The Palatka news and advertiser., 1916-12-22
Philosopher
And King
By F. A. Mitchell

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sixteen employed much of his leisure
time in working out military problems
as some persons in these days contend
with an imaginary enemy at chess.
He would set up imaginary enemies,
only to attack and overWhelm them.
Then he would set them up again and
conquer them by another method of
campaign.
This boys name was Paulus, and he
was destined to accomplish great feats.
Indeed from the time he was five
years old he seemed imbuod with this
idea. During his youth his only init
mate friend was a philosopher named
HeraCltus who was sort of Diog-
enes, placing small value on anything
mundane. Heraclitus told Paulus that
even if he conquered the world ii
would avail him nothing. "Whatever
goes up" he said, must come down,
and the higher it goes the greater the
ruin when it falls"
But Paulus being young this pessi
mistic statement had little effect upon
him. Il feel" he said, IAN impulse
to climb and climb. | will, and shall
| accumulate power as | rise. The high
er | climb the greater my power |
cannot escape death in the end but |
can establish myself so strongly that |
shall die at the summit of my career
When Paulus was twenty years old
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men and neighboring kingdom. In
this war Paulus so distinguished him
self that he was made a general. All
| the other generals on his side We're
whipped but Paulus by his genius
made up for all their defeats and with
his own army alone conquered a peace.
He was then transferred from the
army to the kings cabinet, and soon
by his recommendations gained so
much credit that he was made prime
minister. The king meanwhile was
growing old and relied more and more
on Paulus. Nanthus, the prince who
would inherit the crown, was a weak
ling, and the king, realizing that after
his own death Paulus would be the
only man able to protect the country
against its enemies, gave him the hand
of his daughter in marriage that he
might reign as king.
When the king died the people in
sisted on Paulus and his wife assum-
ing the reins of government, and
Paulus yielded. He became king, and,
since the presence of the legal heir to
the throne was not desirable he was
banished.
Paulus then began a career Of con-
quest, by which he subdued many
neighboring kingdoms. When they
were all brought under subsection he
called his old friend Hera clitus to him
and said:
Behold my power, l am now an
emperor instead of a king. l have
accomplished all I set out to accom-
plish. 1t now remains to be seen
whether l shall retain what | have or
lose it,"
The stone that is thrown in the air
must come down." replied the philosO-
pher. "In your youth you were strong.
You have passed the building up of
your powers, and from this point you
will begin process of decay"
II have provided against that" re-
piled Paulus. 81 am so strongly in
trenched that my enemies cannot pre-
vail against me-
For several years all went well, and
Paulus again sent for the philosopher
and said to him:
Am I not as powerful as ever"
NO" replied Heraclitus. You are
in the position Of the stone when it
has finished its ascent and before it
begins to fall"
What will be the cause OF my fall?'
Nothing in nature stands still. If
we are not advancing we are retro
grading"
The king dismissed his old friend
with sorrow, for he felt that vigor had
gone out Of him. II called upon to
defend his empire from enemies he
could not do what he had done in
building it up.
Meanwhile Cheros, the son Of Kan
thus, had been growing to manhood in
exile and in the knowledge that his
father was king and he heir presump-
tive to the throne. His fathers death
was this signal for him to begin secret
ly to dissatisfy the peoples that King
Paul had brought under his sway. The
prince had the advantage of legitima-
cy, and he not only pleaded this, but
promised the conquered that If they
would make him emperor he would
give them their freedom.
Here was an opportunity that had
not been given them before. The con-
quered peoples formed league to de-
throne Paulus and put Cheros on the
throne. When all was ready the bolt
was shot. Paulus, now an old man, put
himself at the head of his armies, but
he had lost the courage Of youth and.
finding his joints stiff, was not only
unable to lead, but to keep pace with
his >IbOrdinate commander He was
beaten in one battle after another and
at last obliged to flee in order to save
his life. Being hunted, he sought safety
in an island where were no human be
ingS except himself. His only compan-
ions were the beasts.