Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-07-13
Calnnase
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Tslmasc. d. D.


and its potent influence In molding life
and character is discussed by the
preacher, who points out the only way
in which an evil Inheritance from ones
ancestors may be overcome. The text
is 1 Samuel xvii, So Whose son art
thou. thou young manY
II you were to ask the average
American, "Would you like to live i'm
EuropeT I'm ninety-nine cases out OF
hundred he would answer, 'No"-em-
phatically no. Europe is not the place
for n poor man or for the son of
poor man, but only for the aristocrat
If a man has not had a father and q
grandfather and a great-grandfather
belonging to the nobility he has but lit
tie chance OF social recognition. There
the question which man asks man is
not ''who are your or 'what have
you doneT' or what do you know ~
but who was your fatherT' "who
was your motherT' People across the
seas seem to think more about the
cradle in which you were rocked as a
baby than about the schools In which
you have studied and the business
house in which you have worked.
You say this absurdity of reverence
for blood Is never more demonstrated
than in the unhappiness of some of our
international marriages. Many OF the
poverty stricken titled families of Eu-
rope want the American ducats. Their
palms are itching after the American
gold. But when the dukes and the
earls and the marquises WOO Americas
fairest daughters and take them to
their dingy ancestral halls the titled
mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law and
cousins-in-law patronize and slight the
foreign interloper. Though their we'd
ding robes may be made out OF pearls
and their dowries be as big as the
opened chest OF a Monte Cristo, yet
because their blood Is not "biue" the
old families VIII have as little as posi-
BILE to do with the American brides.
oh, the absurdity OF cringing before
blood. Oh, the righteousness of MAX
ing passport for social success out OF
the mildewed epitaphs of ancestors
whose bodies turned to dust one CEN
fury, two centuries or even four or Eve
centuries agoi
Wrong Ancestor Worship.
Yes, ii is absurd TO worship at the
graves Of ancestors, as do some OF the
titled families of Europe. When in
January. 1750, the ancestral bones of
the Hohenzollerns were being moved
into the new crypts OF the great cathe-
dral where they now sleep Frederick
the Great, who had deep reverence
for his grandfather. Frederick William,
the great eiector, had his ancestors
coffin opened. Then he looked with
alteration upon the face OF the dead
He patted the hands moldering into
dust as he turned TO his courtiers and
said: "Ah, gentlemen, these are the
hands which did the great works!
These are the sacred handsw SO some
people reverence their dead ancestors
and never cease TO hold high their
heads In pride of what their great
grandfathers did, though their own
hands have never done anything re-
markable and though they have been
all their lives mere parasites, depend
ing on others for their support and ad-
vancement
But though Europe may err In too
much reverence for the dead, 1 be-
iieve Americans err just as much on
the other side when they pretend to
desplse the sources from which their
family blood is derived. The sins OF
the fathers are visited upon the chill
dren, even unto the third and fourth
generations. BY the same law OF her
itage the virtues OF the parents are
also transmitted through the blood.
want you this morning to anaiyze your
blood In the gospel laboratories.
would put your eye to the gospel micro
scope and invite you to examine your
ancestral corpuscles. i want you TO
find your limitations physically. men,
tally, morally and spiritually. And as
some OF us learn how narrcw our
horizons may be on account OF our
family blood Iswould also have some
OF us learn how great, our opportuni-
ties Of life are on account OF father
and mother and grandparents and
great-grandparents whose qualities we
inherit.
L would have you do this for your
own sake and for the sake OF your
children. These evil propensities may
be checked. These evil tendencies may
be controlled. When you learn from
your self examination and from your
knowledge of your ancestors what
your dangers are you know where to
station your guard and what tempta-
tons you must avoid. You may over
come your inherited faint. Most of the
philosophers declare that environment
and education are more potent In the
formation OF character than the strong
est hereditary influence You may have
no clio Of l..,.1 no.
and transmitting to your children an
inheritance purified and cleansed.
Reversing the Inheritance.
1 would take you, in the first place,
and examine you in reference to your
ancestors in physical sense. / would
ask you such questions as the life in
surance doctor does when you are
about to take out a new policy. Are
your two parents alive7 At what age
did they die? OF what disease? Are
your uncles and aunts alive? At what
age and of what disease did they die !?
How long did your grandparents on
your mothers side live? How long did
your grandparents on your fathers
side live? What were the diseases of
which they died? Are your brothers
and sisters all living? What did your
brother and two sisters die of? You
look up sharply and say TO the NE in
surance physicians: Doctor, 1 am not
here to get my family or my dead an
cestors insured. want to get my own
life insured. Why are you asking me
all these questions?" The physician
viii answer: 1T is very important for
me to ask these questions. I want to
lind the family weaknesses. If I find
that your blood is tainted with the