Though Absalom and David called me bride,

Till sure thou own'st with truth and love sincere
The Lord Jehovah.

Had. Leave me not. Hear, hear—

I do believe I know that being lives

Whom you adore. Ah! stay. By proofs I know
Which Moses had not."

In the second act, Hadad informs Absalom, it is reported that the king, influenced by Joab and the Seer, had named Solomon his heir. Full of indignation, and meditating death to his brother and the prophet, Absalom exclaims :

"Abs. Mitred heads, beware!

And younger brothers! Death! ere Absalom
Tamely behold the lineal ornament

Plucked from his crest. Jerusalem shall quake !"

He proceeds, in the violence of his passion, and swears to "give their chronicles a bloodier leaf than Amnon's," when Hadad advises him not to pause, but pluck the diadem from the brows of his father. The counsel takes him by surprise; but appears just to him under the circumstances. Hadad departs, to discover the truth of the report, if possible from Solomon, and is directed to summon Ahithophel. The soliloquy of Absalom discloses the unequal combat of lingering affection and filial reverence, with wounded pride and daring ambition.

"Abs. Can it be?

Can he still bend on me those eyes, whose beams

Of grace and glory I have coveted

As Heaven; and sought by noblest acts to win.
Still can he greet me with that brow of love,
Radiant as Moses', yet in secret stab?

Stab where he knows 'twill rankle me till death?
If this be so, what need I care for aught?

I never in my proudest thought aspired

To his soul's grandeur. Death it is to think

How villanous counsels warp the noble mind

From nature's bias! Cursed he his misleaders!

The crown is mine,-by birth, by purchase mine,—
And who shall rob me of my glorious right ""

The next scene opens with a soliloquy of Hadad, which

contains a beautiful description of Jerusalem. He soon descries Solomon, who has been gathering flowers, and endeavors to learn something respecting the succession. At the same time, he seeks to inspire the youth with his own. lewdness, by corrupting his senses by Circean perfumes,— by an amorous representation of Venus and Tammuz, and by voluptuous narrative. The event discloses the characteristic prudence and effeminacy of the future king; for he baffles the covert inquiries of Hadad, yet is taken by the seductions that are presented to him. The prophet now comes suddenly upon them, rescues the prince from the machinations of Hadad, and scornfully rebukes his corrupt conduct. After the departure of Nathan, he is joined by Absalom; and as he has failed to discover any thing from Solomon, he proposes that they should consult a great Magian, who has come to Jerusalem. Hadad informs Absalom, it is commonly believed that David has risen to greatness by the potent agency of some spirit; and advises him to learn what spirit it is that serves him, and lure him to his own service. The following is a beautiful summary of the exploits of David. The effect of the continued interrogation is admirable.

"Had. Nor is it strange, methinks,

Nor passing reason. Look at his broad realm,
Stretched from Euphrates to the Western sea;
From Elath to Orontes. Where is Edom?
Philistia? Ammon? Where the Syrian thrones,
Coeval with the world? Who smote the Chaldee?
Broke Elam's bow? and taught the desert hordes
To shun his dangerous frontier? Who hath 'scaped
Perils unnumbered; hunted like a wolf,
From den to den, by king and people? Who
In fourscore stricken battles, bathed his sword
In bloodiest conflict, yet sustains no scar?
Who, weaponless, o'erthrew the giant? Who
Hath piled the gold and jewels, till his vaults
Resemble spirit-mines? Who plucks the trunks
Of Lebanon, and bids them arch his roofs,

Or keeps them in the vale like weeds? Who takes
The spirit captive with his strings, or sweeps

His kinnor till the dizzy soul ascends

As in a trance of ecstasy? My lord,

Who hath done more than these? in war, in peace,

The minion of the time, excelling all

The kings of earth, as yonder radiant sun

The inferior orbs of heaven? A shepherd boy."

The last scene of this act is an interview between Hadad and Tamar, in which he relates to her, wonderful disclosures made to him by the Ancient of the Mountain, respect. ing the fallen angels. The change wrought in Tamar, by their last conversation, is appprent in her caution and reserve. She displays, however, all the proverbial curiosity of her sex, as he describes them, and their falling in love with women. He expects to dazzle and win her, by a description of their beauty.

"Tam. I shudder,

Lest some dark minister be near us now.

