Like many fathers in his rank of life, the Earl of Emsworth had suffered much through that problem which - with the exception of Mr. Lloyd George - is practically the only fly in the British aristocratic amber - the problem of What To Do With The Younger Sons. It is useless to try to gloss over the fact, the Younger Son is not required. You might reason with a British peer by the hour - you might point out to him how, on the one hand, he is far better off than the male codfish, who may at any moment find itself in the distressing position of being called on to provide for a family of over a million; and remind him, on the other, that every additional child he acquires means a corresponding rise for him in the estimation of ex-President Roosevelt; but you would not cheer him up in the least. He does not want the Younger Son.
(from Something Fresh, by Sir Pelham Wodehouse)
No comments:
Post a Comment