He is gentil that doth gentil dedis.
_Canterbury Tales: The Wyf of Bathes Tale_. CHAUCER.
The gentle minde by gentle deeds is knowne;
For a man by nothing is so well bewrayed
As by his manners.
_Faërie Queene, Bk. VI. Canto IV_. E. SPENSER.
Tho' modest, on his unembarrassed brow
Nature had written--"Gentleman."
_Don Juan, Canto IX_. LORD BYRON.
I freely told you, all the wealth I had
Ran in my veins, I was a gentleman.
_Merchant of Venice, Act iii, Sc. 2_. SHAKESPEARE.
"I am a gentleman." I'll be sworn thou art;
Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions and spirit,
Do give thee five-fold blazon.
_Twelfth Night, Act i. Sc. 5_. SHAKESPEARE.
Nothing to blush for and nothing to hide,
Trust in his character felt far and wide;
Be he a noble, or be he in trade,
This is the gentleman Nature has made.
_What is a Gentleman_? N.L. O'DONOGHUE.
And thus he bore without abuse
The grand old name of gentleman,
Defamed by every charlatan,
And soiled with all ignoble use.
_In Memoriam, CX_. A. TENNYSON.
His tribe were God Almighty's gentlemen.
_Absalom and Achitophel_. J. DRYDEN.