The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-07-29

the BiOgropnist Oh the OIu Aestnfuehs
Mrs. Oliphant, I'm the Contemporary Review
There is a kind Of heroic candor and inn
partially belonging TO the early ages Of
history which cannot well be emulatcd in
our more intricate condition OF society.
The biography OF the Old Testament is Il
model OF this primitive method. As soon
rs the primeval age, IN which we see
darkly men as trees walking, gigantic
figures family perceptible, in dim
largeness of existence unlike ours, is
over, how clearly and with what COM
pete human conscience does the wonderful
history of Israel, the wandering nation,
begin in the great figure Of Abraham set
ting ont upon his Journey in nomadic free
dom, not knowing where he is going, his
fCcks and herds trudging behind, his
beautiful wife wrapped in her veil, yet not
so closely but that King Abimelech sees
her, and the patriarch bctrays weak
ness, which, had he been a modern,
would have been either concealed or
excused, or brought against him,
with a babble of contending tongues.
Neither this divergence nor any other
does the ancient Scripture leave out.
There is no explanation, no softening
down. The man was the Father OF the
Faithful, a good man, the best man OF his
time, the friend Of God, most noble hui
man parsonage; and yet there was mo-
ment when his courage and integrity failed
him. The primitive writer does not sepa-
rate this event from the context, or apollo
gize for il, or represent II as the object OF a
lifelong repentance. He records il precisely
as he records the arrival OF the three Won
derful guests whom Abraham, standing
In the cool evening at his tent-door,
perceiyes to be more than men. The one
scene and the other are set before us with
equal brevity, without hesitation in the
one case or vain-glory in the other, i'm the
clear setting OF those Oriental skies and
desert scenes. The patriarch had his
faults; they stand there as they happened,
like his virtues, no one asking pardon or
attempting TO account for them. Moses,
too, the great prophet, the chosen guide
and lawgVer, he who talked with God,
and brought the shining tables OF
the law out Of Heaven, and re-
Elected in his own dazzling countenance
the glories he had seen, neither of
him is there any picture OF perfection.
Sometimes his heart fails him, sometimes
he Is presumptuous and arrogant, though
the most patient of men. His sudden pas
sion, his brag OF that passion which is not
ms but Gods, are told, like the rest,
plainly, without shrinking and without
| eNaggeration. David is made uD OF
faults; man out of date, belonging
rather TO the Middle Ages than to that
primtlVe time; full Of generosities and
ciiisairous traits, but also full of guile
wheh necessity or inclination moves him:
OF not ana undisciplined passions, of love
anu seu-ihouigence, redeemed only by
that openness 10 conviction, that self-abase-
ment ana impassioned penitence, which
are AFTER GODS own heart.v Not one
Word OF excuse for all these evil deeds saws
the primitive impartial record. His crime.
his grief, his punishment, are all before ma
10 speak for themselves. There is no NOR
aust TO say, "These were the manners of
Ills Time" All Is set down as it happened
Tor our judgment. We see the man OF inn.
pulse moved by touch, with all his
senses keen and unbridled; loving.
SHINING, repenting, yet with some
thing gracious about him that wins
all hearts; letting his enemy 90 with
n'gh generosity, scorning TO take advan-
sasc vi sieep ana WEAKNESS; pouring out
oeiore Tue LORD, In nm 0Wburst OF noble
anu grateiui emotion, that pitcher OF water
rom the wen OF Bethlehem, which had
Deen bought at the peril Of mems lives, and
was TOO precious draught for him. The
story ~ absolutely impartial, nothing hid.
nothing unduly dwelt upon, the one mart
balancing with the other. Such impartial.
ity Is incompatible with modern manner
Had such an episode as that of JJriah the
Hittite occurred in the life Of any modern
general, how sedulously would one class
oil historians have concealed or slurred II
overflow bitterly another dragged n
forth and put 1t In the front Of every other
incident OF his life.