Be that as it may, Esau has a birthright; and this book, like all
books which I have ever written, is written to tell him so; and, I
trust, has not been written in vain. But it is not this book, or
any man's book, or any man at all, who can tell Esau the whole truth
about himself, his powers, his duty, and his God. Woman must do it,
and not man. His mother, his sister, the maid whom he may love; and
failing all these (as they often will fail him, in the wild
wandering life which he must live), those human angels of whom it is
written--'The barren hath many more children than she who has an
husband.' And such will not be wanting. As long as England can
produce at once two such women as Florence Nightingale and Catherine
Marsh, there is good hope that Esau will not be defrauded of his
birthright; and that by the time that Jacob comes crouching to him,
to defend him against the enemies who are near at hand, Esau,
instead of borrowing Jacob's religion, may be able to teach Jacob
his; and the two brothers face together the superstition and anarchy
of Europe, in the strength of a lofty and enlightened Christianity,
which shall be thoroughly human, and therefore thoroughly divine.

C. K.
February 17th, 1859.



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION



This little tale was written between two and three years ago, in the
hope that it might help to call the attention of wiser and better