第51章

Honorissimplythatpeculiarrule，foundeduponapeculiarstateofsociety，bytheapplicationofwhichapeopleoraclassallotpraiseorblame。Nothingismoreunproductivetothemindthananabstractidea;Ithereforehastentocallintheaidoffactsandexamplestoillustratemymeaning。

Iselectthemostextraordinarykindofhonorwhichwaseverknownintheworld，andthatwhichwearebestacquaintedwith，viz。，aristocratichonorspringingoutoffeudalsociety。I

shallexplainitbymeansoftheprinciplealreadylaiddown，andIshallexplaintheprinciplebymeansoftheillustration。IamnothereledtoinquirewhenandhowthearistocracyoftheMiddleAgescameintoexistence，whyitwassodeeplyseveredfromtheremainderofthenation，orwhatfoundedandconsolidateditspower。Itakeitsexistenceasanestablishedfact，andIamendeavoringtoaccountforthepeculiarviewwhichittookofthegreaterpartofhumanactions。Thefirstthingthatstrikesmeis，thatinthefeudalworldactionswerenotalwayspraisedorblamedwithreferencetotheirintrinsicworth，butthattheyweresometimesappreciatedexclusivelywithreferencetothepersonwhowastheactorortheobjectofthem，whichisrepugnanttothegeneralconscienceofmankind。Thussomeoftheactionswhichwereindifferentonthepartofamaninhumblelife，dishonoredanoble;otherschangedtheirwholecharacteraccordingasthepersonaggrievedbythembelongedordidnotbelongtothearistocracy。Whenthesedifferentnotionsfirstarose，thenobilityformedadistinctbodyamidstthepeople，whichitcommandedfromtheinaccessibleheightswhereitwasensconced。Tomaintainthispeculiarposition，whichconstituteditsstrength，itnotonlyrequiredpoliticalprivileges，butitrequiredastandardofrightandwrongforitsownespecialuse。Thatsomeparticularvirtueorvicebelongedtothenobilityratherthantothehumbleclasses—thatcertainactionswereguiltlesswhentheyaffectedthevillain，whichwerecriminalwhentheytouchedthenoble—thesewereoftenarbitrarymatters;butthathonororshameshouldbeattachedtoaman’sactionsaccordingtohiscondition，wasaresultoftheinternalconstitutionofanaristocraticcommunity。Thishasbeenactuallythecaseinallthecountrieswhichhavehadanaristocracy;aslongasatraceoftheprincipleremains，thesepeculiaritieswillstillexist;todebauchawomanofcolorscarcelyinjuresthereputationofanAmerican—tomarryherdishonorshim。

Insomecasesfeudalhonorenjoinedrevenge，andstigmatizedtheforgivenessofinsults;inothersitimperiouslycommandedmentoconquertheirownpassions，andimposedforgetfulnessofself。Itdidnotmakehumanityorkindnessitslaw，butitextolledgenerosity;itsetmorestoreonliberalitythanonbenevolence;itallowedmentoenrichthemselvesbygamblingorbywar，butnotbylabor;itpreferredgreatcrimestosmallearnings;cupiditywaslessdistastefultoitthanavarice;

violenceitoftensanctioned，butcunningandtreacheryitinvariablyreprobatedascontemptible。Thesefantasticalnotionsdidnotproceedexclusivelyfromthecapricesofthosewhoentertainedthem。Aclasswhichhassucceededinplacingitselfattheheadofandaboveallothers，andwhichmakesperpetualexertionstomaintainthisloftyposition，mustespeciallyhonorthosevirtueswhichareconspicuousfortheirdignityandsplendor，andwhichmaybeeasilycombinedwithprideandtheloveofpower。Suchmenwouldnothesitatetoinvertthenaturalorderoftheconscienceinordertogivethosevirtuesprecedencebeforeallothers。Itmayevenbeconceivedthatsomeofthemoreboldandbrilliantviceswouldreadilybesetabovethequiet，unpretendingvirtues。Theveryexistenceofsuchaclassinsocietyrendersthesethingsunavoidable。

