Which our brib'd Jews so num'rously partake,
That e'en an host his pensioners would make;
From these deceivers our divisions spring,
Our weakness, and the growth of Egypt's king:
These, with pretended friendship to the state,
Our crowds' suspicion of their prince create;
Both pleas'd and frighten'd with the specious
To guard their sacred rights and property; [cry,
To ruin thus the chosen flock are sold,
While wolves are ta'en for guardians of the
fold;

Seduc'd by these, we groundlessly complain,
And loathe the manna of a gentle reign:

Thus our forefathers' crooked paths are trod;
We trust our prince no more than they their
God.

But all in vain our reas'ning prophets preach To those who sad experience ne'er could teach; [scars, Who can commence new.broils in bleeding And fresh remembrance of intestine wars; When the same household mortal foes did yield, [field; And brothers stain'd with brothers' blood the When sons' curst steel the fathers' gore did stain,

And mothers mourn'd for sons by fathers slain!
When thick as Egypt's locusts on the sand,
Our tribes lay slaughter'd through the promis'd
land,

Whose few survivors with worse fate remain,
To drag the bondage of a tyrant's reign:
Which scene of woes, unknowing, we renew,
And madly, e'en those ills we fear, pursue;
While Pharaoh laughs at our domestic broils,
And safely crowds his tents with nations' spoils.
Yet our fierce sanhedrim in restless rage
Against our absent hero still engage;
And chiefly urge, such did their phrenzy prove,
The only suit their prince forbids to move;
Which, till obtain'd, they cease affairs of state,
And real dangers wave for groundless hate.
Long David's patience waits relief to bring,
With all th' indulgence of a lawful king,
Expecting till the troubled waves would cease,
But found the raging billows still increase.
The crowd, whose insolence forbearance swells,
While he forgives too far, almost rebels.
At last his deep resentment silence broke,
Th' imperial palace shook while thus he spoke:
Then Justice wake, and Rigor take her time,
For, lo! our mercy is become our crime.
While halting Punishment her stroke delays,
Our sov'reign right, heaven's sacred trust,
decays!

For whose support e'en subjects' interest calls,
Woe to that kingdom where the monarch falls!
That prince who yields the least of regal sway,
So far his people's freedom does betray.
Right lives by law, and law subsists by pow'r;
Disarm the shepherd, wolves the flock devour.
Hard lot of empire o'er a stubborn race,
Which Heav'n itself in vain has tried with
grace!

When will our reason's long-charm'd eyes unclose,

And Israel judge between her friends and foes?
When shall we see expir'd deceivers' sway,
And credit what our God and monarchs say?
Dissembled patriots, brib'd with Fgypt's gold,
E'en sanhedrims in blind obedience hold;
Those patriots falsehood in their actions see,
And judge by the pernicious fruit the tree;
If aught for which so loudly they declaim,
Religion, laws, and freedom, were their aim;
Our senates in due methods they had led,
"avoid those mischiefs which they seem'd to
dread:

But first, ere yet they propp'd the sinking state,
T'impeach and charge, as urg'd by private hate;
Proves that they ne'er believ'd the fears they
press'd,

But barb'rously destroy'd the nation's rest!
O! whither will ungovern'd senates drive,
And to what bounds licentious votes arrive?
When their injustice we are press'd to share;
The monarch urg'd t' exclude the lawful heir;
Are princes thus distinguish'd from the crowd,
And this the privilege of royal blood?
But grant we should confirm the wrongs they
press,

His sufferings yet were than the people's less; Condemn'd for life the murdering sword to wield,

And on their heirs entail a bloody field:
Thus madly their own freedom they betray,
And for the oppression which they fear make

way;

Succession fix'd by Heav'n, the kingdom's bar,
Which once dissolv'd admits the flood of war:
Waste, rapine, spoil, without, th' assault begin;
And our mad tribes supplant the fence within.
Since then their good they will not understand,
'Tis time to take the monarch's pow'r in hand;
Authority and force to join with skill,
And save the lunatics against their will.
The same rough means that 'suage the crowd,
appease

Our senates raging with the crowd's disease.

Henceforth unbiass'd measures let them draw
From no false gloss, but genuine text of law;
Nor urge those crimes upon religion's score,
Themselves so much in Jebusites abnor.
Whom laws convict, and only they, shall bleed;
Nor Pharisees by Pharisees be freed.
Impartial justice from our throne shall show'r;
All shall have right, and we our sov'reign
pow'r.

