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SAINT
GEORGE AND SCOUTING FOR BOYS
In Scouting
for Boys, Baden-Powell wrote of chivalry and the knights of old.
He tried to show Scouts a new path to chivalry and honor. Saint
George was the Patron Saint of England, and of the Knights of
the Garter, the oldest order of chivalry in Europe. They were
familiar subjects to most English boys when B-P was writing.
Here is what he wrote:
ST.
GEORGE
They (the
knights of the Round Table) had as their patron saint St.
George, because he was the only one of all the saints who was a
horseman. He is the Patron Saint of cavalry from which the word
Chivalry is derived, and the special saint of England.
He is also
the Patron Saint of Boy Scouts everywhere. Therefore, all Scouts
should know his story.
St. George
was born in Cappadocia in the year AD 303. He enlisted as a
cavalry soldier when he was seventeen, and soon became renowned
for his bravery.
On one
occasion he came to a city named Selem, near which lived a
dragon who had to be fed daily with one of the citizens, drawn
by lot.
The day St.
George came there, the lot had fallen upon the king's daughter,
Cleolinda. St. George resolved that she should not die, and so
he went out and attacked the dragon, who lived in a swamp close
by, and killed him.
When he was
faced by a difficulty or danger, however great it appeared 4even
in the shape of a dragon” he did not avoid it or fear it, but
went at it with all the power he could put into himself and his
horse. Although inadequately armed for such an encounter, having
merely a spear, he charged in, did his best, and finally
succeeded in overcoming a difficulty which nobody had dared to
tackle.
That is
exactly the way in which a Scout should face a difficulty or
danger, no matter how great or terrifying it may appear to him
or how ill-equipped he may be for the struggle.
He should go
at it boldly and confidently, using every power that he can to
try to overcome it, and the probability is that he will succeed.
St. George's Day is April 23rd,
and on that day all Scouts remind themselves of their Promise
and of the Scout Law. Not that a Scout every forgets either, but
on St. George's Day he makes a special point of thinking about
them. Remember this when April 23rd comes round again.
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