University of Virginia Library

SCENE III.

Another apartment. Absalom, Hadad, Ahithophel, Manasses, and Malchiah, seated round a table, with lights and parchments, in consultation. Enter Obil, with Mephibosheth.
Ab.
Good even, Prince.

Ahith.
Prosperity to Benjamin.

Mephib.
Health to my lord,—to grave Ahithophel,—
To all. (Seats himself at the table.)


Had.
Time urges. Shall we call in Caleb?

Ab.
Ay, instantly.
(Obil goes out, on a sign from Hadad. Absalom turns to Mephibosheth.)
Prince, all the northern Tribes,
To Benjamin are sure. Here are the seals
Of Gad and Reuben: Naphtali is sworn,
And Pagiel, their prince, has twice passed down,
Communing with our partisans as far
As Shiloh. Twenty thousand valiant men
Wait but our summons. Such, in brief, these letters,
All verbally confirmed by faithful couriers,
Whose words and pledges we have ta'en to-night.

Mephib.
Business has thriven, my lord, in my poor absence.

Re-enter Obil with a Courier.
Ab.
What tidings. Caleb, from the hill country?

Courier.
Every face, my Prince,
Is lifted to salute the sun.

Ahith.
All tiptoe on the mountains, say'st thou?—Well,
A speedy and a glorious dawn awaits them,
A rising such as Judah never saw.

Ab.
What cities hast thou greeted?

Courier.
All the chief
From Ajalon to Kadesh.—This, from Giloh,
My lord Ahithophel; this from the chiefs
Of Ziph and Lachish.

(Takes letters from the folds of his cap for Absalom and Ahithophel.
Ahith.
(after perusing his despatches.)
All 's well; and bids us not delay.

Ab.
This missive
Seals our resolves. It comes from Ithamar.—
Our royal trumpet will be blown in Hebron
At the sixth hour to-morrow?

Mephib.
(starting.)
How! to-morrow?

Malchi.
To-morrow, Prince?

Ab.
Ten thousand men encamp
Before it ere that hour. By eventide,
The news must be beyond the Kishon.

Mephib.
(aside.)
Moses!

Ahith.
Be not surprised, my lords: our safety lies
In suddenness. The cloud is in the heaven,
The bolt must fly, or men will shun it.

Manass.
Yes, but—

Had.
Pardon, my lord Manasses,—I am rude,—
And sage Ahithophel, our reverend Thummim,
Grant me a word. We twice have been convened,
Without our friends Malchiah and Manasses.
Briefly to them I state what you have heard.—
I have myself passed through the Tribes; with all
The Princes, Judges, powerful of our friends,
Held personal conference; to the nicest point
Instructed them; ta'en pledges; armed their mouths
With potent arguments; explaining thus
The strong necessity of all we do.
The King, whom Heaven preserve! declined in years,
Lets fall the reins; oppressors lord it; wrongs
Cry in the streets with none to hear; the Judge
Sits not between the gates; the King nor hears,
Nor substitutes: imperious Joab rules
God's heritage, and shakes his bloody hand
Over the innocent: old Nathan sits
Close at his master's ear, whispering against
The People's Chosen, bent to crown the boy,
Whom secretly, 't is said, he hath affianced
To Pharaoh's infant daughter. When the fit
Of penitential horror shakes the King,
He talks of Amnon,—fratricide,—and blood
Demanding expiation, and alarms
His mind infirm with guilt and punishment.
Thus stands the kingdom; thus your cherished hopes
Totter to downfall. And will warlike Israel
Behold her lawful, her elected Prince
Undone by treacherous instruments? submit
Her stainless sceptre to a murderer's hand?
For what awes ruthless Joab from the crown
But Absalom? Think you, a Prince's blood,
A helpless youth, were sacred in his sight
If David slept, and Absalom were not,
Who, only, never feared him? Men of Israel,
Would you perpetuate your royal line,
Age must resign the rod of power to manhood.—
With these, my lords, and other arguments
Suggested by the wise Ahithophel,
Are they replenished, and prepared for action.

