Some families are characterized by longevity, and they have a tenacity
of life positively Methuselahish. Others are characterized by
Goliathian stature, and you can see it for one generation, two
generations, five generations, in all the generations. Vigorous
theology runs on 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. Henry and Catharine
of Navarre religious, all their families religious. The celebrated
family of the Casini, all mathematicians. The celebrated family of the
Medici--grandfather, son and Catharine--all remarkable for keen
intellect. The celebrated family 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 I. a toll
gatherer. A descendant of Edward III. a door-keeper. A descendant of
the Duke of Northumberland a trunk-maker. Some of the mightiest
families of England are extinct, while some of those most honored in
the peerage go back to an ancestry of hard knuckles and rough
exterior. This law of heredity entirely independent of social or
political condition.
Then you 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 to be
set forth by worldly philosophy only, but by divine authority. Do you
not remember how the Bible speaks of "a chosen generation," of "the
generation of the righteous," of "the generation of vipers," of an
"untoward generation," of "a stubborn generation," of "the iniquity of
the past visited upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation?" So that the text comes to-day with the force of a
projectile hurled from mightiest catapult: "Whose son art 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."