Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 September 1891 — Ancestorg and Titleg. [ARTICLE]

Ancestorg and Titleg.

In regard to aristocracy Daniel Webster once wrote: “There may be, and there often is, a regard for ancestry which nourishes only a weak pride; and there is also a care for posterity which only disguises an habitual avarice or hides the working of a low and groveling vanity. But there is also a moral and philosophical regard for our ancestors which elevates the character and improves the beast.” Aristocratic titles are of en obtained by dishonorable means. Many a man becomes ignoble to become noble. The confidence of nobility of birth has rendered men ignoble, just as the opinion of wealth makes some men poor. Lord Bacon has compared those who lived ip higher spheres to those heavenly bodies in the firmament which have much admiration but little rest. Titles are properly the insignia of wise and honest men. The fool or knave that wears one is a falsifier. Ihey who dilate upo heir glorious ancestry are foolishly vi icf a debt which probably they will m er be able to pay. It has also been rea I_ j<l that s river generally becomes narrower ana more insignificant as we ascend to its source. The stream of ancestry, on the contrary, says Texas Siftings, often vigorous, pure and powerful at its fountain head, usually becomes more feeble, shallow and corrupt as it flows downward.