To take a retrospect view of the foregoing narrative; in few words may be seen the sum total of the whole. A shepherd: youth is chosen by a disgusted, prophet, to be the instrument of his revenge on an untractable king. To this, end he is inspired with ambitious hopes, by a private inauguration; is introduced to court, in the capacity of a harper; and by knocking down a man with a stone whom, if he had missed once, he had four more chances of hitting, and from whom, at the last, he could have, easily ran away; he was advanced to the dignity of son-in-law to the king. So sudden and unlooked for a promotion within sight of the throne, stimulated expectations already awakened; and Saul soon perceived reasons to repent his alliance with him. Being obliged to retire from the court, he assembled a gang of ruffians, the acknowledged outcasts of their country, and became the ringleader of a lawless company of banditti. In this capacity he seduces his brother-in-law, Jonathan, from his allegieance and filieal duty; and covenants with him, that if he obtained the kingdom, Jonathan should be the next person in authority under him. He obtains a settlement in the dominions of a Philistine prince where instead of applying himself laudably to the arts of cultivation he subsists by plundering and butchering the neighbouring nations. He offered his assistance to the Philistine armies, in a war against his own country, and father-in-law; and is much disgusted at their distrust of his sincerity. He however, availed himself of the defeat and death of Saul, and made a push for the kingdom. Of this he gained only his own tribe of Judah: but strengthened by this usurpation, he contested the remainder with Saul's son, Ishbosbeth, whom he persecuted to the grave: Ishbosbeth being assassinated by two villains, with intention to pay their court to the usurper. He is now king of Israel: In which capacity he plundered and massacred all his neighbours round him at discretion. He defiled, the wife of one of his officers, while her husband was absent in the army: and finding she was with child by him, He, to prevent a discovery, added murder to adultery; which being accomplished, he took the widow directly into his well-stocked seraglio. He then repaired to the army, where he treated the subjected enemies: with the most wanton inhumanity. A rebellion is raised against him by his son Absalom, which he suppressed, and invited over the rebel-general, to whom he gave the supreme command of his army, to the prejudice of the victorious Joab. After this, he cut off the remainder of Saul's family, in defiance to the solemn oath by which he engaged to spare that unhappy race; reserving only one cripple from whom he had not apprehensions: and who, being the son of Jonathan, gave him the opportunity of making a merit of his gratitude.