“At first, I could only see a flock of sheep flying in
terror from some object, invisible to me. But drawing
nearer the verge, I beheld, nearly ninety feet below me,
and not three bow-shots off, a sight that paralyzed me.
In the bosom of the deeply shaded dell, a mere youth
was combating for his life with a large and powerful
bear. At his feet lay a bleeding lamb, over which he
stood as if to protect it. In one paw the bear hugged
closely its bleating dam, while with the other it struck
like a man at the brave young shepherd, for such his
dress betrayed him to be, who, heedless of death, with
his shepherd's knife, inflicted rapidly wound after wound
in the breast of the monster, until the paw relaxed its
hold upon the now dead sheep, and the enormous brute
fell over upon the earth a corpse. Scarcely had this
gallant victory been achieved, and as he stopped to pick
up the wounded lamb at his feet, a loud roar shook the
cliffs and resounded along the dell like deep thunder.
It was followed by the appearance of a young lion, who
bounded forward and suddenly crouched within twenty
feet of the young shepherd. Seeing his peril, I sent the
shaft I had intended for the gazelle, full-aimed at the
lion's body. It fell short and pierced the sward forty
feet this side of him. Ishbosheth followed it by another
equally unsuccessful, at the same time uttering a loud
cry to warn the youth of his danger, and to frighten the
lion. To reach him in order to succor him, (which was
our first impulse,) was impossible, as the face of the cliff
from which we looked down into the dell, was an
unbroken perpendicular wall for several hundred yards
on each side of us. The youth, hearing our shouts,
looked up. His face was pale, but full of the light of a

[figure description] Page 178.[end figure description]

fearless heart. He smiled confidently as he awaited the
bound of the lion, grasping in his right hand his blooddyed
knife, and closer sheltering in his bosom the wounded
little lamb. For a moment the lion and the youth looked
into each other's eyes with the steadiness of the sun
shining in its strength. Neither blenched! The young
man slowly retired, step by step, with his eyes full
upon the great beast's eyes, which glittered with a
steely-blue light, when in two bounds the lion was at his
side—and only at his side! for as he leaped towards
him, intending to light with both paws upon his breast,
the cool and nerved youth lightly, at the very moment
of mortal peril, stepped aside. The lion sprung past
him, and as he did so the long herdsman's knife flashed
on high for an instant, and was buried to the hilt in his
heart. The animal plunged forward and fell headlong
across the dead body of the bear. The victorious combatant
then ran, and drawing his knife forth from the
heart of the lion, he raised his arm heavenward, with
the point of the weapon downward, and with the look
of a priest who has just slain the sacrifice, he offered up
thanks to God for his victory and his safety.

“Such courage, presence of mind, humanity, and piety
in one so young, for he was scarcely eighteen,” continued
the prince, “at once awakened in my bosom the deepest
interest in a youthful hero, who single-handed had thus
slain a lion and a bear, and rescued so humanely his little
lamb from its foes. My brother and I expressed our
admiration and joy at the issue with shouts of triumph!
and, hastening along the ridge of the precipice, after a
quarter of an hour we found a steep pathway leading to
the valley below. We soon found ourselves upon the

[figure description] Page 179.[end figure description]

level, and at length reached the spot where lay the dead
lion and the bear! But it was a solitude! We looked
around in vain to discover the youthful hero of the well-fought
field. We approached the two slain animals, and
saw that they were both of the largest size! The bear
had not less than eight deep wounds in his body, while
blood upon one of the claws showed that the victor had
not got off without harm. I resolved to ascertain whither
the young shepherd had gone, and a remark of my brother
that possibly he was lying down somewhere bleeding
from his wounds, made me more determined to hunt him
up, and know what had become of him.

“We left the little dell, and going round a high rock at
its entrance came to a gentle eminence on the top of
which a large flock of sheep stood trembling. We drew
near, when I heard the sound of a shepherd's lyre, and
a clear triumphant voice singing a song like a pœan of
victory. Advancing further we came to a group of
rocks around which the sheep were collected, where
stood the victor holding a rude triangular harp, having
strings of unequal length, upon which he was playing,
while he chanted these words, evidently composed as he
sang them:—

[figure description] Page 180.[end figure description]

“The flock, under the influence of his melodious voice,
seemed to dismiss their terror and peaceably to listen.

“When this hymn of confidence and victory was ended,
he looked and beheld me standing near, regarding
his seraphic countenance, pale yet beautiful, with deep
interest. He laid the lyre upon the rock, and advanced
towards us, his left hand wrapped in the fold of
his shepherd's mantle, against which he had held the
rustic harp.

“`You are strangers,' he at first said. `Have you
lost your way?' He then added: `I think I see here
the king's sons!'