Manass.
Then let us on.

Had.
My uncle promises
Full fifteen thousand footmen, and is pledged
A thousand chariots, and five thousand horse
By Hadadezer, if the sword decide it:
Our grandsire Talmai empties all his realm.

Malchi.
I'm satisfied, my lord.

Mephib.
Sirs, may the son of Saul
A moment's audience crave?

Ab.
Speak, worthy Prince.

Mephib.
My lord, I have allied to this great cause
The strongest Tribe save Judah. I demand
Recognisance, before these witnesses,
Of promises not mentioned, as were meet,
Before this solemn sitting.—Yes, my lords,
I claim his oath, that, if by me, the strength
Of Benjamin were added, he would bound
His power by Jordan eastward, and resign
The ancient sovereignty of Ishbosheth
To me, the lineal heir. (A pause.)


Manass.
Can this be so?

Malchi.
Divide the sceptre!

Ahith.
(smiting the table.)
Never!

Mephib.
But he hath sworn it.

Ab.
If the Tribes consented.

Mephib.
The pledge was absolute,—
There stands your organ. Let him answer.

Ab.
Hadad?

Had.
My lord Mephibosheth,—if I err not,—
That promise was conditioned on—

Mephib.
Nothing!—
By God's Ark! 't was a solemn gage,—unclogged,—
And bound his princely honor to enforce it.

(Hadad draws Absalom apart.)
Manass.
We have no right to mutilate the sceptre;
The royalty is Judah's.

Ahith.
Fixed in him:
A right perpetual promised.

Mephib.
Ye mock,—ye mock!
A right forsooth!—By what right sit ye here
In treasonous council? Plead ye right for this—

Had.
The sooner, Prince, the better.

Ab.
(to Mephib.)
The question of divided sovereignty
Requiring grave debate, and general sanction,
Must wait the assembling of the Tribes, my lord.—
Let us dissolve now: all is understood.—
My father's leave is won, to sacrifice
In solemn state at Hebron, to fulfill
My vow in Geshur. Meet me there to-morrow.
The flower of Judah will attend in arms.
Stir with the dawn; nor marvel if ye spy
Friends of the King upon the way: I 've bid
Two hundred follow us, the more to cloak
The enterprise. And now, my lords, farewell.

Manass.
Farewell.

Malchi.
Farewell and prosper, noble Prince.

Ab.
Take separate streets, you who ascend to Zion.
I keep the west, by Millo.

Manass.
We'll be guarded.

(Exeunt all but Hadad, Mephibosheth, and Obil.)
Mephib.
Fit recompense
For trusting traitors!—Fellow, bring my mule.

Had.
Stay.—
You go not forth to-night.

Mephib.
How now!
Thou shuffling, perjured—

Had.
Curb your passion, Prince.

Mephib.
Now, by the bones of Saul—Bring forth my mule.

Had.
(to Obil.)
Stir, and thou diest.

Mephib.
Ruffian, meanest to slay me?

Had.
Hear me, my lord. The Prince's words, 't is true,
I strained beyond their—

Mephib.
Leprous Gentile!
Lie to your brutish gods, lie not to me!

Had.
No matter: you and I best know the wherefore:—
But danger 's in thine eye, and I'll not risk
The safety of the state. You must repose
Beneath good Obil's roof to-night.

Mephib.
Abhorred,
Damned, heathen parasite—

Had.
Tush! have a care!
(Half draws his dagger, with a threatening glance: then turns to Obil.)
Provide thy best for Prince Mephibosheth;
Respect him as myself; but if he look
Beyond thy doors ere the third morning hour,
Your blood be on ye both!—What! hear'st thou?

Obil.
Master, reverently.

Had.
Remember!—eyes will be about these doors
Which ye were best avoid.—Good rest, my lord.

(Returns his dagger to the sheath, and exit. Scene closes.)