New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1867-06-02
.rvxON BY REV. HENRY WARD
BEECH

IL
BEECHEK.
81 will read you some of the opening verses
I .fthe forty -eighth chapter of Genesis:
Il al. came to Pass after these things, that one
4. All Joseph Behold thy father is sick aud he look
~ MIN his two sons, Manasseh and phraim And
{ IIa.n,od Jacob and said, Behold thy son josenh
pin a nto thee And Israel strengthened himself,
foms. .t mon the bed. And j. cob SAID unto osepn
?noa simighty appeared unto at Luz in the land
ttTTanaan, and blessed me, and said unto me BE-
IA will make thee fruitful and multiply thee,and
POW make of thee multitude of people and viii
Ts ths Ian to thy seed after thee Tor eyerlast,
Vnnssassion. And now thy tao sons, tphrAm and
SlsnSsseh which born unto thee in the land OF
fSTnt before came unto tn e INTO Egypthre mine.
!sRgsu6en and simeon they shall be NINE; And tiny
.5s Vii oh thou after them hall be thine
IA shall be called after he name OF their brethren
Their nh, ritance. And az for me. when came
3,om padln. Raoh ael died by me the la d of ca.
Kan in the way, when yet there was but ttle way
|RnSsme unto Ephrath and buried hor there IN the
I'm of phrath, the same is Beth lie hem.
n How strange human life appears to US in
] .bpse remote ages. Society, customs, oCcu-
cations, in the earliest antiquity, seem
srarcely recognizable, Patriarchs stand
mi in that far-oif day clothed with the
-dmancc Of thousand years. As when
&yilagc stands on summer Afternoon Hood
/ "a with golden haze, we see 1t through
H. dust and the vapor which rise from the
|;ndustry of the village itself, so we look
Et these old men Of distant time through
I'm atmosphere which the minds of millions
&ofmen have created 1t seems irrevercnt, II
moi wicked, to dissolve this golden mist, and
Law bare literal realities.
81 Esau and Jacob were brothers. Nor
conll thew have been better contrastci had
E.heir characters been set rs merely drg-
i matte contrasts. Esau, the eldest, was bold,
abrupt, needless, with much in his nature
4 tbst was generous and lovabe. He united
i a kind OF rashness, which produces the
/ effect of wickedncss, with qualities which
still held the heart to him. He had no
settled plan of life. He had no governing
"A principle He was u man of impulses
81 an bic of generous ones, yet more hnbtu-
j ally acting under others. He acted reso-
jutely. but thoughtlessly, along the line Of
81 impulse and when his worse nature
4 preYailed he seemed hateful and cruel,
though when his better nature was touched
he seemed far more noble than his brother
Jacob.
a Jacob was man of deep nature; but his
4 depth lay in his domestic affections, and
moi so much in other directions. He was
4 considerable wise, and polite. Esaus feel,
a ings were first; his thOughtfulness was sec
I ond Jacobs reason was dominant.
Nothing acted that he did not permit, He
looked before him. He ioresaw advantages,
anticipated evils; secured the one, and
avoided the other.
Now, a character that is perfectly round
and balanced is never so interesting IN its
- details as one that is titful. That landscape
which is smoothcst is not the most taking
70 the eve; but the toughest and the Tudrst.
And characters that are all knit together do
not catch mems admiration n those do
j that have chasms aud falls and cliti--slropg
qualities IL is always easier TO live with Il
round and well balanced mind bat we adj
j miro the other sort, and make heroes OF
them. And 50 it Is that the young aud in.
experienced arc perpetually tempted TO
make heroes of men that are not heroic,
land that are unfit to be initiated. And
hence 1t has come to be a saying that the
faults OF strong men are the things that are
81 the easiest copied.
II Jacobs feelings were always under the
control of his judgment. He INDUCED them
or repressed them as seemed best. Such Il
nature seldom captlvates; and imagination
always loves certain uncomfortable course
3 Of feeling One loves to see u strong man
] regulated and good, but regulation ought
not to stand in the place of great natural
tendencies In the right direction. Where a
man measures every step, limits every feel
ing, analyses every motive, controls every
impulse to the scruple, he may seem to u.
more nearly right, but neither magnani
nous nor strong. We conceive of nature
to which principle is like the banks o.
rivers, fixed and definite; but within those
banks one loves to see the waters rising
with awful freshets, or moving in uncon
and making headlong haste to overcome al
hindrances, and now spreading wider and
growing calmer .and flowing deeper, as /
victory had subdued all fret and anger.
But a man whose banks have been laid VI
Tor him, stone by stone, smooth and even
Is canal, whose waters are economically
regulated, just enough for profitable use
and not drop more. Every wave and
swell Is combed out, every wrinkle i:
smoothed, and every drop, seemingly, il
waking down to the mill with sense ofit'
duty TO turn the wheel around. Canals are
very good, but men do not sit aud make
poems on canals.
Esau was not a river, but u torrent.
When rain fell OH the mountains, he roared
DOWN the rayines. In summer, however, il
vas dry. Jacob was more than a canal.
he was river, but IA stream that had long
tlnce forgot the mountains, and flowed
through level plains smoothly, beautifully
but not grandly.
This wise and polite nature, however
vas suited to the position of leader. II,
vas to develop a nation. He was to fount
religious economy. He WAS just fitted 7,
pc q statesman. He had an eventful lif,
and long one. Yet, SO adro!tly did HI
manage circumstances, so discreet was h
IN aealing with human nature, that we see
even In the simple and rude affairs of /;
shepherds life, astatesman--and one abb,
70 control himself Gan ability which consti
'utes the first element of craftsmanship
and then able to control other men, and
iAst OF all, able TO seek human ends by thu
use OF principles rather than by expedients
such was Jacobs gift.
as he became old, time seemed to max
MN, II not nobler, yet more dignifed. Tn
unconscious grandeur of the contrast be
tween him and Pharaoh, when they met
gught long ago to have inspired some brush
~ the land of pyramids, then second L
nvhe on earth in civilization, with cite
whose mere ruins now fill us with wonder
rnn an educated priesthood, and nobilit
sr ABOVE any other on earth, the seat O
Earning, and the bright centre of art, tn
aug called for his shepherd, this leader Q
noe, this patriarch of a kingdom. An
sae scene Is recorded in the chapter preced
~ mat rom which our text is borrowed
~ III read a few verses of it to you.
a. AND Joseph brought in Jacob his father
Mssse, him before Pharaoh; and Jaco
messed Pharaoh
he took the position of a superior II
Hancuyely. There sat the glittering oil
Mug on his jeweled throne, surrounded b
~ satraps; and there sat altogether tn
LIZ, as between the two, and blessed him
a.. ana Pharaoh said unto Jacob, how oil
~ .shouf And Jacob said unto Pharaoh
An huays OF the years of my pilgrimage ar
basadred and thirty years; few and eyi
sad have not attained unto the days of tn
n sh. q the life of my fathers in the day
weaer pilgrimage
.~hich OF those two came out best In col
Az ssanoni Pharaoh, who said, How oil
ou,!ye,u or Jacob, who made this most c,
ON, and and Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and wen
IRON before Pharaoh
WuN - - n. L