CHIVALRY
_By John L. Alexander, Boy Scouts of America_
Ancient Knighthood
A little over fifteen hundred years ago the great order of knighthood
and chivalry was founded. The reason for this was the feeling on the
part of the best men of that day that it was the duty of the stronger
to help the weak. These were the days when might was right, and the
man with the strongest arm did as he pleased, often oppressing the
poor and riding rough shod without any regard over the feelings and
affections of others. In revolt against this, there sprang up all over
Europe a noble and useful order of men who called themselves knights.
Among these great-hearted men were Arthur, Gareth, Lancelot, Bedivere,
and Alfred the Great. The desire of these men was "To live pure, speak
true, right wrong, follow the king." Of course in these days there
also lived men who called themselves knights, but who had none of the
desire for service that inspired Arthur and the others. These false
knights, who cared for no one but themselves and their own pleasure,
often brought great sorrow to the common people. Chivalry then was a
revolt against their brutal acts and ignorance and a protest against
the continuation of the idea that might was right.
Nowhere in all the stories that have come down to us have the acts of
chivalry been so well told as in the tales of the Round Table. Here it
was that King Arthur gathered about him men like Sir Bors, Sir
Gawaine, Sir Pellias, Sir Geraint, Sir Tristram, Sir Lancelot, and Sir
Galahad. These men moved by the desire of giving themselves in
service, cleared the forests of wild animals, suppressed the robber
barons, {238} punished the outlaws, bullies, and thieves of their day,
and enforced wherever they went a proper respect for women. It was for
this great service that they trained themselves, passing through the
degrees of page, esquire, and knight with all the hard work that each
of these meant in order that they might the better do their duty to
their God and country.
[Illustration: Ancient knight.]
Struggle for Freedom
Of course this struggle of right against wrong was not confined to the
days in which chivalry was born. The founding of the order of
knighthood was merely the beginning of the age-long struggle to make
right the ruling thought of life. Long after knighthood had passed
away, the struggle continued. In the birth of the modern nations,
England, Germany, France, and others, there was the distinct feeling
on the part of the best men of these nations that might should and
must give way to right, and that tyranny must yield to the spirit of
freedom. The great struggle of the English barons under King John and
the wresting from the king of the Magna Charta, which became the basis
of English liberty, was merely another development of the idea for
which chivalry stood. The protest of the French Revolution, and the
terrible doings of the common people in these days, although wicked
and brutal in method, were symptoms of the same revolt against
oppression.
[Illustration: Pilgrim father.]
The Pilgrim Fathers
When the Pilgrim Fathers founded the American colonies, the work of
Arthur and Alfred and the other great men of ancient days was renewed
and extended and fitted to the new conditions and times. With the
English settlements of Raleigh and Captain John Smith we might almost
say that a new race of men was born and a new kind of knight was
developed. All over America an idea made itself felt that in the eyes
of the law every man should be considered just as good as every other
man, and that every man ought to have a fair and square chance {239}
at all the good things that were to be had in a land of plenty. It was
this spirit that compelled the colonists to seek their independence
and that found its way into our Declaration of Independence as
follows:
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.
The fight of the colonists was the old-time fight of the knights
against the oppression and injustice and the might that dared to call
itself right.
[Illustration: Pioneer.]
