Rev. Myron W. Reed, a Western preacher who has been likened to Henry Ward Beecher, says:—
We have been making too much of heredity. We have said, "The father is a thief, therefore the son will be a thief." He has felt our saying—we have thought him down. This heredity business is the mistake of the age. Whatever else we are, we are God's children, and he has no pet child, and if he has it is the one that has gone away. Not the one that has stayed at home and lied about his brother. Because your father and mother both died of consumption, have you got to die with it? Please get that out of your mind. This heredity business has been worked for more than it's worth. You are a separate and individual child to God—"The fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are on edge." God says by his sensible prophet Ezekiel, "Ye shall use that proverb no more." "Everyman shall give an account of himself to God"—that is from St. Paul. Men who have been making rules for men will be terribly disappointed when they stand before God.—Boston Traveller.
