The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-04-01

is His Text
If the spirit of this sermon of DR..
Talmage were carried out, the world
would be a better place to live in, and
the fallen would find it easier to recov-
er themselves; text, Matthew vii, 2,
With what measure you mete it shall
be measured to you again."
In the greatest sermon ever preached
"a sermon about fifteen minutes long
according to the ordinary rate Of
speech-a sermon ON the Mount of
Olives, the preacher sitting while he
spoke, according to the ancient mode
of oratory, the people were given to
understand that the same yardstick
that they employed upon others would
be employed o themselves. Measure
others by a harsh rule, and you will be
measured by a harsh rule. Measure
others by a charitable rule, and you
will be measured by a charitable rule.
Give no mercy to others and no mercy
will be given to you. With what
measure ye mete it shall be measured
to you again"
There is a great deal of u%nfairness in
criticism in human conduct. 1t was to
smite that unfairness that Christ ut
tered the words of the text, and my
sermon will be a re-echo of the divine
sentiment. In estimating the misbe-
haviOr Of others we must take into
consideration the pressure of circum-
stances. 1t is never right to do wrong,
but there are degrees of ~culpability.
When men misbehave or commit some
atrOciOus wickedness, we are disposed
Unfortunately to tumble them all
over the bank of condemnation. Suf-
fer they ought, and suffer they must,
but in a difference of degree.
THE HEREDITARY TENDENCY.
In the first place, in estimating the
misdOing of others we must AXE INTO
calculation the hereditary tendency.
There is such a thing as good blood,
and there is such a thing as bad blood.
There are families that have had a
moral twist in them for a hundred
years back. They have not been care
full to keep the family record in that
regard. There have been e%scapades
and m%araudings and scoundrelisms
and moral deficits all the way back,
whether you call it k1eptomania or py-
rOmania or ~dipsomania or whether it
be in a milder form and amount to no
A"AA q o1' Ii p1oDdDlllLy
is that the present criminal started
life with nerve, muscle and bone con-
taminated. AS some start life with
a natural tendency to nobility and
generosity and kindness and truthful
ness, there are others who start life
with just the opposite tendency, and
they are born liars or born malcon-
tents or born outlaws or born swind-
lers.
There is in England a school that is
called the Princess Mary school. All
the children in that school are the chill
dren of %convicts. The school is under
high patronage. I had the pleasure of
being present at n of their anniver-
saries, presided over by the Earl of
KintOre. By a wise law in England
after parents have committed a certain
number of crimes and thereby shown
themselves incompetent rightly to
bring up their children the little ones
are taken from under pernicious in
fluences and put in ~reformatory
schools, where all gracious and kindly
influences shall be brought upon them.
OF course the experiment is young.
and it has got to be demonstrated how
large a percentage of the children Of
convicts may be brought up to respec-
liability and usefulness. But we all
know that it is more difficult for chill
dren of bad p~arentage to do right than
for children of good parentage.
ALL BORN EQUAL.
In this country we are taught by the
Declaration of American Indepen-
dence that all people are born equal.
There never was a greater miSrepre-
sentatiOn put in one sentence than in
that sentence which implies hat we
are all born equal. You may as we'll
say that flowers are born equal or trees
are born equal or animals or born
equal. Why does one horse cost 500
and another cost $4,000? Why does
one sheep cost $40 and another sheep
cost $500? Difference in blood. We
are wise enough to recognize it in
horses, in cattle, in sheep, but we are
not wise enough to make allowance for
the difference in human blood. Now.
/ demand by the law of eternal fair
ness that you be more lenient in your
criticism of those who were BORN
wrong, in whose ancestral line there
was a hangman's knot, or who came
from a tree the fruit of which for
centuries has been gnarled and worm
eaten.
DR.. Harris, a reformer, gave some
marvellous statistics in his story of a
woman he called Margaret, the moth
er of criminals" Ninety years ago
she lived in a village in 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 her crime.
That was 80 years ago. There nave
been 623 persons in that ancestral line,
200 of them criminals. In n branch
of hat 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