Two wounds our prince receiv'd and Ammon three,
Which he, enrag'd to feel, and sham'd to see,
Did his whole strength into one blow collect;
And as a spaniel, when we our aim direct
To shoot some bird, impatiently stands by
Shaking his tail, ready with joy to fly,
Just as it drops, upon the wounded prey :
So waited Death itself to bear away
The threaten'd life; did glad and greedy stand
At sight of mighty Ammon's lifted hand.
Our watchful prince by bending sav'd the wound:
But Death in other coin his reckoning found;
For whilst th' immoderate stroke's miscarrying
force

Had almost borne the striker from his horse,
A nimble thrust his active enemy made; [blade,
'Twixt his right ribs deep pièrc'd the furious
And opened wide those secret vessels, where
Life's light goes out, when first they let in air.
He falls! his armour clanks against the ground,
From his faint tongue imperfect curses sound.
His amaz'd troops straight cast their arms away;
Scarce fled his soul from thence more swift than
they.

As when two kings of neighbour hives, (whom rage
And thirst of empire in fierce wars engage,
Whilst each lays claim to th' garden as his own,
And seeks t'usurp the bordering flowers alone)
Their well armed troops drawn boldly forth to
fight,

In th' air's wide plain dispute their doubtful
If by sad chance of battle either king [right;
Fall wounded down, strook with some fatal sting,
His army's hopes and courage with him die;
They sheathe up their faint swords, and routed
fly.

On th' other sides at once, with like success,
Into the camp great Saul and Abner press;
From Jonathan's part a wild mix'd noise they hear,
And, whatsoe'er it mean, long to be there;
At the same instant from glad Jabesh' town
The hasty troops march loud and cheerful down;
Some few at first with vain resistance fall,
The rest is slaughter and vast conquest all.
The fate by which our host thus far had gone,
Our host with noble heat drove farther on;
Victorious arms through Ammon's land it bore ;
Ruin behind, and Terrour march'd before: [sight,
Where'er from Rabba's towers they cast their
Smoke clouds the day, and flames make clear the
night.

This bright success did Saul's first action bring;
The oil, the lot, and crown, less crown'd him
The happy, all men judge for empire fit, [king:
And none withstands where Fortune does submit.
Those who before did God's fair choice withstand,
Th' excessive vulgar now to death demand;
But wiser Saul repeal'd their hasty doom;
Conquest abroad, with mercy crown'd at home;
Nor stain'd with civil slaughter that day's pride,
Which foreign blood in nobler purple dy'd.
Again the crown th' assembled people give,
With greater joy than Saul could it receive;
Again th' old judge resigns his sacred place
(God glorify'd with wonders his disgrace);
With decent pride, such as did well befit
The name he kept, and that which he did quit :
The long past row of happy years he show'd
Which to his heavenly government they ow'd;

away.

Swift as the wings of Morn, reduc'd the day;
Wind, thunder, rain, and clouds, fled all at once
[moves,
'Fear not,' said he ; God his fierce wrath re-
And, though this state my service disapproves,
My prayers shall serve it constantly. No more,
I hope a pardon for past sins t' implore;
But just rewards from gracious Heaven to bring
On the good deeds of you, and of our king.
Behold him there! and as you see, rejoice
In the kind care of God's impartial choice.
Behold his beauty, courage, strength, and wit!
The honour Heaven has cloathed him with, sits
And comely on him; since you needs must be [fit
Rul'd by a king, you're happy that 'tis he.
Obey him gladly; and let him to know
You were not made for him, but he for you,
And both for God;

Whose gentlest yoke if once you cast away,
In vain shall he command, and you obey;
To foreign tyrants both shall slaves become,
Instead of king and subjects here at home.'

"The crown thus several ways confirm'd to Saul,
One way was wanting yet to crown them all;
And that was force, which only can maintain
The power that Fortune gives, orWorth does gain.
Three thousand guards of big bold men he took ;
Tall, terrible, and guards ev'n with their look :
His sacred person two, and throne, defend;
The third, on matchless Jonathan attend;
O'er whose full thoughts honour, and youthful
heat,

Sate brooding, to hatch actions good and great.
On Geba first, where a Philistian band
Lies, and around torments the fetter'd land.
He falls, and slaughters all; his noble rage
Mix'd with design his nation to engage
In that just war, which from them long in vain,
Honour and Freedom's voice had strove t' obtain.

