IN pious times, e’r Priest-Craft did begin,
Before Poligamy was made a sin;
When Man, on many, multipli’d his kind,
E’r one to one was, cursedly, confin’d;
When Nature prompted, & no law deni’d
Promiscuous Use of Concubine and Bride;
Then, Israel‘s Monarch, after Heavens own heart,
His vigorous warmth did, variously, impart
To Wives and Slaves; And, wide as his Command,
Scatter’d his Maker’s Image through the Land.
Michal, of Royal blood, the Crown did wear;
A Soil ungrateful to the Tiller’s care;
Not so the rest; for several Mothers bore
To Godlike David several Sons before.
But since like slaves his bed they did ascend,
No True Succession could their seed attend.
Of all this Numerous Progeny was none
So beautiful so brave as Absolon:
Whether, inspir’d by some diviner Lust,
His Father got him with a greater Gust;
Or that his Conscious destiny made way,
By manly beauty to Imperial sway.
Early in Foreign fields he won Renown
With Kings and States alli’d to Israels Crown;
In Peace the thoughts of War he coud remove,
And seem’d as he were only born for love.
What e’r he did, was done with so much ease,
In him alone, ’twas Natural to please
His motions all accompani’d with grace;
And Paradise was open’d in his face.
With secret Joy, indulgent David view’d
His Youthful Image in his Son renew’d:
To all his wishes Nothing he deny’d;
〈…〉
Page 8What faults he had (for who from faults is free?
His Father coud not, or he woud not see.
Some warm excesses, which the Law forbore,
Were constru’d Youth that purg’d by boyling o’r;
And Amnon‘s Murther, by a specious Name,
Was call’d a Just Revenge for injur’d Fame.
Thus Prais’d, and Lov’d, the Noble Youth remain’d,
While David, undistutb’d in Sion raign’d.
But Life can never be sincerely blest;
Heav’n punishes the bad, and proves the best.
The Iews, a Headstrong, Moody, Murm’ring race,
As ever tri’d th’ extent and stretch of grace;
God’s pamper’d people whom, debauch’d with ease,
No King could govern, nor no God could please;
(Gods they tri’d of every shape and size
That God-smiths could produce, or Priests devise;)
These Adam-wits, too fortunately free,
Began to dream they wanted libertie;
And when no rule, no president was found
Of men, by Laws less circumscrib’d and bound;
They led their wild desires to woods and Caves;
And thought that all but Savages were Slaves.
They who, when Saul was dead, without a blow,
Made foolish Isbosheth the Crown forgo;
Who banisht David did from Hebron bring,
And, with a General Shout, Proclaim’d him King:
Those very Iews, who, at their very best,
Their Humour more than Loyalty exprest,
Now, wondred why, so long, they had obey’d
An Idol-Monarch which their hands had made,
Thought they might ruine him they could create;
Or melt him to that Golden Calf, a State.
But these were random bolts, No form’d Design,
Nor Intrest made the Factious Croud to joyn:
The sober part of Israel, free from stain,
Well knew the value of a peaceful reign:
And, looking backward with a wise afright,
Saw Seames of wounds, dishonest to the sight:
In contemplation of whose ugly Scars,
They Curst the memory of Civil Wars.
Page 9The moderate sort of men, thus qualifi’d,
Inclin’d the Ballance to the better side:
And, David‘s mildness manag’d it so well,
The Bad found no occasion to rebel.
But, when to Sin our byast Nature leans,
The careful Devil is still at hand with means,
And providently pimps for ill desires:
The good Old Cause reviv’d, a Plot requires.
Plots, true or false, are necessary things,
To raise up Common-wealths, and ruine Kings.
Th’ Inhabitants of old Ierusalem
Were Iebusites, the Town so call’d from them;
And their’s the Native Right—
But when the chosen people grew more strong,
The rightful Cause at length became the wrong:
And every loss the men of Iebus bore,
They still were thought God’s enemies the more:
Thus, worn and weaken’d, well or ill content,
Submit they must to David‘s Government:
Impoverish’d, and depriv’d of all Command,
Their Taxes doubled as they lost their Land;
And, what was harder yet to flesh and blood,
Their Gods disgrac’d and burnt like common wood:
This set the Heathen Priesthood in a flame;
For Priests of all Religions are the same:
Of whatsoe’r descent their Godhead be,
Stock, Stone, or other homely Pedigree,
In his defence his Servants are as bold,
As if he had been born of beaten Gold.
The Iewish Rabbins thô their enemies,
In this conclude them honest men and wise.
For ’twas their duty, all the Learned think,
T’ espouse his Cause by whom they eat and drink.
From hence began that Plot, the Nation’s curse,
Bad in it self, but represented worse.
Rais’d in extremes, and in extremes decry’d;
With Oaths affirm’d, with dying Vows deny’d.
Not weigh’d, or winnow’d by the multitude;
But swallow’d in the mass, unchew’d and crude.