ThenoblesoftheMiddleAgesplacedmilitarycourageforemostamongstvirtues，andinlieuofmanyofthem。Thiswasagainapeculiaropinionwhicharosenecessarilyfromthepeculiarityofthestateofsociety。Feudalaristocracyexistedbywarandforwar;itspowerhadbeenfoundedbyarms，andbyarmsthatpowerwasmaintained;itthereforerequirednothingmorethanmilitarycourage，andthatqualitywasnaturallyexaltedaboveallothers;whateverdenotedit，evenattheexpenseofreasonandhumanity，wasthereforeapprovedandfrequentlyenjoinedbythemannersofthetime。Suchwasthemainprinciple;thecapriceofmanwasonlytobetracedinminuterdetails。Thatamanshouldregardataponthecheekasanunbearableinsult，andshouldbeobligedtokillinsinglecombatthepersonwhostruckhimthuslightly，isanarbitraryrule;butthatanoblecouldnottranquillyreceiveaninsult，andwasdishonoredifheallowedhimselftotakeablowwithoutfighting，weredirectconsequencesofthefundamentalprinciplesandthewantsofmilitaryaristocracy。

Thusitwastruetoacertainextenttoassertthatthelawsofhonorwerecapricious;butthesecapricesofhonorwerealwaysconfinedwithincertainnecessarylimits。Thepeculiarrule，whichwascalledhonorbyourforefathers，issofarfrombeinganarbitrarylawinmyeyes，thatIwouldreadilyengagetoascribeitsmostincoherentandfantasticalinjunctionstoasmallnumberoffixedandinvariablewantsinherentinfeudalsociety。

IfIweretotracethenotionoffeudalhonorintothedomainofpolitics，Ishouldnotfinditmoredifficulttoexplainitsdictates。ThestateofsocietyandthepoliticalinstitutionsoftheMiddleAgesweresuch，thatthesupremepowerofthenationnevergovernedthecommunitydirectly。Thatpowerdidnotexistintheeyesofthepeople:everymanlookeduptoacertainindividualwhomhewasboundtoobey;bythatintermediatepersonagehewasconnectedwithalltheothers。

Thusinfeudalsocietythewholesystemofthecommonwealthresteduponthesentimentoffidelitytothepersonofthelord:

todestroythatsentimentwastoopenthesluicesofanarchy。

Fidelitytoapoliticalsuperiorwas，moreover，asentimentofwhichallthemembersofthearistocracyhadconstantopportunitiesofestimatingtheimportance;foreveryoneofthemwasavassalaswellasalord，andhadtocommandaswellastoobey。Toremainfaithfultothelord，tosacrificeone’sselfforhimifcalledupon，tosharehisgoodorevilfortunes，tostandbyhiminhisundertakingswhatevertheymightbe—suchwerethefirstinjunctionsoffeudalhonorinrelationtothepoliticalinstitutionsofthosetimes。Thetreacheryofavassalwasbrandedwithextraordinaryseveritybypublicopinion，andanameofpeculiarinfamywasinventedfortheoffencewhichwascalled"felony。"

Onthecontrary，fewtracesaretobefoundintheMiddleAgesofthepassionwhichconstitutedthelifeofthenationsofantiquity—Imeanpatriotism;theworditselfisnotofveryancientdateinthelanguage。*bFeudalinstitutionsconcealedthecountryatlargefrommen’ssight，andrenderedtheloveofitlessnecessary。Thenationwasforgotteninthepassionswhichattachedmentopersons。Henceitwasnopartofthestrictlawoffeudalhonortoremainfaithfultoone’scountry。

