DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52059#0037
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No. 66: “You see among men who are honoured with
the common appellation of gentlemen so many contra-
dictions to that character, that it is the utmost ill-fortune
to bear it.” The meanings of many words are indeed
in a continual fluctuation; they represent in a great
measure the character and prevalent opinions of the
day, and the same word may signify “ good ” to-day
and “ bad ” to-morrow.
Throughout all changes of secondary meaning, the
primary English idea of a “ gentleman,” as being the
owner of an estate, or one of the owner’s family, remained
intact; the longer the estate had been in possession of
their ancestors, the more illustrious was their birth.
The owner of a property so small that he had personally
to superintend the cultivation, was a “ yeoman,” and no
gentleman, a distinction not yet quite extinct in some
parts of the country.
I will insert here a few short extracts from a little
book of Charles II.’s time, which bears the title The
Courtier's Calling (London, 1675), and is written by
an anonymous “Man of Honour”—apparently a man
of fashion. The second part of this book is devoted
to the object of giving advice to younger sons how to
provide for themselves. After observing that, unfor-
tunately, it is impossible for gentlemen to “traffick”
(p. 120), he, in the first instance, recommends to enter
the army. The next best thing is to “ attend a lord ”;
the master, it is true, will treat them meanly, “will
often converse with others, whilst they must stand
behind them with their hats off. One can hardly
distinguish them in this posture from valets de
chambre, and they are sometimes abused like villains.
No. 66: “You see among men who are honoured with
the common appellation of gentlemen so many contra-
dictions to that character, that it is the utmost ill-fortune
to bear it.” The meanings of many words are indeed
in a continual fluctuation; they represent in a great
measure the character and prevalent opinions of the
day, and the same word may signify “ good ” to-day
and “ bad ” to-morrow.
Throughout all changes of secondary meaning, the
primary English idea of a “ gentleman,” as being the
owner of an estate, or one of the owner’s family, remained
intact; the longer the estate had been in possession of
their ancestors, the more illustrious was their birth.
The owner of a property so small that he had personally
to superintend the cultivation, was a “ yeoman,” and no
gentleman, a distinction not yet quite extinct in some
parts of the country.
I will insert here a few short extracts from a little
book of Charles II.’s time, which bears the title The
Courtier's Calling (London, 1675), and is written by
an anonymous “Man of Honour”—apparently a man
of fashion. The second part of this book is devoted
to the object of giving advice to younger sons how to
provide for themselves. After observing that, unfor-
tunately, it is impossible for gentlemen to “traffick”
(p. 120), he, in the first instance, recommends to enter
the army. The next best thing is to “ attend a lord ”;
the master, it is true, will treat them meanly, “will
often converse with others, whilst they must stand
behind them with their hats off. One can hardly
distinguish them in this posture from valets de
chambre, and they are sometimes abused like villains.