It was certainly true, from the character and abilities of her public men, in her colonial condition and in the earlier days of the republic, she had a right to assume a superiority; but this, I fancy, was more the result of her peculiar institutions than of any superiority of race or greater purity of blood.  I am far, however, from underrating the influence of blood.  That there are species of the same race superior in mental as well as in physical formation is certainly true.  The peculiar organization of the brain, its fineness of texture in some, distinguish them as mentally superior to others, as the greater development of bone and muscle marks the superiority of physical power.  Very frequently this difference is seen in brothers, and sometimes in families of the same parents—­the males in some usurping all the mental acumen, and in others the females.  Why this is so, I cannot stop to speculate.

Virginia, in her many divisions of territory, was granted to the younger sons of the nobility and gentry of England.  They came with the peculiar habits of their class, and located upon these grants, bringing with them as colonists their dependants in England, and retaining here all the peculiarities of caste.  The former were the governing class at home, and asserted the privilege here; the latter were content that it should be so.  In the formation of the first constitution for Virginia, the great feature of a landed aristocracy was fully recognized in the organic law.  The suffragist was the landed proprietor, and in every county where his possessions were this right attached.  They recognized landed property as the basis of government, and demanded the right for it of choosing the lawmakers and the executors of the law.  All power, and very nearly all of the wealth of the State, was in the hands of the landlords, and these selected from their own class or caste the men who were to conduct the government.  To this class, too, were confined most of the education and learning in the new State; and in choosing for the Legislature or for Congress, State pride and the love of power prompted the selection of their brightest and best men.

Oratory was esteemed the first attribute of superior minds, and was assiduously cultivated.  There were few newspapers, and the press had not attained the controlling power over the public mind as now.  Political information was disseminated chiefly by public speaking, and every one aspiring to lead in the land was expected to be a fine speaker.  This method, and the manner of voting, forced an open avowal of political opinion.  Each candidate, upon the day of election, took his seat upon the bench of the judge in the county court-house, and the suffragist appeared at the bar, demanding to exercise his privilege in the choice of his representative.  This was done by declaring the names of those he voted for.  These peculiar institutions cultivated open and manly bearing, pride, and independence.  There was little