While the king lay in this debilitated extremity of life, he was destined to experience yet another mortification from his children. Adonijah his eldest son, since the death of Absalom, taking advantage of his father's incapacity, foolishly assumed the title of king,* which, had he been a little less precipitate, would have soon fallen to him, perhaps, without contest. For though David afterwards is represented as having secret intentions to alter the succession, yet the countenance shewn to his pretension by Joab, the general, by Abiathar the priest, and even by all his other brothers,† seem to indicate, that had Adonijah been more prudent, we should not now have heard so much of the wisdom of Solomon, It is possible Adonijah might, even as it was, have maintained his anticipated dignity, had he not, like Saul before, slighted his most powerful friends. He made an entertainment, to which he invited all his brothers, except Solomon ;+ but what ruined him, was his not inviting Nathan the prophet; it was there the grudge began: and the exclusion from this merry bout, and the confidence of the party, caused the prophet's loyalty to exert itself, § which might probably have been suppressed by a due share of Adonijah's good cheer.

Let not the writer be accused of putting a malicious construction upon every transaction he produces. Pray, reader, turn to your bible: in the tenth verse of the first chapter of the first book of Kings, you will find a remark that Nathan was not called to the feast. The very next verse begins, "Wherefore, Nathan spake unto Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon," &c. He was certainly nettled at the slight put on him, and some others, in not being invited to Adonijah's feast, else he would not have insisted on that circumstance; which had better been waved. The supposition is not so ridiculous as has been represented; for surely the probability of Nathan's being corrupted, was not

* Ver. 5. † Ver. 9, 19, 25. Ver. 9, 10. § Ver. 11.

less than that of David's sons; who, yet, all of them, except Solomon, (who, had he been invited, had some private reasons to the contrary, which their proceedings shew them to have been aware of) were agreeable to settling the succession on their elder brother; though certainly as much interested in the disposal of the kingdom, as Nathan could be.

Nathan and Bathsheba concerted to inform David of this matter;* where the affronted prophet could not forget the slight put upon him; but, it being foremost in his mind, he insists upon the circumstance of exclusion, in an earnest manner; "But me, even ME, thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called;"+ which spake the cause of his officious loyalty but too plainly. David here acknowledges the promise by which he waved the right of primogeniture in favour of Solomon, Bathsheba's son.‡ He now directed him to be set upon a mule, to be proclaimed and anointed king of Israel, by his appointment. The acclamations of the people upon this raree-shew disturbed the opposite party at their table; and an event, so unexpected, quite disconcerted them: they all dispersed ;|| Adonijah ran to the tabernacle, and took sanctuary at the altar. He obtained of Solomon a conditional promise of pardon, T depending on his good behaviour. **

And now, methinks, some gentlewoman, of more than feminine patience, whose curiosity may have prevailed with her to proceed thus far, may here exclaim; "It must be granted, Sir! that David had his faults; and who has not? but what does that prove? only that he was a man. If he was frail, his repentance was exemplary; as you may perceive, if you can pre

* 1 Kings i. 13.

‡ Ver. 30.
¶ Ver. 52.

§ Ver. 33, 38.

† Ver. 26. || Ver. 41, 49, 50. ** Solomon soon found a pretence, ridiculous enough, but sufficient in his eyes, to get rid of Adonijah, when his father was dead.

vail with yourself to read some of his psalms. Indeed, after your ill-treatment of the scripture, it will avail little to tell you that you contradict those inspired penmen, who expressly stile David, the Man after God's own heart. Nay, your writing against him, under that epithet, shews sufficiently the rancour and impiety of your heart; so that I am fearful there are small hopes of reclaiming you.'-Good Madam! hear me calmly, and we shall part excellent friends yet. Had David not been selected from the rest of mankind, why then-it is possible-hardly possible-he might pass in the gross, with the rest of the Jewish kings. But, when he is exalted and placed in a conspicuous point of view, as an eminent example of piety! he then necessarily attracts our notice in an especial manner, and we are naturally led to wonder, that a more happy subject of panegyric had not been chosen. If he was an holy psalmist; if he is styled the Man after God's own heart; he also lived the life here exhibited and his capability of uniting such contrarities, does but augment his guilt!

