St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-10-23

The third of Dr.. S. G. Smiths lectures
on conditions affecting success in life of
the average young man, was delivered
| at the Peoples church last night. The
| preacher took for his text:
| Exodus, XIV, 2.-This is my God and will
| praise Him; my Fathers God and will ex-
| alt Him.
My fifty leading men were not Sc
| lected with any reference to religious
affiliations; indeed, that was not in my
mind in making up the list. l was not,
| however, prepared for the remarkable
| reSult.that an analysis of my answers
| reveals. Out of fifty no less than forty
| six were reared in positively Christian
| homes, while only one states that he
was reared without any religious in
| f1uences at all. This one exception
which proves the rule Is the more re-
markabie from the fact that this gentle
man is a devout and honored member of
one our leading churches. 1t must not
be supposed that all these men have
followed in the footsteps of their
fathers and mothers. l fear that
Il goOdly number of them are
very far from being devout Christians.
| A leading German fellow citizen
writes: Il was brought UP in the Pro-
testant religion, which, at the time of
my early youth was. and is still, prac-
| ticed in my native city in the most tOer-
ant manner. l recollect that at the
| death of my grandmother, who was a
| Catholic, there marched in the funeral
| procession a Catholic priest accom-
| panied by one Protestant clergyman on
| his right and another on his left. The in
terment took place at the cemetery
| grounds which were owned by the Pro-
testant churches Of the city, and after
| the conservation by the Catholic priest
| bOtn the Protestant ministers said few
words in memory and praise of the de-
| ceesed."
Some of my correspondents speak
| with shade of bitterness of the sever
| lty OF their early religious training. 1t
can be by no accident, however, that
these men of strength were reared in
Christian homes. There were multi
tudes of homes in those days which
were not Christian, just as there are
now. Triumphantly modern civiliza-
| spoken in voice of thunder.
II. the Lord, thy God, am Il jealous God
visiting the iniquities of the fathers
upon the children to the third and fourth
generation Of them that hate Me. and
| showing mercy unto thousands of them
that love Me and keep My command
ments." Where are the children who
were reared in infidel homes forty years
ago? What has become of the boys
whose mothers mingled no prayers with
the grooming of their lullabvs? The
| prayerieSs man perishes from the earth;
his pOSterity do not rise up and call him
blessed.
1t might be possible to make another
list of fifty leading men in st. Paul
which would not show such positive
| Christian results. But | challenge any
one to attempt the preparation of list
III which the majority should not have
been the offspring OF
RELIGIOUS MEN AND WOMEN.
| Such unique fact must be accounted
| for. 1t is easy enough to deny miracles
and to explain prophecy, TO overthrow
old dogmas, or to question the divinity
of Christ; but here is stubborn socio-
| logical fact, which the scientific man
cannot despiSe and is compelled to eX-
! plain.
\ Christian man cares for his body,
and by denying himself the vices is the
more likely to transmit good blood and
nerve to pGsterity. 1t Is worth some
thing to be we'll born. Good birth de-
|
i1ance of sound body and brain than
| any adventurous circumstances of fort
une. But far more than the fact of
heredity these boys were born in good
| environment. Being trained in
Christian home, they were early
taught the validity of law, human
and divine, and the necessity of ODE
dience. Such lesson thoroughly learned
is fully half of life's victory. Again
they were from their earliest youth sur
rounded with the noblest and most in
spring thoughts that have ever visited
the heart of man. The white hands up
lifted in prayer spoke to them of God.
The mute terror, whose only voice was
tears with which they stood by new
made grave, was broken with the COM
forting thought of Immortality brought
by One who said: Il am the resurrec-
ton and the life." They also learned
that duty is the noblest philosophy of
| living. and that mans greatness is es-
sentially moral.
There may not have been many books
in the house, but one of them at least,
was the Holy Bible, and no brain can
| fail TO be nouriShed that is fed by that
noble and immortal literature. They
were bred in the atmosphere of those
VINO believed in the kingdom of God.
These views gave color to life, and
| made any lofty ambition not only easy,
but natural. | must not forbear either
to speak of the influence OF
THE STRICT SABBATH
| of those early homes. | leave entirely
apart now the religious aspect of the
| Sunday question, in order to emphasize
that the day of rest from secular care
and toll SO rigidly imposed preserved in
a masterful way the lusty strength
which was even then in rebellion
against its rigid limits. If there be one
fact in the physical and mental history
of the world which seems to me eStab-
lished 1t is the validity of Sunday, in
the maturing of great character, and the
preservation of great strength.
Those homes of virtue were also
schools of thrift. And as vice did not
squander strength, neither did it prevent
the foundations of fortune. Out of the
habits of sturdy self-denial imposed in
the discipline of such youth had been
born the self-control and patience which.
have been able to struggle and also to
wait for the successes of the business
world. You ask me why all these boys
! have not become Christians as we'll as
successful. That cannot tell, except
in saying that Christian character is a
bestowment that no father can leave be-
! hind him for his son. Such a character
must be achieved by personal choice.
No father is responsible for the outcome
of his son. He is only responsible for
the counsels which he gives, the exam
| pie which he shows and the influences
which he maintains. Even God Himself
has not been able to make saints of all
His children.
| cannot forbear, however, word of
warning to my fifty leading men, and
to all others who are anxious that the
! best things shall be inherited by their
sons and daughters. You would leave
your children behind you a better
legacy than you yourself received, but
there is no legacy so valuable as tue in
| fluen ce of a Christian home. This
create wealth, develops character,
breed culture. 1t is the most powerful
forced In human development. You re-
ceiveer the legacy of your mothers
| praYS Your father gave to Won the