The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1898-06-03
GheDrmorrat-S far
OF THE SOUTHERN GENTLE
MAN.

tiillts IIit hhf WV hiNiNill VI 'tlis
Moutfort Wells, over whose quiet rest
in the heart OF Louisiana magnolias
have drowsily nodded for many wind
less summers. He belonged To the old
regime-the clean-shavcn regime, the
ante bellum regime-thc slave-holding
regime, the dancing, singing, Fighting
regime, the aristocratic regime. R0rs
non mutat genus, said the Latin
chance does not change the kind. His
type exists in the South to-day. 1t is
not anywhere else, and, most Of all
places, not on the stage. Looking odd
times at the black-mustached, sway
gering caricature who treads the
mimic boards and says ''sah" and
sub" l long for three things: To
kick the actor, to kick the dramatist
and to find some IL able and willing
to ten the people who and what a
Southern gentleman is. He is dis
tinct enough to he painted, and be-
lieve that his painting would pay. 1t
is time that we had him as he is-a,
creature essentially different from the
butfoons OF Hoyt or the seriO-comic
fiasco given us by Clay Clement.
The Southern gentleman was, and
is, a man above the middle height,
with clcar-cut features. AS in ninety.
nine cases out of a hundred he has
not a drop OF foreign blood in his
veins; he looks like a tranSplanted
Englishman-an English modified by
some centuries of climate and ethe-
rallied by a less commercial mode Of
life. Long cantact with nature has
made him a mar of broad views and
OF healthy instincts. lie does not
know the value of a dollar so well as
he ought, but to balance that defect
he is utterly unacquainted with the
many shady ways Of getting a dollar.
lie is well educated in Il literary way,
and is not infrequently a linguist. He
carries himself unobtrusivcly and
leaves the swagger to the negro out
for a Sunday holiday. He and the
New Englander, who is his antithesis
in many things, speak the best Eng
lish to be found on this side of the
Atlantic. The accent is Somewhat
soft and slurring, and there is some
thing too much Of vowel clision, but
1t has a pleasing sound, and he does
not burr his ''r's" unit they rattle like
castanets, as is the case in many parts
OF the West.
The Southern gentleman comes of
agricultural stock. He is used to
woods and fields and horses and dogs.
He is devoted to the chase, and he is
a good shot. Except in cities, lie does
not bestride the bicycle, but he sits
his saddle with a sure grace: he has
the huntsman's seat-tocs inland lie
rides from the knee, not fronrthc STIR
rup. WOodcraft he estecms as a noble
craft, and the art Of vcnery as n Of
the fine arts. His physical and men
tai appetites are born Of the fresh air
and they are sound. He ~has'poetry in
him, as what country-bred people have
nOt?-and he finds much Of it in ami
mated nature. The song Of birds, the
clear belling of the deer, the sadden-
ing cry of wild fowl in the night, all
speak to the soul of him. Though its
liquid and varied notes have been ia
miliar to him since infancy, he is never
tired of the mocking bird, a music
that pours from green thrones through
all the moonlit nights. Host, hostess
and guests in a Southern home will
frequently drop all conversation and
move to the front veranda to listen to
the wild thrills and ruulades and
bravuras Of The matchless minstrel in
gray.
The Southern gentleman is honest.
II Is a boast handed from father to son
that his word is as good as his bond,
and surely there could be no pr0uder
boast. All of his recent education
in a commercial way has not been able
to grind this out of him. Instances
are not i~nfreQuent of the surrender of
homesteads in payment Of debts, in
proof of which existed only verbal
obligations. The homestead, itshould
be remembered, is protected from ex-
ecution by law in every State of the
South. The Southerner regards an
execution proof debt as he regards a
gambling debt-onc that must be paid
at any sacrifice since it Is not recover
able by legal process. Where the hon
or of a family is involved women will
sell their jewels to wipe out the OBJ
legation. business in the South is
transacted in great degree by word of
mouth. There are such things as
promissory notes, but they are not com.
mon. l am speaking here of the coun-
try communities and not Of the large
cities. There Is no marked difference
between the business methods OF At
lanta and Boston, Indeed, since the
close Of the war and the inserting Of
the immigration tide the South has
been much commercialized. The type
has not changed. That would be a
work Of centuries. But methods oil
life and modes Of thought have UNI
dergone modification. This may be
better for the country at large. We
hear much OF the glory and beauty of