Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1906-07-12
CalnnaSe
Sermon
By Rev.
Frank De Witt Talmase, d. D.

y,
Los Angeles, Cal, July S-IIeredity
and its potent influence in holding 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 I Samuel xvii, 90, Whose son art
thou, thou young man!'
If you were to ask the average
American would you like to live in
Europe?" in nincty-nine cases out of a
hundred he would answer, "No"-em.
phatically no. Europe Is not the place
for a poor man or for the son Of a
poor man, but only for the aristocrat.
If man has not had father and a
grandfather apd 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 you?" or 'Nvhat have
you done?" or what do you know p
but "Who was your father?' "Who
was your mother?" People across the
seas seem TO think more about the
cradle in which you We're 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 absuNlity of reverence
for blood is never more demonstrated
than in the unhappincss 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 marquiscs WOO Americas
fairest daughters and take them to
their dingy ancestral halls the titled
mothers Jaw and sisters in-law and
cousins-in-law patrQnize and slight the
foreign interlopcr. Though their we'd
ding robes may be made out of pearls
and their dovrcs be az big as the
opened chest Of a Monte Crsto. yet
because their blood Is not blue the
old families vii! have as little as posi-
bic to do with the American brides.
oh, the absurdity Of cringing before
blood. oh. the righteousness of max
ing a passport for social success out of
the widowed cpitaphs Of ancestors
whose bodies turned to dust one CEN
fury. two centuries or even four or five
centuries ago.
Wrong Ancestor Worship.
Yes, it is absurd to worship at the
graves of ancestors, as do some of the
titled families of Europe. When in
January. 11oO. the ancestral bones of
the Hohpnzollerns 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 clector, had his ancestors
coffin opened. Then lie looked with
alteration upon the face of the dead.
lie patted the hands noldering into
dust as he turned to his courtiers and
said: "Ah, gentlemen, these are the
hands which did tho great works.
These are the sacred hands, 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-
markablc and though they have been
all their lives mere parasites, depend
ing on others for their support and adj
vanCenent.
But though Europe may err in too
much reverence for the dead, l be-
licve Americans err just as much on
the othrr side when they pretend to
'despise 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
conceptions. BY the same law of her
itage the virtues of the parents are
also transmitted through the blood. l
want you this morning to anulyze your
blood in the gospel laboratories. l
would put your eye to the gospel micro
scope and invite you to examine your
ancestral corpuscles. l want You to
find your limitations physically, mem
tally, morally and spiritually. And as
some of us learn how narrow our
horizons may be on account of our
family blood l would 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
! would have you Go 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
the glory Of reversing Il bad heredity
and transmitting to your children an
Inheritance purified and cleansed.