American Pioneers
No set of men, however, showed this spirit of chivalry more than our
pioneers beyond the Alleghanies. In their work and service they
paralleled very closely the knights of the Round Table, but whereas
Arthur's knights were dressed in suits of armor, the American pioneers
were dressed in buckskin. They did, however, the very same things
which ancient chivalry had done, clearing the forests of wild animals,
suppressing the outlaws and bullies and thieves of their day and
enforcing a proper respect for women. Like the old knights they often
were compelled to do their work amid scenes of great bloodshed,
although they loved to live in peace. These American knights and
pioneers were generally termed backwoods men and scouts, and were men
of distinguished appearance, of athletic build, of high moral
character and frequently of firm religious convictions. Such men as
"Apple-seed Johnny," Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, Simon Kenton
and John James Audubon, are the types of men these pioneers were. They
were noted for their staunch qualities of character. They hated
dishonesty and were truthful and brave. They were polite to women and
old people, ever ready to rescue a companion when in danger, and
equally ready to risk their lives for a stranger. They were very
hospitable, dividing their last crust with one another, or with the
stranger whom they happened to meet. They were ever ready to do an act
of kindness. {240} They were exceedingly simple in their dress and
habits. They fought the Indians, not because they wished to, but
because it was necessary to protect their wives and children from the
raids of the savages. They knew all the things that scouts ought to
know. They were acquainted with the woods and the fields; knew where
the best fish were to be caught; understood the trees, the signs and
blazes, the haunts of animals and how to track them; how to find their
way by the stars; how to make themselves comfortable in the heart of
the primeval forest; and such other things as are classed under the
general term of woodcraft. And, with all this, they inherited the
splendid ideas of chivalry that had been developed in the thousand
years preceding them, and fitted these ideas to the conditions of
their own day, standing solidly against evil and falsehood whenever
they lifted their head among them. They were not perfect, but they did
their best to be of service to those who came within their reach and
worked conscientiously for their country.
[Illustration: Modern knight.]
Modern Knighthood
A hundred years have passed since then, and the conditions of life
which existed west of the Alleghanies are no more. Just as the life of
the pioneers was different from that of the knights of the Round
Table, and as they each practised chivalry in keeping with their own
sur-roundings, so the life of to-day is different from both, but the
need of chivalry is very much the same. Might still tries to make
right, and while there are now no robber barons or outlaws with swords
and spears, their spirit is not unknown in business and commercial
life. Vice and dishonesty lift their heads just as strongly to-day as
in the past and there is just as much need of respect for women and
girls as there ever was. So to-day there is a demand for a modern type
of chivalry. It is for this reason that the Boy Scouts of America
have come into being; for there is need of service in these days, and
that is represented by the good turn done to somebody every day. Doing
the good turn daily will help to form the habit of useful service. A
boy scout, then, while living in modern times, must consider himself
the heir of ancient chivalry {241} and of the pioneers, and he must
for this reason give himself to ever renewed efforts to be true to the
traditions which have been handed down to him by these great and good
leaders of men. The boy-scout movement is a call to American boys
to-day to become in spirit members of the order of chivalry, and a
challenge to them to make their lives count in the communities in
which they live--for clean lives, clean speech, clean sport, clean
habits, and clean relationships with others. It is also a challenge
for them to stand for the right against the wrong, for truth against
falsehood, to help the weak and oppressed, and to love and seek the
best things of life.
Abraham Lincoln
[Illustration: Portrait of Abraham Lincoln. (tr)]
Perhaps there is no better example of chivalry than the life and
experience of Abraham Lincoln, the greatest of all our American men.
Every boy ought to read the story of his life and come to understand
and appreciate what it means. Lincoln was born in the backwoods of
Kentucky. He was a tall, spare man of awkward build, and knew very
little of the school room as a boy. He fought for his education. He
borrowed books wherever he could. Many long nights were spent by him
before the flickering lights of the log cabin, gleaning from his
borrowed treasures the knowledge he longed to possess. He passed
through all the experiences of life that other scouts and pioneers
have experienced. He split rails for a livelihood, and fought his way
upward by hard work, finally achieving for himself an education in the
law, becoming an advocate in the courts of Illinois. Wherever he
went, he made a profound impression on the lives and minds of the
people and won over his political opponents by his strength, sympathy,
{242} and breadth of mind. At the period when storms threatened to
engulf our Ship of State, he became President of our country. Although
Lincoln was an untried pilot, he stood by the helm like a veteran
master. A man of earnest and intense conviction, he strove to
maintain the glory of our flag and to keep the Union un-broken.
