It is
so very evident that he all the time has his mind upon himself,
wondering whether or not he is getting everything just right. What a
relief to turn from such a one to one who, instead of thinking always of
self, has continually in mind the ease and comfort and pleasure he can
give to others, who, in other words, is the true _gentle-man_, and with
whom true politeness is natural; for one's every act is born of his
thoughts.
It is said that there was no truer gentleman in all Scotland than Robert
Burns. And yet he was a farmer all his life, and had never been away
from his native little rural village into a city until near the close of
his life, when, taking the manuscripts that for some time had been
accumulating in the drawer of his writing-table up to Edinburgh, he
captivated the hearts of all in the capital. Without studied
contrivances, he was the true gentleman, and true politeness was his,
because his life was founded upon the principle that continually brought
from his pen lines such as:--
"It's coming yet, for a' that,
That man to man, the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that!"
And under the influence of this principle, he was a gentleman by nature,
and one of nature's noblemen, without ever thinking whether he was or
not, as he who is truly such never needs to and never does.
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