[There is an interval of seven years between the date of the
preceding letter and the present, during which, civil war raged
between Abner, the general for Ishbosheth, Saul's son, and
King David; but without any notable battles being fought.
David, however, steadily gained power and strength, while
Saul's party became weaker and weaker, daily diminishing in
numbers and influence.] Arbaces, Ambassador at the Court of Jerusalem,
To Belus, King of Assyria.
Court of David, Jerusalem.
Your Majesty:

I once more take up my pen to resume, after nearly
seven years' intermission, my narrative of the events of
the reign of King David. My long silence in the interval
is owing to the fact that nothing has transpired
worthy of transmitting to your majesty outside of the
regular routine of my official, diplomatic correspondence,
in which I have diligently kept you advised of what
concerns you as the ally of this realm to know. I rejoice
at your majesty's approval of my whole course at
this court, during the seven years I have resided here;
and especially do I feel complimented by your approval
of the position I took in promising your aid, when, last
year, Pharaoh King of Egypt insolently demanded

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tribute of King David, on the ground that the Hebrews
had despoiled Egypt when, five hundred years ago, they
departed from it; a charge so absurd at this time, that
King David said, “This Egyptian seeks this cause of
quarrel in order to go to war with me, and subdue my
kingdom to his sceptre with his countless hosts.”

But when I pledged to the Hebrew monarch the assistance
of an Assyrian army, your majesty, if Egypt
invaded his borders, and sent to Pharaoh word that a
war with King David involved a war with the powerful
King Belus, the haughty Egyptian withdrew his insolent
demand. I was sure your majesty would approve
of the responsibility I assumed at such a crisis. Since
then, King David has withholden nothing from me, but
consults me in all his affairs.

Your majesty has kindly offered to march an army
against Tadmor, and drive the Parthian king from its
throne, of which he is now seven years an usurper, and
hold it for the Princess Adora. I thank your majesty,
and so does Adora, my wife; but since the death of the
ambitious Isrilid, her father, two years ago, she has dismissed
from her mind all aspirations after a throne
which can only be won by a conflict of armies, and maintained
at great expense of treasure and of blood. Nor,
your majesty, have I any desire to become king, by virtue
of Adora's title, of the realm of Tadmor. I have
been so long in this pleasant land, I feel at home therein;
and having been nearly seven years wedded to one of its
loveliest daughters, I have all the happiness my heart,
or my ambition, requires. We dwell in a charming
palace on the side of the Mountain of Olives, facing Jerusalem,
with terraces and gardens, groves and fountains,

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and all the luxuries which the vast wealth that Adora
inherited from her father, can command. I am respected
by the lords and elders of the Sanhedrim, and have the
confidence of the king. No, your majesty, I am perfectly
happy, and my wife confesses that she is. Let
the magnificent Talarac reign in barbaric splendor. I
sleep sounder than he, for crowns are full of troubled
thoughts, which no opiates can put to rest. The life of
David is full of care! My little kingdom of seven acres,
on the side of Olivet, with its little snow-white palace
for me and Adora, its king and queen; our realm of
groves full of bulbuls, and other singing birds; our pastures
enameled with a thousand flowers; our orchard
abounding in fig, pomegranate, apricot, apple, tamarind,
and date trees, in rich profusion; our vineyard purple
and gold with clusters of grapes; our olive garden, called
of old Gethsemane, shining with its fragrant fruit, its
olive press half hidden among the ancient olive trees;
all these constitute our kingdom. We also have servant
men and servant women, among them, two poor Gibeonites
who served Ahimelech at Nob, and escaped from the
slaughter of their people by Doeg; a few lambs; a dark-eyed
gazelle that feeds out of Adora's hand; a tame
coney, white as snow, and a few kine, besides half a dozen
beautiful Assyrian horses. Before our door, across the valley,
tower the walls of Jerusalem, the battlements of the
fortress of David, late that of the Jebusites, and the warlike
outline of the whole of the city where, of old, Melchisedek,
the descendant of the gods, reigned cotemporary
with Abraham. In a clear morning, from the roof of
my villa, I can also see the mountains of Ephraim in the
west, the city of Kirjath-jearim at their base, where the

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Ark and the Tabernacle have been since the death of
the priests at Nob; the turrets of Ramah, farther north,
the city of the Seer and now his sepulchre; and, southwardly,
the misty and azure heights of Bethlehem.
What more do I need, O Belus, to render me happy?
What lacketh in the dimensions of our kingdom, we find
in the boundless empire of one another's affection. The
realm over which love reigns hath no boundary but the
earth around and the heavens above.

Therefore, O, Belus, suffer Talarac to reign in Tadmor,
and Arbaces and Adora to reign on the side of the
Mount of Olives over their gardens, birds, gazelle, and
flowers.

It is true, your majesty, I respond in reply to your inquiry,
I have solemnly consecrated myself to the worship
of the one God of the Hebrews; and by adoption, ere I
married Adora, I became a proselyte to their grand and
mysterious faith. But in departing, O Belus, from the
worship of Assarac and Ninus, and the gods of Assyria, do
not suppose I have withdrawn my allegiance or devotion
from its lord. My heart still beats as loyal to thee as
ever, my beloved master and king; and I trust you will
yet bear testimony that I can be faithful to the God of
David, without failing in loyalty to Belus. I should
have been unworthy of Adora, if I could have refused to
acknowledge her God, and take her faith to my heart.