He said: th' attendants heard with awful joy,
And glad presages their fix'd thoughts employ;
From Hebron now the suffering heir return'd,
A realm that long with civil discord mourn'd,
Till his approach, like some arriving God,
Compos'd and heal'd the place of his abode;
The deluge check'd that to Judea spread,
And stopp'd sedition at the fountain's head.
Thus in forgiving David's paths he drives,
And, chas'd from Israel, Israel's peace contrives.

The field confess'd his pow'r in arms before,
And seas proclaim'd his triumphs to the shore;
As nobly has his sway in Hebron shown,
How fit t' inherit godlike David's throne.
Through Sion's streets his glad arrival's spread,
And conscious faction shrinks her snaky head;
His train their sufferings think o'erpaid, to see
The crowd's applause with virtue once agree.
Success charms all, but zeal for worth distrest,
A virtue proper to the brave and best;
'Mongst whom was Jothran, Jothran always
bent

To serve the crown, and loyal by descent;
Whose constancy so firm, and conduct just,
Deserv'd at once two royal masters' trust;
Who Tyre's proud arms had manfully with-

stood

On seas, and gather'd laurels from the flood;
Of learning yet no portion was denied,
Friend to the Muses, and the Muses' pride.
Nor can Benaiah's worth forgotten lie,
Of steady soul when public storms were high;
Whose conduct, while the Moor fierce onsets
made,

Secur'd at once our honor and our trade.
Such were the chiefs who most his sufferings
mourn'd,

And view'd with silent joy the prince return'd;
While those that sought his absence to betray,
Press first their nauseous false respects to pay;
Him still th' officious hypocrites molest,
And with malicious duty break his rest.

While real transports thus his friends employ,
And foes are loud in their dissembled joy,
His triumphs, so resounded far and near,
Miss'd not his young ambitious rival's ear;
And as when joyful hunters' clam'rous train
Some slumb'ring lion wakes in Moab's plain,
Who oft had forc'd the bold assailants yield,
And scatter'd his pursuers through the field;
Disdaining, furls his main and tears the ground,
His eyes inflaming all the desert round,
With roar of seas directs his chasers' way,
Provokes from far, and dares them to the fray:
Such rage storm'd now in Absalom's fair breast,
Such indignation his fir'd eyes confess'd;
Where now was the instructor of his pride?
Slept the old pilot in so rough a tide?
Whose wiles had from the happy shore betray'd,
And thus on shelves the credulous youth con-
vey'd.

In deep revolving thought he weighs his state, Secure of craft, nor doubts to baffle fate;

At least, if his storm'd bark should go adrift,
To baulk his charge, and for himself to shift,
In which his dextrous wit had oft been shown,
And in the wreck of kingdoms sav'd his own.
But now, with more than common danger
prest,

Of various resolutions stands possest,
Perceives the crowd's unstable zeal decay,
Lest 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 slip her time, The statesman plots t' engage in some bold crime,

Past pardon, whether to attempt his bed;
Or threat with open arms the royal head,
Or other daring method, and unjust,
That may confirm him in the people's trust:
But failing thus t' ensnare him, nor secure
How long his foil'd ambition may endure,
Plots next to lay him by, as past his date,
And try some new pretender's luckier fate;
Whose hopes with equal toil he would pursue,
Nor cares what claimer's crown'd, except the

true.

Wake, Absalom, approaching ruin shun,
And see, oh see, for whom thou art undone!
How are thy honors and thy fame betray'd,
The property of desp'rate villains made!
Lost pow'r and conscious fear their crimes
create,

And guilt in them was little less than fate:
But why shouldst thou, from ev'ry grievance
free,

Forsake thy vineyards for their stormy sea?
For thee did Canaan's milk and honey flow;
Love dress'd thy bow'rs, and laurels sought thy
brow;

Preferment, wealth, and pow'r, thy vassals were,
And of a monarch all things but the care.
Oh, should our crimes again that curse draw
down,

And rebel-arms once more attempt the crown,
Sure ruin waits unhappy Absalom,
Alike by conquest or defeat undone.
Who could relentless see such youth and charms
Expire with wretched fate in impious arms?
A prince so form'd with earth's and heaven's
applause

To triumph o'er crown'd heads in David's

cause:

Or, grant him victor, still his hopes must fail,
Who conquering would not for himself prevail;
The faction whom he trusts for future sway,
Him and the public would alike betray;
Amongst themselves divide the captive state,
And found their hydra empire in his fate!
Thus having beat the clouds with painful flight,
The pitied youth, with sceptres in his sight,
(So have their cruel politics decreed,)
Must, by that crew that made him guilty bleed!
For could their pride brook any prince's sway,
Whom but mild David would they choose

t' obey?

