ABSTRACT
By A. W. REED, M.A., D.LlT., Pro lessor 01 English Language and Literature in the University 01 London.
I
A GENTLEMAN is a man of ancestry. . all other derivations seem to be whimsical. He is a man of
birth, a man of extraction." Dr. Johnson follows up this uncompromising definition by a second equally emphatic: " Nobility is rank or dignity of several degrees conferred by sovereigns-as duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or baron." If he ever discussed this distinction with Boswell, it is pleasant to think that Boswell might well have illustrated it by the reply of James I to his old nurse: "I'll mak' your son a baronet gin ye like, Luckie, but the de'il himself coudna' mak' him a gentleman."
