The ideal of a gentleman, or, A mirror for gentlefolks : a portrayal in literature from the earliest times / by A. Smythe-Palmer.
- Abram Smythe Palmer
- Date:
- [1908]
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.
85/542 page 69
![THE INWARDNESS OR ESSENTIAL QUALITY OF A GENTLEMAN In sooth there are persons of high condition Who call themselves ‘ noble ’ [gentil): all others they hold cheap Because of this nobility {gentilezza). And, in that conceit, They will cah a man ‘ tradesman ’ [mercennaio) who would sooner spend a bushel Of florins than they of halfpence [picciolini),— Although the means of both might be of like amount. And he who holds himself noble without doing any other good Save [bearing] the name, fancies he is ‘ making the cross ’ [the sign of honour] But he really ‘ makes the fico ’ [sign of shame] to himself. He who endures not toil For honour’s sake, let him not imagine that he comes Among men of worth, because he is of lofty race ; For I hold him noble who shows that he follows the path Of great valour and of gentle nurture,— So that, besides his lineage, he does deeds of worth, And lives honourably so as to make himself beloved. I admit indeed that if the one and other are equal in good deeds. He who is the better born is esteemed the higher. 1265, Brunetto Latini, Tesoretto (W. M. Rossetti, Booke of Precedence, pt. ii, p. 12). The sothe noblesse thanne of man begynth hyer be grace and be virtue and is folfeld [fulfilled] ine blysse. Thise noblesse maketh the Holy Gost ine herte thet he clenzeth ine clennesse and alyght [enlightens] ine sothnesse, and folfelth ine charite. Thise byeth the thri greteste guodes thet God gefth the angels, ase sayth saint Denys, huer-by they byeth yliche to thare](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29008529_0087.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
