<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=419797" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Absalom and Achitophel</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">In pious times, e'er Priest-craft did begin, <br>Before Polygamy was made a sin; <br>When man, on many, multiply'd his kind, <br>E'r one to one was, cursedly, confind: <br>When Nature prompted, and no law deny'd <br>Promiscuous use of Concubine and Bride; <br>Then, Israel's monarch, after Heaven's own heart, <br>His vigorous warmth did, variously, impart <br>To Wives and Slaves; And, wide as his Command, <br>Scatter'd his Maker's Image through the Land. <br>Michal, of Royal blood, the Crown did wear, <br>A Soyl ungratefull to the Tiller's care; <br>Not so the rest; for several Mothers bore <br>To Godlike David, several Sons before. <br>But since like slaves his bed they did ascend, <br>No True Succession could their seed attend. <br>Of all this Numerous Progeny was none <br>So Beautifull, so brave as Absalon: <br>Whether, inspir'd by some diviner Lust, <br>His father got him with a greater Gust; <br>Or that his Conscious destiny made way <br>By manly beauty to Imperiall sway. <br>Early in Foreign fields he won Renown, <br>With Kings and States ally'd to Israel's Crown <br>In Peace the thoughts of War he could remove, <br>And seem'd as he were only born for love. <br>What e'er he did was done with so much ease, <br>In him alone, 'twas Natural to please. <br>His motions all accompanied with grace; <br>And Paradise was open'd in his face. <br>With secret Joy, indulgent David view'd <br>His Youthfull Image in his Son renew'd: <br>To all his wishes Nothing he deny'd, <br>And made the Charming Annabel his Bride. <br>What faults he had (for who from faults is free?) <br>His Father could not, or he would not see. <br>Some warm excesses, which the Law forbore, <br>Were constru'd Youth that purg'd by boyling o'r: <br>And Amnon's Murther, by a specious Name, <br>Was call'd a Just Revenge for injur'd Fame. <br>Thus Prais'd, and Lov'd, the Noble Youth remain'd, <br>While David, undisturb'd, in Sion raign'd. <br>But Life can never be sincerely blest: <br>Heaven punishes the bad, and proves the best. <br>The Jews, a Headstrong, Moody, Murmuring race, <br>As ever try'd th' extent and stretch of grace; <br>God's pamper'd people whom, debauch'd with ease, <br>No King could govern, nor no God could please; <br>(Gods they had tri'd of every shape and size <br>That Gods-smiths could produce, or Priests devise.) <br>These Adam-wits too fortunately free, <br>Began to dream they wanted libertie; <br>And when no rule, no precedent was found <br>Of men, by Laws less circumscrib'd and bound, <br>They led their wild desires to Woods and Caves, <br>And thought that all but Savages were Slaves. <br>They who when Saul was dead, without a blow, <br>Made foolish Ishbosheth the Crown forgo; <br>Who banisht David did from Hebron bring, <br>And with a Generall Shout, proclaim'd him King: <br>Those very Jewes, who, at their very best, <br>Their Humour more than Loyalty exprest, <br>Now wondred why, so long, they had obey'd <br>An Idoll Monarch which their hands had made: <br>Thought they might ruine him they could create; <br>Or melt him to that Golden Calf, a State, <br>But these were randome bolts: No form'd Design, <br>Nor Interest made the Factious Croud to joyn: <br>The sober part of Israel, free from stain, <br>Well knew the value of a peacefull raign: <br>And, looking backward with a wise afright, <br>Saw Seames of wounds, dishonest to the sight; <br>In contemplation of whose ugly Scars, <br>They Curst the memory of Civil Wars. <br>The moderate sort of Men, thus qualifi'd, <br>Inclin'd the Ballance to the better side: <br>And David's mildness manag'd it so well, <br>The Bad found no occasion to Reb ell. <br>But, when to Sin our byast Nature leans, <br>The carefull Devil is still at hand with means; <br>And providently Pimps for ill desires: <br>The Good old Cause reviv'd, a Plot requires. <br>Plots, true or false, are necessary things, <br>To raise up Common-wealths, and ruin Kings. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Th' inhabitants of old Jerusalem <br>Were Jebusites: the Town so call'd from them; <br>And theirs' the Native right- <br>But when the chosen people grew more strong, <br>The rightfull cause at length became the wrong: <br>And every loss the men of Jebus bore, <br>They still were thought God's enemies the more. <br>Thus, worn and weaken'd, well or ill content, <br>Submit they must to David's Government: <br>Impoverist, and depriv'd of all Command, <br>Their Taxes doubled as they lost their Land, <br>And what was harder yet to flesh and blood, <br>Their Gods disgrac'd, and burnt like common wood. <br>This set the Heathen Priesthood in a flame; <br>For Priests of all Religions are the same: <br>Of whatsoe'r descent their Godhead be, <br>Stock, Stone, or other homely pedigree, <br>In his defence his Servants are as bold <br>As if he had been born of beaten gold. <br>The Jewish Rabbins tho their Enemies, <br>In this conclude them honest men and wise; <br>For 'twas their duty, all the Learned think, <br>T' espouse his Cause by whom they eat and drink. <br>From hence began that Plot, the Nation's Curse, <br>Bad in it self, but represented worse, <br>Rais'd in extremes, and in extremes decry'd; <br>With Oaths affirm'd, with dying Vows deny'd, <br>Not weigh'd, or winnow'd by the Multitude; <br>But swallow'd in the Mass, unchew'd and Crude. <br>Some Truth there was, but dash'd and brew'd with Lyes; <br>To please the Fools, and puzzle all the Wise. <br>Succeeding times did equal folly call, <br>Believing nothing, or believing all. <br>Th' Egyptian Rites the Jebusites imbrac'd; <br>Where Gods were recommended by their Tast. <br>Such savory Deities must needs be good, <br>As serv'd t once for Worship and for Food. <br>By force they could not Introduce these Gods, <br>For Ten to One, in former days was odds. <br>So Fraud was us'd, (the Scrificers trade,) <br>Fools are more hard to Conquer than Perswade. <br>Their busie Teachers mingled with the Jews; <br>And rak'd, for Converts, even the Court and Stews; <br>Which Hebrew Priests the more unkindly took, <br>Because the