Chapter III: Part 3

They required no gifts, neither that for their sakes David should kill any man in Israel (which qualifying expressions seems artfully intended; since they only required David to _deliver_ the men to _them_, that _they_ might kill them); but that seven of Saul's sons, should be surrendered to them, that they might hang them up--_unto the Lord_.* David, not withheld by any motives of gratitude toward the posterity of his unhappy father-in-law, but in direct violation of his oath at the cave of En-gedi,** granted the request he must himself have instigated,*** sparing only Mephibosheth, who luckily was so unfortunate as to be a cripple, and so much a dependant on David, and kept under his own eye, that he had no room for apprehension from him. He therefore reserved Mephibosheth, in memory of another oath between him and his father Jonathan. Mephibosheth having such a shocking scene to contemplate, and, considering his decrepitude, might (as he really was) with little hazard be preserved, as an evidence of probity in this pious king.

A conscience of convenient flexibility is of great use: thus David being under obligation by two oaths, forgot one, and remembered the other. When Creon, in OEdipus, was interrogated concerning his conscience, he replied--

--"'Tis my slave, my drudge, my supple glove,
My upper garment, to put on, throw off,
As I think best: 'tis my obedient conscience."

David, now thinking himself securely settled, was moved both by God**** and by Satan,(5) to cause his subjects to be numbered: which is, oddly enough, imputed as a great sin in him to require: for, poor man, according to the premises, he was but a passive instrument in the affair.

* 2 Sam. 6.

** 1 Sam. xxiv. 21, 22.

*** 2 Sam. xxi. 6.

**** Chap. xxiv. 1.

(5) 1 Chron. xxi. l.

Even David should have his due. The prophet Gad called him to account for it; and as a punishment for this sin of compulsion, propounded to him for his choice three kinds of plagues, one of which _his subjects_ thereby necessarily incurred seven years famine, three months persecution from enemies, or three days pestilence.* David chose the latter.

It may be as well to decline this story, as to enter into, any more particular consideration of it. From the above state of the case, the intelligent reader will need no assistance in making his own private reflections on it.

We have now attended David down to the decline of his life: when his natural heat so far decayed, that no addition of clothing** could retain a proper degree of warmth. His physicians prescribed a young woman to cherish him in his bed, by imparting to him a share of juvenile heat.*** This remedy may be very expedient in cases of extreme age: but why beauty should be a necessary part of the prescription is difficult to conceive. They sought a _fair damsel_; and the damsel they found, was _very fair._**** Possibly David might himself direct the delicacy of the choice: but if his physicians intended it as a compliment to their master, it indicated a very insufficient knowledge of the animal oeconomy: thus to stimulate the old man, and harass a carcase already sufficiently worn out: whereas a virgin of homelier features, at the same time that she would have furnished an equal degree of warmth, would have been less liable to put wicked thoughts in the patient's head.(5) However, the historian has taken care to inform us, that "the king knew her not:"(6) an assertion, which, from the premises, there does not appear any reason to controvert.

* 2 Sam. xxiv. 13., 1 Chron. xxi. 12.

** 1 Kings, i. 1.

*** Ver. 2.

**** Ver. 8, 4.

(5) "Boerhaave frequently told his pupils that an old German
prince, in a very infirm state of health, being advised to
lie between two young virtuous virgins, grew so healthy and
strong, that his physicians found it necessary to remove his
companions." Mackenzie on Health, p. 70, Notes.

(6) l Kings, i. 4.

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.

* Ver. 5.

** Ver. 9, 19, 25.

*** Ver. 9, 10,

**** Ver. 11.

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 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;(5) Adonijah ran to the tabernacle, and took sanctuary at the altar. He obtained of Solomon a conditional promise of pardon,(6) depending on his good behaviour.(7)

* 1 Kings i. 13.

** Ver. 26.

*** Ver. 30.

**** Ver. 33, 38.

(5) Ver. 41, 49, 50.

(6) Ver. 52.

(7) Solomon soon found a pretence, ridiculous enough, but
sufficient in his eyes, to get rid of Adonijah, when his
father was dead.

And now, methinks, some gentlewoman, of more than feminine patience, whose curiosity may have prevailed with her to proceed thus for, 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 prevail 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 lxviii. 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 1 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 name;
The tongues of dogs they shall be red
With licking of the same.

Again, in Psalm lxix. 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 meditating black ingratitude against so faithful, so useful a servant. For even his defection at last may, perhaps, admit of being interpreted into a patronization of that particular plan for the succession, rather than into a rebellion against the superannuated monarch.

His other charge was against Shimei, who reviled David at his retreat from Jerusalem, during Absalom's rebellion; but who made his submission to him, when he returned victorious: and whose pardon David had sealed with a solemn oath.*

Attend we now to the cause of these reflections. After exhorting Solomon on his death-bed, to keep the statutes of the Lord, David proceeds:

"Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Zeruiah, did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet."

"Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let NOT HIS HOAR HEAD GO DOWN TO THE GRAVE IN PEACE."**

This was afterwards fulfilled in the basest manner, by the administrator to this pious testament.

