influences of our race, and our ancestors virtually live in us.
The sentiment of ancestry seems to be inherent in human nature,
especially in the more civilised races. At all events, we cannot help
having a due regard for the history of our forefathers. Our curiosity
is stimulated by their immediate or indirect influence upon ourselves.
It may be a generous enthusiasm, or, as some might say, a harmless
vanity, to take pride in the honour of their name. The gifts of nature,
however, are more valuable than those of fortune; and no line of
ancestry, however honourable, can absolve us from the duty of diligent
application and perseverance, or from the practice of the virtues of
self-control and self-help.

Sir Bernard Burke, in his Peerage and Baronetage Ed 1879 Pp 885-6,
gives a faithful account of the ancestors from whom I am lineally
descended. "The family of Naesymth, he says, "is one of remote
antiquity in Tweeddale, and has possessed lands there since the 13th
century." They fought in the wars of Bruce and Baliol, which ended in
the independence of Scotland.

The following is the family legend of the origin of the name of
Naesymth: --

In the troublous times which prevailed in Scotland before the union of
the Crowns, the feuds between the King and the Barons were almost
constant. In the reign of James III. the House of Douglas was the
most prominent and ambitious. The Earl not only resisted his liege
lord, but entered into a combination with the King of England, from
whom he received a pension. He was declared a rebel, and his estates
were confiscated. He determined to resist the royal power, and crossed
the Border with his followers. He was met by the Earl of Angus, the