6i. ■ B I R 
BIRTH,y*. \_f>eortJi, Sax.] The aft of bringing forth, 
or of coining into life : 
But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy, 
Nature and fortune join’d-to make thee great. S/aAeJp. 
E-Xtraiftion ; lineage : 
A ‘11 truth I (hall relate : nor firft: caii I 
Mylelf to be of Grecian birth deny. Denkarh. 
Rank which is inherited by defcent-: 
Be juft iiv all you (ay and- all you do ; 
Whatever be your birth,- you ’re (lire to be 
A' peer of the fir ft- magnitude to the. Dry dm. 
The condition or circumftances in which any man is born : 
High in his chariot then Halefns came, 
A foe by birth to Troy’s unhappy bathe. Dry dm. 
Thing bofn ; produ'ffion : ufed' of vegetables', aS well as 
animals.—Others hatch their eggs, a'nd tend the birth, till 
it is able to drift for it’ft'lf. Addifon. 
The va'llies (mile, and with their flow’ry face, 
A-nd wealthy biiths, confefs the flood’s'embrace. Blackm. 
Birth is faid to be HiglV, oV lbW, according' to the cir- 
cirniftarices of a perfon’s ancdftYjb “Th'ere is fcarce any 
truth (fays Mr. Knox in hiS E : l!ays)of which the'world has 
been more frequently reminded by the'moralifts, than tlie 
unre’afona‘b!eneiS of that veneration which is paid to birth. 
They have be'erj told', that virtue alone is true nobility; 
but, though they have acknowledged the affertibh' to be 
fo'U'nde'd' in reafon, they’ have continued, with uniform 
pdrfdverancd', in-the fame error. The luminous glory of 
an illuffrious anceftor, feems’ to have diffufed a brilliancy 
over a long’ ling of uefcendabt's, too opaque of tliemfelves 
to emit any original irradiations. Gratitude (continues 
this elegant author),'which firft raifes a benefactor to a 
diftiriguifhed’rank in civil hofiourS, is willing.to continue 
its kindnefs.to his immediate offspring. The diftiiiCtion 
is'feiidered hereditary. This predilection for an anceftor 
foon leads' to file accumulation of honours and polfeffions 
in his fucceffors; and the iricenfe originally offered, be- 
canfe it Was deferved, is at laft laViflied at the fhrine of 
opulence, independently of merit. Subordination is in¬ 
deed effential to fociety. The order of nobles, as here¬ 
ditary guardians of the laws, is found an ufeful political 
‘eftkblifhment; and none feem fo well adapted to fupply it, 
as they who have been raifed to eminence by their aiicef- 
tors, and who poffefs a territorial patrimony in the land 
which they are to proteft. All that is contended for is, 
that the recommendation of birth may not fet afide or de¬ 
preciate real merit, the praife of learning, and the intrinfic 
value of virtuous exertions. 
“It is a remarkable circumftarice in the hiftofy of man¬ 
kind, that fome of the bed books have been written, and 
fome of the greateft atchievements performed, by tliofe 
whofe origin was truly plebeian. The politeft and gen- 
teeleft books, whether the fentiments or the'ftyle be con- 
fidered, have been produced by flaves, or the defcendants 
of (laves. Horace, Phcedrus, and Terence, wrote in a 
ftyle which niuft have been the ftandard of a Court, to an 
intercourse with which they were by no means intitled by 
their extraction. The founders of the mod: diftinguiflied 
families emerged from the middle and the lower claffes, 
by the fuperior vigour of their natural abilities, or by ex¬ 
traordinary efforts, affifted by fortune: and, unlefs the ad¬ 
ventitious circumftances of wealth and civil honours can ef¬ 
fect a change in the condiment principles of the mind and 
body, there is certainly no real fiiperiority to be derived in 
a boafted pedigree of Tudors and Plantagenets. And yet 
tfiere have appeared flatterers, who have indireCtly fug- 
gelled, that tlie minds of the nobility feem to be caft in 
a finer mould, and to have an elegance inherent in their 
original conftitutiori. According to this hypothecs, we 
muft go on to fuppofe, that tlie mind of a commoner ex¬ 
alted to the higher order of fenators patches this elegance 
T H. 
by fhe contagion of invifible eifruvia. On his creation lie 
undergoes a kind of new birth, and puts oft’ tne e'Xuvise 
Which encumbered and degraded him in the lower regions. 