Had. You wrong them. They are bright Intelligences,
Robbed of some native splendor, and cast down,

'Tis true, from Heaven; but not deformed, and foul,

Revengful, malice-working fiends, as fools

Suppose. They dwell, like princes, in the clouds;

Sun their bright pinions in the middle sky;

Or arch their palaces beneath the hills,
With stones inestimable, studded so
That sun or stars were useless there.

Tam. Unheard of wonders!

Had. * * * * Beings, beautiful, immortal,

Minds vast as Heaven, capacious as the sky;

Whose thoughts connect past, present, and to come,
And glow with light intense, imperishable.

So in the sparry chambers of the sea
And air pavilions, upper tabernacles,
They study nature's secrets, and enjoy
No poor dominion.”

It is evident, that he contemplated declaring at this time, his real character. Restrained, however, by her abhorrence of the idea of being loved by a lost spirit, he is moved to tears; and when she leaves him, vents a passionate plaint for the consequences of his first disobedience.

"Tam. How do they appear? How love?

Had. Sometimes 'tis spiritual, signified

By beatific dreams, or more distinct

And glorious apparition. They have stooped
To animate a human form, and love
Like mortals.

Tam. Frightful to be so beloved!

Frightful! who could endure the horrid thought?

Had. But why contemn a spirit's love! so high,
So glorious, if he haply deigned?

Tam. Forswear

My Maker! love Demon!

Had. No-O no,—

My thoughts but wandered. Oft alas! they wander.
Tam. What ails thee Hadad! Draw me not so close.
Had. Tamar! need thy love-more than thy love.

Tam. Thy cheek is wet with tears.
'Tis late, I cannot, must not linger.

Nay let us part, (She departs.)

Had. Loved and abhorred! Still, still accursed.
(He turns his face to the sky.)

O! where,

In the illimitable space, in what

Profound of untried misery, when all

His worlds, his rolling orbs of light, that fill

With life and beauty yonder infinite,

Their radiant journey run, for ever set,

Where, where, in what abyss shall I be groaning!"

The third act opens with Hadad, Absalom, and BalaamHaddon the mage, in the sepulchre of David, when the genius of the throne, summoned by rites and incantations, discloses the fact, that Solomon has been anointed, and that if Absalom ever possess the throne, he must seize it before the month Tisri. The spirit of prophecy then rests on Balaam-Haddon, and he sees the Savior sitting on the throne of David, while Hadad, forgetting his position, and struck aghast at the announcement of him who was to "bruise the head of the serpent," calls on the Powers Demonian, "Mark! Record!" The Mage sinks in a trance. "B. Haddon. Far off-far off, Enthroned upon a pedestal so high

That East and West behold it-nations kneel
To kiss its base-the symbol in its hand

Marks universal power;-its radiant head

Bears to the sky a diadem so bright

That suns look pale; its arm gigantic crests

Heaven, like the zodiac, and overawes the world!
Mountains unhoard their treasures, ocean breaks,
Obedient at its footstool; every tongue

And people shout, "Hosanna to the Son
Of David!"

The remaining scenes of this act embrace the arrangements of the conspirators, (in which the discomfiture of Mephibosheth shows that no reliance is to be put in the faith of traitors); a conversation between Nathan and Tamar about Hadad; the departure of Absalom for Hebron; and the commotion of the city, with the wild surprise of Tamar on beholding the confused multitude, the priests and levites bearing the ark,-Abiather and Zadok weeping by it, the king barefoot, his gray head bare,-his mantle rent, amid his weeping household; and her horror on learning that her father has assumed the crown of Israel.

The first scenes of the fourth act are taken up with the flight of the adherents of David from Jerusalem; the occupancy of the palace by Absalom, and a cabinet council, in which the advice of the crafty Hushai defeats the policy of Ahithophel, and ensures Absalom's overthrow; and the search for Tamar, who, having been seized by ruffians, is rescued, and carried to the temple. The delineation of character in the council scene is powerful, but it is too long for extract. The last scene of the act represents Hadad and Maugrabin, a subordinate spirit, in search of Tamar. What an illustration of the power of love is the picture which presents the fallen spirit, peering after the object of his affection through the curtains of the temple, at the risk of annihilation!

"Had. (to the Guards.)

I saw her there; she entered with the priests :
Go in, and say the King commands her presence.
Lo! lo!-the bloody shrine of sacrifice,-
The cherub tissued curtains, the seven branches,
Revealing through the censer's smothering fume
The dim magnificence! Each implement
As he prescribed. These must be symbols, types
Of things hereafter.