The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-10-27
Philosopher
And King
BY F. A. Mitchell

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 imbucd with this
Idea. During his youth his only init
mate friend was philosopher named
Heraclitus who was sort of dog |
enes, pla cling small value on anything
mundane. Heraclitus told Paulus that |
even if he conquered the world it |
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. l 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 Paulns was twenty years old
a war broke out between his country
men and neighboring kingdom. In
4 ict; ich
self that he was made 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 peace.
He was then transferred from the
army to the kings cabinet, and soon
II 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 weak
ling, and the king, realizing that after
Il 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.
iii 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
Hi banished
Ill Paulus then began a career of con
II quest, by which he subdued many
II neighboring kingdoms. When they
H were all brought under subsection hi
II called his old friend Heraclitus to him
and said:
H Behold my power. l am now al
emperor instead of a king. l have
| accomplished all l set out to accom-
II plish. 1t now remains to be seer
II whether l shall retain what l have O
II lose it"
1.-THE stone that is thrown in the al
II must come down." replied the philoso
! pher. "In your youth you were strong
You have passed the building up o
= your powers, and from this point yo'
will begin process of decay"
81 have provided against that re
\ piled Paulus 81 am so strongly In
IN trenched that my enemies cannot pre-
vail against me-"
For several years all went well, an
Paulus again sent for the philosophe
and said to him:
"Am / not as powerful as everT
II mo" replied Heraclitus. You ar
in the position of the stone when
has finished its ascent and before
begins to fall
what will be the cause of my fall
"Nothing in nature stands still.
we are not advancing we are retr'
grading"
The king dismissed his old frien
with sorrow. for he felt that vigor ha
gone out of him. If called upon
defend his empire from enemies |
could not do what he had done
building it up.
IH Meanwhile Cheros, the son of Xal
thus. had been growing to manhood !
exile and in the knowledge that n
father was king and lie heir presum
tive TO the throne. His fathers deaf
was the signal for him to begin secre
ly TO d1SSatlSfy the peoples tndI ALL
IL Paul had brought under his sway Ii
prince had the advantage of legitim
cy. and he not only pleaded this, b'
promised the conquered that II the
would make him emperor he won
give them their freedom.
III Here was an opportunity that hf
not been given them before. The co
iii quered peoples formed league to d
iii throne Paulus and put Cheros on Il
Ill throne. When all was ready the be
was shot. Paulus. now an old man, p'
IL himself at the head of his armies, b.
he had lost the courage of youth an
iii finding his joints stiff. was not on
unable to lead, but to keep pace WI
IL his subordinate commander He W
Ill beaten in one battle after another al
iii at last obliged to fee in order to sa
his life. Being hunted, he sought safe
in an island where were no human :
III ings except himself. His only compa