Ev'n Jonathan had dy'd for being so,
Had not just God put-by th' unnatural blow.
"You see, sir, the true cause which brings us
here:

No sullen discontent, or groundless fear;
No guilty act or end calls us from home;
Only to breathe in peace awhile we come ;
Ready to serve, and in mean space to pray
For you, who us receive, and him who, drives
away."

THE DAVIDEIS. BOOK IV.

THE ARGUMENT.

Moab carries his guest to hunt at Nebo; in the way falls into discourse with David, and desires to know of him the reasons of the change of government in Israel; how Saul came to the crown, and the story of him and Jonathan. David's speech, containing the state of the commonwealth under the Judges; the motives for which the people desired a king; their deputies' speech to Samuel upon that subject, and his reply. The assembling of the people at the tabernacle, to inquire God's pleasure. God's speech. The character of Saul; his anointing by Samuel, and election by lot; the defection of his people. The war of Nahash king of Ammon against JabeshGilead; Saul and Jonathan's relieving of the town. Jonathan's character; his single fight with Nahash, whom he slays, and defeats his army. The confirmation of Saul's kingdom at Gilgal, and the manner of Samuel's quitting his office of judge. The war with the Philistines at Macmas: their strength, and the weakness of Saul's forces; his exercising of the priestly function, and the judgment denounced by Samuel against him. Jonathan's discourse with his esquire; their falling alone upon the enemy's out-guards at Senes, and after upon the whole army; the wonderful defeat of it. Saul's rash row, by which Jonathan is to be put to death, but is saved by the people.

Since last night's story, and with greedier ear The man, of whom so much he heard, did hear. The well-born youth of all his flourishing court March gay behind, and joyful, to the sport; Some arm'd with bows, some with straight javelins, ride;

Rich swords and gilded quivers grace their side. 'Midst the fair troop David's tall brethren rode, And Joab, comely as a fancied god;

They entertain'd th' attentive Moab lords
With loose and various talk that chance affords,
Whilst they pac'd slowly on; but the wise king
Did David's tongue to weightier subjects bring.
"Much," said the king, "much I to Joab owe,
For the fair picture drawn by him of you;
'Twas drawn in little, but did acts express
So great, that largest histories are less.

I see, methinks, the Gathian monster still;
His shape last night my mindful dreams did fill.
Strange tyrant, Saul, with envy to pursue
The praise of deeds whence his own safety grew!
I've heard (but who can think it?) that his son
Has his life's hazard for your friendship run;
His matchless son, whose worth (if fame be true)
Lifts him 'bove all his countrymen but you,
With whom it makes him one." Low David
bows,

But no reply Moab's swift tongue allows.
"And pray, kind guest! whilst we ride thus,"
says he,

"(To gameful Nebo still three leagues there be) The story of your royal friend relate, And his ungovern'd sire's imperious fate; Why your great state that nameless family chose,

And by what steps to Israel's throne they

rose."

He said and David thus:" From Egypt's land You've heard, sir, by what strong unarmed hand Our fathers came, Moses their sacred guide; But he in sight of the given country dy'd: His fatal promis'd Canaan was on high, And Joshua's sword must the active rod supply: It did so, and did wonders. From sacred Jordan to the Western main, From well-clad Libanus to the Southern plain Of naked sands his winged conquest went : And thirty kings to Hell uncrown'd he sent. Almost four hundred years, from him to Saul, In too much freedom past, or foreign thrall. Oft strangers' iron sceptres bruis'd the land,

the night

Of half her natural and more just delight,
Moab (whom temperance did still vigorous keep,
And regal cares had us'd to moderate sleep)
Up with the Sun arose; and, having thrice
With lifted hands bow'd towards his shining rise,
And thrice tow'rds Phegor,his Baal's holiest hill,
(With good and pious prayers, directed ill)
Call'd to the chase his friends, who for him
stay'd;

The glad dogs bark'd, the cheerful horses neigh'd.
Moab his chariot mounts, drawn by four steeds,
The best and noblest that fresh Zerith breeds,
All white as snow, and spriteful as the light,
With scarlet trapt, and foaming gold they bite.
He into it young David with him took,
Did with respect and wonder on him look

Robbery the field, Oppression sack'd the town; What the sword's reaping spar'd, was glean'd by th' gown.

