We Have But One Rule Here...

Robert E. Lee became President of Washington College (now Washington & Lee) after the US Civil War. There were only men in the College of course, and President Lee referred to them as "his boys." He took an active interest in their lives and held them to high standards.

Before his arrival there was apparently a thick book of rules. One of his early acts was to throw out this rulebook, and declare "We have but one rule here, and it is that every student must be a gentlemen."

The "boys" soon discovered that being a gentlemen was a very high standard indeed! I suspect some of them wished for the rule book to be returned, because it was probably easier to live up to the letter of the rule book than the ideal of a gentlemen :-)

As we work with our boys, we do well to think about guiding them to become gentlemen. Gentleness is strength under control.

Here is how Lee described a gentleman:

"...the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is the test of a true gentlemen. The power which the strong have over the weak, the magistrate over the citizen, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly -- the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total absence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in plain light. The gentleman does not needlessly or unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may committed against him. He can not only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which imparts sufficient strength to let the past be the past. A true gentleman of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others."

Consider, men, how Lee describes the forgiving and forgetting character of a gentleman the way the Bible tells us about the character of God.

Since we're concerned about shaping our boys into gentlemen, we must first be gentleman ourselves.


Note: My primary source for this is the wonderful biography Robert E. Lee by Emory M. Thomas. An excellent book for husbands, fathers, and leaders!