The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1876-08-31
Wanted A Gentleman.


Written for the journal.
If an advertiser offered Il reward for one of
these beings when found, the wheels of the
public mail service would be clogged by The
weight of letters struggling toward him, sent
on their way by sclf-satisficd individuals. 1t
may may not be strange, but it is fact, that
every man, ,-eXceptEg Of course the clown and
peasant thinks himself il gentleman. His
standard is generally dreamy; it would be ex-
ceedingly difficult for him to define his ideal,
and he has grave doubts about the ability of
his neiyhbors Smith, Jones and Re binson to
fill the bill of particulars yet he is certain i'll II
vague way that he is himself II gentleman.
Venture to tell him frankly that he Is not, and
he will at once proceed TO demonstrate the
truth of your asseveration to your cost in phvsi-
cal suffering SO though your opinion indeed
has received support, the knowledge has been
unpleasantly gained, and You are careful not
to repeat the experiment upon the next man
whom yon meet. That eY>ly man desires and
expects to be considered by the world Il gentle
man is Il cheering sign; Were it otherwise the
ease wnuid indeed be lost, and 1t would be
hopeless, for the student of his kind to expect
the effort Of sef-culture from his fellows. Are
then true gentlemen rarely found? We humb-
ly believe A man may be a second Lord
Bacon, or he may possess much outward
grace and beauty a. ALoniS, and yet not be a
gentleman always. Lord Bacon WAS endowed
with an all embracing intellect, such as God
had never before bestowed upon any other
man,-he took all know ledge to be his pro-
vince,-yct he was mean brbe-tnkcr and Il
corrupt Judge. We are compelled, with Mac
aulay, to regard his character with mingled
contempt and admiration, with mingled aver
sion and gratitude, And Adons treated that
loveiest Of all created Young ladies, Venus,
with ungullnntry; lie lowered upon her sui
len and retful looks, he enid her, he trowned,
and finally fled incontinently from the field
without even taking his cDn9p.
\ man-morc renowned fer his wit than for
Il habit of gently scanning his ttliow-man as
Burns recommended in his address to the l.nco
Guid-wrote from an obscure town in New
England to the publishers OF Woods UuciyIl-
izcd Races of Man. asking if that book contain
ed III account of the unciviIiZcd natives of his
community. lie was eS Sdcntly sufferer from
his environment. But in New England, more
than in any land, gentlemen ought to be most
numerous, for the reason that here they are
not born but made; birth and blood count for
little and one has no cause here to say like
Bassanio TO Portia in the Merchant of enice-
81 freely told you, all the wealth bad
Ran i'll my veins, was gentleman"
\ man might here carry in his veins wealth
of blood more pure than that of the IGdor5,
and then forfeit in a half an hour all right to be
considered a gentleman. In New England the
species under consideration are not always bred
like fine trotters, although good lineage is an
advantage not TO be despised, and is q valuable
cornerstone from which one may raise him
selfinto Il paragon worthy of Valentines praise /:
"Yct hath Sir Proteus, for that's his name,
Nude and fair advantage of his days,
Iii years, but young, but his experience Old
His head unmeow'd, but his Judgment ripe,
And in word (for fur behind his worth
Come all the praises that now bestow,)
he is complete IN feature. dna IN maui,
With all good grace to grace gehttemdH.
Now what is necessary to gain this high
standard of completeness, in feature, in mind
and in grace? Without enumerating the gen
tlemal-like qualities in the order of their inn
porance it may be said A gent ieman should
be as well educated as his circumstances and
ability will allow, though it j. not necessary,
i'll order to hold the title, to he profound i'll
Greek and Latin roots or to wade with seven
league boots through the vast sea of all human
knowledge He should have the habit of read
ing, but of reading with discrimination, re-
membering the advice of the wise Old author
De 1uymeHtis, s,-"Read not to contradict, nor
to believe, but to weigh and consider. some
books are to be tasted, others TO be Swallowed
and some few to be CheWed aud dlYested. Read
ing maketh Il full man. conference Il ready
man, and writing an exact man. And there
fore if Il man write little, he had need have
great memory; if he confer little, have Il
present wit; and if he read little, have much
cunning to seem 10 know that he doth not.
Histories make men wise, poets witty, the
mathematics subtle, natural philosophy deep,
morals grave, logic and rhetoric able to con-
tend
The gentleman should keep good company
not trusting himself more than he can prevent
to the communicating atmosphere OF the lgnO-
rant and vulgar. If his business or politics
compel him from policy to mix with the low
brcd-who are always IN the malority-he need
not take them to his bosom, 50 t. speak. BY
the attriton of good society his own idiosyn-
crlsie, will be healthfully toned down, and by
that contact he will gain essential polish and
grace of manner. II he cannot find good COM
pany. let him keep his own, for if he be Il true
man it is the least troublesome of good-feow-
ships. He will gain by this i'll dignity and
reserve, and it is not by any means adNis-
able for Il man to wear his heart upon his sleeve
for DAVIS to peek at. Let him also take the silent
| friendship OF noble authors through their books,
| for as Lord Macaulay has truly sad,-"Fhese
| friendships are exposed to no danger from tie
occurrences by which other attachments are
weakened or dissolved. That placid
| intercourse is disturbed by no jealousles or
| resentments. These are tie old friends who are
never seen with new faces. who are the same
| in wealth and i'll poverty, i'll glory and obscur-
| ty. With the dead there is no rivalry. In the
dead there is no change. Plato is never sulIen.
| Ccryautes is never petucnt. Dcmosthenes
never comes unseasonubly. Dante never stays
too long. No difference of political opinion can
ALLEVIATE Cicero. NO hereSy can excite the nor
ror of Bossuet."
| a gentleman should be gentle but not ctfem-
| inate he should be Suave In manners and car
rage but he may allow himself to resent with
prompt and righteous Indignation and down
right anger an injury, and he may check with
| q strong and merciless hand the impertinence
of his fellow-beings. His manly set-love de-
manlls this. The doctrine of turning the other
| cheek also after smite does not work well as
| human nature is now constructed For those
| who are abused easiest are abused the most
However it is IN excellent plan for a gentle
man to propitiate those about him when he can
This did the most perfect gentleman of any age
| james CrichtOn,-generally called the "Ad
mrable Crichton." This truly magnificent
young man possessed extreme physical beauty
of face and form, perfect symmetry and grea
strength. At the age OF seventeen years ht
could read and write twelve languages perfect
ly, and he had much skill also in painting
drawing, riding, fencing, dancing, singing an,
playing on musical instruments. Besides al
this he possessed to a remarkable degree th'
| nObteSSe O6tige. On one occasion after ans
wering with accuracy, during an examination
of many hours, all the questions put to him b.
the learned men of his time, he turned to TIT
crowd of three thousand spectators and will
consummate grace and brilliant eloquence al
dressed them in All eXtemporaneous Grafton il
praise of Ignorance. And this done so ingeni
ousy that he reconciled his audience to thei
inferlorty. In his death he was still the gen
tleman. Attacked Mt night by three assassin
he vanquished two, but upon discovering tina
the third was the son of the Duke-was hi
own pupil-Crichton presented his own swor
} to the young man and allowed him to stab hin
to the heart. Thus died at twenty-three year
Of age admirable, truly admirable Crichton!
1t is to be feared that many persons have n
idea that refinement in man means priggisn
This is not true in the abstract. However it
necessary that one should keep his balance