During the seven years past, your majesty, Abner,
with wonderful talent and influence over men, has held
the fragmentary kingdom of Ishbosheth together. For
the first two years this indolent and luxurious prince
maintained a royal court at Mahanaim, and kept up a
sort of kingly estate; but Abner could not prevail upon

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him to lead his army against King David. He declined
to take the field, so that he could indulge, unmolested by
David, in inglorious ease in his palace, surrounded by
sycophants and flatterers. All the while, the most warlike
of his adherents were calling upon him to march
against Hebron, and take from him the throne of his
father Saul. Disappointed by his indifference, many of
the best warriors in his camp went over to Joab, and
tendered him their allegiance and swords for King
David. At length the patience of the lion-like Abner
was wearied out; and after the prince had nominally
reigned two and a half years, the ambitious son of Ner
ceased longer to recognize him as king, or refer any matters
to him, but took the reins of government in his own
bold and sagacious hand. He raised a large army to invade
Judah, when Ishbosheth, led on by rival warriors,
jealous of the power of Abner, forbade his march. Abner,
in anger, refused to obey his king; but his captains
and men-at-arms becoming dissatisfied at this dividing
of power, dissension arose, and the whole host dispersed,
save four thousand men. With these Abner laid waste
parts of the country which had submitted to David, but
Joab marching against him, caused him again to retire
beyond the river. In this desultory and resultless manner
nearly five more years elapsed, when affairs were
suddenly brought to a crisis between the inefficient Prince
Ishbosheth and his discontented and long-enduring captain.

One morning Abner presented himself in the chamber
of the prince, who, broken in constitution by luxurious
indulgence, and bloated with banqueting and wine, was
reclining on his embroidered couch, listening to the voice

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of a beautiful Ishmaelite singing-girl, sent him by the
King of Ammon.

“What now, Abner!” he said, looking displeased at
the abrupt entrance of the veteran commander. “Thou
treadest as heavily as an elephant, and comest before us
helmed and mailed as if thou wert entering thy battle
tent! More ceremony, even if thou art my father's uncle,
old man, when thou comest into a king's presence! What
now?”

“The King of Ammon's ambassador waits for thy reply,”
answered Abner, repressing his ire. “Wilt thou
accept his offer of alliance, and the eighty thousand men
he offers us to go up against David, and stablish thee on
the throne of thy father at Hebron?”

“Nay; I am content to reign this side Jordan,” replied
the prince. “It is too much trouble to go to war!
Let the son of Jesse be content with his side! I will not
quarrel with him for what he has! Go Abner, thou hast
caused me to lose the sweetest trill, when at the most
critical note, I e'er heard from human voice! Go on,
girl! Sing me that song again! These thick-headed
war-men have no ear but for a trumpet, or the neighing
of a charger.”

The gray-haired, grand old warrior who had fought a
hundred battles with Saul, felt this insolence of his son,
but compressed his lips and left the room in silence. As he
passed along the hall he beheld a stately, beautiful woman
about forty-five years of age, who seemed awaiting his
return. She fixed upon the sorrowful and angry visage
of the commander her large, inquiring eyes. Abner
answered the look by shaking his head sadly, and then
said,

[figure description] Page 456.[end figure description]

“Rizpa, wilt thou give me brief audience?”

“Come in, O Abner; I will, if it will please thee, talk
over with thee this matter of the King of Ammon's alliance,
thou hast so greatly at heart! What hast thou
to ask of me?” she inquired as he took a seat by the
window of her room, while she sat upon a carved gilt
chair before it.

He then eloquently urged upon her the duty of exerting
her influence with the prince, which, he said, he
felt was very great, to induce him to accept the aid of
Ammon. The woman promised to do so, and he was about
to leave her apartment when Ishbosheth entered. His
face was flushed with wine and jealousy! Fixing his inflamed
eyes on his general, he cried,

“How, son of Ner! What doest thou here? Darest
thou insult the memory of Saul, my father, by seeking
to make his widowed concubine thine? Thou wilt next
affect the kingdom! Hast thou of late grown so great
that thou hast thought thou couldst even look to the
king's wives?”

These words, embracing so grave a charge against him,
roused the soldier to great wrath.

“Am I but the keeper of thy dogs, son of Saul,” he
cried, “that thou chargest me with this base thing?—me
who have maintained thee on thy throne, and showed
kindness to all thy father's house, and made myself strong
for thee and thy crown, and have not delivered thee, as
I have had the power to do, into the hands of David?
What! am I a dog, that thou chargest me with fault
concerning this woman? Now is my cup full! And may
God, who once swore to David to translate the kingdom
from the House of Saul, and to set up the throne of David

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over all Israel, and over Judah, do unto me as he hath
done unto Saul and his three sons, if I do not henceforth
give my help to carry out this oath of God towards
David, and presently bring all Israel away from thee
unto him! So help me the God of my fathers, but that
I do it!”

The terrible anger and fatal oath of Abner caused the
prince's face to change, from the crimson hue of wine, to
the whiteness of parchment. He essayed to reply, but
the words clove to the roof of his mouth, parched by
fear. Abner without another word strode from the chamber,
leaving his mantle in the grasp of Rizpa, who with
tearful eyes would have detained him to pacify his fierce
wrath, and get him to change his mind against the House
of Saul, which he had for seven years so faithfully served
with his sword and his voice.

The best of kings can not be sure of the permanent
devotion of their courtiers. Ishbosheth deserved to lose
this one, the defender and sole supporter of his pretensions
to the crown of his father.

The first intelligence King David had of the matter
was the sudden appearance of a courier from Abner before
the gate of Hebron, for Abner, having made the
breach irreparable between him and Ishbosheth, was too
prudent a diplomatist to delay the execution of his threat
for the prince with Abner's envious enemies might combine
for his immediate destruction. Instead, however,
of going himself to David, he kept at home in his own
palace, well armed and watchful, while he sent to him a
messenger. When David heard that a courier, with the
banner of Saul's House on his spear, asked an audience,
he sent for him to appear before him.

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“Whence comest thou?” he demanded of the fleetfooted
Gadite runner.

“From beyond Jordan, and from Abner the head of
the armies of Israel,” answered the man; and with the
word he delivered a sealed and tied roll into the hands
of King David's cup-bearer, who bore it to his royal
master upon his silver tray.

The king, quickly breaking the seal and cutting the
silken thread, unrolled the parchment, and read as follows:

To David, King of Judah at Hebron; Abner, son of Ner, Counselor
and General of the House of Saul: Greeting.

