"In himself possess his own
desire."]

* * * * *

THE BLACK PRINCE.

He was the first great English captain, who showed what English soldiers
were, and what they could do against Frenchmen, and against all the
world. He was the first English Prince who showed what it was to be a
true gentleman. He was the first, but he was not the last. We have seen
how, when he died, Englishmen thought that all their hopes had died with
him. But we know that it was not so; we know that the life of a great
nation is not bound up in the life of a single man; we know that the
valour and the courtesy and the chivalry of England are not buried in
the grave of the Plantagenet Prince. It needs only a glance round the
country, to see that the high character of an English gentleman, of
which the Black Prince was the noble pattern, is still to be found
everywhere; and has since his time been spreading itself more and more
through classes, which in his time seemed incapable of reaching it. It
needs only a glance down the names of our own Cathedral (of Canterbury);
and the tablets on the walls, with their tattered flags, will tell you
in a moment that he, as he lies up there aloft, with his head resting on
his helmet, and his spurs on his feet, is but the first of a long
line of English heroes--that the brave men who fought at Sobraon and
Feroozeshah are the true descendants of those who fought at Cressy and
Poitiers.

And not to soldiers only, but to all who are engaged in the long warfare
of life, is his conduct an example. To unite in our lives the two
qualities expressed in his motto, "High spirit" and "reverent service,"
is to be, indeed, not only a true gentleman and a true soldier, but a
true Christian also. To show to all who differ from us, not only in war
but in peace, that delicate forbearance, that fear of hurting another's
feelings, that happy art of saying the right thing to the right person,
which he showed to the captive king, would indeed add a grace and a
charm to the whole course of this troublesome world, such as none can
afford to lose, whether high or low. Happy are they, who having this
gift by birth and station, use it for its highest purposes; still more
happy are they, who having it not by birth and station, have acquired
it, as it may be acquired, by Christian gentleness and Christian
charity.

And, lastly, to act in all the various difficulties of our every-day
life, wi