ll.
Bondage was worse than death. "They come! They come!"
He moaned. "Stand ye upon my breast," he said,
To one, a stranger, lingering near the spot,
"And force the gurgling stream back on my heart,
"To quench the life within me. Quick! They come!"
The stranger did the cruel bidding. (_j_) Hark!
"The King!" the foemen cry, and fiercely rusht
Upon the Royal captive, who, till then,
Had lain by them unseen. But while the shout
Swept like a storm along the swelling ranks
The soul of Saul went drifting through the dark,
Like some fair ship with sails and cordage rent,
Out from the stormy trials of his life,
To tempt the terrors of an unknown sea.
And then the cry of lamentation rose
In Israel, and the Hebrew maidens hung
Their speechless harps upon the willow branch,
And mourned the loved and lost unceasingly.

(_a_) Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and
they said, Nay, but we will have a King over us, that we also may be
like all the nations. And Samuel said to all the people, "See ye him
whom the Lord hath chosen." And all the people shouted and said, "God
save the King!"--I SAMUEL, viii. and ix. 19, 20, 24.

(_b_) And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons
judges over Israel. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned
aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.--I SAMUEL,
viii., 1, 2.

(_c_) And Saul said, "Bring hither a burnt offering," and he offered
the burnt offering. And Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet him.
And Samuel said, "What hast thou done? Thou hast not kept the
commandment of the Lord thy God which he commanded thee, and thy
kingdom shall not continue."--I SAMUEL, xiii., 10, 14.

(_d_) And Samuel said, "The Lord sent thee, and said go and utterly
destroy the sinners, the Amalekites. Wherefore didst thou not obey the
voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil?" And Saul said unto
Samuel, "The people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, to sacrifice
unto the Lord thy God at Gilgal." And Samuel said, "Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For
rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity
and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath
also rejected thee."--I SAMUEL, xv,, 18, 23.

(_e_) And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul,
that David took an harp, and pla