At courts and seats of justice to complain,
Was to be robb'd more vexingly again.
Nor was their lust less active or less bold,
Amidst this rougher search of blood and gold;
Weak beauties they corrupt, and force the
strong;

The pride of old men that, and this of young. You 'ave heard perhaps, sir, of lew'd Gibeah's shame,

Which Hebrew tongues still tremble when they
Alarmed all by one fair stranger's eyes, [name:
As to a sudden war, the town does rise,
Shaking and pale, half-dead ere they begin
The strange and wanton tragedy of their sin :
All their wild lusts they force her to sustain,
Till by shame, sorrow, weariness, and pain,
She mids't their loath'd and cruel kindness dies;
Of monstrous Lust the innocent sacrifice.
This did, 'tis true, a civil war create
(The frequent curse of our loose govern'd state);
All Gibeah's, and all Jabesh' blood it cost;
Near a whole tribe, and future kings, we lost.
Firm in this general earthquake of the land,
How could religion, its main pillar, stand?
Proud and fond man his Father's worship hates,
Himself, God's creature, his own god creates !
Hence in each household several deities grew,
And when no old one pleas'd they fram'd a new:
The only land which serv'd but one before,
Did th' only then all nations' gods adore.
They serv'd their gods at first, and soon their
kings,

(Their choice of that this latter slavery brings) Till special men, arm'd with God's warrant, broke

By justest force th' unjustly-forced yoke ;
All matchless persons, and thrice worthy they
Of power more great, or lands more apt t' obey.
At last the priesthood join'd, in Ithamar's son,
More weight and lustre to the sceptre won;
But, whilst mild Eli and good Samuel were
Busied with age, and th' altar's sacred care,
To their wild sons they their high charge cominit,
Who expose to scorn and hate both them and
it.

Eli's curs'd house th' exemplar vengeance bears
Of all their blood, and all sad Israel's tears;
His sons abroad, himself at home, lies slain;
Israel's captiv'd, God's ark and law are ta'en.
Thus twice are nations by ill princes vex'd,
They suffer by them first, and for them next.
Samuel succeeds ;-since Moses, none before
So much of God in his bright bosom bore.
Invain our arms Philistian tyrants seiz'd;
Heaven's magazines he open'd when he pleas'd :
He rains and winds for auxiliaries brought.;
He muster'd flames and thunders when he fought.
Thus thirty years with strong and steady hand
He held th' unshaken balance of the land;
At last his sons th' indulgent father chose
To share that state which they were born to
lose:

Their hateful acts that change's birth did haste,
Which had long growth i' th' womb of ages past.
To this (for still were some great periods set,
There's a strong knot of several causes met)

The threats concurr'd of a rough neighbouring

war;

A mighty storm long gathering from afar;
For Ammon, heighten'd with mix'd nations' aid,
Like torrents swoln with rain, prepar'd the land
t' invade.

Samuel was old, and, by his sons' ill choice,
Turn'd dotard in th' unskilful vulgar's voice;
His sons so scorn'd and hated, that the land
Nor hop'd, nor wish'd, a victory from their hand
These were the just and faultless causes why
The general voice did for a monarch cry;
But God ill grains did in this incense smell ;
Wrapp'd in fair leaves he saw the canker dwell:
A mutinous itch of change; a dull despair
Of helps divine, oft prov'd; a faithless care
Of common means; the pride of heart and scorn
Of th' humble yoke under low judges borne.
They saw the state and glittering pomp which
In vulgar sense the sceptres of the East; [blest
They saw not power's true source, and scorn'd to
obey

Persons that look'd no dreadfuller than they ; They miss'd courts, guards, a gay and numerous train

