of David and rightful King. Josabeth is alarmed and despondent at the news of the search but her husband tells her to trust in God. Act 2 The Jewish people in the Temple offer magnificent songs of praise to God. Athalia enters and is alarmed to see in "Eliakim" the very image of the child who stabbed her in her dream. She interrogates the boy and when he tells her he is an orphan she offers to adopt him, but he rejects with revulsion the idea of such close association with an idolator such as she. Athalia is enraged and departs, vowing that she will have the child regardless. Once again Josabeth, close to despair, is counseled by Joad to trust God. The chorus comment that the guilty are sure to be punished. Act 3 Joad, inspired by God, prophesies the downfall of Athalia. He and Josabeth explain to the boy ""Eliakim" that he is really Joas, rightful King, and crown him, to the acclaim of the people. Athalia enters, demanding that the boy be given to her, and when she learns that he has been crowned, orders the treason to be punished, but her soldiers have all deserted her. Even Mathan, High Priest of Baal, declares that the God of Israel has triumphed. Athalia knows she is doomed, but goes to her death declaring that she will seek vengeance even from the grave. All praise the rightful King and the true God. Theme of the libretto The biblical story of Athalia, with its tale of deposing a usurping and tyrannous monarch, was used by supporters of the Jacobite cause as justification for restoring the Stuart monarchy. Oxford was then a centre of High church and Jacobite sentiment, which has caused the choice of subject for this oratorio by a supporter of the Hanoverian monarchy such as Handel to seem strange to some writers. However the libretto by Samuel Humphreys alters Racine's original by placing great emphasis on removing "idolatry" from the land, clearly referring to removing Catholic influence, and is thus supportive of the Protestant Hanoverian monarchy. The subject of the oratorio was most likely a conscious choice on Handel's part of a subject that would appeal to the Jacobite supporters in Oxford without being disloyal to his Hanoverian patrons. Musical features The work is scored for strings, 2 recorders (or flutes), 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2