Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1896-07-27
WHOSE son ARE YOU :?
The REV. DR.. TALMAGE'S ELOQUENT
THOUGHTS ON HEREDITY.

redity Christian Ancestry, It's Power
and Its Responsibility-Kingsa 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 I Samuel xvii, 5S ::
Whose son art thou, thou young MANI"
Never was there 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 q warrior by profession !;
Goliath mountain Of braggadocio,
David marvel of humility; Goliath
armed with an iron spear, David armed
with 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-
tan army, and they made terrible exc
cution, and they could cast stone with
as much accuracy and force as now can
their army had singers who would
throw leaden plummets inscribed with
the irritating words, ''Take this!''
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 I'M
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 I'M
covered forehead, crashed it i'll 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 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 man?'' The king saw what you
and see, that this question Of heredity
is a mighty question.
Blood VIII Tell.
The longer live the more I believe
in blood-good blood, bad blood, proud
blood. humble blood, honest blood,
thieving blood, heroic blood, cowardly
blood. The tendency may skip genera
ton or two, but it is sure to come out,
as in a little child you sometimes see a
similarity to q 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 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 on a smaller scale in all fami-
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 I
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-
1igiosity, 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
L. IL L,
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 a tenacity
of life positively Methuselish. Others
are characterized by Goliathian stature,
and you can see it for one generation,
two generations, five generations, in all
the generations. 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. Philanthropy runs on
in the lines of the Wilberforces. States
manship 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 mathematicians. The cele
brated family of the Medici, GRANDPA
ther, son and Catherine, all remarkable
for keen intellect. The celebrated family
of Gustavus Adolphus, all warriors.
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 0hScrro T1ooo descendant Of Ed
ward I a toll gatherer. A descendant of
Edward III a doorkeeper A descendant
of the Duke of Northumberland a trunk
maker. Some of the mightiest families
of England are extinct, while some Of
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