Weak arguments! which yet he knew full well
Were strong with people easy to rebel:

For govern'd by the moon, the giddy Jews
Tread the same track when she the prime renews;
And once in twenty years, their Scribes record,
By natural instinct they change their lord.
Achithophel still wants a chief, and none
Was found so fit as warlike Absalom:
Not that he wish'd his greatness to create,
(For Politicians neither love nor hate)
But, for he knew his title not allow'd,
Would keep him still depending on the crowd:
That kingly pow'r, thus ebbing out, might be
Drawn to the dregs of a democracy:
Him he attempts, with studied arts, to please,
And sheds his venom in such words as these:

Auspicious Prince, at whose nativity
Some royal planet rul'd the southern sky,
Thy longing country's darling and desire,
Their cloudy pillar, and their guardian fire;
Their second Moses, whose extended wand
Divides the seas, and shews the Promis'd land;
Whose dawning day, in ev'ry distant age,
Has exercis'd the sacred prophet's rage:

The people's pray'r, the glad diviner's theme,

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The young men's vision, and the old men's dream? Thee, Saviour, thee the nation's vows confess,

And never satisfy'd with seeing, bless:

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Swift unbespoken pomps thy steps proclaim,
And stamm'ring babes are taught to lisp thy name:

How long wilt thou the gen'ral joy detain,

Starve, and defraud the people of thy reign:
Content ingloriously to pass thy days

Like one of Virtue's fools, that feed 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 :
Heav'n has to all allotted, soon or late,
Some lucky revolution of their fate,

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Whose motions, if we watch and guide with skill,
(For human good depends on human will)
Our fortune rolls as from a smooth 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, 260
And spreads her locks before you 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 Heav'ns 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 length'ning as the vapours rise.

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He is now as when, on Jordan's sand,
The joyful people throng'd to see him land,
Cov'ring the beach, and black'ning allthe strand;
But, like the prince of angels, from his height,
Comes tumbling downward with diminish'd light.
Betray'd by one poor plot to public scorn.

(Our only blessing since his curs'd return)
Those heaps of people, which one sheaf did bind,
Blown off, and scatter'd by a puff 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 would more incense the Jews:
Proud Egypt would dissembled friendship bring,
Foment the war, but not support the King:
Nor would the royal party e'er unite

With Pharaoh's arms t' assist the Jebusite;
Or if they should, their int'rest soon would break,
And, with such odious aid, make David weak.
All sorts of men, by my successful arts,
Abhorring Kings, estrange their alter'd hearts
From David's rule: and 'tis their general cry,
Religion, Commonwealth, and Liberty;
If you, as champion of the public good,
Add to their arms a chief of royal blood,
What may not Isr'el hope, and what applause
Might such a general gain by such a cause ?

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Not barren praise alone, that gaudy flow'r,
Fair only to the sight, but solid pow'r;
And nobler is a limited command,
Giv'n by the love of all your native land,
Than a successive title, long, and dark,

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Drawn from the mouldy rolls of Noah's ark.

What cannot praise effect in mighty minds, When Flatt'ry sooths, and when Ambition blinds? Desire of pow'r, on earth a vicious weed, Yet, sprung, from high, is of celestial seed: In God 'tis glory; and when men aspire 'Tis but a spark too much of heav'nly fire. Th' ambitious youth, too covetous of fame, Too full of angels' metal in his frame, Unwarily was led from Virtue's ways,

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Made drunk with honour, and debauch'd with praise:

Half loath and half consenting to the ill,

(For royal blood within him struggled still)
He thus reply'd ;---And what pretence have I
To take up arms for public liberty?

My father governs with unquestion'd right,
The faith's Defender, and mankind's delight?
Good, gracious, just, observant of the laws,
And Heav'n by wonders 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?

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Mild, easy, humble, studious of our good,
Inclin❜d to mercy, and averse from blood,
If mildness ill with stubborn Isr'el suit,
His crime is God's beloved attribute.
What could he gain his people 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 Jerusalem displease,
The dog-star heats their brain to this disease.
Why then should I, encouraging the bad,
Turn rebel, and run popularly mad?
Were he a tyrant who, by lawless might,
Oppress'd the Jews, and rais'd the Jebusite,
Well might I mourn; but Nature's holy bands
Would curb my spirits, and restrain my hands:
The people might assert their liberty;
But what was right in them were crime in me.
His favour leaves me nothing to require,
Prevents my wishes, and outruns desire:
What more can I expect while David lives?
All but his kingly diadem he gives:

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And that---but here he paus'd; then sighing, said---
Is justly destin'd for a worthier head.

For when my father from his toils shall rest,
And late augment the number of the blest,
His lawful issue shall the throne ascend,
Or the collateral line, where that shall end,

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