Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-10-29
II PARALLEL.

An;! Da I'd $ anger greatly kindled against
the mai; aid he said to Nathan, AS the Lord
i9e.a. tire man that hath done this thing shall
snIs,iy die. And Nathan said to David, Thou
ar. the mar. And David said unto Nathan l
have Sinn.I against the Lord. II. Samuel,
xII:5, 7, ID.
The story of David's sin, and his anger
at the supposed crime of another man, and
the prophets reproof reads not like tale
of past centuries, but an event of to-day.
Times and manners change, but human ma
ture is the same sum of weakness, sinful
ness and good impulses now as it has been
since the fall.
David, the annointed king of Israel, saw
Bath-sheba, the wife of one of his generals,
and he coveted her, and, to make her his
wife he procured the death of her husband,
Urial, the Itittite. The Lord sent unto the
king his prophet Nathan, and he, knowing
well David's iInperious temper, instead of
accusing him of his sin, told him the story
Of tie che eve lamb. At that David's an
ger was greatly kindled, and he said, Gas
the Lore iiveth, the man that hath done
this thing shall surely die" His own
hands We're red with the blood OF an in1io-
cent man. but at this tale Of wrong, al
though the theft was only of pet lamb,
he adirdged the offense worthy of death.
Mankind are the same now. The most We
hemen; IL denOuncing sin, the most zeal
Gus against wrong are the oftenest those
who are marked by the same vice or
one OF deeper stain. If man betrays the
trust reposed in him and is brought to JUS
t1ce. whose voices are the loudest in his
condemnation, whose hearts have no pity
for his ruin? Always those whose secret
consciousness tells them that they have
done the same thing. So we'll is this un-
ders.ood by the world, that when man is
unusually severe in his judgments men.
say, He is tarred with the same stick, and
is trying to cover the mark" Why thief
who has been able to eyade justice should
be so relentless towards the confessed
thief; CT the unknown betrayer of wom-
ans honor condemn a common harlot, is
one CT the mysteries of human nature.
One rec.aot probably is the desire to de-
ceive Others, to appear better in the eyes
OF the world than man really is. A per-
son who knows that at heart he is false and
corrupt, tries by vehement protestations
against sins of which he knows he is guilty
to convince others of his integrity and
purity. But as Dayid's zeal for the right
met with 10 response from the prophet
except, Thou art the man." so this
mans associates turn from his denuncia
tions of vice to utter the verdict ':He is the
man."
There are few cases where a person
guilty of sin ever convinced others of his
innocence by his condemnation of others.
In general mans associates know him
for just what he is, pure or vile, honorable
Or base, and all his assumptions of differ
en- character excite only ridicule. Civility
prevents men from saying "Thou art the
man, but that is their thought. Another
reason for this hypocrisy is desire in
most persons to attain in some way to
their ideal of a true manhood or woman
hood. 1t is sort of protest against their
OWE lives. When a woman is standing on
the brink of the gulf which separates
virtuous and fallen women, she realizes her
periIous position, and hopes by her lack of
sym patty with the lost, and her censures
OF sin, and protestations of virtue, to not
only prove to the world her innocence but
also to convince it that at least she he's a
true ideal OF q pure woman, if she be not
one herself. So a man who has grown
rich by knavery, may talk long and loudly
against dishonesty to prove to Others that.
if q rogue himself, he knows what it is to
be an honest man.
And David said to Nathan have sinned
against the Lord" Here the parallel be-
tween the King of Israel and mankind now
ceases. David made 10 excuses, he cid not
those days, or the right Of kings; lie did
not So II Dallietion of his sin that Urial,.
being brave warrior might have been
killed anyway, it was the fortune of war.
but he said. y have sinned.'
David lived i'll an age of war, of low civ
hzation; he was a man of blood, but in
his manly confession of his sin is given a
glimpse of nobility rarely met in these
days of higher development. Falseness
is the curse of our modern civilization.
Superior advantages, and greater wealth
seem bot to increase this evil. Truth and
honor are fallen in the streets. and are
rarely found except among the poor and
ignorant. 1t is almost impossible to find
man or woman willing to confess with
King David Il have sinned.'' In the
ancient days of chivalry, honor and truth
were considered the essential elements of
true lnighthood, and to be thought liar
was to be banished from the comradship
of honorable men. Now man can be
dishonest. perfect trickster, but, if he
makes money by it, he is all right; society
opens her doors to him. Parents lie and
teach their children to do the same. The
men in this community of unquestioned
probity can be counted on the fingers.
Expediency is the guide of conduct, and
the little tricks, the make believes of home
life are the seed which produces the giant
growth of dishonesty and treachery which
curses our social, business and political
life. For truthful man there is hope
however dark his sins, but for liar there
is little chance although he NAV have l,ert