The idealized picture of `` Nature 's Gentleman '' was an aspect of eighteenth-century sentimentalism , along with other stock figures such as , the Virtuous Milkmaid , the Servant-More-Clever-than-the-Master ( such as Sancho Panza and Figaro , among countless others ) , and the general theme of virtue in the lowly born . This character , an idealized portrayal of `` Nature 's Gentleman '' , was an aspect of 18th-century sentimentalism , along with other stock characters such as , the Virtuous Milkmaid , the Servant-More-Clever-than-the-Master ( such as Sancho Panza and Figaro , among countless others ) , and the general theme of virtue in the lowly born .