He saw the nobler wonders of his mind,

Great gifts! which for great works he knew defign'd:
He saw (t' afhame the strength of man and hell)
How by 's young hands their Gathite champion fell :
He saw the reverend prophet boldly shed

The royal drops round his enlarged head;
And well he knew what legacy did place
The facred fceptre in bleft Judah's race,
From which th' eternal Shilo was to fpring;

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A knowledge which new hells to hell did bring! 120
And, though no lefs he knew himself too weak
The smallest link of ftrong-wrought Fate to break,
Yet would he rage and struggle with the chain;
Lov'd to rebel, though fure that 'twas in vain.
And, now it broke his form'd defign, to find
The gentle change of Saul's recovering mind;
He trusted much in Saul, and rag'd, and griev'd
(The great Deceiver!) to be himself deceiv'd.
Thrice did he knock his ison teeth, thrice howl,
And into frowns his wrathful forehead roll;

His

eyes

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dart forth red flames, which feare the night, And with worfe fires the trembling ghofts affright; A troop of gaftly fiends compafs him round, And greedily catch at his lips' fear'd found. "Are we fuch Nothings then!" said he, "our will "Croft by a fhepherd's boy! and you yet still "Play with your idle ferpents here ? dares none "Attempt what becomes Furies ? are ye grown "Benumb'd with fear, or Virtue's fpiritlefs cold, "You, who were once (I 'm sure) fo brave and bold ?

"Oh!

"Oh! my ill-chang'd condition! oh, my fate! "Did I lofe heaven for this?"

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With that, with his long tail he lash'd his breast,
And horribly spoke out in looks the rest.
The quaking powers of night stood in amaze,
And at each other first could only gaze;
A dreadful filence fill'd the hollow place,
Doubling the native terror of hell's face;
Rivers of flaming brimftone, which before
So loudly rag'd, crept softly by the shore;
No hifs of fnakes, no clank of chains, was known,
The fouls, amidst their tortures, durst not groan.
Envy at last crawls forth from that dire throng,
Of all the direfull'ft; her black locks hung long,
Attir'd with curling ferpents; her pale skin
Was almoft dropp'd from the sharp bones within;
And at her breast stuck vipers, which did prey
Upon her panting heart both night and day,
Sucking black blood from thence, which to repair
Both night and day they left fresh poisons there.
Her garments were deep-stain'd in human gore,
And torn by her own hands, in which the bore
A knotted whip, and bowl, that to the brim
Did with green gall and juice of wormwood fwim;
With which, when she was drunk, fhe furious grew,
And lafh'd herself: thus from th' accurfed crew
Envy, the worst of fiends, herself presents,
Envy, good only when the 'herself torments.

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"Spend not, great king! thy precious rage," faid fhe, "Upon fo poor a caufe; shall mighty we

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"The

"The glory of our wrath to him afford?

"Are we not Furies ftill, and you our lord?

"At thy dread anger the fix'd world shall shake, "And frighted Nature her own laws forfake:

"Do thou but threat, loud ftorms shall make reply, 175 "And thunder echo 't to the trembling sky; "Whilft raging feas fwell to fo bold an height, "As fhall the fire's proud element affright:

"Th' old drudging fun from his long-beaten way "Shall at thy voice start, and misguide the day; 180 "The jocund orbs fhall break their measur❜d pace, "And stubborn poles change their allotted place;

"Heaven's gilded troops shall flutter here and there,

Leaving their boasting songs tun'd to a sphere; "Nay, their God too-for fear he did, when we "Took noble arms against his tyranny,

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"So noble arms, and in a caufe fo great, "That triumphs they deferve for their defeat. "There was a day! oh might I see 't again, "Though he had fiercer flames to thrust us in! "And can fuch powers be by a child withstood? "Will flings, alas! or pebbles, do him good? "What th' untam'd lion, whet with hunger too, “And giants, could not, that my word shall do: "I'll foon diffolve this peace; were Saul's new love "(But Saul we know) great as my hate fhall "Before their fun twice more be gone about, "I and my faithful fnakes would drive it out. "By me, Cain offer'd up his brother's gore, "A facrifice far worse than that before;

prove,

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"I faw him fling the ftone, as if he meant
"At once his murder and his monument,
"And laugh'd to fee (for 'twas a goodly fhow)
"The earth by her first tiller fatten'd fo :
* I drove proud Pharaoh to the parted sea ;
"He and his hoft drank up cold death by me:
"By me rebellious arms fierce Corah took,
"And Mofes (curse upon that name!) forfook;
"Hither (ye know) almost alive he came

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"Through the cleft earth; ours was his funeral flame: "By me -but I lofe time, methinks, and should

"Perform new acts whilft I relate the old. "David's the next our fury must enjoy :

"'Tis not thy God himself shall fave thee, boy!
No, if he do, may the whole world have peace; 215
"May all ill actions, all ill fortune, cease,
"And, banish'd from this potent court below,

May I a ragged, contemn'd Virtue grow!"
She spoke; all star'd at first, and made a pause;
But ftrait the general murmur of applause

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Ran through Death's courts; the frown'd still, and begun
To envy at the praife herfelf had won.

Great Beelzebub starts from his burning throne
To 'embrace the Fiend, but fhe, now furious grown
To act her part; thrice bow'd, and thence the fled;
The fnakes all hifs'd, the fiends all murmured.
It was the time when filent night began
T'enchain with fleep the bufy fpirits of man;
And Saul himself, though in his troubled breast
The weight of empire lay, took gentle rest:

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Se

So did not Envy; but with hafte arose;

And, as through Ifrael's stately towns she goes,

She frowns, and shakes her head; " Shine on" fays fhe,
"Ruins ere long shall your sole monuments be.”
The filver moon with terror paler grew,

And neighbouring Hermon fweated flowery dew;
Swift Jordan started, and strait backward fled,
Hiding among thick reeds his aged head;

Lo, at her entrance Saul's strong palace shook;
And nimbly there the reverend shape she took
Of Father Benjamin; fo long her beard,

So large her limbs, fo grave her looks, appear'd,
Just like his ftatue, which beftrid Saul's gate,
And seem'd to guard the race it did create.

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In this known form the' approach'd the tyrant's fide; And thus her words the facred form bely'd: "Arife, loft king of Ifrael! canft thou lie "Dead in this fleep, and yet thy last so nigh? "If king thou be'ft, if Jeffe's race as yet "Sit not on Ifrael's throne! and fhall he fit? "Did ye for this from fruitful Egypt fly? "From the mild brickhill's nobler flavery? "For this, did feas your powerful rod obey? "Did wonders guide, and feed, you on your way? "Could ye not there great Pharaoh's bondage bear, 255 "You who can ferve a boy, and minstrel, 'here? "Forbid it, God! if thou be'st just; this shame "Caft not on Saul's, on mine, and Ifrael's, name! "Why was I elfe from Canaan's famine led? "Happy, thrice happy, had I there been dead,

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"Ere