--My mother has told me so; but, as for myself, I know not what
noble birth means. I never perceived that I had less than others, or
that others had more than I.

_The Old Man._--Obscure birth, in France, shuts every door of access to
great employments; nor can you even be received among any distinguished
body of men, if you labour under this disadvantage.

_Paul._--You have often told me that it was one source of the greatness
of France that her humblest subject might attain the highest honours;
and you have cited to me many instances of celebrated men who, born in
a mean condition, had conferred honour upon their country. It was your
wish, then, by concealing the truth to stimulate my ardour?

_The Old Man._--Never, my son, would I lower it. I told you the truth
with regard to the past; but now, every thing has undergone a great
change. Every thing in France is now to be obtained by interest alone;
every place and employment is now become as it were the patrimony of a
small number of families, or is divided among public bodies. The king
is a sun, and the nobles and great corporate bodies surround him like so
many clouds; it is almost impossible for any of his rays to reach you.
Formerly, under less exclusive administrations, such phenomena have been
seen. Then talents and merit showed themselves every where, as newly
cleared lands are always loaded with abundance. But great kings, who can
really form a just estimate of men, and choose them with judgment, are
rare. The ordinary race of monarchs allow themselves to be guided by the
nobles and people who surround them.

_Paul._--But perhaps I shall find one of these nobles to protect me.

_The Old Man._--To gain the protection of the great you must lend
yourself to their ambition, and administer to their pleasures. You would
never succeed; for, in addition to your obscure birth, you have too much
integrity.

_Paul._--But I will perform such courageous actions, I will be so
faithful to my word, so exact in the performance of my duties, so
zealous and so constant in my friendships, that I will render myself
worthy to be adopted by some one of them. In the ancient histories, you
have made me read, I have seen many examples of such adoptions.

_The Old Man._--Oh, my young friend! among the Greeks and Romans, even
in their decline, the nobles had some respect for virtue; but out of
all the immense number of men, sprung from the mass of the people, in
France, who have s