All this accumulation of
calamity, the greatest that ever fell upon one man, has fallen upon
his head, because he had left his virtues unguarded by caution;
because he was not taught that, where power is concerned, he who will
confer benefits must take security against ingratitude.
NOBILITY.
All this violent cry against the nobility I take to be a mere work of
art. To be honoured and even privileged by the laws, opinions, and
inveterate usages of our country, growing out of the prejudice of ages,
has nothing to provoke horror and indignation in any man. Even to be too
tenacious of those privileges is not absolutely a crime. The strong
struggle in every individual to preserve possession of what he has found
to belong to him, and to distinguish him, is one of the securities
against injustice and despotism implanted in our nature. It operates as
an instinct to secure property, and to preserve communities in a settled
state. What is there to shock in this? Nobility is a graceful ornament
to the civil order. It is the Corinthian capital of polished society.
Omnes boni nobilitati semper favemus, was the saying of a wise and good
man. It is indeed one sign of a liberal and benevolent mind to incline
to it with some sort of partial propensity. He feels no ennobling
principle in his own heart who wishes to level all the artificial
institutions which have been adopted for giving a body to opinion, and
permanence to fugitive esteem.
Pages:
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348