The herald., 1896-06-14

perity, the chronicles of the kingdom,
the poetry and prophetic literature Of
the years preceding their exile In EGYPT
and before the Isralites were numbered
among 1.-The nations that forgot God.
However much modern progress in the
fields of intellectual research and the
revelations of scientific discovery may
change our views Of the physico-theol-
ogy of the Old Testament scriptures,
they must ever retain for us distinctive,
I had almost said a sacred fascination.
The simplicity of the daily lives Of the
Hebrew race, especially of that period
Of their history embraced in the patri-
archal age. contrasted with the artificial
complexity of modern times, their al
most unbrOken respect for the moral
law, their reverent spirit of faith in
supreme being, pervading even the ordi-
nary transactions and commonest af-
fairs of the field or fireside, and impart-
ing to every act certain and abiding
measure of accountability for Its results,
these and other traits Joined to their
mode Of tent-life, free open-air. pas
tOral existence, throw a charm around
their history that wins for 1t our early
admiration and later-day respect. A
ceremonial, religious, serious race, no
wonder the Hebrews regarded even the
giving of kisses as solemn and often
a religious, II not mystic, attribute. We
must presume, however, that among the
youths and maidens of Zion there was
no more or less ceremony in the giving
and taking of kiss than there Is among
those Of our own youths and maidens
today, and that with those, as with these.
this expression Of affection, this coin of
Cupid, passed as currently then as now.
On the lips of the Hebrew maiden a kiss
meant love, but on the patriarchal lips
1t might mean business" as well as
tenderness; might have religious sig
nifinQnnas nf tn
stallment in official position, or be the
symbol of spiritual or political alleg-
lance. There was hardly an act of this
people involving important sequence
that was not sealed or associated with
kiss. When the venerable Isaac, on
his deathbed, was ca!oled by the shrewd,
womanly cunning of Rebecca, into be-
slowing the final patriarchal blessing
on her favorite son, the solemn act Of
benediction in extremis. that under the
operation Of the old Hebrew custom was
fraught with such momentous results to
the donee, seemed to involve in it's in
itial. stage the giving of q kiss. "Come
near now and kiss me, my son."
exclaims the dying patriarch, and with
characteristic simplicity the text re-
lateS and he came near and he kissed
him." The scene here described be-
tween father and son and the language
employed by Isaac in pronouncing the
SSASNiSSiOA Oil JdCOO dTc diHOIlS Lne
most dramatic and expressive in the
Old Testament It Is true the reader
cannot ignore the fraud that is being
practiced on the father and on the elder
brother, of which Jacob was the willing
instrument, and which ever and anon
rises up to mar the beauty of the scene
and to darken the pathetic fervor of
the language accompanying 1t. But
both remain and will continue to re-
main for all time as the embodiments
of lofty sentiment on the part of Isaac
to- which the craft and the cunning of
Repecca are as a foil to give it finer ex-
presion-a background from which 1t
stands out in bold relief in as marked
contrast as the weather. r-beaten patriar-
chal face Of Isaac was to the smooth,
fresh lineaments of the youthful Jacob.
What can be finer than the words: "See.
the smell Of my son is as the smell of a
field which the Lord hath blessed!
Therefore, God give thee of the dew of
heaven, and the fatness Of the earth
and plenty of corn and wine." Then the
grand pronunciamento: BE Lord over
thy brethren!" effecting the practical
disinheriting of Esau and the substitu-
tion of Jacob as the owner Of the coveted
"birthright." How like the edict of a
monarch Of romance 1t sounds. 1t would
seem that the law of primogeniture,
which, in after ages constituted SO i'm
portant a part of the feudal system in
Europe, and which to this day in Great
Britain and other monarchical coun-
tries, works gross injustice to younger