“`You are right; we are the sons of Saul,' I answered,
supposing he had, as proved to be the truth,
seen us in the city of Mizpeh where we then dwelt, and
which most Hebrews visit once or twice in a year. `I
have not lost my way, young shepherd; but we witnessed
your brave combat with the bear and the lion! We
could not reach you in time to save you, the unequal
combat was so soon ended to your glory. I have hastened
hither to take you, brave Hebrew youth, by the
hand, and tell you how I admire your courage and that
you and Jonathan, son of Saul, must from this hour be
friends! I see by your face that I shall love you by-and-by
for your virtues, as now I honor you for your bravery.
No man-at-arms, no warrior among our chief
captains, no lord of ten thousand men could have won
a more brilliant victory. What is thy name? It will

[figure description] Page 181.[end figure description]

yet be spoken in the land, if thou livest, by the side of
those of the greatest and best.'

“`You praise me, O prince, beyond my deserts,' he
answered, blushing. `I have only done my duty: as a
faithful shepherd is bound to protect his lambs from
their foes! It was God who gave me the victory, and
not my own arm, and to Him be the praise! I am
called David, the son of Jesse, and I am a shepherd!'

“`And also a skillful player on the harp, and an heroic
poet,' I said, smiling, `if that hymn was yours.'

“`I was but giving God grateful praise for my victory
and my life,' he answered. `Besides I find my music
soothes my poor flock when terrified. It is the voice of
peace and security in their ears!

“`You appear to suffer,' I said, `and are wounded!
I saw that the claws of the bear were stained, with blood.'

“`Yes! The flesh of my arm is torn a little,' he said
lightly; `but it will soon be well. We mountain shepherds
do not heed slight scratches from wild beasts if we
come in contact with them in defence of our flocks.'

“The more I heard him discourse, O Prince Arbaces,
the more my heart went out to him. I forgot gazelles
and all else in his company. At eventide I accompanied
him as he drove his flock across the valley to their fold,
near the abode of his father Jesse. It was late when
my brother and I left him, and returned to the town of
Bethlehem, whence we had come out on our hunting expedition.

“Our fair sister, who, as well as my brother and myself,
was then on a visit to the warlike Abner, my father's
uncle, and general of his armies, was not at all pleased
that we had forgotten her gazelle for a lion-fighting

[figure description] Page 182.[end figure description]

young shepherd, and said she cared not how handsome
or brave he was, for she liked him not to cause her so
great a disappointment. The next day I made to her a
promise to hunt a gazelle the following morning, when,
as I was speaking to her, the youthful shepherd presented
himself at the gate of the court yard, carrying a
beautiful fawn upon his shoulder. I at once sprang joyfully
to meet him.

“He said modestly, `I heard your brother, O prince,
say yesterday, how disappointed his sister, the princess
Michal, would feel that he did not capture a gazelle to
bring to her. Here is one I have this morning taken,
and have brought it hither, hoping to be permitted to
present it to the king's daughter!'

“Upon this my sister looked perplexed, and her generous
blushes told how sorry she felt for having spoken such
severe words about the youthful shepherd, whose beautiful
contenance, and dark, expressive, yet bashful eyes
made her cast down her own. Instead of suffering me
to reward him, she seemed resolved to make amends;
for rising, she went to him, thanked him in the handsomest
manner for his kindness, graciously accepted the
gift he had brought, and presented him with a ring of
gold from her own hand. His youthful diffidence would
have led him to refuse the jewel; but I insisted he should
retain it. As my sister wished to take the gazelle home
with her to Mizpeh the following week, the young shepherd
gave her some directions as to its care and nourishment,
for which she expressed herself very grateful.

“I then took him over the stately house of my uncle,
and showed him the gardens and whatever was interesting;
and when he left to return to his flock, I

[figure description] Page 183.[end figure description]

accompanied him some distance beyond the city-gates, and took
leave of him by embracing him. We there pledged to
each other firm and abiding friendship; for our hearts
had grown together, his to mine and mine to his, every
hour of our pleasant intercourse. He was so refined and
so courteous; so ingenuous and modest; so intelligent and
amiable; and withal so brave and humane, that not to
have loved him, would have been not to love any of those
qualities which seemed, in him, to have their natural
home.”

Here, your majesty, the Hebrew prince, who in himself
seems to combine all the noble virtues he had just
enumerated, paused in his narrative; for at the very instant
the loud clangor of a brazen bugle rang from the
battlements of the city, was answered from the citadel,
and then responded to from the camp, while the cliffs
and hills gave back in reverberating echoes the warlike
notes.

“It is the signal for changing the guard on the walls,
and to announce that `all is well,' in city and camp,” he
said, after a moment's attention to the sounds.

At the first blast I feared that it was an alarum of
danger, and that the enemy were near. But as our out-posts
penetrate nearly to the camp of the Philistines, we
should have had early intelligence of a hostile movement.

