The Man and His Work. 367 



superfluous to recount the principal incidents of his life 

 and Avork. It is desirable that the story should be set forth 

 concisely, so as to be remembered ; for the work was like 

 the man, unselfish and unobtrusive, and in the hurry and 

 complication of modern life such work is liable to be lost 

 from sight, so that people profit by it without knowing that 

 such work was ever done. So genuinely modest, so utterly 

 destitute of self-regarding impulses was our friend, that I 

 believe it would be quite like him to chide us for thus 

 drawing public attention to him, as he would think, with 

 too much emphasis. But such mild reproof it is right that 

 Ave should disregard ; for the memory of a life so beautiful 

 and useful is a precious possession of which mankind ought 

 not to be deprived. 



Edwakd Livixgstox Youmaxs was born in the town 

 of Coeymans, Albany County, IS". Y., on the 3d of June, 

 1821. From his father and mother, both of whom survived 

 him, he inherited strong traits of character as well as an 

 immense fund of vital energy, such that the failure of 

 health a few j^ears ago seemed (to me, at least) surprising. 

 His father, Vincent Youmans, was a man of independent 

 character, strong convictions, and perfect moral courage, 

 with a quick and ready tongue, in the use of which earnest- 

 ness and frankness perhaps sometimes prevailed over 

 prudence. The mother, Catherine Scofield, was notable for 

 balance of judgment, prudence, and tact. The mother's 

 grandfather was Irish ; and, Avhile I very much doubt the 

 soundness of the generalizations we are so prone to make 

 about race characteristics, I cannot but feel that for the 

 impulsive one had almost said explosive warmth of 

 sympathy, the enchanting grace and vivacity of manner, in 

 Edward Youmans, this strain of Irish blood may have been 

 to some extent accountable. Both father and mother 

 belonged to the old Puritan stock of New England, and 

 the father's ancestry was doubtless purely English. Nothing 

 could be more honorably or characteristically English than 

 the name. In the old feudal society the yeoman, like the 

 franMln, was the small freeholder, owning a modest estate 

 yet holding it by no servile tenure, a man of the common 

 people yet no churl, a member of the state who "knew his 

 rights and knowing dared maintain." Few indeed were the 

 nooks and corners outside of merry England where such 

 men fioiirished as the yeomen and franklins who founded 

 democratic New England. It has often been remarked how 

 the most illustrious of Franklins exemplified the typical 