From aught but Heaven can never sure be brought
So high, so glorious, and so vast a thought;
Nor would Ill fate, that meant me to surprise,
Come cloth'd in so unlikely a disguise.
Yon host, which its proud fishes spreads so wide
O'er the whole land, like some swoln river's tide;
Which terrible and numberless appears,

As the thick waves which their rough ocean bears; Which lies so strongly encamped, that one would say,

The hill might be remov'd as soon as they ;
We two alone must fight with and defeat:
Thou 'rt strook, and startest at a sound so great!
Yet we must do 't; God our weak hands has
chose

T' ashame the boasted numbers of our foes;
Which to his strength no more proportion be,
Than millions are of hours to his eternity.
If, when their careless guards espy us here,
With sportful scorn they call t' us to come near,
We'll boldly climb the hill, and charge them all;
Not they, but Israel's angel, gives the call.'
He spoke, and as he spoke, a light divine
Did from his eyes, and round his temples, shine;
Louder his voice, larger his limbs, appear'd;
Less seem'd the numerous army to be fear'd.
This saw, and heard with joy, the brave esquire,
As he with God's, fill'd with his master's fire:
"Forbid it, Heaven,' said he, 'I should decline,
Or wish, sir, not to make your danger mine;
The great example which I daily see
Of your high worth is not so lost on me ;
If wonder-strook I at your words appear,
My wonder yet is innocent of fear:

Th' honour which does your princely breast inflame,

Warms mine too, and joins there with duty's

name.

If in this act Ill fate our tempter be,
May all the ill it means be aim'd at me!

But sure, I think, God leads; nor could you bring

So high thoughts from a less-exalted spring. Bright signs through all your words and looks are spread,

A rising victory dawns around your head.'
With such discourse blowing their sacred flame,
Lo, to the fatal place, and work they came.

"Strongly encamp'd on a steep hill's large head, Like some vast wood the mighty host was spread; Th' only access on neighbouring Gabaa's side, An hard and narrow way, which did divide 'Two cliffy rocks, Boses and Senes nam'd,

Elcanor laugh'd to see them climb, and thought His mighty words th' affrighted suppliants brought;

Did new affronts to the great Hebrew Name,
(The barbarous !) in his wanton fancy frame.
Short was his sport; for, swift as thunder's stroke
Rives the frail trunk of some heaven-threatening
oak,

The prince's sword did his proud head divide;
The parted skull hung down on either side.
Just as he fell, his vengeful steel he drew
Half-way (no more the trembling joints could
do)

Which Abdon snatch'd, and dy'd it in the blood
Of an amazed wretch that next him stood.
Some close to earth, shaking and groveling, lie,
Like larks when they the tyrant hobby spy;
Some, wonder-strook, stand fix'd; some fly; some
Wildly, at th' unintelligible alarm.
[arm
Like the main channel of an high-swoln flood,
In vain by dikes and broken words withstood;
So Jonathan, once climb'd th' opposing hill,
Does all around with noise and ruin fill:
Like some large arm of which, another way
Abdon o'erflows; him too no bank can stay.
With cries th' affrighted country flies before,
Behind the following waters loudly roar,
Twenty, at least, slain on this outguard lie,
To th' adjoin'd camp, the rest distracted fly;
And ill-mix'd wonders tell, and into 't bear
Blind Terror, deaf Disorder, belpless Fear.
The conquerors too press boldly in behind,
Doubling the wild confusions which they find.
Hamgar at first, the prince of Ashdod town,
Chief'mongst the five in riches and renown,
And general then by course, oppos'd their way,
Till drown'd in death at Jonathan's feet he lay,
And curs'd the heavens for rage, and bit the
ground;

His life, for ever spilt, stain'd all the grass around.

His brother too, who virtuous haste did make
His fortune to revenge, or to partake,

Falls groveling o'er his trunk, on mother Earth; Death mix'd no less their bloods than did their birth.

