The opening epigraph echoes Masonic ideas on equality. How does the author define "gentleman" as defined in Victorian times?

The Freemason, as identified in the epigraph, are from different social classes, and yet, they are referred to as gentlemen based upon their service. In Victorian England, however, a gentleman was defined as someone from a specific social class, who had also acquired the manners that accompany the title, "gentleman". In context, the epigraph also makes special note of the fact that Englishman were consider superior to the Eurasians simply because they were English.