12 JANUARY 1907, Page 16

THE TEST OF A GENTLEMAN.

[To TER EDTZOlt OF THR SPRCTATOR.."] Sla,—In connexion with Mr. Fowke's remark in your last issue as to the difficulty of framing a generally acceptable definition of the word " gentleman," that of the Maori chief as given to Bishop Selwyn may be recalled. The New Zealander, in response to the query as to what he understood by a gentle- man, replied : " Gentleman gentleman never mind what lie does, but piggy gentleman very particular." Was not the untutored savage right in dwelling on that abnegation of self as the first qualification of a gentleman, the self-denial which was the foundation of the teaching of Christ, the first true gentleman, and greatest of all P—I am, Sir, Ac., [There is a story of a Somersetshiro Baronet which is worth recording in this context. The country gentleman in question had gone into lodgings in a neighbouring town which were deemed far too small and unpretentious by his friends and tenants at home. "Ali, my dear," said an old woman in the village, winding up the debate, " true gentlefolks never suspects theirselves."—En. Spectator.]