She is the daughter
of an officer in the British army, and I am the master of a ship. You
will admit, I presume, Mr. Hardinge, that there is such, a thing as a
difference in station?"
"Beyond all question. It is exceedingly useful to remember it; and I
greatly fear the loose appointments of magistrates and other
functionaries, that are making round the country, will bring all our
notions on such subjects into great confusion. I can understand that
one man is as good as another in _rights_, Miles; but I cannot
understand he is any _better_, because he happens to be
uneducated, ignorant, or a blackguard."
Mr. Hardinge was a sensible man in all such distinctions, though so
simple in connection with other matters.
"You can have no difficulty, however, in understanding that, in New
York, for instance, I should not be considered the equal of Major
Merton--I mean socially, altogether, and not in personal merit, or the
claims which years give--and of course, not the equal of his
daughter?"
"Why--yes--I know what you mean, now. There may be some little
inequality in that sense, perhaps; but Clawbonny, and the ship, and
the money at use, would be very apt to strike a balance."
"I am afraid not, sir. I should have studied law, sir, had I wished to
make myself a gentleman.
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