The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1865-05-16
III D GATE CT J |.

The GATE; CIT 81
TUESDAY, MAI l6.
/. 80 vorps ABsUr ktk6ab. |
. n~aern Clasessscasaen - Gen.
- slenasns 49, ss sEEs. q
ryron u, New York Evsning Potl
We ffvqusntIy rssd Or hear soms 'ftbsl
and traitor spoken Of - . gsntisaan.-sa
8aocomplished gentleman, Z ohivalrcs gsn.
tIaman, slltivstsd gentleman, q 81
soushsrp geatlsman. This i doas SOME
Zines by msn Who use Language eafs-1
Iessly, and do not notice it, nice distisc-
sions; sometimes, however, It II done BY
persons who evidently give particular
meaning TO the term, OF which We wish
to say few words. A gentleman is. 90
cording to some, man pure, lnss16sh,
faithful, sober, honest, honsrabls, ohari-
table. humane: according to some Others,
. gentleman ID person who has received
. collegiate education, and enough lessons
in department from dancing master to
make him ct ease in society. Some think
of Colonel Newcome as gentleman, 9th
ers Of Major Pendennis.
Now . dispute about the definition of
. word is likely to be endless. A word
has the meaning which general custom
assigns to it. "Clever'' means n one part
OF this country, dextrous or skillful. in
another, foolishly good natured. So the
term gentleman seems to mean with some
man Of honor, and with some simply .
person of smooth and polished exterior.
We do not intend to quarrel with the lat
ter. or to charge them with misusing a
word; but We think it useful to point out
their meaning. When they speak Of the
rebel leaders IS gentlemen, they intend
to say only that these persons have the
good fortune to be decently educated and
easy hammered; no more.
There is once common phrase which
will help us to point this distinction--i
was custom to speak of man IS "a gen
tleman and scholar This supposed
that ne might be q gentleman, and ye
have small knowledge Of books. So thos,
who now term the chief rebels gentlemen
evidently need some qualifying ADJECTIVE
to denote the real character of the person
spoken of, and this ought to be added
Thus General P. T. G. Beauregard shoul,
be called "a gentleman and liar;" th
Hon. Wigfall, Of Texas, is "a gentlema
and swindler,". or ga gentleman and
murderer" The late John B. FLOYD we
''a gentleman and thief Goserno
Lstcher is "a gentleman and drunkard;
jeff Davis is "a gentleman and ban
robber;;" Pickens, of South Carolina, VII
'was born insensible to fear" might b
called "a gentleman and fool" Cover
nor Wise, OF Virginia, is "a gentlsma
and braggart''
Then there is Benjamin, whom hi
Ys'e College friends would call gentle
mar and pickpocket; George N. Ssr
ders. who is q gentleman and defaul.e
Gen. Forrest, gentleman and q Gu
throat; John Morgan. gentleman an
q horse-thief. Then there is Gen. LIE,
VITO is gentleman and q deserter, or
gentleman and perjurer; or, remembe
ing that under his eye and by his conniy
ance thousands Of his countrymen wer
tortured to-death by starvation and e,
posure at Belle Isfe, Gen. Lee might al
propriately be called a gentleman and
torturer, or gentleman and an execr
tioner-just as Wilkes Booth would b
called gentleman and an assassin. Ger
Winder was gentleman and . brute
Gen. Breckenridge, who set FIRE to Rich
mond, is gentleman and house burner
Capt. Semmes is gentleman and ri
rate; and as one who has seen the scar
on the backs of colored women in Soutl
Carolina will naturally think of . cotto
planter as gentleman and q woman
whipper.
Ii We 60 from particulars to generals
we may speak Of any one of the rebe
leaders as gentleman and traitor,
gentleman and q perjurer, or, to out
mildly, q gentleman and fugitive from
%. justice. Only, if we thus indiscriminatel
apply term like this. it will soon ceas
to be thought complimentary; and ma,
OF honor will presently think it an affron
to be called gentleman, as in Kentuck
it used to be thought slanderous to call
man an individual. It is not to be denied
however, that the people who make thi
use of the word have some authority 70
their prsctice.
When Hicks, the pirate, q man who ha
not slain SO many men as Lee or Davis
who had never massacred garrison il
cold blood like Forrest, and had never :.
sisted to starve men to death but who "a
nevertheless . hardened rufian-vhe
this Hicks was hanged on Bedlos's Islam
IN our harbor, some years ago, Marsha
Rynders, who superintended that opera
tion, was seen by the assembly Of with esse
to approach the gsilows and converse 70
. moment with the culprit, who stoo,
there With the rope around his mech
Then Mr.. Rynders walked up II the look
ers-on, and said, pointing towards Hicks
81 asked the gentleman if be desired {
address the audience. but he declined. ;
Whereupor. after momentary pause. th
excellent Marshal gave the signal, ant
Hicks was swung off. just so, when TIL
Assassin was surrounded in the Garret