The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-08-28
WHAT MAKES THE GENTLEMAN.
A Modern English Definition OF the
Term.

1t is common IN our day to speak of
gentlemen of position, gentlemen,
of means, gentlemen of the press
commercial and sporting gentlemen, etc.
1t was not IN this vague sense that the /
word was used by James L, who, when |
his nurse entreated him to make her son
a gentleman, replied that he could make /
him lord, but that it was out of his |
power to make him a gentleman. The /
word does not now bear the interpreta- /
ton it formerly did In England. While |
at one time it expressed the idea which |
the term qe7ltiIhOn3aIe does in France
where it retains its original significance
to designate the members of a caste, |
distinct and apart-it has, in successive
periods, been applied to degrees more
widely extended. All classes now asso-
ciate more freely than would have been
tolerated in previous generations, and
men no longer dress, either really or
fguratively, in buckles and buckram.
The garb of the Puritan-despised in
the days when it was the fashion for
man to bedezin himself in rufies and
| lace-is row the rule, and is apprecia-
/ ted for its plainness, its comfort and its
| practical utility. The ordinary costume
! for gentlemen-free, easy, and devoid of
| outward show and pretence-is an index
| u
stiffness, they abhor formality, they des-
| pise all seeming. Their manners, though
refined, are simple.
The gentleman is a representative
character-a reflection of his era. We
may trace the manners of the times in
their various types in the warlike and
semi barbarous, the chivalrous and
romantic, the effeminate and ornate, the
soldierly and scholarly, down to the
earnest, accomplished, and practical
specimen in our own day. AS now IN
derstoOd, the term is indicative of con-
duct rather than lineage-of character
rather than positiOn-Of the qualities
that contribute to its formation as much
as their manifestation in the life. a
gentleman is something unique, apart
from any consideration of rank, educa-
ton, or pursuits. There aremany men of
plain manners and limited means as
thorough gentlemen as any noble in the
land. The late Justice Talfourd, in
his charge to the jury in an action
wherein it was alleged that the defend
ant had said to the plaintiff, Do not
speak to me. I am a gentleman. You
are tradesman," took occasion to OBJ
serve Gentleman is term which is
not confined to any station. The man
of rank who deports himself with dig
nifty and candOr, the tradesman who
discharges his duties with integrity,
and the humblest artisan who fulfills
the obligations incumbent upon him
with virtue and honor, are alike entitled
to the name of gentleman, in preference
to the man, however high his station,
who INDUCES in ribaId and offensive
remarks.
We may have correct conception of
the character without being able to en-
ter into an analysis of it. Courtesy and
simplicity are its leading features. The
most highly-cultivated men are ever the
least cOnceited, and we generally find
that the pedantic are men of small IN
derstanding. Chesterfield embodies its
constituent elements in the term "po-
likeness" which he defines as a benevo-
lence in trifes, or preference of others
to ourselves in the ordinary occurrences
of life. Gentleness, determination of the
character, implies a reserved power,
and it is to be distinguished from weak
! ness, as 1t is from passive tameness of
spirit and an unreasonable compliance
with the dictates or the will of others.
It renounces no just right from the fear
of their frOwn, and yields no important
truth to their hattery. A prominent
feature of the character is considerate.
ness, which may be said to consist in
delicacy in the use of power-phYsical,
moral, and social. Forbearauce and
wisdom in the exercise of this power
of that which the husband exercises
over the wife, the father over his chill
dren, the teacher over his pupils, the
old over the young, the strong over the
weak, the master over his hands, the
poor, the educated over the ignorant,
the experienced over the confdiDg-
mark the gentleman.
Bashfulness is not inconsistent with
the character, and we are surprised that
SO rare a quality is not more highly APP
preciated. The thoughts and feelings
of the retiring in disposition are not
less refined, although they may not be
expressed with the gracefulness of the
ready speaker or the impetuosity of the
, rattle-pate. This disposition frequently
arises from the mind running in chan
nels other than the commonplace OF or
binary conversation, and q consequent
consciousness of inferiOrity in the art
of pleasing. The assumption of the
character is often but a stimulation of
the more agreeable habits of society,
and only the veneer which hides de-
PRAYED tastes and vicious propensities.
Nothing more displays frivolous, self
ish, and vulgar mind than inattention
to the simple cOurtesies of life, and
without this even profound learning is
no more than tiresOme pedantry. A
I person of this description says he can
be gentleman when he pleases. A true
gentleman never pleases 70 be anything
l else, and never, by any accident, dero-
, gates from this standard. He cannot
, stoop to q mean thing. He never struts
, in borrowed plumage. He never stabs
in the dark. He is not one thing to
a mans face and another behind his
back. Papers not meant for his eye are
sacred. Bolts and bars, locks and keys,
{ passers, are not for him. He is a con-
sistent observer of the second great com
mandment whatever he judges to be
: honorable, he practices toward all.
. Perhaps it was because of Thacke-
z rays een-sightedness to detect, and
1 his readiness to expose and pilloFy the
D snob, that he could the more genially
describe a gentleman. There are many
passages in his writings which bespeak
l his appreciation of the character. The
2 reader will remember his famous pros
t pectus of the Pail Mall Gazette, which,
4 being conducted by gentle men, was to
Q be addressed to gentlemen. Perhaps, .
g he says, gentleman is a rarer person
t age than some of us think for. Which
: of US can point out many such in his
8 circle men whose aims are generous,
s whose truth is constant, whose want of
= meanness makes them simple, who can
s look the world honestly in the face with
q an equal manly sympathy for the great
q and the small We all know hundred
e whose coats are well made, and a score