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THE ten years following the Armistice of 1918 were of crucial importance to the Boy Scout and Girl Guide Movements. Both had come out of the war period with increased strength and confidence; they had become established and a recognized part of the national life. There is always danger in becoming accepted; criticism, even ridicule, either kills or promotes more vigorous life; but absence of either may lead to self-satisfaction and stagnation.
Fortunately, B.-P. was at the height of his great powers, and he was not a man to rest satisfied with what had been achieved; he was constantly planning for further development. Three main lines of advance occupied his thoughts. First was the need for putting the training of Scout Officers on a permanent footing; second, the solution of the older Scout problem had still to be found; and third, the expansion of the Movement through the Empire and the World was calling for encouragement and consolidation. Here were enough problems to engage the mind of any one man, but his interests were by no means confined to Scouting.
Very early in the history of the Movement he had seen the necessity of providing training for Scout Officers. Several experiments were carried out before 1914; courses of lectures and demonstrations of activities had been given, and he had taken a dose interest in the results. He encouraged Commissioners and others to try out their own ideas in training. One training camp which he visited in 1913 drew from him the following comments:
I think we want to arrive, first, at what are the essential points for a Scoutmaster to know, and to set out to teach these --- all others must be subsidiary. Now, I take it the essentials are what we find laid down in Scouting for Boys. Therefore my idea would be to take that book as the programme of work, dividing it off into the number of days available. and then going through it as practically as circumstances will allow. The book is arranged on that idea. The second point about the training camp would be I think to give Scoutmasters practical instruction as to how a camp should be run. For this purpose 1 should be inclined to pitch the camp as it should be done for a Scout camp --- each Patrol tent on its own ground in a wide circle round the central (Scoutmaster's) tent. The Scoutmasters should of course be in Patrols for the course, under their own Patrol Leaders and so learn Patrol discipline.
As far as possible they should run the camp --- taking it in roster and be camp commandant for the day, quartermaster, and so on, so as to learn practically the work and requirements of these offices.
The whole principle of the Scout Movement should be impressed in the training, viz. --- Backwoodsmanship, with life-saving as an important adjunct.
Later that year he amplified these suggestions and drew up a detailed syllabus. His suggestions included the following:
The Scoutmasters would be divided into Patrols of five; each Patrol having its own tent; each Scoutmaster taking it in turn to be Patrol Leader for 24 hours. Each Patrol in turn would supply for 24 hours a Scoutmaster to manage each of the following departments in Camp: Routine duties and discipline.
Equipment, stores and issue.
Purchase and issue of food supplies. Cook and serve meals.
Sanitation, medical and ambulance arrangements.
During the war the need was emphasized by the support Scout methods, had received from many leaders in the educational world; the Fisher Act --- the President of the Board of Education from whom the Act took its popular name was a strong supporter of the Movement---opened up further possibilities, which were unhappily frustrated. B.-P. saw at once that trained Scoutmasters would be of great value in this forward programme, especially in connexion with the proposed continuation schools. He felt the necessity for making quite sure that the men training the boys should understand fully the principles of Scouting. A further consideration he stated in a memorandum drawn up in 1917.
The difficulty of persuading men to join who are diffident of their powers and knowledge would be removed if we could give them the opportunity of learning something of the work by means of classes of instruction. We do not want to be swamped by a crowd of men entirely ignorant of what is expected of them.
He hoped that it might be possible to organize classes in the prisoners' camps in Germany.
Little, however, could be done during the war, but the need was never long absent from his thoughts. Any scheme would necessitate some permanent training headquarters and for this there were no immediate funds available. Towards the end of 1918 Mr. W. de Bois Maclaren, District Commissioner for Rosneath, offered to purchase a camping ground near enough to London to be accessible for East London Scouts. This at once pointed to Epping Forest as the most suitable area, but Maclaren thought it 'too near chimney pots' until the District Scout Commissioner took him up to High Beech. After several estates had been found unsuitable, Gilwell Park near Chingford proved to be exactly what was wanted. It was away from any main road; the Forest bounded it on one side and was close to it on another; it stood high with a fine view over the King George Reservoir. The news was sent to B.-P. and he replied:
This is good news indeed re the place for the Officers' Training School. It sounds ideal --- except that I presume it will want some doing up ---drains looking to, etc., to make it fit for habitation. I should like to see it but since you all agree on it, I feel sure it is what we want.... I want if possible to get a few possible instructors down to camp with me at home at Easter as a preliminary step. But I am awfully checked by A.B. not being able to accept the directorship of the school. I can't think of another man, can you ? His personality is all important to the Movement just now.
His quickness to seize on essentials is well illustrated by the above note. A fine site --- yes, but what about the drains? And most important of all --- the personality of the man who will run the place.