Page 10Some Truth there was, but dash’d and brew’d with Lies;
To 〈…〉 Fool•, and puzzle all the Wise,
〈…〉 did equal folly call,
〈…〉, or believing all,
〈…〉 Rites the •ebusites imbrac’d;
〈…〉 were recomme•ded by their tast.
〈…〉 mus• needs be good,
〈…〉 once for Worship and for Food.
〈…〉 could not introduce these Gods;
〈…〉, in former days was odds.
So 〈◊〉 was us’d, (the Sacri•icers trade,)
Fools are more hard to conquer than perswade.
Their busie 〈◊〉 mingled •ith the Iews;
And 〈◊〉, for Convert•, even the Court and Stews:
Which Hebrew Priests the more unkindly took,
Because the Fleece accompanies the Flock.
Some thought they God’s Anoint’d meant to slay
By Guns, invented since full many a day.
Our Author swears it not; b•t who can know
How •ar the Devil and Iebusites may go?
This Plot, which fail’d •or want of common sense,
Had yet a deep and dang•ro•s consequence:
For, as when raging Fevers boyl the blood,
The standing Lake soon floats into a flood;
And ev’ry hostile humour, which before
Slept quiet in its Chann••s, 〈◊〉 o’r;
So, several Factions 〈…〉 Ferment,
Work up to 〈…〉.
Some •y their ••iends, 〈…〉 thought wise,
O•pos’d the Pow’r to 〈…〉 not rise.
Some had in Courts 〈…〉 from thence,
Like Fiends, were 〈…〉
Some, by their 〈…〉•rown,
•rom pardon’d 〈…〉 Throne;
Were rais’d in 〈…〉
Strong Bands, if 〈…〉 tye.
Of these the 〈…〉
A Name to 〈…〉
For close 〈…〉
Sagacious, 〈◊〉, and 〈…〉
Page 11Restless, unfixt in Principle and Place;
In Pow’r unpleas’d, impatient of Disgrace.
A fiery Soul, which working out its way,
Fretted the Pig•y-Body to decay;
And o’r inform’d the Tenement of Clay.
A daring Pilot in extremity;
Pleas’d with the Danger, when the Waves went high
He sought the Storms; but for a Calm un•it,
Would Steer to nigh the Sands, to boast his Wit,
Great Wits are sure to Madness neer ally’d;
And thin Partitions do their Bounds divide:
Else, why should he, with Wealth and Honour blest,
Refuse his Age the needful hours of rest?
Punish a Body which he coud not please;
Bankrupt of Life, yet Prodigal of ease?
And all to leave, what with his Toyl he won,
To that unfeather’d, two legg’d thing, a Son:
Got, while his Soul did hudled Notions try;
And born a shapeless Lump, like Anarchy.
In friendship false, implacable in hate:
Resolv’d to ruine, or to Rule the State.
To compass this, the Triple Bond he broke;
The Pillars of the publick Safety shook:
And fitted Israel for a Foreign Yoke.
Then, seiz’d with Fear, yet still affecting Fame,
Usurp’d a Patriot’s All-atoning Name.
So easy still it proves in factious times,
With publick Zeal to cancel private crimes:
How safe is Treason, and how sacred ill,
Where none can sin against the peoples will:
Where Crowds can wink; and no o••ence be known,
Since in anothers guilt they find their own.
Yet, Fame deserv’d, no Enemy can grudge;
The Statesman we abhor, but praise the Judge.
In Israels Courts ne’r sat an Abbethdin
With more discerning eyes, or hands more clean:
Unbrib’d, unsought, the Wretched to redress;
Swi•t of Dispatch, and easie of Access.
Oh, had he been content to serve the Crown,
With vertues only proper to the Gown;
Page 12Or, had the rankness of the Soyl been freed
From Cockle, that opprest the Noble seed:
David, for him his tuneful Harp had strung,
And Heav’n had wanted one Immortal song.
But wild Ambition loves to slide, not stand;
And Fortunes Ice prefers to Vertues Land:
Achitophel, grown weary to possess
A lawful Fame, and lazy Happiness;
Disdain’d the Golden Fruit to gather free,
And lent the Croud his Arm to shake the Tree.
Now, manifest of Crimes, contriv’d long since,
He stood at bold Defiance with his Prince:
Held up the Buckler of the peoples Cause,
Ag•inst the Crown; and sculk’d behind the Laws.
The wish’d occasion of the Plot he takes;
Some circumstances finds, but more he makes.
By buzzing Emissaries, fills the ears
Of listning Crowds, with jealousies and fears
Of Arbitrary Counsels brought to light,
And proves the King himself a Iebusite:
Weak Arguments! which yet he knew full well,
Were strong with People easie to Rebel.
For, govern’d by the Moon, the giddy Iews
Tread the same track when she the Prime renews▪
And once in twenty years, their Scribes Record,
By natural Instinct they change their Lord.
Achitophel still wants a Chief, and none
Was found so fit as Warlike Absalon:
Not, that he wish’d his Greatness to create,
(For Pol•titians neither love nor hate:)
But, for he knew, his Title not allow’d,
Would keep him still depending on the Crowd,
That Kingly power, thus ebbing out, might be
Drawn to the dregs of a Democracy.
