only foe, And dying ev'n o'er that they triumph too ; With loud laft breaths their master's fcape applaud
Of whom kind force could searce the fates defraud;
Who for fuch followers loft, O matchless mind!
At his own fafety now almoft repin'd!-
Say, royal Sir, by all your fame in arms.
Your praife in peace, and by Urania's charms;
If all your sufferings past so nearly preft,
Or piere'd with half fo painful grief your breaft?
Thus fome diviner Mufe her hero forms,
Not smooth'd with foft delights, but tost in storms.
Nor ftretch'd on roles in the myrtle grove,
Nor crowns his days with mirth, his nights with
love,
But far remov'd in thundering camps is found,
His flumbers fhort, his bed the herblefs ground:
In tasks of danger always feen the first,
Feeds from the hedge, and flakes with ice his thirft.
Long muft his patience ftrive with fortune's rage,
Aud long oppofing gods themselves engage,
Muft fee his country flame, his friends destroy'd,
Before the promis'd empire be enjoy'd:
Such toil of fate muft build a man of fame,
And fuch, to Ifrael's crown, the god-like David
What fudden beams dispel the clouds so fast,
Whofe drenching rains laid all our vineyards wafte!
The spring so far behind her course delay'd,
On th' inftant is in all her bloom array'd;
The winds breathe low, the elements ferene;
Yet mark what motion in the waves is feen!
Thronging and bufy as Hyblæan fwarms,
Or ftraggled foldiers fummon'd to their arms.
See where the princely bark in loosest pride,
With all her guardian fleet, adorns the tide!
High on her deck the royal lovers ftand,
Our crimes to pardon ere they touch'd our land
Welcome to Ifrael and to David's breast!
Here all your toils, here all your fufferings reft,
This year did Ziloah rule Jerufalem,
And boldly all fedition's Syrtes ftem,
Howe'er incumber'd with a viler pair,
Than Ziph or Shimel to affift the chair;
Yet Ziloah's loyal labours fo prevail'd
That faction at the next election fail'd,
When ev'n the common cry did juftice found,
Ard merit by the multitude was crown'd:
With David then was Ifrael's peace reflor'd,
Crowds mourn'd their error, and obey'd thei
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