"Si propiùs ftes,
Te capiet magis
It is not my intention to make an apology for my poem: fome will think it needs no excufe, and others will receive none. The defign, I am fure, is honeft; but he who draws his pen for one party, must expect to make enemies of the other. For wit and fool are confequents of Whig and Tory; and every man is a knave or an afs to the contrary fide. There is a treasury of merits in the fanatic church, as well as in the popith and a pennyworth to be had of faintfhip, honesty, and poetry, for the lewd, the factious, and the blockheads: but the longest chapter in Deuteronomy has not curfes enough for an AntiBromingham. My comfort is, their manifeft prejudice to my cause will render their judgment of lefs authority against me. Yet if a poem has genius, it will force its own reception in the world. For there is a sweetness in good verfe, which tickles even while it hurts; and no man can be heartily angry with him who pleases him against his will. The commendation of adverfaries is the greatest triumph of a writer, because it never comes unless extorted. But I can be fa
tisfied on more cafy terms: if I happen to please the more moderate fort, I shall be sure of an honeft party, and, in all probability, of the best judges; for the leaft concerned are commonly the leaft corrupt. And I confess I have laid in for those, by rebating the fatire, where justice would allow it, from carrying too fharp an edge. They who can criticife fo weakly, as to imagine I have done my worst, may be convinced at their own coft that I can write feverely, with more ease than I can gently. I have but laughed at fome men's follies, when I could have declaimed against their vices: and other men's virtues I have commended, as freely as I have taxed their crimes. And now, if you are a malicious reader, I expect you should return upon me that I affect to be thought more impartial than I am; but if men are not to be judged by their profeffions, God forgive you commonwealth's men for profeffing fo plaufibly for the government. You cannot be fo unconscionable as to charge me for not subscribing my name; for that would reflect too grofsly upon your own party, who never dare, though they have the ad
Were I the inventor, who am only the hifto rian, I fhould certainly conclude the piece with the reconcilement of Abfalom to David. And who knows but this may come to pafs? Things were not brought to an extremity where I left the ftory: There seems yet to be room left for a compofure; hereafter there may be only for pity. I have not fo much as an uncharirable wish against Achitophel; but am content to be accused of a good-natured error, and to hope with Origen, that the devil himself may at last be faved. For which reafon, in this poem, he is neither brought to fet his houfe in order, nor to difpofe of his perfon afterwards as he in wifdem fhall think fit. God is infinitely merciful; and his vicegerent is only not fo, because he is not infinite.
vantage of a jury to fecure them. If you like
not my poem, the fault may poffibly be in my
writing, though it is hard for an author to judge
against himself. But more probably it is in your
morals, which cannot bear the truth of it. The
violent on both fides will condemn the character
of Abfalom, as either too favourably or too hard-
ly drawn. But they are not the violent whom I
defire to please. The fault on the right hand is
to extenuate, palliate, and indulge; and to confefs
freely, I have endeavoured to commit it. Befides
the refpect which I owe his birth, I have a greater
for his heroic virtues; and David himself could
not be more tender of the young man's life, than
I would be of his reputation. But fince the moft
excellent natures are always the moft eafy, and,
as being fuch, are the fooneft perverted by ill
counfels, especially when baited with fame and
glory; it is no more a wonder that he withstoodly,
not the temptations of Achitophel, than it was
for Adam not to have refifted the two devils, the
ferpent and the woman. The conclufion of the
ftory I purposely forbore to profecute, because I
could not obtain from myfelf to fhew Abfalom
unfortunate. The frame of it was cut out but for
a picture to the waift; end if the draught be fo
far true, it is as much as I defigned.
The true end of fatire is the amendment of vices by correction. And he, who writes honeftis no more an enemy to the offender, than the physician to the patient, when he prescribes harsh remedies to an inveterate difeafe; for those are only in order to prevent the chirurgion's work of an Enfe refcindendem, which I wish not to my very enemies. To conclude all, if the body politic have any analogy to the natural, in my weak judgment, an act of oblivion were as neceffary in a hot diftempered ftate, as an opiate would be in a raging fever.
In pious times, e'er priestcraft did begin,
Before polygamy was made a fin;
When man on many multiply'd his kind,
E'er one to one was curfedly confin'd;
When nature prompted, and no law deny'd
Promifcuous ufe of concubine and bride;
Then Ifrael's monarch after heaven's own heart
His vigorous warmth did variously impart
To wives and flaves; and wide as his command,
Scatter'd his Maker's image through the land.
Michael, of royal blood, the crown did wear;
A foil ungratuful to the tiller's care:
Not fo the reft; for feveral mothers bore
To god-like David feveral fons before.
But fince like flaves his bed they did afcend,
No true fucceffion could their feed attend.
Of all the numerous progeny was none
So beautiful, fo brave, as Abfalom:
Whether infpir'd by fome diviner luft,
His father got him with a greater guft:
Or that his conscious deftiny made way,
By manly beauty to imperial fway.
