I am aware they are out of place in
this age, but what's bred in the bone will show in the flesh.
Who says it won't, is no gentleman himself and a liar as well!
My place in the world was determined two or three hundred years
ago, and my ancestors spat on such cattle as Mahaffy and they
were flattered by the attention!" The judge, powerfully excited
by his denunciation of the unfortunate Mahaffy, quitted his chair
and, lurching somewhat as he did so, began to pace the floor.
"Take me for your example, boy! You may be poor, you may
possibly be hungry you'll often be thirsty, but through it all
you will remain that splendid thing--a gentleman! Lands,
niggers, riches, luxury, I've had 'em all; I've sucked the good
of 'em; they've colored my blood, they've gone into the fiber of
my brain and body. Perhaps you'll contend that the old order is
overthrown, that family has gone to the devil? You are right,
and there's the pity of it! Where are the great names? A race
of upstarts has taken their place--sons of nobody--nephews of
nobody--cousins of nobody--I observe only deterioration in the
trend of modern life. The social fabric is tottering--I can see
it totter--" and he tottered himself as he said this.
The boy had watched him out of wide eyes, as ponderous and
unwieldy he shuffled back and forth in the dim candlelight; now
shaking his head and muttering, the judge dropped into his chair.
"Well, I'm an old man-the spectacle won't long offend me.
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