-- I would have you to know, you was called after
great-uncle Matthew ap Madoc ap Meredith, esquire, of
Llanwysthin, in Montgomeryshire, justice of the quorum, and
crusty ruttleorum, a gentleman of great worth and property,
descended in a strait line, by the female side, from Llewellyn,
prince of Wales.'
This genealogical anecdote seemed to make some impression upon
the North-Briton, who bowed very low to the descendant of
Llewellyn, and observed that he himself had the honour of a
scriptural nomination. The lady expressing a desire of knowing
his address, he said, he designed himself Lieutenant Obadiah
Lismahago; and in order to assist her memory, he presented her
with a slip of paper inscribed with these three words, which she
repeated with great emphasis, declaring, it was one of the most
noble and sonorous names she had ever heard. He observed that
Obadiah was an adventitious appellation, derived from his great-
grandfather, who had been one of the original covenanters; but
Lismahago was the family surname, taken from a place in Scotland
so called. He likewise dropped some hints about the antiquity of
his pedigree, adding, with a smile of self-denial, Sed genus et
proavos, et quoe non fecimus ipsi, vix ea nostra voco, which
quotation he explained in deference to the ladies; and Mrs
Tabitha did not fail to compliment him on his modesty in waving
the merit of his ancestry, adding, that it was the less necessary
to him, as he had such a considerable fund of his own.
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