JOAD, JOSABET, AZARIAH, THE CHOIR, AND SEVERAL
     LEVITES.

JOAD.
     Well, Azariah, is the temple closed?


AZARIAH.
     The gates have all been made before my eyes


JOAD.
     Your saintly troops and you alone remain?


AZARIAH.
     Twice I have walked around the sacred courts,
     And all are fled; dispersed without return,
     Scattered in fear—a miserable crew!
     God by His holy tribe's no longer served:—
     E'er since that people Pharoah's steps escaped,
     An equal panic has not seized on them.


JOAD.
     A people in performance loose, and born
     For slavery—bold against God alone!
     Let us pursue our work. But who retains
     These children, even in our midst?

     One of the daughters of the choir
     Alas, could we, sire, part ourselves from you?
     In the Lord's temple are we aliens?
     Around you are our fathers and our sires.

     Another.
     Ha! if to avenge the shame of Israel
     Our hands may not as Jael's, formerly,
     Have power to pierce God's impious enemies' head,
     Yet we at least may give our lives to Him.
     Whilst you are fighting for His temple stormed,
     We may, at least, invoke Him with our tears.


JOAD.
     Eternal Wisdom, in Thy quarrel armed
     Here, then, are Thine avengers—priests and children!
     But Thou sustaining, who can cast us down?
     From death Thou canst recall us when Thou wilt!
     Thou strikest and Thou healest, Thou destroyest
     And Thou resuscitatest. We rely
     Not on our own deserts, but on Thy name,
     Invoked so frequently, and on Thy oath
     Sworn to the most devout of all our kings,
     Within this temple made Thy holy dwelling,
     And which the sun's duration is to last.
     But whence this sacred thrilling of my soul?
     Am I transported by the Holy Spirit?
     It is so: it inflames me: speaks to me:
     My eyes are opened, and the times obscure
     Unveil themselves before me! Levites, lend
     Your harmony of sounds, and by their swell
     Support my ecstacy!

     The Choir sing to the sound of every symphony of the
     instruments.
     O let the voice of God be heard,
     And to our hearts, His oracle divine,
     Be as the freshness of the morn
     Is to the tender grass in spring.


JOAD.
     Heaven, hear my voice. Earth, lend thine ear.
     No more, O Jacob, say thy God doth slumber,
     O sinners disappear; the Lord's awake.

     Here the symphonies are resumed, and Joad instantly
     continues.
     How into worthless lead pure gold is changed!
     Who is that priest slain in the holy place?
     Weep, weep Jerusalem, perfidious city,
     Wretched destroyer of the sacred seers;
     God of His love for thee divests Himself;
     Thy incense in His eyes is incense foul.
     Where do you take those children and those wives?
     The queen of cities God has overthrown:
     Her priests are captives, and her kings disowned.
     Temple be overthrown! Cedars cast your flames!
     Jerusalem, thou object of my grief,
     Who in one day has ravished all thy charms?
     O who will change, to weep thy miseries,
     Mine eyes to two fountains of tears?


AZARIAH.
     O holy temple!


JOSABET.
     O David!


THE CHOIR.
     Restore, O God of Sion, O restore,
     Thy ancient benefactions in her favour.

     The symphonies resume, and immediately after Joad
     continues.
     What new Jerusalem arises from
     The desert's depths in dazzling splendour,
     And bears upon her brow a stamp immortal?


JOAD.
          Sing, people of the earth,
     Jerusalem reborn more grand and beautiful!
     Whence on all sides repair to her
     The progeny not fostered in her bosom?
     Lift high, Jerusalem, lift high thy head!
     Look on those monarchs of thy marvellous glory:
     The kings of nations are before thee prostrate,
     Kissing the dust of thy feet:
     The people in thy light walk emulous.
     Blest, who for Sion with a holy fervour
     Doth feel his soul expanded!
     Heavens scatter your dew, and let the earth
     Bring forth its Saviour!


