Year: 1876

"a GLORIOUS ANCEsTRY."


We have had laid upon our table book
that resembles an army pay roll in the
form Of its make up, but it is entirely diff
ferent in its uses. 1t is book that has
been gotten out by very wealthy Scotch
gentleman in New York, who has lived in
this country many years and acquired con.
siderable distinction as man of letters.
He spends large share of the wealth he
has accumulated in searching out thepedi-
gree Of his family name, and to aid him
in this tedious, patient work, the book al
ludcd to is intended. Upon its pages are
traced the names of many who are de-
scendants from the same stock as himself,
and opposite are blank lines upon which
any information, that would be of value to
him in his search, may be written.


This is the first instance that we know
Of, where pedigree hunting has been given
such systematic consideration. 1t is a
mania, as much so as the treasury Of old
coins, or in the time Of Cromwell, the
Jealous boarding of curious specimens of
china; to this we might add the boarding
of money, but there are SO many of this
latter kind, that reference to them would
monotonize the subject. Strange to say,
it is none but the wealthier class who enter
into this with energy and fixed purposes,
while there is middle class, who are ac-
tuated by curiosity to see how far they can
trace the family back. They generally
get to two -hundredth great grandfather,
and find that he took his medicine as reg
ularly as the other men of the village in
which he lived had short clay pipe
and was no fonder of work than he should
be. Then the searcher into pedigree closes
the great volume of thought in that direc-
ton, consoles himself that he is sprung
from poor but honest ancestry, and that
his poverty is direct heritage.


But the other class work more extern
sively at the task; he feels that there is
blood more purple than that Of any other
American tingling in his veins, and he
travels to foreign lands, tracing out who
was the first of his name; and he las
plenty of money, enjoys glass of wine,
and can beat rival at blowing rings of
smoke from cigar. He finds plenty in
the European capitals who cen do the same,
and before he knows it, has shaken hands
with some one Of the same name as him
self. Business is entered into, and they
decide over glass Of wine that they are
sprung originally from some great and
mighty person with royal blood in his
veins. Little threads are picked up, and
they follow up these slender tendrils of in
formation in the hope some day of getting
at the first John Smith or Jim Jones, and
then there is no reason for doubt that they
have blood cour,ing through their veins
that is more than ordinary, and make lit
tie maudlin speeches at the club and in
society as Mr.. So and So, descendant Of
the great So and So, who owned million
acres of land.


It is not always that they are so success
full in these searches. A gentleman, who
is we'll acquainted with the pedigrees Of
different prominent men, and a knowledge
of the different channels through which to
get such information, informs us of a
wealthy and prominent gentleman, who
places great stress upon the pure bleod Of
his ancestry. Our well-informed citizen
began at last, after hearing the aristocratic
gentleman prate great deal about the
prominsnce Of his family, to make search
for his pedigree, and traced it back as far
as he possibly could, and discovered to his
great surprise that the first of the family
had been arrested in his time for a trick
10 low and contemplate as to sell a bag Of
feathers after having stone at the bottom
to produce heavy weight. He never told
the aristocrotic gentleman what he dis
covered, but whenever he spoke Of his pure
blood in his presence he smiled quietly to
h;mself There ars . great many such