Ver. 676. And Corah might for Agag's murder call,] Agag, Sir Edmondbury Godfrey, a justice of peace, before whom Oates had made his first deposition, and who was, soon after, found murdered in a ditch near Primrose-hill, on the road to Hampstead, his sword being run quite through his body, without any effusion of blood. This was done, as it was supposed, with a view to make people think he had murdered himself; whereas, in fact, his death was occasioned by strangling, a broad livid mark being plain round his neck, which was broken, and his breast bruised in several places, as if he had been kneeled or trampled upon. His gloves and cane lay near him, his shoes were clean, and his money untouched. It is very surprising that his murderers were never discovered, though Bedloe, an infamous wretched incendiary, swore the crime against two or three innocent people, who suffered death. The Earl of Shaftesbury took prodigious pains to force some unhappy persons to swear it upon the Papists, offering them 5001, reward, in case they acquiesced; and menacing them in the severest manner, if they refused. He threatened one Mrs. Mary Gibbons, a relation of Sir Godfrey's, that she should be worried to death, as dogs worry cats, unless she confessed that Sir John Banks, Mr. Pepys, and Mr. De Puy, knew something of the murder: by his rude behaviour the woman was thrown into fits, and her life endangered: he laboured hard to induce the two men who first found the corpse, to lay the murder upon some great Roman Catholic; but though they were both in mean circumstances, he could not pervert their honesty. Nor had he more success with Francis Carrol, an honest common hackney-coachman, whom some of his emissaries accused of having carried the corpse in his coach to the place in which it was found. This poor man was confined in Newgate near two months, loaded with irons, inclosed in a dungeon, the noisomeness of which was contagious, and actually kept from Thursday to Sunday without victuals, in such misery, that he begged hard for a knife to end a wretched life, which he said he would rather forfeit than stain his soul with perjury. He was at length dismissed, after having given proofs of integrity, that would have done honour to the most refined understanding.

The inconsistencies and contradictions of the witnesses, who pretended to know the circumstances of Sir Godfrey's death, sufficiently acquit the different persons who suffered upon their testimony. Perhaps he was despatched in reality by some zealous Papist, who feared that Oates's information might be prejudicial to the Catholic interest, and that the justice might be hereafter summoned as a secondary evidence; or may be, it was perpetrated by the contrivers and inventors of the Popish plot, to throw the greater odium on the court, and the party they meant to ruin: if so, they succeeded to admiration.

"Sir Edmondbury Godfrey was a man of a very good character, of a reserved melancholy turn of mind, an enemy to all persecution, and rather a protector than persecutor of Nonconformists. He had, with reluctance, received Oates's information. As to the report that prevailed of his having been murdered by the Papists, because their violent enemy, it was without any manner of foundation, for he was upon good terms with the party in general. It has been affirmed, that he hanged himself in his own house, and that his two brothers, who were his next heirs, had the body conveyed abroad, and the sword run through it, that so it might be thought he was assassinated, and the crown thereby prevented from seizing on his effects."-Burnet, Echard, Smollett. DERRICK.

In Corah's own predicament will fall:
For witness is a common name to all.
Surrounded thus with friends of every sort,
Deluded Absalom forsakes the court:
Impatient of high hopes, urged with renown,
And fired with near possession of a crown.
The admiring crowd are dazzled with surprise,
And on his goodly person feed their eyes.
His joy conceal'd, he sets himself to show;
On each side bowing popularly low:

640

685

691

695

His looks, his gestures, and his words he frames,
And with familiar ease repeats their names.
Thus form'd by nature, furnish'd out with arts,
He glides unfelt into their secret hearts.
Then, with a kind compassionating look,
And sighs, bespeaking pity ere he spoke,
Few words he said; but easy those and fit,
More slow than Hybla-drops, and far more sweet.
I mourn, my countrymen, your lost estate;
Though far unable to prevent your fate:
Behold a banish'd man for your dear cause
Exposed a prey to arbitrary laws !
Yet oh that I alone could be undone,
Cut off from empire, and no more a son!
Now all your liberties a spoil are made;
Egypt and Tyrus intercept your trade,
And Jebusites your sacred rites invade.

