Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1896 — TALMAGE’S SERMON. [ARTICLE]

TALMAGE’S SERMON.

PREACHESON PROCLIVITIES DUE TO ANCESTRY. Bnt, No Matter What Our Birthright May Be, We Can Be Sons and Daughters of God and Heirs of Immortality —A Glorious Inheritance. Power of Heredity. This sermon by Rev. Dr. Talmage on heredity will bring all the family ryeords into requisition and lead people to study their own proclivity toward good or evil. The text chosen was 1. Samuel, xvii. SS. “Whose son art thou, thou young man?” Never was there u more unequal tight than that betwon David and Goliath; David 5 feet high. Goliath 10; David a shepherd boy brought up amid rural scenes, Goliath a warrior by profession;’ Goliath a mountain of braggadocio. David a marvel of humility; Goliath armed with an iron spear, David armed with a sling with smooth stones from the brook. Hut you are not to despise these latter weapons. A Mighty Weapon. There was a regiment of slingers in the Assyrian army, .and a regiment of slingers in the Egyptian army,"nnd they made terrible execution, and they could cast a stone with as much accuracy and force as now can be sent shot or shell. The Greeks in their army had slingers who would throw leaden plummets inscribed with the irritating words, “Take this!” Sp it was a mighty weapon David employed in that famous combat. A Jewish nabbi says that the probability is that Gojiath wns in such,, cop tempt for David that in a paroxysm'of laughter fie bis bead back and his helmet fell off, •nd David saw the uncovered forehead, and his opportunity had come, mid taking this sling and swinging it around his head two or three times and aiming it at ttisfet uncovered forehead crushed it in like an eggshell. The battle over, behold the tableau: King Saul sitting; little David standing, his fingers clutched into tha hair of decapitated Goliath. As Saul sees David standing there holding in his hand th£ ghastly, reeking, staring trophy, evidence of the complete victory over God’s enemies, the king wonders what parentage was honored by such heroism, and in my text be asks David his pedigree, “Whose son art thou, thou young man ?”

The king saw what you and I see, that this question of heredity is a mighty question. Tlie longer 1 live the more I believe in blood—good blood, bad blood, proud blood, humble blood", honest blood, thieving blood, heroic blood, cowardly blood. The tendency may skip a generation or two, but it is sure to come out. as in a litttle child you sometimes see a similarity to a great-grandfather whose picture hangs on the wall. 'That the physical nnd mental and moral qualities arc inheritable is patent to any one who keeps his eyes open. The similarity is so striking sometimes as to be amusing. Great families, regal or literary, nre apt to have the characteristics all down through the generations, and whut is more perceptible in such families, may be seen on a smaller scale in all families. A thousand years have no power to obliterate the difference. The large lip of the house of Austria is seen in all tlie generations and is called the Hppsterg lip. The house of Stuart always means' in all generations cruelty and bigplry arid sensuulh,v.. Witness (Jueetjr-jpf Scots, witness Charles I. nnd Charles 11., witness James I. and James 11. and all the other scoundrels of that line. Scottish blood means persistence, English blood means reverence for the ancient, Welsh blood means religiosity, Danish blood means fondness for the sea, Indian blood means roaming disposition. Celtic blood means fprvidity. Roman means conquest. The Jewish facility fur accumulation you may trace clear back to Abraham, of whom the Bible says “he was rich in silver and gold and cattle,” and to Isaac and Jacob, who hnii the same characteristics. Some families are characterized by longevity, and they have a tenacity of life positively Methuselish. Others are characterized by Goliathian stature, and you can see it for one generation, two generations, five generations —in all the generations. V igorous theology runs down in the line of the Alexanders. Tragedy runs on in the family of the Kembles. Literature runs on in the line of the Trollopes. Philanthropy runs on in the.line of the Wilberforces. Statesmanship runs on in the line of the Adamses. You see these peculiarities in all generations. Henry and Catherine of Navarre religions, al! their families religious. The celebrated family of the Casiui, all mathematicians. The celebrated family of the Medici, grandfather, son and Catherine, all remarkable for keen intellect. The celebrated faultily of Gustavus Adolphus, all warriors. This law of heredity asserts itself without reference to social or political condition, for you sometimes find the ignoble in high place and the honorable in obscure place. A descendant of Edward 111. a doorkeeper. A descendant of the Duke of Northumberland a trunkmaker. Some of the mightiest families of England are extinct, while some of those most honored in tlie peerage go back to an .flneestry of bard knuckles and rough exterior. Whose Son Art Thou?