Hundreds of stories are told of his great heart and almost boundless
sympathy for others. The generals of the Civil War were deeply
attached to him, and the rank and file of the sold-iers who fought
under these generals loved and revered him. He was familiarly known as
"Honest Abe." He could always be relied upon to give help and
encouragement. His smile cheered the defenders of the Union, and his
wise counsel gave heart to the men who were helping him to shape the
destinies of the nation. At the close of the war which saw the Union
more firmly established than ever, he fell by the hand of the
assassin, mourned deeply both by his own country and by the world at
large.
The further we get from the scene of his life and work the more firmly
are we, his countrymen, convinced of his sincerity, strength, wisdom,
and bigness of heart. The two men who stand out preeminently in
history among great Americans are Washington and Lincoln, the former
as the founder of the Union and the latter as the man who gave it
unbreakable continuity and preserved it, as we hope and believe, for
all time.
[Illustration: Using every opportunity.]
Lincoln's life and career should be the study and inspiration of every
boy scout. He became familiar with all of the things for which the Boy
Scouts of America stand. He was a lover of the wild things in the
woods, and loved and lived the life of the out-of-doors. He had a high
sense of honor and was intensely chivalrous, as the many hundred
stories told about {243} him testify. He did many times more than one
good turn a day; he sincerely loved his country; he lived, fought, and
worked for it; and finally he sealed his loyalty by giving his life.
The path that he travelled from the log cabin to the White House
clearly shows that an American boy who has well defined ideas of truth
and right, and then dares to stand by them, can become great in the
councils of the nation. The life, then, of Abraham Lincoln should be a
steady inspiration to every boy who wishes to call himself a scout.
Challenge of the Present
Thus we see that chivalry is not a virtue that had its beginning long
ago and merely lived a short time, becoming a mere story. Chivalry
began in the far-distant past out of the desire to help others, and
the knights of the olden days did this as best they could. Later the
new race of men in America took up the burden of chivalry, and did the
best they could. Now the privilege and responsibility comes to the
boys of to-day, and the voices of the knight of the olden time and of
the hardy pioneers of our own country are urging the boys of to-day to
do the right thing, in a gentlemanly way, for the sake of those about
them. All of those men, whether knights or pioneers, had an unwritten
code, somewhat like our scout law, and their motto was very much like
the motto of the boy scouts, "Be Prepared."
[Illustration: Politeness.]
Good Manners
The same thing that entered into the training of these men, knights,
pioneers, and Lincoln, then, must enter into the training of the boy
scouts of to-day. Just as they respected women and served them, so the
tenderfoot and the scout must be polite and kind to women, not merely
to well-dressed women, but to poorly-dressed women; not merely to
young women, but to old women: to women wherever they may be found--
{244} wherever they may be. To these a scout must always be courteous and
helpful.
When a scout is walking with a lady or a child, he should always walk
on the outside of the sidewalk, so that he can better protect them
against the jostling crowds. This rule is only altered when crossing
the street, when the scout should get between the lady and the
traffic, so as to shield her from accident or mud. Also in meeting a
woman or child, a scout, as a matter of course, should always make way
for them even if he himself has to step off the sidewalk into the mud.
When riding in a street car or train a scout should never allow a
woman, an elderly person, or a child to stand, but will offer his
seat; and when he does it he should do it cheerfully and with a smile.
When on the street, be continually on a quest, on the lookout to help
others, and always refuse any reward for the effort. This kind of
courtesy and good manners is essential to success. It was this
unselfish desire to protect and help that made these men of olden time
such splendid fellows.
Good manners attract and please, and should be cultivated by every boy
who expects to win success and make his life interesting to others. In
the home, on the street, in the school, in the workshop or the office,
or wherever one may be, his relationship to others should be
characterized as gentle, courteous, polite, considerate and
thoughtful. These are virtues and graces that make life easier and
pleasanter for all.
Cheerfulness
As has been said, whatever a scout does should be done with
cheerfulness, and the duty of always being cheerful cannot be
emphasized too much.