Who once at such a gentle reign repine,
The fall of monarchy itself design;
From hate to that their reformations spring,
And David not the grievance, but the king.
Seiz'd now with panic fear the faction lies,
Lest this clear truth strike Absalom's charm'd

Who now an envious festival installs,
And to survey their strength the faction calls,
Which fraud, religious worship too must gild;
But oh, how weakly does sedition build!
For, lo! the royal mandate issues forth,
Dashing at once their treason, zeal, and mirth!
So have I seen disastrous chance invade,
Where careful emmets had their forage laid;
Whether fierce Vulcan's rage the furzy plain
Had seiz'd, engender'd by some careless swain;
Or swelling Neptune lawless inroads made,
And to their cell of store his flood convey'd;
The commonwealth broke up, distracted go,
And in wild haste their loaded mates o'erthrow:
E'en so our scatter'd mates confus'dly meet,
With boil'd, bake, roast, all justling in the

street;

Dejected all, and ruefully dismay'd,
For shekel without treat or treason paid.

Sedition's dark eclipse now fainter shows,
More bright each hour the royal planet grows,
Of force the clouds of envy to disperse,
In kind conjunction of assisting stars.
Here, lab'ring Muse, those glorious chiefs relate,
That turn'd the doubtful scale of David's fate;
The rest of that illustrious band rehearse,
Immortaliz'd in laurel'd Asaph's verse:
Hard task! yet will not 1 thy flight recall;
View heaven, and then enjoy thy glorious fall.
First write Bezaliel, whose illustrious name
Forestals our praise, 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 such a president as he!
Bezaliel with such grace and virtue fraught,
Serene his looks, serene his life and thought;
On whom so largely nature heap'd her store,
There scarce remain'd for arts to give him more!
To aid the crown and state his greatest zeal,
His second care that service to conceal :
Of dues observant, firm to ev'ry trust,
And to the needy always more than just;
Who truth from specious falsehood can divide,
Has all the gownsmen's skill without their pride:
Thus crown'd with worth from heights of ho-

nor won,

See all his glories copied in his son,
Whose forward fame should ev'ry Muse engage;
Whose youth boasts skill denied to others' age.
Men, manners, language, books of noblest kind,
Already are the conquest of his mind;
Whose loyalty before its date was prime,
Nor waited the dull course of rolling time:
The monster Faction early he dismay'd,
And David's cause long since confess'd his aid.
Brave Abdael o'er the prophet's school was
plac'd;

Abdael with all his father's virtue grac'd;
A hero, who, while stars look'd wond'ring down,
Without one Hebrew's blood restor'd the crown.
That praise was his; what therefore did re-

main

For following chiefs, but boldly to maintain

That crown restor'd? and in this rank of fame,
Brave Abdael with the first a place must claim.
Proceed, illustrious, happy chief! proceed,
Foreseize the garlands for thy brow decreed,
While th' inspir'd tribe attend with noblest strain
To register the glories thou shalt gain :
For sure the dew shall Gilboah's hills forsake,
And Jordan mix his stream with Sodom's lake;
Or seas retir'd their secret stores disclose,
And to the sun their scaly brood expose;
Or swell'd above the cliffs their billows raise,
Before the Muses leave their patron's praise.
Eliab our next labor 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 desert so large,
Well claim'd the royal household for his charge;
His age with only one mild heiress blest,
In all the bloom of smiling nature drest,
And blest again to see his flow'r allied
To David's stock, and made young Othniel's
bride!

The bright restorer of his father's youth,
Devoted to a son's and subject's truth :
Resolv'd to bear that prize of beauty home,
So bravely sought, while sought by Absalom.
Ah prince! th illustrious planet of thy birth,
And thy more pow'rful virtue, guard thy worth!
That no Achitophel thy ruin boast!