This law of heredity is, entirely!i independent of social or political conditions. 7%en yon find avarice and jealousy and sensuality and fraud having full swing in some families. The violent temper of Frederick William is the inheritance of Frederick the Great. It is not a theory founded by worldly philosophy, but by divine authority. Do you not remember how the Bible speaks of a chosen generation, of the generation of righteousness, of the generation of vipers, of an untoward generation, of a stubborn generation, of the iniquity of the fathers visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation? So that the text comes to-day witn the force of a projectile hurled from mightiest catapult, “Whose son are thou, thou young man?” “Well," says some one, “that theory discharges me from all responsibility. Born of sanctified parents, we are bound to be good, and we cannot help ourselves. Born of unrighteous parentage, we are bound to be evil, and we cannot help ourselves.” Two inaccuracies. As much as if you should say, “The centripetal force in. nature has a tendency to bring everything to the center, and therefore nil come to the center. The centrifugal force in nature has a tendency to throw everything) to the periphery,, and therefore everything will go out to the periphery.” You.know as well as I know that you can make the centripetal force overcome the centrifugal, and you can make, the centrifugal overcome the centripetal, as when there is a mighty tide of good in a family that may be overcome by determination to evil —as in the case of Aaron Burr, the libertine, who had for father President Burr, the consecrated; as in the case of Fierrepont Edwards, the scourge of New York society eighty years ago, whe bad aChristian ancestry—while, on the-.other hand, some of thb'fcest men and women of this day 1 are thpse who have come of an ancestry of which it would not be courteous to speak in their presence. The practical and useful object Of this sermon is to yqu that,: Iff/on have eorbe of r a Christlanancestry, 'then You are solemnly bound to preserve

•nd develop the glorious inheritance, or, if you have come of depraved ancestry, then it -da you* duty to bmv yoiirselt-against-thWevil tendency by all prayer • •■ti Christian determination. And you •re to find out the family frailties, and in arming the Rustle put the strongest guard at the weakest gate. With these smooth stones front the brook 1 b<»i»c to strike you. uot whore David struck Goliath, in the head, but where Nathaji struek David, in the heart. “Whose son art thou, thou young man?” There is something in al! winter holidays to bring up the old folks. I think many of our thoughts at such times are set to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne.” The i old folks were so busy at such tihi'Vs'Hh making us happy, and perhaps on less resource made their sons and daughters happier than you on larger resources are able to make your sous and dnughtyps. The snow lay two feet above their graves, but theytsbook off the white blankets and mingled in the holiday festivities —the same wrinkles, the same stoop of shoulder under the weight of age. the same old stylo of dress or coat, the same smile, the same tone of vpityx 1 hope you remontlxw them before they' went away. If not. 1 hope there are those who have recited to yoit'what Iliey were, nnd that there may •be in your house some article of dross or furniture with which yon associate their memories. 1 want to arouse the most snored memories of your heart while I make the tmpas«ioned interrogatory in regard to your T*dligtVe. “Whose sou art thou, thou younfe* tiiirti''”

