UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA HUBERT HERVEY CHAPTER I ETON AND CAMBRIDGE (1859-1881) THERE is a tendency, in the present day, which exhibits itself in literature, in conversation, and even in thought, to assume that those finer feelings which were once regarded as the heritage of our race are becoming extinct, or, at most, are kept alive by sordid motives. Chivalry is dubbed Quixotism; honour is sneered at as sentimentality; and patriotism is too often attributed to a mere desire for personal aggrandizement. Nevertheless, at home and abroad, we daily receive proofs that there still exist, in every part of our vast empire, men who are inspired by those sentiments and ambitions which have contributed to make England what she is, and without which no nation can become or can remain great. B |