Democratic Northwest and Henry County news. [volume] (Napoleon, O. [Ohio]) 1894-1905, 1896-07-30

NAoo1 AAIcE-e@IcCs
wAsHI1GTos, July 26.-This sermon by
Rev, DR. Talmage on hercdity will bring
all the family records into requisition and
lead people to study their own proclivisy
toward good or evil The text chosen was
I Samuel xvii, SO, Whose son art thou,
thou young mAnS"
Never was there q more unequal fight
than that between David and Goliath;
David 5 feet high, Goliath 10; David a
boy brought up amid rural
scenes, Goliath a warrior by profession;
Goliath mountain of braggadocio, David
D 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 weap-
ona
A Mighty Weapon.
There was a regiment of singers In the
army, and regiment Of singers
in the Egyptian army and they made ter
rible 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 inscribed with the irri-
tating words, "Take thisr' So it was
mighty weapon David employed II that
famous combat. A Jewish rabbi says that
the probability is that Goliath was in such
contempt for David that in paroxysm of
be threw his head hack and his
helmet fell off, and David saw the uncover
ed forehead, and his opportunity had come,
and taking this sling and swinging it
around his head two OF three times and
aiming 1t at that uncovered forehead crash
ed it in like an eggshell. The battle over,
behold the tableau: King Saul sitting; lit
tie 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 hero
ism, and in my text he asks David his
pedigree, "Whose son art thou, thou young
MANI"
The king saw what you and I see, that
this question of heredity ia mighty ques-
ton. The longer live the more believe
in blood-good blood, bad blood, proud
blood, humble blood, honest blood, thiev-
ing blood, heroic blood, cowardly blood
The tendency may skip q generation or
two, but it is sure TO come out, as In q lit
tie child you sometimes see similarity to
a great-grandfather whose picture hangs
on the wall That the physical and mental
and moral qualities are Unbeatable is pat
ent 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 fam
lilies. A thousand years have no power to
obliterate the difference. The large lip of
the house of Austria is seen In all the gen
erations and Is called the Hapsburg lip
The house Of Stuart always means in all
generations cruelty and bigotry and sensu-
ality. Witness 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 reli-
giosity, Danish blood means fondness for
the sea, Indian blood means roaming dis
position, Celtic blood means fervidity, Ro-
man 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 characteristics Some families
are characterized by longevity, and they
have tenacity Of life positively Methusel-
ish. Others are characterized by Goliathian
stature, and you can see it for one genera
ton, 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 Philan-
thropy runs on in the line of the Wilber-
forces Craftsmanship runs on in the line
of the Adamses. You see these peculiari-
ties in all generations. Henry and Gather
inc of Navarro religious, all their families
religious The celebrated family of the
Casini, all mathematicians The cele-
brated family of the Medici, grandfather,
son and Catherine, all remarkable for keen
intellect. The celebrated family Of Gus
tavus Adolphus, all warriors This law OF
heredity asserts itself without reference to
social or political condition, for you some
times find the ignoble in high place and
the honorable in obscure place A descend.
ant Of Edward I tollgatherer. A de.
scendant of Edward III q doorkeeper. A
descendant of the Duke of Northumber.
land q trunkmaker. Some of the might.
est families of England are extinct, while
some Of those most honored in the peerage
go back to an ancestry of hard knuckles
and rough exterior.
Whose Son Art Thou?
This law of heredity is entirely independ
ent of social or political conditions. Ther
you find avarice and jealousy and sensu
ality and fraud having full swing in some
families The violent temper Of FredericH
William Is the inheritance Of Frederick the
Great 1t is not theory founded by
worldly philosophy, but by divine author
ity. Do you not remember how the Bible
speaks Of chosen generation, Of the gen
Grafton of the righteous, of the generation
of vipers, of an untoward generation, of 6
stubborn generation, of the iniquity of the
fathers visited upon the children unto tht
third and fourth generations So that the
text comes today, with the force of pro
iectile hurled from mightiest catapult
Whose son are thou, thou young mani?
well, )" says some one, that theory dis
charges me from all responsibility. Bor1
of sanctified parents, we are bound to bt
good, and we cannot help ourselves. Borr
of unrighteous parentage, we are bound tt
be evil, and we cannot help ourselves.
Two inaccuracies AS much as If yot
should say, 1.-THE centrfpetal force In ma
ture has tendency to bring everything tx
the center, and therefore all come to thu
center. The centrifugal force in nature
has tendency to throw everything to the
periphery, and therefore everything will e
out to the periphery"
You know as well as know that yor
can make the centripetal force Overcome
the centrifugal, and you can make the cen
trifugal overcome the eentripetal a!
when there Is q mighty tide of good In &
family that may be overcome by determine
tion to evn--as In the case of Aaron Burr
the hbertine, who had for father Presi
dent Burn, the consecrated; as in the cas-