The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1902-03-18
MARK TWAIN DESCRIBES
A GENTLEMAN.
"A Kindly, courtcoua, Unselfsh Man
who Thinks First. Not Of Him
self. But Of FelIow-Man."

NiiHrllu ioI buiopt Nh oAeuAuag ioSt'
said
THE men who have amassed their
millions in all sorts of ways have not
had advantages in their youth; they
have never had the college education,
without which no man can be a gen
tleman."
DO you mean to say that Mrs
Astor says that?" asked Samuel l..
Clemens yesterday afternoon.
Humorousiy Sarcastic.
why, that's a direct personal in
sule Mns Astor and | will have a
falling out over thas, I'm afraid TO
be told to my face and in cold type
at that, that / am no gentleman. And
cli because wasn't fortunate enough
TO have a rich father to send me to
college. IT'S too bad too bad.
rs enough to take the heart out
of man and make him scorn the
world. But then. there IS one ray Of
hope. If 1t was not for that | should
be tempted TO leave this rude world.
"Pel haps Mrs Astor, when she
uses the word gentleman, does not
have the same meaning in view that
we other rude people have.
she probably means a leader Of
cotillons, a spic and-span dandy who
knows enough to observe the ordinary
rules OF politeness when he is on pa
rade, and who has valet az home to
tell him what clothes are proper to
wear
No no. cant believe that she
could be so cruel and cold blooded as
to rob me of the only hope that is left
me. that / am gentleman. She must
have meant something else than gen
tleman' as we use it.
Definition of a Gentleman.
"a gentleman. a kindly, courteous.
man, who thinks first, not of
but of his fellow-man, that is
what gentleman is; not one of these
society chappies' who in reality is
one OF the moat selfish men on earth.
why, Mrs. Astor can't mean that
Andrew Carnegie is no gentleman. He
may be too pushing, or too shy and
s and around silently in corners, not
knowing what to say or what to do;
but what does that show? 1t only
means that he IS nct an adept at
hypocrisy. II does not deiract from
the true worth OF The kindly, courte-
Gus nature of the man.
Abraham Lincoln did not have a
college education, yet he was known
for his kindly, courtly ways and his
absolute unselfshness He was al
ways ready and wiling to sacrifice
his money and his time. as well as
his own convenience. 20 help a wo
man or a child. He may have been
rough and coarse in his talk and ac
tions and perhaps he would noe have
graced Mra. Astor's drawing room,
but he was a true gentleman for ali
Of that.
"Oh. sou can pick out any number
of them you want Take the men of
in the United States to-
day and pick out the true gentlemen.
I'll venture that nine out of ten of
them never had a high school educa-
tion, let alone a college education.
The Finest Gentleman.
why. the finest gentlemen I ever
knew was an old California miner,
who could hardly write his own name.
He was forty miner, and he and his
partner had struck it rich in the early
days. The old man had neither chick
nor child, and he had worked hard
all his life. and when he did get his
money he hardly knew what to 40
with H.
"He did not try TO jump into socie-
~. or to push his way with the big
fellows there. He continued to live
with the people whom he had asso-
ciated with all his life. and many an
act Of kindness was done, many a
wandering. son and father saved, many
a sorrowing womans burden tighten
ed, and her home frightened by an
unknown donor whose identity with
the old man was only known to a few.
1T was different with the partner.
He had a wife and Two daughters,
with social aspirations. and. after a
whole lot of pushing and hauling and
showing, they landed in society, The
expense was too luch Of a drain on
the husbands purse, and he spectl-
lated with the Inevitable outcome. He
lost his entire fortune, AMI then shot