JOSABET.
     Alas! from whence this signal benefaction?
     If kings from whom Messiah's to descend—


JOAD.
     Let Josabet prepare the diadem
     Which David's self bore on his sacred brow.

     (To the Levites.)

     And you, attend me to the place to arm
     Yourselves, where is concealed from strangers' eyes
     That formidable heap of swords and lances,
     Which ever in Philistine's blood were drenched;
     And which triumphant David, full of years
     And honours, caused to be unto the God
     That had protected him made consecrate.
     Could we employ them in a nobler cause %
     Follow, I will myself distribute them.

SALOMITH, THE CHOIR.

SALOMITH.
     What fears my sisters, O what mortal broils!
     All powerful God, are these the sacrifices,
     The first-fruits and the perfumes we
     This day should offer at Thy altars?

     One of the daughters of the Choir.
     What spectacle unto our timid eyes!
     Who could have feared we ever should behold
     The murderous sword, the homicidal lance
     Flashing within the house of peace?

     Another.
     Whence comes it that Jerusalem,
     Full of indifference to her God,
     Is silent in her present danger?
     Whence comes it, sisters, that for our protection
     Brave Abner, at the least, speaks not aloud?


SALOMITH.
          Ah! in a court, in which prevails
     No other law than force and violence;
     In which its honours and employments are
     The price of blind and base obedience,
     Who will desire, my sister, to lift up
     His voice for sorrowing innocence?

     Another.
     For whom's that sacred diadem prepared
     In this confusion—peril violent?


SALOMITH.
     The Lord has deigned to speak;
     But who can make us understand
     What to his prophet He has now revealed?
     Arms He Himself in our defence?
     Or does He arm to overwhelm us?

     All the choir sing,
     O promise! threatening! mysterious gloom!
     What evil and what good by turns foretold!
     How can we reconcile
     So much of wrath and love?

     One voice alone.
     Sion will be no more; a cruel flame
     Will burn up all her excellence.

     Another voice.
     O God, shield Sion; Thy eternal word
     She holds for her foundations.

     The first
     How all her splendour fades before my eyes.

     The second.
     I see on every side her glory radiant

     The first.
     Sion is sunk to a profound abyss.

     The second.
     Sion, whose brow is in the heavens.

     The first
     What sorrowful abasement!

     The second.
     What immortal glory!

     The first
     What wailings!

     The second.
     What songs of victory!

     A third.
     Let us cease from troubling; our God one day
     Will reconcile this mystery sublime!

     All three.
     Let us revere His anger; trust His love.

     Another.
     God! of a heart that loveth Thee
     Who can disturb the peace?
     Itself forgetting ever,
     It seeks, in all, Thy will supreme.
     On earth—in heaven even can there bloom
     Another blessing than the tranquil peace
     Of a heart that loveth Thee?


END OF THE THIRD ACT.

JOAS, JOSABET, ZACHARIAH, SALOMITH, A LEVITE,
     THE CHOIR.

SALOMITH.
     With a majestic step, beside my mother,
     Near Zachariah, walks Eliacin.
     What hide they, sisters, underneath their cloaks?
     In short, what is that sword that's borne before them?


JOSABET (to Zachariah).
     Place on that table, reverentially,
     The book redoubted of our holy law:
     And also you, my loved Eliacin,
     This diadem place near the book divine.
     Levites we must have there, Joad orders it,
     The sword of David close beside the crown.


JOAS.
     Princess, what then is this strange spectacle?
     This sacred book, this diadem, this sword?
     I ne'er have seen example of like form,
     Since in His temple God accepted me.


JOSABET.
     Soon all your doubts, my son, will be dispelled.


JOAS.
     Why will you fit this diadem on my brow?
     Ah, princess! keep its glory unprofaned!
     Respect the memory of the king who wore it.
     A wretched child abandoned to the bears—


JOSABET (tries on the diadem).
     Allow me, son, I do what I am ordered.


