St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-09-19
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
A Discourse Upon the Power and
influence Of Eeredity.
Whose SIM Art Thou. Thou Young ManS'
From Countless Ages Man Has
Inherttcd His Traits From
His ANCESTOR.

the following sermon on '1ieredity'
before his Washington congregation,
basing it on the text:
Samuel. xviii, S.
fight than that between David and Go
Hath. David, five feet high; Goliath.
10. David. shepherd boy. brought
up amid rural scenes; Goliath. war
rior by profession. Goliath mount
ain of braggadocio; David marvel OF
humility. Goliath armed with an iron
spear; David armed with a sling with
smooth stones from the brook. But
you are not to despise these latter
weapons. There was a regiment OF
singers in the Assyrian army, and a
regiment of singers in the Egyptian
army, and they made terrible
execution, and they could cast q
stone with as much accuracy and force
as now can be sent shot for shell. The
Greeks in their army had singers who
would throw leaden plnmmets in.
scribed with the irritating words:
take th;sr' So it was a mighty weap-
on 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 laughter he threw his head back
and his helmet fell of. and David saw
tie uncovered forehead, and his OPP
portunity had come, and. taking
this sling and swinging it around
his head two CT three times,
and aiming it at that un-
covered forehead, crashed it in like an
eggshell. The battle over, behold the
tablcau: 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, reek-
ing 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. The longer live
the more / believe in blood-good
blood, bad blood, proud blood. humble
hood, honest blood, thieving blood.
heroic blood, cowardly blood. The
tendency may skip generation or
two, but it is sure to come out, as in a
little child you sometimes see a SINH
larity to a great-grand-father whose
picture hangs on the wall. That the
physical and mental and moral quail
ties 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 char
actertistics all down through the
generations, and what is more percept-
ible in such families may be seen on q
smaller scale in all families. A thou
sand 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
lip. The house of Stuart always
means in all generations cruelty and
bigotry and sensuality: Witness Queen
of Scots. Witness Charles ]. and
Charles H. Witness James l. and
James H., and all otheEscoundrels of
that line. Scottish blood means per-
sistence, English blood means rever-
ence for the ancient, Welsh blood
means religiosity, Danish blood
means fondncss for the sea. In
dian blood means roaming dis
position, Celtic blood means fervidity,
Roman blood means conquest The
Jewish faculty for accumu lation 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 tendency of life positively. Nc
thuselish. Others are characterized
by Goliathian stature, and you can see
it for one generation, two generations,
five fienera lions, in> all the genera
lions. Vigorous theology runs down
in the line of the Alexanders. Trag-
edy runs in the family of the Kembles.
Literature runs on in the line of the
Trollopes. Philanthropy runs on in
the line Of Wilberforces- Statesman
ship 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
the Casini, all mathematicians. The
celebrated family of the Medici. grand
father, son and Catherine, all remark
able for keen intellect The cele-
brated family of Gustavus Adolphus,
ell warriors. This law Of heredity as.
serts 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
descendant of Edward l. toll-gatherer.
A descendcnt of Edward ILL.,, = door
keeper. A descendant of the duke Of
Northumberland. a trunkmaker. Some
of the mightiest families of England
arc extinek;while some of those most
honored in the peerage go back to an.
cestry of hard knuckles and rough ex-
terror. This law. Of hersdity is entire
" independent Of social or political
conditions. Then you find avarice
and jealousy and sensualitv and fraud
having full swing in some families.
The violent temper of Frederick Will
liam is the inheritance of Frederick the
Great. It's not a theory founded by
worldly philosophy, but by divine au-
thority. Do you not remember how
the Bible speaks of q chosen genera
ton, of the generation of the right
eous, of the generation Of vipers, Of
an untoward generation. Of the in
EQUITY Of the fathers visited upon the
children unto the third and fourth
generation? So that the text comes
to-day with the force of n projectile
hurled from mightiest catapult,
Whose SON art thou. thou young
maui"
Well, says some one, that theory
discharges me from all responsibility.
Born of sanctified parents, we are
bound to be good and we can not help
ourselves Born of unrigkteous par.
entage, we are bound TO be evil, and
we can rot help ourselves Two 10.
=