And she returned unto her house— What the state of David's mind was, when the tumult of passion had subsided, Bath-sheba was departed, and reason had returned, I shall not take upon me to paint. Calm reflection will best suit the horrors of so complicated a guilt, upon the recoil of conscience; when all those passions, whose blandishments but a few moments before deluded, seduced, and overset his reason, now resumed their full deformity, or rushed into their contrary extremes; desire into distraction; the sweets of pleasure into bitterness of soul; love into self-detestation; and hope almost into the horrors of despair. In one word, his condition was now so dreadful, that it was not easy for him to bring himself to the presumption of petitioning for mercy.

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