700

705

Ver. 683. Deluded Absalom] I intended to have pointed out, as we passed along, the art and dexterity of the poet in adapting the Scripture-story to his design; but the parallel is so broken and disjointed, and so imperfectly pursued, that I was forced to drop that design.

Dr. J. WARTON.

Ver. 686. The admiring crowd are dazzled with surprise,
And on his goodly person feed their eyes.]

Here the poet describes the tour taken by the Duke of Monmouth after his return from Holland, without the King's leave, and with the advice of Shaftesbury, to whose counsels he had fatally resigned himself. This progress, he justly observes, though couched under the notion of its being made for hunting, and the diversions of the country, was, in reality, to try how the people stood affected; whether the suspicions against the Queen and the Duke of York were sufficiently inculcated, to give Monmouth an opportunity of mounting the throne, in case of the King's death; and his ambition he disguised under the specious pretences of his being the King's lawful son, whose right was suppressed to make way for an uncle's usurpation; of his being the avowed champion of the Protestant religion, and the only one of the royal family who had the courage openly to declare himself an enemy to Popery and slavery.

With regard to the make and outward graces of Monmouth's person, says Grammont, nature never formed a man more complete. Every feature of his face had a peculiar delicacy, and altogether exhibited a countenance, beautiful without effeminacy, manly, yet not robust. His body was finely formed: he was extremely agile, fenced admirably, and was one of the best horsemen of his time; but he had a soul very unequal to such a tenement. He had no sentiments of his own; his voice was pleasing; his manner of expressing himself captivating; but these accomplishments were used only to deliver the thoughts and words of other people. He was rash in his undertakings; irresolute and uncertain in the execution; abject and cowering in distress; he begged his life of James II. with tears in his eyes. That monarch treated his sorrow slightly; the queen insulted it. When he found he had no hopes of life, he assumed an air of philosophic calmness, aud met death with indifference. He was brave in the field, felt for the distresses of humanity, was kind to his inferiors, and naturally very generous. With these virtues he might have proved a friend to his country, and a pillar of the throne, had fortune thrown him into the hands of honest men; for his ruin was owing to his connections,. not to himself. DERRICK.

Ver. 688. His joy conceal'd,] First edition: Dissembling

joy.

710

My father, whom with reverence yet I name,
Charm'd into ease, is careless of his fame;
And, bribed with petty sums of foreign gold,
Is grown in Bathsheba's embraces old;
Exalts his enemies, his friends destroys:
And all his power against himself employs.
He gives, and let him give, my right away:
But why should he his own and yours betray?
He, only he, can make the nation bleed,
And he alone from my revenge is freed.
Take then my tears, (with that he wiped his eyes,)
"Tis all the aid my present power supplies:
No court-informer can these arms accuse;
These arms may'sons against their fathers use:
And 'tis my wish, the next successor's reign
May make no other Israelite complain.

Youth, beauty, graceful action seldom fail;
But common interest always will prevail :
And pity never ceases to be shown

715

721

725

731

To him who makes the people's wrongs his own.
The crowd, that still believe their kings oppress,
With lifted hands their young Messiah bless:
Who now begins his progress to ordain
With chariots, horsemen, and a numerous train:
From east to west his glories he displays,
And, like the sun, the promised land surveys.
Fame runs before him as the morning-star,
And shouts of joy salute him from afar :
Each house receives him as a guardian god,"
And consecrates the place of his abode.
But hospitable treats did most commend
Wise Issachar, his wealthy western friend.
This moving court, that caught the people's eyes,
And seem'd but pomp, did other ends disguise:
Achitophel had form'd it, with intent

735

741

75%

And laws are vain, by which we right enjoy,
If kings unquestion'd can those laws destroy.
Yet if the crowd be judge of fit and just,
And kings are only officers in trust,
Then this resuming covenant was declared
When kings were made, or is for ever barr'd.
If those who gave the sceptre could not tie
By their own deed their own posterity,
How then could Adam bind his future race?
How could his forfeit on mankind take place?
Or how could heavenly justice damn us all,
Who ne'er consented to our father's fall?
Then kings are slaves to those whom they
command,