JOAS.
     But from your lips I hear your sobs arise!
     Princess, you weep, What pity touches you?
     To-day presented as burnt offering
     Am I, as formerly was Jeptha's daughter,
     By my own death to appease the wrath of God?
     Alas! a child has nought a father may
     Not claim.


JOSABET.
     Here's one will tell you of the will of Heaven;
     Fear nothing. Let us leave these precincts.


JOAD, JOAS.
     ( Joas running into the arms of the high-priest.)

JOAS, JOAD, AZARIAH, ISHMAEL, THREE OTHER LEVITE
     CHIEFS.

JOAD.
     King, here are the avengers on your foes.
     Priests, here's the king that I have promised you.


AZARIAH.
     What, is't Eliacin?


ISHMAEL.
     What! that amiable child—


JOAD.
     Is true inheritor of Judah's throne,
     Last born of tristful Ochoziah's children,
     Reared up, you know it, by the name of Joas.
     All Israel wept like you the destiny
     Of this sweet flower, cut down so soon, and thought
     That with his brother he was wrapt in death.
     Attacked with the perfidious steel like them:
     But God knowing how to turn aside the blow,
     Kept in his heart the life-warmth near extinct,
     Allowing Josabet to carry him
     All bleeding in her bosom, and avoid
     The assassin's vigilance. She having none
     Except myself the accomplice of her theft,
     Concealed the child, and reared him in the temple.


JOAS.
     Alas! for so much love, so many blessings,
     Father, how shall I e'er acquit myself?


JOAD.
     For other times reserve this gratitude.
     Here then behold your king, your only hope!
     Till now my care has treasured him for you;
     You, servants of the Lord, must bear it out.
     Informed that Ochoziah's son still lives,
     The murderess, Athaliah, soon will rush,
     To hurry him again into the tomb.
     Already, without knowing him, she pants
     To ruin sacred ministers 'tis yours
     To anticipate her fury; now 'tis time
     To end the shameful slavery of the Jews,
     To avenge our princes' deaths, exalt our laws,
     And make our king be owned by our two tribes.
     The enterprize is great and dangerous;
     Attacking on her throne a haughty queen,
     Who sees a numerous camp of hardy strangers
     And traitorous Hebrews march beneath her standards!
     But God's my strength, whose interest guideth me.
     Think that all Israel lives within this child!
     Already God the avenger troubles her.
     Eluding whom, I have assembled you;
     She deems us armless here, without defence.
     Let us crown quickly and proclaim Joas king:
     Then, fearless soldiers of the new crowned prince,
     March and invoke the Arbiter of battles;
     And rousing in the people's hearts their faith,
     Even in her palace, seek our enemy.
     Then those so long in lazy slumber sunk,
     Beholding us advance in saintly garbs,
     Will haste with zeal to follow our example!
     A king whom in His temple God has nourished:
     Aaron's successor, followed by his priests,
     Leading the house of Levi to the combat;
     And in these hands, by all tribes venerated,
     The arms of David consecrate to God!
     The Lord will scatter terror on His foes.
     Bathe without fear in unbelievers' blood!
     Strike Syrian, and even Israelite!
     From those famed Levites do you not descend,
     Who, when to Nilus' god inconstant Israel
     Paid in the desert adoration vile,
     The saintly homicides of their own house,
     Did dedicate their hands in treacherous blood,
     And by that awful deed acquired for you
     The rank of sole presiders at the altar?
     But now I see you burn to follow me!
     Swear on this sacred volume, then, Yore all
     To live, to combat, and to die for him,
     The king, whom heaven presenteth you to-day.


AZARIAH (at the end of the table, laying his hand
     the sacred book),
     Yes, swear we, for our brothers and ourselves,
     To establish Joas upon his father's throne;
     That we again will not lay down our arms
     Until avenged upon his enemies:
     If any' violator break this vow,
     O may he feel, great God, Thy vengeful wrath!
     And may with him his children be debarred
     Thy heritage, as those Thou knowest no more!


