Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-04-30
Saul hath slain his thousands
And David his ten thousands"

OF course, this was foolish and un-
discriminating; most ovations are.
Public applause is not the most judi
cial thing In the world. Saul should
have known better than to take it at
face value. II even the most mediocre
speaker should accept at face value
the praise accorded him, it would
turn his head. The reason so many
public lecturers and evangelists are
insufferable bores in private life is
that they have not sufficient sense
of humor to save them from taking
themselves seriously, and so believ-
Ing literally all the courteous express
sions they hear concerning their
work. If we may credit the circu-
lars of testimonials current among
lyceum bureaus, there the a thou
sand lecturers at present before the
public. each of whom is "unrivaIed"
and without a peer!" The tragic
feature of this is that every one of
the lecturers believes his own fulsome
circulars. Is 1T any wonder that jeal-
ousy is rife in the calling?
AS the prima donna looks upon her
proficient understudy, as King Herod
regarded the boy babies of Bethle-
hem, so Saul eyed David" He saw
In him possible usurper. He feared
for his crown. Every note of acclaim
in the women's praise of David he
understood as condemnation of him.
self He ate bitterness" as the eX-
pressive Chinese phrase has IT, In
stead of resisting the temptation to
jealousy, and instead of combating 1t
by sharing sincerely in praise of
David, he nursed the foul passion un-
til It had grown to overmastering
size. Thrice the kings fury so far
overcame him that in a fit of passion
he hurled his spear at David; for the
spirit of jealousy, unchecked, easily
L. Il, lot 80
The Goodness That Breeds Badness
In the old-fashioned Sunday School
books (whoever sees them nova
days?) simple-minded goodness, even
to the point of priggishness, always
won the favor of evil. Everybody
learned to love the pious little here
before he died. That was the way it
happened in the stories, but that is
not the way it happens in life. Often
indeed, usually-vigorous goodness
is hated by badness, even as the Bible
declares. Many a Christian suffers
simply for being a Christian. The very
fact that David was noble Won him
the enmity of the ignoble king. Da-
yid was not sanctimonious, Haunting
his goodness in the face of the Jealous
monarch; the record runs that he be-
haved himself discreetly He was not
forward, but modest. So far as pos
sible. he kept himself in the back
ground. But when there was any
| fighting to be done for the nation,
then he was foremost in meeting the
enemy.
Even when the king tempted him
| by Offering his daughter as a bride.
| David held back. He shrank from
| the presumption of being a son-in-
! law of the king. He knew the perils
| that high place brings. Already his
| success had made him enemies. as
success usually does; therefore he
sought the background and a post
| fitting his family station.
Nevertheless, when the marriage
became clearly the right course for
him to adopt, our hero did not
shrink. even though his royal father
demanded that he slay a hundred
Philistlnes as a wedding dowry. Da-
vid saw through this subterfuge to
send him into danger; the ruse is az
old as jealousy and as new as the
latest lie from the European battle