Thus are all the occult perfeHions of noble blood to hi' 
infufed by the mandate of a monarch. * But no,’ faid 
faid Maximilian fo a man who afked to be ennobled by 
him, ‘though I can give you riches and a title, 1 cannot 
make you noble.’’ In truth, there is many a nobleman, ac¬ 
cording to the genuine idea of nobility, even at the loom, 
at'the plough, and'in the (hop; and many more in the mid¬ 
dle'ranks of mixed fociety. This genuine idea contains 
in it generality, courage, fpirit, and benevolence, the 
qualifies of a warm and open heart, totally unconnected 
with the accidental advantages of riche's and honour ; and 
many an Rn'glifli failor has poffeffed more of the real hero 
than a lord of the admiralty. If indeed there be any fub- 
ftaritial difference in the quality of their blood, tlie advan¬ 
tage is probably oh the fide of the inferior claffes. Their 
indigence and their manual employments require tempe¬ 
rance and exercife, the bed. purifiers of the animal juices. 
But the indolence which wealth excites, and the pleafures 
which faftiionable life admits without reftraint, have a na¬ 
tural tendency to vitiate and enfeeble the body as Well as 
the mind : and among the many privileges inherited by 
him who boafts nobility in his veins, he commonly receives 
tlie feeds of the mod painful and the impureft difeafes. 
He difplays indeed a coronet on his coat of arms, and he 
has a long pedigree to perufe with fecret fatisfaCtion ; but 
he has often a gout or a fcrophula, which make him wi(h 
to exchange every drop derived from his Norman anceftors, 
for the pure tide that warms a peafant’s bofom. 
“ The fpirit of freedom, moral, mental, and political, 
which prevails in Great Britain, precludes that unreafon- 
able attachment to birth, which, in the countries of def- 
potifm, tends to elevate the noble to a rank fuperior to 
humanity. Yet, after all, wealth appears to be the ob- 
jei£l of more univerfal veneration. Noble blood and no¬ 
ble titles', without an eftate to fupport them, meet with 
great compaffion, but with little refpeCt ; nor is the man 
who has raifed himfelf to eminence, and who behaves 
well in it, negleCted and defpifed becaufe he derives no 
luffre from his forefathers. Tlie want of diftinguifhed 
birth may therefore mod eafily be difpe-.ifed with, by thofe 
who poffefs a folid judgment of that which makes and 
keeps us happy. There may be fome reafon to repine at 
the want of wealth and fame; but he who has derived 
from his parent, health, vigour, and all the powers of 
perception, need not lament that he is unnoticed at the 
herald’s office.” 
“ Birth is much, but breeding more.” Lat. Nobilitas 
Jola eft atque unica virtus. H. Ger. Tugend Jiir dem add ge- 
ber : add mit tugend gatz bcjlehet. And indeed great birth 
without breeding makes but an indifferent figure. The 
French fay, Nourriture pajfe nature. The Italians, La vera 
nobilita [on i conjlumi. 
BlRTH,y~. The ftation in which a (hip rides at anchor 
either alone or in a fleet, or the diftance between the (hip 
and any adjacent objeCt, comprehending the extent of the 
foace in which (he ranges at the length of her cables : as, 
Jhe lies in a good birth, i. e. in a convenient fituation, or at 
a proper diftance from the (hore and other veffels. Birth 
alfo fignifies the room or apartment where any particular 
number of the officers and (hip’s company uftially mefs 
and refide. In a (hip of war there is commonly one of 
thefe between every two guns. 
BIRTH-DAY, f. [from birth and day.~] The day on 
which any one is born : 
Orient light, 
Exhaling firft from darknefs, they beheld, 
Birth-day of heaven and earth. Milton. 
The day of the year in which any one was born, annually 
obferved. The ancients placed a deal of religion in the 
celebration of birth-days, and took omens from thence of 
the felicity of the coming year. The manner of celebrat- 