Him he attempts, with studied Arts to please.
And sheds his Venome, in such words as these
Auspicious Prince! at whose Nativity
Some Royal Planet rul’d the Southern Sky;
Thy longing Countreys Darling and Desire;
Their clowdy Pillar, and their •uardian Fire:
Page 13Their second
Moses, whose extended Wand
Divides the Seas, and shews the promis’d Land:
Whose dawning Day, in every distant age,
Has exercis’d the Sacred Prophets rage:
The peoples Pray’r, the glad Diviners Theam,
The young mens Vision, and the old mens Dream!
Thee, Saviour, Thee, the Nations Vows confess;
And, never satisfi’d with seeing, bless:
Swift, unbespoken Pomps, thy steps proclaim,
And stammering Babes are taught to lisp thy Name.
How long wilt thou the general Joy detain;
Starve, and defraud the people of thy Reign?
Content ingloriously to pass thy days
Like one of Vertues Fools that feeds on praise;
Till thy fresh Glories, which now shine so bright,
Grow stale and tarnish with our daily sight.
Believe me, Royal Youth, thy Fruit must be,
Or gather’d ripe, or rot upon the Tree.
Heaven, has to all allotted, soon or late,
Some lucky Revolution of their Fate:
Whose motions, if we watch and guide with skill,
(For humane good depends on humane Will,)
Our Fortune rolls, as from a smoth descent,
And, from the first Impression, takes the bent:
But, if unseiz’d, she glides away like wind;
And leaves repenting Folly far behind.
Now, now she meets you, with a glorious prize,
And spreads her Locks before her as she flies.
Had thus old David, from whose Loins you spring,
Not dar’d, when Fortune call’d him, to be King,
At Gath an Exile he might still remain,
And Heavens Anointing Oil had been in vain.
Let his successful Youth your hopes engage;
But shun th’ example of Declining Age:
Behold him setting in his Western Skies,
The Shadows lengthning as the Vapours rise.
He is not now, as when on Jordan‘s sand
The joyful People throng’d to see him Land,
Cov’ring the Beach, and •lackning all the Strand
Page 14But, like the Prince of Angels from his height,
Comes tumbling downward with diminish’d light;
Betray’d by one poor Plot to publick Scorn,
(Our only blessing since his curst Return.)
Those heaps of people which one Sheaf did bind,
Blown off, and scatter’d by a puss of wind:
What strength can he to your designs oppose,
Naked of Friends, and round beset with Foes?
If Pharaoh‘s doubtful Succour he should use,
A Foreign Aid woud more incense the Iews:
Proud Egypt woud dissembled Friendship bring▪
Foment the War, but not support the King:
Nor woud the Royal Party e’r •nite
With Pharoah‘s Arms, t’assist the Iebusite;
Or if they shoud, their Interest soon would break,
And, with such •dious Aid, make David weak.
All sorts of men, by my successful Arts,
A••orring Kings, estrange their alter’d Hearts
〈…〉 And ’tis the general Cry,
〈◊〉, Common-wealth, and Liberty:
〈…〉 Champion of the publick Good,
A•d to their Arms a Chief of Royal Blood;
〈…〉 hope, and what applause
〈…〉 gain by such a cause?
Not 〈…〉 alone, that gaudy Flow’r,
〈…〉 but solid Pow’r:
〈…〉 limited command,
〈…〉 Love of all your native Land,
〈…〉 Tit’e, long, and dark,
Drawn 〈◊〉 the mouldy Rolls of Noah‘s Ark.
What c•nn•t •raise effect in mighty Minds,
〈…〉•ooths, and when Ambition blinds!
〈◊〉 of Pow’r, on earth a vitious weed,
〈…〉 from High, is of Caelestial seed:
〈…〉 And when men aspire,
〈…〉 too much of Heavenly Fire.
〈…〉 too covetous of Fame,
〈…〉 of Angels Metal in his frame;
〈◊〉 was led from Vertues ways;
Made dr•nk with Honour, and debauch’d with praise.
Page 15Half loath, and half consenting to the ill,
(For Loyal B•ood within him strugled still)
He thus reply’d—And what pretence have I
To take up Arms for publick liberty?
My Father Governs with unquestion’d right;
The Faiths Defender, and mankinds delight:
Good, gracious, just, observant of the Laws;
And Heav’n by wonder has espous’d his cause.
Whom has he wrong’d in all his Peaceful Reign?
Who sues for Justice to his Throne in vain?
What millions has he pardon’d of his Foes,
Whom just revenge did to his wrath expose?
Mild, easy, humble, studious of our good;
Enclin’d to mercy, and averse from blood;
If mildness ill with stubborn Israel suit,
His crime is God’s beloved Attribute.
What could he gain, his peop•e to betray,
Or change his right, for arbitrary sway?
Let haughty Pharaoh curse with such a Reign,
His fruitful Nile, and yoke a servile Train.
If David‘s Rule Ierusalem displease,
The Dog-star heats their brains to this disease.
Why then shoud I, enco•raging the bad,
Turn Rebel, and run popularly mad?
