New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-06-18
NOBLE BLOOD
Light on the Subject from the
Saga of Heimdall.

Frederick Boyle, in The Pail Mall Ga
zette.
It is ir1disputa BILE that noble blood mas
never been recognized officially ID Ehs
land Sagacious Hallam declares IL
singular, a providential circumstance
that in an age when the gradual march
of civilization and commerce was so ilttie
foreseen our ancestors, devfating from
the usage of neighboring countries.
should, as If deliberately, have guarded
against that expansive force Wnich, In
bursting through obstacles improvident-
" imposed, has scattered havoc through
Europe'-alluding to the French Revo-
luton The suspicious circumstance
was the limitation of nobility to the
actual possessor Of a title-Wh1ch Tor
babe the establishment Of privileged
class in this country such as existed
elsewhere, and still exists in q measure.
On the same unQuestioned authority 1t
may be declared that the law OF Eng
land has never taken account OF gen
tlemen saving one statute OF Henry
VI, which is not of general application
But the official or legal view IS not
always, nor often, perhaps. that OF the
public. Noble blood was an article OF
faith with all the Teutonic tribes-not to
say of mankind at large. 1t was based
on divine descent. But a precious OLD
Saga tells how Heimdall, one OF ths
gods. travelled on earth under the name
OF ttlS, ana CTSdtSu tie uIuSIeiiI VI dSlS
of men. First he made the Thrall, with
wrinkled hands and crooked knuckles,
ugly face. bent back and long heels-lt
was q sort of instructive acknowledg-
ment that the working class is f1rSt IN
Importance, for on it the others depend,
after all. Then he made the freemen
whose beard is trimmed. hair loose and
Shirt" well cut. Next the Jarl, or noble,
with fair hair, bright cheeks, eyes keen
as a young snakes, who made war and
hunted, swan and learnt runes-that Is.
cultivated his mind. Last of all the
King appeared. a son of the Jarl- 1t is
not little interesting to compare this
myth with the English folk tale reported
by Alexander Barclay in the reign OF
Henry VII Eve was sitting, her chill
dren round her, when she perceived the
Lord approaching. Ashamed of their
number-which seems curious to begin
with-she hid the ugliest in the chimney
and the hay1oft; "but such as were fair
and well made she kept wisely and cum
ningly at hand" The Lord was pleased
with them, and appointed the eldest en-
peror, the next king, duke, governor,
judge, sheriff, mayor. and so on down
to burgess. Then Eve recollected the
others and produced them, black with
SCOT, unsightly with straws and cob
webs. The Lord exclaimed, disguised:
None can make silver vessel out of an
eartl1en pftcheri These shall be plough
men and tillers Of the soil. keepers of
oxen and hogs, etc, and in this wise they
shall live in endless seTVitude." The
townsmen shall laugh them to scorn, but
some may be suffered to live in towns,
as pudding makers, butchers, cobblers.
thinkers, cOstard mongers, ostlers and
daubers.
The last named we should call paint
ers' BY the way, Heimdan takes no &C
count of traders, whether mayors or
burgesses. They are not worth atten-
ton But "chapmen," seagoing merchants.
were an important class in Scandinavia,
almost as enterprising as Vikings, and
much more respectable. They are con-
stantly mentioned in the Sagas among
men of birth and standing. But on oc
casion the contempt of warriors and land
owners for those who buy and sell be-
trays itself. Once we hear of young
chief who strikes and kills a brother
persisting in his determination to fit out
a ship for trade.
In the oldest sample Of English liter
allure extant the hero, Beowulf, exclaims:
Better death than the life of churl
for the man nobly born!" The sentiment
was not thought ridiculous in this coun-
try until a date which it would be very
rash to fix, but not very distant. Never
theless, as soon as we find detailed in
formation on such matters, It appears
that mobiles and gentry of long descent
were putting their younger sons into
trade. Indeed. Paul Hentzner wrote, In
Queen Elizabeths time, Of the ancestor
Of the Cecils, that he was apprenticed by
his father to a mercer, "aS poor gentle
men are used to do with their sons"
One would think that pride of birth could
not survive in the elder, who possessed
the title and estates, when conscious
that his young brother was serving in
the shop" But it did, for we are not a
logical race, nor consistent, as the phil
osophic love to remind us. About the
time Hentzner wrote, Lord Brooke was
hastily sending to inform a country
neighbor that the house she occupied in
London had been bought by a trades
man; doubtless your ladyship will not
remain as tenant of such a fellow" It
appears that the fellow was the Lord
Mayor. In spite of law and circum-
stances and common sense. the antique
superstition of noble blood persisted
In France. a hundred years later, the
Due de Ia Force was tempted TO speculate
in the new East India Company's trade,
importing a shipload Of spices and china.
The secret transpired. and Parliament
took action. Nothing less than the for
fixture of his peerage was commanded.
But Parliament had not the courage to
pronounce such a decree against one of
the first mobiles IN France and on condi-
ton that the duo withdrew to his estates
1t threw out the motion. In 1864 Louis
XIV issued an edict permitting men of
noble birth to- trade with India--which
meant investing in the company. But it
did not last.