19 JANUARY 1907, Page 15

[TO THE EDITOR OP TEE "SPECTATOR "] BIE,—Your correspondent Mr. V.

de S. Fowke writes in your issue of January 5th: "It would be extremely difficult— probably impossible—to frame a generally acceptable defini- tion of the word ` gentleman:" The quick-witted Irish peasant finds no such difficulty ; but then he divides the genus into three species,—to wit "A gintleman, a real gintleman, and a Half Sir! " Present him with a specimen of the genus, and after a very short acquaintance he will remit him to his proper niche in the collection, without doubt or hesitation ; and from a lifelong and intimate acquaintance with the class, I can say that I have rarely, if ever, known him