S36 6- E N- 
of the Creiife, and chief place of a canton,'in the dHlrift 
of Felletin : three leagues, foutli-weft of Felletin. 
GEN'TLE, adj. \_gentilis, i.'at.] Well born; well 
defcended ; ancient, though not noble.—Thefe are the 
ftudies wherein our noble and gentle.yo\\X.h ought to be¬ 
llow their time. Milton^ 
Of blood, part Ihed in honour’s caufe, 
Each parent fprung. Pope, 
Soft; bland; mild; tame; meek; peaceable.—A vir¬ 
tuous and a good man, reverend in couverfatioa, and 
gentk'm condition. 2 Mac. xv. 12. 
Her voice was ever foft. 
Gentle and low ; an excellent thing in woman. Shake/. 
Soothing ; pacific : 
And though this fenfe gentle mufic found-, 
Her proper objeiil is the fpeech of men. Davies. 
GEN'TLE, f. a gentleman; a man of birth. Now out 
qfuje; 
Gentles, do not reprehend ; 
If you pardon, we will mend. Skaktfpeare. 
A particular kind of earth-worm. See the article Fish¬ 
ing, vol. vii. p. 420.—He will in three hot months bite 
at a flagworm, or at a gxctn gentle. Walton. 
To GEN'TLE, v. a. To make gentle ; to raife from 
the vulgar. Obfolete: 
He to-day that llteds his blood with me, 
Shall be my brotlier : be he ne’er fo vile, 
This day lhall gentle his condition. Shake/ Henry F. 
GEN'TLEFOLK, /. Perfons diftinguiflied by their 
'birth from the vulgar.—The queen’s kindred are made 
gentlefolk. Shake/peare. —Sometimes with a plural.— Gen¬ 
tlefolks will not care for the remainder of a bottle of wine; 
•fherefore fet afrefli one before them. Swi/t. 
GEN'TLEMAN,yi \_geniilhomne,Yx. gentilhuomn, Ital. 
that is, homo gentilis, a man of ancellry. All other deri¬ 
vations feeifi to be whimfical.] A man of birth ; a man 
of extradtion, though not noble ; 
I freely told you all the wealth I had 
Ran in my veins ; 1 was a gentleman, Shake/peare. 
A man raifed above the vulgar by his charafter or pod. 
—He is fo far from defiring to be ufed as. z.gentleman, that 
he defires to be ufed as the fervant of all. Law. 
Inquire me out fome rntzvi-borngentleman, 
V/hom I will marry ftrait to Clarence’ daugliter. Shake/. 
A term of complaifance; fomerimes ironical.—The fame 
gentlemen who have fixed this piece of morality on the 
three naked fillers danting hand in hand, would have 
found out'as good a one had there been four of them 
fitting at a diflance, and covei'ed from head to foot. 
Addi/on. —d'he fervant that waits about the perfon of a 
man of rank.—Sir Thomas More, the Sunday after he 
gave up his chancellorfhip, came to lus wife’s pew, and- 
afed the ufual words of his gentleman ufher, Madam, my 
lord is gone. Camden. —It is ufed of any man however 
high.—The king is a noble gctillcman, and my familiar, 
Shakefpeare. 
Under the denomination of gentlemen, in the En- 
glifh precedence and jurifprudence, are comprifed all 
perfons above yeomen : whereby noblemen are truly 
called gentlemen. Smith de Rep. Ang. lib. i. cc. 20, 21. 
A gentleman, in heraldry, is defined to be one, who, 
without any title, bears a coat 0/arms, and whole an- 
ceftors have been freemen; and by the armorial bearings, 
that a gentleman retains, he is known to be, or not to be, 
defcended from thofe of his name, that perhaps lived 
many centuries before him : thus a family coat of arms 
is ever confidered as the criterion of an lionourable an- 
eeltry, and is a mark of diflintlion or warranty of a gen¬ 
tleman over and above the yeomen and commonalty. 
I'kere is laid to be a gentleman by virtue of office, 
m E N 
and in reputation, as well as thofe that are born fuch. 
2 In/. 668. And we read that J. Kingflon.was made, ar 
gentleman by Rich. II. Pat, 13. Rich. II. par. 1. Gentilis 
komoiovz. gentleman, was adjudgedia. good .addition. 
HU. 27. Edw. III. But tlie addition of efqaire, or gen¬ 
tleman, was rare before i Hen. V. though that of knight 
is very ancient. 2 In/. 595, 667. 