“That God hath sworn to thee to take the kingdom
from Saul, and set up the throne of David therein, thy
servant knoweth, and so doth all Israel. Wherefore
should man fight against God? Whose is the land of
Israel but thine, the anointed of God's? Let thy servant,
therefore, make a league with thee, O king, and
behold my hand shall be with thee henceforward, and
thy servant will bring over all Israel to thee, so thou
shalt reign over Israel and Judah, as God hath appointed
thee. Make a league, O king, and secure to thy servant
and his, and to the House of Saul, and to all Israel,
safety and honor, and what thy servant hath covenanted
to do he will do.”

The King of Judah was greatly rejoiced at this unlooked-for
turn of affairs, as your majesty may well perceive.
He at once replied, as follows:—

“David, king by the grace and order of God, sendeth
these to Abner, son of Ner:

“The king granteth the league. Come thou and all

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Israel over to me, and bring me the keys of the rebel
city of Mahanaim in token of its submission. The son
of Saul may depart whither he listeth, or come and
dwell in Hebron with safety and honor, and Saul's wives
and their sons with him; also Mephibosheth, the little
lame son of Jonathan, whom for his sake I will adopt,
and he shall be even as a prince in my house. But hear,
O Abner, thou nor thine nor none of these shall see my
face, except thou first bring Michal, Saul's daughter,
whom he gave me to wife ten years ago, when thou comest.
Without her come not before my face.”

In addition to this reply to Abner, King David sent
a courier with a letter to that prince, demanding his
wife, whom Saul in the first year of her marriage had
divorced from David and given to Phalti of Laish, the
just and virtuous man I have before named. This
Phalti, upon receiving her, had committed her to the
charge of his mother, as if she were his sister; for being
a friend of David, he resolved at some future day to restore
her to him in purity and honor.

The letter to Ishbosheth, whom David well knew, having
long dwelt in the palace of Saul with him, as well
as married his sister, ran thus:—

KING DAVID TO PRINCE ISHBOSHETH.

“I write with my own hand this letter to thee, demanding
my wife, thy sister, Michal. Deliver her to
me without delay, for I hear she is in thine hand.”

When Abner received David, the King of Judah's,
reply, he went to Ishbosheth with fair words, for the
prince, finding he had not departed from the city to David,
following the sensible advice of Rizpa, made friends

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with him, by acknowledging to him the injustice of his
angry suspicions; for if Abner remained his enemy, on
whom could he lean? Taking advantage of this truce,
Abner waited upon him, after he knew David's messenger
had delivered his letter to him, without appearing to
know that such a courier or letter had come to Mahanaim.
As he expected, he found Ishbosheth in a tornado
of passion, cursing David by Urim and Thummim, by
Altar and Cherubim, and making oath that he would slay
his sister with his own hand rather than give her back
to the son of Jesse!

Abner waited until this storm had subsided, and then
urged him to obey the king by persuasions backed by
representations of David's power, and his certain vengeance
if this, his first and most beloved wife, should be
refused him. The irresolute prince yielded, and sent
to the house of Phalti the friend of God, as he was
called, and brought Michal from his mother's care to
Abner. The parting was a sorrowful one. The mother
of Phalti loved her as a daughter, for the amiable
and faithful princess had been as such to her; while
Phalti loved her both as a sister and as a daughter, and
while he felt the justice of David's claim, he could not
but go with her a long ways, mourning with deep grief
her departure from his roof.

Ten years had ripened the beauty of the daughter of
Saul, now in her twenty-sixth year, who after so long
an absence, was about to be reunited to him. That
David should still retain the warmth of his youthful love,
after such scenes of war, and persecution of sorrow and
trials, lamenting her as dead, reflects upon him the

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highest honor, and is singularly creditable to the tenderness
and devotion of his heart!

Did her attachment, perhaps your majesty will inquire,
survive that long period of separation? I can assure
your majesty that its fires were as bright as those which
warmed the bosom of the king. I was by chance present
at their meeting, when Abner, leaving his body-guard
of twenty men at the gate, brought her into the presence
of the king. With what a bound of joy and love, after a
moment's doubt as his strange aspect met her gaze, at
the sound of his voice, did she fly to his heart and rest
upon his shoulder! But there is a sacredness in love which
can convert mere curiosity into a sort of sacrilege, and I
will not describe the beautiful and touching emotion,
each exhibited at their reunion; for both were still young,
King David being but thirty, and his recovered wife five
years younger! From that moment I loved him even
more than before I had esteemed him.

But how shall I describe to your majesty the interview
of David with his ancient friend, Abner, who had
restored to him the wife of his youth! For four hours
they sat together and talked over all the past. Especially
did David inquire about Saul and Jonathan's death,
and hung on each particular; and tears came into his
eyes, even seven years after he fell on the hard-foughten
field of Gilboa. David, a brave and skillful soldier himself,
respected Abner. He knew the honest purpose of
his heart, and the singleness of his character. He
honored him for his devotion to the House of Saul, for it
became him as a faithful servant of that unhappy monarch,
to stand up for his house and the glory of his name, and
the royal inheritance of his son. David loved him not

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less, but rather honored him the more for his generous
devotion to Ishbosheth and his fortunes; both so unworthy
of him.

When King David had done discoursing with the
valiant warrior and statesman of Israel, he sent for his
score men-at-arms, and had them well cared for and
feasted; and placed Abner at his own table, in the presence
of his lords, governors, captains, and chief officers,
giving him the place of honor next to his right hand, and
sending him a portion five times greater than to all
others. I was present, your majesty, at this feast. I
was struck with the modesty and good sense of the
simple-hearted and majestic old warrior. He spoke out
his sentiments bluntly and to the point. He seemed to
fear no man; yet there was a native, manly courtesy
about him which was very captivating. He was full
sixty years of age, if not older, with a grand heroic head,
massive and stern, his eyes dark hazel and piercing, yet
capable of a woman's tenderness of expression; his
heavily burdened and moustached lip and chin had a
lion-like aspect; while his voice had the deep energy of
the rumbling base notes of the king of beasts. If he had
been Saul's son instead of being his uncle, and so been
heir to the throne, King David would have sat, for the
last seven years, more in his war-saddle than on his
throne, slept oftener in his pavilion on the field than
upon his couch in the palace.

