The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1907-03-14
! SATURDAY
] NIGHT TALKS
DyF. E. Dawson Rutland Vt.
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z IT III
AN ANCIENT SWINDLER.
March II, '07-(Gen. II: 1929

handles it's heroes in such fearless
manner as the Bible. 1t hides Moth
ing, extenuates nothing. AS q mas
ter painter 1t draws every line with
unsparing breadth and clearness. See
how 1t tells the story OF Jacob. Not
one of It's pictures fatters him. He
was born with a petty, intriguing ma
ture inherited from his mother, and
the influence of her scheming exam
pie added to his inherited meanness
developed Jacob into a grasping,
overreaching, bargaining, unscrupu-
lous Jew AS a baby he was rightly
named "supplanter," and as man
he lived up to his cognomen.
There is no scene in history more
cunningly satanic than the scheme
Jacob worked on his brother Esau to
get possession of his birthright. If
ever any deed was worthy Of the
thunderbelts of Esau's indignation
tafdt was. Esau appealed to his
brother for food when he was in
furnishing condition, and in the most
cold : blooded, calculating manner
Jacob said, Il will give you all you
can eat if you will sell me your
birthright." An Infamous PROPOSE
ton. He took advantage Of mans
hunger, and that man was his own
brother
He turned another mans poverty
to his own advantage, and that man
was his own brother. He who will
do a thing like that deserves to be
hung up In the pillory Of the worlds
eXecration. 1t is not enough to say
that Esau despised his birthright,
thought he was about to die anyway,
and had little regard for the value of
this coveted boon. That does not ex-
cuse the treachery Of Jacob. The
transaction was that OF a thief
through and through. There is alb
solutely no credit whatever due to
Jacob in this transaction. 1t was
Jewish trick.
But we had better not throw many
stones at Jacob until we are certain
that we have not repeated his Of
Tense. To take advantage Of the mis-
fortunes or the ignorance of others,
! how many OF us have done 1t. We
say, we are not obliged to tell the
seller the whole story, and we
chuckle over getting the best end of
the bargain, when we have really
/ deliberately robbed a fellow man.
Even the Puritans were not above
buying land Of the nborigines with d
string of beads and few yards of
| gaudy cloth. And when, afterwards
/ they would have inherited the bless
| ing they were rejected at the muz-
| zie OF a shot gun though they sought
| 1t carefully with tears. And that has
! been the general character Of our
treaty-breaking nation In this re-
| gard ever since. Bargain making is
always perilous. The devil often
stands on both sides of the counter
when trades are being made.
The climax Of this deception came
when Jacob bowed his head before
his blind old father, Isaac, imperson
ating hairy Esau, the rightful heir,
and thus stealing his brothers bless
ing In his absence. But some one will
say Jacob was the divinely selected
inheritor Of the blessing: 1t was in
hence, the end justified the means.
Out upon such reasoning. What bust
ness has a human being with the
purposes Of the Almighty? The trou-
BILE with Jacob was he wanted to run
the universe. He thought things had
come to such a pass that unless he
took hand in the matter the prom
ises of God would break down He
saw them slowly slipping by and he
| felt that the time had fully come to
snatch victory from the jaws of de-
feat. He thought he would be re-
membered as a smart business man,
one who had an eye to the main
chance, one who knew d good thing
when he saw it, one who took time
by the forelOck, one who looked out
for number one. But he only got
himself put in the same class with
thieves and robbers, and had to run
away from home to live the life of q
wanderer, to be treated by others ex-
actly as he had treated Esau De-
ceived and deluded and cheated in
every possible way, and only coming
to the goal Of his ambition in the
closing moments Of troublous life.
Doubtless every man comes into
the world to work out some divine
purpose. We should not attempt to
prematurely force destiny but calmly
wait for it's development. How many
father has spoilt a good shoemaker
by making his son a poor preacher
If providence destines a man for me-
chan1cs he will be failure in every,
thing else. "Train up a child in the
way he should CO." that is, accord
ing to the bent of his mind and he
will be a success. But do not arbi
trarily seek short cuts to honor anG
supremacy.
This lesson Is full of instruction
for those who are vainly trying tt
help destiny. Those wheels are toi
high, those levers too mighty for The
puny hands of man to manage. Bet
ter keep your fingers off the throt
tie of this mighty machine which WI
call providence. Resignation, no
presumption should be the rule o
every human life. We are creatures
not creators. We are the instru
ment not the musician. We ar
stones in the building-not the arch
itect of the structure. When we ca
truly say, Not my will, but Thine b