And tenants to their people's pleasure stand.
Add, that the power for property allow'd
Is mischievously seated in the crowd:

For who can be secure of private right,

770

If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might? 750
Nor is the people's judgment always true:
The most may err as grossly as the few,
And faultless kings run down by common cry,
For vice, oppression, and for tyranny.
What standard is there in a fickle rout,
Which, flowing to the mark, runs faster out?
Nor only crowds but Sanhedrims may be
Infected with this public lunacy,

785

And share the madness of rebellious times,
To murder monarchs for imagined crimes.
If they may give and take whene'er they please,
Not kings alone, the Godhead's images,
But government itself at length must fall
To nature's state, where all have right to all.
Yet grant our lords the people kings can make.
What prudent men a settled throne would shake!
For whatsoe'er their sufferings were before,
That change they covet makes them suffer more.
All other errors but disturb a state;

745

But innovation is the blow of fate.

750

To sound the depths, and fathom where it went
The people's hearts, distinguish friends from foes;
And try their strength, before they came to blows.
Yet all was colour'd with a smooth pretence
Of specious love and duty to their prince.
Religion, and redress of grievances,
Two names that always cheat, and always please,
Are often urged; and good king David's life
Endanger'd by a brother and a wife.
Thus in a pageant show a plot is made;
And peace itself is war in masquerade.
Oh, foolish Israel! never warn'd by ill !
Still the same bait, and circumvented still!
Did ever men forsake their present ease,
In midst of health imagine a disease;
Take pains contingent mischiefs to foresee,
Make heirs for monarchs, and for God decree?
What shall we think? Can people give away,
Both for themselves and sons, their native sway?
Then they are left defenceless to the sword
Of each unbounded, arbitrary lord:

Ver. 723. Youth, beauty, graceful action seldom fail;] "Tutatur favor Euryalum, lachrymæque decoræ, Gratior et pulchro veniens in corpore virtus." JOHN WARTON.

755

761

Ver. 738. wealthy western friend.] Issachar was Thomas Thynne, Esq., ancestor of the Marquis of Bath, one of the most opulent commoners in the kingdom, and therefore usually called Tom of Ten Thousand. He had once been a favourite of the Duke of York, but he afterwards magnificently entertained the Duke of Monmouth and all his attendants, when he made a progress into the west, at his noble house at Longleat. Dr. J. WARTON.

Ver. 742. To sound the depths,] First edition: To sound the depth.

If ancient fabrics nod, and threat to fall,
To patch their flaws, and buttress up the wall,
Thus far 'tis duty: but here fix the mark:
For all beyond it is to touch the ark.
To change foundations, cast the frame anew,
Is work for rebels, who base ends pursue;
At once divine and human laws control,
And mend the parts by ruin of the whole.
The tampering world is subject to this curse,
To physic their disease into a worse.

800

806

Now what relief can righteous David bring? How fatal 'tis to be too good a king! Friends he has few, so high the madness grows; Who dare be such must be the people's foes. Yet some there were, e'en in the worst of days; Some let me name, and naming is to praise. In this short file Barzillai first appears; Barzillai, crown'd with honour and with years.

836

Ver. 777. Add, that the power for property allow'd] In the first edition:

That power which is for property allow'd. Ver. 802. To patch their flaws,] First edition: the flaws Ver. 804. For all beyond it is to touch the ark.] The first edition reads less elegantly, our ark.

Ver. 817. In this short file] For honour, integrity, consistency, greatness of mind, benevolence, and justice, the Duke of Ormond, Barzillai, seems to be the very first and most eminent character that ever adorned the English nobility. Dr. J. WARTON,

820

Long since, the rising rebels he withstood
In regions waste beyond the Jordan's flood:
Unfortunately brave to buoy the state;
But sinking underneath his master's fate :
In exile with his godlike prince he mourn'd;
For him he suffer'd, and with him return'd.
The court he practised, not the courtier's art: 825
Large was his wealth, but larger was his heart;
Which well the noblest objects knew to choose,
The fighting warrior, and recording muse.
His bed could once a fruitful issue boast;
Now more than half a father's name is lost.
His eldest hope, with every grace adorn'd,
By me, so Heaven will have it, always mourn'd,
And always honour'd, snatch'd in manhood's prime
By unequal fates, and providence's crime;
Yet not before the goal of honour won,
All parts fulfill'd of subject and of son:

