The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-12-08
BY c. r. D. d.
OR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
| From the beginning of patriarchal history
! promise upon promise was given that the
descendants Of Abraham should be exceed
! tngly numerous and should become masters
of Canaan as their divinely given posses
sion. yet after 80 or more years they were
as strangers and sojourners; a single no.
madic tribe. with religious practices utterly
diverse from those of the peoples about
item. kept separated by not i~ntermarryiug
and holding their habitation mainly by suf-
ferance. A slight combination against them
would have produced extinction. The fulfil
ment of the promises must have seemed
quite unlikely. Their complete removal be-
came necessary for their own preservation,
but no one could possibly have realized the
fact. The process required more than TWEEN
ty years and was directed by an overruling
providence in ways that seemed at first all
at cross-purposes. a tangling up Of human
plans and human lives and a political out
come that included the descent Of the whole
people into bitter bondage.
Joseph a Favored Son.
Joseph is Il years old and well favored.
He shares with his brothers the daily tasks
OF caring for the fiocks and herds. There
are good reasons why his father loves him
above his brothers. for he is purer in act
and thought and his soul recoils with dis
gust from some of their daily practices.
Why or how or when these are mentioned
to Israel is tmmateriaL The sunlight is not
to be held In fault because it reveals cor
ruption. There is not a ~taIe-bearing vein
of the ordinary sort in Joseph's character:
his future will surely prove this to be 30.
For a moment note his endowment: There
is gentle but pronounced dignity, inherited
from Abraham: purity and rightness from
Isaac: capacity and ~shrewdness from his
father: physical beauty. afrectionateness
ard managing ability from his mother; it
Is a fine combination Of the most excellent
qualities Of his ancestors. We need not be
surprised that now, while his life is yet un-
balanced. there Is self-consciousuess and
perhaps overestimate of his personal worth;
l. has always been SO: reserve severe judg-
ment. please. until the life be more fully
measured and the crop Of parental sowing
be garnered.
But Israel is not wise in manifesting de-
cided Partially. though Joseph is 1.-THE son
Of his old age" The short tunic Is deemed
satisfactory for the others: why not also
for Joseph? Shall he alone receive a prince
~ dress? The long tunic reaching down to
the arms and feet and marked by colored
or embroidered bands seems to denote rank, |
and a purpose that in time Joseph shall be-
come Sheik in place OF his father. But II
makes him an object of hatred, SO that his
brothers will not speak peacefully unto +
him." No "Shalom" IL uttered whea he
comes to them.
Dreamer and Dreams.
1t is not surprising that the favored lad
has dreams that seem to him Indicative Of
his future. or that his day-dreams cor |
respond: It Is often true that "our wishes |
are the forefeeding OF our capabilities.- |
Other lads have dreams and they fail of l
Who shall say that the failure |
may not be the dreamer's own fault? It n |
sheer folly. however. to parade the dreams |
before those who may quite naturally be |
angered by their recital Notice the style |
Of the callow youth. - he renearses his |
dream. all unmoved by their scowlins faces:
observe how he pu actuates with my and
Tor and ''behold!''
Behold. We are binding sheaves IN the
Held. and 10. MY sheaf arose, and also stood
and behold. your sheayes came
round about. and made obeisancs to my
sheai-"
OF course. II increases their resentment
hat this self-sufacieut stxipling b LOOKING ]