Why don't you laugh, and make us all laugh too,
And keep us mortals all from getting blue?
A laugh will always win.
If you can't laugh--just grin.
Go on! Let's all join in!
Why don't you laugh?
Benjamin Franklin said: "Money never yet made a man happy, and there
is nothing in its nature to produce happiness, One's personal
enjoyment is a very small thing, but one's personal usefulness is a
very important thing." Those only are happy who have their minds fixed
upon some object other and higher than their own happiness. Doctor
Raffles once said, {245} "I have made it a rule never to be with a
person ten minutes without trying to make him happier." A boy once
said to his mother, "I couldn't make little sister happy, nohow I
could fix it, but I made myself happy trying to make her happy."
There was once a king who had a tall, handsome son whom he loved with
his whole heart, so he gave him everything that his heart desired--a
pony to ride, beautiful rooms to live in, picture books, stories, and
everything that money could buy. And yet, in spite of this, the young
prince was unhappy and wore a wry face and a frown wherever he went,
and was always wishing for something he did not have. By and by, a
magician came to the court, and seeing a frown on the prince's face,
said to the king, "I can make your boy happy and turn his frown into a
smile, but you must pay me a very large price for the secret." "All
right," said the king, "whatever you ask, I will do." So the magician
took the boy into a private room, and with white liquid wrote
something on a piece of paper; then he gave the boy a candle and told
him to warm the paper and read what was written. The prince did as he
was told. The white letters turned into letters of blue, and he read
these words; "Do a kindness to some one every day." So the prince
followed the magician's advice and became the happiest boy in all the
king's realm.
To be a good scout one must remain cheerful under every circumstance,
bearing both fortune and misfortune with a smile.
[Illustration: Cheer up.]
Character
If a scout is cheerful, follows the advice of the magician to the
king's son, and does a good turn to some one every day, he will come
into possession of a strong character such as the knights of the Round
Table had; for, after all, character is the thing that distinguishes a
good scout from a bad one. Character is not what men say about you. A
great writer {246} once said, "I can't hear what you say for what you
are," and another one said, "Your life speaks louder than your words."
It was not the words of the knights of old that told what they were.
It was their strong life and fine character that gave power to their
words and the thrust to their spears.
It is necessary that a boy should live right and possess such a
character as will help him to do the hardest things of life. Every boy
should remember that he is in reality just what he is when alone in
the dark. The great quests of the knights were most often done singly
and alone.
Will
Another thing that entered into the make-up of a knight was an iron
will. He had staying powers because he willed to stick; and the way he
trained his will to do the hard things was to keep himself doing the
small things. Not long ago, there was a lad whom the boys nicknamed
"Blockey" and "Wooden Man." When they played ball in the school play
ground, Blockey never caught the ball. When they worked together in
the gymnasium, Blockey was always left out of the game because he
couldn't do things, and was slow and unwieldy in his motions. But one
day, a great change came over Blockey and he began to train his will.
He worked hard in the gymnasium: he learned to catch the ball, and, by
sticking to it, was not only able to catch the ball but became
proficient. Then there came a time when the first one chosen upon the
team was Blockey; and it all came about because he had trained his
will so that when he made up his mind to do a thing, he did it.
Thrift
Another thing which entered into the training of a knight was his
readiness to seize his opportunities. The motto of the scout is "Be
Prepared." He should be prepared for whatever opportunity presents
itself. An interesting story is told by Orison Swett Marden. He says
that a lad, who later became one of the millionaires of one of our
great Western cities, began his earning career by taking advantage of
an opportunity that came to him as he was passing an auction shop. He
saw several boxes of a kind of soap which his mother was accustomed to
buy from the family grocer. Hastening to the grocery store he asked
the price of the soap. "Twelve cents a pound" was the reply. On being
pressed for a lower figure the shopkeeper remarked in a bantering tone
that he would buy all that the boy could bring to his store at {247}
nine cents a pound. The boy hurried back to the auction and bought the
soap at six cents a pound. It was in this way that he made his first
money in trade and laid the foundation of his fortune.