JOAD.
     And to this law, your ever present guide,
     Will you not, king, swear always to be true?


JOAS.
     Can I not to that law conform myself?


JOAD.
     Allow, my son—I still dare call you so—
     This tenderness, and tolerate the tears
     Drawn from my eyes for you with just alarms.
     Alas! far from the throne instructed, you
     Are ignorant of the enpoisoned cup;
     The drunkenness of unrestricted power;
     The voice of the enchantress flattery.
     Soon will they tell you that the sacred laws,
     Which sway the common people, bow to kings;
     That his own will's the sovereign's sole restraint;
     That all to his supreme magnificence
     Is to be sacrificed; that unto tears
     And toils his subjects are condemned; and that
     They must be governed by an iron sway;
     Who soon or late, if not subdued, subdue.
     And thus from snare to snare, and gulf to gulf,
     Fouling the lovely chasteness of your morals,
     At length they bring you to despise the truth
     By painting virtue in a frightful form;
     Alas! they have misled the kings most wise!
     Swear on this book, before these witnesses,
     That God shall always be your first of cares;
     Stern to the wicked, refuge of the good:
     That 'twixt the poor and you the Lord shall judge.
     Remember you, my son, that in this dress,
     Like them you were an orphan, like them, poor.


JOAS (at the middle of the table, having his hand
     the sacred book,)
     I promise to obey the law ordained;
     God punish me if I abandon you.


JOAD.
     Come, and anoint him with the holy oil;
     Josabet, appear: you now may show yourself.

JOAS, JOAD, JOSABET, ZACHARIAH, SALOMITH, AZARIAH,
     ISHMAEL, THREE OTHER LEVITE CHIEFS, THE CHOIR.

JOSABET (embracing Joas).

     O king, offspring of David!


JOAS.
     My only mother! Come, dear Zachariah,
     Embrace me.


JOSABET (to Zachariah).
     My son, prostrate yourself before your king.


JOAD (whilst they embrace.)
     Children, may thus your hearts be always one.


JOSABET (to Joas).
     You know then to what source you owe your life?


JOAS.
     And also know the hand, which, but for you,
     Had robbed me of it.


JOSABET.
     I then can call you by your own name, Joas.


JOAS.
     Joas will never cease to love you.


THE CHOIR.
     What! is it—


JOSABET.
     It is Joas.


JOAD.
     Let us hear that Levite.

JOAS, JOAD, JOSABET, ZACHARIAH, SALOMITH, AZARIAH,
     ISHMAEL, THREE OTHER LEVITE CHIEFS, A LEVITE,
     THE CHOIR.

A LEVITE.
     I know not what design they have 'gainst God;
     But threatening boldness growls on every side:
     Amidst their standards they have lighted fires,
     And doubtless Athaliah joins her forces;
     Already every path for succour's closed:
     The sacred mount on which the temple's reared
     Is quite infested with fierce Tynans;
     Blaspheming, one of them came forth and said,
     "Your Abner is in chains, and cannot aid you."


JOSABET (to Joas)
     Dear child, whom Heaven in vain reserved for me,
     I've done whate'er I could to rescue you:
     But God no longer knows your father, David.


JOAD (to Josabet).
     What! fear you not to draw His wrath on you,
     And on this king so dear unto your love?
     Though God should tear him from your arms for ever,
     And will that David's house should be extinct,
     Are you not here upon the holy mount,
     Where 'gainst his innocent son the Jewish sire,
     Raised, without murmur, his obedient arm;
     And, as burnt-offering, on the altar placed
     The finit of his old age, leaving with God
     The oversight of bearing out His promise,
     And yielded up to Him, with his loved son,
     His house's hope, contained in him alone?
     Friends let us go. Let Ishmael to his charge,
     Take all the side that looks unto the east;
     You take the northern portion, you the west,
     And you the centre. Let not too much zeal,
     Betraying my designs, cause priest or Levite
     To quit his place, and charge before the time;
     And, finally, let all impelled as one
     Keep to the death the post I have assigned them.
     The foe beholding us in his blind rage,
     As a vile herd reserved for massacre,
     Thinks but to meet disorder and dismay.
     You, Azariah, keep beside the king.