Ancestry. First. Imccost t..ose who are descended of a Christian ancestry. Ido not aak>if your parents were perfect. There are no perfect people now. and 1 do not suppose there were any perfect people then. Perhaps there was sometimes too much blood in their eye when they chastised you. But from what 1 know of you, you got no more than you deserved, and perhaps a little more chastisement would have been salutary. But you nre willing to acknowledge, 1 think, that they wanted to do right. From what you overheard in conversations, and from what you saw at tlie family altar and at neighborhood obsequies, you know that they had invited God into their heart and their life. There was something that sustained those old people supernaturnily. You have no doubt about their destiny. You expect if you'ever get to heaven to meet them as you expect to meet the Lord Jesus Christ. That early association lins Iteeu a.ybarin for yon. There was a time when you got right up from n house of iniqaity and walked ont into the fresh air because you thought your mother was looking nt you. You have never been very happy in sin because of a sweet old fgee that would present itself. Tremulous voices from the past accosted you until they were seemingly audible, and you looked around to see who spoke. There wns an estate not mentioned in the last will and testament. a vast estate of prayer and holy 'example and Christian entreaty and glorious memory. The survivors of the family gathered to boar the will road, and this was to be kept and that wns to be sold, and it was “share and share alike.” But there was an unwritten will that read something like this: "In the name of God, amen. I, being of sound mjnd, bequeath to my children all niy prayers for their salvation. 1 bequeath to them; all the results of a lifetime’s toil. I bequeath to them tlie Christian whiehhns been so much comfort to, ipe, and I hope .may be solace for them. I bequeath to them a hope of reunion when the partings of life nre over. ’Share and share alike’ may they inherit eternal riches. 1 bequeath to them the wish that they may avoid my errors nnd copy anything that may have been worthy. In the name of God, who made me, nnd the Christ, who redeemed me, and the Holy Ghost, who sanctities me, I make this my Inst will and testament. Witness all you hosts of henveu. Witness time; witness eternity. Signed, sealed ami delivered in this our dying hour. Father and Mother."’ You did not get that will proved nt the surrogate’s office, but I lake it out to-day and I read it to you. 1 take it out of the alcoves of your heart. 1 shake the dust off it. I ask if you will accept that inheritance, or will you break the will? Responsibility.

Oh, ye of Christian ancestry! Yon hn'vfi a responsibility vast beyond all measurement. God will not let you off with just being as good as ordinary people when you had such extraordinary advantakvj Ought not you, my brother, to lx- better, having had Christian nurture, tbaii'lhd man who can truly say this morning, “The first word 1 remember my'father speaking to me was an oath; the first time I remember my father taking hold of me was in wrath: I never saw a Bible till I was 10 years of age, mid then 1 was told it was a pack of lies; the first twenty years of my life 1 das associated with thg vicious; I seemed to be walled in by sin a nd’death ?” Now, my brother, ought you not •! leave it as a matter of fairness with you—ought you not to than those who had no early Christian influence? Standing as yon the generation that is past an<| the generation that is to come; are you to pass the blessing on. or are you .going io have your life the gulf in which that tide of blessing shall of sight forever? You are the trustee, of piety in that ancestral line, and are you going to augment Or squander that solemn trust fupd? Are yon going to disinherit yopr sons and daughters of the, heirloom .yyliich your parents left you? Ah, that 'cannot be possible—it cannot bo possible that you are"going to take such a position ns that! You are very careful about the life insurance, and careful about the deeds, and careful about the mortgage, and careful about the title of your property, because when you stop off the stage you want your children to get it ail. Arc. you making no provision that they shall get grandfather's or grandmother’s religion? Oh, whnt a last will and testament yon are making, my brother! “In the name of God, amen. I, being of sound mind, make this my last will and .testament. I bequeath to my children all the money I ever ninde nnd nil the houses I own, but I disinherit them, I rob them of the ancestral grace nnd the Christian influence that 1 inherited. I have squandered that on my own worldliness. Share nnd share alike must they in the misfortune and the everlasting outrage. . Signed, scaled nnd deliverer! in the presence of God and men nnd angels and devils, and all the generations of earth and heaven aud hell, July, 181M1.” The Blessed Mother. Oh, ye of highly favored ancestry, wake up this mbraing to a sense of yoar opportunity and responsibility! I think-there mast be an bld cradle or a fragment of a cradle somewhere that could-tell-a story of ’midnight supplication in your, behalf. Where is the old rocking,chair in which you were sung to sleep witk the holy . nursery rhymes? Where is the old clock that ticked away the moments of, tbitt sickness on that awful night when„thette were but . three of you awake—you aud God and mother? Is there not an),old staff in some closet? We beg you over a new leaf this very day. Oh, the .power of ancestral piety, well illustrated by a young man of New York who attended a prayer meeting one night and asked for prayer and then went home and wrote down these words: “Twentyfive years ago to-night my mother went -to heaven, my beautiful, blessed mother, and. I 'ha ve been alone,, tossed up and down-upon the billows of life’s tempestuous ocean. Shall 1 ever go tb heaven? She

