No. 4.] (ULTURE OF CIVIC 1 VIKTUES. 33 



given to the throne of England. We may be sure of this, 

 at least: we have had no such character as Charles I. ; nor 

 "the barbarous dissonance of Bacchus and his revelers*' 

 with Charles II. leading the rout ; neither have we had any- 

 thing like the Georges, of whom a great Englishman wrote 

 — and he wrote the verdict of history : — 



George the First was reckoned vile, 



Viler George the Second; 

 And what mortal ever heard 

 Any good of George the Third? 

 And when from earth the Fourth descended 

 Heaven be praised, the Georges ended. 



Yet these four Georges ruled England longer than our 

 republic has existed. On the other hand, where in the long 

 list will you find a match for Washington or Lincoln ? Alas 

 for English royalty, the only ruler England ever had that 

 history would for one moment tolerate beside them was not 

 of royal descent and is not counted among her kings — Oli- 

 ver Cromwell. And this is not all ; before the great captain 

 who led us in the civil war all her warrior kings " hide their 

 diminished heads." Let us think of the facts when we talk 

 about our presidents. 



Are you disturbed because the American people choose 

 for their rulers the sons of farmers and rude western attor- 

 neys, — men born outside the charmed circle of gentle blood? 

 There is one other institution on earth that does the same 

 thing. It is the oldest in the world. " The proudest royal 

 families," says Macaulay, " are a matter of yesterday, when 

 compared w T ith the line of supreme pontiffs. The church of 

 Rome w r as great and respected before the Saxon had set foot 

 on Britain, before the Frank had crossed the Rhine." But 

 like the American republic, it recruits its strength from the 

 common people. " Urban II. and Adrian IV. sprung from 

 humblest origin ; Alexander V. had been a beggar boy ; 

 Gregory VII. was the son of a carpenter; Benedict XII., 

 of a barber ; Nicholas V., of a poor physician ; Sextus IV., 

 of a peasant ; Urban IV. and John XXII. were the sons of 

 cobblers, and Benedict XI. and Sextus V. of shepherds." 



