Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1867-10-31
WHO ARE GENTLEMEN?

4 Il
Mr.. EDITOR: Now that the election is
over and the masses of both political par
ties are becoming reconciled with the re-
suit, and while your towns people as well
as your patrons generally turn their atten-
ton to other and more wcighty matters,
that is, so far as their temporal wants are
concerned, in preparing food for the COM
ing winter, etc, permit me TO ask you a
few questions
WHO ARE GENTLEMEN
! In our intercourse with society we are
often surprised to hear the most despicable
and contracted sentiments uttered. In re-
gard to the characteristic marks OF a true
gentleman, there are very many individ-
uals who aspire to the reputation of gen.
tlsmen, or who perhaps imagine them
selves to be really such, whose highest,
most comprehensive notions o. the char
actsr arc confined to mere external accom-
plishments There are many females, too,
whe seem not TO have even distant idea
of such ajperson unconnected with cox
combry of demeanor and that polished ex-
terror which is so often assumed by heart
less. abandoned libertines, TO cover up the
rottenness of their characters and their
hellish designs. Why else do we so fire.
quently see individuals Of the other sex
who claim the most spotless characters, to
be the conscrvators of fashion. and to give
tone TO society, receiving into parties and
not hesilsting to promenade in public, arm
in arm, with depravsd and prohigate
wre,chss, who are known TO be dissolute
in their habits, as their honorcd asso-
ciates, and this, too, without blush +?
Why do ladies Of quality, instead of scorn-
ing even the approach OF such wretches
and resenting their presence US an siiront
to their sex, even cvince a preference for
their society over men ofeXemplary char
acters, apparently delighting in their atten-
tions If they happen TO be talented or rich,
even though they may Lave been guilty Of
the deepest bascncss 10 other women !:
Why. too, do the young Of The geniler sex
so often manifest such an eagerness to
draw sround them the butterflies of ours
beings Of mere tinsel and foppery-to
the exclusion of the meritoriouS and de-
serving, who seek companions for life, and
not the glitterirg piaythings of an hour !?
Why is II that men may practice with i'm
punity vices which in the other sex will
not be tolerated FOR moment, or that
abandoned libertines, addicted io the vilcst
species OF protlisscy, and, worse than all.
do not pretend to disguise their evil habits
vet hold up their hea Is in society as gen
tlcmen. while the female who is even sus
rules Of chastity is consigned, to everlaSt-
ing irfsmy snd disgrace: II is an unde
neisble fact that tine OLD but just maxim of
Pope. that worth makes the man" has
sunk into oblivion.
New standards of character have been
.ct up; and the fundamental qualities that
enter into the modern fashionable idea OF a
gentleman have less relation TO inaie hon
esty and worth than TO the length of one :
purse. the texture of his clothes, and the
scrupulous exaciness Of his grimaces snd
bows We believe that true gentlemen are
confined 10 no wall, or rank in life. The
sturdy blacksmith with dingy garments, his
omen. honest countensnce begrimmcd with
smut, and his roug! hands scared with
service; the painter as he climbs UP his
ladder to WELD his brush for an honest liv :
ing; tbs toiiing printer, whose deft fingers
ard tedious industry stamps upon the white
sheet the record OF the passing days-;hess
have an immeasurably higher claim TO the
title of gentlemen than the shallow pated
| fJp who skips through college with kid
! gloves and a rattan, csIltivating the graces
before the glass and the ladies, ard take.
his diploma with all the blushing honors
thick on his vacant head. II is false and
contemplate notion that unless man can
boast OF high descent, or roll majestically
along in a coach emblazoned with arms,
his name should be stricken from The list
of gentlemen Which class has from time
immemorial conferred the highest honors
on the human race, the naughty aiis,rocrat
who shrinks with strong commissions from
the touch of the honest poor man and
moves with step that seems dainty OF the
soil it treads upon, or the humble peasant
who claims no r9erit but nobility of soul ?
Whence come the great lights OF the intel
lectual armament, the stars that form the
brilliant galaxy whose beams dazzle the
eye of every beholder? In the vast ma
jority of instances they have emerged to
eminence from the chilling depths OF OBJ
scurity, destitution and want. Whose
voices are oftenest raised in successful vim
dication OF human rights, and float over
mountain and plain, over ocean and land,
till they vibrate on the ear of the rcmotest
dweller in Christendom
a Who ar. they tha. pluck bright honor from the
psle-faced moon,
Or dive into the bottom of the deep where fsthorn
| lines could nsver reach,
And drag up drowned honor by the lccksE
The scions of noble blood, the worshipers
of Bachus and Venus, who fritter away tho
hours granted by Heaven Tor self-improve-
ment in the study of the contemplate and
puerile forms of fashion? No. They are
men of low parentage, men who have buff
feted the pillows Of fate without depend
ence save upon the mercy of God and their
own energies? The gentlemen of nature
who have trodden under foot the painted
lizards ofsociety and worked out their own
distinction with an ardor that would not
be quenched, and perseverance that con-
sidered nothing done while anything yet