had appointed, so far as they knew, those who
deserved to be appointed, peers. They were all Royal men, with minds
full of justice and valour and humanity, and all kinds of qualities
that are good for men to have who ought to rule over others. Then
their genealogy was remarkable--and there is a great deal more in
genealogies than is generally believed at present.
I never heard tell of any clever man that came out of entirely stupid
people. If you look around the families of your acquaintance, you will
see such cases in all directions. I know that it has been the case in
mine. I can trace the father, and the son, and the grandson, and the
family stamp is quite distinctly legible upon each of them, so that
it goes for a great deal--the hereditary principle in Government as in
other things; and it must be recognised so soon as there is any fixity
in things.
You will remark that if at any time the genealogy of a peerage
fails--if the man that actually holds the peerage is a fool in these
earnest striking times, the man gets into mischief and gets into
treason--he gets himself extinguished altogether, in fact.
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