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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 honour and our trade.

820

Such were the chiefs who most his suff'rings 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 thro' the field,
Disdaining, furls his mane, and tears the ground,
His eyes enflaming all the desert round,
With roar of seas directs his chaser's way,
Provokes from far and dares them to the fray;

Such rage storm'd now in Absalom's fierce breast,

Such indignation his fir'd eyes confest.

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 cred'lous youth convey'd?

831

840

In deep-revolving thoughts he weighs his state,
Secure of craft, nor doubts to baffle Fate;
At least if his storm bark'd must go adrift,
To balk his charge, and for himself to shift,
In which his dext'rous 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,

830

Perceives the crowds 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's plots t' engage in some bold crime
Past pardon, whether to attempt his bed,
Or threat with open arms the royal head,
Or other darling 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 pursuse,
Nor cares what claimer's crown'd except the true.
Wake, Absalom, approaching ruin shun,
And see, O see, for whom thou art undone
How are thy honours and thy fame betray'd,

The property of desp'rate villains made?

860

870

Lost pow'r and conscious fears 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 drest thy bowers, and laurels sought thy brow;
Preferment, wealth, and power, 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?

180

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 conqu❜ring 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 pity'd 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 chuse t' obey?

900

Who once at such a gentle reign repine,
The fall of monarchy itself design;

From hate to that their reformations spring,
And David not their grievance, but the King.
Seiz'd now with panic fear the faction lies,
Lest this clear truth strike Absalom's charm'd eyes,
Lest he perceive from long enchantment free,
What all beside the flatter'd youth must see.
But whate'er doubts his troubled bosom swell,
Fair carriage still became Achithophel,
Who now an envious festival enstals,

gro

920

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 emmits 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 guests confus'dly meet,
With boil'd, bak'd, roast, alljustling in the street.

Dejecting all and ruefully dismay'd,

For shekel without treat or treason paid.

930

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.

940

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 I thy flight recall;
View heav'n 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 gen'rous natives yet could be
Held worthy such a president as he !
Bezaliel, with each 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 spacious falsehood can divide,
Has all the groundsmen's skill without their pride;
Thus crown'd with worth from heights of honour
Sees all his glories copied in his son.

950

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