d at the meeting knew each other to be nearer
than kindred. By subtle elective affinity they felt that they belonged
to each other. Out of all the chaos of the time and the disorder of
their lives, there arose for these two souls a new and beautiful world,
where there reigned peace, and love, and sweet content. It was the
miracle of the death of self. Jonathan forgot his pride, and David his
ambition. It was as the smile of God which changed the world to them.
One of them it saved from the temptations of a squalid court, and the
other from the sourness of an exile's life. Jonathan's princely soul
had no room for envy or jealousy. David's frank nature rose to meet
the magnanimity of his friend.

In the kingdom of love there was no disparity between the king's son
and the shepherd boy. Such a gift as each gave and received is not to
be bought or sold. It was the fruit of the innate nobility of both: it
softened and tempered a very trying time for both. Jonathan withstood
his father's anger to shield his friend: David was patient with Saul
for his son's sake. They agreed to be true to each other in their
difficult position. Close and tender must have been the bond, which
had such fruit in princely generosity and mutual loyalty of soul.
Fitting was the beautiful lament, when David's heart was bereaved at
tragic Gilboa, "I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very
pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing
the love of women." Love is always wonderful, a new creation, fair and
fresh to every loving soul. It is the miracle of spring to the cold
dull earth.

When Montaigne wrote his essay on Friendship, he could do little but
tell the story of his friend. The essay continually reverts to this,
with joy that he had been privileged to have such a friend, with sorrow
at his loss. It is a chapter of his heart. There was an element of
necessity about it, as there is about all the great things of life. He
could not account for it. It came to him without effort or choice. It
was a miracle, but it happened. "If a man should importune me to give
a reason why I loved him, I can only answer, because it was he, because
it was I." It was as some secret appointment of heaven. They were
both grown men when they first met, and death separated them soon. "If
I should compare all my life with the four years I had the happiness to
enjoy the sweet society of this excellent man, it is not