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

sacred character, to see it thus, through its grasp of or
potence, stretching its influence throughout all tirne,ls
01
actually modifying all the children of men, in every the'
and of every age, that followed it. It is very likely
there does not exist at this hour any people on the en%
perhaps not an individual—whose state has not eaPoil
largely influenced by the life and death, the nett'
opinions, of this sacred hero. His promises kept hies,*
Le
terity together, and made them ever watchful about Lull;
fulfilment in the predicted Shiloh—the " sent" Pell°
was life from the dead to the world at large. lit
Now let us turn to Esau, the hero of the sword•
have his whole history in a few verses. Now these
the generations of Esau, who is Edom—Esau took 01
'
wives of the daughters of Canaan • Adah, the daughter...l
Elon, the Hittite and Aholibamah, the daughter of 11;111
the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite. And Basheriss
Tshmael's daughter, sister of Nebajoth. And AdahAsi,
to Esau Eliphaz ; and Bashemath bare Reuel. And se
libamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah • thes,i
the sons of Esau that were born to him in Canaan. 00
is the calamity of Esau that almost the whole of thee'?
thus enumerated as his posterity is connected with 5010
thing disgraceful or disastrous. " And Esau too,
wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the
sons of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts,di
all his substance, which he had gotten in the hula
Canaan, and went into the country from the face iv
brother Jacob, for their riches were more than that
set
might dwell together; and the land wherein they "to.
strangers could not bear them because of their, e!
And thus dwelt Esau in Mount Seir." (Gen. xxxvi. wrioo
Such is the brief history of Esau. It con:lbis
his life and death. Nothing else is spoken about esc
save a barren catalogue of his posterity, who were o°oo
all seemingly, for the great part, dukes. " Theses,*
dukes, the sons of Esau ; the sons of Eliphaz, thqo
horn son of Esau ; Duke Teman, Duke Omar, Pp
Zepho, Duke Kenan, Duke Korah, Duke AmalekiS
(Gen. xxxvi. 15, 16.) And so it proceeded throultle.
chapter, enumerating a long list of these
Noblemen, who never did a memorable act, spoke %is
morable word ; but having lived and died, leave be
the information that they were " dukes." (101
There is a feature of Jacob's character not uninteres $
particularly as we find it largely abounding in his lied
that is, his very remarkable concern about his dead
It is recorded thus, " And the time drew night that i;
must die ; and he called his son Joseph and said i,
him,—lf, now, I have found grace in thy sight, 1;,
pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal truly
kindly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in EgYo';
I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me 010
Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. And he
1 will do as thou bast said.' And he said, *swear)
me ;' and he sware unto him." (Gen. xlvii. 28
In tis Ise see a hope full of immortality.
knew that his body was not a mere aggregate
of dust and ashes, but a dwelling place e!
holy Spirit ; a sacred temple that was to le
an eternal weight of glory, and he was Bpi's,'
about it with a proportionate care. We know hossr,
ference on religious subjects operates in the produel.
a feeling of total indifference about the destination es;
body. All have heard instances in which supposed her'S
of feeling have bequeathed the dead body to surgeons
utilitarian experiments. tt'
This is secular heroism, a principle which nseasures
importance of all things by sight and sense.
Jacob's was sacred heroism, which made the purP°o.
the Almighty, his grace, loving favour, and realer °,
promises, the engrossing subject of thought and spe
tion, and the guide to a suitable line of conduct. soo'
However, having submitted to you, in the way 01s
_,se
trast, a considerable variety of details between the
and the secular man, I would now draw you backwe'ol
see something like the principle of causation thiao
working in the cases before us. I allude throuehen
the contrasted blessings bestowed by Isaac, the fatbeet;S
his old age, upon Jacob and Esau. Of course, I 08_,S
the virtue of the blessing of the patriarch in each ens:
arising from the fact that he was divinely guided to!lis
the purposes of heaven itself. The explanation °lit)
fraud practised towards Esau by Jacob, its heinousneesti
its justification is so obvious, that I shall not stop 011,s0e
but would fix your attention upon more recondite ros
Isaac had an internal evidence that his words were td.
irrevocable, unalterable. " Where is he that hath ~
venison, and brought it, and I have eaten of all beiiO4
thou camest, and have blessed him ? Yea, and he.
br blessed." Again, " Behold, I have made hon orri
Lord, and all his brethren have I given to him feroli
vents, and with corn and wine have I sustained him,'
what shall I do unto thee, my Son ?" (Gen. xxvll:oofi
Isaac all through speaks of his words as things, J,ti
pressed purposes as already faits accomplis. s,1)11
Spirit of God had borne witness to his Spirit" tier;
spoke the mind of God. Our Lord desires his pee % iOl
achieve this praying power—" Whatsoever ye ns
tbp
in prayer and believing, ye shall receive." But the°
power of faith is of divine donation.
There is something, however, as I have intimated/1,00
thoughtworthy in the blessings pronounced respective' ,
Jacob and Esau.
That on Jacob was—" God give thee of the (I,o°lo
heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty (odor
and wine. Let people serve thee, and nations bow Bert
to thee ; be Lord over thy brother, and let thy ir° oev
sons bow down to thee. Cursed be every one that e°
thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee." ed
That on Esau was—" Thy dwelling shall be the fa Ind
of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.
by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt sevltsisce.
brother ; and it shall come to pass when thou shat ff
the dominion, that thou shall break his yoke frets °
neThe ck." f hejl
remarkable points are these :—" The dew °„ert,
yen and the fatness of the earth." That is, tesswo
abundance and prosperity were made directgiftsfr"i
to Jacob. _

