The men of whom it is composed naturally derive from their superior and hereditary position a taste for what is extremely well made and lasting.

This affects the general way of thinking of the nation in relation to the arts.

It often occurs, among such a people, that even the peasant will rather go without the object he covets, than procure it in a state of imperfection.

In aristocracies, then, the handicraftsmen work for only a limited number of very fastidious customers: the profit they hope to make depends principally on the perfection of their workmanship.
Such is no longer the case when, all privileges being abolished, ranks are intermingled, and men are forever rising or sinking upon the ladder of society.

Amongst a democratic people a number of citizens always exist whose patrimony is divided and decreasing.