830

835

841

Swift was the race, but short the time to run.
Oh, narrow circle, but of power divine,
Scanted in space, but perfect in thy line!
By sea, by land, thy matchless worth was known,
Arms thy delight, and war was all thy own:
Thy force infused the fainting Tyrians propp'd:
And haughty Pharaoh found his fortune stopp'd.
Oh, ancient honour! Oh, unconquer'd hand,
Whom foes unpunish'd never could withstand!
But Israel was unworthy of his name;
Short is the date of all immoderate fame.
It looks as Heaven our ruin had design'd,
And durst not trust thy fortune and thy mind.
Now, free from earth, thy disencumber'd soul 850
Mounts up, and leaves behind the clouds and
starry pole :

Ver. 819.

846

the rising rebels he withstood In regions waste beyond the Jordan's flood:] The Duke of Ormond adhered zealously to the interest of his sovereign Charles I. in Ireland, where, being chief of a noble, ancient, and wealthy family, his power and influence were, as long as possible, exerted against the arms of Cromwell. But being at length obliged to yield to the necessity of the times, he quitted that kingdom, and accompanied King Charles II. in his exile. After the Restoration, he was at one and the same time lord lieutenant of Ireland, steward of the household, groom of the stole, and privy-councillor for the three kingdoms. Perhaps no man was ever better beloved, and no man deserved it better: he was liberal, brave, loyal, and sincere; a friend to the constitution, and a protector of the Protestants. On this account he was no favourite in the succeeding reign, and died in retirement, without post or employment, July, 1688, aged seventy-nine. DERRICK,

Ver. 831. His eldest hope, with every grace adorn'd,] Thomas, Earl of Ossory, Baron Butler of More Park by writ, eldest son of the aforesaid duke, and one of the most gallant noblemen of his time. He behaved with great bravery in the first Dutch war, under Sir Edward Spragg; and in the second was rear-admiral of the blue. He was a Courageous warrior, a prudent counsellor, a dutiful son, a kind friend, a liberal patron, and a generous man. He died universally lamented in 1680. DERRICK.

Ver.842. Thy force infused the fainting Tyrians propp'd: And haughty Pharaoh found his fortune stopp'd.] Lord Ossory having married a Dutch lady, lived some time in Holland, and was of signal service in preventing the progress of the French arms, by his knowledge and advice. DERRICK,

Ver. 844. Oh, ancient honour! Oh, unconquer'd hand,]
"Heu pietas, heu prisca fides, invictaque bello
Dextera!"
JOHN WARTON.

Ver. 846. But Israel was unworthy of his name;
Short is the date of all immoderate fame.]

In the first edition we find:

But Israel was unworthy of thy birth,
Short is the date of all immoderate worth

and left this verse

876

To hang on her departed patron's hearse ?] This alludes to the custom of affixing poems to the pall or hearse. See Milton's Lat. Eleg. ii. 22, and his epitaph on the Marchioness of Winchester, ver.58, &c. TODD. Ver. 864. the priest,] Sancroft (Zadoc) was advanced from the deanery of St. Paul's to the see of Canterbury. He had considerable learning, but was a man of solemn and sullen gravity and deportment. He seldom mixed in company, but led a strict and ascetic life. He lived unmarried, and rather encouraged celibacy in his clergy. He was so cold, reserved, and peevish, that few loved him. He died in a state of separation from the church, but had not the courage to own it. His death, says Burnet, ought to have put an end to the schism that some were endeavouring to raise, on the pretence that a parliamentary deprivation was never to be allowed, and therefore they looked on Sancroft as the archbishop still, and reckoned Tillotson an usurper. Dr. J. WARTON.

Ver. 866.

the Sagan of Jerusalem,] This was Compton, brother to the Earl of Northampton. Having carried arms for some years, he was past thirty when he took orders. He applied himself more to his function than bishops, says Burnet, had commonly done. His preaching was without much life or learning. He was a great patron of the converts from Popery, and of those Protestants, whom the bad usage they were beginning to meet with in France drove over to us. The Duke of York hated him. This was the bishop that carried the Princess Anne to Nottingham, in order to join the party of the Prince of Orange. Dr. J. WARTON.

