In society there was
such lavish expenditure that Horace Walpole declared an income of
twenty thousand pounds a year was barely enough. England had an
aristocracy the proudest in the world, for it had not only rank
but wealth. The English people were certain of the invincible
superiority of their nation. Every Englishman was taught, as
Disraeli said of a later period, to believe that he occupied a
position better than any one else of his own degree in any other
country in the world. The merchant in England was believed to
surpass all others in wealth and integrity, the manufacturer to
have no rivals in skill, the British sailor to stand in a class
by himself, the British officer to express the last word in
chivalry. It followed, of course, that the motherland was
superior to her children overseas. The colonies had no
aristocracy, no great landowners living in stately palaces. They
had almost no manufactures. They had no imposing state system
with places and pensions from which the fortunate might reap a
harvest of ten or even twenty thousand pounds a year. They had no
ancient universities thronged by gilded youth who, if noble,
might secure degrees without the trying ceremony of an
examination. They had no Established Church with the ancient
glories of its cathedrals.
Pages:
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76