The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-27
East Aurora and Gentlemen.

Our Roycroft Brother. Mr.. ELBERT HUB
the Independent his views about gentle
men. sympathy. knowledge. Poise." he
says, "seem the three ingredients most
needed In forming the Gentle Man. This
is excellent in intention. and We dare say
that Sir CHARLES GRANDSON would have
1t smacks Of Department and TU~ByEYDRoP.
Whatever else a gentleman wears. he should
never wear capitals.
And why Il knowledge especially neces-
sary TO the gentleman There have been
and are plenty Of narrow, ignorant and
prejudiced men TO whom the name OF
gentlemen could not be denied with right.
who had or have gentle manners and gentle
hearts. knowledge, except Of etiquette.
cannot be said to affect the manners; and
its effect upon the character is not always
evident. knowledge il necessary TO the
scholar; scarcely 10 the gentleman.
BY Poise. Mr.. HUBBARD means self-con-
troll. or as he more sweetly puts it. "Poise
Is q question Of soul-spirit controlling flesh.
heart controlling attitude" But everybody
has to have Poise TO keep out OF the peni-
Tertiary. And heart controlling attitude"
Is very different from spirit controlling
flesh The latter Ia se~lf-control. The
former may be mere s~entimentality
Sympathy. too. Must a man have SYM
pathy TO be a gentleman' Poor JEAN
JACQUES had plenty OF it. Sir LEICESTER
DEUIoCK had mighty little OF IL. and yet
Sir LEICESTER was a gentleman. II is an
excellent quality, although 1t may bee car
ried 10 excess, as the case Of the Hon. BILLY
MASON shows; but is II one Of the three ele-
ments Of the gentleman?
Here we have the trouble. what's meant
by a gentleman? Its widened meaning
marks the characterization Of the world.
First, it marked birth. then breeding, cour-
tesy and honor, then It ceased TO mark any
thing. The whole world is now addressed
as IL 1t were a commercial firm: Gentle
men" But in the more restricted sense
how can the word gentleman " be salts
f~actorily defined? IL II not best left unde-
fined? Sometimes it refers TO manners;
sometimes to morals. We are not sure that
1t will not yet be crowded ont by man"
The simpler term may come 10 be the more
acceptable. AT any rate. it would be rash
TO define gentleman" save IN elegant ex-
tracts from the poets.
Brother HUBBARD wishes 70 be clear and
concrete. To him JOSEPH ADDISON seems
to fulfil best the requirements OF sympathy.
knowledge and Poise. ADDISON was
scarcely sympathetic in his treatment OF
DICK STEELE, but the creator OF Sir ROGER
DE CovFRLEY must have been a gentleman.
Here again are we talking Of the periwig or
OF something else? If we are talking OF
the gentle heart, why old SAM JOHNSON.
wearing his blu OF fare on his clothes and
by no means his heart upon his sleeve-old
SAM JOHNSON. growing and cropping along
Fleet street and going back to touch the
posts-old SAM JOHNSON with his garrets
and his pensioners may seem a finer gentle
man to some Of US than ADDISON with his
great friends and Immaculate manner and
his Countess that drove him to drink. OBJ
serve We are talking about literary gentle
men as We might talk about commercial or
military gentlemen. We get no nearer tho
gentleman as gentleman and have to use
exam ples, as Mr.. HUBBARD does.
One kind word more TO our Roycroft
Brother. In giving his days and nights to
ADDISON he is neglecting SHAKESPEARE.
He talks Of 1.-The lasclviols pleasing OF a
flute" and, though not with quotation
marks, "cut such fantastic tricks before
high heaven as make angels weep" Can
his knowledge be slightly inferior TO his
sympathy and his Poise2