The following day Abner took leave of King David,
saying, “I will now depart and go over Jordan and gather
all Israel, unto my lord the king, that the lords and
elders thereof may make with thee a league of submission,
that thou mayest reign over them and over all the

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kingdom of Saul, according to thy heart's desire, and the oath
of God to thee.”

King David dismissed Abner at his palace gate with
an embrace of friendship. It was remarked by the officers
of the court, that he had never shown such affectionate
regard for Joab his own general. The observation
of the courtiers was correct. Abner was by nature a
noble character, not only brave, but generous, manly,
gentle, and honest, possessing qualities of character
which even his enemies could respect. Of him once said
the King of Moab, where David's parents found shelter,
and who fought against Abner and Ishbosheth for
David's sake, “I love the son of Ner above all men, and
though he be my enemy, I would give the revenue of
half my kingdom to have him my friend and commander
of my armies.”

In Joab there was nothing to love, no trait of character
to command admiration or win affection. He had
no heart but his sword, no sympathies, no loving-kindnesses,
no charities. He was only a man-of-war, iron
within, and iron without. A thorough soldier he was,
an invaluable commander of the armies of King David;
but there was no soul to be found underneath his corslet
and brazen cuirass. Abner's smile would have won the
most timid child to his knee; the frown of Joab would
have sent it in terror to its mother's side. Therefore
David embraced Abner his foe, but never embraced Joab
his friend! and this was observed and commented upon.
Whether the busy tongue of malice poisoned Joab's ear
thereupon, I know not, leading him to the step which
followed; but Abner had not been an hour departed with
a safe conduct from the king, on his return to the other

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side Jordan, when Joab and his younger brother Abishai
entered the gate from a successful onslaught against an
invading band of Idumeans from the south. He had no
sooner come within the city, than some of the busy courtiers
told him that Abner of Ner, viceroy beyond Jordan,
had been three days with the king, feasting, and holding
audience, and had made terms of peace with him; and
but an hour had left! Upon this Joab, his sword yet
red with slaughter, and his armor stained with the conflict,
stalked into the palace, and stood in the throne-room
before the king. His reven black hair hung in tangled
masses over his shoulders, his armor was indented with
Idumean battle-axe strokes, and his helm cloven with a
blow from the sword of a lord of the desert, whom he
slew. He looked like war in all its sanguinary terrors
embodied; while his red-shotten eyes, and thick voice,
husky with shrieking his war cries, betrayed how great
his passion raged.

“Abner the son of Ner,” he shouted to the king, menacingly,
and defiantly, “hath been here, and thou hast
sent him away in peace.”

“He came in peace,” answered David firmly.

“Nay,” cried Joab; “thou knowest this son of Ner
came to deceive thee, and to be spy upon thee, and to
know thy going out and thy coming in, and all that thou
doest. Thou hast not done well to let him go from thee
in peace. Thou shouldst have put him to death, and
then the crown of all Israel would have been thine!”

Before King David could reply to his irate general,
Joab went out of the presence. Without making known
to any man his purpose, he sought out his chief captain
and bade him send two swift runners after Abner in the

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name of the king, to bring him back. The messengers
overtook Abner at the well of Sirah, where ten years
before David had sat down and drank water from the
pitcher of the virgin Abigail, the betrothed of Nabal, and
now the king's wife, and ate figs from the little basket
of Bathsheba, now since become the wife of his great
captain Uriah. Abner, suspecting no treachery, returned
with the messengers. As he re-entered the gate of the
city of Hebron, Joab met him and said,

“I knew not thou wert the king's guest, O Abner, or
I would have hastened from the wars to show thee hospitality
as becometh thy rank, and the errand on which
thou camest? Wilt thou remain and dine with me to-morrow?
We are old soldiers in one sense, and we will
talk our battles o'er.”

With this talk, Joab, who was closely followed by his
brother Abishai, had got him to a corner in the wall behind
the gate, when, suddenly turning upon him, he drew
his dagger, and struck him between the corslet and the
belt to the heart at a single blow, crying,

“That, for my brother Asahel, whom thou didst slay
between Gibeon and Jordan, with a back stroke of thy
spear-head, when he followed thee to overtake thee as
thou fleddest!”

The brave warrior, without a word, so suddenly was
he smitten to the death, fell over upon his face and died,
a victim to the basest treachery, and a sacrifice also,
perhaps, to the jealous fears of the assassin; for Joab
suspected that if David pardoned and took the noble
Abner into favor, he would, ere long, from his superior
age and experience in war and military rule, take the
highest place in the army of David, and displace himself.

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Without doubt, the last was the chief and ruling motive
for his putting Abner to death; for Asahel was fairly
slain in pursuit of a retreating foe, and his death could
not call for such a deed of vengeance.

When King David heard the tidings, he was greatly
overcome, and, at length, said, in a voice trembling with
indignation and mortification,

“As the Lord liveth, let all men hear and know that
I, and my house, and my kingdom are guiltless of the
blood of Abner. I sent him forth in peace. Let his
blood be upon Joab, the sole author of this great crime,
and on all his father's house. Let his sons be lepers,
and lame, and die by their own hand, or perish with
hunger, no man giving them, because he hath dealt treacherously,
and slain him whom the king let go in peace
and with an oath of safety.”