The knight never waited for opportunity to come to him. He went out
looking for it, and wore his armor in order that he might be ready for
it when it came. There is a story of a Greek god who had only one lock
of hair upon his forehead. The remainder of his head was shining bald.
In order to get this ancient god's attention, it was necessary to grip
him by his forelock, for when he had passed, nothing could check his
speed. So it is with opportunity, and the hour of opportunity. A good
scout is ready for both and always grips "time by the forelock."
Individuality
If the foregoing qualities enter into a scout's training, an
individuality will be developed in him, which will make itself known
and felt.
Every scout should read over the following list of scout virtues, and
should strive at all times to keep them before him in his training,
thus making them a part of his life:
Unselfishness: The art of thinking of others first and one's self
afterward.
Self Sacrifice: The giving up of one's comfort, desires, and pleasures
for the benefit of some one else.
Kindness: The habit of thinking well of others and doing good
to them.
Friendliness: The disposition to make everyone you meet feel at
ease, and to be of service to him if possible.
Honesty: The desire to give to every one a square deal and the
same fair chance that you yourself wish to enjoy. It
means also respect for the property and rights of
others, the ability to face the truth, and to call
your own faults by their right name.
Fair Play: Scorning to take unfair advantage of a rival and
readiness even to give up an advantage to him.
Loyalty: The quality of remaining true and faithful not only
to your principles but also to your parents and
friends.
Obedience: Compliance with the wishes of parents or those in
places of authority.
Discipline: That self-restraint and self-control that keep a boy
steady, and help him in team work.
Endurance: A manly moderation which keeps a boy fit and strong
and in good condition.
{248}
Self Improvement: The ambition to get on in life by all fair means.
Humility: That fine quality which keeps a scout from
boasting, and which generally reveals a boy of
courage and achievement.
Honor: That great thing which is more sacred than anything
else to scouts and gentlemen; the disdain of telling
or implying an untruth; absolute trustworthiness and
faithfulness.
Duty to God: That greatest of all things, which keeps a boy
faithful to his principles and true to his friends
and comrades; that gives him a belief in things that
are high and noble, and which makes him prove his
belief by doing his good turn to some one every day.
This list of virtues a scout must have, and if there are any that
standout more prominently than the others, they are the following:
[Illustration: Scout protecting child from mad dog.]
Courage
It is horrible to be a coward. It is weak to yield to fear and heroic
to face danger without flinching. The old Indian who had been mortally
wounded faced death with a grim smile on his lips and sang his own
death song. The soldier of the {249} Roman legions laughed in the face
of death, and died often with a "Hail, Imperator!" for the Roman
Caesar upon his lips.
One of the stories connected with the battle of Agincourt tells us
that four fair ladies had sent their knightly lovers into battle. One
of these was killed. Another was made prisoner. The third was lost in
the battle and never heard of afterward. The fourth was safe, but owed
his safety to shameful flight. "Ah! woe is me," said the lady of this
base knight, "for having placed my affections on a coward. He would
have been dear to me dead. But alive he is my reproach."
A scout must be as courageous as any knight of old or any Roman
soldier or any dying Indian.
Loyalty
Loyalty is another scout virtue which must stand out prominently,
because it is that which makes him true to his home, his parents, and
his country. Charles VIII, at the Battle of Foronovo, picked out nine
of his bravest officers and gave to each of them a complete suit of
armor, which was a counterpart of his own. By this device he outwitted
a group of his enemies who had leagued themselves to kill him during
the fight. They sought him through all the ranks, and every time they
met one of these officers they thought they had come face to face with
the king. The fact that these officers hailed such a dangerous honor
with delight and devotion is a striking illustration of their loyalty.
The scout should be no less loyal to his parents, home, and country.
