St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-06-21
PETER EXPOUNDER.
A Discourse on the Essential Independence
of Each Member of the
Human Race.
Eating Of Sour Grapes by the Father
Doesn't Set Ohildren's Teeth
on Edge.
A Good Fathers Evil Son Shau De
Punished According 10
His Works.
An Upright Son Shall be Rewarded
Even Though His Father
be Vicious.

The word of the Lord came unto me- saylng'
What mean We, that We use this proVeru COZ
corning the landing of Israel, saying tne La
theirs have eaten sour grapes anu inc onI-
dren's teeth are set on edge! AS HVe,
saith the Lord God, We shall not nave occasIon
any more to use this prOverb in lsraei. De
hold all souls are mine, as the soul OF the III
Their so also the soul of the soniS mine. Inc
soul that sinneth it shall die. Ezekiel xviii,
to4.
Every tub must stand on its own bottom.
Shakespeare.
Dearly beloved: Ezekiel was sight
seer, always full of visions, ana most VI
them of so tranScendental nature tllat tiiey
are utterly incomprehenslble. lie saw
monsters, each with four faces, one OF
man. one of a lion, one OF an OK, one OF al
eagle, birds wings, calves feet OF DrasS'
human hands under the wings, ana WIN
motion like flash OF lightning, ana lie
saw wheels within wheels, and all manner
of curious things. He received III MS
dreams the most extraordinary instructions
to eat rolls. shave his head. and so forth,
coupled with dire prophecies against Jeru-
salem. all of which was so strange that he
was at loss to find words to characterize
the sights he saw and the sounds he heard,
so that the account of them that we have
received is sadly beyond our comprehen-
sion.
Right in the midst of this mystery, how
ever, we strike chapter so full OF homely,
everyday, practical common-sense that 1t
were well for the youth of our land to pom
der it by day and night
The text of our discourse this morning is
the opening words of this practical lesson to
which | shall direct your serious attention
for about column,
1t appears that the children of Israel had
parable to the effect that if father
ATE SOUR GRAPES
it set the chiIdren's teeth on edge, meaning
and intending thereby to indicate that child
rem are regarded responsible for their fathers
actions, that they are rewarded or punished
for their parents deeds, in short that every
tub does not stand on its own bottom. In
this chapter the seer gives the Divine mes
sage repudiating the doctrine, and stating
emphatically and authOritatively that every
tub does stand on it's own bottom.
Now. if the occupant of pew No. will
cease to divert his neighbours attention by
snoring l will try to keep him
awake by venturing the opinion
that in this message the Lord
did not mean to repeal the law of heredity
which he enunciated from Sinai in the sec
Dnd commandment, when he said that he
visited the sins of the fathers upon the
children to the third and fourth generation
On the contrary the farther science goes in
researches the more emphatic becomes its
approval of this law. and we see daily more
and more corroborative evidences of its
force. From the text, however. we learn
that hereditary influences are nothing more
than influences. 1t contains encourage
ment for the children of vicious parents,
that they may escape in measure from the
evil consequences of their progenitorS' vices
and caution for the SONS of the good that
they will be judged not according to their
fathers but according to their own deeds
1.-The soul that sinneth it shall die"
In order that the meaning may not be
misunderstood, the sacred writer indicates
the history of three generations. In the
first the man is just; he keeps away from
his neighbours wife, he Expresses nobody,
he is charitable to the poor, executes true
Judgment between man and man, he is just
md shall live. But suppose he have son
That turns out to be rObber, that sheds
blood defiles his neighbours wife. Expresses
the poor and needy, charges usurious inter-
est, that son shall die and his blood be upon
him. But if he in turn have son that sees
his fathers sins, but emulates the virtues OF
his grandfather, he shall surely live. 1.-The
soul that snneth it shall die. The son shall
not bear the iniquity of the father. neither
the father bear the iniquity of the son. -
Now, my beloved hearers land here pound
the Bible and get red in the. face, it is just
as true in 1885, A. D., in st. Paul, as in
Jerusalem B. C. 594, that every tub must.
za STAND ON ITS OWN BOTTOM.
in fact, if anything, more so. Among the
Jews heredity counted for much, and good
ancestry was the essential qualification for
man for good many occupations. But
the more modern the world grows the more
it ceases to inquire ''Who was your father, -
and to insist on judging men on their own
merits. Your father may have been para
gon of meanness. He may have been a
candidate for some public Office; he may
have made fortune by stealing govern
ment pine land. He may have been pro-
fessional holder-up at Dimond's halfway
house. He may have been Canada-seek-
ing cashier, or an advance agent, or con-
tractor for public work, or even money
loaner at per cent. month. Still it does
not follow that his children must be bad OF
even unexpected. There is no reason why
his progeny should not be good citizens re-
spected by the public and with good con-
sciences. But in order to do this they must
turn from the evil of their fathers. To in
herit his riches will be a curse to them
unless they cultivate habits of frugality
and all upright character, for it does moi
follow that his teeth will be set on edge be.
cause his father ate sour grapes.
ON THE OTHER HAND
the father may be model citizen, mem
Der of the chamber of commerce, board oil
trade and taxpayers association, deacon in
the First Baptist church, worker in the Y
NJ G. A., charitable to the poor, not an
offensive partisan, in short, everything thai
is true, lovely and of good report; and ye
the fathers virtues will not be imputed tt
his hayward son. The boy must work out
his own salvation. He needn't think thai
the respect in which his father is held will
save him from merited disgrace if he Sc
duces his neighbor's wife, if he grinds the
face of the poorSwith usurious interest, if hi
does any sort of abomination in the sight O.
the Lord or of public opinion The sou
that sinneth, it shall die. This is the law
of God and of public opinion, incontrovert
ible and immutable.
Now if the sexton will lock the doors W.
viii take up the collection.
Strawberry ShOrtcake.
New York Times.
Tho invantor of strauhorrv cbor+o,l-,