20 JANUARY 1939, Page 23

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]

Snt,—Mr. Harold Nicolson asks: " What in this island do we really mean by " gentleman' "? Does not Chaucer answer this question admirably in his description of the perfect knight in the Canterbury Tales? May I quote a few of the lines?

A knighte there was, and that a worthy man, That from the tyme that he first beganne To ryden out had loved chivalry, Truth and Honoure, freedom and courtesie. And of his port as meek as is a maid, He never yet no vilanie ne'er said, In all his lyfe unto no manner wight, He was a very perfait gentle knighte."

This might well be taken as a gentleman's model.—I am,