Israel too much in one such wreck has lost.

E'en envy must consent to Helon's worth, Whose soul, though Egypt glories in his birth, Could for our captive ark its zeal retain, And Pharoah's altars in their pomp disdain : To slight his goods was small; with nobler pride, He all th' allurements of his court defied; Whom profit nor example could betray, But Israel's friend, and true to David's sway. What acts of favor in his province fall, On merit he confers, and freely all.

Our list of nobles next let Amri grace, Whose 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 Israel's sanctions into practice drew; Our laws, that did a boundless ocean seem, Were coasted all, and fathom'd all by him. No rabbin speaks like him their mystic sense, So just, and with such charms of eloquence: To whom the double blessing does belong, With Moses's inspiration, Aaron's tongue. Than Sheva none more loyal zeal have shown, Wakeful as Judah's lion for the crown, Who for that cause still combats in his age, For which his youth with danger did engage. In vain our factious priests the cant revive; In vain seditious scribes with libel strive T inflame the crowd; while he with watchful

So Moses, when the pest on legions prey'd, Advanc'd his signal, and the plague was stay'd. Once more, my fainting Muse, thy pinions try,

And strength's exhausted store let love supply.
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 blast:
The song of Asaph shall for ever last.
With wonder late posterity shall dwell
On Absalom and false Achitophel:

Thy strain shall be our slumb'ring prophet's dream,

And when our Sion virgins sing their theme, Our jubilees shall with thy verse be grac'd; The song of Asaph shall for ever last.

[tame!

How fierce his satire loos'd! restrain'd, how How tender of th' offending young man's fame! How well his worth and brave adventures styl'd'! Just to his virtues, to his error mild. No page of thine, that fears the strictest view, But teems with just reproof, or praise as true. Not Eden could a fairer prospect yield; All paradise without one barren field: Whose wit the censure of his foes has past; The song of Asaph shall for ever last.

What praise for such rich strains shall we allow?

What just rewards the grateful crown bestow? While bees in flow'rs rejoice, and flow'rs in dew, While stars and fountains to their course are true; While Judah's throne and Sion's rock stand fast, The song of Asaph and the fame shall last.

Still Hebron's honor'd happy soil retains Our royal hero's beauteous dear remains ; Who now sails off with winds nor wishes slack, To bring his suff'rings' bright companion back, But ere such transport can our sense employ, A bitter grief must poison half our joy; Nor can our coasts restor'd those blessings see Without a bribe to envious destiny! Curs'd Sodom's doom for ever fix the tide Where, by inglorious chance, the valiant died! Give not insulting Askalon to know, Nor let Gath's daughters triumph in our woe! No sailor with the news swell Egypt's pride, By what inglorious fate our valiant died! We Veep, Arnon! Jordan, weep thy fountains dry, While Sion's rock dissolves for a supply.

With loud last breaths their master's 'scape ap-
plaud,
[fraud;

Of whom kind force could scarce the fates de-
Who for such followers lost, O matchless mind!
At his own safety now almost repin'd!
Say, royal sir, by all your fame in arms,
Your praise in peace, and by Urania's charms,
If all your sufferings past so nearly press'd,
Or pierc'd with half so painful grief, your breast?
Thus some diviner Muse her hero forms,
Not sooth'd in soft delights, but toss'd in storms;
Nor stretch'd on roses in the myrtle grove,
Nor crowns his days with mirth, his nights with
love;

But far remov'd in thund'ring camps is found,
His slumbers short, his bed the herbless ground:
In tasks of danger always seen the first,
Feeds from the hedge, and slakes with ice his
thirst.

Long must his patience strive with fortune's rage,
And long opposing gods themselves engage :
Must see his country flame, his friends destroy'd,
Before the promis'd empire be enjoy'd:
Such toils of fate must build a man of fame,
And such to Israel's crown, the godlike David

The spring so far behind her course delay'd,
On th' instant is in all her bloom array'd;
The winds breathe low, the elements serene;
Yet mark what motion in the waves is seen!
Thronging and busy as Hyblean swarms,
Or straggled soldiers summon'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 stand,
Our crimes to pardon ere he touch'd our land.
Welcome to Israel and to David's breast!
Here all your toils, here all your suff'rings rest.

