Page:Handbook for Boys.djvu/264

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Chivalry
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
Politness
the far-distant past out of the desire 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 today, 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 Politeness of the boy scouts, "Be Prepared."

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—