Note 359 — Chapter XI

"The system framed by Locke was called 'the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina.' ... Locke was undoubtedly well acquainted with human nature, and not ignorant of the world; but he had not taken a sufficiently comprehensive view of the history of man, nor were political speculators yet duly aware of the necessity of adapting constitutions to those for whom they were destined. The grand peculiarity consisted in forming a high and titled nobility, which might rival the splendor of those of the Old World. But as the dukes and earls of England would have considered their titles degraded by being shared with a Carolina planter, other titles of foreign origin were adopted. That of landgrave was drawn from Germany. (Locke himself was created a landgrave.) But these princely denominations, applied to persons who were to earn their bread by the labor of their hands, could confer no real dignity. The reverence for nobility, which can only be the result of long-continued wealth and influence, could never be inspired by mere titles, especially of such an exotic and fantastic character.... The sanction of negro slavery was a deep blot in this boasted system.... The colonists, who felt perfectly at ease under their rude early regulations, were struck with dismay at the arrival of this philosophical fabric of polity."—Murray's America, vol. i., p. 343.