Ver. 868. Him of the western] This was Dolben, who was bishop of Rochester, and succeeded Sterne in the archbishopric of York; a man, says Burnet, of more spirit than discretion, an excellent preacher, but of a free conversation, which laid him open to much censure in a vicious court. During the rebellion he bore arms, and was made a major by Charles I. Dr. J. WARTON.

Ver. 875. Who best can plead, and best can judge a cause. First edition:

Who best could plead, and best can judge a cause. Ver. 877. Sharp-judging Adriel,] Sheffield, Earl of Mulgrave, Adriel, was a man of fine person, elegant manners, and insinuating address. When they were both young, he paid his address to Queen Anne, and to prevent a connec tion Charles II. is said to have contrived a cruel and unjustifiable scheme of sending him to Tangiers in a ship so crazy as to have drowned him. He was always firm in

880

Himself a muse: in Sanhedrim's debate
True to his prince, but not a slave of state:
Whom David's love with honours did adorn,
That from his disobedient son were torn.
Jotham of piercing wit, and pregnant thought:
Endued by nature, and by learning taught,
To move assemblies, who but only tried
The worse awhile, then chose the better side: 85
Nor chose alone, but turn'd the balance too;
So much the weight of one brave man can do.
Hushai, the friend of David in distress;
In public storms, of manly stedfastness:
By foreign treaties he inform'd his youth,
And join'd experience to his native truth.
His frugal care supplied the wanting throne;
Frugal for that, but bounteous of his own:
'Tis easy conduct when exchequers flow;
But hard the task to manage well the low:
For sovereign power is too depress'd or high,
When kings are forced to sell, or crowds to buy.

890

895

his attachment to James II., for which, with great liberality, King William once commended him, and after some years took him into favour, and gave him a pension of 30001. a-year. He was a man of wit and parts, not a genius. His poems are feeble and flimsy, notwithstanding Dryden has so profusely praised his Essay on Poetry. But the prose is terse, perspicuous, and elegant, and his memoirs so curious, that we must regret they were left unfinished. He imitated the Caesars of the Emperor Julian, a capital piece of satire, equal to any part of Lucian, in a piece called the Assembly of the Gods, where many contemporary princes are introduced. I cannot forbear mentioning a sly sarcasm on King William, to whom Jupiter himself is said to have shown great esteem; but was suspected a little of some partiality, on account of his own proceeding with old father Saturn. Dr. J. WARTON.

Ver. 882. Jotham of piercing wit,] First edition: Jotham of ready wit.

Ibid. of piercing wit,] The Marquis of Halifax, Jotham, was, in Hume's opinion, the man who possessed the finest genius and most extensive capacity of all employed in public affairs by Charles II. Hume is of opinion, that the many variations he was guilty of in his political conduct, for he voted first for the exclusion bill, then for limitations, then for expedients, and was then on good terms with the Duke, might be the effects of his integrity, rather than of his ambition. Lord Orford in his Noble Authors, p. 86, vol. ii. is of a very different opinion. He wrote many pamphlets on topics then agitated, now forgotten. His Advice to a Daughter is still read. Notwithstanding the great change of manners, it would be amusing to compare it with Mrs. Hannah More's Strictures. His moral, political, and miscellaneous thoughts are full of penetration and a deep knowledge of men and manners. Dr. J. WARTON.

Ver. 888. Hushai, the friend of David in distress;] Laurence Hyde, second son to Edward the great Earl of Clarendon, was advanced to the earldom of Rochester, and made treasurer in 1682, but removed from the treasury in 1684, to the office of president of the council, a post of more rank but less advantage, which gave the lively Marquis of Halifax occasion to say, that "he had heard of many people being kicked down stairs, but the Earl of Rochester was the first he had ever known kicked up." He was incorrupt, sincere, warm, and violent; writ well, but not a graceful speaker, though smooth and plausible. He defended his father in the House of Commons with strength of argument, and power of elocution, that showed him master of great abilities; and yet with so much decency and discretion, as not to embroil himself with his opponents. Through the whole of King Charles's reign, he deported himself with so much real fidelity to his master, and such prudence, that he was not particularly pointed at, or ridiculed by any party. DERRICK.

