ABSTRACT
Though the study of Kenelm Digby's The Broad Stone of Honour could daunt the tenacity of the most assiduous reader, it does offer an unequalled and comprehensive survey of the chivalric code which must impact on the modes of conduct of those who would claim the privileges of rank. Phineas keeps his composure as he walks from the dock, but when he is finally alone with his closest friends, he bursts into tears. Tears in themselves, in a man, in Trollope's novels, are commonplace. Men are regularly moved to tears at times of heightened emotion. Trollope similarly manages to acknowledge popular belief, while simultaneously laughing at it, in his description of Dr Thorne. Until the advent of antibiotics, there was no reliable cure for gonorrhoea and syphilis, the most aggressive of the venereal diseases. Their occurrence was widespread, particularly in the armed forces, where reviews regularly revealed a quarter of the manpower to be infected.
