HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 5, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 10.

HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN.

“You see I am a gentleman!” said Will Thompson. “I will not take an insult.” And the little fellow strutted up and down with rage. He had been throwing stones at Peter Jones, and thought that his anger proved him to be a gentleman.

“If you want to be a gentleman, I should think you would be a gentle boy first,” said his teacher. “Gentlemen do not throw stones at their neighbors. Peter Jones did not throw stones at you, and I think he is much more likely to prove a gentleman.”

“But he has got patches on his knee,” said Will.

“Bad pantaloons do not keep a boy from being a gentleman, but a bad temper does. Now, William, if you want to be a gentleman, you must first be a gentle boy.”

A little further on the teacher met Peter Jones. Some stones had hit him, and he was hurt by them.

“Well, Peter, what is the matter between you and Will this morning?” he asked.

“I was throwing a ball at one of the boys, in play, sir, and I missed him, and hit Will Thompson’s dog.”

“Then, when he threw stones at you, why did you not throw back?”

“Because, sir, mother says to be a gentleman I must be a gentle boy, and I thought it best to keep out of his way until he cooled off a little.”

The teacher walked on, but kept the boys in mind. He lived to see Will Thompson a rowdy, and Peter Jones a gentleman, loved and respected by all.—Christian Work.