Page:The collected works of Theodore Parker volume 7.djvu/252

248 the solemn voice of history, and respect no more the prophetic instincts of mankind.

To most men, the approbation of their fellows is one of the most desirable things. This approbation appears in the various forms of admiration, respect, esteem, confidence, veneration, and love. The great man obtains this after a time; and in its highest forms, without seeking it, simply by faithfulness to his nature. Ho gets it by rising and doing his work, in the course of nature, as easily and as irresistibly as the sun gathers to the clouds the evaporation of land and sea, and, like the sun, to shed it down in blessings on mankind. Little men seek this, consciously or not knowing it, by stooping, cringeing, flattering the pride, the passion, or the prejudice of others. So they get the approbation of men, but never of man. Sometimes this is sought for by the attainment of some accidental quality, which low-minded men hold in more honour than the genius of sage or poet, or the brave manhood of some great hero of the soul. In England, though money is power, it is patrician birth which is nobility, and valued most; and there, accordingly, birth takes precedence of all—of genius, and even of gold. Men seek the companionship or the patronage of titled lords, and social rank depends upon nobility of blood. The few bishops in the upper house do more to give conventional respectability to the clerical profession there, than all the solid intellect of Hooker, Barrow, and of South, the varied and exact learning of philosophic Cudworth, the eloquence and affluent piety of Taylor, and Butler's vast and manly mind. In America, social rank depends substantially on wealth, an accident as much as noble birth, but moveable. Here gold takes precedence of all,—of genius, and even, of noble birth.

Wealth is sought, not merely as a means of power, but of nobility. When obtained, it has the power, of nobility; so poor men of superior intellect and education, powerful by nature, not by position, fear to disturb the opinion of