The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-09-03
MHAT MAKEs THE GENTLRMAN.
A Modern English Definition OF the
Tenn.


word was used by James I, who, when
his nurse entreated him to make her son
q gentleman, replied that he could make
him lord, but that it vas out of his
power to make him gentleman. The
word does not now bear the interpreta-
ton it formerly did in England. While
at one time 1t expressed the idea which
the term geTltiLitODIDle 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 q
man to bedezin himself In ruffies 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
of their mental condition. They eschew
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 hneage-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, eduea-
ton, or pursuits. There are many 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
b wherein ib was alleged that the defehd-
ant had said to the plaintiff, "Do not
speak to me. I am a gentleman. You
are a 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 fulflls
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 a 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 pedRntic are men of small I'M
derstanding. Chesterfield embodies its
constituent elements in the term "po-
likeness, which he defines as a benevo-
lence in trifles, or a preferS nee of others
to ourselves in the ordinary occurrences
of life. Gentleness, the foundation of the
character, implies a reserved power,
and it is to be distinguished from weak
ness, as it is from a passive tameness of
spirit and an unreasonable compliance
with the dictates or the will of others.
1t renounces no just right from the fear
of their sfrown, and yields no important
truth to their hattery. A prominent
feature of the character is considerable
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 coafding-
mark the gentleman.
Bashfulness is not inconsistent with
the character, and we are surprised that
so rare quality is not more highly ap-
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
neIs other than the commonplace OF or
! binary conversation, and 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 inattentiou
to the simple courtesies of life, and
without this even profound learning if
no more than tiresome pedantry. A
person of this description says he car
be gentleman when he pleases. A true
gentleman never pleases 10 be anything
else, and never, by any accident, dero
gates from this standard. He cannot
stoop to a mean thing. He never struts
IN borrowed plumage. He never stabs
an the dark. He is not one thing tC
mans face and another behind hii
back. Papers not meant for his eye are
! Qonrn1 Rolls and INo,,s \ L
bonds and securities, and notices to tres
passers, are not for him. He is a con
sistent observer of the second great com
mandment: whatever he judges to bs
honorable, he practices toward all.
Perhaps 1t was because of Thacke
rays keen-sightedness to detect, anC
his readiness to expose and pillory the
snob, that he could the more genially
describe a gentleman. There are many
passages in his writings which bespeal
his appreciation of the character. TIL,
reader will remember his famous pros
pectus of the Pail Mall Gazette, which
being conducted by gentlt men, was t.
be addressed to gentlemen. "Perhaps.
he says, q gentleman is a rarer person
age than some of us think for. Which
OF us can point out many such in hi,
circle men whose aims are generous
whose truth is constant, whose want O
meanness makes them simple, who car
look the world honestly in the face will
an equal manly sympathy fer the grea
and the small We ali know a hundred
whose coats are we'll made, and a scor,
have excellent manners, and one or tive
happy beings who are what they call IL
the inner circles, and have shot into tn,
very centre and bull's-eye of fashion
but of gentlemen how, many d? Let u
take scrap of paper, and each MAKE
out his list. "-7iRsIey'S Magazine.
Achievements Of London Thieves.