Whereas they were not direct gifts from God to E58'1,:;
" Thy dwelling shall be fatness of the earth, and theuno
of heaven from above." Intimating that Esau 9"10
simply be made a sharer in the sifts bestowed 'JP,' 00
brother, and properly to him bel-mging. "By illy 57 4,,
shalt thou live, and thou shall Serve thy brother"--IV
he was to be the guardsman--the soldier—of his brotro,
and to receive a liberal portion of the fatness of the e3,ety
that belonged to his brother, for the service thus

dered. d 0
Now, be it reineramred that Jacob and Esau 9011240
types of antagonistic church principles. They are reIT,oO
the two faithful tribes to the ten idolatrous ones—as J'i4l
to Ephraim--as Israel to Babylon—as Zion to Idt100(1
as Jerusalem to Rome. On one hand is the gravitS
sobriety,—we may add, the profundity and solidiler
trutb,—and on the other hand, the pomp and 6Pilo
dour and gorgeous display of error, with its b°llo
character and baseless nature. In short, Jac"
the pure faith, Esau the faith corrupted. Alltf'
Now mark ! The mission of Jacob involved, as 01,eti
the assertion of superiority. "Be lord over thy bro Poi,
let thy mother's sons bow down to thee." He vvatrii
it
tively commanded to secure the lordship, and to rend 9
This lay on him as a duty to be fulfilled. And, on the'tiel'
hand, subserviency rested on his brother as an obligt
" by thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt sert:`,,ritl,
brother." Superiority on the one hand, and infer''to
on the other, were divine institutions. If Jacob ing'-or
on his superiority as of right divine, Esau would be licb
pelted to concede it as the award of heaven, against 12.. 0
he would be made to feel that it would be in 01:00
struggle. The gifts of heaven, wine, oil, even the fo'bicb
of the earth, and the attainment of those gifts of °to'
Esau was to share, were contingent on the fulfilraeld:
duty by both; that duty being, on one hand, the 05;or
tion of superiority, and, on the other, quiet enduraec"

