The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-08-12
REV. DIR. TAIMAGE.
SUNDAYS DISCOURSE BY THE
NOTED DIVINE.
Subject "The Law of Heredity."

TExT "Whose son art thou, thou young
man?"-I Samuel xviii, So.
Never was there a more unequal fight than
that between David and Goliath David five
feet high. Goliath ten; David a shepherd boy
Drought up amid rural scenes, Goliath q
warrior by profession; Goliath amountain oI
bracgadocio. David q marvel Of humility
Goliath armed with an iron spear. David
armed with sling. with smooth stones from
the brock. But you are not to despise these
Halter weapons. There was regiment oi
fsIingers In the Assyrian army and regiment
fof singers in the Egyptian army, aud they
Rrnade terrible execution, and they could cast
q 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 plummsts inscribed with the 1rritat-
Il ing words, Take this!'
So 1t was mighty weapon David en-
4 ployed in that famous combat. A Jewish
u rabbi says that the probability Is that Goliath
was in such contempt for David that in a
paroxysm OF laughter he threw his head
back and his helmet fell OF. and David saw
4 the uncovered forehead. and his opportunity
had come, and taking this sling and swing
/ ing it around his head two or three times,
and aiming it at that uncovered forehead,
crashed it in like an eggshell. The battle over,
behold the tableau: King Saul sitting, little
sAS
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 NAM" The king saw what you
and I see. that this question Of heredity IS a
. mighty one.
The longer I live the more I believe in
blood-good blood, bad blood, proud blood,
4 humble blood, honest blood. thieving
blood, heroic blood, cowardly blood. The
| tendency may skip a generation or two, but
| It is sure to come out, as in little child
| you sometimes see q similarity to great
/ grandfather whose picture hangs on the
: wall. That the physical and mental and
. moral qualities are Unbeatable is patent to
any one who keeps his eyes open. The SIM
ilarity is so striking sometimes as to be
amusing. Great families, regal or literary,
4 are apt to have the characteristics all down
through the generations, and what is more
perceptible in such families may be seen on
smaller scale in all families. thousand
years have no power to obliserate the dill
ference.
The large lip of the house Of Austria is
seen in all the generations and Is called the
! Hapsburg lip. The house of Stuart al
ways means in all generations cruelty and
| bigotry and sensuality. Witness Queen OF
Scots. Witness Charles and Charles II.
I Witness James I and James II aud all the
other scoundrels of that line. Scottish blood
means persistence, English blood means
reverence for the ancient, Welsh blood
means religiosity, Danish blood means fond
ness for the sea. Indian blood means roam
ing disposition, Celtic blood means fervid-
ity, Roman blood means conquest. The
Jewish facility for accumulation you may
trace clear back to Abraham. of whom the
Bible says. she was rich In silver and gold
and CATTLE" and to Isaac and JACOB, who
had the same characteristics. Some families
are characterized by longevity, andthey have
a atenacity of life positively Methuselish. 9th
ers are characterized by Golinthian stature.
and you can see it for one generation. two
generations. five generations, in all the gen
erations. Vigorous theology runs down IN
the line of the Ale1anders. Tragedy runs
on in the family of the Kembles. Literature
runs on in the line of the Trollopes. Phil
anthropy runs on in the lines of the Wilber-
forces. Craftsmanship runs on in the line OF
the Adamses. You see these peculiarities in
all generations. Henry and Catherine OF
Navarro religious, all their families religious.
The celebrated family Of Casini, all mathe-
maticians. The celebrated family OF the
Medici. grandfather, son ard Catherine, all
remarkable for keen intellect. The celebrat-
ed family OF Gustavus Adolphus. all war
riors.
This law Of heredity asserts itself without
reference to social or political condition. for
you sometimes find the ignoble in high place
and the honorable in obscure place. A de-
scendant of Edward I toll gatherer. A
descendent of Edward III doorkeeper. A
descendant of the Duke of Northumberland
trunk maker. Some of the mightiest fam
NJ rrh
those most honored in the peerage go back
to an ancestry of hard knuckles and rough
exterior. This law of heredity Is entirely
Independent of social or political conditions.
Then you find avarice and Jealousy and SEN
suality and fraud having full swing in some
families. The violent temper Of Frederick
William is the inheritance OF Frederick the
Great. It is not theory founded by world
ly philosophy. but by divine authority. Do
you not remember how the Bible speaks Of
chosen generation, Of the generation Of the
righteous, Of the generation OF vipers, OF an
untoward generation, of a stubborn genera
ton, Of the iniquity of the fathers visited
upon the children unto the third and fourth
generations? So that the text comes to-day
with the force OF projectile hurled from
mightiest catapult. "Whose son art thou,
thou young man?"
"Wcll," says some one, .that theory dis
SaoISOo LILO iIOLu nl oOln Va
sanctihed parents, We are bound to be good,
and we cannot help ourselves. Born OF un-
righteous parentage, We are bound TO be
evil, and we cannot help ourselves" Two
Inaccuracies: As much as ifyou should say:
'The centripetal force in nature has ten
dencyto bring everything to the center, and
therefore all come to the center. The GEN.
trifugal force in nature has tendency to
( throw everything to the periphery, and
therefore everything will 90 out to the peri
phery." You know as we'll as I know that
. you can make the centripstal force overcome
| the centrifugal. and you can make the CEN
| trifugal overcome the centripetal, as when
tfSre is mighty tide Of good in family
that may be overcome by determination to
evil; as in the case OF Aaron Burr, the lber-
tine, who had for father President Burr, the
consecrated as il the case of Pierrepont Ed
wards, the scourge Of New York society
eighty years ago. who had Christian ances-
try, while. on the other hand, some OF the
best men and women of this day are those
who have come Of an ancestry Of which it
would not be courteous to speal: in their
presence. The practical and useful object
e of this sermon Is to show you that If you
= have come of Christian ancestry then you
are solemnly bound to preserve and develop
the glorious Inheritance, or If you have come
Of depraved ancestry then It is your duty
10 Ufdco youESeii dSdlASS tuo evil louueucy
by all prayer and Christian determination,
and you are to find out the family frailties,
md In arming the castle put the strongest
guard az the weakest gate. With these
mooth stones from the brook I hope to
trike you, not where David struck Goliath,
n the head. but where Nathan struck David,
q the heart. Whose son art thou, thou
oung MANI"
First accos. all those who arc descended
Christian ancestry. do not ask If your
arents were perfect. There are no perfect
eople now. and do not suppose there were
ny perfect people then. Perhaps there was
onetimes too much blood in their eye when
hey chastised you. But, from what I know