English Nobility.

IT is a very amiable reflection to a commoner that there should remain to the present day nobility, epitomising the artistic graces of a polite society and representing, in the vein of a tradition which is become an heritage, the perfect refinement of the national character. Not the demolitions of war, nor even of peace, nor the influx of iconoclastic politics in recent times, have sufficed fully to eradicate in England the upper classes of society. Certainly there are many lowly born persons of the highest gentility, and there are even some highly born persons of a quality beneath their standing, yet in spite of such exceptions as may prove the rule, it is observable in history that the presence of an upper class is usually an excellent surety for patronage of the arts. So far indeed is this fact applied that the life of a monarch may in itself be considered one organic work of art, incorporating in its compass, religion, apparel, architecture, music, painting, cooking, and sporting, to a noble degree. The detractors of such a class must be misguided to that extent that jealousy of any merit is misguided. Dr. Johnson well expressed his feelings on such a question when he observed, 'Sir, your levellers wish to level down as far as themselves; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves. They would all have some people under them; why not then have some people above them?' 

   It is a cause of the most considerable felicity, at least to me, that there are some fortunate persons, born into wealth and guided toward all the finer things in life as upon rails. It is as much a joy as it is a sorrow that there are still those whose circumstances are not so salubrious as they ought to be. Yet, in the course of providence, we see it is not by the abolition of finery and gentility that the general standards of a society are effectively increased. Certainly Louis XIV might have handed out thousands of donatives rather than erect the Palace of Versailles, but who in hindsight cannot be glad that he did construct such a monument of grandeur? Society we see improves by gradation, the wealth of an employer increases the wealth of the employed, and in the scheme of order citizens of an innumerable variety, of many kinds and classes, may each find a rôle complementary to the rest. Meanwhile, those who are appreciative of the extraordinary may gaze upon the Crown Jewels or walk, as in Elysium, about the grounds of an estate such as Blenheim, and rejoice in a superiority which seems to buoy up the hearts of all those with eyes to see and ears to hear. How glad were the bonfires of the Restoration!