The wisdom of Sir Charles Clow Tennant (1823-1906)
Scottish businessman, Liberal politician, member of Parliament
Tennant was a typical member of the landed British aristocracy in the late 19th century. He believed that his family's hereditary social position gave him advantages, which made him a gentleman and which he was well-equipped to enjoy.
In his social milieu, he shared the conviction that he
and other gentlemen of his class were entitled and obligated to govern.
Consciousness of being a gentleman was a perpetual state of mind for Tennant
and his peers.
It happened one day that Sir Charles and a golf partner were rudely
interrupted on the links by a stranger who "played through" without
permission. Tennant's partner was enraged, but the baron soothed:
"Don't be angry with him. Perhaps he isn't quite a gentleman, poor fellow, poor fellow."
(This colorful anecdote is one of many in Barbara Tuchman's Proud Tower, a penetrating account of the many
states of mind of Americans and Europeans in the decades that preceded World War I).
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