Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-03-19
eemed to be dormant, or to have dis

seemed to be dormant, or to have dis
appeared.
This discouraged nation needed a
tonic of heroism and faith. Sarah K.
Bolton has some stirring lines that
carry the message for such times;
"I like the man who faces what he
must,
With step triumphant and heart OF
cheer,
Who fights the daily battle without
fear.
Sees his hopes fail, yet keeps unfalter-
ing trust
That God is God-that somehow, true
and just, .4.,u ot
His plans work out for mortals; not
Is shed when fortune, which the world
holds dear,
Falls from his grasp; better with love
a crust
Than living in dishonor; envies not.
Nor loses faith in man, but does his
best,
Nor even murmurs at his humber lot,
But, with a smile and words of hope
gives zest
TO every toiler. He alone is great
! Who, by a life heroic, conquers fate
When Courage Has Brains
There is a place in the annals of
his time for the man who possesses
both bravery and brains. Courage
is commoner than wisdom. Jonathan
seems to have had both to rare de-
gree a perception of occasions, and
the daring to utilize them, were his
to an extraordinary degree. He was
a hero with horse sense. Apparently
this high-hearted youth was favored
from birth with a noble spirit. He
had grown up doing the unselfish and
the fearless thing. His manhood
achievements were made possible by
his boyhood habits.
In life's small things be resolute and
great
To keep thy muscle trained; know st
thou when Fate
Thy measures takes, or when she IL
say to thee,
II find thee worthy; do this deed for
me-" Lowell.
Thus it came about that the stout
est heart in Israel on the dark day
of the Phillstine visitation beat in
the breast of Prince Jonathan. The
positions of the forces was the fac
tor of first importance. Between
Michmash, the Philistine fortress, on
the north and Geba on the south,
where Saul's depleted and negligible
host were encamped, ran great ra-
vine. The sides of Michmash were
precipitous, and presumably unscal-
able, like the cliff of Lookout Noun
tain, Tennessee, where somewhat
similar feat was performed during the
Civil War. So sure were the enemy
of their own strength and the foes
weakness that they left the garrison
in the possession of a handful of men
while they went out, in three columns,
on a marauding expedition.
Audacious and reckless, as we'll as
heroic Jonathan's strategem seemed,
for he proposed to his armorbearer
that they should scale the cliff and
try the fortunes of their swords
upon the unsuspecting garrison. No
body. not even Saul himself, was
told of the plan. They might pre-
vent 1t, and certainly they would scoff
at the young adventurers as fools.
Nothing is clearer in the history of
the world and of our own day than
that greatest results are secured by
individuals who have dared, despite
prudence and self-interest, to fling
themselves fearlessly into high and
holy and seemingly hopeless causes. The
cause of Christ to-day needs nothing
more than consecrated men and wom-
en- who will give themselves undi-
videdly to His service, in local COM
munities, in public life and in world
politics. The great battles of the
twentieth century are to be won by
those who dare to be devoted for the
sake of man and God.
Victory For the Valiant
Jonathan's ruse worked. Failing
unexpectedly upon the unprepared
remnant that garrisoned the rock, the
two Hebrews slew twenty of them-a
! bit of strategy not uncommon in war
fare. Others fled and met the return
ing columns. Panic and mad fear
took possession of all. Philistine
fought with Philisti1e, and 1t seemed
las if the very earth trembled.
!, The connection was seen from the
camp of Saul and, rather belatedly,
his host got into action. Then the
Jews among the Philistines saw that
their hour had come to strike blow
for their nation, and they did SO.
Refugees from the hill country
swarmed into the melee. And there
was a very great discontinue" as the
record runs.
The nation was served and saved
by a heroic prince who dared do q
desperate deed for God. Along with
the message of patriotism and re-
sourcefulness which we inherit from
brave Jonathan is the other greatest
one
"Boldness, yet more boldness. and
|