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.
Prepared and alert a Scout follows the lead
of our Patron Saint Geor ge and his spirited steed.
St. George was typical of what a Scout should be:
When he was faced by a difficulty or danger, however great it appeared — even 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. On that day all good Scouts make a special point of
thinking about the Promise and the Scout Law. Remember this on the next 23rd April and send greetings to Brother Scouts around the world.
The Knights’ Code
The laws of the knights were these:
“Be Always Ready, with your armour on, except when you are taking your rest at night.
At whatever you are working try to win honour and a name for honesty.
Defend the poor and weak.
Help them that cannot defend themselves.
Do nothing to hurt or offend anyone else.
Be prepared to fight in the defence of their country.
Work for honour rather than profit.
Never break your promise.
Maintain the honour of your country with your life.
Rather die honest than live shamelessly.
Chivalry requireth that youth should be trained to perform the most laborious and humble offices with cheerfulness and grace; and to do good unto others.”
These are the first rules with which the old knights started, and from which the Scout Law of today comes.
A knight (or Scout) is at all times a gentleman. So many people seem to think that a gentleman must have lots of money. Money does not make a gentleman. A gentleman is anyone who carries out the rules of chivalry of the knights.
Unselfishness
Captain John Smith, the old English adventurer of three hundred years ago, was a pretty tough customer to deal with, as he had fought in every part of the world and had been wounded over and over again; but he also had a good, kind heart within him.
He was as good a type of scout as you could find anywhere. One of his favourite expressions was, “We were born, not for ourselves, but to do good to others”, and he carried this out very much in his life, for he was the most unselfish of men.
Self-Sacrifice
One of the finest examples of self-sacrifice was the action of Captain Lawrence Oates, who was on Scott’s Last Expedition to the South Pole.
The little party of men had reached the Pole on January 18th, 1912, to find to their bitter disappointment that the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen, had been there ahead of them, only a few weeks before.
Captain Lawrence Oates proved hi mself a man of great courage on Scott’s Last
Expedition to the South Pole. He sacrificed himself so that his comrades mi ght live.
On the return journey the party suffered great hardships from intense cold and terrible weather. The men became weaker and weaker. One of them, Petty Officer Evans, died.
Then Oates became badly frost-bitten in hands and feet. He bore intense sufferings without complaint, but realized more and more that he was becoming a burden to the others. He knew that even if he could struggle on he would only delay his comrades. If he dropped out it would be one less mouth to feed, and the others might just have a chance of reaching the next depot.
So one morning he crept from their little tent into the blinding blizzard outside—and dropped out. He was never seen again. He gave his life that his comrades might live.
Unfortunately Oates’ heroic self-sacrifice did not after all save his comrades. Starved and frozen they all died together. There they were found some months later by a search party, all lying as if asleep in their tent.
Boys, too, can show just the same spirit.
A lad of eighteen named Currie saw a little girl playing on a railway line at Clydebank in front of an approaching train. He tried to rescue her, but he was lame from an injury he had suffered at football, and it delayed him in getting her clear. The train knocked both of them over, and both were killed.
But Currie’s gallant attempt is a true example of chivalry. It was sacrifice of himself in the attempt to save a child.
Thousands of cases of gallantry in saving life by Scouts have occurred.
Kindness
“Kindness and gentleness are great virtues”, says an old Spanish proverb. And another says, “Oblige without regarding whom you oblige”, which means be kind to anyone, great or small, rich or poor.
A Scout does everything he can to help others, especially old people and children. He does
at least one Good Turn a day.
The great point about a knight was that he was always doing kindnesses or good turns to people. His idea was that everyone must die, but you should make up your mind that before your time comes you will do something good. Therefore do it at once, for you never know when you may be going off.
So, with the Scouts, it has been made one of our promises that we help other people at all times. It does not matter how small that good turn may be, if it only be to help an old woman lift her bundle, or to guide a child across a crowded street, or to put a coin in the poor-box.
Something good ought to be done each day of your life. Start today to carry out this rule, and never forget it during the remaining days of your life. Remember the knot in your neckerchief and on your Scout Badge—they are reminders to you to do a Good Turn. And do your good turn not only to your friends, but to strangers as well.
Generosity
Some people are fond of hoarding their money and never spending it. It is well to be thrifty, but it is also well to give away money where it is needed—in fact, that is part of the object of saving up your money.
In being charitable, be careful that you do not fall into the mistake of false charity. That is to say, it is very easy and comforting to you to give a penny to a beggar in the street, but you ought not to do it. That beggar in ninety-nine times out of a hundred is an arrant old fraud, and by giving your penny you are encouraging him and others to go on with that trade. There may be, probably are, hundreds of really poor and miserable people hiding away, whom you never see and to whom that penny would be a godsend. The charity organizations know where they are, and who they are, and if you give your penny to them they will put it into the right hands for you.