He willed therefore the state- He
willed its connection with the source and original archetype of all
perfection. They who are convinced of this His will, which is the
law of laws and the sovereign of sovereigns, cannot think it
reprehensible that this our corporate fealty and homage, that this our
recognition of a seigniory paramount, I had almost said this
oblation of the state itself as a worthy offering on the high altar of
universal praise, should be performed as all public, solemn acts are
performed, in buildings, in music, in decoration, in speech, in the
dignity of persons, according to the customs of mankind taught by
their nature; that is, with modest splendor and unassuming state, with
mild majesty and sober pomp. For those purposes they think some part
of the wealth of the country is as usefully employed as it can be in
fomenting the luxury of individuals. It is the public ornament. It
is the public consolation. It nourishes the public hope. The poorest
man finds his own importance and dignity in it, whilst the wealth
and pride of individuals at every moment makes the man of humble
rank and fortune sensible of his inferiority and degrades and vilifies
his condition. It is for the man in humble life, and to raise his
nature and to put him in mind of a state in which the privileges of
opulence will cease, when he will be equal by nature, and may be
more than equal by virtue, that this portion of the general wealth
of his country is employed and sanctified.
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