the Greek sculptor carved, so exact in its proportions, so fraught with grace and beauty, that it was accepted as the model, the "rule of Polycletus," to be copied by all, being a combination of all that was most admirable in the human form, though not to be found in any individual man, so Steele prefaces his definition with the statement that he is about to describe, not so much what is, as what may or ought to be, assembling together such qualifications as seem requisite to make the character complete, while it is possible for all of us, in our several degrees, to profit from his description. We may not have the natural endowments, the opportunities of culture, travel, and intercourse with others which he regards as necessary for those who would attain the highest stature, who are to be qualified for the service and good, as well as for the ornament and delight, of society, but we can all possess the heart of a gentleman, firm and intrepid, void of all inordinate passions, full of tenderness, compassion, and benevolence. We can be modest without bashfulness, frank and affable without impertinence, obliging and complaisant without servility, cheerful and in good humour without noise. We can be principled in religion and instructed in all the moral virtues. CHAPTER V The True Gentleman Loke he that is most vertuous alway, CHAUCER. So that in all the essential qualifications, every man may be a gentleman, because we do not rank a man among the vulgar for the condition of life he is in, but according to his behaviour, thoughts, and sentiments in that condition, according to that which he hath and not according to that which he hath not. For if a man be loaded with riches and honours, and in that state of life hath thoughts and inclinations below the meanest artificer, is not such an artificer, who, within his power, is good to his friends, moderate in his demands, and cheerful in his occupation, very much superior to him who lives for no other end but to serve himself, and assumes a preference in all his words and actions to those who act their part with much more grace than himself? Epictetus writes that it is not to be considered among the actors who is prince or who is beggar, but who acts prince or beggar best. The circumstance of life should not be that which gives us place, but our behaviour in that circumstance is what should be our solid distinction. Thus a wise man should think no man above him or below him, any further than it regards the outward order or discipline of the world, for if we conceive too great an idea of the eminence of our superiors or the subordination of our inferiors, it will have an ill effect on our behaviour to both. He who thinks no man above him but for his virtue, and no man below him but for his vice, can never be obsequious or assuming in a wrong place, but will frequently emulate men in rank below him, and pity those above him. There are noblemen and gentlemen, and there are duffers and drones, in huts and in mansions, in pumps and in wooden shoes; and I know not which I admire the most-the men who in the high places of the world are resisting the temptations to luxury and selfindulgence which allure them always, who are doing work and discharging duties which they might relegate to others, or those who conscientiously endeavour to earn their wages, bear their hardships bravely; who, having little, do their diligence gladly to give of that little, and have learned in whatever state they are therewith to be content. It may be noticed, moreover, that having in so many instances the elements of a gentleman within themselves, we find among the poorer a prompt and reliable discrimination between the genuine and the spurious in others who claim to be gentlemen. An old man living in a tiny cottage and receiving relief from the parish, told me that two of his wealthy neighbours came to visit him now and then. One of them opened his door without knocking, sat down with his hat on, smoking his cigar, without being offered a chair, spoke of poverty as though it was in all cases the result of idleness or intemperance, hoped that he was grateful for all the blessings which he enjoyed —“including, no doubt," the old man added quaintly, "the rats which run and the rain which drips on my bed; and then he gives me sixpence and a tract against intoxicating liquors. I am afraid, sir, that on a recent occasion I behaved disgracefully "-there was a twinkle in his eye, which did not indicate remorse" I spent half of his munificent donation in a pint of ale for my supper, and forgot to drink his health. There's another neighbour," he continued, "who knocks and waits, takes off his hat when he enters, and stands until he is asked to take a seat; and talks to me pleasantly as though we were equals, fellow-servants of One Who is no respecter of persons. He gives me half a crown and a bit o'baccy, and if I can go up to the hall he thinks he can find me some clothes which will keep me warm in the winter." Addison conferred upon me, as upon thousands of others, a perpetual delight when he introduced us to Sir Roger de Coverley. The name has a musical sound to us all; perhaps a little too musical for those elderly ladies who remember the time when it was associated with the final dance at a ball, when it seemed as though the fiddlers would never cease, and daughters were blind to weary mothers, yawning behind their fans, and deaf to impatient fathers who came behind them to state that the carriage had been waiting for hours, and that the horses were being frozen to death. They forgot, these parents, that history repeats itself, and that retribution follows on the track of crime. Sir Roger de Coverley-it is refreshing, helpful, to think of him. It is good to be with goodness, with those that excel in virtue. They invoke our higher ambitions, they invigorate our weakness, they reprove our mistakes, they put our selfishness and indolence to shame. I rejoice to be, though it is only in imagination, with this noble, benevolent, and beneficent knight; to see him surrounded by his tenants, many of whom he has placed in comfortable cottages with small holdings of land, in reward of faithful service; or in the midst of domestics, who have been with him for many years, honoured and beloved by them all. It is no mean testimony to the kindly rule which has prevailed from generation to aristocratic and ancient families those whom they have employed have grown grey in their service, and have been so content and happy in their several occupations that it has been one of their chief desires to be succeeded by their children in the discharge of duties which they could no longer fulfil. When I hear the railing accusations which are brought against servants; when I hear Mrs. Money in her crimson velvet and diamonds bewailing the artificial generation in our that so many of |