The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-11-30
The Press aud Banner.
ABBEvILLE, .. @.
BILL ARP
has been Dining with Full-Blooded
Foreigner.
atlanta Consultation.

atlanta Constitution.
I dined with some Englishmen the
other day. English gentlemen who are
perusing this country and have got a
barrel or two of pounds, shillings and
pences at home. They are not lords, but
they are gentlemen. That is very sig
nifcant and comprehensive word. The
king can be gentleman, but not every
gentleman can be king. Some say that
the Prince of Wales is gentleman, and
some say not. One of these Englishmen
was telling me what sport was had in
London over the exposure of the princes
gaming propensities, and his fondness for
the game of baccarat. A leading tobac-
conist advertised bis goods by sending
fancy wagon around with an illuminated
sign which read as follows:
Where do you get your "baccar" at,
Why at Thompson's, Of course.
But the Prince is to be pitied, they
say. He is now fifty years old and all
these years has had nothing to do-noth-
ing but to wait and wait for his mother
to die and then he would be somebody.
He dosent want her to die, for he is very
fond of her and really very smart, and
would make good king, but as it is he
is not much account. Our General Dick
Taylor had splendid time frolicking and
sporting with him and says he is the soul
of honor and punctillious gentleman.
And so it seems settled that man can
gamble at cards and bet on horse races
and be a gentleman. Andrew Jackson
did both, and so did Henry Clay. Away
back in the centuries gentlemen were the
land holders and ranked the yeomenry.
They were the aristocracy. They lived
well and kept open houses, and gave roy
al welcome to other gentlemen. Itwas q
great compliment to say 'He is a fine
old English gentleman"
But, over here, in this land o t liberty,
a poor man can be gentleman. If he
has a good education, good manners, and
is kind, truthful and sincere, he is a gen.
tleman, according to our dictionary,
though they come nearer the mark than
most of the rich men who claim to be.
Some of the old English poets made
great sport of their gentry. One says:
When Adam digged and Eve span,
Where was then the gentleman?
Another says:
4 Christian is God Almighty's gentle
man.
And Thomas Decker wrote of the Sa-
viour in 1920:
A soft, meek, patient, tranquil Spirit,
The first true gentleman that ever
breathed.
This reminds me in passing of'a con-
versation I overheard between two little
girls who we're playing with their dolls.
One said:
eff my dolly dies, she will 60 TO heav.
en-, she is so good and sweet" said one.
"God is mighty good to good children,
isent he ?" said the other.
eyes," she replied; II spek he is a
gentleman, and 1 know he is Chris
tian."
These English gentlemen were very
much interested in our elections that
have just passed, and they said it seemed
so strange that We could turn men out of
Office and put others in every two or three
years and change our government policy,
and still get along without any serious
friction. "Why," said one, "it takes
man ten years to become statesman and
be of real service in any great emergen.
cy, and yet you people get tired of him
in two or three years, and send another
raw recruit to take his place. And he is
afraid to do anything except to ask tor
an appropriation and he will log-roll
with hundred others whether they have
merit or not and they will all vote to
gether so as to be re elected, and so the
money goes"
And they said that it took only $780,
100000 to run the English government
last year, Notwithstanding they have
next to the largest standing army, and
the largest navy in the world to keep up
and maintain.
"Your government" said be, "now
spends a third more money in a year
than ours, and you have no army to
speak of, and navy that your own press
makes sport Of Your extravaganza is
amazing, and if your people had to pay