Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-07-31
WHOSE son ARE YOU &?
THE REV. OR. TALMAGE'S ELOQUENT
THOUGHTS ON HEREDlTY.


and Its Responsibility Kings and Queens
Of God and Heirs Of Immortality.
WASHINGTON, July 26.-This sermon
by Rev. DR.. Talmage on heredity will
bring all the family records into requi-
sition and lead people to study their
own proclivity toward good or evil
The text chosen was Samuel xvii, 90:
"Whose son art thou, thou young mani"
Never was there a more unequal fight
than that between David and Goliath /;
David five feet high, Goliath ten; David
shepherd boy brought up amid rural
scenes, Goliath warrior by profession;
Goliath q mountain Of braggadocio,
David a marvel of humility; Goliath
armed with an iron spear, David armed
with a sling, with smooth stones from
the brook. But You are not to despise
these latter weapons. There was a regi-
ment Of singers in the Assyrian army
and regiment of singers in the Egyp-
tian army, and they made terrible exc
cution, and they could cast a stone with
as much accuracy and force as now can
be sent shot or she'll The Greeks in
their army had singers who would
throw leaden plummets inscribed with
the irritating words, Take thisP'
So it was a mighty weapon David
employed in that famous combat A
Jewish rabbi says that the probability
is that Goliath was in such contempt
for David that in a paroxysm of laugh
ter he threw his head back and his
helmet fell off, and David saw the un-
covered forehead, and his opportunity
had come, and taking this sling and
swinging it around his head two or
three times, and aiming it at that un-
covered forehead, crashed it in like an
eggshell. The battle over, behold the
tableau: King Saul sitting, little David
standing, his fingers clutched into the
hair Of decapitated Goliath. As Saul
sees David standing there holding in his
hand the ghastly, reeking, staring
trophy, evidence of the complete victory
over Gods enemies, the king wonders
what parentage was honored by such
heroism, and in my text he asks David
his pedigree, "Whose son art thou, thou
young mani" The king saw what you
and l see, that this question Of heredity
is a mighty question.
Blood VIII Tell.
The longer l live the more | believe
in blood-good blood, bad blood, proud
blood, humble blood, honest blood,
thieviug blood, heroic blood, cowardly
blood. The tendency may skip a genera
ton or two, but it is sure to come out,
as in a little child you sometimes see a
similarity to a great-grandfather whose
picture hangs on the wall. That the
physical and mental and moral qualities
are inheritable is patent to any one who
keeps his eyes open. The similarity is so
striking sometimes as to be amusing
Great families, regal or literary, are
apt to have the characteristics all down
through the generations, and what is
more perceptible in such families may
be seen OH smaller scale in all faml-
lies. A thousand years have no power
TO obliterate the difference.
The large lip of the house of Austria
is seen in all the generations and Is
called the Hapsburg lip. The house OF
Stuart always means in all generations
cruelty and bigotry and sensuality. Wit
ness Queen of Scots. Witness Charles
and Charles II. Witness James | and
James II and all the other scoundrels
of that line. Scottish blood means per
sistence, English blood means reverence
for the ancient, Welsh blood means re-
ligiosity. Danish blood means fondness
for the sea, Indian blood means roaming
disposition, Celtic blood means fervldlty
Roman blood means conquest. The
Jewish facility for accumulation yoT
may trace clear back to Abraham, o.
whom the Bible says she was rich IL
silver and gold and cattle, " and to Isaac
and Jacob, who had the same character
istics. Some families are characterized
by longevity, and they have tenacltl
of life positively Methuselish. Other
are characterized by Goiiathian stature
and YOU can see it for one generation
two generations, five generations, III al
the generations. Vigorous theology run
down in the line of the Alexanders
Tragedy runs on in the family OF tn
Kembles. Literature runs on in the lin
of the Trollopes Philanthropy runs ol
in the lines of the Wilberforces. States
manship runs on in the line OF tn
Adamses. You see these peculiarities Il
all generations Henry and Catherln
of Navarro religious, all their familie
religious The celebrated family o
Casini, all mathematicians. The cele
brated family Of the Medici, grandfa
ther. son and Catherine, all remarkabl
for keen intellect The celebrated famil.
of Gustavus Adolpbus, all warriors.
This law Of heredity asserts itsel
without reference to social or politica
condition, for you sometimes find tn
ionoble in high place and the honorabl
in obscure place. A descendant OF I'D
ward a toll gatherer. A descendant o
Edward III a dOorkeeper A descendan
of the Duke of Northumberland trun
maker Some of the mightiest familie
Of England are extinct, while some G
those most honored in the peerage g
back to an ancestry of hard knuckle
and rough exterior. This law OF heredlt
is entirely independent Of social or politi
cal conditions. Then you find avaric
and jealousy and sensuality and frau
having full swing in some famille:
The violent temper Of Frederick Wi
liam is the inheritance Of Frederick tn
: Great. It is not a theory founded b
worldly philosophy, but by divine AZ
thority. Do you not remember how IN
Bible speaks Of a chosen generation
the generation Of the righteous, OF th
r generation of vipers, of an untowar
generation, Of stubborn generation
the iniquity of the fathers visited upo
] the children unto the third and fourt
2 generation? SO that the text comes q
day with the force of projectile hurie
n from miehtieN catapult, Whose 80
art thou, thou young manF
natures Two Forces-
. "well." says some one, "that theor