“I will now resume my narrative,” said the Prince
Jonathan, turning towards me. “For several months
the youthful David and I met only to increase our mutual
regard. At length my father's spirits became so profoundly
depressed by the consciousness of the anger of
God, the departure of his Divine Spirit from him, and

[figure description] Page 184.[end figure description]

the threatened loss of his crown, that a gloomy, apprehensive
melancholy seized fixedly upon his soul. Resort
to the most skillful of the court physicians for remedies
for his diseased mind, was naturally unsuccessful. They
could not minister to a disease that was seated beyond
the reach of human art. He passed his days in stern
silence, and with a fixed look of despair impressed upon
his noble features. He refused to recognize his wife or
children; and at times became so violent in the paroxysms
which came upon him, that no man dared approach him.

“In hopes of aid I sought the Seer Samuel who was
then at Gibeah, not far distant. The prophet answered
me that God had spoken and his word must be accomplished,
that he had taken the Spirit of the Lord from
Saul my father, and given him over to an evil spirit because
he had not obeyed the Spirit of God. `God is not
a man that he should repent or lie; what he hath ordained
must surely come to pass.'

“Such was the reply I received from the sympathizing
prophet. I then returned to my father in great sorrow
of heart. As I drew near the house an aged, dark-browed
man whom I had never before seen, clad in a foreign attire,
met me and said,

“`Art thou the king's son?'

“I answered him, `Yes.' He then said, `Thou and
the Elders and the chief physicians seek to find a cure
for the malady that is upon my lord the king. I am a
stranger who has visited far-distant lands. Many years
ago I was at the court of Sheba, the kingdom whence
come the rich pearls of the merchants. The king
thereof, whose chief city is called Meroë, had a son, the
sole heir to his throne, who was afflicted with gloom and

[figure description] Page 185.[end figure description]

melancholy not unlike what hangs upon the soul of thy
royal father. He would refuse all food, and stand for
hours, yea, whole days and nights, in the far corner of
his chamber, and gnaw his finger nails and rivet his
glazed and burning eyes upon the floor without ever
moving the eyelids. He became emaciated to the bone,
and his visage was terrible with the impress of despair.'

“`By what was this caused?' I asked of the old man.

“`It was caused by his love for a maiden who was torn
in pieces by lions as she was traveling in her palanquin
to her father's palace near the sea-side!' he answered
me. `At length one of the physicians, an Egyptian
magician, finding all incantations failed, thus spoke to the
King of Sheba his father, and said,

““`If my lord, the mighty king of the south, will see his
son restored to health and the evil spirit depart from
him, let him order the sweetest minstrelsy to be performed
within his hearing. Let the king command the
most skillful musicians in his kingdom to play melodious
airs and the most pleasing within their art, and the prince
will be restored to himself. For, my lord the king, the
fiercest hearts have been tamed by music; and there was
a princess of Persia, who, being lost in a forest, was met
by a wild beast which began to crouch in order to spring
upon her, when she commenced chanting her death-song,
according to the faith of her fathers; for she was a
Sabean! Her voice was so sweet and thrilling, that the
monster remained transfixed, listening to the wonderful
music! his fiery eyes lost their burning glare and became
as soft and gentle as a fawn's; and his whole attitude
showed that he was fascinated by the melody of her
song. This perceiving, she drew near to the lion, still

[figure description] Page 186.[end figure description]

softly singing, laid her hand upon his shaggy mane and
led him by her side until she came to the gate of her
father's palace; when the sentinels seeing the strange
sight shot at him with their cross bows and slew him;
but he died licking with his tongue her delicate white
hand!”

“`When the King of Sheba heard this,' continued
the aged stranger, `and was further informed that the
loss of reason in man often allied him in ferocity to the
wild beast of the desert, he commanded the most cunning
players to play before the prince. The result was
he was wholly cured, and to this day sits upon the
throne of Sheba a wise and powerful prince. Now, my
lord,' continued the venerable stranger to Jonathan,
`let some one who plays cunningly on the harp and
sings with wonderful melody, be sent for to play before
the king your father. Without doubt he will be restored
thereby to health; for music hath a charm to soothe the
ferocity of a mind where despair hath taken the reins.'

“Such,” said Jonathan to me, “was the counsel of
the venerable stranger in the foreign attire, who, having
finished speaking, courteously left me, and I saw him no
more. I at once sought the chief physician and grand-chamberlain,
and high-steward, with all the lords and
men of estate at court, and made known to them what
I had heard. They were all in favor of trying the tranquilizing
effects of music, and, at my request, two of them
went into the presence of my father, (for he could not
bear to see me, and was always most violent when I came
near,) to propose it to him.”

“Perhaps,” I ventured to say to Jonathan, “the consciousness
that he had wronged you by causing the

[figure description] Page 187.[end figure description]

turning away of the inheritance from you embittered
his mind.”

