"Here Hushai made a pause of some duration. This branch of the argument had been carried as far as he thought advisable, and the impression was clearly as deep as he desired.

"And now, in a mild and somewhat colloquial style, he proceeded, 'But who is to take the command of this expedition? Who is to reap the honor, in case it shal! prove successful? Ahithophel reserves this to himself. He is distinguished in counsel, though I have not learned that he has been equally so in war. There may be great talents for the cabinet where there is little for the field. But,' said Hushai, with some hes itation, I do not blame him.'

"Here," said Belial, "I could observe a slight elevating of the shoulders, and there played upon his cheek, and about the corners of his mouth, something that approached, though it did not fully amount to, a sarcastic smile.

"I do not blame him for coveting this distinction. I should be glad myself,' said he, bowing most respectfully to Absalom, 'I should be glad myself to appear in your court, and about your throne, during all the years of your long and prosperous reign, as the man to whom, of all Israel, you were most indebted for your kingdom and your crown. I should be glad to have my name go down to distant ages, as the renowned leader who struck the main, decisive blow in this great revolution, so rich and abundant in its beneficent bearings on the whole land. But your majesty has called us to consult for the public good; and where the public good is in jeopardy,' he cried, with an impatient stamp of the foot, and a look of awful sternness, 'confusion

and perdition to all such artful, cunningly devised schemes for individual aggrandizement !

"My decided opinion is, that where the fate of the whole nation depends on the issue of a single engagement, the very best talents should be in the command and at the helm. I counsel thee, therefore, that thou go to the battle in thine own person. And let the highest honor go where it is most certainly merited.

"Will your majesty allow me to ask these distinguished princes a question that much concerns us now?'

"Certainly,' said Absalom, 'certainly.'

"Princes of Judah,' said Hushai, are all your people, who are willing to serve our illustrious king, already here?'

"Not the half of them,' was the reply.

To-morrow, by the time the sun is risen, our numbers will be doubled.'

"Princes of Ephraim, what say you?'

"In twelve hours more, our numbers will be fourfold,' was the answer.

"Princes of Dan, what of the sons of your tribe?' "By the going down of the sun to-morrow, twenty thousand Danites, now on their march, will be at Jerusalem.'

"And thus it is,' said Hushai, 'beyond all doubt, with every other branch of the great house of Israel. Let me beg, let me implore you, illustrious monarch, not to be hurried by rash, precipitate counsels. Give your faithful, zealous subjects time to rally around your standard. Your popularity, immense and unexampled, will bring all Israel, from Dan even to Beer

sheba, into the ranks of your army, if only the necessary time be allowed. And then, with you for our commander-in-chief, we will pursue the dethroned

king. So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground, and of him, and of all the people that are with him, there shall not be left so much as one. I wholly disapprove of the counsel that says, Smite the king only,' and leave all those old rebel officers, that are hostile to your majesty, to create vexation and annoyance in after years. No, my voice is, extirpate them utterly. Crush the whole hornet's nest at once, and then will your majesty's reign be peaceful and unmolested.

"As to the apprehension, that the exiled king, if not pursued to-night, may get into a defenced city, and thus become formidable, it is an idle dream; let him fly into a defenced city, if he thinks it will avail him. The army that follows your majesty will be so numerous, that should each soldier take one stone from the wall of that city and throw it into the river, there will not be enough left to mark the place where it stood. But now, in conclusion,' said Hushai, lowering his voice, and speaking in a calm, cautious, confidential tone, 'let me frankly declare, that all depends on your keeping the reins in your own hand; your honor, your crown, your kingdom, your lasting fame are all suspended here. Let no artifice, however cunningly proposed, induce you to commit that command to another, which the great house of Israel have intrusted to you. I regret to mention it, but the necessity laid upon me is imperative, and fidelity to your majesty forbids that I should be silent. Let me then

say, that should this command be given to Ahithophel, the faithful friends of King Absalom will soon blush and cover their faces with shame, when they are compelled to hear the hints, and whisperings, that will be busily circulated through all the multitudes collected here, "that there is a power behind the throne greater than the throne ; " "that our king is only a king in name, a mere child in leading-strings, a feeble and flexile tool in the hands of a mighty manager that is behind the curtain;" "that a certain great counsellor, like Abner with Ishbosheth, hath projected and planned this whole revolution; and that it is the popularity of the counsellor, not of the king, that hath drawn these immense masses of armed men around Jerusalem."

"A word to the wise is enough,' cried Hushai, again lifting his voice to a lofty key; ' and well I know that your majesty will drive all such idle and injurious delusions from the public mind, as the whirlwind drives the dust from the face of the marble. Let King Absalom fill the throne himself, wield the sceptre himself, command his armies himself, and then shall his kingdom prosper and prevail; all Israel will take shelter under the shadow of his throne. Distant lands shall learn his fame, and unborn generations shall embalm his memory and rehearse his greatness.'

"At the close of this address, Absalom appeared perfectly lost in a wild maze of contending emotions. Astonishment, shame, rage, seemed alternately to prevail. At length a venerable chief, of the house of Ephraim, arose and moved, as the sense of the meeting, 'that the counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel!'

"The decision was entirely unanimous, and then Absalom, somewhat recovered, in the most public and polite manner thanked Hushai for the light he had imparted. The obligation shall be remembered,' said Absalom, and you shall all see forthwith that I am king, and I am counsellor.'

"Belial," said Beelzebub, who now spoke out with some emotion, "does not the writer of the Second Book of Samuel speak as if the hand and appointment of God had some influence in this decision of Absalom and his council, so fatal to all their undertaking!"

"He does indeed," said Belial; "his words are these: 'For the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.'" (2 Sam. xvii. 14.)

"Come, come," said Lucifer, who now raised his voice; "I dislike exceedingly to hear such quotations of Scripture as that; no more of it, go on with your history, Belial."

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