Our judges, like their laws, were rude andplam:On an old bench of wood, her seat of state Beneath the well-known palm, wise Deborah sate; Her maids with comely diligence round her

spun,

And she too, when the pleadings there were done:
With the same goad Shamgar his oxen drives
Which took, the sun before, six hundred lives
From his sham'd foes: he midst his work dealt
laws;

And oft was his plough stopp'd to hear a cause :
Nor did great Gideon his old flail disdain,
After won fields, sack'd towns, and princes slain
His sceptre that, and Ophra's threshing-foor
The seat and emblem of his justice bore.
What should I Jair, the happiest father, name?
Or mournful Jephtha, known no less to Fame
For the most wretched? Both at once did keep
The mighty flocks of Israel and their sheep.
Oft from the field in haste they summon'd were
Some weighty foreign embassy to hear;
They call'd their slaves, their sons, and friends,
around,

Who all at several cares were scatter'd found;
They wash'd their feet, their only gown put on,
And this chief work of ceremony was done.
These reasons, and all else that could be said,
In a ripe hour by factious Eloquence spread
Through all the tribes, make all desire a king;
And to their judge selected deputies bring
This harsh demand; which Nacol for the rest
(A bold and artful mouth) thus with much grace
express'd

'We're come, most sacred Judge! to pay the

arrears

Of much-ow'd thanks, for the bright thirty years
Of your just reign; and at your feet to lay
All that our grateful hearts can weakly pay
In unproportion'd words; for you alone
The not unfit reward, who seek for none.
But, when our forepast ills we call to mind,
And sadly think how little 's left behind
Of your important life, whose sudden date
Would disinherit th' unprovided state;

In glad effects God's presence thus appear'd, And thus in wondrous sounds his voice was heard:

"This stubborn land sins still, nor is it thee, but

us

(Who 'ave been so long their king) they seek to cast off thus; [strove Five hundred rolling years hath this stiff nation T' exhaust the boundless stores of our unfathom'd love.

Be't so then; yet once more are we resolv'd to try T' outweary them through all their sins' variety: Assemble, ten days hence, the numerous people here,

To draw the royal lot which our hid mark shall bear.

Dismiss them now in peace; but their next crime shall bring

Ruin without redress on them, and on their king.' "Th' Almighty spoke; th' astonish'd people part

With various stamps impress'd on every heart: Some their demand repented, others prais'd; Some had no thoughts at all, but star'd and gaz'd. "There dwelt a man,nam'd Cis,in Gibeah town, For wisdom much, and much for courage, known; More for his son; his mighty son was Saul, Whom nature, ere the lots, t' a throne did call. He was much prince, and when, or wheresoe'er, His birth had been, then had he reign'd, and

there.

Such beauty, as great strength thinks no disgrace,

Smil'd in the manly features of his face;
His large, black eyes, fill'd with a spriteful light,
Shot forth such lively and illustrious night,
As the Sun-beams, on jet reflecting, show;
His hair, as black, in long curl'd waves did flow;
His tall straight body amidst thousands stood,
Like some fair pine o'erlooking all th' ignobler
wood.

Of all our rural sports he was the pride;
So swift, so strong, so dextrous, none beside.
Rest was his toil, labours his lust and game;
No natural wants could his fierce diligence tame,
Not thirst nor hunger; he would journeys go
Through raging heats, and take repose in snow.
His soul was ne'er unbent from weighty care;
But active as some mind that turns a sphere.
His way once chose, he forward thrust outright,
Nor step'd aside for dangers or delight.
Yet was he wise all dangers to foresce;
But born t' affright, and not to fear was he.
His wit was strong, not fine; and on his tongue
An artless grace, above all eloquence, hung.
These virtues too the rich unusual dress
Of modesty adorn'd, and humbleness;
Like a rich varnish o'er fair pictures laid,
More fresh and lasting they the colours made.
Till power and violent fortune, which did find
No stop or bound, o'erwhelm'd no less his mind,
Did, deluge-like, the natural forms deface,
And brought forth unknown monsters in their
place.