“Without doubt it was this, my dear Arbaces,” he
sadly replied; “but I do not feel that my father has
wronged me! I have no desire to reign, if it be God's
will to deprive me of the succession to the crown. David,
as a shepherd, is happy; and a life of lowly duties
is the safest if not the happiest. The crown of a king
is lined with a bonnet of nettles, and his sceptre of gold
is often like lead in his grasp! When the physicians and
wise men came into the presence of the king, he was
seated upon the ground with a fixed gaze upon vacancy
and his visage all marred by suffering. As they entered,
he sprang to his feet, and cried furiously:

“`Who dare intrude? I am king still, and by the
Ark of God! I will let no man scorn me! They say I
am mad! No, no!' and his tone here fell to a touching pathos.
`I am only heart-broken—heart-broken—that—
that is all! I have sinned, I have repented, I lie in the
dust, I cry for mercy, but the great brassy skies are
turned into one vast throne of justice! The prophet
hath said my repentance is not sincere, and therefore
God will not accept it! That it is only remorse! Is
this remorse? Look ye! See my haggard eyes and
hollow cheeks! Behold my thin hands and my wasted
form! Can remorse do this? No, no! I have repented
in the dust, I grovel in the earth, I lay my face where
the worm crawls, I prostrate myself under the very
ground in my humble contrition! But all is vain! The
haughty prophet says it is not repentance, only remorse,
and God hears not remorse! I only ask for my kingdom
for my son, though I perish! What come ye for?'

[figure description] Page 188.[end figure description]

he abruptly demanded, as if noticing them now for the
first time!

“`My lord,' said the chief physician, for unseen I heard
all,” continued Jonathan, “`without doubt an evil spirit
is permitted by the Lord to be upon thee, and troubleth
thee, in this manner! Let my lord the king now command
thy servants to seek out a man who is a cunning
player on an harp, and, peradventure, when the evil spirit
is upon thee he shall play upon the harp, and the
cheerful and animating sounds thereof will soothe thy
troubled spirit!'

“My father no sooner heard them than he cried with
eagerness: `Haste! provide a man that can play well
and bring him before me! Thy medicines, O physician,
touch not the sore! We will see what virtue lieth in
this prescription of music!'

“Then, previously instructed by me, the grand-chamberlain
said: `There is a young man, son of Jesse of
Bethlehem, who is a cunning player on the harp, a youth
of valor and warlike deeds, modest in demeanor, prudent
in conduct, and wonderfully comely in person, and
the Lord is with him!'

“`Who knoweth where this Jesse, the lad's father,
dwelleth?' cried the king.

“`We can presently find him, O king,' answered the
chief physician.

The light of hope at once brightened my father's
countenance. He bade the messengers depart with haste,
and under his own signature sent a message to Jesse the
Bethlehemite, reading thus:—

[figure description] Page 189.[end figure description]

“Saul, the King,
To Jesse, the Ephrathite, tribe of Judah: Greeting.

“I hear thou hast a son, called David, a shepherd,
who is skilled on the harp. If rumor hath told the
truth of him, send him hither to me, I have need of
him. It shall fare well with him, and he shall be sent
back to thee in safety.”

“The message was at once placed in my hands by the
chief physician,” continued the prince, “and I gladly
hastened to the valley where David kept his flock. As
I drew near I beheld the stately-looking Jesse, and his
seven tall sons at work in the field preparing a threshing-floor
for the coming harvest. As I came to them I asked
if David were not in the valley with the sheep? Jesse
smiled and said:—

“`Noble prince, I fear thy frequent notice of the lad
will make him vain! I marvel that such a friendship
should spring up between the son of a king and the son
of a shepherd?'

“`Were not Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers,
shepherds?' I answered pleasantly. `But I have a
message for thee from King Saul!' I then placed the
missive in his hand. He read it with a respectful air,
and then replied,

“`The king does us too much honor!'

“`What is it?' asked the black-bearded Eliab, the
eldest son, in a haughty way peculiar to him.

“`The king has sent for David,' answered Jesse, with
a look of paternal-pride.

“`The boy will next fancy his cross-headed crook a

[figure description] Page 190.[end figure description]

sceptre, and weave him a crown out of the hedge thorn,'
responded Eliab bitterly; `and he will ere long strut about
us as Joseph of old, and bid us make obeisance to him,
and say, “Hail, David, King of Israel!”'

“`Silence, my son! If thy brother is honored by the
king and Prince Jonathan, is it not also thine own honor?
There is surely something yet to show itself in the
youth! Hast thou forgotten the visit of the Seer two
years ago, and his anointing him?'

“`And what has come of it?' cried Abinadab, the next
to the eldest, with a sneer in his narrow and envious
eyes. `Hasn't he still kept to his sheep?'

“`We expected to see somewhat come of so much cackling
as was made when the Seer mocked us seven brethren
to empty his horn of oil on this pretty boy's head;'
growled the third brother in a hoarse voice; `but the
prophet hath not been here since; and the boy's pride is
left, like his sheep's wool, to dangle upon the hedges.'

“`Hist, men!' said Jesse. `The lad had no pride.
He sought not the honor, whatsoever may come of it.
Go and find my son David,' he continued, addressing
me, `and take him with thee to the king.'