There were not wanting malicious men, your majesty,
who denounced the king as having openly sent him away
in order secretly to destroy him. The king, therefore,
in every manner, sought to clear himself of all such suspicion.
He publicly proclaimed his innocence. He denounced,
and charged Joab with the crime. He invested
himself with the habiliments of grief, and put on sackcloth,
and clad his whole court in mourning. He buried
Abner from his palace with the most solemn and magnificent
funeral obsequies. He caused all the governors
of cities, lords of towns, the Sanhedrim, or Senate of
Seventy, the municipal judges, the chief men, and civilians,
and half his army, in battle order, to precede and
follow the body, which was placed in a richly decorated
coffin upon a war-chariot, drawn by four white horses;
the bier, covered with an embroidered purple pall, and

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blazing with precious stones, while his sword and helmet
reposed upon it. The king, on foot, followed the bier,
and the thousands of Judah prolonged the weeping procession,
which, issuing from the northern gate, crossed
the valley and came to the place of sepulchres before
Machpelah, where the lords of Hebron lay buried. Here,
with great pomp and solemnity, the old warrior, thus
basely murdered by the hand of envy and hatred, was
entombed. Joab was compelled, by the king's stern
command, to be one of the chief pall-bearers, and assist
in laying his body in the tomb. Then the monarch,
with feeling and eloquence, pronounced a noble eulogium
upon the virtues of the deceased, boldly reviewing the
manner of his death, and feelingly denouncing the act
and the perpetrator thereof.

The people could no longer doubt. The innocence of
the king was apparent to all. Twenty thousand warriors
now marched in battle order around the tomb where the
dead soldier lay, chanting a funeral war-song in a mighty
voice, and accompanying the refrain by striking their
swords against their bucklers, till the echoes from the
hills were like sounds of armies fighting together upon
the plain.

King David then, standing by the tomb, with great
dignity recited the following hymn for the dead, seventy
white-robed priests answering him in alternate verses,
the whole sounding grandly and sublime, accompanied, as
it was at intervals, by fourscore players on martial instruments
of music, making the noblest and most solemn
harmony:

[figure description] Page 468.[end figure description]

“A prince, and a great man is fallen in Israel this
day,” said the king to me as we were retiring to Hebron.
“I am yet weak, and not firmly seated on the throne
for which I was anointed, and this fierce Joab and his
brothers and men-at-arms, these powerful sons of Zeruiah,
are too strong with the army for me to punish them for
the death of Abner. I am compelled to forbear! But

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as the Lord liveth, the doer of this wickedness shall be
rewarded according to his deed!”

When the news reached the Prince Ishbosheth that
Abner had been slain in Hebron, and as rumor had it,
by the command of King David, his heart failed, and he
shut himself up in his palace, fearing each moment he
should be assassinated, and trembling at every footstep.
Two men, animated by the same selfish motives which
governed the Amalekite who brought Saul's crown to
David, hastened to find the prince, in order to put him
to death, and be the first bearers of the tidings, that he
“was no more,” to King David. They found his palace
unguarded in the confusion, and reached his chamber
where he lay on his couch, too bloated and heavy to flee
far. His sword was in his hand, and his looks showed
that he knew their errand, and that he would not die
without defence. The conflict was brief. He fought his
assassins with courage worthy of his father on the field
of Gilboa; but he fell back at length, pierced to the heart
by their swords, and died upon his couch. The two
desperate men, Rechab and Baanah, who were brothers,
then beheaded him, and hastened with the head concealed
under a cloak from the palace, and that night crossed
the Jordan. Keeping the valley southwardly, they
traveled till they came at noon the next day to Hebron.
Being, at their desire, led into the presence of the king,
Rechab said, displaying his ghastly prize:

“Behold, O king, the head of Ishbosheth the son of
Saul, thine enemy, who sought thy life. Lo! the Lord
hath avenged my lord the king this day, of Saul and his
house!”

Then the king rose up, his noble and beautiful

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countenance lighted up with a sort of divine anger, and
sternly said to them,

“As the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my life from
all adversity, when one told me, `Saul is dead,' thinking
to have brought good tidings, I hewed him in pieces
in Ziklag, who thought I would have given him a reward
for his tidings! How much more when wicked men have
slain an unsuspecting person, more righteous than themselves,
in his own house upon his bed? Shall I not,
therefore, now require his blood of your hand, and cut you
off from the earth you dishonor by your deed? As the
Lord liveth, ye shall both die the death!”

At a sign from the king, his guards drew their swords
and put the two young men to death before him; and,
severing their hands and feet, hanged them up on the
public gibbet by the pool of the city.

The king, having thus expressed his abhorrence of their
deed, ordered the head of the unfortunate prince to be
placed in an urn of porphyry, and conveyed by a company
of Levites and priests to the sepulchre of Abner near the
cave of Machpelah, where it was reverently placed by
them in a niche at the head of the warrior's coffin.
Thus, at last, together the ambitious soldier and his
faithless prince sleep, where the viol of pleasure and the
trumpet of war are alike unheard and unheeded.

King David, who had previously commended the inhabitants
of Jabesh Gilead for the honor paid to the
bodies of Saul and Jonathan, with like reverence for the
last of Saul's sons, sent messengers to have the headless
body of Ishbosheth placed in a stone coffin at Mahanaim,
intending by and by to have all the bodies removed to
the ancestral sepulchre at Bethel.

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Thus this excellent young king, under every circumstance
in which he has been placed, has exhibited the
noblest evidences of being a great and good man, who
not only cheerfully pardons his enemies, and remembers
no more the wrongs they have done him, when death at
length casts over them the sacred shield of the tomb, but
honors their ashes by funereal pageants, and mourns rather
than rejoices at their sad end.

Nor did the generous regard for King Saul's memory,
and for his house, terminate with the tomb. David remembered
his oath to Jonathan that he would not only
do good to his father's family, when he should become
king, but that he himself and his seed after him should
be held dear to him. Your majesty will recollect this
oath which Jonathan caused David to take when they
parted under the walls of Hebron, at the time David fled
from Saul; for the prince, knowing that it was the custom
of new dynasties to put to death all the members of the
former royal family, feared that David, perhaps, in the
flush of power, and influenced by evil counselors, might
put to death all his father's house. In remembrance of
his oath, King David sent a messenger to Mahanaim, to
inquire if any were left of the family of Saul that “he
might show them a kindness for Jonathan's sake,” for
he had married the beautiful daughter of the lord of
Bethel, and David had heard that a son was born to
him; and to know if this child were alive and where it
dwelt, he now sent away his servants.

