The moment she appeared before the king, cafe, and added all the alleviating and diftrefsful circumftances, that could move the king's compaffion: The brothers were alone in the field, and none to part them; poffibly he might flay his brother, either undefignedly, or in his own defence. He was her only child, the only hope and stay of her family; and if they cut him off*, they would leave her husband neither name, nor remainder, upon the earth. THE king foon felt her diftrefs: the cafe was too like his own, to fuffer him to be unmoved. He told her, the might return. to her house, and leave the care of her bufinefs to him; he would give proper directions about it. But she, not having yet what she wanted, took occafion, from her feeming folicitude for her fon, to continue the converfation. She added, That if he had *The expreffion in the original is fingularly beautiful and expreffive: And fo they fhall quench my coal that is left. And Heathen authors feem to have copied it from hence. So thofe few men who furvived the deluge are called by Plato and Lucian (amuga, live coals, who were to rekindle the vital flame, and continue the hu man race. preffed preffed his majesty to any thing in itself unjuft, or any way mifinformed him, or mifrepresented the state of the cafe, fhe wished all the guilt of that iniquity, or mifreprefentation, might fall upon her own head, and upon her family: My lord, O king! the iniquity be on me, and on my father's boufe: and the king and his throne be guiltlefs. The king then bid her, if any body molested her any more, to bring them before him, and he would take care to stop any further proceedings against her. She then begged, that in making that promise, to stay the avenger of blood from caufing any further destruction in her family, he would remember the LORD his GOD: that is, remember he made that promise in the prefence of God; drawing him thus, diftantly, and infenfibly, into the obligation of an oath. Her address had its effect: and the king, to convince her of the integrity of his intentions, immediately anfwered, As the Lord liveth, there fhall not one hair of thy fon fall to the earth. HAVING gained this point, fhe then begged leave to say one word more. And having obtained permiffion, the immediately proceeded G 2 proceeded to expoftulate with the king, upon his own conduct, and unkindness to the people of GOD, in net pardoning his own son, and bringing him back from exile. His mercy to her fon, made him felf-condemned in relation to his own; whofe killing his brother was, in many refpects, more excufable. She then added a very natural and feasonable reflection That death was the common lot of all men; fome by one means, and fome by another: That, in that ftate, we are like water spilt upon the ground, which cannot be gathered: That GOD, if he pleased, could ftrike the offender dead ; but inasmuch as he did not, it was, because he would leave room for mercy: That he had devised means in his own law, to arrest the avenger of blood; and, in his appointed time, to recal the man-flayer from his exile, in the city of refuge *. BUT here, apprehending she might have gone too far, and made too free with majefty, in expoftulating fo plainly upon a point of fuch importance; fhe excused this prefumption, from the force put upon her *Where he was to continue to the death of the high-prieft, Numb. xxxv. 25. by by her people; who had so severely threatened her, that, in this extremity, the plainly faw she had no refource, or hope of relief, but in laying her fon's cafe before the king: which the, confiding in his majesty's mercy, and affuring herself, that he would hear her with his wonted patience and clemency, at length adventured to do; hoping that it might be a means of faving both herself, and her fon, from being deftroyed out of the inheritance of God; infinuating, that her own life was wrapt up in his, THE king, obferving the uncommon art and dexterity of her addrefs, in the manage ment of this affair, immediately began to fufpect, that it was a thing concerted between her and Joab. And previously charging her not to hide it from him, he put the question directly to her; Is not the band of foab with thee in all this? And the woman, not daring to disguise the matter any further, anfwered, and faid, As thy foul liveth, my lord the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left, from ought that my lord the king hath spoken : for thy fervant Joab he bad me, and he put all thefe words in the mouth of thy hand-maid : to fetch about this form of speech, hath thy fervant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wife, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth. THEN the king, turning to Joab, (who was all this while in the prefence) ordered him to go for his fon, and bring him home. And the king faid unto Joab, Behold, now I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Abfalom again. I AM fenfible, that the Jews are generally confidered as an illiterate, barbarous people; and the charge is fo far just, that they defpifed the learning of other nations: but this, by no means infers them either ignorant or barbarous: I own they appear to me in a very different light; and although I fhall not now infift, that the Bible is the fountainhead of all true politenefs, and what is properly called good breeding among mankind, (as I am well fatisfied it is) yet I will venture to declare, that the fingle design and addrefs of this device, now recounted, are fufficient proofs (if there were no other) to evince this people neither unpolite, nor uninformed. BUT |