The ideal of a gentleman, or, A mirror for gentlefolks : a portrayal in literature from the earliest times / by A. Smythe-Palmer.

  • Palmer, Abram Smythe.
Date:
[1908]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The ideal of a gentleman, or, A mirror for gentlefolks : a portrayal in literature from the earliest times / by A. Smythe-Palmer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    500/542 (page 484)
    oreille, et siirtout au fond de votre conscience, cette belle parole, qne voiis etes un honiiete liomme. Lacordaire. If a man’s deeds are good, he is of good origin ; but otherwise not : and hence it is said. When a man’s origin is unknown, his deeds indicate it (Arab Sheikh). Lane, Thousand and One Nights, iii, 56. Comment on the above : —■ “ A man is known among others by his actions, and the deeds of the ingenuous and generous are like his origin. Id., 562. General Gordon said of his Mahomedan secretary, Berzati Bey, ‘ he taught me the great lesson that in all natures and in all climes there are those who are perfect gentlemen, and who, though they may not be called Christians, are so in spirit and in truth ’. [Article on “Manners,” by Mrs. E. Lynn Linton, mGrooms- bridge’s Magazine, Jan., 1891, no. i.] The Burmese say, ‘ Courtesy is the mark of a great man, discourtesy of a little one. Your courtesy, kindness and consideration for those who are lower and weaker than yourself, such as children and animals, is the clearest proof of your own superiority. H. F. Hall, The Soul of a People, 246. Bushido, or Knightly Behaviour, in the absence of a strong religion, is the master influence in Japanese character ; its cardinal doctrines are self-knowledge, and fidelity to the highest self or conscience. Benevolence, and the courage which results in self-sacrifice rather than in the subjection of others, are its primary fruits. Such a moral code, which is based on a spiritual ideal rather than on a dogma of pains and penalties, made its votaries gentle, unselfish, dutiful, and unfalteringly courageous. The true knight was the yeyaXoi/^uyo? of Aristotle, but his pride was leavened with something not unlike Christian charity. The Spectator, 1904.