This year did Ziloah rule Jerusalem,
And boldly all sedition's syrtes stem.
Howe'er encumber'd with a viler pair
Than Ziph or Shimei to assist the chair;
Yet Ziloah's loyal labors so prevail'd,
That faction at the next election fail'd;
When e'en the common cry did justice sound,
And merit by the multitude was crown'd:
With David then was Israel's peace restor❜d;
Crowds mourn'd their error, and obey'd their lord.
Key to Absalom and Achitophel.

Abdael

Absalom Achitophel Adriel Agag Amiel

Sir Heneage Finch, Earl

of Winchelsea, and Lord
Chancellor.

Duchess of Monmouth.
Sir William Waller.
A Character drawn by
Tate for Dryden, in the
second part of his poem.
Earl of Huntingdon.
Barnet.

Duke of Ormond.
Duchess of Portsmouth.
General Sackville.

Rev. Mr. Sam. Johnson.
Duke of Beaufort.
Lord Grey.

Dr. Oates.

Charles II.

Elkanah Settle.
France.

Sir Hen. Bennet, Earl of
Arlington.

The Popish Plot.

The Land of Exile, more Brussels, particularly where King Charles II. long resided. Scotland.

The Ch. of Engl. Clergy.
Earl of Feversham.
Hyde, Earl of Rochester.
Papists.
London.
English.

Sir William Jones.
Dover.

Marquis of Halifax.
Lord Dartmouth.
Richard Cromwell.
England.

Thomas Thynne, Esq.
Mr. Ferguson, a canting
Teacher.

Sir Robert Clayton.
Pordage.

Queen Catharine.

Lord Howard of Escrick.
Shadwell.

Forbes.

King of France.

Sir Thomas Player.

Sagan of Jerusalem Dr. Compton, Bp. of Lon.

Parliament.

Oliver Cromwell.

Sheriff Bethel.

Sir Roger Lestrange. London Rebels.

Holland.

Jack Hall.

§ 26. Palamon and Arcite: or, the Knight's Tale. Dryden.

BOOK I.

IN days of old, there liv'd of mighty fame,
A valiant prince, and Theseus was his name :
A chief who more in feats of arms excell'd,
The rising nor the setting sun beheld.

Of Athens he was lord; much land he won,
And added foreign countries to his crown.
In Scythia with the warrior queen he strove,
Whom first by force he conquer'd, then by love;
He brought in triumph back the beauteous
dame,

With whom her sister, fair Emilia came.
With honor to his home let Theseus ride,
With love to friend, and fortune for his guide,
And his victorious army at his side.

I pass their warlike pomp, their proud array, Their shouts, their songs, their welcome on the

way:

But, were it not too long, I would recite
The fear of Amazons, the fatal fight
Betwixt the hardy queen and hero knight;
The town besieg'd, and how much blood it cost
The female army and th' Athenian host;
The spousals of Hippolita the queen ;
What tilts and tourneys at the feast were seen;
The storm at their return, the ladies' fear:
But these and other things, I must forbear.
The field is spacious I design to sow,
With oxen far unfit to draw the plough;
The remnant of my tale is of a length
To tire your patience, and to waste my strength;
And trivial accidents shall be forborne,
That others may have time to take their turn;
As was at first enjoin'd us by mine host,
That he whose tale is best, and pleases most,
Should win his supper at our common cost.

And therefore where I left I will pursue
This ancient story, whether false or true,
In hope it may be mended with a new.
The prince I mention'd, full of high renown,
In this array drew near the Athenian town;
When in his pomp and utmost of his pride,
Marching he chanc'd to cast his eye aside,
And saw a choir of mourning dames, who lay
By two and two across the common way:
At his approach they rais'd a rueful cry, [high,
And beat their breasts, and held their hands on
Creeping and crying, till they seiz'd at last
His courser's bridle, and his feet embrac'd.

Tell me, said Theseus, what and whence you

are,

Canterbury.

A Member of the House of Commons.

Villiers, D. of Buckingham. Sir John Moor.

Name your request, and I will ease your grief.

The most in years of all the mourning train, Began (but swooned first away for pain); Then scarce recover'd spoke: Nor envy we Thy great renown, nor grudge thy victory: