That is our
meaning, and any other principle would be unqualifiedly unpopular."
"Can one man make a shoe as well as another?"
"Of rights, sir,--I stick to the rights, you will remember,"
"Has the minor the same rights as the man of full age; the apprentice as
the master; the vagabond as the resident; the man who cannot pay as the
man who can?"
"No, sir, not in that sense either. You do not understand me, sir, I fear.
All that I mean is, that in particular things, one man is as good as
another in America. This is American doctrine, though it may not happen to
be English, and I flatter myself it will stand the test of the strictest
investigation."
"And you will allow me to inquire where this is not the case, in
particular things. If you mean to say that there are fewer privileges
accorded to the accidents of birth, or to fortune and station in America,
than is usual in other countries, we shall agree; but I think it will
hardly do to say there are none!"
"Privileges accorded to birth in America, sir! The idea would be odious to
her people!"
"Does not the child inherit the property of the father?"
"Most assuredly; but this can hardly be termed a privilege.
"That may depend a good deal on taste. I should account it a greater
privilege than to inherit a title without the fortune.
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