themselves, and to possess as it were a spur in oneself to advance

to all that is good. It is a splendid thing to belong to a noble

family, whose name serves as a card of admission to the highest

circles. Nobility is a distinction; it is a gold coin that bears the

stamp of its own value. It is the fallacy of the time, and many

poets express it, to say that all that is noble is bad and stupid, and

that, on the contrary, the lower one goes among the poor, the more

brilliant virtues one finds. I do not share this opinion, for it is