Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/934

DAVID. 810 DAVID. sacred ark to that place. After securing peace from his enemies, David had to quell opposition which arose in his own household. His eldest son Amnion outraged his lialf-sister Tamar, and in revenge Absalom caused Amnion to be mur- dered. Subsequently Absalom organized a rebel- lion against his father, which obliged the King to leave Jerusalem for a time. The uprising is quelled, but not until Absalom has fallen as a victim. Amasa, David's nephew, who had taken part in the rebellion, but had been pardoned by David and promised the chief command in place of Joab, also falls a sacrifice to the latter's jeal- ousy. Once more, as the King stands on the verge of the grave, serious trouble threatens regarding the question of succession. The Court was divided between two candidates — Adonijah, the surviving eldest son, and Solomon, the son of David by Bathsheba. Through the influence of the prophet Xathan, the King decides in favor of Solomon David dies at an advanced age and is buried in liis capital. These family troubles arc looked uiion bv the .Jewish writers as a punishment for David's adulterous act with Bathsheba and his subsequent connivance at the murder of Bathsheba's husband, Uriah. There is no doubt that this act, which took place during the war with the Ammonites, is the most serious charge to be brought against him. and there is no reason to question its authenticity, since it is fully in keeping with the conditions that prevailed at the time. In forming an estimate of David, those conditions must" be taken into considera- tion, and no true picture can be obtained of him unless we are willing to recognize his human limitations. That he was a great warrior admits of no doubt. Indeed, he was essentially a sol- dier, courageous and of boundless energy. He pos.sessed the faculty, moreover, to an extraordi- nary degree, of gathering men to himself, and as a natural-born leader he overcomes obstacles that would have crushed others. But he also shows traits of crueltv in the treatment of his enemies, connives at treachery, and is willing to make use of underhand measures to accomplish his ends. His moral sense is not strong, and it is probably due to this defect that he shows such lamentable weakness in dealing with his family affairs. But, with all his faults", he remains one of the most notable figures in Hebrew history, and it is not surprising that the attachment to him should have led to the idealization of him by popular tradition, abetted by later writers. Whether he composed poetrv is doubtful, though many critics believe that the dirge on the death of Saul and .Jonathan (II. Sam.'i. 17-27; ef. Psalm xviii.) is his iiroduction. In any case, the Psalms, of which seventy-three are by Jewish tradition ascribed to him, do not belong to his age. but reflect in all but a few cases "the religious thought and aspirations of post-exilic .Judaism. Consult: The Hebrew histories of Ewald, Stade. Yellhausen, Penan, Ciuthe. Piepenbring. Kittel. Kent, etc.; also Budde. Die Biichcr Richter nnd Samuel, ihre Quellen vtid ihr Anfhan (Giessen. 1S901 : for David as a tactician, IManel Dieulafoy, Lc Ro% David (Paris, 1897). See Psalms. DAVID. (DA celebrated statue by Michel- angelo, representing the youthful Isr.aelitish shep- herd, sling in hand. It 'stands in the Accademia in Florence. The colossal statue was carved by the sculptor when a youth from a great block of marble, which had been cast aside as worthless. .■2) A show- It once stood before the Palazzo Vecchio. smaller statue, a masterpiece of Donatello. ^-- ing David standing over the prostrate Goliath It is in the National Museum in Florence. DAVID I. (1084-1 153). King of Scotland from l-ii to 115.3. He was the youngest son of Malcolm (_'anmore by his wife Saint ilargaret ( q.v. ) . During the fierce struggle for the pos- session of the Scottish crown, which followed the death of his father in 109.3, the youtliful David found refuge in England, together with his sister Eadg-th, or ilatilda. who, in 1100. mar- ried Henrv'l.. King of England. The residence of David at the English Court would appear to have been prolonged for several years, and the assertion of William of Malmesbury may well be credited that "it freed him from the rust of Scot- tish barbarity." In 1107 his elder brother. Alex- ander, succeeded to the throne, and David be- came Prince of Cumbria (q.v.). Together with this great principality he seems to have heUl lands"in Lotliian: and by his marriage, in 1113, with Matilda, widow of the Earl of Northamp- ton, he acquired possession of that earldom too_. In il-24 he succeeded his brother as King. In 1 127 he took an oath, with the other great barons ot England, to maintain the rights of his niece, -Matilda, as heiress to the English crown, should her father, Henry I., die without male issue. The event thus contemplated came to pass in 1135, and when Stephen mounted the English throne David took up arms in behalf of Matilda. Peace was restored by the grant of the earldom of Huntingdon and the promise of the earldom of Northumberland to David's son, Henry, then m his twentieth vear; but the war was soon re- sumed, and in' 1138 the King of the Scots, de- serted bv Bruce and others of his Anglo-Norman vassals, "was signallv defeated in the battle of 'the Standard.' near Northallerton. In the next year a second peace was concluded between the two kings, when the promised earldom of Northum- berland was bestowed (m Prince Henry. In 1140 the Scottish King marched into England for the third time to assert the rights of Matilda. He was again defeated, and only regained his own countrv with difficulty. The rest of his reign was devoted to the intro- duction of English civilization into Scotland, a task which had been begun by his parents and continued by his brothers. King Edgard and King Alexander. He secured the peace and safe- ty of the country by building castles; and by erecting burghs he promoted trade, shipping and manufactures. He showed his favor for learning bv endowing manv bishopries and monasteries. David died at Carlisle on INlay 24, 1153. His son Henrv had died in the previous June, and he was succeeded bv his grandson, JMalcolm. The remains of David's legislation, including the in- teresting code of the Leffcs Biirrjorum. have been carefully collected in the first volume of The Acts of the' Parliament of Scothnid (Edinburgh. 1844). Consult Robertson, Seotland Under Her Early Kings (Edinburgh, 1862). DAVID II. See under Bruce, Robeet. DAVID, da'ved', Armand (1826—), A French missionary and naturalist, born at Es pelette. Basses-Pyrenees. In 1848 he entered the con"-rea-ation"of the Lazarists. and in 180- went as' a "missionary to China. Here he made valuable collections of animals, plants, and mm-