Day the King departed, until he came a gain in Peace. This Appearance of Mephibofheth made a great Impreffion upon the King, who wifely imagined it to be very unlikely that a Man, who feemed to have paid little or no Regard to himself, for fome confiderable Time, in his Dress or outward Attire, as was ufual then in Times of extraordinary Calamity, fhould ever have entertained any Thoughts of obtaining the Crown. He therefore began to fufpect that Ziba might have deceived him; and, with great Mildness, afked him the Reason of his not having attended him? To which this unfortunate and much injured Prince replied; My Lord, O King, my Servant deceived me: For thy Servant faid, I will faddle me an Afs, that I may ride thereon, and go to the King, becaufe thy Servant is lame; and he bath flandered thy Servant unto my Lord the King: But my Lord the King is as an Angel of God; do therefore what is good in thine Eyes. This Defence of Mephibofheth the King accepted; and therefore bid him and Ziba divide the Land. From this Circumftance of dividing the Land, many have imagined that David was not in Reality convinced of Mephibofbeth's Innocence, as he did not reverfe the Grant he had given to Ziba. This was certainly a Revocation of the whole to Ziba; and the learned Dr. Chandler is of Opinion, that in the original

Grant

Grant one Half was given to Zibà, as a Ré♫ ward or Stipend for his taking Care of the whole. If fo, Mephibofheth had the fame Grant renewed, as was at first given him*.

Here then it may be asked, why David did not punish Ziba fór his Perfidy to his Mafter, by revoking the Grant he had made him, and bestowing it upon his faithful Servant Mephibofbeth, whom he now discovered to be more worthy of it, fince his not doing this was countenancing the Man in his Villainy, a Part unbecoming any Man, efpecially one in David's Situation? To this I anfwer, that as the King was determined no Harm fhould accrue to Mephibofheth from his Servant's Treachery, he thought he might, without being guilty of any Crime thereby, extend at fuch a particular Time as this was, his Pardon to Ziba, as a grateful Acknowledgment for that feasonable and noble Supply he had brought him, when under Diftrefs by Reafon of the unnatural

Of the fame Opinion is the learned Mr. Selden; Quid plura de ea re loqueris? Tu in favorem mihi receptus. Etiam decrevi pridem, dixi, pronunciavi te & Zibam fervam tuum partiartos fore; te ut Dominum, cui, utpote in integrum restituto, fubministrantur agrorum proDentus; illum ut colonum, gleba adfcriptium, fervum agros colentem, atque inde etiam pro hominis ftatu, victum capientem. Adeo ut nihil illa fententia breviuscala amplius innuatur, quam id quod fufius exprimitur, 2 Samuelis ix. 10. ubi proventus Domino, cultura fervo, a Dohatore affignantur. De SUCCESSIONE, Cap. xxv. p. 67, 68.

Rebellion

Rebellion his Son had raised against him, efpecially as he had given Shimei the fame, who had in the Time of his Calamity of fered him the highest Indignity. This he might do too without intending to fhew that Man any further Favour, which would fufficiently teftify his Abhorrence of the Treachery he had been guilty of. Besides, the present Situation of the King rendered it morally impoffible for him to punish him in the Manner he deferved. For, confider this Man was of the Houfe of Saul, who, if he had been thus roughly handled by the King, might have revolted from him, and raised another Rebellion, the Confequence of which might have been attended with more fatal Circumftances, than that from which he was but juft now delivered. These Reasons therefore will, I should hope, fufficiently justify the Conduct of David at this critical Time: For I make no Scruple to affert, that had he been otherwise circumstanced, than he was juft at this Period, we fhould have found him as forward as any to have punished fo base a Degree of Treachery. Upon the whole then, I think that the Behaviour of David towards Saul and his Family, efpecially towards the Son of his valuable Friend, was most unexceptionably noble and generous, and fuch as became a Man who had received such signal Favours from the Almighty. One Parti

cular

cular however of his Conduct towards this unhappy Family ftill remains to be spoke to, viz. That of giving up Saul's Children into the Hands of the Gibeonites to be put to Death. However, in treating upon that Affair, I hope to clear him from thofe foul Afperfions, which his late Biographer has been pleafed very liberally to bestow upon him, though without the leaft Reafon or Foundation for fuch grofs Calumny.

SECTION THE SEVENTH.

T

HE daft Account the facred Writings give us of David's Behaviour towards the House of Saul, is that of his furrendering up Saul's Children to the Gibeonites, ̃ to be maffacred by them by Way of Retalia tion of the Evil that unhappy Monarch had formerly done them out of his Zeal towards the Children of Ifrael. This Action of David's has been excepted to by his Friends as well as Enemies, as favouring of unnatural Cruelty, and by our modern Biographer is filed a Mafter piece of Wickedness. If the Behaviour of the royal Patriarch on this Occasion had been thought worthy of Cenfure only by this Author, a few Words might fuffice in order to his Vindication; but as many virtuous and religious Perfons, who do not take a Pleasure in merely cavilling only, but who, from juft and reasonable

Grounds,

Grounds, are offended with what appears to them cruel and unjust, I shall beg Leave to propound to them fome Confiderations, which, when maturely weighed, may cause them to entertain a more favourable Opinion of David's Behaviour in this Affair.

While the Ifraclites, were by the Command of God extirpating the Canaanites, and the other neighbouring Nations, for their grofs Idolatry and other Abomina-. tions; the Gibeonites, foreseeing the Storm that was impending over them, were refolved to rescue themselves, if poffible, from the Danger of it, which, from the Fate their Neighbours had already met with, they were fenfible they could not do by. Force of Arms. They .therefore determined to make Ufe of a Piece of Policy; which, though not justifiable, in itself, yet confidering how they were fituated, was fomewhat excufable in them, in order fo far to deceive the Ifraelites, as to cause them to make a League with them. The Stratage: they made Ufe of to that Purpose. (which you will find defcribed at large in the 9th Chapter of Joshua) fucceeded, and

ofkua with the Elders of Ifrael made Peace. with them, and made a League with them to let them live; and the Princes of the Gongregation fware unto them. An Attempt then to deftroy them after this was moft impious, and contrary to the Faith

and