that fact shows that there is a. distinct standard in every intelligent
mind by which behavior is measured. To say that a man was born a gentleman
means not at all that he is courteous, refined, and intelligent, but only
that he was born of a family whose circumstances at some time had been
easy and agreeable, and which belonged to a traditionally "good society."
But such a man may be false and mean, and ignorant and coarse. Is he a
gentleman because he was born such? On the other hand, the child of long
generations of ignorant and laborious boors may be humane, honorable, and
modest, but with total ignorance of the usages of good society. He may
be as upright as Washington, as unselfish as Sidney, as brave as Bayard,
as modest as Falkland. But he may also outrage all the little social
proprieties. Is he a gentleman because he is honest and modest and humane?
In describing Lovelace, should we not say that he was a gentleman? Should
we naturally say so of Burns? But, again, is it not a joke to describe
George IV. as a gentleman, while it would be impossible to deny the name to
Major Dobbin?

The catch, however, is simple. Using the same word, we interchange its
different meanings. To say that a man is born a gentleman is to say that
he was born under certain social conditions. To say in commendation or
description of a man that he is a gentleman, or gentlemanly, is to say
that he has certain qualities of character or manner which are wholly
independent of the circumstances of his family or training. In the latter
case, we speak of individual and personal qualities; in the former, we
speak of external conditions. In the one case we refer to the man himself;
in the other, to certain circumstances around him. The quality which is
called gentlemanly is that which, theoretically, and often actually,
distinguishes the person who is born in a certain social position. It
describes the manner in which such a person ought to behave.