The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1885-10-02

mai" EYES," "Then Pm the gen.
tleman that's going to drive yon."
A gain OF Sir Charles Lyell he tells
this: "The landlord of the inn
called out 10 bis bar-rOom, seeking
Sir Charles's coachman, where's
the gentleman that brought this man
here y" Ald the Kenruckian was
not more exact III bis use OF the
word who naively showed bis pre-
ference for his native State by
speaking of company as consist.
ing of one scrub from New England,
felLOw from New York, a man
from Virginia, aud two gentlemen
from Kentucky" According to tue
Nashville Union, a recent excursion
from Hopkinsvllle, KY, consisting
of one bundred and seventy-three
persons, "was composed ehtilely OF
gentlemen and bOys"-a most re-
markabe Sunday railway excur-
SION, surely. But The dime museum
lecturer, mentioned in the Atlantic
recently, surpassed all Others in a
Iudicl OGs misuse of the term wheh
he referred 10 the Zulu on exhibi-
tion as "lhls gentleman"
The Currents note aud the quota
tion from tbe Atlantic forbid our
claiming this misuse as Southern
and make it American, TO say the
least though it might be proved
that ihe abuse goes further ~ the
South than elseW here. There were,
in fact, always two things that
we're never, in the Oldeu time, N
the remotest degree allowed TO be
iusiuuated about Southern mau-
that he was liar, or was not
cent:emaD. A school hoy or a man,
would always fight as quickly about
the one as the other. There rises
before me at this moment an angry
scene between two school-mates: !:
"Wbal's the matter, c. n said l.,
as | heard him s'dare + to 90
to the woods aud fight it out" ale
said | wasn't a gentleman" hissed
C.. In fact, the word "seuile
man" expressed the sum aud Sub.
stance of the Old Sou his idea of a
man.
1t is not strange that the Negroes,
who are SO APT 10 initiate, should
seize readily upon this pecuIldrlty.
No doubt, at first, soon after eman-
cipai lou, they used rue terms
"geutlemaU" aad "lady" with re-
ference 10 their own color often as
n sling TO their former owners, and
1t did not hurt them. But now any
such misuse on their part excites
amusement among the whites rath'
er than anything else, aud tue Ne
groes do it unconSciOusly, without
+ any malicious feeling. They mean
to claim privilege for themselves
t by apprOpriating the title, but no
insult is thought of III OmItting 1t
where it would not be disputed.
There is one good thing about
r the excessive sensinveUess on this
polnt in the South. II is the slrOng
, est appeal that eau be made TO stu
dentS. "Behave like gentlemen I!
was the instructive aud potent ap
peal of gray haired college presi
a Dent to some angry studeuts. l, Is
The most effective means, with ma
. ture students, of keeping order IL
classroom. aud, indeed, every
where. The idea must have grown
up at the time when three fourth'
of Southern college students re
garded being q gentleman as thel
n mission in life, aud it is strong ap
!, peal. When a professor says, :"
u will treat you as gentlemen so Ion;
g as YOU allow it, and l ask OF you ~
more respect than | show you,"
e calls out all the generous feeling II
!. Virginia school when u jury 0
a boys pronounced two of their tel
> lows guilty, but recommended mer
. cy on the gtOund that they wer
a "new fellows, aud not used TO beinl
= treated as gentlemen"
# The English laugh at American
r writing themselves in hOtel regis
q ters as "a. B. and lady, aud 1t !
, ridiculous enough. Perhaps IT sucl
n overaice people know that eveI
hotel.keepers look upon such eu
i tries with suspicion the cnstou
a would soon die out. That is a call
a ital story with a good poiut 'ha
4 Mr.. Benet l"Essay on American
n ismssl tells OF the sentry Who bait
/ ed The The wife OF the General y
she was crossing forbidden ground
a ssThe Generals orders, ma'am u
:. one can I.ass.n But Pm the GeneI
y ais lady, "YOa couldn't pass
i. ma,am. If yon were bis wife,
The first impulse Is to say tha
a well-bred people do not so misus
:. The term but, perhaps, the yer
. next thing You will receive y car
. directed 10 aMr. A. b. aud lady
n from people who would be Yer
3 angry at the thought Of not bein
r considered well-bred The new
4 paper must belp to correct the iaul
A but how much the newspapr,
/ some quarters at least, has % leaFI
4 see from this. The Southern new
y PAPER, givIug the list OF The pres
n excursiOnists, mentioned Joh
Jones aud LADY," William BTow
4 aud wife, and 'sRichard Smith -
= Ialies.s Bat certainly II theru
o any logis IN The situation, ana