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But failing thus t'enfnare him, nor fecure
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 fhun,
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 fears their crimes create,
And guilt in them was little less than fate;
But why shouldst thou, from every grievance free,
Forfake thy vineyards for their ftormy fea?
For thee did Canaan's milk and honey flow,
Love drefs'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 curfe draw down,
And rebel-arms once more attempt the crown,
Sure ruin waits unhappy Abfalom,

Alike by conqueft or defeat undone ;

Who could relentless see fuch youth and charms,
Expire with wretched fate in impious arms?

A prince fo form'd with earth's and heaven's applause,
To triumph o'er crown'd heads in David's cause :
Or grant him victor, ftill his hopes must fail,
Who conquering would not for himself prevail;
The faction whom he trufts for future fway,
Him and the public would alike betray;

Amongst

Amongst themselves divide the captive state,

And found their hydra-empire in his fate!
Thus having beat the clouds with painful flight,
The pity'd youth, with scepters 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 sway,
Whom but mild David would they chufe t' obey?
Who once at fuch a gentle 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 ftrike Abfalom's charm'd eyes,
Left he perceive, from long enchantment free,
What all befide the flatter'd youth must see.
But whate'er doubts his troubled bofom fwell,
Fair carriage ftill became Achitophel.

Who now an envious feftival enftals,

And to furvey their strength 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 careless swain ;
Or fwelling Neptune lawless inroads made,
And to their cell of ftore his flood convey'd ;

The

The commonwealth broke up, distracted go,
And in wild hate 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 street;
Dejecting all, and ruefully difmay'd,

For fhekel without treat or treason paid.
Sedition's dark eclipfe now fainter shows,
More bright each hour the royal planet grows,
Of force the clouds of envy to difperfe,
In kind conjunction of affifting stars.

Here, labouring Mufe, thofe glorious chiefs relate,
That turn'd the doubtful scale of David's fate;
The rest of that illuftrious band rehearse,
Immortaliz'd in laurel'd Afaph's verse :
Hard task! yet will not I thy flight recal,
View heaven, and then enjoy thy glorious fall.
Firft 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 president 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 store,
There scarce remain'd for arts to give him more !
To aid the crown and ftate his greatest zeal,
His fecond care that fervice to conceal;
Of dues obfervant, firm to every trust,
And to the needy always more than just.

Who

Who truth from fpecious falfhood can divide,
Has all the gownfmens skill without their pride;
Thus crown'd with worth from heights of honour won,
Sees all his glories copy'd in his fon,

Whofe forward fame fhould every Mufe engage:
Whose youth boasts skill deny'd to others' age.
Men, manners, language, books of noblest kind,
Already are the conqueft of his mind.

Whofe loyalty before its date was prime;
Nor waited the dull courfe of rolling time:
The monster faction early he dismay'd,

And David's caufe long fince confefs'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 ftars 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 reftor'd; and in this rank of fame,
Brave Abdael with the first a place must claim.
Proceed, illuftrious, happy chief! proceed,
Forefeize the garlands for thy brow decreed,
While th' infpir'd tribe attend with nobleft strain
To register the glories thou shalt gain :
For fure the dew shall Gilboah's hills forfake,
And Jordan mix his ftream with Sodom's lake;
Or feas retir'd their fecret ftores difclofe,
And to the fun their fcaly brood expofe,
Or fwell'd above the clifts their billows raise,
Before the Mufes leave their patron's praise.
VOL. I.

Eliab

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 fervice and defert fo large,
Well claim'd the royal houfhold for his charge.
His age with only one mild heiress blest,
In all the bloom of fmiling nature drest,
And bleft again to see his flower ally'd

To David's stock, and made young Othniel's bride!
The bright restorer of his father's youth,
Devoted to a fon's and fubject's truth:
Refolv'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 muft confent to Helon's worth,
Whofe 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 fmall; 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,
Whofe merits claim'd the Abethdin's high place;

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