away to a better man: and who so eminently a better man than himself, as David? And now, when the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul, he had recourfe to his ufual remedy; David played, but it was to the deaf adder, which refused to hear the voice of the charmer.

How fad and shocking a scene was this! David labouring, with all his ftudy and skill, to relieve Saul's anguish; and Saul, in the fame instant, meditating his deftruction! Sitting fullen, and determined, with his javelin in his hand, watching his opportunity, and waiting, perhaps, until the power of mufic had so far calmed his fpirits, as to steady his hand, he darted his fpear at David with all his might, and with fuch force, that, he happily declining it, it pierced and ftuck into the wall: and David fled.

THE reflecting reader cannot fail to obferve and to adore the Providence by which David was once more fo fignally protected and delivered: nor can he well avoid revolving in his mind, that very late and folemn oath, by which Saul obliged himself to abstain from David's deftruction; an obligation now facrificed to the gratification of that evil spirit that reigned within him.

How others have obferved, I cannot say; but I believe it will generally be found true, that, whenever we meet with any account of a murderous, a treacherous, a perjured prince, we may expect to be foon informed of fome fignal judgments and chaftifements from GoD upon him. And give me leave to add, that, in the little cir

cle

cle of my own observation, I have very seldom (if ever) been disappointed.

WHEN Saul had now added perjury to his other evil devices, his confcience became feared, and his designs defperate. David had escapeď to his house; but Saul's guards quickly purfucd him thither, with exprefs orders from their mafter, to encompass it for that night, fo as he should not escape, and to flay him in the morning.

AND here is the first inftance of infatuation upon his wicked counfels. If David was to be deftroyed, why not that very night? To what purpose to defer it, unlefs to give David fome better chance for efcaping? which accordingly came to pafs; for Michal, anxious for her hulband's fafety, and more fufpicious of danger, as by nature more timorous, either obferved or had fome intimation of the affaffins that encompaffed the house, and immediately urged her husband to make his escape that inflant; and to effect it the better, the let him down through a window; and he fled, and was delivered.

THIS done, her next care was, how to delude his murderers, and, by that means, delay their purfuit. She dreffed up an image, covered it with a cloth, and laid it upon a pillow of goats hair, as the text is commonly underfood; or, rather, fet off the head of it with goats hair refembling her husband's *: and when the affaffins entered to fecure and to flay David, fhe told

*The oriental goat is diftinguifhed by the moft fhining and filky hair in the world.

them

them he was fick, and fhewed him to them, as they thought, ftretched upon his bed.

THIS device put them to a ftand. David was fick; and, poffibly, Saul would rather wait the chance of feeing him carried off by a natural death, than imbrue his hands in the blood of his benefactor. Murder is, I believe, a hateful office to the bafeft fpirit; but it is dreadful to the brave. And tho' it be natural to think the worft of men employed in fuch offices, yet it is obvious to imagine, that they were well enough pleased to have the matter remitted to their mafter, and to wait for new orders upon an affair of so much importance, and fuch difficult determination.

THEY did fo; and were foon remanded, with exprefs orders, to bring David in his bed, fick as he was, to Saul, that he might have the cruel fatisfaction of flaying him with his own hands.:

WHEN they returned upon this errand, they foon discovered the cheat that Michal had put upon them, and found the image instead of David.

THE bloodiness of Saul's intention makes it easy to conjecture the fury of his refentment, upon the disappointment of his horrid purpose: he expoftulated with Michal upon the deceit put upon her father, and the cfcape contrived for his enemy; both which the excused by another artifice; pleading neceflity, and the imminent danger of her life, if the declined lending David her affiftance.

MICHAL is obferved by critics to have nothing virtuous or valuable in her character *, except this inftance of conjugal fidelity and affection; and yet even this is very much obfcured by that grofs falfhood, which, to disguise it to her father, difgraced her husband. How much nobler and more amiable was that honeft veracity of the wife of Polyxenus, who, being reproached by her brother Dionyfius, the Sicilian tyrant, for being conscious to her husband's flight without discovering it, tho' fhe knew he was accused of treafon against him; asked the tyrant, Whether he could think her fo degenerate, as to know of her husband's flight, without fharing all the danger of it with him?

HOWEVER, this conduct of Michal suggests a fair occafion of reflecting once more upon the infatuation of Saul's counfels: that very daughter which he gave to David as a bait and a fnare, is now made the fure and only means of his prefervation.

*She is fuppofed by fome to have been an idolatress, by the teraphim which deceived Saul's meffengers; and the after reproached her husband with his dancing in honour of God.

CHAP.

CHAP. XI.

A Conjecture concerning the Circumftances of this Efcape, grounded on the xviiith Pfalm; fubmitted to the candid Reader. The Tempeft defcribed in this Pfalm, compared with that of Virgil in the firft Georgic.

THE indulgent reader will, I hope, allow me, at least pardon me, in a conjecture that a confiderable parth of the xviiith Pfalm may refer to the escape recounted in the lait chapter: I mean from the 1ft to the 29th verfe inclufive.

THAT the 29th verfe refers to this escape, can, I think, be no permanent doubt with any man that compares it with the foregoing hiftory: By thee I have run through a troop, and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

WHEN Michal let David down thro' a window, (suppose it a back-window, as, in all probability it was) and fuppofe a back-wall to be leaped over, he was fill in a city; and there was no poffibility of cfcaping, without leaping over the city wall, as well as flipping through the citywatch he never was under the fame neceffity at any other time, that we know of; and therefore this verse must have reference to this time. THIS then may, I think, be numbered among what the mathematicians call data; that is con

felfed