Gentleness is a beautiful word, and I daresay you know what it means.
When you are helping baby to walk, mother will say, "Be =gentle= with
her," which means, "Do not be rough, do not hurt her". A =gentleman= is
a man who is gentle, who will not =hurt=.
Did you ever hear of a horse who could behave like a gentleman? Here is
the story.[10]
"A horse was drawing a cart along a narrow lane in Scotland when it
spied a little child playing in the middle of the road. What do you
think the kind, gentle horse did? It took hold of the little child's
clothes with its teeth, lifted it up, and laid it gently on the bank at
the side of the road, and then it turned its head to see that the cart
had not hurt the child in passing. Did not the horse behave like a
gentleman?"
I have seen boys and girls helping the little ones to dress in the
cloakroom at school, or leading them carefully down the steps, or
carrying the babies over rough places; =this= is gentleness, and the
gentle boy will grow up to be a gentle man.