Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-07-11
Gentlemen.

;s more widely miSused than the word
.antleman. That it has force and fit
nass is shown by the fact that it has
hean introduced into several modern
tonoues. where, we trust, it is more
indiciously employed than in the YER
n,cnlar. The meaning OF the word,
th,urh varying somewhat with differ
ont nations, is well enough under
stood except, perhaps, in this cop-
fry where its elasticity is certainly
confusing. In Great Britain the term
Il applied limitedly to those having
COATS of arms but no title, and III this
sanse gentlemen hold a middle rank
between the nobility and yeomanry.
In heraldry, also, the word has the
same significance. Generally, howey-
or. especially in the United States,
Gentleman is a synonym for man of
education and good breeding, prospect
i've of his antecedentS and occupation.
This is liberal and rational interpre-
tatisn of the trissyllable, but its usage
in the Republic is as loose as loose can
be-
On broad grounds. it would seem
that every American claims to be a
gentleman. This claim may not be
recognized, but he thinks it well to put
il forward, with or without occasion,
lest he may be suspected of having
doubt on the subject himself; and for
him to doubt IS to surrender hope of
reaching what he appears to aspire
70, We are all said to be sovereigns
here: but we care far less about SOW
reiontv than about our craftsmanship.
The almost universal desire to be con-
sidered a gentleman in this country is
AS remarkable as it is comical often.
Many Americans who talk very glib
" of being gentlemen have little, if
any, idea of what a gentleman is.
Nor do they care to know, provided
they are called such. 1t is the name,
not the thing, that they esteem, and
having the name, they are frequently
willing to do what is wholly inconsiSt-
ent with, even cOndemnatory of, their
assumptions. This being land de-
void Of titles, we cleaye, perhaps, all
the more to aught like social distinc-
ton. Almost everybody, We think. in
this land of democracy may be a gentle
man; and not to be one, or rather not
TO be ranked as one, seems to be a Sc
we're reflection upon us, if not a kind of
dishOnor.
One hears the word gentleman more
frequently in the Republic, we venture
to affirm, than one hears the terms
corresponding to il in all the resi- of
the world. Foreigners notice it and
are amused by it, particularly when
some person applies it to himself with
out the slightest Justification or shadow
of prOpriety. 1t would be diverting
to get the definitions, were it possible,
of the different classes and the innum-
cradle individuals who habitually style
themselves gentlemen. They would
present rs many and divers meanings
as the most opposite words in the die
tionary. The small boys notion of a
gentleman, it Will be remembered,
was man who wears a standing col
lar and Swears. The late David Crock
EFT held him to be gentleman who
looked away when his companion
poured out his liquor. Gamblers think
that the character is established by
payment of so-called debts of honor.
In the South, he was formerly ac
counted a gentleman who punctiliouS-
ly observed all the principles of the
code. Some Philadelphians assign the
honor 10 those whose great-grandtath-
erS were respectable " In a certain
quarter Of Boston one must have
come over in the Mayhower, and have
received a degree at harvard to be
llIDa IN nd
question. In New York, according to
some of the country journals, no man
IS reckoned gentleman unless he be
worth million, and to render his
claim indisputable he must buy Judge
or steal railway.
1t would be difficult for any one
man, even the clevereSt American, to
fulfill all these conditions. Hence
there Is danger that, IN some sections
OF the country, some of US, despite our
pretenslOnS, may not be rated as We
Fate ourselves. If we had a standard
by which to measure the gentleman,
II We were more concerned about be-
ing and less about seeming, perhaps
We should not be so sensitive or so am
bilious on this point. One Of the de-
notements of the true gentlemen is to
be sure of himself, to be 50 conscious
OF integrity and deserving as not to be
disturbed by criticism, Sights or mis-
understandings. 1t is a bad sign TO be
angered because somebody else eX-
presses different opinion of us from
that which we assume to hold of our
selves. 1t indicates that we do not
mold our opinion firmly, that dissent
from 1t in another half agrees with
our secret conviction. He who flies
INTO passion because he is told he is
not a gentleman iucurs the suspicion
That the teller is endowed with in
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