The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-08-12

be solace for them; bequeath to them
hope OF reunion when the partings OF ilfe are
over. Share and share alike. may they In
herit eternal riches. bequeath to them the
wish that they may avoid my errors ana
copy ANYTHING that may have been worthy.
In the name OF God who made me, and the
Christ who redeemed me, and the Holy
Ghost who sacrifices me. make this my last
will and testament. Witness all you hosts
OF heaven. Witness time, witness eternity.
Signed. sealed and delivered in this our
diving hour, Father and Mother" You did
not get that will proved at the surrogates
office. but take it out to-day and read 1t
to you. take it out Of the alcoves OF your
heart. shake the dust off it. ask II you
will accept that inheritance, or will you
break the will?
o We OF Christian ancestry, you have q
responsibility vast beyond all measurement.
God will not let you of with just being as
good as ordinary people when you mad sucn
extraordinary advantage. Ought nor
flower planted in hothouse be more thrifty
than q flower planted outside In Stornf
Ought not a factory turned by the houSa-
tonic do more work than factory turned oy
thin and shallow mountain stream! SuSns
not you of great early opportunity Do 1es'e,
than those who had a cradle unolesseus a
father sets his son up in business. de
keeps an account of all the expenditures, SO
much for store fixture. so much Tor rent, SO
mnch for this. so much for that, and all the
items aggregated, and the father expects the
son TO Give an account. Your Heavenly
Father charges against you all the adVan-
tapes OF pious aucestry-so many prayers,
80 much Christian example. SO many klno
entreaties-all these gracious influences. one
tremendous aggregate, and ne asks you tor
an account of 1t. Ought not you to be better
~, &b ,-hn ho1 ADVANTAGE
ter have been q founding picked up on the
CITY commons than with such magnlhcent
inheritance of conservation to turn out In
differently. Ought not you. my brother 10
be better, having had Christian nuture, than
the man who can truly say this morning:
"The first Hord remember my father speak
ing to me was an oath; the first time re-
member my father taking hold OF me was IN
wrath; never saw Bible till was Ten
years of age, aud then was told 1t was
pack OF lies. The first twenty years OF my
life was associated with the,,yicious. lseemed
to be walled in by sin and death
Now, my brother, ought you not-l leave
it as matter of fairness with you-ought you
not to be better than those who had no early
Christian influence? Standing as you do be-
tween the generation that Is past and the
generation that is to come, are you going TO
pass the blessing on, or are you going TO
have your life the gulf in which that tide OF
blessing shall drop out Of sight forever! You
arc the trustee of piety in that ancestral line,
and are you going to augment or squander
disinherit your sons and daughters OF the
heirloom which your parents left you? An,
that cannot be possible-it cannot be possible
that you are going to take such position as
that. You are very careful about life insur-
ances, and careful about the deeds. and
careful about the mortgage, and careful
about the title OF your property, beeause
when you step off the stage you want your
children to get it ALL Are you making no
provision that they shall get grandfathers
or grandmother's religion? Oh, what last
will and testament you are making, my
brother! "In the name OF God. amen. I,
being of sound mind, make this my last will
and testament. Ibequeath to my children
all the money ever made and all the houses
own, but I disinherit them, rob them OF
the ancestral grace and the Christian in
fuence that inherited. have squandered
that on my own worldliness. Share and
share alike must they In the misfortune and
the everlasting outrage. Signed, sealed and
delivered in the presence OF God and men
and angels and devils and all the genera
tions Of earth and heaven and hell, july
1896"
o ye of highly favored ancestry, wake up
this morning to a sense Of your opportunity
old cradle or fragment OF cradle some
where that could tell story Of midnight
supplication in your behalf. Where is the
old rocking chair in which you were sung to
sleep with the holy nursery rhyme? Where
is the old clock that licked away the mo.
ments of that sickness on that awful night
when there were but three of you awake
you and God and mother Is there not an
old staff in some closetp We beg youto turn
over new leaf this very day.
But I turn for a moment to those who had
evil parentace, and I want to tell you that
the highest thrones in heaven and the might
be for those who had evil parentage, but
who by the grace of God conquered-con-
quere4. AS good, as useful, as splendid
gentleman as / ever knew had for father
man who died blaspheming God until the
neighbors had to put their fingers in their
ears to shut out the horror. One Of the most
consecrated and useful Christian ministers
of to-day was the son of drunken horse
jockey. Tide of evil tremendous in some
families! It Is like Niagara rapids, and yet
men have clung to rock and been rescued.
There Is family in New York. whose wealth
has rolled up into many millions. that was
estates, sent back paper OF tacks because
they were cents more than he expected.
Grip and grind and gouge in the fourth
generation-I suppose it will be grip and
grind and gouge in the twentieth generation.
The thirst Of intoxicants has burned down
through the arteries Of a hundred and fifty
years. Pugnacity or combativeness charac-
terizes other families. Sometimes one form
of evil. sometimes another form OF evil. But
it may be resisted: it has been resisted. II
the family frailty be avarice, cultivate un-
seifshness and charity and teach your chill
dren never to eat an apple without offering
tv combativeness, keep out Of the company
of quick tempered people and never answer
an impertinent question until you have
counted hundred both ways, and after you
have written an angry letter keep it week
before you send it. and then burn it up.
Is the family frailty timidity and cow
ardlce. cultivate backbone; read the
biography Of brave men like Joshua or Paul
and see If you cannot get little iron in
your blood. Find out what the family
frailty is and set body, mind and soul in
battle array. Conquer you will. I think
the genealogical table was putin the first
chapter of the New Testament not only to
show our Lords pedigree, but to SHOW that
q man may rise up il an ancestral line and
beat back successfully all the influences Of
bad heredity. See in that genealogical table
that good King Asa was born Of vile King
Abba. See in that genealogical table that
Joseph and Mary and the most iuustrious
Being that ever touched cur world or ever
will touch it had in their ancestral line
scsndslous Rehoboam and Rahab and
Thamar and Bathsheba. If this world is
ever to be Edenized-and it will be-all the
infected families OF the earth are to be re-
generated, and there will some one arise in
each family line and open o new genea-
logical table. There will be some Joseph to
arise in the line and reverse the evil in.
fluence Of Rehoboam, and there will be some
Mary to arise in the line aud reverse the
evil influence of Bathsheba. Perhaps