Fleece accompanies the Flock. <br>Some thought they God's anointed meant to Slay <br>By Guns, invented since full many a day: <br>Our Authour swears it not; but who can know <br>How far the Devil and Jebusites may go? <br>This Plot, which fail'd for want of common Sense, <br>Had yet a deep and dangerous Consequence: <br>For, as when raging Fevers boyl the Blood, <br>The standing Lake soon floats into a Flood; <br>And every hostile Humour, which before <br>Slept quiet in its Channels, bubbles o'er: <br>So, several Factions from this first Ferment, <br>Work up to Foam, and threat the Government. <br>Some by their Friends, more by themselves thought wise, <br>Oppos'd the Power, to which they could not rise. <br>Some had in Courts been Great, and thrown from thence, <br>Like Feinds, were harden'd in Impenitence. <br>Some by their Monarch's fatal mercy grown, <br>From Pardon'd Rebels, Kinsmen to the Throne; <br>Were rais'd in Power and publick Office high: <br>Strong Bands, if Bands ungratefull men could tye. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Of these the false Achitophel was first: <br>A Name to all succeeding Ages Curst. <br>For close Designs, and crooked Counsels fit; <br>Sagacious, Bold, and Turbulent of wit: <br>Restless, unfixt in Principles and Place; <br>In Power unpleas'd, impatient of Disgrace. <br>A fiery Soul, which working out its way, <br>Fretted the Pigmy Body to decay: <br>And o'r inform'd the Tenement of Clay. <br>A daring Pilot in extremity; <br>Pleas'd with the Danger, when the Waves went high <br>He sought the Storms; but for a Calm unfit <br>Would Steer too night the Sands, to boast his Wit. <br>Great Wits are sure to Madness near ally'd; <br>And thin Partitions do their Bounds divide; <br>Else, why should he, with Wealth and Honour blest, <br>Refuse his Age the needful hours of Rest? <br>Punish a Body which he could not please; <br>Bankrupt of Life, yet Prodigal of Ease? <br>And all to leave, what with his Toyl he won, <br>To that unfeather'd, two Leg'd thing, a Son; <br>Got, while his Sould did hudled Notions try; <br>And born a shapeless Lump, like Anarchy. <br>In Friendship False, Implacable in Hate: <br>Resolv'd to Ruine or to Rule the State. <br>To Compass this the Triple Bond he broke; <br>The Pillars of the publick Safety shok; <br>And fitted Israel for a foreign Yoke. <br>Then, seiz'd with Fear, yet still affecting Fame, <br>Usurp'd a Patriott's All-attoning Name. <br>So easie still it proves in Factious Times, <br>With publick Zeal to cancel private Crimes. <br>How safe is Treason, and how sacred ill, <br>Where none can sin against the Peoples Will: <br>Where Crouds can wink; and no offence be known, <br>Since in anothers guilt they find their own. <br>Yet, Fame deserv'd, no Enemy can grudge; <br>The Statesman we abhor, but praise the Judge. <br>In Israels Courts ne'r sat an Abbethdin <br>With more discerning Eyes, or Hands more clean; <br>Unbrib'd, unsought, the Wretched to redress; <br>Swift of Dispatch, and easie of Access. <br>Oh, had he been content to serve the Crown, <br>With vertues only proper to the Gown; <br>Or, had the rankness of the Soyl been freed <br>From Cockle, that opprest the Noble seed; <br>David, for him his tunefull Harp had strung, <br>And Heaven had wanted one immortal song. <br>But wide Ambition loves to slide, not stand; <br>And Fortunes Ice prefers to Vertues Land: <br>Achitophel, grown weary to possess <br>A lawfull Fame, and lazy Happiness; <br>Disdain'd the Golden fruit to gather free, <br>And lent the Croud his Arm to shake the Tree. <br>Now, manifest of Crimes, contriv'd long since, <br>He stood at bold Defiance with his Prince; <br>Held up the Buckler of the Peoples Cause, <br>Against the Crown; and sculk'd behind the Laws. <br>The wish'd occasion of the Plot he takes, <br>Some Circumstances finds, but more he makes. <br>By buzzing Emissaries, fills the ears <br>Of listning Crowds, with Jealosies and Fears <br>Of Arbitrary COunsels brought to light, <br>And proves the King himself a Jebusite. <br>Weak Arguments! which yet he knew fulwell, <br>Were strong with People easie to Rebell. <br>For, govern'd by the Moon, the giddy Jews <br>Tread the same track when she the Prime renews: <br>And once in twenty Years, their Scribes Record, <br>By natural Instinct they change their Lord. <br>Achitophel still wants a Chief, and none <br>Was found so fit as Warlike Absalon: <br>Not that he wished his Greatness to create, <br>(For Polititians neither love nor hate). <br>Bur, for he knew, his Title not allow'd, <br>Would keep him still depending on the Crowd: <br>That Kingly power, thus ebbing out, might be <br>Drawn to the dregs of a Democracy. <br>Him he attempts, with studied Arts to please, <br>And sheds his Venome, in such words as these. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Auspicious Prince! at whose Nativity <br>Some Royal Planet rul'd the Southern sky; <br>Thy longing Countries Darling and Desire; <br>Their cloudy Pillar, and their guardian Fire: <br>Their Second Moses, whose extended Wand <br>Divides the Seas, and shews the promis'd Land: <br>Whose dawning Day, in every distant age, <br>Has exercis'd the Sacred Prophets rage: <br>The Peoples Prayer, the glad Diviners Theam, <br>The Young-mens Vision, and the Old mens Dream! <br>Thee, Saviour, Thee, the Nations Vows confess; <br>And, never satisfi'd with seeing, bless: <br>Swift, undespoken Pomps, they steps proclaim, <br>And stemmerring Babes are taught to lisp thy Name. <br>How long wilt thou the general Joy detain; <br>Starve, and defraud the People of thy Reign? <br>Content ingloriously to pass they days <br>Like one of Vertues Fools that feeds on Praise; <br>Till thy fresh Glories, which now shine so bright, <br>Grow Stale and Tarnish with our daily sight. <br>Believe me, Royal Youth, thy Fruit must be, <br>Or gather'd Ripe, or rot upon the Tree. <br>Heav'n has to all alloted, soon or late, <br>Some lucky Revolution of their Fate; <br>Whose Motions, if we watch and guide with Skill, <br>(For humane Good depends on humane Will,) <br>Our Fortune rolls, as from a smooth Descent, <br>And, from the first Impression, takes the Bent; <br>But, if unseiz'd, she glides away like wind; <br>And leaves repenting