It is a beautiful trait in his character, that, amid the
absorbing duties which now pressed upon him at this
crisis, he should have given a moment's thought to this

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little child. But he is a man who religiously performs
all duties, equally the least with the greatest.

In the meanwhile, the men of Israel from beyond
Jordan, and of all the remoter tribes, hastened to send in
their submission to him at Hebron, bringing him gifts of
gold, silver, jewels, fine linen, corn, wine, and oil, so that
David was soon thereby made very rich. On a fixed
day, surrounded by his guards, his lords, and captains,
the national senate and civic elders being present, with
the High Priest and a train of Levites, David, seated
upon the throne of Saul, received the ambassadors from
all the tribes, provinces, cities, towns, and citadels, and
accepted their allegiance, and took their oaths of submission
and loyalty in the presence of the High Priest
Abiathar. In his turn the king entered into a league
with them, to forget and pardon the past, to rule them
wisely and justly, to lead them to battle, to defend their
borders against their foes, and in all things regard their
peace and prosperity. This solemn league and covenant,
being duly inscribed on parchments, and signed by the
twelve ambassadors, one from each tribe, and also by
the king, was sealed with the royal seal. The roll was
then committed to the custody of the High Priest, to be
preserved in the tabernacle, with other public and sacred
parchments. No sooner did Abiathar take hold of them
than the sardonyx stone upon the ephod on his shoulder
emitted rays of resplendent glory, showing God was
present and approved.

Then, in the presence of the august and venerable assembly
of the elders of Israel, the High Priest, attired in
his splendid pontifical robes, wearing the dazzling mitre,
and the ephod, and bearing in his hand a golden cup,

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advanced towards the throne, upon the lowest step of
which the King of Judah stood. Kneeling before the
vicegerent of the Lord, David was solemnly anointed
by Him with holy oil poured from the golden cup upon
his head, the rich ointment flowing over his locks and
down his beard, and even dripping upon his robes, and
filling all the throne-room with its rich perfume. Thus
consecrated the third time king, he was crowned by the
High Priest, robed with a purple royal vesture by two
attendant priests, while a most venerable senator, the
chief of the Sanhedrim, presented to him his sceptre.
The highest lord of the Levites placed in his hand a
scroll of the laws, and another bound to his thigh the
sword of state.

He then ascended the throne and seated himself amid
the clangor of trumpets and cries of “Hosanna! hosanna!
Hail, David, the anointed king! Long live the Lord's
anointed—the King of Israel!”

Thus, three several times had David been consecrated:
the first time, as the youthful shepherd of Bethlehem by
Samuel the Seer; the second time, by the High Priest
as King of Judah, soon after Saul's death; and now the
third time, as King of Judah and of Israel, sole monarch
of all the Hebrew people.

Absolute now in his dominions, King David prepared
to consolidate his throne, and firmly establish his authority.
There was but one place within the whole kingdom
over which Saul had reigned, and which was now under
his own rule, that did not send a delegate to Hebron to
do homage to him. This was the citadel of the Jebusites,
which, as I have already said to your majesty, was still
held in the midst of the land by the original inhabitants.

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These people were of the race of Canaanites and sons of
Heth, of whose family Abraham bought the burial place
of Machpelah; at the time of the purchase of which, he
entered into a covenant, sealed by an oath, with the children
of Heth, that the castle of Jebus, their chief stronghold,
should remain untouched by his posterity, not
only when they should come in to possess the land, but
forever. Joshua respected this oath of Abraham, and
left the castle unbesieged. The long line of warlike
Judges respected the oath, and even Saul left this
hereditary garrison in quiet possession of its formidable
stronghold, though the city around it was in his hand.

King David, however, resolved to be king over all
Israel as God had appointed him. He, therefore, sent a
peaceable messenger to the lord of this fort of Zion, demanding
its surrender. The haughty Canaanite answered,
in the confidence of long possession and of the impregnable
nature of the defences,

“The lame have never scaled these rocks on which we
dwell, nor the blind found their way into our gates. So
shall thou and thine be, if thou comest to war against
us; for thou canst not come in hither!”

When the king's messenger brought back this insolent
answer to him, he forthwith called Joab, his general, and
commanded him to take Uriah, the captain of “a thousand,”
and lay siege to the fortress of Jebus, and destroy
all within; “especially,” he said, “fling over the battlements
their gods that see not and walk not, for as the
Lord liveth, the blind and lame of David shall destroy
the blind and lame gods, in whom these idolators and
enemies of the true God trust.”

When Joab reached the valley beneath the walls, he

[figure description] Page 475.[end figure description]

saw that the Canaanite lord had, in derision, placed the
lame and the blind persons of his garrison upon the battlements,
and now called to him, saying,

“It is meet that the lame and blind should defend a
castle which the lame and blind come against.”

When Joab heard this, he became greatly enraged,
and exerted himself all in his power to take the castle.
The third day came David the king to look on, and, seeing
how high the walls were, and how difficult of access,
he cried to all the army and said, “Whosoever shall first
mount the walls shall be chief in command over all my
armies both of Israel and of Judah!” Upon hearing
this, Joab, who was the general of his hosts as King of
Judah, divested himself of his heavy armor, and helmet,
and greaves, and back-piece, and tying his sword only about
his neck, grasped a sharp pointed javelin and began to ascend
the height, climbing by aid of the spear inserted into
the crevices of the rock. Other bold hearts, following his
example, climbed after him. In the meanwhile, King
David kept the garrison employed, and their attention
fixed upon himself and his soldiers, by making feint of an
attack at another part of the wall.

At length the valiant warrior gained the citadel, and
raised himself above the parapet by the aid of a line
which was let down to draw up water; for those who
held it left and fled at the apparition of the Hebrew
chief. In a moment afterwards, he stood on the top of
the wall, and, waving his sword, called out to King David
far below,

“I have reached the battlements, my lord! I claim
the chief command of the armies.”

