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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: VICISSITUDES OF FAMILIES: ENGLISH, SCOTCH, IRISH, AND CONTINENTAL NOBILITY. (FEOM THE QUABTEBLY KEVIEW FOE APEIL, 1860.) Vicissitudes of Families and other Essays. By Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster King of Arms, author of the ' Peerage.' Third edition. London, 1859. Although the primary moral inculcated by this book may be familiar enough, the incidental trains of thought and inquiry suggested by it are by no means equally trite, and we incline to rank them amongst the most curious and important it is well possible to pursue. When we read of the rise and fall of illustrious houses, of the elevation and extinction of historic names, of the different sources and varying fortunes of nobility, we are insensibly led on to speculate on the political, social, and moral uses of the institution, on the nature and tendency of blood and race, on the genuine meaning and philosophy of what is called birth, and on the comparative force of the distinction in the leading communities that have more or less adopted it. Is its influence increasing or on the wane ? Is it a blessing or a curse to humanity ? Should it be encouraged inold countries or discredited in new ? Is it essential to constitutional monarchy ? Is it incompatible with republican freedom ? What have inherited honours and ancient lineage done for civilisation, for science and learning, for politeness and the fine arts ? Or, admitting what can hardly be denied, that privileged classes have been eminently useful in certain stages of progress, has their vocation, like that of the monastic orders in the dark ages', passed away, become a dead letter, or grown absolutely mischievous, since the discovery of representative assemblies and a free press ? When, again, is or has been the pride of ancestry carried furthest, and where does it ...
| ISBN-13 | 9780217549912 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10 | 0217549918 |
| Weight | 0.79 Pounds |
| Dimensions | 9.00 x 6.00 x 0.55 In |
| List Price | $21.51 |
| Format | Paperback |
|---|---|
| Pages | 240 pages |
| Publisher | |
| Published On | 2009-08-01 |
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