The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-08 00:00:00

actually
sacred
lcl character,ye,mstordeti
fcyhiin stretching
tleset
influencehiettehhuilsd,
rthrough
men, in
throughout
nraal
les grasp jeomrfyee,;?;set
and of every age, that followed it. It is very likelayr,Vi...
there does not exist at this hour any people on the P.,„
perhaps not an individual—whose state has not Peed
largely influenced by the life and death, the acts 1 .
opinions, of this sacred hero. Hie promises kept his
terity together, and made them ever watchful about
fulfilment in the predicted Shiloh—the " sent" person
was life from the dead to the world at large.
Now let us turn to Esau, the hero of the sword.
__re
have his whole history in a few verses. s, Now these
the generations of Esau, who is Edam—Esau too
; Kr of
wives of the daughters of Canaan Adah, the daughter
Elon, the Hittite and Aholibamab, the daughter of
the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite. And naisheecabge
Tshmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth. And Ana" eta
And A
to Esau Eliphaz ; and Bash:math bare Reuel. - ell
Bawl bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah • theselt
I the sons of Esau that were born to him in dna°. greet
is the calamity of Esau that almost the whole of the n'efee,
thus enumerated as his posterity is connected with s 0 ~e
thing disgraceful or disastrous. " And Esau took
eYr,
wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the Peel
I sons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts'd of
all his substance, which he had gotten in the lands
Canaan, and went into the country from the face ofef
brother Jacob, for their riches were more than that e'en
might dwell together; and the land wherein they
strangers could not bear them because of their 1.7)
And thus dwelt Esau in Mount Seir." (Gen. xxxvi•
Such is the brief history of Esau. It enrePiief
his life and death. Nothing else is spoken about ce/
save a barren catalogue of his posterity, who were hew
eft
all seemingly, for the great part, dukes. Tbeselro,
dukes, the sons of Esau ; the sons of Eliphaz, theellro
born son of Esau ; Duke Tertian, Duke Omar, vp.
Zepho, Duke Kenan, Duke Korah, Duke Arnalele
(Gen. xxxvi. 15, 16.) And so it proceeded througb
dete
chapter, enumerating a long list of these ve
Noblemen, who never did a memorable act, spoke
morable word ; but having lived and died, leave he
the information that they were " dukes."
There is a feature of Jacob's character not uninteree
tieei
particularly as we find it largely abounding in his ,re,"fa,
that is, his very remarkable concern about his dead broil
It is recorded thus, " And the time drew night that,':eit
must die ; and he called his son Joseph and snie:f
him,—lf, now, I have found grace in thy sight, P,"l
pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal trO'
kingly with me ; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt' „to
I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry we e'ej.
Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. And he''„,
1 will do as thou hast said.' And he said, Swearr;;'
me ;' and he mare unto him." (Gen. xlvii.
In this we see a hope full of immortality. of
knew that his body was not a mere aggregate 'te
of dust and ashes, but a dwelling place 01es!
holy Spirit ; a sacred temple that was to hwets
an eternal weight of glory, and he was snit°, "et;
about it with a proportionate care. We know how JP ci
ference on religious subjects operates in the productillte
a feeling of total indifference about the destination °lee
body. All have heard instances in which supposed her°'iot
of feeling have bequeathed the dead body to surgeolis
utilitarian experiments.
This is secular heroism, a principle which measures
lye
importance of all things by sight and sense.
tract,t.t.
ihoeJn a,
Almighty,
:bed'
iosgtnhwhsteiaydsg:lri
haiabi
sel sacredetgovr
aahacreierot heroism, sl,mlovfi,
suitablenwdg
elbitfinaace:hlosomuf
brac,edotaenwndteduhe
rnceet
conduct.
hueerr!ecje.,l et!
Promises, the engrossing subject of thought and spec
However, having submitted to you, in the way of c red
and the secular man, I would now draw you backward
see something like the principle of causation that
t
working in the cases before us. I allude throughout Is
itlhi
se cool
