So willing to forgive th' offending age;
So much the father did the king affuage.
But now fo far my clemency they flight,
Th' offenders question my forgiving right,
That one was made for many, they contend;
But 'tis to rule; for that's a monarch's end.
They call my tenderness of blood, my fear;
Though manly tempers can the longest bear.
Yet, fince they will divert my native course,
'Tis time to fhew I am not good by force.
Those heap'd affronts that haughty fubjects bring,
Are burdens for a camel, not a king.
Kings are the public pillars of the state,
Born to sustain and prop the nation's weight:
If my young Samfon will pretend a call
To shake the column, let him share the fall:
But oh, that yet he would repent and live!
How eafy 'tis for parents to forgive!
With how few tears a pardon might be won
From nature, pleading for a darling son!
Poor, pitied youth, by my paternal care,
Rais'd up to all the height his frame could bear!
Had God ordain'd his fate for empire born,
He would have given his foul another turn :
Gull'd with a patriot's name, whose modern sense
Is one that would by law fupplant his prince;
The people's brave, the politician's tool;
Never was patriot yet, but was a fool.
Whence comes it, that religion and the laws
Should more be Abfalom's than David's cause ?
His old inftructor ere he loft his place,
Was never thought indued with fo much grace.
Good heavens, how faction can a patriot paint!
My rebel ever proves my people's faint.
Would they impose an heir upon the throne,
Let fanhedrims be taught to give their own.
A king's at least a part of government :
And mine as requifite as their confent:
Without my leave a future king to chufe,
Infers a right the prefent to depofe.
True, they petition me t' approve their choice:
But Efau's hands fuit ill with Jacob's voice.
My pious fubjects for my fafety pray;
Which to fecure, they take my power away.
From plots and treasons heaven preserve my years,
But fave me moft from my petitioners.
Unfatiate as the barren womb or grave;
God cannot grant fo much as they can crave.
What then is left, but with a jealous eye
To guard the fmall remains of royalty?
The law fhall ftill direct my peaceful sway,
And the fame law teach rebels to obey :
Votes fhall no more establish'd power controul,
Such votes as make a part exceed the whole.
No groundless clamours fhall my friends remove,
Nor crowds have power to punish ere they prove;
For Gods and god-like kings their care express,
Still to defend their fervants in diftrefs.
my power to faving were confin'd! Why am I forc'd, like heaven, against my mind, To make examples of another kind ?
Muft I at length the fword of justice draw?
Oh curft effects of neceffary law!
How ill my fear they by my mercy scan!
Beware the fury of a patient man.
Law they require, let law then fhew her face;
They could not be content to look on grace,
Her hinder parts, but with a daring eye
To tempt the terror of her front and die.
By their own arts 'tis righteously decreed,
Thofe dire artificers of death fhall bleed.
Against themselves their witnesses will swear,
Till, viper-like, their mother plot they tear;
And fuck for nutriment that bloody gore,
Which was their principle of life before.
Their Belial with their Beelzebub will fight:
Thus on my foes, my foes fhall do me right.
Nor doubt th' event: for factious crowds engage,
In their first onfet, all their brutal rage.
Then let them take an unrefifted courfe :
Retire, and traverfe, and delude their force :
But when they stand all breathlefs, urge the fight,
And rife upon them with redoubled might:
For lawful power is ftill fuperior found;
When long driven back, at length it stands the ground.
He said: Th' Almighty nodding gave confent;
And peals of thunder fhook the firmament.
Henceforth a series of new time began,
The mighty years in long proceffion ran :
Once more the god-like David was reftor'd,
And willing nations knew their lawful lord.
- Si quis tamen hæc quoque, fi quis "Captus amore leget-"
N the year 1680 Mr Dryden undertook the Abfalom and Achitophel, upon the defire of king Charles the fecond.. The performance was applauded by every one; and several persons preffing him to write a fecond part, he, upon declining it himself, fpoke to Mr. Tate to write one, and gave him his advice in the direction of it; and that part beginning with
"Next these, a troop of busy spirits prefs,"
"To talk like Doeg, and to write like thee."
containing near two hundred verses, were entirely Mr. Dryden's compofition, befides fome touches in other places. The preceding lines, upwards of three hundred in number, were written by Mr. Tate. The poem is here printed compleat.
SINCE
INCE men like beasts each other's prey were made,
Since trade began, and priesthood grew a trade,
Since realms were form'd, none fure fo curft as those
That madly their own happiness oppose;
There heaven itself, and god-like kings, in vain
Shower down the manna of a gentle reign;
While pamper'd crowds to mad fedition run,
And monarchs by indulgence are undone.
Thus David's clemency was fatal grown,
While wealthy faction aw'd the wanting throne.
For now their fovereign's orders to contemn
Was held the charter of Jerufalem,
His rights t' invade, his tributes to refufe,
A privilege peculiar to the Jews;
As if from heavenly call this licence fell,
And Jacob's feed were chofen to rebel!
Achitophel with triumph fees his crimes.
Thus fuited to the madness of the times;
And Abfalom, to make his hopes fucceed,
Of flattering charms no longer stands in need;
While, fond of change, though ne'er fo dearly bought,
Our tribes outstrip the youth's ambitious thought;
His fwifteft hopes with fwifter homage meet,
And crowd their fervile necks beneath his feet.
Thus to his aid while preffing tides repair,
He mounts and fpreads his ftreamers in the air.
The charms of empire might his youth mislead,
But what can our befotted Ifrael plead ?
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