The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-05-24
ENGLISH GENTLEMEN
Present Day PerVerSion of the Term
as Originally Used.
DOD'S MANUAL OF DIGNITIEs
Different Kinds OF Persons Who
Might Use the Title With
Propriety-An Exclu-
sive Degree.

hN AsAAlASl tabAC VI plCttdChNC Hc~s
been determined partly by statute.
partly by the kings patent and partly
by the ancient usage of the kingdom.
Much more than half of IL relates to
the rank, after the sovereigns, of the
different members of the royal family,
of the great officers of state and
church, and of the different orders of
nobility. with that of their wives. their
sons and daughters. and of their sons
in-iaw and daughter-in-law. Next
aftee the nobility come the knights of
various degrees. then the colonies.
Why, particularly, the colonels? Well,
because the colonel, says an eminent
authority, is exercitus columna-the
pillar of the army; in fact, however.
the commanding officer of a regiment.
Following upon the heels of the col
onels comes sergeants and doctors of
law; then the gentlemen, followed by
yeomen, tradesmen, artificers and Ia
borers.
bod, In his Manual of Dignities,"
enumerates about $50 royalties, officers
of state and church, mobiles and so on,
in the social and political order of
Great Britain, before he reaches the
gentleman, of which rank, he alleges,
however, that every nobfeman and
every public officer, whether, in the
army, the navy or the civil service. is
to be presumed, that the greater in
'cludes the lesser title, as 1t always
does in the peerage.
bod makes a very curious and inter-
esting statement in his Manual: curl
Gus and interesting, at any rate, to the
average American, as indicating that
class OF persons who in the United
States are regarded as first In the SO
cial order hold a very vague and sub
ordinate place in the social life of
Great Britain. professional gentle
men" says Dod-naming solicitors. at
torneys and counselors at law. medical
practitioners, artists, literary men.
merchants, master manufacturers, col
lege professors and the like-"are con-
sidered to have some station in society,
although the law takes no cognizance
of their rank"
Caesar said that he would rather
be first man in a village in the Alps
than second man in Rome-a charac-
teristic observation, to which the aver
age sensible Briton subscribes who be-
longs among the commoners; he would
rather be in the front of his order than
al the tail of the aristocracy. But
Dods statement is not so strong as
upon it's face il looks to be, for IL Is
from the class whose social place is
said by him to be so underlined that
the peerage is constantly being recruit
ed. and within its limits there is ample
scope for the qualification of every
high British ambition except that OF
becoming "A member of the royal family
and that would not be without its in
conveniences If ii were attainable. AS
to the particular occupants enumerated
by bod, those who practice them have
the qualification of knowing that they
are professional gentlemen" at least.
The word gentleman" In its original
! and strict sense meant person of no.
BILE extraction, or a person created
gentleman by the sovereign, whose de-
scendamt's took his rank by Inherit
ance; the kings patent in the case OF
the creation of a gentleman" being ac-
companied with no title of honor, but
with a coat of arms merely. According
TO the fine old ballad of Adam Bell
and Clym of the Cough the queen as
we'll as the king could make a gentle
man and also a gentlewoman. as the
queen did of "Wilyam of Clondesle'
and his wife. investing "Willyam" with
an income of IL pence a day TO support
his dignity. According to Clark and
WornulI In their Introduction to Her
aldry," the eldest son of viscount
had no title or peerage, nor were his
daughters ladies, but the eldest son
and daughter of the first viscount OF
Great Britain and Ireland are said to
have been the first gentleman and gem
tlewoman in the kingdom" which,
however, must be a mistake, for the
first viscount in Great Britain was
Beaumont, created such by Henry VI.
about lao; although "viscount' was al
ready an old title in continental coun-
tries AS a fact the British gentle
man" dates back TO Saxon times For,
says Freeman. the historian, "as early
as the 18th century the order OF gentle
man, as a separate class, seems to
have been forming as something new,
and by the time of the conquest the
distinction appears TO have been fully
established" And IT is very well known
that the Saxon gentlemen" enjoyed
certain privileges-that of decapitation,
for example, instead OF being hanged,
in case of a capital crime. as would
have been the punishment OF peasants
or tradesmen for the same crime, ana
they were allowed TO fight duel or
combat i'm case of insult or injury by
members of their own order, but could
not fight with peasants or tradesmen.
The Saxon gentleman was, in brief,
practically the French gentleman, with
privileges Substantially the same, and
subject to like restrictions.
No one was admitted 10 the degree.
either in Saxon or later times. who
lived by any trade of buying or selling,
except merchants beyond the seas and
those owning lands titled by them
selves; in the latter case, of "whatso-
ever estate they might be, although
they go TO pillow and common labor for
their maintenance. yet they We're gen
tlemen" II was different in the case
OF the noble, for he lost his dignity II
he had ncg fortune to sustain II, and
he could pursue no manual labor for
his maintenance. But there was one
description of gentlemen whose rank
was dependent upon their means OF
livelihood who were neitler merchants
nor in the practice of husbandry. These
wer the incumbents of certain offices.
They We're gentlemen solely because
Of their incumbency. When they lost
their Offices they ceased to be gentle
men.
Formerly the sovereign alone could
create gentleman. but for centuries
even the kings-at-arms have made the
official gentlemen OF England except as