Forbid it, God! my master's spots should be,
Were they not seen by all, disclos'd by me!
But such he was; and now to Ramah went
(So God dispos'd) with a strange, low intent.
Great God! he went lost asses to inquire,
And a small present, his small question's hire,

Brought simply with him to that man to give,
From whom high Heaven's chief gifts he must
receive:
[things
Strange play of Fate! when mightiest human
Hang on such small, imperceptible strings!
'Twas Samuel's birth-day; a glad annual feast
All Rama kept; Samuel his wondering guest.
With such respect leads to it, and does grace
With the choice meats o' th' feast, and highest
place;

Which done, him forth alone the prophet brings,
And feasts his ravish'd ears with nobler things:
He tells the mighty fate to him assign'd,
And with great rules fill'd his capacious mind;
Then takes the sacred vial, and does shed
A crown of mystic drops around his head;
Drops of that royal moisture which does know
No mixture, and disdains the place below.
Soon comes the kingly day, and with it brings
A new account of time upon his wings.
The people met, the rites and prayers all past,
Behold the heaven-instructed lot is cast;
'Tis taught by Heaven its way, and cannot miss;
Forth Benjamin, forth leaps the house of Cis:
As glimmering stars, just at th' approach of day
Cashier'd by troops, at last drop all away;
By such degrees all men's bright hopes are gone,
And, like the Sun, Saul's lot shines all alone.
Ev'n here perhaps the people's shout was heard,
The loud long shout, when God's fair choice ap-
pear'd:

Above the whole vast throng he appeared so tall,
As if by Nature made for th' head of all;
So full of grace and state, that one might know
'Twas some wise eye the blind lot guided so :
But blind unguided lots have more of choice
And constancy than the slight vulgar's voice.
Ere yet the crown of sacred oil is dry,
Whilst echoes yet preserve the joyful cry,
Some grow enrag'd their own vain hopes to miss,
Some envy Saul, some scorn the house of Cis:
Some their first mutinous wish, a king!' re-

pent,

As if, since that, quite spoil'd by God's consent:
Few to this prince their first just duties pay:
All leave the old, but few the new obey.
Thus changes man, but God is constant still
To those eternal grounds that mov'd his will;
And, though he yielded first to them, 'tis fit
That stubborn men at last to him submit.

As midst the main a low small island lies,
Assaulted round with stormy seas and skies,
Whilst the poor heartless natives, every hour,
Darkness and noise seem ready to devour ;
Such Israel's state appear'd, whilst o'er the west
Philistian clouds hung threatening, and from th'

The hopeless town for slavery does entreat ;
But barbarous Nahash thinks that grace too great;
He (his first tribute) their right eyes demands,
And with their faces' shame disarms their hands.
If unreliev'd seven days by Israel's aid,
This bargain for o'er-rated life is made.
Ah, mighty God! let thine own Israel be
Quite blind itself, ere this reproach it see!

By his wanton people the new king forsook,
To homely, rural cares himself betook;
In private plenty liv'd, without the state,
Lustre, and noise, due to a public fate.
Whilst he his slaves and cattle follows home,
Lo! the sad messengers, from Jabesh come,
Implore his help, and weep, as if they meant
That way at least proud Nahash to prevent.
Mov'd with a kingly wrath, his strict command
He issues forth t' assemble all the land;
He threatens high, and disobedient they,
Wak'd by such princely terrours, learnt t' obey.
A mighty host is rais'd; th' important cause
Age from their rest, youth from their pleasure,
draws;

Arm'd as unfurnish'd haste could them provide;
But conduct, courage, anger, that supply'd.
All night they march, and are at th' early dawn
On Jabesh' heath in three fair bodies drawn:
Saul did himself the first and strongest band,
His son the next, Abner the third, command.-
But pardon, sir, if, naming Saul's great son,
I stop with him awhile ere I go on.-

