The herald., 1896-06-28
POLITICAL GENTLEMEN
Mr.. Lecky. in his book on Democracy.

Mr.. Lecky. In his book on Democracy,
argues that gentlemen, as q class, are
likely to govern other people better than
such as are not gentlemen; the reason
he gives being that. owing to their posi-
ton, associations, training and ambi-
tions. they are moro likely to discharge
political duties with fairness, and to
be diligent, just and honorable. The
suggestion greatly irritates Mr.. John
Morley, who, in his scathing review Of
the book, asks sin substance, why gentle
men, who idly abuse the bad times over
their whisky and soda in the club snlok-
ing room, should be supposed to be an ex-
ceptionally good governing class. Talley-
rand said: What IS Democracy but an
aristocracy of blackguards?" .and Mr.
Morley evidently at bottom thinks that
Mr.. Lecky is of Talleyrand's opinion.
Perhaps he is not far out of the way in
this suspicion.
For us the matter has somewhat diff
ferent interest from that which 1t has
for Englishmen, because we have never
lived in an atmosphere in which gentel-
men, as such, have been deemed q class
especially endowed with political virtue
and the idea, held by so many people
only few years ago, that the degrada-
tion of our politics would be ameliorated
by introducing gentlemen into them, has
not been confirmed by experience. As
AuiCp llStCdu VI kSOllIAS6 udNln6 OecH clc-
waited by theSn, they have been degraded
by politics. Some of them have no sooner
seen office dangling before their eyes
than they have foresworn their whole
early training, thrown aside independ-
ence and principle, become blind parti
sans, and made ferocious war upon
the causes they have been brought up to
fight for. Others have, as in this city,
thrown overheard all pretence of de-
cency. made common cause with thieves
and blackmailers. and assured thier
amazed friends that this was what poll
tics" really meant, and the only way in
which government could be carried on.
A very few have been driven out of poll
tics because they were too good for it.
The great number have brought q
good deal Of discredit upon the class
from which they came, and the republic
would have taken no harm had their
places been filled from any other.
Our experiment cannot be cited to
show that there Is any magical effect
produced by making use of gentlemen to
elevate politics or keep them pure. Are
there are any facts which point to- q DIFF
ent conclusion?
To answer this or any other question
about gentlemen is not easy, because
the word gentleman Is used in
two senses very wide apart. Mr.. Nor
ley's criticism Of Mr.. Lecky illustrates
this. When Mr Lecky speaks or the
advantages to be derived from gentle
men taking part in government what
he has in mind Is either himself and his
friends and acquaintance, or else an
ideal gentleman, who has all the best
qualities of the class and none of the
defects. When, on the other hand, Mr..
Morley ridicules the idea of gentlemen
being Of much use in politics, he has in
mind bigoted Tory squires. bad Irish
landlords and young clubmen who
curse the followers of "Gladdy" and
wonder how they are going to put their
tailor off few months longer
Now, everybody has a great respect
for gentlemen of the first sort, and no
respect at all for gentlemen of the Sec
ond. To say with emphasis that a man
is a gentleman, in our language is pro-
verbally so far as this world goes, the
highest encomium that he can receive.
No epithet adds anything to 1t. On the
contrary, it is reduced by epithets. be-
cause it implies in our usage all the
highest qualities that man can have
among men. A truthful gentleman. a
brave gentleman, a reliable gentleman,
are pleonastic and even vulgar express
sions, pleonastic because the word gen.
tieman implies all these other qualities,
vulgar because no one who is gentle
man would be caDable of failing to rec