Were he a Tyrant who, by lawless Might,
Opprest the Jews, and rais’d the Iebusite,
Well might I mourn; but Natures hely bands
Woud curb my spirits, and restrain my hand:
The people might assert their liberty;
But what was •ight in them, were crime in me.
His •avour 〈◊〉 me nothing to require;
Prevents my wishes, and out-runs desire.
What 〈…〉 I expect while David lives?
All but 〈…〉 Diadem he gives;
And that: But there he paus’d; then sighing, said,
Is 〈…〉 for a worthier Head.
For when my Father from his toyls shall rest,
And 〈…〉 the number of the blest:
〈…〉 shall the Throne ascend;
Of 〈…〉 Line where that shall end.
Page 16His Brother, though opprest with vulgar spight,
Yet dauntless and secure of native right,
Of every Royal Vertue stands possest;
Still Dear to all the Bravest, and the Best.
His Courage Foes, his Friends his Truth Proclaim;
His Loyalty the King, the World his Fame.
His mercy ev’n th’offending Crowd will find;
For sure he comes of a forgiving kind.
Why should I then repine at Heavens decree;
Which gives me no pretence to Royalty?
Yet oh that Fate, propitiously enclin’d,
Had rais’d my Birth, or had debas’d my mind;
To my large Soul, not all her treasure lent,
And then betray’d it to a mean Descent.
I find, I find my mounting spirits bold,
And David‘s part disdains my Mothers mold.
Why am I scanted by a niggard Birth?
My Soul disclaims the kindred of her Earth:
And made for Empire, whispers me within;
Desire of Greatness is a Godlike sin.
Him staggering so when Hells dire Agent found,
While fainting Vertue scarce maintain’d her ground,
He pours fresh Forces in, and thus replies:
Th’ Eternal God, supreamly good and wise,
Imparts not these prodigious Gifts in vain;
What wonders are reserv’d to bless your Reign?
Against your will your Arguments have shown,
Such Vertue’s only giv’n to guide a Throne.
Not that your Father’s mildness I contemn?
But manly force becomes the Diadem.
‘Tis true, he grants the people all they crave;
And more perhaps than Subjects ought to have:
For lavish grants suppose a Monarch tame,
And more his Goodness than his Wit proclaim.
B•t when should people strive their Bonds to break,
〈◊〉 not when Kings are negligent or weak?
〈◊〉 him give on till he can give no more,
The thri•ty Sanhedrin shall keep him poor:
And every 〈◊〉 which he can receive,
Shall cost a •imb of his Prerogative.
Page 17To ply him with new Plots, shall be my care;
Or plunge him deep in some expensive war;
Which, when his Treasure can no more supply▪
He must, with the remains of Kingship, buy.
His faithful Friends, our jealousies and fears,
Call Iebusites; and Pharaoh‘s Pentioners:
Whom, when our fury from his aid has torn,
He shall be naked left to publick scorn.
The next Successor, whom I fear and hate,
My arts have made obnoxious to the State;
Turn’d all his Vertues to his overthrow,
And gain’d our Elders to pronounce a foe.
His Right, for sums of necessary Gold,
Shall first be pawn’d, and afterwards be sold:
Till time shall ever-wanting David draw,
To pass your doubtful Title into Law:
If not; the people have a Right supreme
To make their Kings; for Kings are made for them.
All Empire is no more than Pow’r in trust:
Which when resum’d, can be no longer just.
Succession, for the general good design’d,
In its own wrong a Nation cannot bind:
If altering that, the people can relieve,
Better one suffer, than a Nation grieve.
The Iews well knew their pow’r: e’r Saul they chose,
God was their King, and God they durst depose.
Urge now your Piety, your Filial Name,
A Father’s right, and fear of future Fame;
The publick good, that universal call,
To which ev’n Heaven submitted, answers all.
Nor let his Love enchant your generous mind;
Tis Natures trick to propagate her kind.
Our fond Begetters, who would never die,
Love but themselves in their posteritie.
Or let his kindness by th’ effects be tri’d,
Or let him lay his vain pretence aside.
God said he lov’d your Father; coud he bring
A better proof, than to Anoint him King?
It surely shew’d he lov’d the Shepherd well,
Who gave so fair a Flock as Israel.
Page 18Woud
David have you thought his Darling Son?
What means he then, to Alienate the Crown?
The name of Godly he may blush to bear:
‘Tis after God’s own heart to cheat his Heir.
He to his Brother gives Supreme Command;
To you a Legacy of Barren Land:
Perhaps th’old Harp, on which he thrums his Layes:
Or some dull Hebrew Ballad in your praise.
Then the next Heir, a Prince, severe and wise,
Already looks on you with jealous eyes;
Sees through the thin disguises of your arts,
And marks your progress in the peoples hearts.
Though now his mighty Soul its grief contains;
He meditates revenge who least complains.
