Can we consistently admit nobility among horses and dogs, and deny it among men?
Add to this, that the pride of bearing an illustrious name is a powerful incentive to well-doing.

Noblemen have duties to fulfil both towards their ancestors and their posterity.

They must walk uprightly under the penalty of dishonouring an entire race.

Tradition obliges them to follow a path of honour and virtue, from which they cannot stray a single step without falling.

They never sign their names without some elevated thought of an hereditary obligation.
I must admit that everything degenerates in the end, and that the purest blood may occasionally lose its high qualities, as the most generous wine turns to molasses or vinegar.