“I departed from them, and at length beheld David afar
off with his flock, leading them to a well to water them.
When he saw me he stood still, and awaited my coming.”

“When Samuel anointed the son of Jesse,” I now inquired
of the prince, your majesty, “did he inform him
for what purpose it was done? Did Jesse and his brothers
certainly know?”

“I will anticipate my narrative, and tell thee, O Arbaces,
about that,” answered the prince. “When the Lord
had caused the King Agag, the haughty and vain

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Amalekite, whom my father had spared, to be slain, and the
booty he had possessed destroyed, he called Samuel to
Him, and said, `I have rejected Saul from being king.
Fill thine horn of anointing with holy oil, and go to
Bethlehem, and to Jesse the Ephrathite there, for I have
chosen me a king among his sons.' But the prophet
hesitated, saying, `If Saul heareth this, he will slay me.'
But the Lord said, `Go to Bethlehem, and there sacrifice
unto me a heifer. Call Jesse and his sons to partake of
the sacrifice, and thou shalt anoint the young man I shall
name unto thee.' So the prophet came into Bethlehem,
and his presence there filled the city with alarm; for the
Seer Samuel was regarded as the dispenser of the judgments
of God; and the people of Bethlehem trembled for
fear he was to visit them with some retribution. `Comest
thou peaceably?' they inquired of him. He answered,
`Peaceably. Let the elders of the city sanctify themselves,
and come and sacrifice with me before the Lord.
Let Jesse and his sons be also called!' When the prophet
looked upon Eliab, who was of lofty stature, and
bold countenance, `Surely,' said Samuel, `this is the
Lord's anointed, who is to reign instead of Saul.' But
the Lord said, `Look not on the countenance nor the
form; for I have refused him! I, the Lord, look upon
the heart!' Then Samuel said to Jesse privately, `I
have a great honor from the Lord, for one of thy sons.
What is the name of the second young man?' Then
Jesse answered, `His name is Abinadab;' and he bade
him rise and walk before the prophet. But the Seer,
instructed inwardly by the voice of God, said to Jesse,
`Neither hath the Lord chosen him!' Then, one after
another, Jesse made the seven of his sons present to pass

[figure description] Page 192.[end figure description]

before Samuel, when the prophet said to their father,
`The Lord hath not chosen either of these! Are here
all thy children?'

“And Jesse answered with an air of disappointment,
`There remaineth David the youngest, a mere lad, who
is with the sheep!'

“`Then,' said the prophet, re-assured, `send and fetch
him; for we will not sit down to the feast until he come.'

“Then Jesse sent his servant with haste into the field
after his youngest son, who found him with the flock,
and peacefully amusing himself by playing upon his rustic
harp, which, with his clear, sweet voice, they heard borne
to their ears on the breeze even before they discovered him.

“`Haste; thy father sendeth for thee!' said the messenger.
`I will remain with the sheep till thou returnest.
Make all diligence, for the mighty prophet of
God of Ramah is there, and he has killed the sacrifice,
and they only wait for thee to sit down! All thy brothers
are there!'

“Then the youth hastened to obey his father, wondering
why he should be sent for. When he entered their presence,
the eyes of Samuel rested upon his ruddy and
beautiful countenance, softly shaded by exposure to the
sun and winds of the desert, and the Lord said, `Arise
and anoint him, for this is he!'

“Then the man of God arose, and commanding the
embarrassed and blushing boy to kneel before him, he
poured upon his head the holy oil of consecration from
the same horn of anointing with which he had anointed
Saul, my father, King, many years before. No sooner
had this sacred rite been performed, than the Spirit of
inspiration from God departed from Saul as he sat in

[figure description] Page 193.[end figure description]

his own house, and at the same instant descended upon
David. Under its influence, the consecrated youth seized
his harp and struck it to a sublime symphony which
seemed to be caught from the harps of angels. All
were amazed at the rapturous adoration of his countenance,
the holy light in his eyes, the celestial brightness
of his form! This lasted only for a moment; and he
then retired modestly as if seeking to withdraw himself
from notice. Samuel went forth after him and said to
him privately:

“`David, son of Jesse, thou art now the chosen and
anointed of the Lord to rule his people Israel. Keep
in thy heart the secret until the day thou shalt be called
to do God's work. Be true and faithful to thyself and
to thy God, and all will be well with thee; but depart from
the precepts of the Lord, and his Holy Spirit, given thee
this day, will be taken away from thee. God chose thee
for the beauty of thy piety, not of thy form, for he sees
the heart; for thy righteousness, truth, fortitude, and
obedience to thy parents, and for the purity of thy soul.
Keep thyself pure, and thy reign, when thou shalt be
called to the throne, will be famed throughout the earth
for its splendor, power, and glory. Thy arms shall be
victorious against all thy country's enemies, thy life shall
be long and thy fame great, and thou shalt leave a name
to posterity higher than that of any of the kings and
potentates of the world. But if thou in thy prosperity
forgettest God, He will bring upon thee evils instead of
blessings, and thy gray hairs shall go down with sorrow
and humiliation to the grave.'

