THE KING'S MIRROR 323 



fall into sin and his deed should seem evil to him and 

 he were anxious to do penance, then the judgment ought, 

 to be merciful in his case on account of hum an nature; 

 for human nature is so frail that no one can be so care- 

 ful as never to fall intc^sin. But some add to their offence 

 by taking pride in it, and they are not careful to avoid 

 falling into another sin. Now David was of all men the 

 most adroit in the use of weapons in warfare and he 

 was by nature quite severe in righteous chastisement; 

 but he was a kind-hearted man, friendly toward every- 

 one, and sympathetic toward all who suffered misfor- 

 tunes. He was also trustworthy in every respect, honest 

 and faithful in friendship and in all his promises, and 

 so virtuous that he would allow nothing vicious about 

 his person, indeed his like was not found among all 

 the people of Israel; for when God chose David to be 

 king, He testified in these words, saying that He had 

 found a man after His own heart. But human frailty 

 caused him to fall in the matter that we mentioned 

 earlier: he violated Uriah's wife. But after he had fallen 

 into this transgression and when he was once more 

 alone, he repented deeply, sighing and weeping. Inas- 

 much as the rules of the law would condemn this crime 

 as a shameful reproach, if it were rumored among the 

 people, David planned to keep the matter quiet, letting \ 

 God see his repentance but keeping the people in ig- A 

 norance of his offence, lest they should take his misdeed 

 as an example and regard it as less serious to fall into 

 sin and transgression if they knew of his guilt. So David I 

 sought to hide his guilt by a crafty design: for as soon 

 as he learned that Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, was preg- 