     (To Joas.)
     Come, you dear scion of a valiant race,
     With a new courage fill your champions;
     Assume the diadem before their eyes,
     And fall as king, at least, if fall you must.

     (To a Levite.)
     Follow him, Josabet. Give me those arms.

     (To the Choir.)
     Children, to God present your innocent tears.

     The Choir sing.
     Children of Aaron, go—depart;
     In never more illustrious cause
     Battled the zeal of your progenitors.
     Children of Aaron, go—depart;
     It is your king, your God, for whom ye fight.

     One voice alone.
     Where are those thunderbolts Thou launchest,
     Great God, in Thy just wrath?
     Art Thou no more the jealous God?
     Art Thou no longer the avenger?

     Another,
     Where, God of Jacob, are Thy former favours?
     Amid the horrors, that encompass us,
     Hearest Thou alone the voice
     Of our iniquities?
     Art Thou no longer the forgiving God?

     The Choir.
     Where, God of Jacob, are Thy former favours?

     One voice alone.
     It is against Thyself that in this strife
     The armies of the wicked aim assault.
     Come let us cause to cease, say they,
     God's festivals upon the earth;
     And from His tiresome yoke deliver man:
     Let all His saints be slaughtered;
     His altars overthrown;
     That of His name and glory
     No memory may be left;
     That neither He, nor Christ may reign o'er us.

     The Choir.
     Where are the thunderbolts Thou launchest,
     Great God, in Thy just wrath?
     Art Thou no more the jealous God?
     Art Thou no longer the avenger?

     One voice alone.
         Sad remnant of our kings,
     Dear and last bloom of such a beauteous stem,
     Ah! 'neath the dagger of a cruel dam
     Shall we, a second time, behold thee fall?
     Say, did an angel at thy cradle side,
     Beloved prince! against thy murderers
     Defend thee with his care;
     Or in the darkness of the tomb
     Did God re-animate thy ashes?

     Another.
     Dost Thou, great God, impute the guilty deeds
     Of father and grandfather unto him?
     Abandon him without relenting pity?

     The Choir.
     Where, God of Jacob, are Thy former favours?
     Art Thou no longer the forgiving God?

     One of the daughters of the Choir (speaking).
     Dear sisters, hear you not the sound
     Of the fierce Tyrians' trumpet?


SALOMITH.
     I even hear the barbarous soldiers' cries,
     And I shiver with horror.
     Come, let us fly to our refuge
     Under the sanctuary's shadow.

ZACHARIAH, SALOMITH, THE CHOIR.

SALOMITH.
     Dear Zachariah, well! what have you learnt?


ZACHARIAH.
     Redouble to the Lord your fervent prayers:
     Perhaps we are approaching our last hour;
     The order's given for the horrid conflict.


SALOMITH.
     What is Joas doing?


ZACHARIAH.
         He has just been crowned:
     On him the high-priest's poured the holy oil.
     O heaven, what joy was seen in every eye,
         Beholding him, the ransomed from the tomb!
     My sisters, still is seen the dagger's scar.
     Also his faithful nurse appeared to us,
     Who guarding that dear charge has had no eye
     To note her cares but God's and Josabet's.
     Our Levites wept with joy and tenderness,%
     And mixed their sobs with shouts of ecstacy.
     He, midst those transports, courteous, without pride,
     To one his hand, to others gave his look,
     And swore to govern by their frank advice,
     Naming them all his brothers or his sires.


SALOMITH.
     Think you this secret's spread beyond these walls?