Folly far behind. <br>Now, now she meets you, with a glorious prize, <br>And spreads her Locks before her as she flies. <br>Had thus Old David, from whose Loyns you spring, <br>Not dar'd, when Fortune call'd him, to be King, <br>At Gath an Exile he might still remain, <br>And heavens Anointing Oyle had been in vain. <br>Let his successfull Youth your hopes engage, <br>But shun th' example of Declining Age: <br>Behold him setting in his Western Skies, <br>The Shadows lengthening as the Vapours rise. <br>He is not now, as when on Jordan's Sand <br>The Joyfull People throng'd to see him Land, <br>Cov'ring all the Beach, and blackning all the Strand; <br>But, like the Prince of Angels from his height, <br>Comes tumbling downward with diminsh'd light; <br>Betray'd by one poor Plot to publick Scorn, <br>(Our only blessing since his Curst Return). <br>Those heaps of People which one Sheaf did bind, <br>Blown off and scatter'd by a Puff of WInd. <br>What strength can he to y0our Designs oppose, <br>Naked of Friends, and round beset with Foes? <br>If Pharoah's doubtfull Succour he shoud use, <br>A Foreign Aid would more incense the Jews. <br>Proud Egypt would dissembled Friendship bring; <br>Foment the War, but not support the King: <br>Nor would the Royal Party e'r unite <br>With Pharoah's Arms, t' assist the Jebusite; <br>Or if they shoud, their Interest soon woud break, <br>And with such odious Aid make David weak. <br>All sorts of men by my successfull Arts, <br>Abhorring Kings, estrange their alter'd Hearts <br>From David's Rule: And 'tis the general Cry, <br>Religion, Common-wealth, and Liberty. <br>If you as Champion of the publique Good, <br>Add to their Arms a Chief of Royal BLood; <br>What may not Israel hope, and what Applause <br>Might such a General gain by such a Cause? <br>Not barren Praise alone, that Gaudy Flower, <br>Fair only to the sight, but solid Power: <br>And Nobler is a limited Command, <br>Giv'n by the Love of all your Native Land, <br>Than a Successive Title, Long, and Dark, <br>Drawn from the Mouldy rolls of Noah's Ark. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">What cannot Praise effect in Mighty Minds, <br>When Flattery Sooths, and when Ambition Blinds! <br>Desire of Power, on Earth a Vitious Weed, <br>Yet, sprung from High, is of Cælestial Seed: <br>In God 'tis Glory: And when men Aspire, <br>'Tis but a Spark too much of Heavenly Fire. <br>Th'Ambitious Youth, too covetous of Fame, <br>Too full of Angells Metal in his Frame, <br>Unwarily was led from Vertues ways; <br>Made Drunk with Honour, and Debauch'd with Praise. <br>Half loath, and half consenting to the Ill, <br>(For Loyal Blood within him strugled still) <br>He thus reply'd - And what Pretence have I <br>To take up Arms for Publick Liberty? <br>My Father Governs with unquestion'd Right; <br>The Faiths Defender, and Mankinds Delight: <br>Good, Gracious, Just, observant of the Laws; <br>And Heav'n by Wonders has Espous'd his Cause. <br>Whom has he Wrong'd in all his Peaceful Reign? <br>Who sues for Justice to his Throne in Vain? <br>What Millions has he Pardon'd of his Foes, <br>Whom Just Revenge did to his Wrath expose? <br>Mild, Easy, Humble, Studious of our Good; <br>Enclin'd to Mercy, and averse from Blood. <br>If Mildness Ill with Stubborn Israel Suite, <br>His Crime is God's beloved Attribute. <br>What could he gain, his People to Betray, <br>Or change his Right, for Aribtrary Sway? <br>Let Haughty Pharoah Curse with such a Reign, <br>His Fruitfull Nile, nad Yoak a Servile Train. <br>If David'd Rule Jerusalem Displease, <br>The Dog-star heats their Brains to this Disease. <br>Why then should I, Encouraging the Bad, <br>Turn Rebell, and run Popularly Mad? <br>Were he a Tyrant who, by Lawless Might, <br>Opprest the Jews, and Rais'd the Jebusite, <br>Well might I Mourn; but Natures Holy Bands <br>Would Curb my Spirits, and Restrain my Hands: <br>The People might assert their Liberty; <br>But what was Right in them, were Crime in me. <br>His Favour leaves me nothing to require; <br>Prevents my WIshes, and outruns Desire. <br>What more can I expect while David lives, <br>All but his Kingly Diadem he gives; <br>And that: But there he Paus'd; then Sighing, said, <br>Is Justly Destin'd for a Worthier Head. <br>For when my Father from his Toyls shall Rest, <br>And late Augment the Number of the Blest: <br>His Lawfull Issue shall the Throne ascend, <br>Or the Collateral Line where that shall end. <br>His Brother, though Opprest with Vulgar Spright, <br>Yet Dauntless and Secure of Native Right, <br>Of every Royal Vertue stands possest; <br>Still Dear to all the Bravest, and the Best. <br>His Courage Foes, his Friends his Truth Proclaim; <br>His Loyalty the King, the World his Fame. <br>His Mercy even th'Offending Crowd will find, <br>For sure he comes of a Forgiving Kind. <br>Why should I then Repine at Heavens Decree; <br>Which gives me no Pretence to Royalty? <br>Yet oh that Fate Propitiously Enclind, <br>Had rais'd my Birth, or had debas'd my Mind; <br>To my large Soul, not all her Treasure lent, <br>And then Betray'd it to a mean Descent. <br>I find, I find my mounting Spirits Bold, <br>And David's Part disdains my Mothers Mold. <br>Why am I Scanted by a Niggard Birth,, <br>My Soul Disclaims the Kindred of her Earth: <br>And made for Empire, Whispers me within; <br>Desire of Greatness is a Godlike Sin. