_One of the daughters of the Choir._

Mathan! O God of heaven do thou confound him.

{NABAL.}

How now? all flee, disperse without reply!

{MATHAN.}

Let us approach.

{ZACHARIAH, MATHAN, NABAL.}

{ZACHARIAH.}

Audacious! Whither would you go? Forbear
Beyond this place to make advance: it is
The holy minister's divine abode.
To all profane the law forbids the entrance.
Of whom are you in search? My mother shuns,
Upon this solemn day, the guilty sight
Of foul idolatry; and prostrate now
Before the Lord, would shrink from being disturbed.

{MATHAN.}

My son, her time is ours; be not alarmed;
I wish to speak to your illustrious mother.
I come here charged with orders from the queen.

_Scene III._

{MATHAN, NABAL.}
{NABAL.}

The children have already _their_ fierce pride.
But what doth Athaliah seek in this?
What is this tumult born of in her councils?
By overbearing Joad this morn offended,
And in her dreams braved by a murderous child,
She went to sacrifice the high-priest Joad
Unto her wrath, and in the end to place
Within that temple Baal and you. You had
To me already testified your joy;
I hoped, on my part, for so rich a prey.
What changes thus her vacillating vows?

{MATHAN.}

I have not known her, friend, for two days past.
No more the queen of an enlightened spirit,
Intrepid, raised beyond her timid sex,
Who crushed, at first, her wondering enemies,
And knew the value of occasion lost:
The pangs of vain remorse whelm this great soul:
She wavers, hesitates, is in a word,
A woman. I, her heart, already wrung
With threats from heaven, had filled with bitterness
And rancour; she, confiding to my care
Her vengeance, had commanded me to bring
At once her guards together: but, indeed,
Whether that brat before her brought, and said
To be an outcast from his parents, had
Diminished the alarm of frightful dreams,
Or she had seen in him some unknown charm,
I found her anger reeling, undecided:
She now puts off her vengeance till to-morrow.
Her projects all appear to slay each other.
"Some knowledge I have gained of this boy's fate,"
So did I say; "now of his ancestry
They have begun to boast: from time to time