The Penn's Grove record., 1896-07-31
REV, DR. TALMAGE
The Eminent lfiv mes Sunday
Discourse.
Subject "The Law of Heredits."

TEXT ''whose son art thou, thou young
inan?"-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
brought up amid rural scenes, Goliath a
warrior by profession; Goliath a mountain OF
b~raggadocio, David a marvel of humility
Goliath armed with an iron spear. David
armed with a sling, with smooth stones from
the brock. But you are not to despise these
latter weapons. There was a regiment OF
singers In the Assyrian armyand a regiment
OF singers in the Egyptian army, and they
made terrible execution, and they could cast
a stone with as much accuracy and force as
now can be sent shot or shell. TIL Greeks
in their army had singers who would throw
leaden plummets inscribed with the irritat-
ing words, ''Take this!"
SO 1t was a mighty weapon David en-.
ployed 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 laughter he threw his head
back and his helmet fell of, and David saw
the uncovered forehead, and his opportunity
had come, and taking this sling aud swing
ing 1t around his head two or three times,
and aiming 1t at that uncovered forehead,
crashed II in Ike 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 ham the
CHASTITY, 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 | see, that this question of heredity is a
mighty one.
The longer l live the more l believe In
blood-gOod blood, bad blood, proud blood,
humble blood, honest blood, thieving
blood, heroic blood, cowardly blood. The
tendency may skip a generation or two, but
1t is sure to come out, as in a little child
You sometimes see u similarity to a 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,
are apt to have the characteristics all down
through the generations, and what is more
perceptible In such families may be seen on
a smaller scale in all families. A thousand
years have no power to obliterate the diff
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 l and Charles II.
Witness James l and James ii and 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
. trana ptaur hn0lr 90 Ahpuhntta pf tuhnnN fh.
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, and they have
atenacityo of life positively Methnseiish. 9th
ers are characterized by Goliathian stature,
and you can see it for n generation. two
generations. five generations, in all the gen.
e~rations. Vigorous theology runs down in
the line of the Alexanders. Tragedy runs
on In the family of the Kembles. Literature
runs on in the line of the Trollopes. Phil
Hnthropy runs on In the lines of the Wilber-
forces. Craftsmanship runs on in the line of
the Adamses. You see these pecuiiarities 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-
seen liant Of Edward l Il toll gatherer. A
d~escendent of Edward III a doorkeeper. A
descendant OF the Duke of northumberland
a trunk maker. Some OF the mightiest fam
lilies OF England are extinct, while some of
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 svariGe and jealousy and sem
suality and fraud having full swing In some
families. The violent temper of Frederick
William is the inheritance of Frederick the
Great. 1t is not Il theory founded by world
ly philosophy, but by divine authority. Do
you not remember how the Bible speaks of a
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 a projectile hurled from
mightiest catapul". ''Whose son art thou,
thon young mani"
"Wcll," SAYS some one, that theory dis
charges me from all responsibility. Born of
sanctille | parents, we are bound to be good,
and We cannot help ourselves. Born OF un-
- W. a. - " W
evil, and we cannot help ourselves" Two
Inaccuracies. As much as if you should say:
The centripetal force in nature has u ten
dencyto bring everything to the center, and
therefore all come TO the center. The CEN
trifuGal force in nature has a tendency to
throw everything to the periphery, and
therefore everything will go out to the peri
phery." You know as well as l know that
you can make the centripeIalfO force overcome
the centrifugal, and you can make the CEN
Irifugal overcome the centripetal, as when
there is n mighty tide OF good i'll Il family
that may be overcome by determination to
evil; as in the case of Aaron Burr, the liber-
tine, who had Tor father President Burr, the
consecrated; as in the case OF P%ierrepont Ed
wards, the scOurgs of New York society
eighty years ago, who had aChristian auces-
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 speak in their
presence. The practical and useful object
Of this sermon is to show you thai If you
have come OF a Christian ancestry then you
are solemnly bound to preserve and develop
the glorious inheritance, or il you have come
OF a depraved ancestry then it Is your duty
to brace yourself against the evil tendency
by all prayer and Christian determination,
and you are to find out the family %irailties,
aud In arming the castle put the strongest
guard at the weakest gate. With these
smooth stones from the brook l hope to
strike you, not where David struck Goliath,
in the head. but where Nathan struck David,
in the heart. Whose son art thou, thou
Young man.
There is something in all winter holidays
to bring up the old folks. l think many of
our thoughts at such times arc set to the
tune OF "AulI Lang Svne." The old folks
we're so busy at such times in making us
happy and perhaps oil less resource made
their sons and Daughters happier than YOU
on larger resources are able 10 mike your
sons and daughters. The snow lay two feet
above their graves, but they SHOOK of the
white slankets and mingled in the holiday
ieshvities-the same wrinkles. the same
stoop OF shoulder undel the weight OF age,
The same OLD styie vi dress or coat, the sans
smile, the stlne tones q voice, ] nope you
remember them before they went away. Ii
moi. | hone there are those WHO have recitef-
you what they were, and that there may
be in your house some article OF dress OF
furniture with which you associate theil
memories. / want TO arouse the most sacred
memories of your heart while l make the
impassioned interrogatory in regard to your
pedigree, Whose son art thou, tho young
manY"
First l accost all those who are descended