Joab. Well, nail thine eyes there.-Will the old man's prayer Stretch out till doom? Benaiah, we lose time; We should be now beyond Bahurim. Ben. Be patient; The stroke was bitter, and his heart seemed fraught Joab. Better rive at once, Than meet the tender mercies of his son By loitering here. By heaven, I'll rouse him Ben. Hold, Hold, Joab! People. Stand aside-Back there—The King! [KING DAVID comes forward among the People; Enter HUSHAI, with his garments rent; he falls to the ground, and clasps the King's feet.] Hush. God save my lord the King! Live I to see K. Dav. Once, Hushai, once the candle of the Lord First People. What will become of us? Heaven hath forsaken us! Third People. Wo, wo, alas! Joab. (Going among them.) Peace with your howling! Peace! or ye shall feast We linger here while death is at our heels. K. Dav. Hushai. Hush. Command thy servant. K. Dav. Turn thou back; Mix with his council; seem as they. Thy words By my commandment, with the Ark; To them And bring him home to Zion. K. Dav. May it please Him!'" The whole of this part of the poem is hardly more than a dramatic version of the original story, as it is related in the second book of Samuel. Obedient to the desire of his master, whose prudence and foresight are awakened, instead of stupified, by misfortune, Hushai, the faithful counsellor, returns to the city, in order to countermine and defeat the purposes of Absalom. It was the usurper's interest to press on immediately with his forces, and overwhelm his father before he could collect his friends and recover from his confusion. It was consequently Hushai's part to induce delay, by representing it as the wisest and safest course. This he effectually accomplishes. But the whole of the council scene, in which the debate takes place, is so favorable a specimen of Mr Hillhouse's powers, that we shall present it in his own words; and the rather, because, though it is inferior to none in the poem, we have not seen it extracted in any of the notices which have been given to the public. 'The council-hall. ABSALOM, AHITHOPHEL, MANASSES, MALCHIAH, HUSHAI, and others, in debate; АHITHOPHEL speaking. Ahith. My lord, you know them not-you wear, to-day, The diadem, and hear yourself proclaimed With trump and timbrel Israel's joy, and deem Your lasting throne established. Canst thou bless, Trust not their faith. Thy father's root is deep; And many tears will flow to moisten him.— Pursue, this night, or ruin will o'ertake thee. Ab. What say'st thou, Hushai? Speak to this, once more. As to a heaven-instructed oracle; Thou seest, O King, how night envelopes us; Old in the field, hardened to danger, skilled More welcome than the day. the night Each mountain path He treads instinctive as the ibex; sleeps, Moistened with cold dank drippings of the rock, Will be his bed to-night. No hunter knows Like him, the caverns, cliffs, and treacherous passes; Familiar to his feet, in former days, As 'twixt the Court and Tabernacle! What! Know ye not how his great heart swells in danger Like the old lion's from his lair by Jordan Rising against the strong? Beware of him by night, Surprisal. While we talk, they lurk in ambush, And those blood-thirsty Gittites crouch around him, And they, the mighty three, who broke the host Whose bloody weapons never struck but triumphed. Hush. Hear me, O King. Go not to-night, but summon, with the dawn, And go, their strength, their glory, and their King, Can then resist thee? Light upon this handful, Hush. I would retire ; Ye have my counsel. Ahith. Would thou hadst not come, To linger out with thy pernicious talk The hours of action. Hush. Wise Ahithophel, No longer I'll offend thee. Please the King [ABSALOM waves him to resume his seat.] Ahith. By all your hopes, my lord, of life and glory, I do adjure thee shut thine ears to him! His counsel's fatal, if not treacherous. The badge of royalty,-not long to sit Where now it sparkles, if his words entice thee.- Ab. Were this resolved, We would not task thy age. What think ye, sirs? Which in the open field ensure success; And news of a disaster blown about, And magnified, just now, when all are trembling, Hushai's advice appears most prudent. Ahith. Fate! Ab. The Council are agreed, this once, Ahith. (Stretching his hands toward ABSALOM.) Ab. Or win or lose, we walk not by thy light. [Exit.] Malchi. The old man's strangely moved. Prophetical. Ab. The Council is dissolved, Here to assemble in the morning early, To private business. Leave us now Counsellors. Save our lord the King.' While these things are going on, Tamar, shocked at her father's crime, escapes from her apartments, is rescued in the streets from violence by two ancient Jews, and is conducted by them to the temple, which she had been seeking as a place of safety. She is torn from the sanctuary, however, by Hadad, and brought back, as we are left to suppose, to her father. Just before the battle, Absalom places her under the care of Hadad, with an injunction that he should keep aloof from the turmoil, and if the fortune of the day declared for David, that he should bear her away to the palace of his old friend Talmai, king of Geshur. After this we see no more of the contending parties, but have an account of the fight from some who witness it. It is waged in the forest of Ephraim; in one part of which we are introduced to the peaceful tents of a company of Ishmaelites. Women are seen under the trees, and one is singing before the door of her tent. Presently a man comes in, with the intelligence that two mighty hosts are joining battle; and soon after Tamar, pale and fatigued, and conducted by Hadad, craves and receives the shelter and hospitality of the tent. Then we have an exceedingly animated description of the battle, given by several of the Ishmaelites, as they enter, one after another, from the field, laden with the spoil of the slain. Abimelech, the master of the tent, returns last of all, and relates the defeat of the rebels, and the death of Absalom. Abim. He fled upon a mule, and disappeared, A trumpet roused me. Hearing earnest voices, |