Davideis The life of David, King of Israel. A sacred poem. In five books. By Thomas Ellwood. The fifth edition |
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| III. | CHAP. III. |
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 | CHAP. III. Davideis |  |
55
CHAP. III.
HOW miserable is the state of those,
Whose frame of government doth them expose
To arbitrary pow'r! where law's unknown!
Nor any man can call his life his own!
Where innocency is of little force!
Because impartial justice hath no course!
Where one man's rage keeps all the rest in awe,
Whose will and pleasure are his only law!
Whose frame of government doth them expose
To arbitrary pow'r! where law's unknown!
Nor any man can call his life his own!
Where innocency is of little force!
Because impartial justice hath no course!
Where one man's rage keeps all the rest in awe,
Whose will and pleasure are his only law!
O! how much better is their case who live
Under a constitution which doth give
To ev'ry man in government a share,
And binds the whole to have of each a care;
Where even-handed justice freely flows,
And each the law, he must be try'd by, knows;
Where none by pow'r can be oppress'd, because
Both prince and people subject are to laws:
None there an arbitrary sentence fears,
Since none can be condemn'd but by his peers,
Whose common int'rest doth them wary make,
How they their fellow's life away do take,
For the same sentence wherewith they condemn
Another may be shortly turn'd on them;
These too th'accused party may reject,
If their indifferency he doth suspect;
And, ne'er so mean, may for his birth-right stand
Fair trial, and full hearing may demand.
Under a constitution which doth give
To ev'ry man in government a share,
And binds the whole to have of each a care;
Where even-handed justice freely flows,
And each the law, he must be try'd by, knows;
Where none by pow'r can be oppress'd, because
Both prince and people subject are to laws:
None there an arbitrary sentence fears,
Since none can be condemn'd but by his peers,
Whose common int'rest doth them wary make,
How they their fellow's life away do take,
For the same sentence wherewith they condemn
Another may be shortly turn'd on them;
These too th'accused party may reject,
If their indifferency he doth suspect;
And, ne'er so mean, may for his birth-right stand
Fair trial, and full hearing may demand.
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Prize your good fortune, ye, whose lot is fell,
Under so good a government to dwell,
Where no dispensing pow'r can make a breach,
Upon your freedoms, nor your persons reach;
But all ye have, life, liberty, estate,
Is safe by law, which none can abrogate,
Without your own consents; be therefore wise,
And learn so great a benefit to prize;
Look to't; be watchful, none by any wile,
You of so rich a jewel e'er beguile.
Under so good a government to dwell,
Where no dispensing pow'r can make a breach,
Upon your freedoms, nor your persons reach;
But all ye have, life, liberty, estate,
Is safe by law, which none can abrogate,
Without your own consents; be therefore wise,
And learn so great a benefit to prize;
Look to't; be watchful, none by any wile,
You of so rich a jewel e'er beguile.
Ah! had the government of Saul been such,
He had not dar'd the priests of Nob to touch,
Who never were, by legal proof convicted,
Of that for which he on them death inflicted;
Who had themselves from all suspicion clear'd,
And blameless unto all, but him appear'd.
He had not dar'd the priests of Nob to touch,
Who never were, by legal proof convicted,
Of that for which he on them death inflicted;
Who had themselves from all suspicion clear'd,
And blameless unto all, but him appear'd.
But he, whose lawless will for law was put,
Resolving off those innocents to cut,
Commands his guards to turn without delay,
Upon the priests of God, and them to slay;
Alleging (to encourage them thereto)
That they with trait'rous David had to do;
And that they David's flight, altho' they knew it,
Concealed had from him, and did not shew it.
Resolving off those innocents to cut,
Commands his guards to turn without delay,
Upon the priests of God, and them to slay;
Alleging (to encourage them thereto)
That they with trait'rous David had to do;
And that they David's flight, altho' they knew it,
Concealed had from him, and did not shew it.
If on the court so great a terror came,
When he before, the sentence did but name,
How great a consternation may't be thought,
This warrant for their execution brought.
The guards, who never durst till now dispute
Their lord's command, now stand amaz'd and mute;
The thought of such an impious act them struck
With trembling, and their palsied fingers shook,
And let their weapons fall; nor was there one
Amongst them all, tho' threat'ned from the throne
With stormy frowns, that would extend an arm,
Against the priests of God to do them harm.
When he before, the sentence did but name,
How great a consternation may't be thought,
This warrant for their execution brought.
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Their lord's command, now stand amaz'd and mute;
The thought of such an impious act them struck
With trembling, and their palsied fingers shook,
And let their weapons fall; nor was there one
Amongst them all, tho' threat'ned from the throne
With stormy frowns, that would extend an arm,
Against the priests of God to do them harm.
None all this while, so unconcern'd did stand,
As did the priests themselves: the king's command,
To have them slain, which made the rest to quake,
No alteration in their looks did make;
Which shew'd their guiltless souls were free from fear;
A steady resolution had possest,
With brave contempt of death, their peaceful breast;
They, in themselves, did feel the best defence
Against a tyrant's threat'nings, innocence;
This kept their spirits in an even mean,
With countenance compos'd, and minds serene.
Thus standing, they the Lord their God invoke,
Prepared to receive the fatal stroke.
As did the priests themselves: the king's command,
To have them slain, which made the rest to quake,
No alteration in their looks did make;
Which shew'd their guiltless souls were free from fear;
A steady resolution had possest,
With brave contempt of death, their peaceful breast;
They, in themselves, did feel the best defence
Against a tyrant's threat'nings, innocence;
This kept their spirits in an even mean,
With countenance compos'd, and minds serene.
