ARISTOCRACY.
How vain are all hereditary honors,
Those poor possessions from another's deeds.
Parricide. J. SHIRLEY.
He lives to build, not boast, a generous race;
No tenth transmitter of a foolish face.
The Bastard. R. SAVAGE.
Let wealth and commerce, laws and learning die,
But leave us still our old nobility.
England's Trust, Pt. III. LORD J. MANNERS.
Whoe'er amidst the sons
Of reason, valor, liberty, and virtue,
Displays distinguished merit, is a noble
Of Nature's own creating.
Coriolanus, Act iii. Sc. 3. J. THOMSON.
Fond man! though all the heroes of your line
Bedeck your halls, and round your galleries shine
In proud display; yet take this truth from me—
Virtue alone is true nobility!
Satire VIII. JUVENAL. Trans. of GIFFORD.
Boast not the titles of your ancestors, brave youth!
They're their possessions, none of yours.
Catiline. B. JONSON.
Nobler is a limited command
Given by the love of all your native land,
Than a successive title, long and dark,
Drawn from the mouldy rolls of Noah's ark.
Absalom and Achitophel, I. J. DRYDEN.
As though there were a tie,
And obligation to posterity!
We get them, bear them, breed and nurse.
What has posterity done for us,
That we, lest they their rights should lose,
Should trust our necks to gripe of noose?
McFingal, Canto II J. TRUMBULL.
They that on glorious ancestors enlarge,
Produce their debt, instead of their discharge.
Love of Fame, Satire I. DR. E. YOUNG.
Few sons attain the praise of their great sires, and most
their sires disgrace.
Odyssey, Bk. II. HOMER. Trans. of POPE.
He stands for fame on his forefather's feet,
By heraldry, proved valiant or discreet I
Love of Fame, Satire I. DR. E. YOUNG.
Great families of yesterday we show,
And lords whose parents were the Lord knows who.
The True-Born Englishman, Pt. I. D. DEFOE.