Ver. 890. By foreign treaties he inform'd his youth,] In 1676 he went on an embassy to Poland, was one of the plenipotentiaries at the treaty of Nimeguen, and afterwards ambassador in Holland, where he acquitted himself with honour He was strongly against the bill of exclusion. DERRICK.

900

905

Indulge one labour more, my weary muse,
For Amiel who can Amiel's praise refuse?
Of ancient race by birth, but nobler yet
In his own worth, and without title great:
The Sanhedrim long time as chief he ruled,
Their reason guided, and their passion cool'd:
So dexterous was he in the crown's defence,
So form'd to speak a loyal nation's sense,
That, as their band was Israel's tribes in small,
So fit was he to represent them all.
Now rasher charioteers the seat ascend,
Whose loose careers his steady skill commend:
They, like the unequal ruler of the day,
Misguide the seasons, and mistake the way:
While he withdrawn at their mad labours smiles,
And safe enjoys the sabbath of his toils.

910

These were the chief, a small but faithful band

Of worthies, in the breach who dared to stand, 915
And tempt the united fury of the land;
With grief they view'd such powerful engines
bent,

500

To batter down the lawful government.
A numerous faction, with pretended frights,
In Sanhedrims to plume the regal rights;
The true successor from the court removed;
The plot, by hireling witnesses improved;
These ills they saw, and, as their duty bound,
They show'd the king the danger of the wound;
That no concessions from the throne would
please,

But lenitives fomented the disease:
That Absalom, ambitious of the crown,
Was made the lure to draw the people down:
That false Achitophel's pernicious hate
Had turn'd the plot to ruin church and state:
The council violent, the rabble worse:
That Shimei taught Jerusalem to curse.

9.5

With all these loads of injuries oppress'd, And long revolving in his careful breast The event of things, at last his patience tired, W Thus, from his royal throne, by Heaven inspired, The god-like David spoke; with awful fear His train their Maker in their master hear.

Thus long have I. by native mercy sway'd, My wrongs dissembled, my revenge delay'd: 940

Ver. 899. who can Amiel's praise] Sir Edward Seymour, Amiel, was a man of high birth, being the elder branch of that family, of great boldness, vivacity of parts, and a graceful manner, though of insufferable pride. Burnet says, he was the first Speaker of the House of Commons that was not bred to the law. He knew the house and every man in it so well, that by looking about he could tell the fate of any question. Charles II, loved him personally, though he frequently voted against his measures. But once having voted for the court, the king said to him, "You were not against me to-day." Ile immediately answered, "No, sir, I was against my conscience to-day." Dr. J. WARTON.

Ver. 914. These were the chief] If this be considered, says Dr. Johnson, as a poem political and controversial, it will be found to comprise all the excellencies of which the subject is susceptible; acrimony of censure, elegance of praise, artful delineations of characters, variety and vigour of sentiment, happy turns of language, and pleasing har mony of numbers; and all these raised to such a height, as can scarcely be found in any other English composition. On this exaggerated panegyric I will only beg leave to observe, that if this poem is of a nature purely and merely political and controversial, it does not partake of the essence of real poetry. Dr. J. WARTON.

Ver. 937. The god-like David] This speech of the King is by no means equal to those of Shaftesbury and Monmouth Dr. J. WARTON.

