The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-04-28

IL "a a very good thing iOi a ma" 10
know that he has had a grandfather and
10 be able 10 identify him, especially So
If he is assured that his relative departed
this life according to natural, and not
criminal. law II IL almost an unlucky
thing 10 have q claim on distinguished
progeniior when you may be tempted to
draw on him for rcspcctebiliiy or stand
ing. 1t is very bad and an unmanly
thing to be beggar or dependent in
any way. In old times the knight
on reaching mans estate. was expected
to accomplish or achieve something 10
cntitle him 10 his spurs and to an homo
rable name That was teaching Of ma
mre or a revelation OF a great law OF
manhood. King Henry, one of the
worlds most beautiful heroes, in sn-
prcme moment, calls on the "nobles'
English 30
Whose blood Is fct from fathers OF wal
proof
Dish0nor not your mothers now atto't
fhat those whom you call fathers did beget
you"
,nd 20 the good yocmen" show us here
The mettlc az yopr pasture let as swear
That you are worth your breeding
To the noble soul the thought of an
lusrious ancestor should ever suggest
modesty aud determination and tirit.
profoundest depths 10 honorable effort
To the sclf.sunicient and privileged pco-
pie who claimed the highest lineage on
earth. the Divine Man said Think moi
20 say within yourselves, We have
Abraham to our father for say unto
Won. God Is able of these stones TO raise
no children unto Abraham And the
great truth there enunciated was thai
true kindred is not that in the
lesh and blood merely but in the
apostolic succession of character; Of yir
.uc: of good sense, of the pure and cleai
low of manhood The things that We
hear and see of living, moving, present
men and women, evidencing tastes, aspi-
raiions. principles and manners, are the
only credentials that men approve Ga
show an honorable lineage and bespcah
noble ancestry. IL this great cOun-
trv of ours every man goes ior
what he is worth lIercdiiy Of
breeding and ancestral example
rive all the advantages here that they
10 elsewhere. But perhaps here. more
than elsewhere. the claim of the idle
vicious and ignoble to illustrious parent
age arouses intense disgust. TO appre
ciate the high privilege Of mere man
hood is the especial characteristic of the
American. Wctell with cverfresh delight
of Dumas, who, when a dude. perhaps a
-uvvesant OF Fish. asked if il was true
that his grandfather was a negro My
grandfather was a negro and my great
ra1dfather an ape NV lineage began
where yours ends
1t is an old subject well chcwed and
considered in all the parts by men But
The lesson is embodied in lomcly words
Act well your part.
There all the honor lies"
or. If we must look back to AN snces-
try, let as honestly and squarely con
slider She rock from whence we were
hewn and the hole of the pit from
whence we were dug
The ritual is quite in order Re
member not our offences OF the offences
Of our forefathers' And AS we con
template theiryirlues, let ms use the words
IF the old play
lie dying bequeathed 20 his son arooa name
Which. uniaintel. descended TO me.
To my child III tclucath 10 unsullicd with
shame
Ana 10 stln from stain shall be free
THE poor little wretch who committed
suicide in dress suit gives a lesson to
weak minded men who value display
more than the hard pan of solid success.
The man thought that his father was NJ
respectable enough for his family That
is The whole story.