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Him Staggering so when Hells dire Agent found, <br>While fainting Vertue scarce maintain'd her Ground, <br>He pours fresh Forces in, and thus Replies: </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Th'Eternal God Supreamly Good and Wise, <br>Imparts not these Prodigiuos Gifts in vain; <br>What Wonders are Reserv'd to bless your Reign? <br>Against your will your Arguments have shown, <br>Such Vertue's only given to guide a Throne. <br>Not that your Father's Mildness I contemn; <br>But Manly Force becomes the Diadem. <br>'Tis true, he grants the People all they crave; <br>And more perhaps than Subjects ought to have: <br>For Lavish grants suppose a Monarch tame, <br>And more his Goodness than his Wit proclaim. <br>But when shoud People strive their Bonds to break, <br>If not when Kings are Negligent or Weak? <br>Let him give on till he can give no more, <br>The Thrifty Sanhedrin shall keep him poor: <br>And every Sheckle which he can receive, <br>Shall cost a Limb of his Prerogative. <br>To ply him wiht new Plots, shall be my care, <br>Or plunge him deep in some Expensive War; <br>Which when his Treasure can no more Supply, <br>He must, with the Remains of Kingship, buy. <br>His faithful Friends, our Jealousies and Fears, <br>Call Jebusites; and Pharaoh's Pentioners: <br>Whom, when our Fury from his Aid has torn, <br>He shall be Naked left to publick Scorn. <br>The next Successor, whom I fear and hate, <br>My Arts have made Obnoxious to the State; <br>Turn'd all his Vertues to his Overthrow, <br>And gain'd our Elders to pronouce a Foe. <br>His Right, for Sums of necessary Gold, <br>Shall first be Pawn'd, and afterwards be Sold: <br>Till time shall Ever-wanting David draw, <br>To pass your doubtfull Title into Law: <br>If not; the People have a Right Supreme <br>To make their Kings; for Kings are made for them. <br>All Empire is no more than Pow'r in Trust, <br>Which when resum'd, can be no longer Just. <br>Succession, for the general Good design'd, <br>In its own wrong a Nation cannot bind: <br>If alterning that, the People can relieve, <br>Better one Suffer, than a Nation grieve. <br>The Jews well know their power: e'r Saul they Chose, <br>God was their King, and God they durst Depose. <br>Urge now your Piety, your Filial Name, <br>A Father's Right, and fear of future Fame; <br>The publick Good, that Universal Call, <br>To which even Heav'n Submitted, answers all. <br>Nor let his Love Enchant your generous Mind; <br>'Tis Natures trick to Propogate her Kind. <br>Our fond Begetters, who would never dye, <br>Love but themselves in their Posterity. <br>Or let his Kindness by th'Effects by try'd, <br>Or let him lay his vain Pretence aside. <br>God said he lov'd your Father; coud he bring <br>A better Proof, than to Anoint him King? <br>It surely shew'd he lov'd the Shepherd well, <br>Who gave so fair a flock as Israel. <br>Would David have you thought his Darling Son? <br>What means he then, to Alienate the Crown? <br>The name of Godly he may blush to hear: <br>'Tis after God's own heart to Cheat his Heir. <br>He to his Brother gives Supreme Command; <br>To you a Legacy of Barren Land: <br>Perhaps th'old Harp, on which he thrums his Layes: <br>Or some dull Hebrew Ballad in your Praise. <br>Then the next Heir, a Prince, Severe and Wise, <br>Already looks on you with Jealous Eyes; <br>Sees through the thin Disguises of your Arts, <br>And markes your Progress in the Peoples Hearts. <br>Though now his mighty Soul its Grief contains; <br>He meditates Revenge who least Complains. <br>And like a Lyon, Slumbring in the way, <br>Or Sleep-dissembling, while he waits his Prey, <br>His fearless Foes within his Distance draws; <br>Constrains his Roaring, and Contracts his Paws; <br>Till at the last, his time for Fury found, <br>He shoots with suddain Vengeance from the Ground: <br>The Prostrate Vulgar, passes o'r, and Spares; <br>But with a Lordly Rage, his Hunters teares. <br>Your Case no tame Expedients will afford; <br>Resolve on Death, or Conquest by the Sword, <br>Which for no less a Stake than Life, you Draw; <br>And Self-defence is Natures Eldest Law. <br>Leave the warm People no Considering time; <br>For then Rebellion may be thought a Crime. <br>Prevail your self of what Occasion gives, <br>But try your Title while your Father lives; <br>And that your Arms may have a fair Pretence, <br>Proclaim, you take them in the King's Defence: <br>Whose Sacred Life each minute woud Expose, <br>To Plots, from seeming Friends, and secret Foes. <br>And who can sound the depth of David's Soul? <br>Perhaps his fear, his kindness may Controul. <br>He fears his Brother, though he loves his Son, <br>For plighted Vows too late to be undone. <br>If so, by Force he wishes to be gain'd, <br>Like womens Leachery, to seem Constrain'd: <br>Doubt not, but when he most affects the Frown, <br>Commit a pleasing Rape upon the Crown. <br>Secure his Person to secure your Cause; <br>They who possess the Prince, possess the Laws.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He said, And this Advice above the rest, <br>With Absalom's Mild nature suited best; <br>Unblam'd of Life (Ambition set aside,) <br>Not stain'd with Cruelty, nor puft with Pride; <br>How happy had he been, if Destiny <br>Had higher plac'd his Birth, or not so high! <br>His Kingly vertues might have claim'd a Throne, <br>And blest all other Countries but his own: <br>But charming Greatness, since so few refuse; <br>'Tis Juster to Lament him, than Accuse. <br>Strong were his hopes a Rival to remove, <br>With blandishment to gain the publick Love; <br>To Head the Faction while their Zeal was hot, <br>And Popularly prosecute the Plot. <br>To farther this Achithphel Unites <br>The Malecontents of all the Israelites; <br>Whose differing Parties he could wisely Joyn, <br>For several Ends, to serve the same Design. <br>The Best, and of the Princes some were such, <br>Who thought the power of Monarchy too much: <br>Mistaken Men, and Patriots in their Hearts; <br>Not Wicked, but Seduc'd by Impious Arts. <br>By these the Springs of Property were bent, <br>And wound so high, they Crack'd the Government. <br>The next for Interest sought t'embroil the State, <br>TO sell their Duty at a dearer rate; <br>And make their Jewish Markets of the Throne, <br>Pretending puclick Good, to serve their own. <br>Others thought Kings an useless heavy Load, <br>Who Cost too much, and did too little Good. <br>These were for laying Honest David by, <br>On Principles of pure good Husbandry. <br>With them Joyn'd all th' Haranguers of the Throng, <br>That thought to get Preferment by the Tongue. <br>Who follows next, a double Danger bring, <br>Not only hating David, but the King, <br>The Solymæan Rout; well Verst of old, <br>In Godly Faction, and in Treason bold; <br>Cowring and Quaking at a Conqueror's Sword, <br>But Lofty to a Lawfull Prince Restor'd; <br>Saw with Disdain an Ethnick Plot begun, <br>And Scorn'd by Jebusites to be Out-done. <br>Hot Levites Headed these; who pul'd before <br>From the Ark, which in the Judges days they bore, <br>Resum'd