Several of my ancestors bore the title in the
seventeenth century, and, were it of consequence, I have no reason to
be ashamed of the decent and respectable persons who connect me with
that period when they carried into the field, like Madoc,
"The Crescent at whose gleam the Cambrian oft,
Cursing his perilous tenure, wound his horn,"
so that, as a gentleman, I may stand on as good a footing as other new
creations."[46] Why the honour was any greater for coming from such a
king as George, than it would have been if it had been suggested by
Lord Sidmouth, or even Lord Liverpool,--or half as great as if Mr.
Canning had proposed it, it is not easy to conceive. George was a fair
judge of literary merit, but not one to be compared for a moment with
that great orator and wit; and as to his being the fountain of honour,
there was so much dishonour of which the king was certainly the
fountain too, that I do not think it was very easy for two fountains
both springing from such a person to have flowed quite unmingled.
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