“When the prophet had thus solemnly addressed him,
he left him and returned to Ramah, and David, in a state

[figure description] Page 194.[end figure description]

between joy and fear, hardly realizing what had passed,
returned to his flock in the desert and gave himself up
to meditation and prayer, humbly and devoutly looking
to God for guidance and strength to do all that should
be required of him.”

“Then,” remarked I to Prince Jonathan, “the real
purpose of the anointing was not known to Jesse or
his sons.”

“No,” answered the prince. “They believed it was
to select him as a prophet; and as the Seer has since
taken him to Ramah and placed him in the School of the
Prophets, this opinion is recently fully confirmed in their
minds. Jesse, the father, has regarded his son from that
time with reverent curiosity and expectation; but the
brothers, whom Samuel one by one passed by, to send
for David from the sheep-fold, have envied him and entreated
him unfilially; so that it is alone my friendship
which sustains his noble heart in its solitude.”

“And you, my generous prince, you,” I said, admiring
the unselfish character he had exhibited, “knowing all
this, have taken him to your bosom as your dearest friend.
How wonderful is this! How opposed to what are the
impulses of our nature! Was it before this anointing and
supplanting you in the throne that you first saw him in his
encounter with the lion and the bear?”

“Yes; it was after that encounter, Arbaces, he was
visited and consecrated by Samuel. Our friendship had
long before this anointing been sealed by mutual attachment!”
he answered.

“And when you heard that your friend had become
your rival in the succession, did it not shake your friendship?”
I asked.

[figure description] Page 195.[end figure description]

“No; but rather confirmed it, my Arbaces,” was the
frank and beautiful reply. “I felt then that God loved
him whom I loved, and that he ought to be still dearer
to me than before. I had already heard from the prophet,
and also from words which fell from my father's
lips that another was to be chosen to wield his sceptre,
and that my claim as hereditary prince royal would be
set aside by God. As I have before told you, this news
pained me at first, but all ended in humble submission
to the will of Jehovah in my heart. When at length I
learned that the prophet of God had been to Bethlehem
and consecrated my beloved David, my bosom friend, to be
Prince of Israel in my stead, I can truly say I rejoiced
at the tidings, O Arbaces, for I had long ceased to
expect to receive the throne. I rejoiced, therefore,
and blessed God that his choice had fallen on one so
worthy.”

“You have a noble and godlike nature, my dear
prince,” I cried, with enthusiasm, grasping his hand,
and warmly pressing it to my heart. “In such a trial
a man will either act above or below his instincts; show
the God within him or the evil spirit of the earth! You
have acted above humanity! How did you meet after
this news? How did the young shepherd, conscious of
what his new position was, deport himself in your presence?”

“I first heard of the consecration,” answered Jonathan,
“from one who was at the sacrificial feast in Bethlehem.
He was a Levite of rank and my friend. He well knew
that the consecration was not priestly but royal, and that
the youth on whose head the sacred ointment was poured
was ordained to become a king, not a priest! Upon

[figure description] Page 196.[end figure description]

hearing this intelligence, I requested him to keep it a
secret in his own breast that it might not reach my
father's ears, (for though he knew that God would choose
another, he knew not whom it would be,) and then I hastened
to find this shepherd prince to congratulate him
on this honor from God. I found him amid his flock.
Upon beholding me approach, he turned aside his face,
and pressed his hands together upon his breast in an
attitude of sorrow and distress. I understood what was
in his heart by this troubled gesture, and hastened to
relieve him from his painful situation by flying to his
side, putting my arm about his neck and embracing him
with the tenderest affection!”

“How good, how noble, how great you were, O Jonathan,
most virtuous of princes!” I exclaimed, unable to
repress my admiration of the sublimity of his exalted
character.

In all the histories given by our poets of our august
and divine heroes not one, your majesty, comes near in
conception to the character of this Hebrew prince. I
had already seen, but a few days past at Ramah, full
proof of his love and affection for his “rival,” if this
word I can make use of, where rivalry there is none!

The prince, taking no notice of my admiring language,
continued his narration:—

“My dear David, instead of returning my caresses,
burst into a profusion of tears, and walked from me profoundly
agitated, saying, `If thou knewest all, my lord,
thou wouldst despise thy David instead of embracing
him thus!'

“`All!' I replied; `what hast thou done?'

“`Ruined thee, my dearest friend! Robbed thee of

[figure description] Page 197.[end figure description]

thy birthright! I have been to thee, O Jonathan, more
cruel than was Jacob to Esau! But,' he cried, suddenly
turning towards me and clasping his hands imploringly,
`forgive me! I will tell thee all! I knew
it not! I would have refused the consecration if I had
known to what I was dedicated! But I will conceal
nothing from thee, even though it cost me thy friendship,
as it ought and will do! Nay, it ought to make thee
spurn me! Listen!'