their Cant, and with a Zealous Cry, <br>Pursu'd their old belov'd Theocracy. <br>Where Sanhedrin and Priest inslav'd the Nation, <br>And justifi'd their Spoils by Inspiration; <br>For who so fit for Reign as Aarons's race, <br>If once Dominion they could found in Grace? <br>These led the Pack; tho not of surest scent, <br>Yet deepest mouth'd against the Government. <br>A numerous Host of dreaming Saints succeed; <br>Of the true old Enthusiastick breed; <br>'Gainst Form and Order they their Power employ; <br>Nothing to Build and all things to Destroy. <br>But far more numerous was the herd of such, <br>Who think too little, and who talk too much. <br>These, out of meer instinct, they knew not why, <br>Ador'd their fathers God, and Property: <br>And, by the same blind benefit of Fate, <br>The Devil and the Jebusite did hate: <br>Born to be sav'd, even in their own despight; <br>Because they could not help believing right. <br>Such were the tools; but a whole Hydra more <br>Remains, of sprouting heads too long, to score. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Some of their Chiefs were Princes of the Land; <br>In the first Rank of these did Zimri stand: <br>A man so various, that he seem'd to be <br>Not one, but all Mankinds Epitome. <br>Stiff in Opinions, always in the wrong; <br>Was every thing by starts, and nothing long: <br>But in the course of one revolving Moon, <br>Was Chymist, Fidler, States-Man, and Buffoon: <br>Then all for Women, Painting, Rhiming, Drinking; <br>Besides ten thousand freaks that dy'd in thinking. <br>Blest Madman, who could every hour employ, <br>With something New to wish, or to enjoy! <br>Rayling and praising were his usual Theams; <br>And both (to shew his Judgment) in Exreams: <br>So over Violent, or over Civil, <br>That every man, with him, was God or Devil. <br>In squandring Wealth was his peculiar Art: <br>Nothing went unrewarded, but Desert. <br>Begger'd by Fools, whom still he found too late:<br>He had his Jest, and they had his Estate. <br>He laught himself from Court, then sought Releif <br>By forming Parties, but coud ne're be Chief. <br>For, spight of him, the weight of Business fell <br>On Absalom and Achitophel: <br>Thus, wicked but in will, of means bereft, <br>He left not Faction, but of that was left. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Titles and Names 'twere tedious to Reherse <br>Of Lords, below the Dignity of Verse. <br>Wits warriors Common-wealthsmen, were the best: <br>Kind Husbands and meer Nobles all the rest. <br>And, therefore in the name of Dulness, be <br>The well hung Balaam and cold Caleb free. <br>And canting Nadab let Oblivion damn, <br>Who made new porridge for the Paschal Lamb. <br>Let Friendships holy band some Names assure: <br>Some their own Worth, and some let Scorn secure. <br>Nor shall the Rascall Rabble here have Place, <br>Whom Kings no Titles gave, and God no Grace: <br>Not Bull-fac'd Jonas, who could Statues draw <br>To mean Rebellion, and make Treason Law. <br>But he, thos bad, is follow'd by a worse, <br>The wretch, who Heavens Annointed dar'd to Curse. <br>Shimei, whose Youth did early Promise bring <br>Of Zeal to God, and Hatred to his King; <br>Did wisely from Expensive Sins refrain, <br>And never broke the Sabbath, but for Gain: <br>Nor ever was he known an Oath to vent, <br>Or Curse unless against the Government. <br>Thus, heaping Wealth, by the most ready way <br>Among the Jews, which was to Cheat and Pray; <br>The City, to reward his pious Hate <br>Against his Master, chose him Magistrate; <br>His Hand a Vare of Justice did uphold; <br>His Neck was loaded with Chain of Gold. <br>During his Office, Treason was no Crime. <br>The Sons of Belial had a glorious Time: <br>For Shimei, though not prodigal of pelf, <br>Yet lov'd his wicked Neighbour as himself: <br>When two or three were gathere'd to declaim <br>Against the Monarch of Jerusalem, <br>Shimei was always in the midst of them. <br>And, if they Curst the King when he was by, <br>Would rather Curse, than break good Company. <br>If any durst his Factious Friends accuse, <br>He pact a Jury of dissenting Jews: <br>WHose fellow-feeling, in the godly Cause, <br>Would free the suffring Saint from Humane Laws. <br>For Laws are only made to Punish those, <br>Who serve the King, and to protect his Foes. <br>If any leisure time he had from Power, <br>(Because 'tis Sin to misimploy an hour); <br>His business was, by Writing, to Persuade, <br>That Kings were Useless, and a Clog to Trade: <br>And, that his noble Stile he might refine, <br>No Rechabite more shund the fumes of Wine. <br>Chaste were his Cellars, and his Shrieval Board <br>The Grossness of a City Feast abhor'd: <br>His Cooks, with long disuse, their Trade forgot; <br>Cool was his Kitchen, tho his Brains were hot. <br>Such frugal Vertue Malice may accuse, <br>But sure 'twas necessary to the Jews; <br>For towns once burnt, such Magistrates require <br>As dare not tempt Gods Providence by fire. <br>With Spiritual food he fed his Servants well, <br>But free from flesh, that made the Jews Rebel: <br>And Mose's Laws he held in more account, <br>For forty days of Fasting in the Mount. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">To speak the rest, who better are forgot, <br>Would tyre a well-breath'd Witness of the Plot: <br>Yet, Corah, thou shalt from Oblivion pass; <br>Erect thy self thou Monumental Brass: <br>High as the Serpent of thy mettall made, <br>While Nations stand secure beneath thy shade. <br>What tho his Birth were base, yet Comets rise <br>From Earthy Vapours ere they shine in Skies. <br>Prodigious Actions may as well be done <br>By Weavers issue, as by Princes Son. <br>This Arch-Attestor for the Publick Good, <br>By that one Deed Enobles all his Bloud. <br>Who ever ask'd the Witnesses high race, <br>Whose Oath with Martyrdom did Stephen grace? <br>Ours was a Levite, and as times went then, <br>His Tribe were Godalmighty's Gentlemen. <br>Sunk were his Eyes, his Voyce was harsh and loud, <br>Sure signs he neither Cholerick was, nor Proud: <br>His long Chin prov'd his Wit, his Saintlike Grace <br>A Church Vermilion, and a Moses's face; <br>His Memory, miraculously great, <br>Could Plots, exceeding mans