Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-04-09

A"ahe soe centrifugal overcome the co,.
tripetal. AS when there Is a mighty ia.
OF good in a family that may be overcoM,s
by determination to evil, as in the ca ca 10
Aaron Burr, the libertine, who had for
father President Burr, the consecrated. 49,
in the case of Pierrepont Edwards .,a
scourge Of New York society seventy van
ago, who had q Christian ancestry: xh;,o
on the other hand, some of the heat mo"
and women of this day are those who have
come OF an ancestry of which it would not
De courteous to speak in their presence.
The practical and useful object of this
sermon is to show to you that if Won have
come of a Christian ancestry, then Won ore
solemnly bound to preserve and deve,on
the glorious Inheritance: or. if vo,
nave come of a depraved ancestry.
then it is your duty to brace
sell against the evil tendency by all
prayer and Christian determination, and
you are to find out what are the family
fraiities, and in arming the castle nut the
ong guard at the weakest gate.
with these smooth ton from the brook
hope to strike you, not where David struck
Goliath, in the head, but where Nat than
struck David in the heart.
Whose son art thou, thou young man?
Some time, in the winter holiday, when
we are accustomed to gather our families
together, old times lave come back again.
and our thoughts have been set to the tune
of "Auld Lang Syne." The old folks were
so busy at such times in making us happy,
and perhaps on less resource made their
sons n daughters happier than you on
larger resource are able to make your sons
and daughters happy. The snow lay two
feet above their graves, but they shook off
the white blankets and mingled in the
holiday festivities-the same wrinkles, the
same stoop of shoulder under the weight
OF age, the same old style of dress or coat,
the same smile, the same tones of voice. I
hope you remember them before they went
away. If not, l hope there are those who
have recited to you what they were, and
that there may be in your house some arti-
ticle of dress or furniture with which you
associate their memories. l want to arouse
the most sacred memories of your heart
While make the impassioned interroga.
tory in regard to your pedigree
Whose son art thou, thou young man?
First, l accost all those who are de-
sCCu0Ou u q SAIASCldI dlCeSUIy. i uO
not ask if your parents were perfect.
Perhaps there was sometimes too much
blood in their eye when they chastised
you. But from what l know of you, you
got no more than you deserved, and per-
haps a little less than you deserved,
and perhaps a little more chastisement
would have been salutary. But you are
willing to acknowledge, 1 think, thai they
wanted to do right. From what you
overheard in conversations and from what
you saw at the family altar and at neigh
borhood obsequies, you know that they
had invited God into their heart and life.
There was something that sustained those
old people systematically. You have no
doubt about their destiny. You expect if
you ever get to heaven to meet them as
certainly as you expect to meet the Lord
Jesus Christ.
That early association has been a charm
for you. There was a time when you got
right up from a house of iniquity and
walked out into the fresh air because
you thought your mother was looking at
GU. You lay never been very happy
in sin because of a sweet old face that
would present itself. Tremulous voice S
from he past accosted you until they
were seemingly audible, and you looked
around to see who spoke. There was
estate not mentioned in the last will and
testament, a vast estate of prayer and holy
example and Christian entreaty and glori-
GUS memory. The survivors of the FAM
lily gathered to hear the will read, and
this was to be kept, and that was to be
sold, and it was share and share alike.
But there was an unwritten will that read
something like this:
In the name Of God, amen, I, being Of sound
mind, bequeath to my children ak my pray
ers for their salvation; I bequeath to them
the Christian religion which has been so
much comfort to me, and I hope may be
solace for them;I bequeath to them a hope
of reunion when the paintings of life are over
share and share alike may they have in eter-
nal riches. 1 bequeath to them the wish that
they may avoid my errors and copy any.
thing that may have been worthy. In the
name of the God who made me-, and the
Christ who redeemed me-, and the Holy Ghost
who santifies me, I make this my last will
and testament. Witness, all We hosts of
Heaven witness, time: witness. eternity.
| Signed, sealed and delivered in this our dy-
Ing hour. FArHEr: AND MOTHER.
You did not get that will proved at the
Surrogate's office; but l take it out to-day
and l read it to you; I take it out of the
alcoves of your heart; 1 shake the dust off
of it, l ask you. Will you accept that in
h%eritance, or will you break the will? O
We Of Christian ancestry, you have a re-
sponsibility vast beyond all measurement
God will not let you off with Just being as
good as ordinary people when you had
ordinary advantage. Ought not a
flower planted in the hot-house be more
thrifty han a flower planted outside in the
storm? Ought not a factory turned by the
Housatonic do more work than a factory
turned by a thin and shallow mountain
stream? Ought not you of great early op.
%portunity be better than those who had a
cradle unhlessed?
A father sets his son up in business. He
keeps an account of all the expenditures.
So much for store fixtures, so much for
rent, SO much for this, so much for that,
and all the items aggregated, and the
father expects the son to give an account.
Your Heavenly Father charges against
you all the advantages of a pious ancestry
so many prayers, so much Christian ex-
ample, so many kind entreaties-all these
l.. - kuov~orIn,vc q Opr0.