“`Cease to afflict thyself, dear David,' I replied, moved
by his emotion even to tears. `I know all! Thou hast
been highly honored of God! The prophet of the
Highest has anointed thee with oil above thy brethren,
and thou art set apart to reign over Israel at my father's
death! I have heard all, you see! Let it not distress
thee! Whom God hath chosen was before, and shall be
still, the chosen of my heart!'

“`Who told thee?' he asked, regarding me with doubt
and looks of wonder.

“`Eli, the Levite who was present,' I replied, with
an encouraging smile in my eyes. `The celestial fragrance
of the holy oil is even yet about thy princely head,
my David!'

“`And thou despisest me not?' he exclaimed.

“`No, but love thee doubly since now thou art so beloved
of God!'

“`Dost thou forgive me?' he asked, still hesitatingly.

“`I have nothing to forgive, my David! Thou hast
no blame!'

“`Yet I would have refused —'

“`Say not so!' I cried, alarmed, `or thou wilt displease
the Almighty who has chosen thee to reign over

[figure description] Page 198.[end figure description]

his people! If not thyself, some other one would have
been anointed to this end; for the decree is written in
the records of Heaven, that the kingdom shall depart
from my father and his house! It is the will of the unchangeable
God! Let us both meet His will by holy
submission! Let us bear our sorrows patiently! for I
know thy grief is sincere and deeper than mine, in that
thou shouldst thus seem to show thyself an enemy to
thy friend!'

“`Then thou forgivest me!' he asked with a look of
happiness.

“`With all my heart!' I answered, opening my arms.
`I will reign in thy heart, and thou on my throne, and
we shall both be king!”

“He bounded into them, and I folded him to my
bosom, kissed his beautiful brow, and sealed at that moment
our friendship beyond any event of time to mar or
break!”

“Worthy of each other, noble brothers in love and
friendship!” I exclaimed, deeply touched, your majesty,
by this exhibition of attachment so divested of all self,
so superior to human nature! The prince after a brief
silence now said,

“I think I have brought up sufficiently prominent
and clear the past, in reference to these subjects, my
dear Arbaces, and you will now be able to follow me in my
resumed narrative of later events with less embarrassment,
and with far greater intelligence of the facts I shall communicate.
I was about describing to thee, before this deviation,
to make the past plain to thee, O Arbaces, not yet
wholly familiar with our national history, my visit to David
when, two years after this consecration, I bore to him my

[figure description] Page 199.[end figure description]

poor father's message to come to him with his harp. If
not too late in the night, I will finish my narrative. As
I said, I found him leading his flock to the well, at which,
Abraham, Canaan the son of Ham, and even Noah, the
father of our race, had drank. He awaited my coming.
We embraced, and I made known to him my unhappy
father's commands.

“`I will obey them if my father bids me go,' he replied;
`for thou knowest it becomes me to do all I can
to render the king happy. But, my brother and friend,'
he said modestly, `I am but a mountaineer, and an indifferent
player! The sheep love to hear my voice, and
listen to my music, but I am not skilled to play my harp
before kings!'

“`Hast thou not resting upon thee the Spirit of the
Lord?' I replied. `Is not music the gift of God to
man? Come with me and bring thy harp!'

“I prevailed over his diffidence, and brought him to
his father Jesse, who not only commanded him to obey
the king, but sent by his hand bountiful presents to Saul,
of bread, wine, and venison. When I returned to my
father with David, I entered his chamber, and found him
seated at his table in his right mind, and about to refresh
himself with food. I did not hesitate, therefore, to appear
before him. Upon seeing me he spoke very gently,
and called me `his son,' and desired me to sit at the
board with him, saying, `Would I had a bit of good
venison and new wine to set before thee, my son!'

“At this moment, so singularly favorable, I called to
David, and presented him to the king, saying, `This is
the son of Jesse, for whom my father sent! He has

[figure description] Page 200.[end figure description]

obeyed the king's commands; and brings with him a gift
from his father, the Ephrathite.'

“Hereupon David, who was not free from embarrassment,
bowed himself before the king with graceful dignity,
and presented the presents, saying, `My father
prays for the king's health, and humbly asks him to
accept these little gifts by the hand of his son!'

“The king regarded the face of the young shepherd
steadily for an instant, seemed to be struck with its
beauty and noble expression, and said with a look of
benignity and pleasure,

“`Welcome, young man! I accept thy gifts, and command
thee to thank thy father for me! What is thy
name?'

“`David, my lord,' he answered.

“`I am marvelously pleased with thy appearance.
How wouldst thou like to become my armor-bearer?
Hast thou borne arms?'

“`Once against a party of the Philistines with my
father, and brothers, and neighbors, three years ago!'
he quietly replied. `But my vocation is that of a shepherd,
O king!'