945

950

955

960

So willing to forgive the offending age;
So much the father did the king assuage.
But now so far my clemency they slight,
The offenders question my forgiving right:
That one was made for many, they contend;
But 'tis to rule; for that's a monarch's end.
They call my tenderness of blood, my fear:
Though manly tempers can the longest bear.
Yet, since they will divert my native course,
"Tis time to show I am not good by force.
Those heap'd affronts that haughty subjects bring,
Are burdens for a camel, not a king.
Kings are the public pillars of the state,
Born to sustain and prop the nation's weight:
If my young Samson will pretend a call
To shake the column, let him share the fall:
But oh, that yet he would repent and live!
How easy 'tis for parents to forgive!
With how few tears a pardon might be won
From nature, pleading for a darling son!
Poor, pitied youth, by my paternal care,
Raised up to all the height his frame could bear!
Had God ordain'd his fate for empire born,
He would have given his soul another turn:
Gull'd with a patriot's name, whose modern sense
Is one that would by law supplant his prince; 966
The people's brave, the politician's tool;
Never was patriot yet, but was a fool.
Whence comes it, that religion and the laws
Should more be Absalom's than David's cause ?970
His old instructor, ere he lost his place,
Was never thought indued with so much grace.
Good heavens, how faction can a patriot paint!
My rebel ever proves my people's saint.
Would they impose an heir upon the throne! 975
Let Sanhedrims be taught to give their own.
A king's at least a part of government;
And mine as requisite as their consent:
Without my leave a future king to choose,
Infers a right the present to depose.
True, they petition me to approve their choice:
But Esau's hands suit ill with Jacob's voice.
My pious subjects for my safety pray;
Which to secure, they take my power away.
From plots and treasons Heaven preserve my

980

985

990

Ver. 957-960. These four verses were added in the Becond edition.

Ver. 966. Is one that would by law supplant his prince;] The first edition has,

Is one that would by law destroy his prince. Ver. 991. The law shall still direct] We cannot read these words, put into the mouth of Charles II., without a degree of just indignation, when we reflect on some striking transactions of his reign, particularly the appointment of that ministry called the Cabal.

All power in England, Scotland, and Ireland was committed to six men. Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley Cooper, afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury, Lauderdale, and Roberts, the three last of whom had drawn their swords against the King's father. Clifford had raised himelf by his great influence in the House of Commons; Ashley Cooper had still greater in the House of Lords:

Oh, that my power to saving were confined !
Why am I forced, like Heaven, against my mind,
To make examples of another kind!
Must I at length the sword of justice draw?
Oh, cursed effects of necessary law!
How ill my fear they by my mercy scan!
Beware the fury of a patient man.

1005

1010

Law they require, let Law then show her face;
They could not be content to look on Grace,
Her hinder parts, but with a daring eye
To tempt the terror of her front and die.
By their own arts 'tis righteously decreed,
Those dire artificers of death shall bleed.
Against themselves their witnesses will swear,
Till viper-like their mother plot they tear;
And suck for nutriment that bloody gore,
Which was their principle of life before.
Their Belial with their Beelzebub will fight;
Thus on my foes, my foes shall do me right.
Nor doubt the event: for factious crowds engage,
In their first onset, all their brutal rage.
Then let 'em take an unresisted course:
Retire, and traverse, and delude their force:
But, when they stand all breathless, urge the
fight,

1015

1020

And rise upon them with redoubled might:
For lawful power is still superior found;
When long driven back at length it stands the
ground.

1025

He said: The Almighty nodding gave consent; And peals of thunder shook the firmament.

Arlington, notwithstanding his secret inclinations to Popery, had maintained connections with the dissenters; Buckingham, favouring all sects, because he was of no religion himself, was a favourite of the dissenters; Lauderdale had great interest with the presbyterians of Scotland; and Shaftesbury and Buckingham were supported by the people, because they pretended a reverence for their rights. This ministry was the most extraordinary that ever was composed for the King had an unconquerable distrust of Shaftesbury; though diverted with the humours of Buckingham, he was shocked with an advice which that duke had given him to procure a parliamentary divorce from the Queen, and had once committed him to the Tower, for personal offences against himself: Arlington and Buckingham were mortal foes; and Buckingham, Shaftesbury, and Lauderdale were averse from the influence of the Duke of York with his brother, because they thought it interfered with their own; or, at least, the Duke believed that they were so but at the interview at Dover, the Duchess of Orleans reconciled Arlington and Buckingham, and the King to Buckingham, and knit the famous Cabal firmly together in the interests of the new alliance. See Echard and Dalrymple.

The melancholy fate of the Duchess of Orleans, after her return from Dover, supposed to have been by poison, ordered to be given her by her husband, who was jealous of her intimacy with her own brother, Charles II., is too well known, but we hope too atrocious to obtain credit. Dr. J. WARTON.