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.
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."
Politeness