“`Thou art famously skilled with the harp, I hear?'
said the king.

“`I but amuse my hours in the desert with a poor instrument,
your majesty,' he answered.

“My father then commanded a harp to be brought,
and David standing by it, played upon it before him with
such masterly power, and accompanied it with his voice
so tenderly, that when he had ended, the king expressed
his pleasure in the warmest words; and taking a bracelet

[figure description] Page 201.[end figure description]

from his arm, he placed it upon that of the harpist,
saying in a most kindly tone,

“`Thou shalt stay with me! Thou shalt be my armor-bearer,
and chief singer, and stand in my presence, and
ever go in and out before my face.

“Thus was the destined heir to my father's throne
brought to his presence, and taken into his service.
The following day the dark spirit of evil settled upon the
king's soul. David seized his harp and commenced playing
a battle-piece, which drew quickly the warlike monarch's
attention. He then changed it to a plaintive air,
and followed this by one full of animation and sprightliness.
The king heard and was refreshed in his heart, and
the dark spirit of evil left him, and he presently wholly
returned to himself and his former cheerfulness. From
that time David was necessary to his health and happiness;
and his playing on the harp never failed to dissipate the
clouds of melancholy which enveloped his soul. At
length the king, my father, seemed wholly restored to
his right mind, and David besought him for permission
to return to his father's house, and to the care of his
flocks; for, as he said to me, he felt ill at ease in the
presence of the man whom God had mysteriously ordained
that he should succeed in the kingdom!

“For a long time he dwelt at Bethlehem, returning to
his former simple habits of life, and forgetting the cares
and splendor of the court. He had however strengthened
my love for him, and also carried away the heart of my
beautiful sister Michal, to whom he had some time before
presented the gazelle. I was not aware,” continued
Jonathan, “that he had been summoned by the Seer to
the Prophet's School at Ramah until I unexpectedly met

[figure description] Page 202.[end figure description]

him there a few days since, in your presence. But the
prophet wisely seeks to prepare him for the high position
for which God has destined him.”

Here the Prince Jonathan ceased his long and, to me,
interesting narrative. The midnight moon had already
gone down beyond the hills west of Hebron, and Arcturus
shone in the north like a great diamond of trembling
light; the sweet influences of the Pleiades were shed upon
the earth from the upper skies; and near them marched
the mystic Aldebaran in his triangular field of stars; while
the sacred serpent wound its colossal length across the
arch of heaven. It was a still and thoughtful hour. We
were seated in the door of my tent, and for some minutes
gazed musingly upon the stellated splendor of the illimitable
dome above us. I could not but thank Prince
Jonathan in the sincerest manner for the pleasure he had
conferred upon me by his conversation; and I assured
him I should henceforth take the deepest interest in the
life and fortunes of the youthful David.

“I regret,” he said, “that the cure of the king's
malady, though for a long time relieved by David's art,
was not permanent. It has within a few days come upon
him again, since this new war has been declared by the
Philistines against him. You had, however, an exhibition,
when you were presented to him, of the painful form
his melancholy takes when the evil spirit is upon him.
You saw me make a sign to the choristers, hoping their
music would soothe him; but they being unskillful, the
king, whose storm-tossed soul had been charmed into
perfect peace by the superb performances of David,
evinced his contempt for them as you beheld. If he
continues in this gloom of soul, I shall send a messenger

[figure description] Page 203.[end figure description]

for my friend to hasten hither from Ramah and once
more try the power of his skill.”

The prince now rose to return into the city; and, as I
could not prevail upon him to remain until morning, he
was about to take his departure accompanied by his
armor-bearer, when three tall men in plain iron armor
passed in sight full in the glare that shone out of my
tent, and were about to be challenged by my sentry,
when the prince stopped, and said:

“What, sons of Jesse! Do I find you here all armed
for the wars?”

“Yes, my lord,” they answered. “We are Eliab,
Abinadab, and Shammah, and are come up from our
father's house in Bethlehem thus far on our way to
Hebron, to offer our services to the king against the
Philistines.”

“Come then with me,” said the prince, “I go into the
city. My father, the king, will gladly accept the services
of three such stout men-at-arms as ye are.”

“Yes, we are not armed with harps and dulcimers and
such woman's trumpery, but carry stout swords and battleaxes,
and know how to cleave helm and cuirass when
need serves.”

This was said by one of them with a tone and allusion,
your majesty, which I plainly interpreted as a sneer aimed
against their honored younger brother; for these were
the three elder brothers of David, still, it seemed, burning
with jealousy, and envy against him. Yet how
little did they suspect that the anointing they had witnessed
was to give him authority as King in Saul's seat!
How little Saul himself had suspected that the hand
which struck the harp so boldly and sweetly in his halls,

[figure description] Page 204.[end figure description]

was the one which was destined one day to wield his
sceptre!

The three men, following the prince across the plain,
were with him soon lost to view in the veil of night.

p614-218

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