King Arthur’s Ideal Of A Gentleman
(Here is Tennyson’s picture of a society of gentlemen.)
I was first of all the kings who drew
The knighthood-errant of this realm and all
The realms together under me, their Head,
In that fair Order of my Table Round,
A glorious company, the flower of men,
To serve as model for the mighty world,
And be the fair beginning of a time.
I made them lay their hands in mine and swear
To reverence the King, as if he were
Their conscience, and their conscience as their King,
To break the heathen and uphold the Christ,
To ride abroad redressing human wrongs,
To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it,
To honor his own word as if his God’s,
To lead sweet lives in purest chastity,
To love one maiden only, cleave to her,
And worship her by years of noble deeds,
Until they won her; for indeed I knew
Of no more subtle master under heaven
Than is the maiden passion for a maid,
Not only to keep down the base in man,
But teach high thought, and amiable words
And courtliness, and the desire of fame,
And love of truth, and all that makes a man.
—Alfred Tennyson.
Naturalizing The Heart
I can so accustom my lungs to pure air that foul air immediately creates a sense of suffocation. On the other hand, by much familiarity—I can so habituate myself to foul air that it no longer assails me as repulsive, but becomes my natural element. We can be acclimatized to the pure or the impure. The Mind can become naturalized to the unclean. On the other hand, the Mind may have such close companionship with the lofty that the sordid appears as a sharp and painful offense. The Mind can become naturalized to the holy. Its citizenship is in heaven. It may wear the white robes.
—J. H. Jowett.
Alternate Reading: I Samuel 10:1-4 and 19:1-7.