Saw with disdain an Ethnic plot begun,
And scorned by Jebusites to be outdone.
Hot Levites[258] headed these; who, pulled before
From the ark, which in the judges' days they bore,[259]
Resumed their cant, and, with a zealous cry,
Pursued their old beloved theocracy;
Where sanhedrim and priest enslaved the nation,
And justified their spoils by inspiration.
For who so fit to reign as Aaron's race,
If once dominion they could found in grace?