New-York tribune., 1868-03-17

IL was indispensable 10 the ONeIlnIo" VI WV
Rebellion. We cannot understand Messrs.
Stevens and Butler.
ROYAL ANCESTRY.
We suppose that there never viii be any
end of genealogical vanities until there Is a
radical change in human character, which, Tor
our part, we do not expect. 1t is so pleasant
to have had a king, or, at least, baron, OF
baronet, for a grandfather, and to be able to
have coat of arms also even if one does not
possess coat for his back We can therefore
appreciate the exuberant joy which reigns In
the bosom of Canadian gentleman, who has
proved at least to his own satisfaction, that
he is descended from Charlemagne; and who
has, therefore, changed his name, and, possibly,
having bought q private crown, scepter rope'
and other royal apparatus, means TO nave hiln-
self privately oiled in his own back parlor, by
the clergyman of the family. This would not
be a whit more absurd than some OF the vaga-
ries of James H., in France, or OF the Old Pre-
tender in his wanderings. To be crowned IN
the bosom of ones family, and then to have
TIE Deum sung by ones own daughters, with
the Princess Royal accompanying upon
in state to a royal banquet, with all
the luxuries of the season, would be
very soothing we should think, to the
royal exile whose name was Fraser, ana
has now been altered to the Hon. j. Fraser
ode Berry" 1t is neat thing in the way OF
lineage to be descended from Charlemagne; 1T
would be still neater if His Canadian Majesty
could come into all the old estates of his illus
trious ancestor Personally, we should prefer
to be descended from Julius Caesar but we
cannot pick and choose in the matter OF pro-
genitors and Charlemagne will dO-he is better
than George ILL., from whom, we are told, a
lady in New-Jersey is descended-a revival,
we suppose, of the old story about Georges
private marriage with a pretty Quakeress In
London. We have ourselves seen man who
swore frightfully-he kept beer-shop-that he
WAS a son of George ", which his skill in the
profane language, we thought, rendered some
what probable to say nothing OF the great
number of children which The First Gentleman
in Europe must have left in all sorts of likely
and unlikely places. To be sure, when one
sets up these ambitious prctensOns in respect OF
crandfathers, the character of the grandmothers
is rather a ticklsh subject but we suppose the
statute of limitations applies even to the SINS
of ladies. Pepys used to record that this or
that woman was taken to be the Kings
"Miss," with great gravity and without any
censure; and Pepys understood pedigree
as well as any man in England. But
STILL if we were picking out royal an
cestor, we should go back at least to
patIiarchal times, unless we concluded to
Il, I,I; select
SolomonP or David7 There must be a great
many people in the world who are descended
from Solomon, and some one of them may be
selling pantaloOns (very poor ones) in Chat
ham-st. this very day. If so, that venerable
vender of slops has an older pedigree than
even the Canadian gentleman who comes from
Charlemagne. We say nothing of descent
from Adam. 1t is too common, and is dlsa-
greeably associated with the subject always
painful one) of the Fall of Man, and OF the
msfortunes which A. entailed upon mankind
by his untimcy appetite. If he had but held
OUTPUT we must not wander into the0logleS.
Ii is curious fact that nobody has ever
claimed to be descended from Elizabetll-lt
would be too hard to prove. But there Is
Catharine of Russia we do not think 1t
would he very hard for man so minded to
prove descent from her, if any of his ances-
tors had ever lived in Russia during the life
time of that imperiOus but impudent mon
arch And this brings us to the moral of the
whole subject. Considering what bad lot the
monarchs have been, how the good and bene-
VIOLENT ones have always been the exceptions,
how royal vices smear and stain all the pages
of history, there is nothing more remarkable
than the cagerness with which men have
sought to establish family connection with
this or that annOinted rcprobate. Take, for
instance, the Stuarts-thcTe are thousands OF
Scotchmen who are proud of that bloOd-yet
what bitter, bad blood it was how full of
mean propcnsities, of low passions, and of
falsehood Take the Georges-the first pig
headed old scoundrel-the second low fellow,
full of the vices of the camp-the third a
unatic-the fourth alse-hearted blackguard
Pray what honest man, even in a legitimate
way, Should like to call either of these grand
father
The ~ \. Times chooses to say that
HThe VIRGINIA Convention ia following the example OF