You have seen such faces and have
heard such voices. They result from a life the kind we are considering.
They are but its outward manifestations, spontaneous as the water from
the earth as it bursts forth a natural fountain.
We must not fail also to notice the effect of this life upon one's
manners and bearing. True politeness comes from a life founded upon this
great principle, and from this alone. This gives the true
gentleman,--_gentle-man_,--a man gentle, kind, loving, courteous from
nature. Such a one can't have anything but true politeness, can't be
anything but a gentle-man; for one can't truly be anything but himself.
So the one always intent upon and thinking of self cannot be the true
gentleman, notwithstanding the artful contrivances and studied efforts
to appear so, but which so generally reveal his own shallowness and
artificiality, and disgust all with whom he comes in contact.
I sometimes meet a person who, when introduced, will go through a series
of stiff, cold, and angular movements, the knee at such a bend, the foot
at such an angle, the back with such a bend or hump,--much less pleasant
to see than that of a camel or a dromedary, for with these it is
natural,--so that I have found myself almost thinking, Poor fellow, I
wonder what the trouble is, whether he will get over it all right.
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