And like a Lion, slumb’ring in the way,
Or sleep-dissembling, while he waits his prey,
His fearless Foes within his distance draws;
Constrains his roaring, and contracts his paws:
Till at the last, his time for fury found,
He shoots with sudden vengeance from the ground:
The prostrate Vulgar, passes o’r, and spares;
But with a Lordly rage, his Hunters tears.
Your case no tame expedients will afford;
Resolve on death, or conquest by the Sword,
Which for no less a Stake than Life, you draw;
And Self-defence is Natures eldest Law.
Leave the warm people no considering time;
For then Rebellion may be thought a crime.
Prevail your self of what occasion gives,
But try your Title while your Father lives:
And that your Arms may have a fair pretence,
Proclaim, you take them in the King’s defence:
Whose sacred Life each minute woud expose,
To Plots, from seeming friends, and secret foes.
And who can sound the depth of David‘s Soul?
Perhaps his fear, his kindness may controul.
He fears his Brother, though he loves his Son,
For plighted Vows too late to be undone.
If so, by force he wishes to be gain’d;
Like womens leachery to seem constrain’d:
Page 17Doubt not; but when he most affects the Frown;
Commit a pleasing Rape upon the Crown.
Secure his Person to secure your Cause;
They who possess the Prince, possess the Laws.
He said, and this Advice above the rest,
With Absalom‘s mild nature suited best;
Unblam’d of Life (Ambition set aside,)
Not stain’d with cruelty, nor puft with pride.
How happy had he been, if destiny
Had higher plac’d his Birth, or not so high!
His Kingly Vertues might have claim’d a Throne;
And blest all other Countreys but his own:
But charming Greatness, since so few refuse;
‘Tis juster to lament him, than accuse.
Strong were his hopes a Rival to remove,
With blandishments to gain the publick love;
To head the Faction while their Zeal was hot,
And popularly prosecute the Plot.
To farther this, Achitophel unites
The malecontents of all the Israelites:
Whose differing Parties he coud wisely joyn,
For several ends, to serve the same design.
The best, and of the Princes some were such,
Who thought the pow’r of Monarchy too much:
Mistaken men, and Patriots in their hearts;
Not wicked, but seduc’d by impious arts.
By these the springs of Property were bent,
And would so high, they crack’d the Government.
The next for Interest sought t’embroil the State,
To sell their duty at a dearer rate;
And make their Iewish Markets of the Throne:
Pretending publick good, to serve their own.
Others thought Kings an useless heavy load,
Who cost too much, and did too little good.
These were for laying honest David by,
On Principles of pure good Husbandry.
With them joyn’d all th’ Haranguers of the throng,
That thought to get Preferment by the •o•gue.
Who follow next, a double danger br•ng,
Not only hating •avid, but th• King▪
Page 20The
Solymaean Rout; well vers’d of old,
In godly Faction, and in Treason bold;
Cowring and quaking at a Conqu’ror’s sword,
But losty to a Lawful Prince restor’d;
Saw with disdain an Ethnick Plot begun,
And scorn’d by Iebusites to be out-done.
Hot Levites headed these; who pul’d before
From th’ Ark, which in the Judges days they bore,
Resum’d their Cant, and with a zealous cry
Pursu’d their old belov’d Theocracy.
Where Sanhedrin and Priest inslav’d the Nation,
And justifi’d their spoils by inspiration:
For who so fit for Reign as Aaron‘s Race,
If once Dominion they could found in Grace?
These led the Pack; the not of surest scent,
Yet deepest mouth’d against the Government.
A numerous Host of dreaming Saints succeed;
Of the true old Enthusiastick breed:
‘Gainst form and order they their Pow’r employ;
Nothing to build, and all things to destroy.
But far more numerous was the herd of such,
Who think too little, and who talk too much.
These, out of meer instinct, they knew not why,
Ador’d their Father’s God, and Property:
And, by the same blind benefit of Fate,
The Devil and the Jebusite did hate:
Born to be sav’d, ev’n in their own despight;
Because they could not help believing right.
Such were the tools; but a whole Hydra more
Remains, of sprouting heads too long, to score.
Some of their Chiefs were Princes of the Land:
In the first rank of these did Zimri stand:
A man so various, that he seem’d to be
Not one, but all mankind’s epitome.
Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong;
Was every thing by starts, and nothing long:
But, in the course of one revolving Moon,
Was Chymist, Fidler, States-man, and Bussoon:
Then all for Women, Painting, Rhiming, Drinking;
Besides ten thousand freaks that di’d in thinking.
Page 21Blest Madman, who coud every hour employ,
With something new to wish, or to enjoy!
Railing and praising were his usual theams,
And both (to shew his judgment) in extreams:
So over-violent, or over-civil,
That every man, with him, was God or Devil.
In squandring wealth was his peculiar art:
Nothing went unrewarded, but desert.
Begger’d by fools, whom still he found too late:
He had his Jest, and they had his Estate.
He laugh’d himself from Court; then sought relief
By ••rming parties, but could ne’r be Chief:
Fo•▪ spight of him, the weight of business fell
On Absalom and wise Achitophel:
Thus, wicked but in will, of means bereft,
He left not Faction, but of that was left.
