Biography of any
kind is always interesting reading. But the biographies of
one's own
friends and relatives is about the most interesting reading to be
found In
reviewing the lives of our friends, we should regard their faults with
kindness,-perhaps
they did the best they knew; we should remember their
good deeds with
eratitude.-perhaps their knowledge and circumstances did
not permit
them'to do more. When a person has fulfilled his mission here
below has
achieved success, or has accomplished something that will interest
and benefit his
friends and fellow-laborers, it is simply an obligation discharged when
his
experiences are recounted for others to learn from and to emulate.
Let no one,
therefore, be so unkind as to attribute vanity to any statement
herein made.
Heredity is a
powerful thing for good or evil. It almost displaces human
responsibility.
No wonder the Jews laid so much stress upon it as a social fact,
and that the
prophets insisted on it. Shame
on he individualwho is untrue to a
worthy ancestry
and gets out of his place in the circle. All should rather strive
to ennoble the
stream of heredity by studying and obeying its laws.
God bless you,
readers, one and all! May we all improve as our knowledge
and
opportunities allow; and when we, as members of an earth y family shall
have ended our
career here, may we all join in the great heavenly family m the
Eternal City beyond.
p. 9
The text
above is from History
of the Tope Family, by Melancthon
Tope, 1896, revised by A. D. Maddux, Copyright ©
1981, 1989 (used with
permission)
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