told me I must meet her in heaven, WTiea she took my hand in hern and turned her gentle, loving eyes on me, and gaaari earnestly and long into my face, ami then" lifted them to heaven in that Inst prayeb. she prayed that 1 might meet her in heaven. 1 wonder if 1 ever shall? My motfi- | er’s prayers! Oh, my sweet, btFssixi | mother's prayers! Did ever a boy htive such a mother as 1 had? For twenty-five years 1 have not beard her pray until i<V night. 1 have heard all her prayers Ws'r again. They have had, in faet, a terrible resurrection. Oh, how she was wdnt to I pray! She prayed as they hrajied to'-taiglit -—So earnest, so importunate,. so believing. Btqjti l be a Christian? She. was.a (>Q. hW'briiftit‘khd pure and happy was'lier life?* She was a cheerful and happy Christian. There Is my niother’s- bible. I'bate fttff-opencd' it' for years?. Did she believe I could ever neglect her precious Bible? She surely thought 1 would read it much and often. How often has she read it to me! How did ithe cause nie to kneel by my Ujtlei ,and put my little hands up in the attitude of prayer! How has she |ti>£lt by me and over me. mid 1 have felt her warm tears raining down upon my hands and fact?! "Blessed mother, did you pfny in vain for your boy? It shall not bo in vain. Ah, no. no; it shall not be in vain! I will pray for myself. Who has sinned against so ,miK-h instruction as 1 have—agaiaaf so many precious prayers pqt up to heayen for me by one of the most lovely, lender, pious, confiding, trusting of mothers in her heavenly Father’s care nnd grace? She never doubted. She believed. She always prayed as if she did. My Bible, vny mother's Bible and my conscience teach what 1 am and what I have made myself. • Oh, the bitter pangs of an accusing conscience! 1 need a Saviour mighty to save. 1 must seek him. 1 will. lam on the sea of existence, and I can never get off from it. lam afloat. No anchor, no rudder, no cpmpass, no book of instructions, for I have put them nil away from me. Saviour of the perishing, save or 1 perish;” Do you wonder that the next day he arose in prnyer meeting and said: “My brethren, I stand before you a monument of God's amazing mercy nnd goodness. borever blessed be bis holy, name! All 1 have nnd all 1 am 1 consecrate to Jesus, my Saviour and my God.” Oh, the power of ancestral prayer! Hear it! Hear it! Heirs of Immortality.

But 1 turn for a moment to those who had evil parentage, and 1 want to tell you that the highest thrones in heaven and the mightiest triumphs nnd the brightest crowns will be for those who had evil parentage but who by the grave of God conquered—conquered. As good, as useful, as splendid a gentleman ns 1 ever knew had for a father a man who died blaspheming God until the neighbors had to put their fingers in their ears to shut out the horror. One of the most consecrated and useful Christian ministers of to-day was the son of a drunken horse jockey. Tide of evil is treipendous in some families. It is like Niagara isipids, and yet men have clung to a rock and been rescued. It this world is ever to be Edenized—and it will be—all the infected families of the earth are to lie regenerated, and there will sptne one arise in each family line and oiH'it a now genealogical table. ,There will be some Joseph to arise y,i the line and reverse the evil hoboam, and there will be some Njary/io arise in the line and reverse the influence of Bathsheba. Perhaps the>atar of hope may point down to your manger. .Perhaps you are to be the hero or the heroine that is to put down the brakes nnd stop that long line of genealogical tendencies and switch it off on another track from that on which it Inis been running for a century. You do that, a|)||, l will promise you ns fine a palaeo ns the architects of heaven can build, the arehway inscribed with the words “More than conqueror." But whatever your heredity, let ini' say you may be sons and daughters of t..e Lord God Almighty. Estranged children from the homestead,, come back through the open gate of adoption. There is royal blood in our veins. There/uro crowns on our escutcheon. Our Father is king; our Brother is Mng; we may be kings and queens unto God forever. Come and sit down on the ivory bench of the •piilaxsc.- .Come nnd wash in the fountains that fall into the btH*i;im«»f erystnband alabaster. Come and look out Of the upholstered window upon gardens of azalea and amaranth. Hear the full burst of the orchestra while you banquet with potentates and victors. Oh, when the text sweeps backward; let it not stop nt the cradle that rocked the first world! And waen the text sweeps forward lot 4t not stop at your grave, but at the throne on which you may reign ■ forever mid ever, "Whose son art thou, young man?” Son of God, heir of imihortaiity, take your inheritance!