Titles and Names ’twere tedious to reherse
Of Lords, below the dignity of Verse.
Wits, Warriors, Common-wealthsmen, were the best:
Kind Husbands and meer Nobles all the rest.
And, therefore in the name of dulness, be
The well hung Balaam, and cold Caleb free.
And canting Nadab let oblivion damn,
Who made new Porridge for the Paschal Lam•.
Let friendships holy band, some names assure:
Some their own worth, and some let scorn secure.
Nor shall the Rascal Rabble here have place,
Whom Kings no Titles gave, and God no Grace:
Not Bul•-fac’d Ionas, who co•d Stat•tes draw
To mean Rebellion, and make Treason Law.
But he though bad, is follow’d by a worse,
The wretch, who Heav’ns Anointed dar’d to c•rse.
Shimei, whose youth did early promise bring
Of zeal to God, and hatred to his King;
Did wisely from expensive sins re•rain,
And never broke the Sabbath, but for gain:
Nor ever was he known an Oath to vent,
Or curse, unless against the Government.
Thus heaping wealth by the most ready way
Among the Jews, which was to cheat and pray;
Page 22The City, to reward his pious Hate
Against his Master, chose him Magistrat:
His hand a Vare of Justice did uphold;
His Neck was loaded with a Chain of Gold.
During his Office, Treason was no Crime;
The Sons of Belial had a glorious Time:
For Shimei, though not prodigal of pelf,
Yet lov’d his wicked Neighbour as himself:
When to or three were gather’d to declaim
Against the Monarch of Ierusalem,
Shimei was always in the midst of them.
And, if they Curst the King when he was by,
Woud rather Curse, than break good Company.
If any durst his Factious Friends accuse,
He pact a Jury of dissenting Iews:
Whose fellow-feeling, in the godly Cause,
Woud free the suffring Saint from humane Laws.
For Laws are only made to punish those,
Who serve the King, and to protect his Foes.
If any leisure time he had from Pow’r,
(Because ’tis Sin to misimploy an hour;)
His b•siness was, by writing, to Persuade,
That Kings were Useless, and a Clog to Trade:
And, that his noble Stile he might refine,
No Rechabite more shund the fumes of Wine.
Chast were his Cellars; and his Shrieval Board
The Grossness of a City Feast abhor’d:
His Cooks, with long disuse, their Trade •orgot;
Cool was his Kitchen; tho his Brains were hot.
Such •rugall Vertue Malice may accuse;
But sure ’twas necessary to the Iews:
For Towns one bur•t, s•ch Magistrates require
As dare not tempt Gods Providence by fire.
With spiritual food he fed his servants well,
But free from flesh that made the Jews Rebel:
And Moses‘s Laws he held in more account,
For forty days of F•sting in the Mount.
To speak the rest, who better are forgot,
Would tyre a well breath’d Witness of the Plot:
Page 23Yet,
Corah, thou shalt from oblivion pass;
Erect thy self thou Monumental Brass:
High as the Serpent of thy metal made,
While Nations stand secure beneath thy shade.
What tho his Birth were base, yet Comets rise
From earthy vapours ere they shine in Skies.
Prodigious Actions may as well be done
By Weaver’s Issue, as by Prince’s Son.
This Arch-Attestor for the publick good,
By that one Deed Enobles all his Blood.
Who ever ask’d the Witnesses high race,
VVhose Oath with Martyrdom did Stephen grace?
Ours was a Levite, and as times went then,
His Tribe were Godalmighty’s Gentlemen.
Sunk were his eyes, his voice was harsh and loud,
Sure signs he neither cholerick was, nor proud:
His long chin prov’d his wit; his Saintlike grace
A Church Vermilion, and a Moses‘s face;
His memory, miraculously great,
Could Plots, exceeding mans belief, repeat;
VVhich, therefore cannot be accounted lies,
For humane wit coud never such devise.
Some future Tr•ths are mingled in his Book;
But, where the witness fail’d, the Prophet spoke:
Some things like visionary slights appear;
The Spirit caught him up, the Lord knows where:
And gave him his Rabinical degree
Unknown to Foreign University.
His judgment yet his mem’ry did excel;
VVhich peic’d his wondrous Evidence so well:
And suited to the temper of the times;
Then groaning under Jebusitick crimes.
Let Israel, foes suspect his heav’nly call,
And rashly judge his wit Apocryphal;
Our Laws for such affronts have for•eits made:
He takes his li•e, who takes away his trade.
VVere I my sel• in witness Corahs place,
The wretch who did me such a dire disgrace,
Should whet my memory, though once forgot,
To make him an A•pendix of my Plot.
Page 24His zeal to Heav’n, made him his Prince despise,
And load his person with indignities:
But zeal peculiar priviledg affords;
Indulging latitude to deeds and words.
And Corah might for Agag‘s murther call,
In terms as course as Samuel us’d to Saul.
What others in his Evidence did joyn,
(The best that coud be had for love or coyn,)
In Corah‘s own predicament will fall:
For witness is a common name to all.