Thus standing, they the Lord their God invoke,
Prepared to receive the fatal stroke.
The more unterrify'd the King beheld
The priests, the more his breast with anger swell'd;
He thought that they his power did contemn,
And, in himself, he vow'd revenge on them;
He chaf't extremely too, to think that he
Should by his guards no more regarded be:
Then, fury boiling in him to its height,
He singles out the brutish Edomite,
Th'informer Doeg, bidding him to fall
Upon the sacred priests, and slay them all.
Not backwarder the yeomen of the guard,
Themselves had shew'd (men mostly rough and hard)
Than forward he, Saul's pleasure to fulfil,
And strait a sea of righteous blood to spill;
Forthwith himself he to the work addrest,
And in Ahimelech's unspotted breast,
His thirsty sword did sheath. The aged sire,
Did not resist, did not a foot retire;
But, with undaunted resolution, stood
The stroke, 'till in a stream of purple blood,
His life expiring, to the ground he press'd,
A glorious pattern leaving to the rest.
They, without terror, did his death behold,
And by his brave example, grew more bold.
The priests, the more his breast with anger swell'd;
He thought that they his power did contemn,
And, in himself, he vow'd revenge on them;
He chaf't extremely too, to think that he
Should by his guards no more regarded be:
Then, fury boiling in him to its height,
He singles out the brutish Edomite,
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Upon the sacred priests, and slay them all.
Not backwarder the yeomen of the guard,
Themselves had shew'd (men mostly rough and hard)
Than forward he, Saul's pleasure to fulfil,
And strait a sea of righteous blood to spill;
Forthwith himself he to the work addrest,
And in Ahimelech's unspotted breast,
His thirsty sword did sheath. The aged sire,
Did not resist, did not a foot retire;
But, with undaunted resolution, stood
The stroke, 'till in a stream of purple blood,
His life expiring, to the ground he press'd,
A glorious pattern leaving to the rest.
They, without terror, did his death behold,
And by his brave example, grew more bold.
Ah! had not cursed Doeg, the disgrace
Of all mankind, as well as Edom's race,
Been in his nature, savager than were
The fiercest beasts committed to his care,
The awful aspect of Ahimelech,
Had been enough the ruffian's mind to check,
Whose goodly personage, and manly face,
An unaffected gravity did grace;
His milk-white beard, unto his spotless breast,
Itself extending, thereupon did rest,
And in his sacerdotal robes attir'd,
Was worthily both loved and admir'd.
Of all mankind, as well as Edom's race,
Been in his nature, savager than were
The fiercest beasts committed to his care,
The awful aspect of Ahimelech,
Had been enough the ruffian's mind to check,
Whose goodly personage, and manly face,
An unaffected gravity did grace;
His milk-white beard, unto his spotless breast,
Itself extending, thereupon did rest,
And in his sacerdotal robes attir'd,
Was worthily both loved and admir'd.
59
But graceless Doeg, of a graceless kind,
Bred among beasts, to brutishness inclin'd,
By shedding blood, more bloody-minded grew,
And on the other priests with fury flew.
They, undismay'd, themselves prepare to die,
Not one resists, not one attempts to fly;
But having God, whose priests they were, implor'd,
They yield their spotless breasts to Doeg's sword:
He in their blood did bathe his reeking blade,
And on the soiled earth, them breathless laid;
The bloody wretch their bodies hew'd and tore,
And warm he left them welt'ring in their gore,
All man by man; nor did he leave alive,
One ephod-wearer, out of eighty-five.
Bred among beasts, to brutishness inclin'd,
By shedding blood, more bloody-minded grew,
And on the other priests with fury flew.
They, undismay'd, themselves prepare to die,
Not one resists, not one attempts to fly;
But having God, whose priests they were, implor'd,
They yield their spotless breasts to Doeg's sword:
He in their blood did bathe his reeking blade,
And on the soiled earth, them breathless laid;
The bloody wretch their bodies hew'd and tore,
And warm he left them welt'ring in their gore,
All man by man; nor did he leave alive,
One ephod-wearer, out of eighty-five.
Thus fell the priests of God; thus bleeding lay
The tribe of Levi, slaughter'd in a day;
Butcher'd by barb'rous hands, without all cause,
Against religion, reason, right, and laws:
This Doeg acted; but 'twas Saul that bid;
This Saul commanded, and this Doeg did.
The tribe of Levi, slaughter'd in a day;
Butcher'd by barb'rous hands, without all cause,
Against religion, reason, right, and laws:
This Doeg acted; but 'twas Saul that bid;
This Saul commanded, and this Doeg did.
The hard'ned king, thus having fed his eyes,
With this, to him delightful sacrifice,
To carry on his vengeance to the height,
The city Nob too with the sword did smite;
No living soul therein his fury left,
But, whatsoever breath'd, of life bereft,
Men, women, children, oxen, asses, sheep,
His slaught'ring sword at once away did sweep.
O horrid act! on his part most unjust,
As done to answer a revengeful lust;
But just from God, who, his denounced will,
Against old Eli's house did thus fulfil.
With this, to him delightful sacrifice,
To carry on his vengeance to the height,
The city Nob too with the sword did smite;
No living soul therein his fury left,
But, whatsoever breath'd, of life bereft,
Men, women, children, oxen, asses, sheep,
His slaught'ring sword at once away did sweep.
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As done to answer a revengeful lust;
But just from God, who, his denounced will,
Against old Eli's house did thus fulfil.
| CHAP. III. Davideis | |