belief, repeat; <br>Which, therefore cannot be accounted Lies, <br>For human Wit could never such devise. <br>Some future Truths are mingled in his Book; <br>But, where the witness faild, the Prophet Spoke: <br>Some things like Visionary flights appear; <br>The Spirit caught him, up, the Lord knows where: <br>And gave him his Rabinical degree <br>Unknown to Foreign University. <br>His Judgment yet his Memory did excel; <br>Which piec'd his wonderous Evidence so well: <br>And suited to the temper of the times; <br>Then groaning under Jebusitick Crimes. <br>Let Israels foes suspect his heav'nly call, <br>And rashly judge his Writ Apocryphal; <br>Our Laws for such affronts have forfeits made: <br>He takes his life, who takes away his trade. <br>Were I my self in witness Corahs place, <br>The wretch who did me such a dire disgrace, <br>Should whet my memory, though once forgot, <br>To make him an Appendix of my Plot. <br>His Zeal to heav'n, made him his Prince despise, <br>And load his person with indignities: <br>But Zeal peculiar priviledge affords; <br>Indulging latitude to deeds and words. <br>And Corah might for Agag's murther call, <br>In terms as course as Samuel used to Saul. <br>What others in his Evidence did Joyn, <br>(The best that could be had for love or coyn,) <br>In Corah's own predicament will fall: <br>For witness is a Common Name to all. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Surrounded thus with Friends of every sort, <br>Deluded Absalom, forsakes the Court: <br>Impatient of high hopes, urg'd with renown, <br>And Fir'd with near possession of a Crown, <br>Th' admiring Croud are dazled with surprize, <br>And on his goodly person feed their eyes: <br>His joy conceal'd, he sets himself to show; <br>On each side bowing popularly low: <br>His looks, his gestures, and his words he frames, <br>And with familiar ease repeats their Names. <br>Thus, form'd by Nature, furnish'd out with Arts, <br>He glides unfelt into their secret hearts: <br>Then with a kind compassionating look, <br>And sighs, bespeaking pity ere he spoak: <br>Few words he said; but easy those and fit: <br>More slow than Hybla drops, and far more sweet. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">I mourn, my Countrymen, your lost Estate; <br>Tho far unable to prevent your fate: <br>Behold a Banisht man, for your dear cause <br>Expos'd a prey to Arbitrary laws! <br>Yet oh! that I alone cou'd be undone, <br>Cut off from Empire, and no more a Son! <br>Now all your liberties a spoil are made: <br>Ægypt and Tyrus intercept your trade, <br>And Jebusites your Sacred Rites invade. <br>My Father, whom with reverence yet I name, <br>Charm'd into Ease, is careless of his Fame: <br>And, brib'd with petty summs of Forreign Gold, <br>Is grown in Bathsheba's Embraces old. <br>Exalts his Enemies, his Friends destroys: <br>And all his pow'r against himself employs. <br>He gives, and let him give my right away: <br>But why should he his own, and yours betray? <br>He only, he can make the Nation bleed, <br>And he alone from my revenge is freed. <br>Take then my tears (with that he wip'd his Eyes) <br>'Tis all the Aid my present power supplies: <br>No Court Informer can these Arms accuse, <br>These Arms may Sons against their Fathers use, <br>And, tis my wish, the next Successors Reign <br>May make no other Israelite complain. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Youth, Beauty, Graceful Action, seldom fail: <br>But Common Interest always will prevail: <br>And pity never Ceases to be shown <br>To him, who makes the peoples wrongs his own. <br>The Croud, (that still believes their Kings oppress) <br>With lifted hands their young Messiah bless: <br>Who now begins his Progress to ordain; <br>With Chariots, Horsmen, and a numerous train: <br>From East to West his Glories he displaies: <br>And, like the Sun, the promis'd land survays. <br>Fame runs before him, as the morning Star; <br>And shouts of Joy salute him from afar: <br>Each house receives him as a Guardian God; <br>And Consecrates the Place of his aboad: <br>But hospitable treats did most commend <br>Wise Issachar, his wealthy western friend. <br>This moving Court, that caught the peoples Eyes, <br>And seem'd but Pomp, did other ends disguise: <br>Achitophel had form'd it, with intent <br>To sound the depths, and fathom where it went: <br>The Peoples hearts, distinguish Friends from Foes; <br>And try their strength, before they came to blows: <br>Yet all was colour'd with a smooth pretence <br>Of specious love, and duty to their Prince. <br>Religion, and Redress of Grievances, <br>Two names, that always cheat and always please, <br>Are often urg'd; and good King David's life <br>Indanger'd by a Brother and a Wife. <br>Thus, in a Pageant Show, a Plot is made; <br>And Peace it self is War in Masquerade. <br>Oh foolish Israel! never warn'd by ill, <br>Still the same baite, and circumvented still! <br>Did ever men forsake their present ease, <br>In midst of health Imagine a desease; <br>Take pains Contingent mischiefs to foresee, <br>Make Heirs for Monarks, and for God decree? <br>What shall we think! can People give away <br>Both for themselves and Sons, their Native sway? <br>Then they are left Defensless, to the Sword <br>Of each unbounded Arbitrary Lord: <br>And Laws are vain, by which we Rights enjoy, <br>If Kings unquestiond can those laws destroy. <br>Yet, if the Crowd be Judge of fit and Just, <br>And Kings are onely Officers in trust, <br>Then this resuming Cov'nant was declar'd <br>When Kings were made, or is for ever bard: <br>If those who give the Scepter, could not tye <br>By their own deed their own Posterity, <br>How then coud Adam bind his future Race? <br>How coud his forfeit on mankind take place? <br>Or how coud heavnly Justice damn us all, <br>Who nere consented to our Fathers fall? <br>Then Kings are slaves to those whom they Command, <br>And Tenants to their Peoples pleasure stand. <br>Add, that the Pow'r for Property allowd, <br>Is mischeivously seated in the Crowd: <br>For who can be secure of private Right, <br>If Sovereign sway may be dissolv'd by might? <br>Nor is the Peoples Judgment always true: <br>The most may err as grosly as the few. <br>And faultless Kings run down, by Common