ZACHARIAH.
     This secret to the temple's still confined;
     The band of Levi's race, distributed,
     Have placed themselves all silent at the doors;
     All are to rush together on the foe,
     And for the signal cry, "Long live King Joas!"
     My father wills that Zachariah guard
     The king, forbidden to expose himself.
     Meanwhile the queen, with poniard in her hand,
     Laughs at the feeble check of our brass gates.
     To crush them she attends the fatal engines,
     Breathing, in short, but blood and devastation.
     Some priests, my sister, at the first proposed,
     That in a secret cave, our fathers' dug,
     The precious ark at least should be concealed.
     "O base insulting fear my father cried,
     The ark which caused so many gorgeous towers
     To fall, and forced the Jordan's backward course;
     So many times triumphant o'er the gods
     Of nations, must it flee at the approach
     Of insolent woman?" My mother, near
     The king, in deadly trouble, now her eye
     Being on the altar, and now turned on him,
     Silent, and sinking 'neath the weight of dread,
     Would have extorted tears from eyes of brass.
     The king from time to time embracing her
     Consoled her: then she said, "my sisters dear,
     All follow me, and if our king to-day
     Must perish, let one fate unite ourselves
     With him."


SALOMITH.
     What rugged hand knocks with repeated blows?
     Why those disordered Levites put to flight?
     And what precaution makes them hide their arms?
     Is the temple stormed?


ZACHARIAH.
     Disperse your fears, God sends us Abner.

ABNER, JOAD, JOSABET, ZACHARIAH, SALOMITH,
     TWO LEVITES, THE CHOIR.

JOAD.
          Must I believe my eyes,
     Dear Abner? By what way have you been here
     Conducted, through a camp besieging us?
     'Twas said that Ahab's sacrilegious daughter
     Had loaded with vile chains your generous hands.


ABNER.
     Yes, sire, she feared my fortitude and zeal.
     Confining me's the least part of her rage;
     In horrid dungeon by her orders buried,
     I was expecting that the temple burnt
     To ashes, and not satiated yet,
     With many floods of slaughter, she would come,
     And rid me of a troublesome life, cut short
     The days which would a thousand times have swelled
     The grief of being survivor of my kings.


JOAD.
     What miracle has brought about your pardon?


ABNER.
     God only knows what passes in her heart.
     She sent for me, and with distracted air
     Said, "see those soldiers quite surround that temple,
     A vengeful fire's about to make it ashes;
     Thy God 'gainst mine can not defend Himself.
     Howe'er His priests—but they must make quick haste,
     On two conditions may redeem their lives—
     That in my power Eliacin be given,
     With treasures which I know are known to them,
     Amassed by David, formerly your king,
     Intrusted to the high-priest's secret care.
     Go tell them at that price that they may live."


JOAD.
     What counsel, Abner, think you we should follow?


ABNER.
     If, in effect, 'tis true that all the gold
     Of David's secret treasure you preserve,
     And from the hands of that rapacious queen
     You may thereby save all that's rich and rare,
     Why, yield it up. Would you that foul assassins
     Come break the altar, burn the cherubim,
     And laying on our ark a violent hand,
     With your own blood pollute the sanctuary?


JOAD.
     Would it become us, Abner, from kind hearts,
     To give to torture an unfortunate child,
     Whom God Himself confided to my care;
     And at his life's expense redeem our own?


ABNER.
     Alas! God sees my heart. O that our God
     Would make the queen forget an innocent child,
     And that the blood of Abner would content
     Her cruelty, and that my death would calm
     The heavens that torture her! But what avails
     Your useless tenderness? If you all perish,
     Is death the less to him? And does our God
     Bid you to dare impossibilities?
     Submitting to a heartless tyrant's law,
     Moses, left by his mother at the Nile,
     Was seen almost at birth condemned to fall:
     But God, preserving him beyond all hope,
     Made e'en the tyrant tend, his infancy.
     Who knows God's will towards our Eliacin?
     And, if preparing him like destiny,
     He has not, the fierce murderess of our kings,
     Already made susceptible of pity?
     At least, short time ago, I saw his aspect
     Move her (which Josabet observed as well),
     I saw the tempest of her fury fall.

