Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1898-03-31
ACCORDING To TALENTS
All OF Us Will Be Judged on the
Last Day.
Our Environment at Birth and Evil Inf
ences That May Have Surrounded Us
Win he Duly Considcred-Au Men
Not Created Equsl-Rev. Dr.
Talmage's sermon.

In the greatest sermon ever preach
ed-a sermon about IS minutes long,
according To the ordinary rate of
speech-a sermon ON the Mount of
Olives, the preacher sitting while lie
spoke. according to the ancient mode
of oratory, the people were given TO
understand that the same yard-stick
that they employed upon Others would
he employed upon themselves. Meas
ure others by a harsh rule, and YOU
will bc measured 10y harsh rule.
Measure others by a charitable rule.
and you will he measured 10y a char
liable rule. tive no mercy Ia others
and no mercy will hc given Ia you.
With what measure We mete, il shall
he measured 10 you again"
There is a great deal of unfairnesS in
criticism in human conduct Ii was 10
smite that unfairness that Christ ut
tered the words IF the text, and INV
sermon will be a re-ccho of the divine
sentiment In estimating the mis-
behavior of others. we must take into
consideration the pressure of circum-
stances. Ii is never right tn do wrong.
but there are degrees Of culpability.
When men misbehavc ar commit some
atrocious wickedncss we are disposed
: sndiscriminately TO tumble them all
over the bank az condemnation. Suf-
fer they ought, and suffer they must,
but in difference of degree.
In the first place, in estimating the
misdoing of others, We must take into
calculation the hereditary tendency.
There is such a thing as good blood.
and there is such a thing as had blood
There are families that have had a
moral twist in them for hundred
wears back. They have not been
careful to keep the family record
in that regard. There have been
cscarades, and maraudings and
scoundrelisms and moral deficits
all the way back, whether You
call it kleptomania, or pyromania or
dipsomania, or whether il be in a
milder form, and amount to no mania
at all The strong probability is that
the present criminal started life with
nerve, muscle and bone contaminated.
As some start life with a natural ten
dency TO nobility and generosity and
kindness and truthfulness. there are
others who start life with just the on
posite tendency, and they are horn
liars, or born indictments, or born
outlaws. or born swindlers.
There is in England a school that is
called the Princess Mary school. All
the children in that school are the
children of convicts. The school is
under highpatronage. ! had the pleas
ure of being presented At one of their
anniversaries, presided over by the
earl of kintore. by wise law in
, England, after parents have commit
ted a cirtain number of crimes. and
thereby shown the mselves incompetent
rightly To bring up their children. the
little ones are taken from under per-
nieious influences and Iut in reform
atory schools, where all gracious and
kindly influences shall he brought
upon them, of course the experiment
is young, and il has got to be demon
strated how large a percentage of the
children of convicts may Ire brought
up TO responsibility and usefulness.
But we all know that il is more diff
cult for children of bad parentage to
do right than for children of good
rarentage.
In this country we are taught 10y the
declaration of American independence
that all people are born equal There
never was a greater MISREPRESENTATION
put in one sentence than in that SEN
tence which implies that we are born
equal You may as well say that flow
ers are born equal, or animals are born
equal Why does one horse cost 500
and another horse cost 5000? Why
does one sheep cost $40 and another
sheep cost $500 Difference in blood.
We are wise enough to recognize il
in horses, in cattle, in sheep, but we
are not wise enough to make allow
ances for the difference in the human
blood. Now i demand by the law of
eternal fairness that You be more
lenient in your criticism of those who
were born wrong. in whose ancestral
line there was a hangman's knot, OF
who came from a tree the fruit of
which for centuries has been gnarled
eunG Worm-eaten
7ff0rrie1 reformer.> gave some
marvellous statistics in his story Of a
woman he cailed "Margs~ct, the
mother of criminals" Naety years
ago she lived in a village i !. upper New
York state. She was not only poor.
but she was vicious. She was not well
provided for. There were no aims
houses there. The public however,
somewhat looked after her. but chiefly
scoffed at her. and derided her, and
pushed her further down in crime
That was 9, years ago. There have
been 6s3 persons in that ancestral line.
200 of them criminals In one branch
of that family there were 20, and nine
of them have been in state prison, and
nearly all of the others have turned
out badly.
1t is estimated that that family cost
the county and state 500, 900, to say
nothing of the property they destroy
ed. Are you not willing, rs sensible,
fair people. TO acknowledge that it is a
fearful disaster to be born in such ar
ancestral line? Does it not make q
great difference whether one descends
from Margaret. the mother of crimi
nails. or from some mother in Israel:
Whether you are the son of Ahab OF
the son Of Joshua?
IL is n very different thing to swim
with the current from what il is Il
swim against the current, as some OF
you have no doubt found in your sum
mer recreation. IL a man finds him
self in an ancestral current, whers
there is good blood flowing smoothly
from generation to generation, il il
not a great credit to him If he turn out
rood. and honest and pure, and noble
He could hardly helpit But suppose h,
. is born in an ancestral line, in an hered
itary line, where the influences hav,
been bad, and there has been a coming
jown s=er a moral declivity, il tn,
ssa6 surrenders to the influences h,
will go down under the overmasterinl
gravitation unless some supernatural
aid be afforded him. Now, such a per
son deserves not your excoriation, bu
your pity. Do not sit with the lii
curled in scorn, and with an assumed
air of sngelic innocence looking dow
upon such moral precipitation. Io1
had better get down on your knees an
FIRST pray Almighty God for your res