Constantine republican. [volume] (Constantine, Mich.) 1836-1838, 1837-03-22
From the schn.ctada Reflector.


Let me not be understood as undertaking the
advantages of respectable family. What Gen.
sure is the absurd pretensons of little men to
solve themselves into great men by species of
genealogical alchymy.'-De Wit Clinton.
When we hear simpleton, or one who
perhaps possesses small degree of INTEL
tect, make himself such by Boosting of his
ancestry, or of his acquaintance with con-
related Of DR.. Johnson. When in company
with number Of persons who were speak
ing in bombastic nonchalance Of the feats
of their ancestors, the DR.. very casually re-
marked, that he could boast that one of his
great uncles was hung for stealing sheep.
This was fair and sarcastic hit upon little
men who, feeling conscious of their orn in
significance, are eager to hide it from others
with the mantles of reverend ancestry
When we hear individuals Boosting of what
their fathers, grandfathers or great aunts
have done, we always have an insuperable
desire to relate the foregoing appropriate
anecdote, although we feel assured that per.
sons of such insipidity, are totally incompe-
tent to receive its full force, and that the
Joke will be lost for want of power of ap.
probation on the part of those to whom it
is addressed. Individuals of that character
are useless, yea, pernicious members of
society, for instead of striving to make
themselves worthy the esteem of their fellow
creatures, they consider that they are, by
reason Of the responsibility of their anccs-
tors, worthy of all Difference from men,
They have not the golden principle implant-
ed in their hearts, which teaches them, shat
the only nobility is the noble of nature, and
that the truly great man is he who relies
upon his own intellectual and moral powers.
And relying so entirely upon merit with
which they have nothing to do, they do not
take the proper means to put themselves in
possession of true and intrinsic merit
They do not make exertions to invigorate
and expand those moral and intellectual
powers which God has bestowed upon them,
and which, when fully developed by disci-
pine and study, render an individual the or
nament of his species, the gem that gives
the never fading lustre to the whole family
Of man. They have no knowledge which
teaches them that they do not possess all
these, nor ambition to stimulate them to ex-
cellencs. To command the respect Of man.
kind by means of their o,on mertorious
conduct, they seem never DESTROYS of; but
think they inherit it-think they have just
as legal right to the reverence that was
paid to their forefathers,as they have to their
goods and chattes. But in this they are
grandly mistaken. In our country we have
no titled fools; so they will be obliged 10
live on
'Sons of day, just buoyant on the flood,
Then numbered with the puppies of the mud
And this is the secret of the almost uni
versal principle, that great mems sons are
the weakest members of community. In
stead of resorting to the means which rails
ed the father from obscurity and placed hin
upon an enviable emnence in the estima
ton of his fellows, the son endeavors to oc
cupy that eminence without taking the pro
per steps for its attainment. And his pre-
sumption makes him appear ridiculous, ant
he is despised by the sensible world. The
fact that an individual is the son of the 60
vernon, the president, or any man Of talen
and responsibility does not ensure to him thu
|, honors of an approving community. By
being thus eligibly situated, he has greate
opportunity to render himself capable O
meriting these honors, and in proportion tt
his carelessness of that opportunity, is HI
culpable in the estimation of society.