The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-07-15

that man to do right who was born wrong
and whose early parental training has
not been what 1t ought to have been? By
the law of birth you have no right to
Judge all men alike. 1t is not fair or just
or right Why are we not ready to con-
fess the difference of man from man In
a moral and a spiritual and physical
sense?
In almost every family there are GER
tain moral or spiritual delinquencies to be
found in the ancestral records. We do
not speak much about their shortcomings
In public. The family skeletons are near
ly always put in the farthest corners of
the darkest closets. We not only shut the
doors of these closets, but doubly lock
them with two different locks. Then we
plug up the keyholes.
Now, my friends, l do not want you
to publish your past family difficulties.
But what I do want is for you never to
forget the moral weaknesses of that an
cestor. Just as you should guard your
body against the tendency to consumption
which you may have inherited from your
mother you should guard against the spe-
cial moral or the spiritual weakness which
you may have inherited from your father
or one of youth grandparents. Brother,
you cannot afford to trifle with that in
toxicating glass. You cannot afford to do
1t any more tndn cOulQ henry NHSOH,
who was once Vice President of the
United States. For years he was one of
the very few prominent officials in the
| city of Washington who would turn down
| his glass at the public banquets. One day
| some one asked him why he was so pro-
nounced upon the temperance question,
and he replied: IT was brought up in the
| home of drunkard. In order to be free
| of the sight Of drunken father, as lit
| tie boy l ran away from home and
| changed my name. The blood of drunk
en- parent is in my veins, and I cannot
afford to trife with this evil Henry
| Wilson was not the real name of the
| Vice President of the United States in
| 1873 My friend, If the intoxicating fires
are in your blood, beware how you trife
with the curse which destroyed the man
| hood of that noble parent
Beware of Speculation.
You, on the other hand, cannot afford
| to enter any speculative business. Your
| father may have lost a fortune in Wall
| street. He may not have been a gambler
with cards, but he was with stocks. You
/ cannot afford to take any business posi-
/ ton away from home. You have a noble
Christian wife and three children. AS
| long as you are in their surroundings you
are all right But beware of that moral
| delinquency of your ancestor. Better give
/ up that membership at the club. You may
| have greater opportunity there to yield
| to that evil tendency. You know 1t. Be
warel You are all right If by the help
| of God you turn and flee from danger as
/ you would run from a mad dog. But
| do not stand and hesitate. Do not let that
/ evil temptation which overthrow one Of
| your ancestors put its fatal hand upon
| you. else you are gone. Run from that
temptation In Gods name, run, run run!
| Nor do / wish to discourage you. These
| evil prepensities in your nature may be
/ turned to useful purposes The philoso-
| pliers tell us that dirt is only matter in
| the wrong place. The qualities which
| cause you so much anxiety may be used
| for your own good and the good of your
| country and the good of Christs cause.
/ The ingenuity and skill in the use of
| tools which the burglar employs in break
| ing into houses and picking the locks of
| safes is not an evil, but only a valuable
power prostituted to evil purposes. With
his powers he might be one of the most
useful mechanics. So your evil propensities
| may be turned to your advantage and to
| that of society.
Ihheritng Virtues.
| But shall l stop here? No The Bible
1 tells us that the sins of the fathers are
visited upon the children. But are not
the virtues of the parents also transmit
| ted? Then on account of the glorious