Notindeedthattheloveoftheircountrydidnotexistintheheartsofourforefathers;butitconstitutedadimandfeebleinstinct，whichhasgrownmoreclearandstronginproportionasaristocraticclasseshavebeenabolished，andthesupremepowerofthenationcentralized。ThismaybeclearlyseenfromthecontraryjudgmentswhichEuropeannationshavepasseduponthevariouseventsoftheirhistories，accordingtothegenerationsbywhichsuchjudgmentshavebeenformed。ThecircumstancewhichmostdishonoredtheConstabledeBourbonintheeyesofhiscontemporarieswasthatheborearmsagainsthisking:thatwhichmostdishonorshiminoureyes，isthathemadewaragainsthiscountry;webrandhimasdeeplyasourforefathersdid，butfordifferentreasons。

[Footnoteb:Eventheword"patrie"wasnotusedbytheFrenchwritersuntilthesixteenthcentury。]

Ihavechosenthehonoroffeudaltimesbywayofillustrationofmymeaning，becauseitscharacteristicsaremoredistinctlymarkedandmorefamiliartousthanthoseofanyotherperiod;butImighthavetakenanexampleelsewhere，andIshouldhavereachedthesameconclusionbyadifferentroad。AlthoughwearelessperfectlyacquaintedwiththeRomansthanwithourownancestors，yetweknowthatcertainpeculiarnotionsofgloryanddisgraceobtainedamongstthem，whichwerenotsolelyderivedfromthegeneralprinciplesofrightandwrong。Manyhumanactionswerejudgeddifferently，accordingastheyaffectedaRomancitizenorastranger，afreemanoraslave;certainviceswereblazonedabroad，certainvirtueswereextolledaboveallothers。"Inthatage，"saysPlutarchinthelifeofCoriolanus，"martialprowesswasmorehonoredandprizedinRomethanalltheothervirtues，insomuchthatitwascalledvirtus，thenameofvirtueitself，byapplyingthenameofthekindtothisparticularspecies;sothatvirtueinLatinwasasmuchastosayvalor。"Cananyonefailtorecognizethepeculiarwantofthatsingularcommunitywhichwasformedfortheconquestoftheworld？

Anynationwouldfurnishuswithsimilargroundsofobservation;for，asIhavealreadyremarked，whenevermencollecttogetherasadistinctcommunity，thenotionofhonorinstantlygrowsupamongstthem;thatistosay，asystemofopinionspeculiartothemselvesastowhatisblamableorcommendable;andthesepeculiarrulesalwaysoriginateinthespecialhabitsandspecialinterestsofthecommunity。Thisisapplicabletoacertainextenttodemocraticcommunitiesaswellastoothers，asweshallnowproceedtoprovebytheexampleoftheAmericans。*cSomeloosenotionsoftheoldaristocratichonorofEuropearestilltobefoundscatteredamongsttheopinionsoftheAmericans;butthesetraditionalopinionsarefewinnumber，theyhavebutlittlerootinthecountry，andbutlittlepower。Theyarelikeareligionwhichhasstillsometemplesleftstanding，thoughmenhaveceasedtobelieveinit。

Butamidstthesehalf—obliteratednotionsofexotichonor，somenewopinionshavesprungup，whichconstitutewhatmaybetermedinourdaysAmericanhonor。IhaveshownhowtheAmericansareconstantlydriventoengageincommerceandindustry。Theirorigin，theirsocialcondition，theirpoliticalinstitutions，andeventhespottheyinhabit，urgethemirresistiblyinthisdirection。Theirpresentconditionisthenthatofanalmostexclusivelymanufacturingandcommercialassociation，placedinthemidstofanewandboundlesscountry，whichtheirprincipalobjectistoexploreforpurposesofprofit。ThisisthecharacteristicwhichmostpeculiarlydistinguishestheAmericanpeoplefromallothersatthepresenttime。Allthosequietvirtueswhichtendtogivearegularmovementtothecommunity，andtoencouragebusiness，willthereforebeheldinpeculiarhonorbythatpeople，andtoneglectthosevirtueswillbetoincurpubliccontempt。Allthemoreturbulentvirtues，whichoftendazzle，butmorefrequentlydisturbsociety，willonthecontraryoccupyasubordinaterankintheestimationofthissamepeople:theymaybeneglectedwithoutforfeitingtheesteemofthecommunity—toacquirethemwouldpe