CHARACTERS. 



383 



then existing set of Chevaliers of 

 Cincinnatus. The future genea- 

 logists two of these Chevaliers, in 

 proving the lineal descent of their 

 honor through so many genera- 

 tions, (even supposing honor ca- 

 pable in its nature of descending) 

 will only prove the small shaie of 

 this honor uhicli can he justly 

 claimed by any one of them, since 

 the above simple process in arith- 

 metic makes it quite plain and 

 clear, that in pioportion as the 

 antiquity of tlie family shall aug- 

 ment, the rigiit to the honom- of 

 the ancestor will diminish ; and a 

 few generations more would re- 

 duce it to something so small as 

 to be very near an absolute nullity. 

 I hope therefore tliat tlie order 

 will drop this part of their project, 

 and content themselves, as the 

 Knights of the Garter, Bath, This- 

 tle, St. Louis, and otlier orders of 

 Europe do, with a life enjoyment of 

 their little badge and ribband, and 

 let the distinction die with those 

 who have merited It. Tiiis I ima- 

 gine will give no oifence. For my 

 own part, 1 shall think it a con- 

 venience, when I go into a com- 

 pany where tiiere may be faces 

 unknown to me, if I discover, by 

 this badge, the persons wlio merit 

 some particulai- expression of my 

 lespect ; and it will save modest 

 viitue the trouble of calling for 

 our regard, by awkward roimd- 

 about intimations of having been 

 heretofore eni])loyed as officei's in 

 the continental service. 



Tlie gentleman wi)0 njadc the 

 voyage to France to piovidc the 

 ribbands and medals, has executed 

 his conmiission. To me they s 'em 

 tolerably done j but all such :h iigs 

 are criticised. Some find fault 

 with the Liitin, as wanting chi.s- 



sical elegance and correctness; 

 and since our nine universities 

 were not able to furnish better 

 Latin, it was pity, they say, that 

 the mottos had not been in Eng- 

 lish. Others object to the title, 

 as not properly assumable by any 

 bat General Washington, and a 

 few otheis, who served witlicut 

 pay. Others object to the bald 

 e;igle, as looking too much like a 

 dindon or turkey. For my own 

 part, I wish the bald eagle had 

 not been chosen as the represen- 

 tative of our country ; he is a bird 

 of bad moral character : he does 

 not get his living honestly ; you 

 may have seen him peiched on 

 some dead tree, where, too lazy 

 to fish for himself, he watches the 

 labor of the fishing hawk : and 

 when that diligent bird has at 

 length taken a fish, and is bearing 

 it to his nest for the support of 

 his mate and young ones, the bald 

 eagle pursues liim, and takes it 

 from him. With all this injus- 

 tice he is never in good case, 

 but like those among men Avho 

 live by sharping and robbing, he is 

 geneially poor, and often very lousy, 

 ik'sides, he is a rank coward : the 

 little king bird, not bigger than 

 a sparrow, attacks him boldly and 

 drives liim out of the district. He 

 is therefore by no means a proper 

 emblem for the brave and honest 

 Cincinnati of America, who have 

 driven all the king birds from our 

 country ; though exactly fit for 

 that order of knights which the 

 French call Chevulicm iriiuUmtrie. 

 I am on this account, not dis- 

 jileascd tliat the figure is ncit 

 klu)^vn as a bald eagle, but looks 

 more like a turkey. For in truth, 

 the turkey is in comjjai ison a nuich 

 more respectable bird, and withal 



a true 