David concludes thus:

"And behold, thou hast with thee Shimei, the son of Gera, a Benjaminite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse, in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the Lord, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword:

"Now, therefore, hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with BLOOD."*** --That is to say, 'It is true, I promised not to put him to death, but thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do; thou knowest thyself not to be bound by that obligation; therefore his hoar head, &c. So saying, he expired!

* 2 Sam. xix. 23.

** 1 Kings ii. 5, 6.

*** Ver. 8, 9.

This command was also executed in a manner, worthy of a son of SUCH A FATHER.

To take a retrospect view of the foregoing narrative; in few words may be seen the sum total of the whole. A shepherd: youth is chosen by a disgusted, prophet, to be the instrument of his revenge on an untractable king. To this, end he is inspired with ambitious hopes, by a private inauguration; is introduced to court, in the capacity of a harper; and by knocking down a man with a stone whom, if he had missed once, he had four more chances of hitting, and from whom, at the last, he could have, easily ran away; he was advanced to the dignity of son-in-law to the king. So sudden and unlooked for a promotion within sight of the throne, stimulated expectations already awakened; and Saul soon perceived reasons to repent his alliance with him. Being obliged to retire from the court, he assembled a gang of ruffians, the acknowledged outcasts of their country, and became the ringleader of a lawless company of banditti. In this capacity he seduces his brother-in-law, Jonathan, from his allegieance and filieal duty; and covenants with him, that if he obtained the kingdom, Jonathan should be the next person in authority under him.

He obtains a settlement in the dominions of a Philistine prince where instead of applying himself laudably to the arts of cultivation he subsists by plundering and butchering the neighbouring nations.

He offered his assistance to the Philistine armies, in a war against his own country, and father-in-law; and is much disgusted at their distrust of his sincerity. He however, availed himself of the defeat and death of Saul, and made a push for the kingdom.

Of this he gained only his own tribe of Judah: but strengthened by this usurpation, he contested the remainder with Saul's son, Ishbosbeth, whom he persecuted to the grave: Ishbosbeth being assassinated by two villains, with intention to pay their court to the usurper. He is now king of Israel: In which capacity he plundered and massacred all his neighbours round him at discretion. He defiled, the wife of one of his officers, while her husband was absent in the army: and finding she was with child by him, He, to prevent a discovery, added murder to adultery; which being accomplished, he took the widow directly into his well-stocked seraglio. He then repaired to the army, where he treated the subjected enemies: with the most wanton inhumanity. A rebellion is raised against him by his son Absalom, which he suppressed, and invited over the rebel-general, to whom he gave the supreme command of his army, to the prejudice of the victorious Joab. After this, he cut off the remainder of Saul's family, in defiance to the solemn oath by which he engaged to spare that unhappy race; reserving only one cripple from whom he had not apprehensions: and who, being the son of Jonathan, gave him the opportunity of making a merit of his gratitude.

When he lay on his death-bed, where all mankind resign their resentments and animosities, his latest breath was employed in dictating two posthumous murders to his son Solomon! and, as if one crime more was wanting to complete the black catalogue; he cloathed all his actions with the most consummate hypocrisy: professing all along the greatest regard for every appearance of virtue and holiness. These, Christians! are the outlines of the life of a Jew, whom you are not ashamed to continue extolling as a man after God's own heart!

This Britons! is the king to whom your late excellent monarch* has been compared!

* George II.

What an impiety to the Majesty of Heaven!

What an affront to the memory of an honest prince! It is with great joy the writer of these memoirs takes his leave of a story, with which, by this time he is sufficiently disgusted. He entered upon it, however, from honest motives; and he concludes it with the consciousness of having performed a work, which he flatters himself will prove acceptable to all who entertain adequate conceptions of the eternal rectitude of that great Creator of the universe, whom they profess to adore. He despises all the pious ravings and anathemas which have been thundered against him by some reverend inquisitors: he expected them, has exposed them; and hopes he may, without offence finally reply in the words of their forgotten master, "Father forgive them, for they _know not_ what they do." Those who estimate a man's religion by his implicitness to prescribed notions, and who think it their duty to stifle their living objections in compliance to the dead letter; (for objections they will have, and very strong ones too) such have, and will undoubtedly be shocked at this publication. Such may produce numerous texts in opposition to what is here produced; and can inspired writers be inconsistent with themselves? It is not at present necessary to discuss that question. Argue that point among yourselves; the printer will at least profit by your disputes; though you may happen to

----Explain a thing till all men doubt it.
And write about the subject, and about it:
So spins the silk-worm small its slender store,
And labours till it clouds itself all o'er.

This, yet, is none of his concern. The love of truth is a motive which ought to supersede every other consideration: for every other consideration is subordinate in comparison with it. Truth requires no tenderness of investigation, and scorns all subterfuges. It is, when displayed,

----divinely bright.
One dear, unchang'd, and universal light.

To rescue truth, therefore, from obscurity and disguise, is the most rational way of giving

_Glory to God in the highest; and on earth, peace: good-will toward men._