The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-02-15

! The student of the life of Abraham Lin
coin is disposed to regard that sublime
character as having sprung from very
humble surroundings and antecedents. He
was born in abject poverty. His ances-
try is not regarded as being distinguished
by certainty, at least beyond his paterni-
ty. There have been those indeed who
have questioned that paternity, without
warrant. But no one until lately has been
found to apologize for the hopeless So
cial conditions under which the great
martyr president was born, or to lose
sight of the truth that he typified in the
most remarkable manner the possibilities
of social, political and intellectual emf
nence which lie within the reach of
every American man, however lowly his
antecedents may have been.
But nowadays the effort is being put
forward to establish, with reference to
Iincoln's life and ancestral origin, many
things which would be certain to evoke
from the object of them, if he were alive,
more than one of his notable flashes Of
not yet been quite established of course
that he was direct lineal descendant
of William the Conqueror, or of any of
the band of desperate marauders at
whose head that militant character in
vaded the British islands. His genalogi-
cal bsnefactors have stayed their re-
in the county of Norfolk. 1t would be
hard to tell who his grandfather was, or
even whether his name was Lincoln, on
proof which would be accepted even in
the armorial court; but, of course, that
fact does not estop any one from prov
ing to a certainty that he sprung from
the glorious yeomanry of the county in
question, since it does appear that there
were Norfolk yeomanry who bore the
name of Lincoln.
It is related, as a splendid instance of
in an Irish court who was testifying to
the excellent character of the defendant
was questioned by the court itself as fol-
lows: Now, by the virtue of your oath,
how do you know that the defendant Is a
man of respectable character?" The an
swer was: 81 know it, your worship, be-
cause he keeps gig"
Something of the spirit of this inteIli-
gent witness seems to have animated
Congressman Stevens in his recent dis
course on Lincoln. He was bound to
make Lincoln out to be a respectable
man, even If he had to go to the College
of Heraldry to polish off the Job. I'm
consciously, our congressman testified to
the itch for coat of arms which has in
fected American society concurrently
with the appearance of imperialism as a
force in American life.
ut was long supposed says our legisla-
hive representative at Washington. that
Lincoln's ancestry was as inferior as his
birth was humble" But not so. Accord
ing to Mr.. Stevens, he was really only
just six degrees removed from the yeo-
many Of Norfolk. All his people were
persons of character, except his father:
but wherein his father was characterless
the researches of the congressman evil
IDENTIFY did not enable him to say His
childhood was one of poverty, but it was
not the poverty Of dependence-a sort oil
shabbygenteel poverty, no doubt. His
people were poor and ignorant, but that
mustn't count in estimating Lincoin's re-
spectabiity. He suffered great hardship
in his childhood; but, mark, that mustn't
operate against him, since 1t made him
hardy. eff he lacked in social culture, II
was superseded by the rude amenities OF
frontier life, which sharpened his facul-
ties If it did not refine his manners
when is no doubt intended as an apology
for Lincoln's disposition sometimes to tel
stories which would not bear repetition.
Somebody has said that imagination is
g. direct gift Of God. But it is none the
less dangerous quality, especially If II
is distinctive on the part of an active
politician. And so Congressman Stevens