The boldness of the man, and his unexpected

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appearance behind them, with the terror of his voice, which
they all knew, for they had often seen the terrible warrior
pass and repass with his armies, inspired them with
fear; and as he was soon joined by others, they were
filled with the greatest consternation. Confident that
their citadel was impregnable, they are unprepared to
defend it! Joab and a score of his men rushed first to
the gates and threw them open to King David, who entered
sword in hand, (for in the king he had not forgotten
the soldier,) and the Jebusites overpowered were
slain in great numbers, each man refusing to surrender.
Before the sun went down, the whole citadel was in the
hands of David, its gods cast over the battlements,
and upon them Joab affixed the royal standard of the
“Lion of the Tribe of Judah.” Thus fell the last hold
of the ancient inhabitants of the land; held by them for
five hundred years, only out of the respect the Hebrews
had to the oath of Abraham, given to the sons of Heth.
But, your majesty may ask why David, a man so just,
and virtuous, and prudent, should break the oath of
Abraham, so long held sacred, and which time had consecrated?
I ventured to put this inquiry to Abiathar, who
is my friend, and who has instructed me in many things
concerning the faith of this people. He answered me
as follows:

“This act of David does not imply a want of reverence
for Abraham and his oath. But among us one
period or dispensation is to succeed another; and each
is the divinely-ordained foundation of its successive one.
The call of Abraham led to his settlement here. This
was followed by his removal to Egypt; that, by a bondage;
that, by a dispensation in the wilderness; that, by

[figure description] Page 477.[end figure description]

the rule of the elders, by that of the Judges, and by that
of the two kings. One form gives way to another. In
David commences a new era of things. In David terminates
all that belongs to the first great Abrahamic
period of a thousand years. The traditions and power of
Abraham die in the inauguration of the Throne of David,
who is to be the founder of a new dynasty. David does
not destroy Abraham and the promises in him; but gives
them new directions through himself and his posterities.
He is to be to the FUTURE, what Abraham has been to the
PAST. As the Hebrews of to-day call themselves the
seed of Abraham, the true Israelites of the future shall
call themselves the sons of David; and the title of their
king shall be the Prince of the House of David, ordained
such in the mystery of God before Abraham was! King
David therefore has not broken the oath of Abraham; for
Abraham's power and the limit of his oath were only until
David should annul it. The royal Abraham saw David's
day, and bequeathed him, and his house, his sceptre.
The destruction, therefore, of the fort of Zion, was that
sort of destruction which takes place in the seed before
it germinates, a death out of which is developed a new
life. This stronghold of the Canaanites was the last
link that bound the present to the past; and its destruction
has paved the way for the future glory of the House
of David, before the sword of which all idols on earth
shall be overturned, and all enemies of God utterly perish.
By this act he foreshadowed the conquest of the
pagan earth, by the last Prophet and Prince of his house,
according to the prophecy of Moses! In all that we
Hebrews do, O Arbaces, we do but make copies for the
future! Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, each of

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these are founders of new things, beginnings of new creations,
heads of eras, each advance elevating our race,
and bringing us nearer and nearer to the splendid era
of Him, of whom the patriarchs all have spoken, as the
last wielder of the sceptre of David, and occupant of his
throne; the Shiloh whom Adam walked with in Eden;
Abraham saw in his tent in Mamre; Jacob wrestled with
for a blessing; Moses spoke with in Horeb; Joshua met
at the fountain before Jericho; who was in the Pillar, and
in the Cloud, and whose visible glory dwells in the Shechinah
between the Cherubim; Him the express image
of God, the out-going of His Presence, the Son of His
right hand, who in the fullness of time shall be born to
David's line; as to his nature, human, as to his person,
divine and immortal; an incarnation in the flesh and
blood of a virgin of the House of David, by the mysterious
union therewith of the invisible power and Godhead;
a wonderful, glorious, divine man from heaven, invested
with godlike power, whose throne shall be set in Jerusalem,
and whose dominion shall fill the whole earth!”

Such, your majesty, is the sublime character of David,
according to the information of the High Priest, who is
supposed to read the future by his near presence to the
ear and voice of the Oracle of God. Fragmentary prophecies
of some mighty Being to descend upon earth are
not only scattered through all the Hebrew writings, but
glitter in their obscurest traditions. The whole national
mind seems to live in an expectation—not so much dwelling
peacefully upon the present as looking restlessly
to the future; not like a nation who realize their high
hopes: a nation not so much possessing a positive good,
but expecting one to come! That their kingdom is to

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be the first of all kingdoms, their kings the Kings of all
kings, the meanest Hebrew family believes. This coming
glory, they assert, will be achieved by a divine youth of
celestial beauty, whose nature is a union of that of angels
and of man; but who is to be born of a Hebrew woman
in the coming ages. So deeply is the national
faith impressed with this idea, that every wife in the land
for five hundred years, has hoped to become the mother
of the celestial child-prince; but Abiathar asserts that
this honor will be limited to the House of David, and to
a virgin princess, most blessed among women, of that
royal line. Upon pressing Abiathar closely, he expressed
his opinion that, as a thousand years had elapsed
from Abraham to David, a similar period will elapse
from David to this celestial and powerful Prince of his
royal House.

Who, your majesty, would not wish to live upon the
earth at that day, when this glorious god, or angel, shall
take upon him our flesh, and, through infancy and childhood,
advance to manhood, veiling from the eyes of men
the splendor of his divinity under the carnate veil of his
humanity—a diamond hidden in a casket of clay! How,
when in the majesty of his heavenly dignity he shall be
crowned King of the earth by the hand of God out of
Heaven, will the astonished and happy nations bow down
before him, and all kings cast their crowns at his feet!
What honor will earthly monarchs feel it to be, to be
ruled by a heavenly Prince who yet, as man, can sympathize
with their humanity! Of all eras of time, I
would rather, your majesty, live in that day and behold
the glory of this divine and wonderful Prince. It will
be the realization of the fable that the supreme God

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once came down to earth, and abode here as the King
of the world; but was so indignant and grieved at the
sins of men, that he returned to the heavens, and commanded
men henceforth to be ruled by men. Will the
Prince of the House of David, when he cometh, find the
earth so wicked that he will re-ascend; or will he reform
it by his power and wisdom, and make it worthy
of his throne?