Meanwhile the well-pleased Abdon's restless sword

Dispatch'd the following train t'attend their lord. On still, o'er panting corpse, great Jonathan led; Hundreds before him fell, and thousands fled. Prodigious prince! which does most wondrous show,

ness fam'd;

Who durst alone that dreadful host assail,
With purpose not to die, but to prevail !
Infinite numbers thee no more affright,
Than God, whose unity is infinite.

If Heaven to men such mighty thoughts would give,

What breast but thine capacious to receive
The vast infusion? or what soul but thine
Durst have believ'd that thought to be divine?
Thou follow'dst Heaven in the design, and we
Find in the act 'twas Heaven that follow'd thee.
Thou led'st on angels, and that sacred band
(The Deity's great lieutenant!) didst command.
'Tis true, sir, and no figure, when I say
Angels themselves fought under him that day,

And some the dire materials brought for new. Hot drops of southern showers (the sweats of death) [breath; The voice of storms, and winged whirlwinds' The flames shot forth from fighting dragons'

stow

Of finest sulphur; amongst which they put
Wrath, fury, horrour, and all mingled shut
Into a cold moist cloud, t' inflame more,
And make the enraged prisoner louder roar.
Th' assembled clouds burst o'er their army's
head;
[spread.
Noise, darkness, dismal lightnings, round them
Another spirit, with a more potent wand
-Than that which Nature fear'd in Moses' hand,
And went the way that pleas'd, the mountain
strook ;

The mountain felt it; the vast mountain shook.
Through the wide air another angel flew
About their host, and thick amongst them threw
Discord, despair, confusion, fear, mistake,
And all th' ingredients that swift ruin make.
The fertile glebe requires no time to breed;
It quickens, and receives at once the seed.
One would have thought, this dismal day t' have

way,

Horses and men, torn, bruis'd, and mangled, lay. Some from the rocks cast themselves down headlong;

The faint, weak passion grows so bold and strong!
To almost certain present death they fly,
From a remote and causeless fear to die.
Much different errour did some troops possess ;
And madness, that look'd better, though no less :
Their fellow-troops for th' enter'd foe they take;
And Israel's war with mutual slaughter make.
Meanwhile the king from Gabaa's hill did view,
And hear, the thickening tumult, as it grew
Still great and loud; and, though he knows not
why

They fled, no more than they themselves that fly.
Yet, by the storms and terrours of the air,
Guesses some vengeful spirit's working there;
Obeys the loud occasion's sacred call,
And fiercely on the trembling host does fall.
At the same time their slaves and prisoners rise;
Nor does their much-wish'd liberty suffice
Without revenge; the scatter'd arms they seize,
And their proud vengeance with the memory
please

Of who so lately bore them. All about,
From rocks and caves, the Hebrews issue out

A fear that drowns the scandal of their own.
Still did the prince 'midst all this storm appear,
Still scatter'd death and terrours every where;
Still did he break, still blunt, his wearied swords;
Still slaughter new supplies t' his hand affords.
Where troops yet stood, there still he hotly flew,
And, till at last all fled, scorn'd to pursue.
All fled at last, but many in vain; for still
Th' insatiate conqueror was more swift to kill
Than they to save their lives. Till, lo! at last,
Nature, whose power he had so long surpass'd,
Would yield no more, but to him stronger foes,
Drought, faintness, and fierce hunger, did oppose.
Reeking all o'er in dust, and blood, and sweat,
Burnt with the Sun's and violent action's heat,
'Gainst an old oak his trembling limbs he staid,
For some short ease; Fate in the old oak had
laid

Provisions up for his relief; and lo!

