The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-08-07
INFICENCE OF HEREDITY
,ou I,r. Talmage Discourses Upon
an Interesting Topic.
~.. Good and Evil Traits Developed in
mankind Largely the Results OF
neutrality-suspicious. Son Art Thou,
Thou Young Man7"


.soratiop. 1t was based on the text:
whose son art thou, thou young mans-I
Samuel, XVIII 90
Never was there a more unequal
srht than that between David and Co.
hath. David, five feet high; Goliath.
n David. shepherd boy, brought
~ amid rural scenes; Goliath, war
rior bv profession. Goliath a mount
ain of braggadocio; David marvel of
humility. Goliath armed with an iron
snear; David armed with sling with
smooth stones from the brook. But
ror are not to ydespise 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 a
stone with as much accuracy and force
as now can be sent shot for she'll. The
Greeks in their army had singers who
would throw leaden plummets in.
scribed with the irritating words:
"Take this!" So it was mighty weap-
on David employed in that famous
.ombat. A Jewish rabbi says that the
probability is that Goliath was in such
contempt for David that in a paroxysm
~ laughter he threw his head back
and his helmet fell off, and David saw
the uncovered forehead, and his OBJ
nortunity had come, and, taking
this sling and swinging it around
his head two or three times,
and aiming it at that un-
covered forehead, crashed it in like an
epgshell. 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, reek-
inc 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 question. The longer l live
the more l believe in blood-good
blood, bad blood, proud blood, humble
bood honest blood, thieving blood,
heroic blood, cowardly blood. The
tendency may skip a generation or
two, but it is sure to come out, as in a
little child you sometimes see 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
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 gen
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 IL. Witness James /. and
James H., and all other scoundrels OF
that line. Scottish blood means per
Sistence, English blood means rever
ence for the ancient, Welsh blood
means religiosity, Danish blood
means fondness for the sea, In
dian blood means roaming dis
position, Celtic blood means fervidity
Roman blood means conquest. The
Jewish faculty for accumu lation yor
may trace clear back to Abraham, Of
whom the Bible says The was rich II
silver and gold and CATTLE" and tt
Isaac and Jacob, who had the same
characteristics. Some families are
characterized by longevity, and they
have tendency of life positively Me
thuselish. Others are characterized
by Goliathian stature, and you can SEE
it for one generation, two generations
i've Generations, in all the genera
lions. Vigorous theology runs dowr
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 IL
the line of Wilberforces. Statesman
ship runs on in the line OF tn
Adamses.
You see these peculiarities in al
generations. Henry and Catherine o
Navarro religious, all their famiiie
religious, The celebrated family o
the Casini, all mathematicians. Th'
celebrated family of the Medici, grand
father, son and Catherine, all remark
able for keen intellect. The cele
orated family of Gustavus Adolphus
all warriors. This law of heredity as
serts itself without reference to socia
or political condition, for you some
times find the ignoble in high plac