"This is that Jonathan, the joy and grace,
The beautifull'st and best, of human race;
That Jonathan, in whom does mix'd remain
All that kind mothers' wishes can contain !
His courage such as it no stop can know,
And victory gains by astonishing the foe;
With lightning's force his enemies it confounds,
And melts their hearts ere it the bosom wounds;
Yet he the conquer'd with such sweetness gains,
As captive lovers find in beauty's chains:
In war, the adverse troops he does assail
Like an impetuous storm of wind and hail;
In peace, like gentlest dew that does assuage
The burning months, and temper Syrius' rage;
Kind as the Sun's blest influence; and, where'er
He comes, plenty and joy attend him there:
To help seems all his power; his wealth, to give;
To do much good, his sole prerogative :
And yet this general bounty of his mind,
That with wide arms embraces all mankind,
Such artful prudence does to each divide,
With different measures all are satisfy'd;
Just as wise God his plenteous manna dealt;
Some gather'd more, but want by none was felt.
To all relations their just rights he pays,
And worth's reward above its claim does raise;
The tenderest husband, master, father, son,
And all those parts by his friendship far outdone;
His love to friends no bound or rule does know,
What he to Heaven, all that to him they owe.
Keen as his sword, and pointed, is his wit;
His judgment, like best armour, strong and fit;
And such an eloquence to both these does join,
As makes in both beauty and use combine;
Through which a noble tincture does appear,
By learning and choice books imprinted there:
As well he knows all times and persons gone,
As he himself to th' future shall be known:

But his chief study is God's sacred law,
And all his life does comments on it draw ;-
As never more by Heaven to man was given,
So never more was paid by man to Heaven.-
And all these virtues were to ripeness grown,
Ere yet his flower or youth was fully blown;
All autumn's store did his rich spring adorn ;
Like trees in Paradise, he with fruit was born.
Such is his soul; and if, as some men tell,
Souls form and build those mansions where they
dwell,

Whoe'er but sees his body must confess,
The architect, no doubt, could be no less.
From Saul his growth and manly strength hetook,
Chastis'd by bright Ahinoam's gentler look;
Not bright Ahinoam, Beauty's loudest name,
(Till she t' her children lost with joy her fame)
Had sweeter strokes, colours more fresh and fair,
More darting eyes, or lovelier auburn hair.
Forgive me, that I thus your patience wrong,
And on this boundless subject stay so long,
Where too much haste ever to end 'twould be,
Did not his acts speak what's untold by me.
Though, from the time his hands a sword could
wield,

He ne'er miss'd fame and danger in the field,
Yet this was the first day that call'd him forth,
Since Saul's bright crown gave lustre to his worth;
'Twas the last morning whose uncheerful rise
Sad Jabesh was to view with both their eyes.
Secure proud Nahash slept, as in his court,
And dreamt, vain man! of that day's barbarous
Till noise and dreadful tumults him awoke ;[sport,
Till into his camp our violent army broke.
The careless guards with small resistance kill'd,
Slaughter the camp, and wild confusion, fill'd;
Nahash his fatal duty does perform,
And marches boldly up t' outface the storm;
Fierce Jonathan he meets, as he pursues
Th' Arabian horse, and a hot fight renews :
'Twas here your troops behav'd themselves so
well,

Till Uz and Jathan, their stout colonels, fell.
'Twas here our victory stopp'd, and gave us cause
Much to suspect th' intention of her pause;
But, when our thundering prince Nahash espy'd,
(Who, with a courage equal to his pride,
Broke through our troops, and tow'rds him boldly
press'd)

A generous joy leap'd in his youthful breast:
As when a wrathful dragon's dismal light
Strikes suddenly some warlike eagle's sight,
The mighty foe pleases his fearless eyes,
He claps his joyful wings, and at him flies.
With vain though violent force their darts they
In Ammon's plated belt Jonathan's hung, [flung;
And stopp'd there; Ammon did his helmet hit,
And, gliding off, bore the proud crest from it;
Straight with their swords to the fierce shock they