THE EIGHTH DUKE OF BEAUFORT 



such in the struggle for existence, will expect to find 

 that some will survive even under the most adverse 

 conditions. Darwin and Wallace, Huxley and 

 Haeckel have made it plain to us, however much 

 we may dislike the conclusion, that social equality is 

 impossible in the nature of things. I believe that 

 both science and history point to the survival of 

 fighting races and men, and to the ultimate subjec- 

 tion to them of the men of learning and commerce. 

 The man who fights has a natural tendency to that 

 feeling for the clan, the subordination to a head, the 

 desire to work for the common interests of its 

 members, which is by no means the least important 

 among the qualities that enable families to survive 

 and to rule. 



Hundreds and thousands of families in our Eng- 

 lish middle classes have opportunities for founding 

 a clan, of which they do not avail themselves. 

 Every one must note the positive aversion of many 

 well-to-do Englishmen from helping their own rela- 

 tives. The money they will gladly expend on 

 charities or on strangers, is denied to the necessitous 

 among those of their own blood. Now it is just the 

 opposite of this that is the source of the vital power 

 and energy of great families. They desire to for- 

 ward the interests of all who bear their name, and 

 they receive in return from those they help, loyal 

 support and respect. 



The story of the Duke of Beaufort's life shows us 

 the force of the blows that have fallen on the great 



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