dn t raagset,e sul
pbol
ne s
jes iancgosb bestowed b. y
OI sfa acco,
utrbsee
,f a t 13 e
I sate it
the virtue of the blessing of the patriarch in each c
caso
arising from the fact that he was divinely guided to ntthe
the purposes of heaven itself. The explanation of pd
fraud practised towards Esau by Jacob, its heinousness cep
its justification is so obvious, that I shall not stop on te,,
but would fix your attention upon more recondite Pei-ft,
Isaac had an internal evidence that his words were fees
irrevocable, irrevocable, unalterable. " Where is he that bath tat re
venison, and brought it, and I have eaten of all eefoi,
thou earnest. and have blessed him ? Yea, and he '°,)3l
br blessed." Again, " Behold, I have wade hill'
Lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for `°d
vants, and with corn and wine hare I sustained him ;
what shall I do unto thee, my Son ?" (Gen. xxvii., "er
Isaac all through speaks of his words as things, 1,1;50e
pressed purposes as already faits accomplis. be
Spirit of God had borne witness to his Spirit" that
l 0
spoke the mind of God. Our Lord desires his peel' '0
achieve this praying power—" Whatsoever ye ,le
in prayer and believing, ye shall receive." But then `
power of faith is of divine donation. tf
There is something, however, as I have intimated, 'ree s
thoughtworthy in the blessings pronounced respectively
Jacob and Esau.
That on Jacob was—" God give thee of the dea' eeo
heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of c",p
and wine. Let people serve thee, and nations bow di.°,,e's
to thee ; be Lord over thy brother, and let thy nief"_,`lb
sons bow down to thee. Cursed be every one that cur--
thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." neo
That on Esau was—" Thy dwelling shall be the fa— ad
of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above. til
by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve the
brother ; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt If
the dominion, that thou shall break his yoke from 0 6
neck." f hes'
The remarkable points are these :—" The dew
ven and the fatness of the earth." That is, ,en'PGoti
abundance and prosperity were made direct giftfree°
to Jacob.
Whereas they were not direct gifts from Gid to Esau sir
" Thy dwelling shall be fatness of the earm, and the dew
of heaven from above." Intimating flat Esau 01°1105
simply be made a sharer in the gifts oestowed upon rd
brother, and properly to him belong;sg. "By thy 55,0 e,,
shalt thou live, and thou shall sere thy brother"--e" err
he was to be the guardsman—tit• soldier—of his broth
and to receive a liberal portion of the fatness of the enror
that belonged to his broths, for the service thus r`
dered.
Now, be it rememberea that Jacob and Esau stun' it
cturch principles. They are relate
types of antagonistic
,
tthstowhorafiamit—h faithful
Israel l t rirba,si to Baby to the ten idolatrous
'Zionouso onetd
slauro
s jno
o Eelusira
as Jerusalem tc Rome. On one hand is the gravity riol
sobriety,—sr. may add, the profundity and soliditY ,
truth,—atet on the other hand, the pomp and sPirrew
dour and gorgeous display of error, with its bog
character and baseless nature. In short, Jacob
the pure faith, Esau the faith corrupted. duty,
Now mark ! The mission of Jacob involved, as a dn;.
the assertion of superiority. "Be lord over thy brotheY ,
let thy mother's sons bow down to thee." He was Pe4,
tively commanded to secure the lordship, and to retaine'es
This lay on him as a duty to be fulfilled. And on the ouiri,
hand, subserviency rested on his brother as an obligattt
" by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve
i?rother., Superiority on the one hand, and inferier"a
on the other, were divine institutions. If Jacob insistoe
on his superiority as of right divine, Esau would be CO;
pelled to concede it as the award of heaven, against whl'to
he would he made to feel that it would be in Tait, ‘5
struggle. The gifts of heaven, wine, oil, even the fatin,
of the earth, and the attainment of those gifts of whit
Esau was to share, were contingent on the fulfilment
duty by both ; that duty being, on one hand, the assert
tion of superiority, and, on the other, quiet endurance e
inferior position.
" Jacob,—Be thou lord over thy brother."
" Esau,—Serve thou thy brother with thy sword."