Surrounded thus with friends of every sort,
Deluded Absalom, forsakes the Court:
Impatient of high hopes, urg’d with renown:
And fir’d with near possession of a Crown,
Th’ admiring Croud are dazled with Surprize,
And on his goodly person feed their eyes:
His Joy Conceal’d, he sets himself to show:
On each side bowing popularly low:
His looks, his gestures, and his words he frams,
And with familiar ease repeats their Names.
Thus, form’d by Nature, furnish’d out with Arts,
He glides unfelt into their secret hearts:
Then, with a kind compassionating look,
And sighs, bespeaking pity e’r he spoke:
Few words he said; but easy those and fit:
More slow than Hybla drops, and far more sweet.
I mourn, my Countrymen, your lost Estate;
Tho far unable to prevent your sate:
Behold a Banish’t man, for your dear cause
Expos’d a prey to Arbitrary Laws!
Yet oh! that I alone coud be undone,
Cut of from Empire, and no more a Son!
Now all your Liberties a spoil are made;
Aegypt and Tyrus intercept your Trade,
And Iebusites your Sacred Rites invade.
My Father, whom with reverence yet I Name,
Charm’d into Ease, is careless of his Fame:
And, brib’d with petty sums of Forreign Gold,
Is grown in Batsheba‘s Embraces old:
Page 25Exalts his Enemies, his Friends destroys:
And all his pow’r against himself employs.
He gives, and let him give my right away:
But why should he his own, and yours betray?
He only, he can make the Nation bleed,
And he alone from my revenge is freed.
Take then my tears (with that he wip’d his Eyes)
Tis all the Aid my present pow’r supplies:
No Court Informer can these Arms accuse;
These Arms may Sons against their Fathers use,
And, ’tis my wish, the next Successor’s Reign
May make no other Israelite complain.
Youth, Beauty, Gracefull Action, seldom fail:
But Common Interest always will prevail:
And pity never Ceases to be shown
To him, who makes the peoples wrongs his own.
The Croud, (that still believe their Kings oppress)
With lifted hands their young Messiah bles•:
Who now begins his Progress to ordain;
With Chariots, Horsemen, and a num’rous train:
From East to West his Glories he displaies:
And, like the Sun, the promis’d Land survays.
Fame runs before him as the morning-Star;
And shouts of Joy salute him from afar:
Each house receives him as a Guardian God;
And Consecrates the place of his abode;
But hospitable treats did most commend
Wise Issachar, his wealthy western friend.
This moving Court, that caught the peoples Eyes:
And seem’d but pomp, did other ends disguise.
Achitophel had form’d it with intent
To sound the depth, and fathom where it went:
The people’s hearts, distinguish Friends from Foes;
And trie their strength, before they come to blows
Yet all was colour’d with a smooth pretence
Of specious love, and duty to their Prince.
Religion, and Redress of Grievances,
Two names, that always cheat and always please,
Are often urg’d; and good king David‘s li•e
Indanger’d by a Brother and a Wife.
Page 26Thus in a Pageant Show, a Plot is made;
And Peace it self is War in Masquerâde.
Oh foolish Israel! never warn’d by ill,
Still the same baite, and circumvented still!
Did ever men forsake their present ease,
In midst of health Imagine a desease;
Take pains Contingent mischiefs to foresee,
Make Heirs for Monarchs, and for God decree?
What shall we think! can people give away
Both for themselves and Sons, their Native sway?
Then they are left Defensless, to the Sword
Of each unbounded Arbitrary Lord:
And Laws are vain, by which we Right enjoy,
If Kings unquestioned can those laws destroy.
Yet, if the Crowd be Judge of fit and Just,
And Kings are onely Officers in trust,
Then this resuming Cov’nant was declar’d
When Kings were made, or is for ever bar’d:
If those who gave the Scepter, could not tye
By their own deed their own Posterity,
How then coud Adam bind his future Race?
How coud his for•eit on mankind take place?
Or how coud heavenly Justice damn us all,
Who ne’r consented to our Fathers fall?
Then Kings are slaves to those whom they Command,
And Tenants to their Peoples pleasure stand.
Add, that the Pow’r for property allowd,
Is mischeivously seated in the Crowd:
For who can be secure of private Right,
If Sovereign sway may be dissolv’d by might?
Nor is the Peoples Judgment always true:
The most may err as grosly as the few.
And faultless Kings run down, by Common Cry,
For Vice, Oppression, and for Tyranny.
What Standard is there in a •ickle rout,
Which, flowing to the mark, runs faster out?
Nor only Crowds, but Sanhedrins may be
Infected with this publick lunacy:
And share the madness of rebellious times,
To marther Monarchs for imagin’d crimes.
Page 27If they may give and take whn e’r they please,
Not Kings alone, (the Godheads Images,)
But Government it self at length must fall
To Natures state, where all have right to all.
Yet, grant our Lords the people Kings can make,
What prudent men a setled Throne woud shake?
For whatsoe’r their sufferings were before,
That change they covet makes them suffer more.
All other Errors but disturb a State;
But Innovation is the blow of Fate.