The hollow trunk did with bright honey flow.
With timely food his decay'd spirits recruit,
Strong he returns, and fresh, to the pursuit ;
His strength and spirits the honey did restore;
But, oh! the bitter-sweet strange poison bore!
Behold, sir, and mark well the treacherous fate,
That does so close on human glories wait!
Behold the strong, and yet fantastic net,
T'ensnare triumphant Virtue darkly set!
Could it before (scarce can it since) be thought,
The prince-who had alone that morning fought
A duel with an host, had th' host o'erthrown,
And threescore thousand hands disarm'd with

one;

Wash'd-off his country's shame, and doubly dy'd
In blood and blushes the Philistian pride;
Had sav'd and fix'd his father's tottering crown,
And the bright gold new burnish'd with renown,-
Should be ere night, by 's king and father's
breath,

Without a fault, vow'd and condemn'd to death?
Destin'd the bloody sacrifice to be

Of thanks, himself, for his own victory?
Alone, with various fate, like to become,
Fighting, an host; dying, an hecatomb?
Yet such, sir, was his case;

For Saul, who fear'd lest the full plenty might
(In the abandon'd camp expos'd to fight)
His hungry men from the pursuit dissuade,
A rash, but solemn vow to Heaven had made-
'Curs'd be the wretch, thrice cursed let him be,
Who shall touch food this busy day,' said he,
'Whilst the blest Sun does with his favouring light
Assist our vengeful swords against their flight:
Be he thrice curst! and, if his life we spare,
On us those curses fall that he should bear!'
Such was the king's rash vow; who little thought
How near to him Fate th' application brought.
The two-edged oath wounds deep, perform'd or

Entangled in 't? whilst wonders he did do,
Must he die now for not being prophet too?
To all but him this oath was meant and said ;
He, afar off, the ends for which 'twas made
Was acting then, till, faint and out of breath,
He grew half-dead with toil of giving death.
What could his crime in this condition be,
Fxcus'd by ignorance and necessity?
Yet the remorseless king-who did disdain
That man should hear him swear or threat in vain,
Though 'gainst himself; or Fate a way should see
By which attack'd and conquer'd he might be ;
Who thought compassion female weakness here,
And equity injustice would appear

In his own cause; who falsely fear'd, beside,
The solemn curse on Jonathan did abide,
And, the infected limb not cut away,
Would like a gangrene o'er all Israel stray
Prepar'd this god-like sacrifice to kill,
And his rash vow more rashly to fulfil.
What tongue can th' horrour and amazement tell
Which on all Israel that sad moment fell!
Tamer had been their grief, fewer their tears,
Had the Philistian fate that day been theirs.
Not Saul's proud heart could master his swoln
eye;

The prince alone stood mild and patient by;

So bright his sufferings, so triumphant show'd,
Less to the best than worst of fates he ow'd.
A victory now he o'er himself might boast;
He conquer'd now that conqueror of an host.
It charm'd though tears the sad spectator's
sight,

Did reverence, love, and gratitude, excite,
And pious rage; with which inspir'd, they now
Oppose to Saul's a better public vow.
They all consent all Israel ought to be
Accurs'd and kill'd themselves, rather than he.
Thus with kind force they the glad king with-
stood,

And sav'd their wondrous saviour's sacred blood!"

Thus David spoke; and much did yet remain
Behind, th' attentive prince to entertain;
Edom and Zoba's war-for what befel
In that of Moab, was known there too well:
The boundless quarrel with curs'd Amalek's'
land;

Where Heaven itself did cruelty command,
And practis'd on Saul's mercy, nor did ere
More punish innocent blood, than pity there.
But lo! they arriv'd now at th' appointed place;
Well-chosen and well-furnish'd for the chase.

ON THE GOVERNMENT OF

OLIVER CROMWELL.

Ir was the funeral day of the late man who made himself to be called protector. And though I bore but little affection, either to the memory of him, or to the trouble and folly of all public pageantry, yet I was forced by the importunity of my company to go along with them, and be a spectator of that solemnity, the expectation of which had been so great, that it was said to have brought

some very curious persons (and no doubt singular virtuosos) as far as from the Mount in Cornwall, and from the Orcades. I found there had been much more cost bestowed, than either the dead

man, or indeed death itself, could deserve. There was a mighty train of black assistants, among which, too, divers princes in the persons of their ambassadors (being infinitely afflicted for the loss of their brother) were pleased to attend; the hearse was magnificent, the idol crowned, and (not to mention all other ceremonies which are practised at royal interments, and