inferior position.
'• Jacob,—Be thou lord over thy brother."
" Esau,—Serve thou thy brother with thy sword! et'
But mark the alternative on the neglect of this disP
sation. It was said, "by fate," to Esau—
" It shall come to pass, when thou shall have toe 4.
minion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy De'
—(Gen. xxxiii. 40.) it
Jacob was awarded supremacy ; and he was to ret3;flA
for the good of both. But if he neglected his duty'
tol'
began to liberalise, to think he was taking too much 0.1 e;
him, or to hearken to the murmurings of his brothenif,w,
might chafe and fret because of his inferior status; jea'
short, instead of being strictly governed by the ora,c/
heaven, they began to take counsel with inferior tbl°g
with human reasonings and principles of expediencY•
hearkening to such plausibilities, Jacob, instead of keels Esau in his proper position of a servant, would Yl.e 01
persuasives, and make a breach in the constituq,yo
heaven by the concession of equality to Esau. 1. fOf
when Esau should be allowed to exercise dominionete
which he was not designed nor fitted, "It would colliod
pass that he should break his brother's yoke frowsio
his neck," the result being calamity to both, el Of
and bitterness and vexation. The withholding °'oo°'
fatness of the earth from him, whose proper portion it .sti
to the starvation of the other, whose privilege it vo

. -
share in the gift.
I
a tnh ea PcPal cea. t
theseclovnieowt thinkviews.
l,hTer need
nos Ity i
stop to
maintenance of d blessing in ue superiority, is a bless ;
its Pr eio
place. The husband or father that would neglect to aiff
upon his domestic supremacy would he unkind to 11110'
and children. The master or the prince who shoul",„1
ercise authority with a slack hand, would introduce et!'
fusion into his dominions. And this principle is of 'ao'
general applicability—to recognise and enforce the prr-oeo,
gatives of truth is actual kindness, even to the maint'lete
of falsehood ; and it belongs to the heroism of the 2t3„eell'
character not to be weak in the assertion of this
principle.
From all that we have been considering, it appear:oii%
we may see clearly and distinguish correctly the he'f
that is sacred and that is secular. The heroism °00:;
soldier, and the heroism of the citizen ; of the generoe'o,`
of the divine ; of the men of the sword, and of the f
peace. ;
• lf
One has its glory in youth, in strength, in ado/ ita 1
gradually vanishes away as years increase. The N0516b01,e
the poet is an old story-teller, endeavouring to win °
of admiration from narratives of his former prowess'ooo'
since past and gone. His Priam is a pitiable old
begging a slight favour at the hand of a warrior
despised his weakness. This is the secular hero. ,iist:
The other, not without a glory at every stage of „ '00:,
ence, grows in grace, in beauty, in majesty, in r`i
with augmenting years ; and the grave that at ifDt °
ceives the hero is but the entrance to an eternal wail'
glory—to a crown of glory that passeth not away. pel°4
One by the vigour of the arm of flesh may reog
enemy, the other may move the hand that ina',
universe to crush him for ever. ftv
The strength of one resides in physical force."' ;
other in moral power. latTt,
In the two characters which I have been contorfli rr,
we have types of two great forces in society, Sc
; e
vade, in fact, all nature. A type of the military of
and of the ecclesiastical power of the army, an, ners'l'
church. Nay, here are typified two elements that tije
all creation.
Mark! there is in every man two elements of chara,c..tiierall;
masculine element and the feminine element. J-strearot
culine element—courage, vigour, resolve, energYl,,,ierafg
—this is the Esau of man's nature; and the feminine
c
—truth, charity, faith, hope, piety. Now the sa"1:01150
may be said of every woman. She has in her thtLivial
line element—vigour, decision, resolve; and the 00°
element—gentleness, sympathy, loving affectio of
propensities—this is the Jacob of her nature. ~,ocerol
Now it is a curious fact, that it is the predoro;i:,r
tofp.
ao
the feminine element in man, the supremacy of at, n
principles overhis whole nature, that constitutes Pc