Perching himself upon the top of a hill, that his parable may not be brought to an untimely end, he speaks to the multitude: "The Trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them. And they said to the Olive Tree, Reign thou over us. But the Olive Tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and men, and go to be promoted over the Trees? Then said the Trees unto the Fig Tree, Come thou and reign over us. But the Fig Tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the Trees? Then said the Trees unto the Vine, Come thou and reign over us. And the Vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine which cheereth God and Man, and go to be promoted over the Trees?" Thus far the Trees have been unsuccessful. They have found among their fellows of the forest no available candidate whose character and record are good. They anticipated a difficulty of more modern times. But they are becoming desperate. They are determined to have a king. In this extremity what step do they take? "Then said all the Trees unto the _Bramble_, Come thou and reign over us." The Bramble cannot plead business. It cannot say, as do the Olive and Fig and Vine, "I am of some better use." There is no reason, so far as any beneficent occupation is concerned, why it should not be king. The offer is eagerly accepted, and the pompous bush delivers itself of this high and mighty coronation address: "If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the Bramble and destroy the cedars of Lebanon!" This Bramble, Jotham explains, represents Abimelech, while the misguided trees are the men of Shechem. Having made this application, Jotham became convinced that his mission was ended, and abandoned Mount Gerezim for a place of greater security. "And Jotham ran away and fled, and went to Beer and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother." He did not wait to see what impression he had made. He was willing to let his story, moral and all, take care of itself; for in that day, as in every subsequent age, there was no room for a satirist in the kingdom of an incompetent ruler. II.--SAMSON. Farther on in the book of Judges, we have the portrait of Samson. How quaintly is the character drawn! A great lubberly, good-natured giant, but now and then bursting out into fits of unreasoning and uncontrolled anger,--not unlike Ajax in the play. He is constantly making himself ridiculous in his love affairs. In _Love's Labor Lost_, the following dialogue occurs:-- "ARMADO.--Comfort me, boy. What great men have been in love? "MOTH.--Hercules, Master. "ARM.--Most sweet Hercules! More authority dear boy, name more; and sweet my child, let them be men of good repute and carriage. "MOTH.--Samson, Master; he was a man of good carriage, for he raised the town gates on his back like a porter; and he was in love."