The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-08-17
UY WILLIAM II. ELLIS.)

"Whom does the baby resemble? ~
is the question asked concerning al
most every new life. If we could see
into that potential soul, the answer
would be more significant. For should
the baby take after his noble grand
father, rather than his shiftless,
characterless father, the result would
be important to the world. The weak
ness of the argument about heredity
is that a child has SO many ances-
tors, of such varied sorts, and he
often shows the characteristics of re-
mote forebears whose worth over
powers the worthlessness Of nearer
progenitors.
There was Prince Asa, our present
instance. Surely he was doomed to
a bad life, with both heredity and
environment to operate against him.
He lived in a corrupt court. Rotten
heather practices prevailed all about
him. His father, Abijam, has yield
ed TO them; and his grandfather. Re-
hoboam, whose folly had split the
Kingdom, was more interested in be-
Ing "a good fellow" han in being a
good king. One Of his heather wives,
Maacah, mother of Abijam and
grandmother of Asa, was the most
forceful personality in the palace;
and her influence was wholly bad.
The outlook was dark for Asa
Your modern s~ociologist might write
his case down in advance as hopeless
But stay. Was not Solomon Asa
great-grandfather? So the strain wa:
not wholly bad. The virile qualitie:
of these greatest kings of the Jew:
would surely assert themselves.
And they did. Asa came to thu
n time Of peace. He was a good
young man. God and religion mean
most to him. He loved his people
more thai he loved himself. Hi
heart was afiame with a passion 70
reform; and all great reformers mus
become such while young. Well nigl
hopeless is the case Of the young maj
who passes the period of impression
able idealism without yielding to no
BILE and unselfsh ambitions. Like hi
shepherd-boy ancestor, who in boy
hood sang songs of Jehovah and di,
battle with a giant. Asa early be
came fired with resolutions of right
eouSness.
The Harvest of War.
a notable fact, of peculiar interes
just now, is that Asa came to hi
throne at the beginning of a perio
of peace for Judah. War had bee
the rule during the resigns of his ia
Their and grandfather. Now peac
gave him an opportunity for interns
reform. With the distraction of enc
mics at the gates, ASa'S great Wor
OF cleansing could not have bee
done. 1t needed quiet and seize,
animation to make possible this pure
ing of the people from pollution. Pro
SreSs peace go hand in han,
Not on the battlefield, but in the qui,
times of industry, education, inver
ton and social consciousness, a M
ton comes to it's greatest height. TIL
truth might be amplitied, with illu
trations from every days newspape
Asa's reign was righteous, in tim,
OF peace: war made him forget h
holy purpose. Toward h end of h
days he even clapped a prophet in
prison for telling him the truth, al
he oppressed the people and permi
ted a return of idolatry. Good XII
Asa is a striking instance Of wal
deteriorating effect upon characte
Other examples may be gather,
from recent cablegrams.
When the young king came to t
throne, he found the nation in
sorry state of decline. The worsh
seeded by the idolatries Of the su
rounding nations, with their app
10 the sensual nature of man. !
appalling state of depravity had be
reached, one so far below our mode
conceptions of religion that or
those with a knowledge Of, say, t
baser side of Hinduism can und,
stand 1t. War and its contacts a
compromises had brought into Jud
all the denominations of the surrour
ing nations. Pure religion and i
morality cannot c~oexist, side by 81,
and the true worship of Jehovah "
eheulfed by this flood Of depravi
No modern reformer ever faces CO
ditions so bad as those met by YOU
King Asa.
The RcfOlmer's Mission.
Left to itself, society says q
slumps. When men do as they plea
they commonly please to do wrO
Throughout the centuries, the or