Pardon, your majesty, these reflections. It is difficult
not to have the mind full of subjects, which are the common
theme of those one discourses with. I will now return
to King David, who seems to understand that he is
chosen by Heaven for some mighty purpose, in carrying
out the mysterious history of his people.

Having subdued the citadel, he proceeded to enlarge
and improve it, and when he had made the noble edifice
on the Mount Zion a suitable royal residence, he publicly
proclaimed it as the seat and throne of his kingdom, and
gave to it the name of “The City of David on Mount
Zion.” In a few weeks afterwards he removed thither
from Hebron, and having also improved and beautified
the town north and west of it, he enclosed with walls and
towers a greater space, comprising three hills, and gave
it the name of Jerusalem, it having hitherto borne the
names, Jebusalem, Solyma, Salem, and the city of Moriah.

From this time his reign began to prosper. The kingdom,
united, was at peace; and the Hebrews everywhere
lifted up their happy faces, and walked with pride and
contentment, each man sitting under his vine and fig tree
without fear.

The lesser kings about him sent congratulations to a
monarch they perceived that God was with; and a

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brilliant embassy came to him from Hiram, King of Tyre,
proposing a league of friendship and commerce, and
bringing presents of cedar, and metals, and precious
stones, and purple cloth, and stones, and artificers cunning
in the making of all kinds of carved work. David received
the presents, and entered into the league of
mutual assistance in war, and sent to the Tyrian king
word that he desired presently to build a royal palace,
and that he would gladly have him send to him skillful
builders and workmen, as the artificers of Tyre were
famed in all the world.

King David soon afterwards commenced in Jerusalem
a palace unrivaled for splendor, surrounded himself with
a magnificent court, increased his army, and put in defence
all the cities and fortresses of his kingdom.

Everywhere prosperity and industry now prevails.
The land is blessed with abundant harvests, and peace
in all its borders. Jerusalem grows in grandeur and
beauty. The brave Joab is placed at the head of its
strong garrison, and lives in a superb palace, with a
military court about him like a prince.

Ahithophel is the sagacious minister and counselor of
the king; Hushai is the lord of his palace; Uriah is the
commander of the army in the field, but dwells in a
stately house not far from the new palace of the king.

Of this prosperity the Philistines became jealous, and
fearing the too great power of David, they secretly raised
an army, and marched against Jerusalem, intercepting
and destroying the trains of wagons laden with Tyrian
cedar from Joppa, on the way to the city. David, trusting
only in heaven, never alone in his own courage and
numbers, would not attack them without God's

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permission, which he asked for through the ephod, and by the
High Priest. The response of the oracle was a command
to go out against them. These perpetual foes of Israel
were defeated, even before David's hosts under Joab
came up with them: for an army of angels in the air
swept above a forest of mulberry trees, in the rear of
the Philistines, with a noise like the swift advance
through the wood of a great army upon them, of chariots
and horses, footmen and archers! and struck with terror,
the enemies of the Hebrews fled, and were easily
destroyed. This final blow against this formidable
power has secured to King David peace in all his realm.

His palace is now completed, and the court of David
has become settled, and in all its appointments is finished
with a magnificence, equal to that of Tyre or of Syria.
His throne surpasses that in Egypt of the Pharaohs; his
body-guards are clad in steel armor inlaid with gold; his
palace officers are numerous and richly attired; and all
the luxury and splendor of an ancient court appertains
to this of Jerusalem.

The site of this city is very commanding, being composed
of several eminences of unequal height, which are
on nearly all sides precipitous. Deep ravines separate
them, or abruptly inclined valleys. On all sides the city
is enclosed by hills, save on the north, which seem to
shut it in like a wall.

By the courtesy of the king, I have free entrance to
his palace at all times. Yesterday his majesty sent for
me to come and see him. After I had been a few minutes
with him, and he had dismissed his cup-bearer,
there being left in his presence only a noble looking Levite,
whom he called Uzziah, he said to me:

[figure description] Page 483.[end figure description]

“O Arbaces, who art become one of us in Israel, and
worshipest with us the one true God, I have determined
to establish the worship of the nation I govern
with a degree of magnificence in keeping with the dignity
of my kingdom. My first step will be to transfer
the Ark of God to Jerusalem. I shall take thirty-six
thousand men with me to guard it in solemn procession
hither, three thousand from each tribe, and call all the
people of Judah and of Benjamin to be present to do it
honor. It is now reposing at Kirjath-jearim, where it
has been kept since the death of the priests at Nob.
Aside from the honor of God in this movement, the coming
together on such an august occasion of all the tribes,
will enable the people to see their king, and cement the
great confederacy of which I am now the political head!
Uzziah,” he added, turning to the Levite, “go back to
Kirjath-baal, and make ready all things for the removal
of the Ark of the Covenant hither, on the day I have
named, two months hence! I leave the arrangement of
all the ceremonies to thee, to whom has been entrusted
the care and safety of the Ark since the day of Ahimelech!”

The Levite shortly took his departure; and the king
then invited me to accompany him and his armies of Israel
on the day he should march forth from Jerusalem,
to receive the Oracle of God, and escort it to his capital.

The foresight of the king in removing his court to this
naturally entrenched city, which can easily be rendered
impregnable, is in character with the profound sagacity
which governs all his actions. Not satisfied with making
it the political and military head, his camp and court,
he resolves to make it the religious centre of his

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realm, the place of sacrifices, the site of the Tabernacle,
and the abode of the High Priests. Thus he will gather
about him the leading courtiers, warriors, priests, and
eminent men of his kingdom, and render it, if his reign
be prolonged, one of the most brilliant capitals upon the
earth.

But it is time, your majesty, that I bring this long
letter to a close. Adora never fails to desire to be commended
to a king I so much esteem as a friend, and
honor as a monarch.

p614-502

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