Duty to God
No scout can ever hope to amount to much until he has learned a
reverence for religion. The scout should believe in God and God's
word. In the olden days, knighthood, when it was bestowed, was a
religious ceremony, and a knight not only considered himself a servant
of the king, but also a servant of God. The entire night preceding the
day upon which the young esquire was made knight was spent by him on
his knees in prayer, in a fast and vigil.
There are many kinds of religion in the world. One important point,
however, about them is that they all involve the worship of the same
God. There is but one leader, although many ways of following Him. If
a scout meets one of another religion, he should remember that he,
too, is striving for the best. {250} A scout should respect the
convictions of others in matters of custom and religion.
[Illustration: Scout helping old lady across street.]
A Boy Scout's Religion
The Boy Scouts of America maintain that no boy can grow into the best
kind of citizenship without recognizing his obligation to God. The
first part of the boy scout's oath or pledge is therefore: "I promise
on my honor to do my best to honor my God and my country." The
recognition of God as the ruling and leading power in the universe,
and the grateful acknowledgement of His favors and blessings is
necessary to the best type of citizenship and is a wholesome thing in
the education of the growing boy. No matter what the boy may
be--Catholic, or Protestant, or Jew--this fundamental need of good
citizenship should be kept before him. The Boy Scouts of America
therefore recognize the religious element in the training of a boy,
but it is absolutely non-sectarian in its attitude toward that
religious training. Its policy is that the organization or institution
with which the boy scout is connected shall give definite attention to
his religious life. If he be a Catholic boy scout, the Catholic Church
of which he is a member is the best channel for his training. If he be
a Hebrew boy, then the Synagogue will train him in the faith of his
fathers. If he be a Protestant, no matter to what denomination of
Protestantism he may belong, the church of which he is an adherent or
a member should be the proper organization to give him an education in
the things that pertain to his allegiance to God. The Boy Scouts of
America, then, while recognizing the fact that the boy should be
taught the things that pertain to religion, insists upon the boy's
religious life being stimulated and fostered by the institution with
which he is connected. Of course, it is a fundamental principle of the
Boy Scouts of America to insist on {251} clean, capable leadership in
its scout masters, and the influence of the leader on the boy scout
should be of a distinctly helpful character.
Work, Not Luck
Life, after all, is just this: Some go through life trusting to luck.
They are not worthy to be scouts. Others go through life trusting to
hard work and clear thinking. These are they who have cleared the
wilderness and planted wheat where forests once grew, who have driven
back the savage, and have fostered civilization in the uncultivated
places of the earth. The good scout is always at work--working to
improve himself and to improve the daily lot of others.
The thing that is to be noticed in all of these men, those of the
Round Table, and those of American pioneer days, is the fact that they
were ever ready to do a good turn to some one. The knights of the
Round Table did theirs by clash of arms, by the jousts and the
tourney, and by the fierce hand-to-hand fights that were their delight
in open battle. The old scouts, our own pioneers, very often had to
use the rifle and the hatchet and the implements of war. However,
those days have passed, and we are living in a non-military and
peace-loving age; and the glory of it is that, whereas these men took
their lives in their hands and by dint of rifle and sword did their
part in helping others, our modern civilization gives the Boy Scouts
of America an opportunity to go out and do their good turn daily for
others in the thousand ways that will benefit our American life the
most. Sometimes they will have to risk their lives, but it will be in
case of fire or accident or catastrophe. At other times they will be
given the privilege of showing simple deeds of chivalry by their
courteous treatment of their elders, cripples, and children, by giving
up their seats in street cars, or by carrying the bundles of those who
are not as physically strong as themselves. And in it all will come
the satisfying feeling that they are doing just as much and perhaps a
great deal more than the iron-clad men or the buckskin clothed scouts
in making their country a little safer and a little better place to
live in. Chivalry and courtesy and being a gentleman mean just as much
now as they ever did, and there is a greater demand in these days to
live pure, to speak true, and to help others by a good turn daily than
ever before in the world's history.
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Notes
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Notes
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