escription of the desired blessing, a king:

"He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots,
and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he
will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and
will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make
his instruments of war and instruments of chariots. And he will take
your daughters to be confectioners, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards,
even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take
the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give them to his
officers, and to his servants; and he will take your men-servants, and
your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and
put them to his works. And he will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye
shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day, beware of your
king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in
that day."

[Illustration: Saul and the Witch of Endor.]

God had selected the first monarch of earth outside of heathenism. In
the comparatively small tribe of Benjamin, was a man of honorable
ancestry named Kish. His son, Saul, was a splendid young man, and would
have attracted admiring attention anywhere, and in any land under the
sun, then or since his day. He was taller from his shoulders than all
the rest of Israel's men, and possessed of the highest style of manly
beauty. Repeated mention is made of his noble figure and bearing. The
providential circumstances which attended his promotion were remarkable.

He had wandered about for three days seeking the strayed asses of his
father. Fatigued with the unsuccessful search, he was inclined to
abandon it and return home, when, finding himself near Ramah, where
Samuel lived, he resolved to consult one who was renowned in all Israel
as a man from whom nothing was hid. Instructed in the divine designs
regarding Saul, the prophet received him with honor. He assured him that
the asses which he had sought were already found, and invited him to
stay with him until the next morning. Saul was in fact the man on whom
the divine appointment to be the first king of Israel had fallen. A hint
of this high destiny produced from the astonished stranger a modest
declaration of his insufficiency. But the prophet gave him the place of
honor before all the pers