Early in foreign fields he won renown,
With kings and states ally'd to Ifrael's crown:
In peace the thoughts of war he could remove,
And feem'd as he were only born for love.
Whate'er he did, was done with so much ease,
In him alone 'twas natural to please :
His motions all accompany'd with grace;
And paradife was open'd in his face.
With fecret joy indulgent David view'd
His youthful image in his fon renew’d:
To all his withes nothing he deny'd;
And made the charming Annabel his bride.
What faults he had; for who from faults is free?
His father could not, or he would not fee.
Some warm exceffes which the law forbore,
Were conftrued youth that purged by boiling
And Amnon's murder, by a fpecious name, [o'er;
Was call'd a juft revenge for injur'd fame.
![[blocks in formation]](https://books.google.fi/books/content?id=697eoP7sGLwC&hl=fi&output=html_text&pg=PA37&img=1&zoom=3&q=%C5%BFame&cds=1&sig=ACfU3U3SjoSOokjl1q0-k-2G70PWbejwfw&edge=0&edge=stretch&ci=507,720,447,220)
No king could govern, nor God could please;
Gods they had try'd of every shape and fize.
That goldsmiths could produce or priests devife:
Thefe Adam-wits too fortunately free,
Began to dream they wanted liberty;
And when no rule, no precedent was found,
Of men, by laws lefs circumfcrib'd and bound;
They led their wild defires to woods and caves,
And thought that all but favages were flaves.
They who, when Saul was dead, without a blow,
Made foolish Ifhbofheth the erown forego;
Who banish'd David did from Hebron bring,
And with a general fhout proclaim'd him king :
Thofe very Jews, who at their very best
Their humour more than loyalty expreft,
Now wonder'd why fo long they had obey'd
An idol monarch, which their hands had made;
Thought they might ruin him they could create,
Or melt him to that golden calf, a state.
But these were random bolts: no form'd defign,
Nor intereft made the factious crowd to join:
The fober part of Ifrael, free from stain,
Well knew the value of a peaceful reign;
And, looking backward with a wife affright,
Saw feams of wounds dishonest to the fight:
In contemplation of whofe ugly fears,
They curft the memory of civil wars.
The moderate fort of men thus quality',
Inclin'd the balance to the better fide;
And David's milanefs manag'd it fo well,
The bad found no cccafion to rebell.
But when to fin our bias'd nature leans,
The careful devil is still at hand with means;
And providently pimps for ill defires :
The good old cause reviv'd a plot requires.
Plots true or falfe are neceffary things,
To raise up commonwealths, and ruin kings.
Th' inhabitants of old Jerufalem
Were Jebufites; the town fo call'd for them;
And theirs the native right-
But when the chofen people grew more strong,
The rightful cause at length became the wrong;
And every lofs the men of Jebus bore,
They ftill were thought God's enemies the more.
Thus worn or 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 loft their land;
And what was harder yet to flesh and blood,
Their gods difgrac'd, and burnt like common
wood.
This fet the heathen priesthood in a flame;
For pricfts of all regions are the same.
Of whatfoe'er defcent their godhead be,
Stock, ftone, or other homely pedigree,
In his defence his fervants are as bold,
As if he had been born of beaten gold.
The Jewish rabbins, though their enemies,
In this conclude them honeft men and wife :
For 'twas their duty, all the learned think,
T'efpoufe his caute by whom they eat and drink.
From hence began that plot, the nation's curse,
Bad in itself, but reprefented worse;
Rais'd in extremes, and in extremes decry'd;
With oaths affirm'd, with dying vows deny'd;
Not weigh'd nor winnow'd by the multitude;
But fwallow'd in the mafs, unchew'd and crude.
Some truth there was, but dafh'd and brew'd
with lies,
To please the fools, and puzzle all the wife.
Succeeding times did equal folly call,
Believing nothing, or believing all
Th' Egyptian rites the Jebufites embrac'd;
Where gods are recommended by their taste.
Such favory deities must needs be good,
As ferv'd at once for worship and for food.
By force they could not introduce these gods;
For ten to one in former days was odds.
So fraud was us'd, the facrificer's trade:
Fools are more hard to conquer than perfuade.
Their busy teachers mingled with the Jews,
And rak'd for converts ev'n the court and stews:
Which Hebrew priests the more unkindly took,
Because the fleece accompanies the flock.
Some thought they God's anointed meant to flay
By guns, invented fince full many a day:
Our author fwears it not; but who can know
How far the devil and Jebufites may go?
This plot, which fail'd for want of common fenfe,
Had yet a deep and dangerous confequence
For as, when raging fevers boil the blood,
The standing lake foon floats into a flood,
And every hoftile humour, which before
Slept quiet in its channels, bubbles o'er;
So feveral factions from this first fermeot,
Werk up to foam and threat the government,
Some by their friends, more by themselves thought
Oppos'd the power to which they could not rife. Some had in courts been great, and thrown from thence,
Like fiends were harden'd in impenitence,
Some, by their monarch's fatal mercy, grown
From pardon'd rebels kinfmen to the throne,
Were rais'd in power and public office high;
Strong bands, if bands ungrateful men could tie.
