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¬landed property, when in the hands of consi- derable men who have preserved and added to their inheritances from their fathers, instead of dissipating* them by negligence or excess, or by great personal fortunes acquired in trade, a source of wealth by no means to be held lightly in a nation which, without its commerce and manufactures, must instantly be overthrown. — • There are others besides, who, though not falling within any of those classes, are justly distin- guished by science or by the liberal arts, and many more by general good manners and ta- lents for conversation, having visible means to take their places in cultivated and expensive life. — All these orders, when assembled toge- ther in our capital, are naturally drawn towards each other, and distinctions of any new kind, much more exclusions, would be invidious. — Equality, properly understood, is an useful, ennobling principle, and nothing has more con- tributed to the stability of this ancient and powerful kingdom than the innumerable shades in which all her people are blended. — Our com- munity ¬