Cry, <br>For Vice, Oppression, and Tyranny. <br>What Standard is there in a fickle rout, <br>Which, flowing to the mark, runs faster out? <br>Nor only Crowds, but Sanherins may be <br>Infected with the publick Lunacy: <br>And Share the madness of Rebellious times, <br>To Murther Monarchs for Imagin'd crimes. <br>If they may Give and Take when e'r they please, <br>Not Kings alone, (the Godheads Images,) <br>But Government it self at length must fall <br>To Natures state; where all have Right to all. <br>Yet, grant our Lords the People Kings can make, <br>What Prudent men a setled Throne would shake? <br>For whatsoe'r their Sufferings were before, <br>That Change they Covet makes them suffer more. <br>All other Errors but disturb a State, <br>But Innovation is the Blow of Fate. <br>If ancient Fabricks nod, and threat to fall, <br>To Patch the Flows, and Buttress up the Wall, <br>Thus far 'tis Duty; but here fix the Mark: <br>For all beyond it is to touch our Ark. <br>To change Foundations, cast the Frame anew, <br>Is work for Rebels who base Ends pursue: <br>At once Divine and Humane Laws controul; <br>And mend the Parts by ruine of the Whole. <br>The Tampering World is subject to this Curse, <br>To Physick their Disease into a worse. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">Now what Relief can Righteous David bring? <br>How Fatall 'tis to be too good a King! <br>Friends he has few, so high the Madness grows; <br>Who dare be such, must be the Peoples Foes: <br>Yet some there were, ev'n in the worst of days; <br>Some let me name, and Naming is to praise. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">In this short File Barzillai first appears; <br>Barzillai crown'd with Honour and with Years: <br>Long since, the rising Rebells he withstood <br>In Regions Waste, beyond the Jordans Flood: <br>Unfortunately Brave to buoy the State; <br>But sinking underneath his Masters Fate: <br>In Exile with his Godlike Prince he Mourn'd; <br>For him he Suffer'd, and with him Return'd. <br>The Court he practis'd, not the Courtier's art: <br>Large was his Wealth, but larger was his Heart: <br>Which, well the Noblest Objects know to choose, <br>The Fighting Warriour, and Recording Muse. <br>His Bed coud once a Fruitfull Issue boast: <br>Now more than half a Father's Name is lost. <br>His Eldest Hope, with every Grace adorn'd, <br>By me (so Heav'n will have it) always Mourn'd, <br>And always honour'd, snatcht in Manhoods prime <br>By unequal Fates, and Providences crime: <br>Yet not before the Goal of Honour won, <br>All parts fulfill'd of Subject and of Son; <br>Swift was the Race, but short the Time to run. <br>Oh Narrow Circle, but of Pow'r Divine, <br>Scanted in Space, but perfect in thy Line! <br>By Sea, by Land, thy Matchless Worth was known; <br>Arms thy Delight, and War was all thy Own: <br>Thy force, Infus'd, the fainting Tyrians prop'd: <br>And Haughty Pharoah found his Fortune stop'd. <br>Oh Ancient Honour, Oh Unconquer'd Hand, <br>Whom Foes unpunish'd never coud withstand! <br>But Israel was unworthy of thy Name: <br>Short is the date of all Immoderate Fame. <br>It looks as Heaven our Ruine had design'd, <br>And durst not trust thy Fortune and thy Mind. <br>Now, free from Earth, thy disencumbred Soul <br>Mounts up, and leaves behind the Clouds and Starry Pole: <br>From thence thy kindred legions mayst thou bring <br>To aid the guardian Angel of thy King. <br>Here stop my Muse, here cease thy painfull flight; <br>No Pinions can pursue Immortal height: <br>Tell good Barzillai thou canst sing no more, <br>And tell thy Soul she should have fled before; <br>Or fled she with his life, and left this Verse <br>To hang on her departed Patron's Herse? <br>Now take thy steepy flight from heaven, and see <br>If thou canst find on earth another He, <br>Another he would be too hard to find, <br>See then whom thou canst see not far behind. <br>Zadock the Priest, whom, shunning Power and Place, <br>His lowly mind advanc'd to David's Grace: <br>With him the Sagan of Jerusalem, <br>Of hospitable Soul and noble Stem; <br>Him of the Western dome, whose weighty sense <br>Flows in fit words and heavenly eloquence. <br>The Prophets Sons by such example led, <br>To learning and to Loyalty were bred: <br>For Colleges on bounteous Kings depend, <br>And never Rebell was to Arts a friend. <br>To these succeed the Pillars of the Laws, <br>Who best cou'd plead and best can judge a Cause. <br>Next them a train of Loyal Peers ascend: <br>Sharp judging Adriel the Muses friend, <br>Himself a Muse-In Sanhedrins debate <br>True to his Prince; but not a Slave of State. <br>Whom David's love with Honours did adorn, <br>That from his disobedient Son were torn. <br>Jotham of piercing wit and pregnant thought, <br>Indew'd by nature, and by learning taught <br>To move Assemblies , who but onely try'd <br>The worse awhile, then chose the better side; <br>Nor chose alone, but turn'd the balance too; <br>So much the weight of one brave man can doe. <br>Hushai the friend of David in distress, <br>In publick storms of manly stedfastness; <br>By foreign treaties he inform'd his Youth; <br>And join'd experience to his native truth. <br>His frugal care supply'd the wanting Throne, <br>Frugal for that, but bounteous of his own: <br>'Tis easy conduct when Exchequers flow, <br>But hard the task to manage well the low: <br>For Soveraign power is too deprest or high, <br>When Kings are forc'd to sell, or Crowds to buy. <br>Indulge one labour more my weary Muse, <br>For Amiel, who can Amiel's praise refuse? <br>Of ancient race by birth, but nobler yet <br>In his own worth, and without Title great: <br>The Sanhedrin long time as chief he rul'd, <br>Their Reason guided and their Passion coold; <br>So dexterous was he in the Crown's defence, <br>So form'd to speak a Loyal Nations Sense, <br>That as their band was Israel's Tribes in small, <br>So fit was he to represent them all. <br>Now rasher Charioteers the Seat ascend, <br>Whose loose Carriers his steady Skill commennd: <br>They like th' unequal Ruler of the Day, <br>Misguide the Seasons and mistake the Way; <br>While he withdrawn at their mad Labour smiles, <br>And safe enjoys the Sabbath of his Toyls. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">These were the chief, a small but faithful Band <br>Of Worthies, in the Breach who dar'd to stand, <br>And tempt th' united Fury of the Land. <br>With grief they view'd such powerful Engines bent, <br>To batter down the lawful Government. <br>A numerous Faction with pretended frights, <br>In Sanhedrins to plume the Regal Rights. <br>The true Successour from the Court remov'd: <br>The Plot, by hireling Witnesses improv'd. <br>These Ills they saw, and as their Duty bound, <br>They shew'd the King the danger of the Wound: <br>That no Concessions from the Throne woud please, <br>But Lenitives fomented the Disease: <br>That Absalom, ambitious of the Crown, <br>Was made the Lure to draw the People down: <br>That false Achitophel's pernitious Hate, <br>Had turn'd the Plot to Ruine Church and State: <br>The Councill violent, the Rabble worse <br>That Shimei taught Jerusalem to Curse. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">With all these loads of Injuries opprest, <br>And long revolving, in his carefull Breast, <br>Th' event of things, at last his patience tir'd, <br>Thus from his Royal Throne by Heav'n inspir'd, <br>The God-like David spoke: with awfull fear <br>His Train their Maker in their Master hear. </div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Thus long have I, by native mercy sway'd, <br>My wrongs dissembl'd, my revenge delay'd: <br>So willing to forgive th' Offending Age, <br>So much the Father did the King asswage. <br>But now so far my Clemency they slight, <br>Th' Offenders question my Forgiving Right. <br>That one was made for many, they contend; <br>But 'tis to Rule, for that's a Monarch's End. <br>They call my tenderness of Blood, my Fear: <br>Though Manly tempers can the longest bear. <br>Yet, since they will divert my Native course, <br>'Tis time to shew I am not Good by Force. <br>Those heap'd Affronts that haughty Subjects bring, <br>Are burthens for a Camel, not a King: <br>Kings are the publick Pillars of the State, <br>Born to sustain and prop the Nations weight: <br>If my Young Samson will pretend a Call <br>To shake the Column, let him share the Fall: <br>But oh that yet he woud repent and live! <br>How easie 'tis for Parents to forgive! <br>With how few Tears a Pardon might be won <br>From Nature, pleading for a Darling Son! <br>Poor pitied Youth, by my Paternal care, <br>Rais'd up to all the Height his Frame coud bear: <br>Had God ordain'd his fate for Empire born, <br>He woud have given his Soul another turn: <br>Gull'd with a Patriots name, whose Modern sense <br>Is one that woud by Law supplant his Prince: <br>The Peoples Brave, the Politicians Tool; <br>Never was Patriot yet, but was a Fool. <br>Whence comes it that Religion and the Laws <br>Should more be Absalom's than David's Cause? <br>His old Instructor, e're he lost his Place, <br>Was never thought indu'd with so much Grace. <br>Good Heav'ns, how Faction can a Patriot Paint! <br>My Rebel ever proves my Peoples Saint: <br>Would They impose an Heir upon the Throne? <br>Let Sanhedrins be taught to give their Own. <br>A King's at least a part of Government, <br>And mine as requisite as their Consent: <br>Without my Leave a future King to choose, <br>Infers a Right the Present to Depose: <br>True, they Petition me t'approve their Choise, <br>But Esau's Hands suite ill with Jacob's Voice. <br>My Pious Subjects for my Safety pray, <br>Which to Secure they take my Power away. <br>From Plots and Treasons Heaven preserve my years, <br>But Save me most from my Petitioners. <br>Unsatiate as the barren Womb or Grave; <br>God cannot Grant so much as they can Crave. <br>What then is left but with a Jealous Eye <br>To guard the Small remains of Royalty? <br>The Law shall still direct my peacefull Sway, <br>And the same Law teach Rebels to Obey: <br>Votes shall no more Establish'd Pow'r controul, <br>Such Votes as make a Part exceed the Whole; <br>No groundlesss Clamours shall my Friends remove, <br>Nor Crowds have power to Punish e're they Prove: <br>For Gods, and Godlike Kings their Care express, <br>Still to Defend their Servants in distress. <br>Oh that my Power to Saving were confin'd: <br>Why am I forc'd, like Heaven, against my mind, <br>To make Examples of another Kind? <br>Must I at length the Sword of Justice draw? <br>Oh curst Effects of necessary Law! <br>How ill my Fear they by my Mercy scan, <br>Beware the Fury of a Patient Man. <br>Law they require, let Law then shew her Face; <br>They coud not be content to look on Grace, <br>Her hinder parts, but with a daring Eye <br>To tempt the terror of her Front, and Dye. <br>To their own arts 'tis Righteously decreed <br>Those dire Artificers of Death shall bleed. <br>Against themselves their Witnesses will Swear, <br>Till Viper-like their Mother Plot they tear: <br>And suck for Nutriment that bloody gore <br>Which was their Principle of Life before. <br>Their Belial with their Belzebub will fight; <br>Thus on my Foes, my Foes shall do me Right: <br>Nor doubt th' event; for Factious crowds engage <br>In their first Onset, all their Brutal Rage; <br>Then, let 'em take an unresisted Course, <br>Retire and Traverse, and Delude their Force: <br>But when they stand all Breathless, urge the fight, <br>And rise upon 'em with redoubled might: <br>For Lawfull Pow'r is still Superiour found, <br>When long driven back, at length it stands the ground.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He said. Th' Almighty, nodding, gave Consent; <br>And Peals of Thunder shook the Firmament. <br>Henceforth a Series of new time began, <br>The mighty Years in long Procession ran: <br>Once more the God-like David was Restor'd, <br>And willing Nations knew their Lawfull Lord.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=John+Dryden">John Dryden</a><div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=419797" data-title="Absalom and Achitophel de John Dryden" data-description="In pious times, e'er Priest-craft did begin, Before Polygamy was made a sin; When man, on many, multiply'd his kind, E'r one to one was, cursedly, confind: When Nature prompted, and no law deny'd Promiscuous use of Concubine and Bride; Then,..."></div> </div> </div>

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