That kingly power, thus ebbing out, might be
Drawn to the dregs of a democracy.

Him he attempts with ftudied arts to please,
And fheds his venom in fuch words as these.
Aufpicious prince, at whose nativity
Some royal planet rul'd the fouthern sky;
Thy longing country's darling and defire;
Their cloudy pillar and their guardian fire :
Their fecond Mofes, whofe extended wand
Divides the seas, and fhews the promis'd land :
Whofe dawning day, in every distant age,
Has exercis'd the facred prophet's rage:
The people's prayer, the glad diviner's theme,
The young men's vifion, and the old men's dream!
Thee, Saviour, thee the nation's vows confefs,
And, never fatisfy'd with feeing, blefs:

Swift unbespoken pomps thy fteps proclaim,
And ftammering babes are taught to lifp thy name.
How long wilt thou the general joy detain,
Starve and defraud the people of thy reign;
Content ingloriously to pafs thy days,
Like one of virtue's fools that feed on praife;
Till thy fresh glories, which now fhine fo bright,
Grow ftale, and tarnish with our daily fight?
Believe me, royal youth, thy fruit must be
Or gather'd ripe, or rot upon the tree.
Heaven has to all allotted, foon or late,
Some lucky revolution of their fate :

Whofe motions if we watch and guide with skill,
For human good depends on human will,

Our fortune rolls as from a fmooth defcent,
And from the first impression takes the bent:
But if unfeiz'd fhe glides away like wind,
And leaves repenting folly far behind.
Now, now the meets you with a glorious prize,
And spreads her locks before you as the flies.
Had thus old David, from whofe loins you fpring,
Not dar'd when fortune call'd him to be king,
At Gath an exile he might still remain,

And heaven's anointing oil had been in vain.
Let his fuccessful youth your hopes engage;
But fhun th' example of declining age :
Behold him fetting in his western skies,
The fhadows lengthening as the vapours rise.
He is not now, as when on Jordan's fand
The joyful people throng'd to see him land,
Covering the beach, and blackening all the 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 fcorn :
Our only bleffing fince his curft return:
Thofe heaps of people which one sheaf did bind,
Blown off and scatter'd by a puff of wind.
What ftrength can he to your defigns oppofe,
Naked of friends and round befet with foes?
If Pharaoh's doubtful fuccour he should use,
A foreign aid would more incenfe the Jews:
Proud Egypt would diffembled friendship bring;
Foment the war, but not fupport the king:

Nor

Nor would the royal party e'er unite

With Pharaoh's arms t' affift the Jebusite;

Or if they should, their interest soon would break,
And with fuch odious aid make David weak.
All forts of men by my fuccessful 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 Ifrael hope, and what applause
Might such a general gain by such a cause?
Not barren praise alone, that gaudy flower
Fair only to the fight, but folid power:
And nobler is a limited command,
Given by the love of all your native land,
Than a fucceffive title, long and dark,
Drawn from the mouldy rolls of Noah's ark.
What cannot praise effect in mighty minds,
When flattery fooths, and when ambition blinds ?
Defire of power, on earth a vicious weed,
Yet fprung from high is of celestial feed :
In God 'tis glory; and when men aspire,
'Tis but a spark too much of heavenly fire.
Th' ambitious youth, too covetous of fame,
Too full of angel's metal in his frame,
Unwarily was led from virtue's ways,

Made drunk with honour, and debauch'd with praise. Half loath, and half confenting 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 unqueftion'd right;
The faith's defender, and mankind's delight;
Good, gracious, juft, obfervant of the laws;
And heaven by wonders has efpous'd his caufe.
Whom has he wrong`d in all his peaceful reign ?
Who fues for juftice to his throne in vain ?
What millions has he pardon'd of his foes,
Whom juft revenge did to his wrath expose !
Mild, eafy, humble, ftudious of our good;
Inclin'd to mercy, and averfe from blood.
If mildness ill with ftubborn Ifrael fuit,
His crime is God's beloved attribute.
What could he gain his people to betray,
Or change his right for arbitrary fway?
Let haughty Pharaoh curse with such a reign
His fruitful Nile, and yoke a fervile train.
If David's rule Jerufalem difplease,

The dog-ftar heats their brains to this disease.
Why then should I, encouraging the bad,
Turn rebel, and run popularly mad?
Were he a tyrant, who by lawless might
Opprefs'd the Jews, and rais'd the Jebusite,
Well might I mourn; but nature's holy bands
Would curb my fpirits and reftrain my hands:
The people might affert their liberty;
But what was right in them were crime in me.
His favour leaves me nothing to require,
Prevents my wishes, and out-runs defire;

What

What more can I expect while David lives?
All but his kingly diadem he gives :

And that-But here he paus'd; then, fighing, faid-
Is justly deftin'd for a worthier head.

For when my father from his toils fhall reft,
And late augment the number of the bleft,
His lawful iffue fhall the throne afcend,
Or the collateral line, where that fhall end.
His brother, though opprefs'd with vulgar fpite,
Yet dauntless, and fecure of native right,
Of every royal virtue ftands poffeft;

Still dear to all the braveft 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 fure he comes of a forgiving kind.
Why fhould I then repine at heaven's decree,
Which gives me no pretence to royalty?
Yet oh that fate, propitiously inclin'd,
Had rais'd my birth, or had debas'd my mind
To my large foul not all her treafure lent,
And then betray'd it to a mean defcent!
I find, I find my mounting fpirits bold,
And David's part diflains my mother's mould.
Why am I fcanted by a niggard birth?
My foul difclaims the kindred of her earth;
And made for empire whifpers me within,
Defire of greatnefs is a god-like fin.

Him ftaggering fo, when hell's dire agent found,
While fainting virtue fcarce maintain'd her ground,

He