The II Earl

  Encouraging Others to Be Kind, Selfless, Giving and Openly Emotional Anger is a normal feeling and can be a positive emotion when it helps you work through issues or problems, whether that’s at work or at home. However, anger can become problematic if it leads to aggression, outbursts, or even physical altercations. It’s said a gentleman is a man with good manners, kind and honest… but I´m not sure many people would consider him a gentleman. In this article I would like to add quotes on enemies to flesh out a fuller picture of how I see it. “If a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them.” ―  Amor Towles “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” ―  Confucius “Angry men are blind and foolish, for reason at such time takes flight ...

In modern parlance, the term gentleman (from Latin gentis, belonging to a race or gens, and man, the Italian gentil uomo or gentiluomo , the French gentilhomme , the Spanish gentilhombre , the Portuguese gentil-homem , and the Esperanto gentilmano ) refers to any man of good, courteous conduct. It may also refer to all men collectively, as in indications of gender-separated facilities, or as a sign of the speaker's own courtesy when addressing others. In its original meaning, the term denoted a man of the lowest rank of the English gentry, standing below an esquire and above a yeoman. By definition, this category included the younger sons of the younger sons of peers and the younger sons of baronets, knights, and esquires in perpetual succession, and thus the term captures the common denominator of gentility (and often armigerousness) shared by both constituents of the English aristocracy: the peerage and the gentry. In this sense, the word equates with the French gentilhomm...

DESPITE its title “The Protestant Establishment” is not a book about religion or the church. It is a book about America's white Anglo‐Saxon Protestant upper crust whose members, sometimes referred to as “WASPS,” dominated for many years the nation's business, education, law, art and politics. It is E. Digby Baltzell's contention, documented with lively and nonstatistical detail, that this establishment has degenerated since 1930, that it is schizophrenic in its attitudes towards Negroes, Jews and “hyphenated‐Americans,” that it is, because of this, increasingly cut off from the rest of society, and therefore it cannot properly fulfill the leadership role of an establishment. These essays are indebted to E. Digby Baltzell (1915-1996), the University of Pennsylvania sociologist and author of The Protestant Establishment : Aristocracy and Caste in America (Random House, 1964). He is widely and correctly credited with popularizing the term “WASP” within the American lexicon, b...

Words: From GUARDIAN by Josh Sims Credit: The National Archives ** The recession has forced us to make our shoes last. But how do you get the perfect shine? Dave Watkins rarely uses spit. Polish, yes. But not spit. As sales director of one of British manufacturing's success stories, the Cherry Blossom shoecare brand, he knows his buffing from his brushing. For a long time he's been fighting a losing battle. Although sales of shoes have been climbed steadily over recent years – faster than clothing sales – shoe cleaning has, as he puts it, "remained a mystery to younger people. Shoes have become a commodity. You get them scuffed. You buy a new pair." Add in the popularity of trainers, and one might imagine the Sunday night pre-school ritual of yore to have all the nostalgia of gathering around the radiogram for Listen With Mother. But the recession has seen a rise in the smartly shod. It appears to have prompted not only a reappraisal...

In the January 2014 presentation, the Woolmark Company, the tailors of Savile Row and the shirt and shoemakers of St James’s paid tribute to Winston Churchill in the former PM’s secret underground hideaway. The title of this presentation was the idea of the late AA Gill who, along with a number of other notable British characters (and one notable Canadian), agreed to model for the event in the historic Cabinet War Rooms. The result was an extremely atmospheric and evocative evening, when the labyrinthine corridors and spaces below the streets of Whitehall came alive once more with an army of smartly-clad men, animating what is these days usually a silent museum. The inspiration for this presentation was the British wartime spirit, which required people to make do and mend. This is of course a philosophy that lies at the heart of Savile Row, where garments are made to last a lifetime, and often will be handed down from generation to generation. In this way, styles often remain timel...

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” — Epictetus

Two years after the end of world war two, and just five years until she would accede to the throne, Her Majesty is at it again, with a speech on her 21st Birthday that set the tone for her lifetime of service and duty to her country. This speech, delivered during a royal tour with her parents in South Africa, famously had the then Princess Elizabeth say: “I declare before you all, that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” Hard to say whether this speech is exceptional for its brilliant writing, it’s sentiment of duty and service to others, or the rare quality of being a powerful person delivering on a promise made in a speech. ‘All of the above’ is an option too.

There is a global pandemic, and the world crouching in the shadow cast by the coronavirus, and I needed to encapsulate this on the photo with a man who not only embodies our values but who was also putting his energy. If you put yourself in this photo and imagine, you’d be feeling rather relaxed. I dispenses advice on cocktails, dances, keeps spirits high, read books, spend time for your family and, most importantly to whom we can. 😌😌 photo credit: ralph lauren