STUDY XIII. 249 



cenary matrimonial alliances, which, by uniting 

 two individual citizens of different clafles, fre- 

 quently alienate their families. Nobility, thus 

 acquired, would appear ro me far preferable to that 

 which public employments confer; forthefe, being 

 entirely the purchafe of fo much money, from that 

 very circumftance lofe their refpcftability, and, 

 confequently, degrade the nobility attached to 

 them. 



But, taking it at the befl, one d i fad vantage m u ft 

 ever adhere to hereditary nobility, namely, the 

 eventual exceffive multiplication of perfons of that 

 defcription. A remedy for this has been attempted 

 among us, by adjudging nobility to various pro- 

 feffions, fuch as maritime commerce. Firft of all, 

 it may be made a queftion. Whether the fpirit 

 of commerce can be perfedly confiftent with the 

 honour of a gentleman ? Befides, What commerce 

 fhall he carry on, who has got nothing ! Muft not 

 a premium be paid to the merchant for admitting 

 a young man into his counting- houfe, to learn the 

 lirft principles of trade ? And where Ihould fo 

 many poor men, of noble birth, find the means, 

 who have not wherewithal to clothe their chil- 

 dren ? 1 have feen fome of them, in Britanny, the 

 defcendants of the moft ancient families of the pro- 

 vince, fo reduced, as to earn a livelihood by mow- 

 ing down the hay of the peafantry for fo much a day. 



Would 



