3io THE CECILS
Such is the record of the Cecils, and it is one of which any family may be proud. For though neither branch of the family did much to dis- tinguish itself during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, yet to have produced three such statesmen as Lord Burghley, Robert, Earl of Salisbury, and the third Marquess of Salisbury, is to have deserved well of the nation. And surely never were such men and the ideals they represent more needed than at the present day. Our English tradition, which impels the heir to a great name to devote his life to the service of his country, and sets ever before him the highest standard of conduct both in public and private life, is an asset to the nation of incalculable value. It is the growth of centuries ; it may be destroyed in a generation. And democracy is essentially destructive. All special rights and privileges are an abomination to it, and the accompanying duties and responsibilities it ignores and decries. Nor does it stop to enquire whether such privileges are, on the whole, good or bad for the nation. It is enough that they exist ; and better that the whole population should grovel together in the ditch than that any of its members should occupy a " privileged " position on the bank, however much they may thereby be enabled to help their less fortunate fellows. Against these forces of destruction families such as the Cecils present a powerful bulwark. Staunch upholders of the Church and the Constitution ; keenly interested, as landlords, in the cultivation and
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