The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-03-07

10 all otner men, as my dear 1dtneI uSeu
to say. there were working people. gen.
try. nobility and Lynpets
The family held the first place in our
estimations: we were Lympets first. and
Britons afterward. Not one of us but
gloried IN his birth, and did his best to
live up to our proud family motto. "Quod
tango teneo." As for our belief in the
grandeur of our name. it did not admit
OF argument. II was almost a part OF
our religion. and, like the Chinese. we
worshiped our ancestors. Not that they.
had done anything very particular. The
mere student of history has possibly
never even heard Of them; for none of
them ever acquired vulgar fame. No VIC
lent partisans they. In the broils and
tur1noils. the woes of parties and the
feuds OF factions, which marked the
stormy youth of England. they mixed but
little. They played no prominent part
for white rose or red rose, king or par
lament Stuart or Guelph. They never
attempted to ride high horse, and as
result. through all the troubles they kept
the family seat.
In truth. a Lympet had too little to
gain TO peril his life and lands in any
ones cause. BY birth he was placed
above ambition. Being already Lympet
he could rise TO higher. for. like the Ro-
han. he could make the proud vaunt:
.'Roi ne puts, prince ne daigne. Lympet
je suis" Therefore the Lympets gener-
ally held aIOof. and when. as sometimes
happened. they found themselves com
PEELED TO take their stand with one party
or the other, they acted with great dis
erection. and compromised themselves as
little as possible. As an instance of Lynn
pet tact in trying times, / may mention
the career of the sixth Baron RocNbor-
ough. who acceded To the headship of
our house in the last year of the great
rebellion
This noblernan first served in Ireland
under Cromwell, who rewarded him with
a large grant Of land in that country;
next he was created Viscount Cumber-
ground in the peerage Of Ireland by
Charles II after the restoration, and
finally he was advanced to the dignity
of earl Of Kilproctor by William III,
shortly after which just recognition Of
his merits the good old man passed away,
full of years and honOrs, leaving behind
him name which will ever be fondly
cherished by his descendants. As a ben
efactor Of his species-I mean, Of course,
of the Lympets-he must he placed high
above all our other ancestors, and sec
ond only 10 the founder of the family,
Hugo de Lynpet himself. who came over
with the conqueror. and won the estates
which remain in the possession of his de-
scendants to this day.
And herein lies the secret of our fam
lily greatness and our family pride. What
a Iympet grasped a L the time or the
conquest. a Lympet holds in the present
year of grace. For over eight hundred
years we have remained firmly planted
on the ground gained by our forefathers'
and if we never awaited ourselves OF the
opportunities by which other families
raised themselves to dazzling nights of
magnificence we also avoided the pitfalls
which sooner or later swallowed up
these same families and their followers.
But though our house has made no
great figure in English history, / would
not have you think that il has done the
state no service. On the contrary. the
younger scions Of our stock have always
displayed "A commendable eagerness to
serve the country in any department
where the duties were light and the pay
was fair It Is only when the law of
primeOgenituTe is strictly observed that
Lympets are possible and when the law
of primeogenituTe Is strictly observed
superfuous sons can be ill-provided for.
But the public service is, despite the
one 10 which the junior Lympets consid-
cred they We're justly entitled.
need hardly say that not one Of them
ever so far forgot himself as 10 stOop TO
trade; their sense of what was due To
their name was too powerful to allow
them 10 sink so far. SO strong, indeed.
was this feeling that the daughters of
our house often preferred to pass their
lives in single blessedness rather than
change the dear old name Of which they
we're so Justly proud Few families can
boast so many old maids. The ribald
have ventured 10 attribute this fact TO
the Lympet dowries, which are unfOrtu-
nately small. and TO the I.ympet mouth
which is undeniably large. rather than
TO the Lympet pride. But how can such
rude clay sympaThZe with the noble
spark which fires a Lympet's breast?
What can they know Of the glorious as
sociations which endear the grand old
name of Lympet to every member of that
noble house?
Unfortunately one cannot live upon 4
name-at least. not forever. | lived on
mine as long as II was possible. but a
time at last came when | found that the
Lympet name. highly as we rated it,
was Of little value on the back Of a bill
Commercial people-hard, practical men
looked at it askance. and requested the
additional security Of some wretched
Jones or Smith. who could not trace his
pedigree beyond his grandfather. In
short, I was becoming financially en-
barraSSed, and, what was worse did not
know how TO eXtricate myself. I had no
occupation, no profession. My father
had designed me for the church for he
was the patron of very snug living
on his Irish property; but. alaSi while
] was still at school. the man Gladstone
came along with his AK and Topped the
Irish church away like the diseased limb
Of Hawarden oak Thus prevented
from serving tho church. ! would have
been very willing 20 serve the state but
these are evil days for Lympets-the
system Of competitive examination
proved a barrier I was unable 10 sur
mount. and England lost a valuable
servant. As trade was out of the uues-
ton and the bar offered no opening 7
decided 10 adopt the career for which my
talents best fitted me. and TO do nothing
at all. And ] did it, in excellent style
too. Lympet should. the honor Of
our name suffered nothing at nv
hands. can assure you Ny allowance
from my father which was small-for
my sisters had 70 be provided for and
Cumberground. my elder brother was
vickedly extravagant-and small
private fortune which 7 had inherited
from my mother. ] employed mainly IS
probationary. almost everything else
| obtained on credit And so. throwing
an occasional SOP to Cerberus in the
shape Of a payment "on account 70 the
more pressing Of my creditors. and re-
sorting 10 an elaborate system Of
paper when / was I'm want OF ready
money I cOnfrfved tn live In