Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-10-13
CalnnaSe
Sermon
BY Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmadc. ID. d.

Los Angeles, Cal. Oct. On this
sermon the preacher unsparingly cx-
poses the folly and wickedncss Of pride,
whether 1t be- founded on ancestry. DOS.
sessions. social position and influence
or upon personal vanity. The text ia
Proverbs xxx. 23. "a mans pride shall
bring him low
The Paphlagonian pigeons we're said
to have had two hearts. Psychologists
have good reason to doubt that state.
ment. but etymologists know that there
are some words that seem TO hive two
hearts Uttered in one sense their
meaning is good and pure, but uttered
in another sense their meaning is evil
and corrupt Like the chameleon, they
are able to change their outer colorings
to suit their environments In n bad
sense these words have the craven au-
ricles of culprit or bad lntcntioned
man. Their skins are as black us the
blackness of the eternal night that
they inhabit. In n good sense their
hearts beat steady and true. They are
the pumps which drive only good and
pure blood through their different ar
teries as the purest Of water tumbes
over the miller's wheel because that
water comes from the clearest Of
mountain streams.
The word pride in this age may
sometimes be used IN good sense. In
Bible times it always had deba sed
meaning. Searching through con
cordance cannot find one place where
that word pride" was not used as tho
symbol of "sin" and condemned ns the
cause of sin God denouuces it all
through the Old Testament ltod hurts
ut it his excavations nll through the
New. Arrogance and pride compose
the quicksands which have destroyed
many an immortal soul IN the past.
They are the insidious means whereby
Satan is tripping up and manacling his
helpless victims at tho present time
Therefore this sinful pride which is
found nesting In many hearts MS ia
tai cancer. must be cut out or some Of
us will be forever lost.
Pride Of Lineage
First, consider the silliesl OF all kinds
of pride, that Of aristocratc lineage.
The spoiled infant in its oauopied bed,
screaming for the attention Of its
nurse, is not more OF nuisance than
are these people who strut through the
world claiming the homage of their
fellows because OF their having been
born in an nristocratic home " cries,
Bow low to me. not because | have
brain or have accomplish anything,
not because l am of any earthly use to
anybody, but because ny father or
grandfather or great-granlfnther has
accomplished something % make his
name famous or becauSe my great
grandmother had in he veins the
blood OF the European aristocrncy."
Listen to the babblings IT one who
would continually shake before our
eyes a single branch Of his ancestral
tree which happened 10 bear a few
fragrant blossoms, while on that same
genealogical tree are hundreds OF 9th
or branches which have borne nothing
but worm eaten fruit. and which
branches have been gnarled and twist
Have you ever stopped to consider
how many different ancestors you have
had? My parents were two IN number.
| had one father and one mother. But,
stepping back another generation,
ind | had four grandparents and eight
great -grandparent and sixteen great
great grandparents and thirty two
great great great-gra Jparents. And 80
back and back they go doubling with
each generation. A few hundred years
back ] find my ancestors were not
counted by the tens but by the thou
sands. Now, my friends, what right
has nan with family pride to follow
UP one branch of genealogical tree
TINT lands him In a kings throne room
or In an earrS palace and ignore the
hundreds OF other ancestral lines. any
one OF which would land him in q
PEASANTS hut or perhaps even at the
end of a hangmans noosc2 For, though
some of us may not have had ancestors
who were hanged, all Of us have had
plenty OF them who ought to have been
hanged if they had been treated as
they deserved. Thus, when we esti-
mate how many different ancestors we
all have had. both good and bad.
there is a great deal Of broad common
sense in the answer which Theodore
Roosevelt gave to one of his boys who
had boosted in school about his family.
The president said There are only
two classes of boys in this world, my
son. Big boys and small boys alike are
either good boys or bad boys. 1t does
not make very much difference from
what family you spring, if you are a
good boy the world will respect you
and If bad boy the world will punish
you and despise you"
His Coat of Arms.
Then there is another fact that al
ways amuses me in reference to the
false assumptions OF family pride. Al
most without exception the great fam
HES of the earth are proud OF their
descent from some one man who In
his youth was nobody. the son Of
hodcarricr, stonemasOn or labor
er In the ditch Where did the proud
Astor family come fromf From a pal
ace? Oh, no. 1t sprang into promi.
nence from poor German emigrant
who had to cross the Atlantic prac-
tically in the Storage. Where did the
famous Vanderbilt family come from 2
-Four general tons back Cornelius Van
derbilt was a barefoot boy running