Yet, even in his psalms, he frequently breathes nothing but blood, and the most rancorous resentment against his enemies. Of these take a specimen or two, from the elegant ekeings out of that transcendent pair of geniuses, Messrs. Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins; in recommendation of whose version, and the taste of our countrymen, it may be truly affirmed, that their psalms have gone through more editions than the works of any other poet, or brace of poets, whatever.

PSALM 1xviii. 22-24.

And he shall wound the head of all

His enemies also,

The hairy scalp of such as on

In wickedness do go.

From Basan I will bring, said he,
My people and my sheep,

And all my own, as I have done,

From dangers of the deep.

And make them dip their feet in blood
Of those that hate my nanie;

The tongues of dogs they shall be red
With licking of the same.

Again, in PSALM Ixix. 24-27.
Lord, turn their table to a snare,
To take themselves therein,
And when they think full well to fare,
Then :rap them in their gin :

And let their eyes be dark and blind,
That they may nothing see;

Bow down their backs, and let them find
Themselves in thrall to be:

Pour out thy wrath as hot as fire,
That it on them may fall,

Let thy displeasure in thine ire

Take hold upon them all.

As desarts dry their house disgrace,
Their seed do thou expel,

That none thereof possess their place,
Nor in their tents once dwell.

Very pious ejaculations for the whole congregation to sing to the praise and glory of God!

David's failings, as they are qualifyingly termed, are generally mentioned as exceptions to the uniform piety of his character: but, if David ever performed any truly laudable actions, those are the real exceptions to the general baseness which stains the whole of a life uncommonly criminal.

The writer does not pledge himself to reconcile rapine and cruelty, with morality and religion; there are Commentators who love these knotty affairs; to them they are left. When the vindictive tenor of any of David's psalms has been insisted on, the translation is immediately censured; prudently enough; as every one who has sense to perceive the incongruity between such bloody wishes and denunciations, and the acknowledged purity and mercy of the All-beneficent Father of Nature, may not have learning enough to dispute about Hebrew points, and to make them point what meaning he pleases. However, such a one, by

comparing the labours of Hebrew critics, may yet be enabled to form some sort of judgment between them. For instance, in that terrible 109th psalm, it is certain our Doctors in Divinity do not like it: but something must be done with it: some, therefore, say, that the verbs are not translated in their proper tenses, and that prophetic declarations are thus mistaken for the Psalmist's execrations: others again say, that to be sure they are imprecations, but not the imprecations of David; but those of his enemies on him, which he there only relates! O happy men! why do not we all learn Hebrew? His exemplary repentance is pleaded; is it any where to be found but in the psalms?" By their fruits ye shall know them." If David was ever truly pious, we shall certainly perceive it in his behaviour on his death-bed. There, it is to be hoped, we shall find him forgiving his enemies, and dying in charity with all mankind. This is what all mankind in general make a point of, from the saint to the malefactor. David, therefore, must certainly give us an extraordinary instance of his attention to this important evidence of contrition, But what shall we think, when we see this Nero of the Hebrews die in a manner uniform and consistent with the whole course of his life? What will be our reflections, when we find him, with his last accents, delivering two cruel and inhuman murders in charge to his son Solomon? Murders still further aggravated by the included crimes of ingratitude and perjury! one of them to be executed on his old faithful general, Joab, who powerfully assisted him on all occasions, and who adhered to him in all his extremities, till at the last, when he had justifiable cause for chagrin: but who, notwithstanding, had not appeared against him in actual hostility; but only drank a glass of wine with the malcontents. It will avail nothing to plead the private faults of the man; we are now to consider him as relative to David, in his public capacity. In which light we must loath the master, who died me