     (To Josabet.),
     Princess! can you be silent in this peril?
     What, for a boy, who is a stranger to you,
     Will you allow that Joad shall fruitlessly
     Leave you, his son, and people to be slaughtered?
     And that the fire devour the very place
     Upon the earth where God would be adored?
     Why, were that tender boy a precious relic
     Of your ancestral kings, could you do more?


JOSABET (aside, to Joad).
     O wherefore do you not speak out, you see
     His tenderness for Israel's kings?


JOAD.
     Princess 'tis not yet time.


ABNER.
     The time's more precious, sire, than you suppose.
     Whilst hesitating here to answer me,
     Mathan, beside the queen, indignant flaming,
     Demands the signal, panting for the carnage.
     Must I entreat you at your sacred feet,
     By the place saintly, closed to all but you,
     Dread place, where dwells the majesty of God?
     However hard the task on you imposed,
     We must but think of warding off the blow.
     O give me only time to breathe—to-morrow,
     This very night, I will arrange the means
     To save the temple and avenge its wrongs.
     But ah! I see my tears and vain discourse
     Are arguments too frail to change your mind:
     Your austere virtue will not be subdued.
     Well! bring me then my armour, and a sword,
     That at the portals of the temple, where
     The foe awaits me, Abner, at the least,
     May die in combat


JOAD.
     I yield. You give advice which I embrace:
     Let us avert so many threatening ills.
     'Tis true there is a treasure left by David;
     To my fidelity the charge was given:
     It was the melancholy Jews' last hope,
     Which from the light my vigilance concealed:
     But since we must expose it to our queen,
     I'm going to please her. Open wide our gates!
     Let her, accompanied by her bravest chiefs,
     Advance, but from our sacred altars, let
     Her hold at distance the unreasoning fury
     Of herds of strangers, and protect me from
     The horror of the pillage of the temple.
     Would a few priests and children rouse suspicion?
     With her arrange the number of her suite.
     As to that child, so feared, so terrible—
     Abner, I know the justness of your heart—
     I will explain his birth before you both:
     You'll hear if we should place him in her power,
     And you shall judge 'twixt him and Athaliah.


ABNER.
     Ah! now, I take him under my protection.
     Fear nothing, I return to her who sent me.

JOAD, JOSABET, ZACHARIAH, SALOMITH, ISHMAEL, TWO
     LEVITES, THE CHOIR.

JOAD.
     Great God! Thy hour is come, they bring Thy prey!
     Ishmael, listen. (Speaks low to him.)


JOSABET.
          Mighty Master of the heavens!
     Re-bind on her the veil which wrapt her eyes,
     When rendering all her crimes abortive, Thou
     Conceal'dst that tender victim in my bosom!


JOAD.
     Go, prudent Ishmael, lose not any time,
     Follow my grave instructions, step by step;
     And, above all, let everything present
     To her, upon her entry and her way,
     The picture of a calm profound. You, children,
     Prepare a throne for Joas. Let him advance,
     Accompanied by our sacred combatants;
     And also cause his faithful nurse to come,
     Princess, and let your tears cease flowing.

     (To a Levite.)
     You, when the queen with mad presumption drunk,
     Has passed the threshold of the temple's doors,
     That she no more be able to return,
     Take care that instantly the warlike trumpet
     Shall spread a sudden consternation through
     The enemy's camp; then call upon the people
     To the support of Judah's king, and let
     The marvellous prodigy of Joas preserved
     Resound upon the ear. He comes.

