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for if I knew certainly, that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee? Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?

And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out, both of them, into the field. And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to-morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and show it thee; the LORD do so, and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will show it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace; and the LORD be with thee as he has been with my father. And thou shalt not only, while yet I live, show me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not; but also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house forever; no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David, every one from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him for he loved him as he loved his own soul. Then Jonathan said to David, To-morrow is the new moon; and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty. And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel. And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. And behold, I will send a lad saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt, as the LORD liveth. But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away. And, as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me forever.

6. The plan thus devised was put in execution. We have the result in the following:

1 SAMUEL XX. 35-42.-And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field, at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. And he said unto his lad, Run, find out

now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. And Jonathan gave his artillery unto the lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city. And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times; and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, unțil David exceeded. And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn, both of us, in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed forever. And he arose and departed; and Jonathan went into the city.

7. Much as has been said of the devoted friendship of Damon and Pythias, in the days of the tyrant Dionysius, of ancient Syracuse, it may be doubted whether its tenderness and fidelity equalled that which bound in one life, as it were, the hearts of David and Jonathan. The heathen friends were of the same station in life; but the Jewish friends were of almost opposite conditions at its commencement. David an humble shepherd; Jonathan a prince, distinguished in arms, and the heir of Saul, the Hebrew king. The tyrant who menaced the heathen friends was a stranger to them in blood; but the jealous and bitter enemy of David was Jonathan's own father, whom, in all else, the noble son reverenced and obeyed. And yet, notwithstanding their wide difference in rank, Jonathan honored and comforted his persecuted shepherd-friend, and defended his character against the suspicions of his vindictive sovereign. And when the kingly wrath would no longer be restrained, he entered into the most solemn, intimate covenant with David, by which they vowed to sustain and aid each other even unto death. "Jonathan loved

David even as his own soul." And when Jonathan fell on the field of battle, David not only poured out to his memory one of the sweetest, tenderest elegiac bursts of poetry ever devoted by the living to the dead,* but he extended his attachment to a maimed son of his friend, giving him a home in his own house, and bestowing on him the large inheritance of Saul.

8. Such is the covenanted friendship we would establish in this degree; such the obligations we would mutually cherish: to consider each other as friends, as brethren in soul, whom we would aid and support in affliction and persecution; whom we would rescue from impending peril caused by mere imprudence, the evil

* It is worthy a place in this connection:

"The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places; how are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph! Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings; for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.

"From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.

"Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles: they were stronger than lions.

"Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights; who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel.

"How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thy high places! I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been unto me. Thy love was wonderful: passing the love of women! How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!"-2 SAMUEL 1. 19-27.

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