The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-06-11
Whit L. a GentlcmanH

| 1t Is q task OF great difficulty to select
from the many definitions OF q gentleman
submitted to US the one best entitled K
receive THE SUNS prize; for. in truth. not
one OF them all really meets the require.
ments. This is not extraordinary. for a
concise definition of the term lady or gen.
tleman is almost impossible.
Etymologicaly, Of course. a gentleman
Is well-born man. a man OF family In
which there Is the inheritance OF refinement.
That Is. he is OF thoroughbred stock. as
distinguished from the ordinary. Under
the social classification OF the old aristoc-
racies. a man who bears arms, but has no
aristocratic title. ia denominatcd n gentle
man. With that definition, Of course. we
have nothing 20 do in this republic. where
! there are neither hcraldic arms nor ances-
trail titles. 1t means nothing to US. The
| other Is OF universal significance. and it
assists US materially in arriving at a con-
ception of what gentleman is in the broad
meaning in which the term can be used
In this country the number of men who
could satisfy the requirements OF the aris-
! tocratic and feudallstic definition OF gen.
, tleman has always been few. Nearly all
the many millions OF immigrants coming
of America by Europeans have been people
OF social grades below the aristocracy Of
their native countries. They have been
| yeomen. peasants. tradesmen. artisans.
and common people generally. according
to the aristocratic definition and distinc-
ton; yet the number OF gentlemen
among them. according to the broader
and more scientific definition. has been
large. Meantime the old arlstocracles
| themselves have been extensively re-
cruited and invigorated from people OF
the same social classification who re-
manned at home. In England. more par
| ticuarly. the aristocracy perpetuates itself
with the blood OF the democracy. and not
little OF that blood is American. Actually.
great part OF the present British aris-
toeracy is Of no better ancestry, even ac-
cording to its own definition OF good birth.
than are multitudes OF people in this cOun-
try. Thus the artificial designation OF
gentleman carries with it little real signifl-
canoe anywhere.
The other definition is Of true and intrin-
, sic significance everywhere and at all times;
! for necessarily q gentleman must inherit
the qualities that make him a gentleman.
He must be q gentleman bred in the bone;
lie cannot be made gentleman simply by
education. His quality as gentleman
must be the outward and visible sign OF
IN inward and spiritual grace: and
all that the polish Of education can
do is to assist him in giving ex-
/ preston to this essential quality in &C
cordance with thsusages of polite society.
You can no more make gentleman OF a
man who is not born a gentleman than you
! can make a thoroughbred horse out OF an
, animal OF common stock. He must be q
gentleman to begin with, a gentleman by
the grace Of COP. Opportunity and educa-
ton can only bring to practical fruitfulness
the seeds sown in him bT Inheritance.
Neither does mans satisfaction OF the
arlstocratc definition Of gentleman make
OF him gentleman in fact. He may bear
arms and lie well born. in the narrow sense
OF the term, yet have no title to the dlstinc-
tion under the true sociological definition.
That. everybody knows. Gentlemen. by tho
more aristocratlc classification, may be- Doors
In reality, coarse and intriusically unre-
! fined men. An aristocratic inheritance may
be essentially a very poor Inheritance both
physically and morally. A man may be OF
royal birth. with line OF known and cult
waited ancestry reaching back for hundreds
OF years, yet he may be a cad which is the
slang term. borrowed from England, to in
dlcate that man has the outward form OF
gentleman. but has not the interior andin-
trnsic quality. He may be gentleman. no
matter how low in the social scale his ances-
try. according to arlstocratic classinca-
tion. He may not be q gentleman. how
ever high his ancestry It Is not the social
place OF his progenitors. but the actual
quality he has inherited from them. which
makes him gentleman under this pro-
founder definition. IT ls the light shining
in him. not the reflection OF artificial and
accidental position.
The exact qualities which distinguish
the gentleman are recognizable rather
than dehnable. The basis OF them all ia
genuineness, self-respect, and respect for
others, consideration. and the love OF
truth, kindness. and goodness for them.
selves. 1t Is doing to others as you would
have them do to you. In itself the best
definition OF the essential quality OF n gen
tleman to which we can point. This quail
ity may be subdivided and extended indefi-
nitely. but the essence Is the interior spir-
itual grace. 1t Is the fountain from which
the whole come.
The gentleman who is gentleman both
intrinsically and by the polish Of social inter-
course. simply gives more graceful conven-
tional expression to this inbred quality than
the gentleman who has the quality. but has
not acquired the artificial cultivation. That
form OF gentlemanlness can be- obtained
by education. 1t is simply matter OF
special training to which he adapts
himself quickly. so long as no
has the basis on which to build. In this |
country We see innumerable instances
where this inbred and essential grace |