     Joad is followed by a procession of priests and Levites',
     and the chorus. The high-priest arranges them round
     their king, and orders them to wait in concealment the
     expected signal. He seats Joas on the throne, and
     immediately after Athaliah arrives. At her approach
     Joad draws a curtain, by which Joas and the Levites
     are hid from view.

JOAS, JOAD, JOSABET, ZACHARIAH, SALOMITH, AZARIAH,
     TROUPES OF PRIESTS AND LEVITES, THE CHOIR.

JOAD.
     Ye saintly Levites, ministers of God,
     Surround this place, concealed on every side;
     And, leaving to my charge to guide your zeal,
     Wait till my voice commands you to appear.

     (They all conceal themselves.)
     King, I believe this hope's allowed your vows;
     You come to see your foes fall at your feet.
     That one, whose madness in your infancy
     Pursued you, now advances towards this place,
     With hasty step, intent to ruin you;
     But fear you not, think, that surrounding you,
     The exterminating angel, stands with us.
     Ascend your throne, and—but the doors are opening:
     Allow this screen to cover you a moment.

     (He draws the screen.)
     Princess, you are pale.


JOSABET.
          Without becoming so
     Can I behold the temple filled with murderers?
     What! See you not that numerous escort?


JOAD.
     I see them close the sacred temple's doors,
     That everything is safe.

     (Athaliah enters, and addresses Joad.)


ATHALIAH.
          Ah! there thou art, seducer! thou
     Noxious contriver of conspiracies,
     Who only on confusion feed'st thy hopes;
     Perpetual enemy of sovereign power!
     In the support of God thou hast reposed:
     Art thou yet disabused of thy vain trust?
     His temple and thy life he yields to me.
     I ought upon the altar, where thy hand
     Makes sacrifices, thee.—But with the price
     They offer me I must content myself.
     What thou hast promised, see to execute:
     That boy, that treasure must be given to me.
     Where are they?


JOAD.
     Immediately thou shalt be satisfied;
     I am about to show them both at once.

     (The screen is withdrawn. Joas is seen on his throne;
     his nurse on her knees at his right; Azariah, with
     his sword in his hand, is standing at his left; and
     near him are Zachariah and Salomith, kneeling on
     the steps of the throne; several Levites armed are
     ranged around.)

     Appear, dear boy, blood worthy Israel's kings!
     Of our most saintly monarchs, knowst thou, queen,
     The inheritor? Knowst thou at least these scars
     Thy dagger made? Behold thy king, thy son,
     The son of Ochoziah! Abner, you
     And people recognise king Joas!


ABNER.
     Heavens!

     ATHALIAH (to Joad).

     Perfidious wretch!


JOAD.
          See'st thou that faithful Jewess
     Of whom, thou knowest well, he drew the breast?
     Him rescued from thy rage by Josabet,
     This temple hailed, where God has cared for him,
     Of David's treasures, see what I have left.


ATHALIAH.
     Thy treachery, traitor, to that child will be
     Most fatal. Soldiers, deliver me from
     That odious spectre!


JOAD.
     Guards of the living God, defend your king!

     (The bottom of the temple opens, and the Levites rush
     upon the scene from all sides.)


ATHALIAH.
     Where am I? Treason! O, unhappy queen!
     With arms and enemies I am surrounded!


JOAD.
     Thine eyes flash round in vain, escape thou canst not,
     On every side the Lord's encompassed thee:
     That God thou hast defied, into my hands
     Has given thee up: now render an account
     To Him of slaughters which have made thee drunk.


ATHALIAH.
     What fear has petrified my worthless troops?
     Into what snare hast thou conducted me,
     Base Abner?


ABNER.
     Queen, God is my testimony—


ATHALIAH.
     Hence with thy God, thou traitor, and avenge me!


ABNER.
     On whom, on Joas, my master?


ATHALIAH.
     He Joas? Thy king? Remember, vile one, that
     My armies still are holding you besieged.
     I hear my camp demand me with loud cries,
     They come to aid me, quake, rebellious crew!