第58章

oflivingatVersailles。IfanythingcouldexceedGrey’sreluctancetoleave

hisgreathouseinNorthumberlandfortheexcitementsofParliament，itwas

Fox’sreluctancetoleavehislittlehouseinSurrey。Thetasteforcountry

pleasuresandforcountrysportswasneverlost，anditspersistenceexplains

thephysicalvitalityofthearistocracy。Thiswasasocialfactofgreat

importance，foritishealthafterallthatwinshalfthebattlesofclasses。

NoquantityofBurgundyandPortcouldkilloffaracethatwascontinually

restoringitshealthbylifeintheopenair；itdidnotmatterthatSquire

Westerngenerallyspentthenightunderthetableifhegenerallyspentthe

dayinthesaddle。Thisinheritanceofanopen-airlifeisprobablythereason

thatinEngland，incontrasttoFranceandItaly，goodlooksaremoreoften

tobefoundinthearistocracythaninotherclassesofsociety。

Itwasduetothisphysicalvigourthatthearistocracy，corruptandselfish

thoughitwas，neverfellintothesupremeviceofmoraldecadence。Theother

EuropeanaristocraciescrumbledatoncebeforeNapoleon：theEnglisharistocracy，

amidstallitsblundersanderrors，keptitscharacterforenduranceand

fortitude。Throughoutthatlongstruggle，whenNapoleonwasstrewingEurope

withhistriumphsand，asSheridansaid，makingkingsthesentinelsofhis

power，Englandaloneneverbrokeatreatyormadeasurrenderathisbidding。

FortenyearsPittseemstheonefixedpointamongtherulersofEurope。

Itisnot，ofcourse，tobearguedthattherulingclassshowedmorevalour

anddeterminationthananyotherclassofEnglishmenwouldhaveshown：the

empire-buildersofthecentury，menofdaringandenterpriseondistantfrontiers，

werenotusuallyoftherulingclass，andDr。Johnsononcewroteanessay

toexplainwhyitwasthattheEnglishcommonsoldierwasthebravestof

thecommonsoldiersoftheworld。ThecomparisonisbetweentheEnglisharistocracy

andtheotherchampionsoflawandorderinthegreatordealofthiswar，

andinthatcomparisontheEnglisharistocracystandsoutinconspicuous

eminenceinaEuropeofshiftingandmeltinggovernments。

Thepoliticsofasmallclassofprivilegedpersonsenjoyinganundisputed

powermighteasilyhavedegeneratedintoamerebusinessofmoney-making

andnothingelse。Thereisplentyofthisatmosphereintheeighteenth-century

system：astudymerelyofthesocietymemoirsoftheageisenoughtodissipate

thefineoldillusionthatmenofbloodandbreedinghaveaniceandfastidious

Senseaboutmoney。Justtheoppositeisthetruth。Aristocracieshavehad

theirvirtues，hutthevirtueofamagnificentdisdainformoneyisnotto

beexpectedinaclasswhichhasforgenerationstakenitasamatterof

coursethatitshouldbemaintainedbytheState。AtnotimeinEnglishhistory

havesordidmotivesbeensoconspicuousinpoliticsasduringthedayswhen

powerwasmostamonopolyofthearistocracy。Nopoliticianshavesacrificed

somuchoftheirtime，ability，andprinciplestothepursuitofgainas

thepoliticiansoftheagewhenpoormencouldonlysqueezeintopolitics

bytwosorthreesinageneration，whenthearistocracyputwholefamilies

intotheHouseofCommonsasamatterofcourse，andBurkeboastedthatthe

HouseofLordswaswholly，andtheHouseofCommonswasmainly，composed

forthedefenceofhereditaryproperty。

Butthepoliticsoftheeighteenthcenturyarenotamerescramblefor

placeandpower。AnagewhichproducedthetwoPittscouldnotbecalled

anageofmereavarice。AnagewhichproducedBurkeandFoxandGreycould

notbecalledanageofmereambition。Thepoliticsofthislittleclass

areilluminatedbythegreatandgenerousbehaviourofindividuals。IfEngland

wastheonlycountrywheretherulingclassmadeastandagainstNapoleon，

Englandwastheonlycountrywheremembersoftherulingclasswerefound

tomakeastandfortheideasoftheRevolution。Perhapstheproudestboast

thattheEnglisholigarchycanmakeistheboastthatsomeofitsmembers，

nursedastheyhadbeeninasoftandfeatheredworldofluxuryandprivilege，

couldlookwithoutdismayonwhatBurkecalledthestrange，wild，nameless，

enthusiasticthingestablishedinthecentreofEurope。Thespectacleof

FoxandSheridanandGreyleadingouttheirhandfulofLiberalsnightaf

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