The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-27
A DISCOURSE ON HEREDITY.
THE OBJECT OF DIR. TALMAGE's
SERMON YESTERDAY.

Glorious Inheritance-Those HmN-
ing "A Depraved Ancestry bound
10 brace Themselves Against Evil
Tendencies.
Washington. July 25.-This sermon by
Rev. DIT. Talmage on herelity viii brins
all the family records into reqlisition. and
lead people 10 study their oWn proclFiiy
towards good or evil The text chos %
was; J. Samuel 17-5S- "N hose son arr
thou. thou yOung MANI
Never was there more unequal night
than that between David and Goliath
David five feet high. Goliath ten. David
a shepherd boy. brought Up amid rural
scenes: Goliath warrior by profession.
Goliath mountain Of braEsad0cioi David
a marvel o. humility Goliath armed with
an iron spear; David armed with
q sling with smooth stones from the
brook But you are not 10 despise these
latter weapons. There was a regiment OF
singers in the Assyrian army. and regi-
ment Of singers On 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.
The Greeks in their army had singers
who would throw leaden plummets in
scrfbed with the Irritating words: Take
this So It was a mighty weapon David
employed 10 that famous combat. a jew
ish 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 off. and
David saw the uncovered forehead. and
his opportunity had come. and taking his
sling and swinging IT around his head two
or three times. and aiming il at that un-
covered forehead. crashed il In like an
eggsheli. The battle over, behold the
tabeau. King Saul sitting, little David
standing, his fingers ciutched into the
hair OF decapitated Goliath. AS Saul sees
David standing there holding i'm his hand
the CHASTITY, reeking, staring trophy, evil
dence Of the complete victory over God
enemies the king wonders what parent
age 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 ques-
lion. The longer / live the more 1 believe
in blood-good blood, bad blood. proud
blood, humble blood. honest blood. thleV-
ing blood, herioc blood, cowardly blood
The tendency may skip a generation or
two. but ~ Is sure to come out, as in a lit
tie child you sometimes see a similarity TO
grandfather whose picture hangs
on the wall. That the physical and mental
ent 10 any one who keeps his eyes open.
The similarity is 50 striking sometimes
as to be amusing. Great families. regal or
literary, are apt 10 have the characteristics
all down through the generation, ana
what is more perceptible in such families
may be seen on a smaller scale in all fam
lies. A thousand years have no power to
obliterate the difference. The large lip Of
the house Of Austria IS seen in all the gem
erations, and is called the Hapsburg lin.
The house OF Stuart always means in all
generations cruelty and bigotry. and sem
suality: witness Queen of Scots. Wit
ness Charles / and Charles IL. Witness
James ! and James IL. 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
fondness for the sea, Indian blood means
roaming disposition, Celtic blood means
fervidity, Roman blood means conquest
The Jewish facility for accumulation you
may trace clear back to Abraham, of whom
the Bible says he was rich in silver and
gold and cattle" and to Isaac and Jacob.
who had the same characteristic.
Some families are characterized by lon
gevity. and they have a tenacity Of life
positively Methuselish. Others are char
acterized by Goliathian stature, and you
can see ii for one generation, two genera
tions, five generations in all the genera
tons. Vigorous theology runs down in
the line Of the Alexanders. Tragedy runs
on in the family of the kembles Litera-
ture runs on in the line Of the Trollopes
philanthropy runs on in the line of the
Wilberforces. Craftsmanship runs on in
the line of the &dames. You see these
peculiarities in all generations. Henry
and Catharine Of Navarro RELIGIOUS all
their families religious. The celebrated
family of the Casini, all mathematicfans.
The celebrated family Of the Medici.
grandfather, son and Catharine. all re-
markable 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 ig-
noble in high place and the honorable in
obscure place. A descendant Of Edward
/ toll-gatherer. A descendant Of Ed
ward III doorkeeper. A descendant OF
the Duke of Northumberland a trunk
maker Some of the mightiest families OF
England are extinct, while some of those
most honored in the peerage 20 back ia
an ancestry of hard knuckles and rough
exterior. This law of heredity is entirely
independent Of social or political condi.
tons. Then you find avarice and jealousy
and SenSu3llty and fraud having ful
swing in some families. The violent tern.
per OF Frederick William is the inner
ttance of Frederick the Great 1t is NOT 2
theory founded by worldly philosophy
but by divine authority. Do you not re
member how the Bible speaks of a chosen
generation, of the generation Of the right
eous, of the generation of vipers
Of an untoWard generation, o
stubborn generation, of tn,
iniquity of the fathers visited upor
the children unto the third and four.l
generation? So that the text comes to
day with the force of a projectile hurle,
from mightiest catapult, Whose son ar
thou, thou young man?' Well, SAYS som,
one, that theory discharges me from al
responsibility Born of sanctified parents
we are bound to be good, and we canno
help ourselves. Born of unrighteous par
entage, we are bound to be evil, and W,
cannot help ourselves" Two inaccura cies
AS much as if you should say, The cen
tripetal force in nature has tendency /,
bring everything to the center, and, there
fore, all come 10 the center. The centri
fugal force in nature has a tendency Il
throw everything TO the periphery. and
therefore everything viii go out to tn,
periphery" You know as well as l know
that you can make the centripetal fore,
overcome the centrifugal, and YOU car
make the centrifugal overcome the centri
petal As when there is a mighty tide c
good in a family that may be overcome
by determination to evil, as in the cas-
of Aaron Burr, the libertine, who had TO
father President Burr, the consecrated
as in the case of Pierrepont Edwards. Ia,
scourge of New York society eighty wear
ago, who had a Christian ancestry, while
on the other hand, some of the best me,
and women of this day are those wh,
have come of an ancestry of which i
moi he,