If ancient Fabricks nod, and threat to fall,
To patch the flaws, and buttress up the wall,
Thus far ’tis duty; but here fix the mark:
For all beyond it is to touch our Ark.
To change Foundations, cast the Frame anew,
Is work for Rebels who base Ends pursue:
At once Divine and Humane Laws controul;
And mend the parts by ruine of the whole.
The Tamp’ring World is subject to this Curse,
To Physick their Disease into a worse.
Now what relief can Righteous David bring?
How Fatal ’tis to be too good a King!
Friends he has few, so high the Madness grows;
Who dare be such, must be the peoples Foes,
Yet some there were, ev’n in the worst of days;
Some let me name, and Naming is to praise.
In this short File Barzillai first appears;
Barzillai crown’d with Honour and with Years,
Long since, the rising Rebells he withstood
In Regions waste, beyond the Iordans Flood,
Unfortunately Brave to buoy the Sate;
But sinking underneath his Master’s Fate,
In exile with his Godlike Prince he mourn’d;
For him he Suffer’d, and with him Return’d.
The Court he practis’d, not the Courtier’s art;
Large was his Wea•th, but larger was his Heart;
Which, well the Noblest Objects knew to choose,
The Fighting Warriour, and Recording Muse.
His bed cou’d once a Fruitfull Issue boast,
Now more than half a Father’s Name is lost.
Page 28His eldest hope, with every Grace adorn’d,
By me (so Heav’n will have it) always mourn’d,
And always honour’d, snatch’d in manhoods prim•
B’ unequal fates, and providences crime;
Yet not before the Goal of Honour won,
All parts fulfil•‘d of Subject and of Son;
Swift was the Race, but short the time to run.
Oh narrow circle, but of Pow’r divine,
Scanted in space, but perfect in thy Line!
By Sea, by Land, thy matchless worth was known;
Arms thy delight, and War was all thy own:
Thy force, infus’d, the fainting Tyrians prop’d:
And haughty Pharaoh found his Fortune stop’d.
Oh ancient Honour, oh unconquer’d hand,
Whom foes unpunish’d never coud withstand!
But Israel was unworthy of thy Name;
Short is the date of all immoderate fame.
It looks as Heav’n our ruine had design’d,
And durst not trust thy fortune and thy mind.
Now, free from earth, thy disencumbred Soul
Mounts up, and leaves behind the Clouds and starry Pole:
From thence thy kindred legions may’st thou bring
To aid the guardian Angel of thy King.
Here stop my Muse, here cease thy painful slight;
No pinions can pursue immortal height:
Tell good Barzillai thou canst sing no more,
And tell thy soul she should have ••ed before;
Or fled she with his life, and left this Verse
To hang on her departed Parton’s Herse?
Now take thy steepy flight from Heav’n, and see
If thou canst find on earth another He;
Another He would be too hard to find,
See then whom thou canst see not far behind:
Zadock the Priest, whom, shunning pow’r and place,
His lowly mind advanc’d to David‘s Grace:
With him the Sagan of Ierusalem,
Of hospitable soul, and noble stem;
Him of the western dome, whose weighty sense
Flows in fit words, and heavenly Eloquence.
Page 29The Prophets sons by such example led,
To Learning and to Loyalty were bred:
For Colleges on bounteous Kings depend,
And never Rebel was to Arts a friend.
To these succeed the Pillars of the Laws,
Who best coud plead, and best can judge a Cause.
Next them a train of Loyal Peers ascend:
Sharp judging Adriel, the Muses friend,
Himself a Muse;—In Sanhedrins debate
True to his Prince; but not a Slave of State.
Whom David‘s love with Honours did adorn,
That from his disobedient Son were torn.
Iotham of piercing wit, and pregnant thought,
Indu’d by Nature, and by Learning taught
To move Assemblies, who but only try’d
The worse a-while, then chose the better side;
Nor chose alone, but turn’d the balance too;
So much the weight of one brave man can do.
Hushai the friend of David in distress,
In publick storms of manly stedfastness;
By foreign Treaties he inform’d his Youth;
And join’d experience to his native truth.
His frugal care supp’y’d the wanting Throne,
Frugal for that, but bounteous of his own:
‘Tis easy conduct when Exchequers flow,
But hard the task to manage well the low:
For Soverereign Power is too deprest or high,
When Kings are forc’d to sell, or Crowds to buy.
Indulge one labour more, my weary Muse,
For Amiel, who can Amiel’s praise refuse?
Of ancient Race by Birth, but Nobler yet
In his own worth, and without Title great:
The Sanhedrin-long time as Chief he rul’d,
Their Reason guided, and their Passion cool’d;
So dextrous was he in the Crown’s defence,
So form’d to speak a Loyal Nations sense,
That as their Band was Israel‘s Tribes in small,
So fit was he to represent them all.
Now rasher Charioteers the Seat ascend,
Whose loose Carriers his steady Skill commend:
Page 30They, like th’unequal Ruler of the day,
Misguide the seasons, and mistake the way;
While he withdrawn at their mad labour smiles,
And safe enjoys the Sabbath of his toyls.