Book Description

Excerpt from Peacham's Compleat Gentleman, 1634: With an Introduction by G. S. Gordon Other and less invidious causes had contributed to the change. In the history of the English gentleman the growth of the idea of Public Duty is almost as noticeable as his transformation into the Courtier. It had made some progress under Richard II, only to be miserably shattered in the wars of the succession; under the Tudors it steadily made way, and when the troubles of religion began it threatened the destruction of everything that had made the gentleman an amiable companion and a courteous enemy. It was something of this feeling, joined to a narrow sort of nationalism, which inspired that sturdy band of 'anglo-saxons of whom Cheke and Ascham were the leaders. They had welcomed the revival of classical learning and could not help admiring the high ideal of the Courtier, drawn so splendidly by Castiglione but they feared the subtle genius of Italy, and her seducing influence on the morals of their country and the purity of the English tongue. As it turned out, their fear for English morals was ungrounded and Italy only made way for France, a much less worthy guest. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.