New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-11-18
The Ideal Gentleman Portrayed by
Many Hands.

Ron For GENTLEFoLKs. 4 Portrayal in
as5asuIPs e 5he - Tamo. pp u, 6t2 E.
P. Dalton s. CO.
II would not be possible &c define in set terms
dfctionary-wtse. the full significance Of the title
Of gentleman" There IS too much that lies
beyond the purely technical sense Of gentle
born There are historic associations which re-
fuse TO be compressed within the limits Of terse
definition. For this reason a volume Ike fhis
one of DR. Sr7yshe-Paluer's should be heartily
welcomed. He has composed an anthology or
.'gentlehood," bringing together the best things
that have been said by English writer's. ana
some others, in regard to the character and Cd
legations OF g true gentleman These eKcerp1s
lIhere are some hundreds OF them) he has ar
ranged under such headings as The Historical
Icea of q Gentleman" Ancestry" Wealth ana
Work" "Precepts Of Gentlehood." and so on;
but II VIII readily be seen that the arrangement
is more matter Of convenience than of logic.
Wherever you open the book you are sure to
hnd noble sentiments nobly uttered. The best
pens in our literature have been devoted, at one
time or another TO the depletion incubation
OF the gentleman-ideaL And IT is a striking
fact too. that from the very beginning the in
xardness" OF the words true meaning has been
recogniEed-the truth that birth and parts DO
not make the gentleman. Chaucer's Wife of
Bath wakes most indignant at such 'gentillesse'
Sc puts on airs because IT comes out of old
-ichesse" Such arrogance, quoth she. is not
worth al hen" But find out the man, she says,
who IS most virtuous always, both in private
and public life, the man who striveth always
To do the gentn dedes he can,
And TAX him for the grettest gentil man
A quaint anonymous volume Of the sixteenth
century, The TnstiCucion Of Gentleman Of
fers a suggestive division OF all gentlemen into
three classes. Says the author:
This word gentleman is compound word: as
ihynE). the fa;Tesr nance Gentlenaan can deserve
IL that BIZ mis- honestye ne is made Gentle, and by
vyce ungen1le- OF Gentlemen some be called Gen
IN e1l5y- Genj Ssis s-''s
The Gentle-Eentle, It seems. are those who
come OF noble lineage and who have Joined
thereto gentle manners" noble condicions'
and gentle heart" Such men twice gentle
How far are they to be admired above their
conference.-the brethren who. like them. may
boast an ancient line but who have corrupt
and ungentIe Manners ''unbrydeled appe-
tytes" and who "doo think it sufficient to enjoy
the name only and TO be called Gentlemen"
As for the ungentle-Gentle, these are persons
born Of q low degree who nevertheless, by
the exercise Of fvertue, wyt, pollicie, industry,
knowledge, vaiiency, OF such like honest means,
become well beloved and high esteemed"
Il s. this universal insistence upon the inner.
spiritual Qualifications of the true gentleman
that has given such a sinsularly democratic
tinge TO the Anglo-Saxon type Democratic and
aristocratic at the same time. for the title con-
fers e patent which inherited gentility cannot
claim IN its OWL right It must be earned The
man Of humblest origin has the opportunity to
earn II: and the man Of most exalted station. If
he has acted dishonorably. sees II taken from
him. After all. one has put it more simply
and more finely than old Tom Decker in those
deservedly famous lines Of his that recommend
patience as the divinest of virtues.
II makes men look like gods: the best OF men
That ere wore earth about him, was sufferer
A rneeke. patient humble tranquil spirit:
TIE first true Gentleman that ever breathed-
Nj Ernest Newman, an Englishman. is a
capable writer music, the author of good
book On GIGck. and net only an eppreciative
student of the ert Of the past. but a sympathetic
observer of modern musical phenomena His
.'f2ichard Strauss CThe John Lane Company
makes an interesting though not precisely con-
vincing addition to the series Of brief books on
Living Masters oE Music" which Rosa New
march has been editing. In Mr.. Newman's
opinion, Strauss is ''one of the great musical
builders What does he build and what is it
worth? 1t is useless TO ask these questions Of
his latest biographer, for If you question the
constructive ability of this composer Mr.. New
man IS ready to iEnpugn your right TO do SO.
When belated partisans Of the older schools"
he says. call his music forTnless' they simply
mean that ne builds in forms that transcend
their ONE unprogressive conception of the
ing OF the word. To them form means nothing
more than sonata form; the notion that there
can be logic, unity. organic life in a composition
put together on any lines but these is incon-
ceivable 10 them. At bottom. indeed, the Ques-
ton is one not much OF form as of idea"
This kind Of argument is doubtless convenient
but it does not carry US anywhere.
What matters the building of the fabric if
beauty does not find dwelling therein? And
d..