Of these the falfe Achitophel was first ;
A name to all fucceeding ages curft;
For clofe defigns, and crooked counsels fit;
Sagacious, bold, and turbulent of wit;
Reftlefs, unfix'd in principles and place;
In power unpleas'd, impatient of disgrace:
A fiery foul, which working out its way,
Fretted the pigmy-body to decay,
And o'er inform'd the tenement of clay.
A daring pilot in extremity;
[high,
Pleas'd with the danger when the waves went
He fought the ftorms; but, for a calm unfit,
Would steer too nigh the fands to boast his wit.
Great wits are fure to madness near ally'd,
And thin partitions do their bounds divide;
Elfe why should he, with wealth and honour bleft
Refuse his age the needful hours of reft?
Punish a body which he could not please;
Bankrupt of life, yet prodigal of ease?
And all to leave what with his toil he won,
To that unfeather'd two-legg'd thing, a fon;
Got, while his foul did huddled notions try;
And born a fhapeless lump, like anarchy.
In friendship falfe. implacable in hate;
Refolv'd to ruin, or to rule the state.
To compass this the triple bond he broke;
The pillars of the public safety shook;
And fitted Ifrael for a foreign yoke;
Then feiz'd with fear, yet still affecting fame,
Ufurp'd a patriot's all-atoning name.
So eafy ftill it proves in factious times,
With public zeal to cancel private crimes.
How fafe is treafon, and how facred ill,
Where none can fin against the people's will!
Where crowds can wink, and no offence be
known,
Since in another's guilt they find their own?
Yet fame deferv'd no enemy can grudge;
The statesman we abhor, but praise the judge.
In Ifrael's courts ne'er fat an Abethdin
With more difcerning eyes, or hands more clean
Unbrib'd, unfought, the wretched to redress;
Swift of dispatch, and easy of access.
Oh! had he been content to ferve the crown,
With virtues only proper to the gown;
Or had the ranknefs of the foil been freed
From cockle, that opprefs'd the noble feed;
David for him his tuneful harp had ftrung,
And heaven had wanted ore immortal fong.
But wild ambition loves to flide, not stand,
And fortune's ice prefers to virtue's land.
Achitophel, grown weary to poffefs
A lawful fame, and lazy happiness,
Difdain'd the golden fruit to gather free,
And lent the crowd his arm to fhake the tree.
Now, manifeft of crimes contriv'd long fince,
He ftood at bold defiance with his prince;
Held up the buckler of the people's caufe
Aganft the crown, and fculk'd behind the laws.
The with'd occafion of the plot he takes ;
Some circumftances finds, but more he makes.
Br buzzing emiffaries fill the cars
Behold him fetting in his western skies,
The fhadows lengthening as the vapours rife.
He is not now, as when on Jordan's fand
The joyful people throng'd to fee him land,
Covering the beach, and blackening all the ftrand;.
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 designs oppose,
Naked of friends, and round befet with foes?
If Pharaoh's doubtful fuccour he should ufe,
A foreign aid would more incenfe the Jews:
Proud Egypt would diffembled friendship bring;
Foment the war, but not fupport the king:
Nor would the royal party e'er unite
With Pharaoh's arms t' aflift the Jebusite;
Or if they fhould, their intereft foon would break,
And with fuch odious aid make David weak.
All forts of men by my fuccefsful arts,
Abhorring kings, eftrange 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 fuch a general gain by fuch a caufe?
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 roils of Noah's ark.
Of liftening crowds with jealoufies and fears Of arbitrary counsels brought to light, And proves the king himself a Jebuíite. 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 fame track when the the prime renews; And once in twenty years their fcribes record, By natural instinct they change their lord. Achit phel ftill wants a chief, and none Was found fo 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 power, thus ebbing out, might be Drawn to the dregs of a democracy. Him he attempts with studied arts to please, And fheds his venom in fuch words as thefe. Aufpicious prince, at whofe nativity Some royal planet rul'd the fouthern sky; Thy longing country's darling and defire ; Their cloudy pillar and their guardian fire: Their second Mofes, whofe extended wand Divides the feas, 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, bless: Swift unbefpoken pomps thy feps 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 praise; Till thy fresh glories, which now shine 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 :
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 celeftial feed: In God 'tis glory; and when men aspire, "Tis but a fpark 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
Half loath, and half confenting to the ill, For royal blood within him ftruggled ftill, He thus reply'd-And what pretence have I To take up arms for public liberty?
Whose motions if we watch and guide with fkill, My father governs with unqueftion'd right;
For human good depends on human will,
Our fortune rolls as from a fmooth defcent,
And from the first impreflion takes the bent;
But if unfeiz'd, the glides away like wind,
And leaves repenting felly 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 loine 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:
The faith's defender, and mankind's delight;
Good, gracious, juft, obfervant of the laws;
And heaven by wonders has efpous'd his cause.
Whom has he wrong'd in all his peaceful reign?
Who fues for justice 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 sway?
C
|