4264. KINGS, Breeding.—
When I observed
that the King of England was a
cipher, I did not mean to confine the observation
to the mere individual[George III.] now
on that throne. The practice of kings marrying
only in the families of kings, has been
that of Europe for some centuries. Now,
take any race of animals, confine them in idleness
and inaction, whether in a sty, a stable or
a state-room, pamper them with high diet,
gratify all their sexual appetites, immerse
them in sensualities, nourish their passions, let
everything bend before them, and banish
whatever might lead them to think, and in a
few generations they become all body, and no
mind; and this, too, by a law of nature, by
that very law by which we are in the constant
practice of changing the characters and propensities
of the animals we raise for our own
purposes. Such is the regimen in raising
kings, and in this way they have gone on for
centuries.—
To John Langdon. Washington ed. v, 514.
(M.
1810)