But mark the alternative on the neglect of this
cation. It was said, "by fate," to Esau—
" It shall come to pass, when thou shall have the ~tlerr
minion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy nee'
—(Gen. xxxiii. 40.)
• t
bie
Jacob was awarded supremacy ; and he was to retain
for the good of both. But if he neglected his duty, if
,s 0
began to liberalise, to think he was taking too much nPrio.
him, or to hearken to the murmurings of his brother, sr,. ip
might chafe and fret because of his inferior stains ;
short, instead of being strictly governed by the oracle
heaven, they began to take counsel with inferior thinglf,
with human reasonings and principles of expediency. e
hearkening to such plausibilities, Jacob, instead of keer.'7,l;
Esau in his proper position of a servant, would yield 10f
persuasives, and make a breach in the constitution
heaven by the concession of equality to Esau. Vieg
when Esau should be allowed to exercise dominion f°°
which he was not designed nor fitted, " It would conle„f,
pass that he should break his brother's yoke frog-I.v,
his neck," the result being calamity to both, cursn,);
and bitterness and vexation. The withholding of t'!
fatness of the earth from him, whose proper portion it co;.
to the starvation of the other, whose privilege it 'css
share in the gift.
thelselo
maintenance of due superiority, is a blessing in its prOPeo
vni
eowt
st.h i nTkhTernee
iesd stopno
diffitommlt,a_kien a
thane
ea pepalsi ces. t oTn
I%.°efr
place. The husband or father that would neglect to ingis'
upon his domestic supremacy would he unkind to his 'xi'„
and children. The master or the prince who should eY
ercise authority with a slack hand, would introduce coo'
fusion into his dominions. And this principle is of yell
general applicability—to recognise and enforce the pre-`r°9
gatives of truth is actual kindness, even to the maintained
of falsehood ; and it belongs to the heroism of the sacrei
character not to be weak in the assertion of this gre°
principle.
From all that we have been considering, it appears 0101
we may see clearly and distinguish correctly the bereis4
that is sacred and that is secular. The heroism of t'd
soldier, and the heroism of the citizen ; of the general s°ol
of the divine ; of the men of the sword, and of the men

peace. it
One has its glory in youth, in strength, in activitYl of
gradually vanishes away as years increase. The Nestor ;e
the poet is an old story-teller, endeavouring to win a sh3a
of admiration from narratives of his former prowess,
since past and gone. His Priam is a pitiable old 1:61'1,0
begging a slight favour at the hand of a warrior 'cw

des-p-ised his w7eakness. This is the secular hero.
The other, not without a glory at every stage of
ence, grows in grace, in beauty, in majesty, in pocere,
with augmenting years ; and the grave that at last of
ceives the hero is but the entrance to an eternal weight

glory—to a crown of glory that passeth not away. lap
One by the rigour of the arm of flesh may rePe tbe
enemy, the other may move the hand that moves
universe to crush him for ever. f the
The strength of one resides in physical force--0-
other in moral power.
In the two characters which I have been contemP-3ti a
we have types of two great forces in society, which cfc,'et,
vade, in fact, all nature. A type of the military 1 tbe
and of the ecclesiastical power ; of the army, and 0 ,de
church. Nay, here are typified two elements that Per'
all creation. the
Mark! there is in every man two elements of character--
05,
masculine element and the feminine element. TbeT.T,tll
culine element—courage, vigour, resolve, energy, , pt
—this is the Esau of man's nature; and the femininee,etTiog
—truth, charity, faith, hope, piety. Now the same
nccv
may be said of every woman. She has in her the marineline element—vigour, decision, resolve ; .and the te',ricllr
element—gentleness, sympathy, loving affection, "`
propensities—this is the Jacob of her nature. nce of
Now it is a curious fact, that it is the predointi:?9 woo}
the feminine element in man, the supremacy of his...erfeC•
principles over his whole nature, that constitutes the!,