CHAPTER XVI 



THE SQUIRE 



T is only those who have 

 been much abroad that 

 can rightly appreciate 

 the advantage of having 

 resident country gentle- 

 men. It is only the 

 absence of the class in 

 other countries that im- 

 presses us with the con- 

 viction of its importance 

 in our own. In no other 

 country in the world do 

 we find individuals with 

 the same power and territorial possessions occupying 

 so unassuming a place in the national scale — men that 

 in this country rank as mere Esquires, in other lands 

 would be princes and magnates from the importance 

 of their possessions. We, who have seen marquises 

 presiding at gaming tables, and counts figuring 

 off behind counters, feel proud of belonging to a 

 country whose greatness is based on such substantial 

 foundations. 



The title " Esquire " is so prostituted by the indis- 

 criminate application of modern usage, that were it 

 not founded in respectability, and maintained by its 

 "order," it must long ere this have fallen into dis- 



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