‘ For the gratification of the curious reader, we fliall, 
add the narrative “ 0/ the origin 0/ gentlemen," from Ley¬ 
den’s “ Complaynt of Scothuid,” republiflied in 1801, 
from an original in the Britifh Mufeum, and of which 
only four copies are in exiflence, written in the year 
1548, 
“ And noil fen this purpos hes occurrit 'to fpeik of 
gentreis ande nobilnes, i vil fyrfl diferiue the origine of 
gentil men, be the quhilk ze may knau, quha is ana. 
vilaine. Bot fyrfl i man reherfe the flait of the pepil 
that var in the gude anciant dais, quhilk fiim men cal- 
lit the goldin varld. there vas na defferens of flaitis at 
that tyme amang men, nothir in preeminens, dignite, . 
fuperiorite, nor honour, for at that tyme al men var 
egal, &■ nocht partial nor deuidit, for the pepil lyuit aT 
to gydthir in ane tranquil & louabil comunite, ande tliai 
left no thing to there poflerite bot regrettis for the al- 
teratione of that gude varld. in thai dais, the pepil eit 
nor drank nocht bot quhen hungir conflrenzet them. Sc 
than there maifl delegat refedlioe vas acquorns, vyild 
befreis, green futis, rutis & eirbis, ande thai drank the • 
frefche vatlir. at fum tyme thay pad in the forreflis to . 
the courfe and hunting, and fleu vyild beyflis, fyne 
dryit tbe flafche at thefune or thai eit it. and thai that 
var of maifl tendir complexione couurit the vitht the , 
Ikynnis of tha vyild beyflis to keip them fra cald. At 
tliat tyme ther vas no ceremonial reuerens nor flait, 
quha liild pas befor or behynd, furtht or in at the dur, 
nor zit quha fuld haue the dignite to vafehe ther hiidis- 
fyrfl in tlie bafline, nor zit quha fuld fit doune fyrfl 
at the tabil. at that tyme the pepil var as reddy to 
drynk vattir in ther bonet, or in the palmis of ther 
. handis, as in ane glas, or in ane taffe of filuyr. At that 
tyme thai lay al to gydthir in ane cauerne, as dois pre- 
lently the fophiflic egiptiens. thai purgit ther belleis, 
ande exercit the verkis of nature, ilk ane in vthirs pre- 
fents vitht out fchame, reproche, or offens. than ane 
lang tyme there eftir, nature prouokit tlie to begyn funi 
little police, for fum of them began to plant treis, fum 
to dat beyflis, fum gadtliird-the frutis, ande kepit them 
quhil on to the tyme of neceflite, ande fum neurifl there 
childis. at that tyme the pepil drank notldr vyne nor 
beir, nor na vthir confekkit drynkis. at that tyme 
flraynge entries var nocht focht to get fpicis, eirbs, 
drogis, gumis, & fuccur for to mak exquifit eledtuars to 
proLioke the pepil til ane difordinat appetit. At that. 
tyme, tiiere vas no fumpteous clcthyng of fine claytht 
and of gold Sc filkof diuerfe fafibns. at that tyme I the 
begynnyng of ther police, coppir, bras, and yrn and 
vthir metcellis, var mcltit to mak vtefel vefchcl necef- 
fair to feme ane houfliald, and var nocht meltit to be 
gunnis ande cannons to 11 a doune the pepil. Ande non 
fen that goldin varld is pall, ther hes fuccedit ane yrn- 
varld, quhilk hes altrit euerye gude thing in infelicite 
and mylcheif, for meikens is changit I maleis, trauail in 
ydilnes, reft in excelle, pace in veyr, eyfe in pane, louq 
in liatrent, cherite in crualte, iuftice in extorfions, almis 
in thyft, kyndnes in perfecutioiie, fiipporting.of ignorance 
in detradlione, pitie in rigor, ande faytht in ypocrylie, 
and fa euyrie thing is altrit fra ane gude flait in ane ab- 
hominabil qualite. The caufe of this alteratione hes 
procedit fra the euyl coditios of men that began tyl op- 
prelfe there nychtbours. ande til efchaip lie opprelfic 
one, the pepil chefit ane certain of gouuernours of the 
maifl robuft & mailt prudent to be there deffendours, 
ande alfe thai randrit the tributaris ande fubieclis to 
there faid gouuernours, ande there gouuernours gat for 
their panis and laubyr, tiie butin and fpulz^ that thai 
coqueilt fra the tirrah opprelfoiirs, Thai gouuernours 
var 