Gilwell had been unoccupied for some years. At first it was thought best to pull down the almost derelict Hall, but its historical associations --- going back to the Tudors --- appealed to B.-P. and he called in Clough Williams-Ellis, the architect and a friend of his, to advise on how best to retain the building.
A pioneer camp was held at Easter 1919 by some Rover Scouts of East London, and shortly afterwards parties of local Scouts set to work to clear the gardens and grounds. The formal opening was on the 25th July, and on the 8th September the first Training Camp for Scoutmasters was held under the Camp Chief, Francis Gidney. In him B.-P. had found a man of exceptional personality who carried out the scheme of training as laid down by B.-P. with a touch of genius which ensured its success from the beginning.
That scheme was evolved from earlier suggestions which have been already noted, and based upon the series of articles which B.-P. had contributed to the Headquarters Gazette during the early war years. These were published in book form in 1919 under the title Aids to Scoutmastership. The framework of training at Gilwell was set down by B.-P. in the following notes.:
GILWELL PARK DIPLOMA COURSE FOR THE WOOD BADGE Open to all warranted Officers of the Boy Scouts Association
1. THEORETICAL: Aims and Methods of the Scout Training as defined in Aids to Scoutmastership, Scouting for Boys, and Rules in such subjects as Organization according to ages. Four lines of training: Nature lore for soul health and sex knowledge, National need and possibilities of the training.
A course of four studies either by correspondence in the Headquarters Gazette, or by week-end attendances at Gilwell Park as desired by candidate. This will form a Winter course.
II. PRACTICAL: In four groups of subjects:
1. Troop ceremonies and Campcraft.
2. Field work and Pioneering.
3 --- Woodcraft and Scout games.
4. Signcraft and PathfindingThe training will be at Gilwell Park in four week-end courses or 8 days in camp as most convenient to candidate.
III. ADMINISTRATION: The practical administration of his Troop or District as shown by results of 18 months' work.
AWARDS:
One Bead on button hole --- for passing Nos. I and II satisfactorily.
One Bead on Hat String and Diploma --for passing all three satisfactorily.
Two Beads on Hat String and Diploma --- for passing with special qualifications for becoming a Camp Chief.
Approved District Schools or study circles under Camp Chiefs will be eventually carried out on similar principles but the double beads will only be awarded at Gilwell Park.
The 'beads' were copied from those on a necklace which B.-P. had captured from Dinuzulu in 1887. Another link with the past was the koodoo horn of Matabeleland and Brownsea Island which was given to Gilwell by B.-P. to rouse the camp.
The method of organizing the Training Camp was that proposed by B.-P. in 1913; the Scoutmasters were divided into Patrols, and each member took his turn as Patrol Leader; the Patrol was throughout the unit for camping, for practical work and for games.
Having laid down the general principles and methods, B.-P. left it to the man in charge to work out the details. He watched progress, and made suggestions from time to time, but he did not interfere with 'the man at the wheel'. Such was his usual method; if, after fair trial, things began to go seriously wrong, he would step in with a firm decision. Whenever possible in the early days of Gilwell, he visited each Course, or the Scoutmasters saw him at Headquarters. But he had his eye on the Commissioners as well as on the Scoutmasters, and in June 1920 he held a camp for them at Gilwell.
I was on the Staff that summer; it was my first close contact with him; previously he had been a figure at a Rally to me, and, like most Scoutmasters, I felt a natural awe of him. It came as a surprise to me to find how easily one could talk with him and how quickly one forgot his prestige and position. Others were also surprised that week-end. I recall how Commissioner after Commissioner arrived by car, or by the station horse-cab, with piles of impedimenta, and how B.-P. gently chaffed them about coming to camp burdened like Tommy the Tenderfoot. There were more knee breeches and stiff collars than shorts and scarves. His own gear was small. He pitched his Ashanti hammock tent on the Training Ground and strolled about in shirt and shorts ready for a chat or a laugh with anyone. Some --- if they were awake --- must have been amazed very early the next morning to see B.-P. doing his exercises outside his tent; here was a leader who actually practised what he preached! Though he rarely interfered with the details of training, he watched the main principles and methods employed and from time to time made suggestions. Thus in 1922 a pamphlet was published with the title The Training of Scout Officers; on this he wrote the following note:
I don't like the term 'Scout Officers' at the head of this pamphlet because the word 'officer' gives an entirely wrong notion of the standing and duties of the man in charge of Scouts.
His standing is that of elder brother; his duties are mainly those of a patent combined steering wheel and accelerator to give the direction and the incentive to the boys' activities. To continue the simile, this means he is also the carburettor since he gives out the right spirit; and to do this he must be full of the right spirit and understanding himself.
Before long the alternative term Scouter' was adopted to cover all adults actively engaged in training the boys.
At that period a wave of Red-Indianism was sweeping over the Movement; otherwise sedate middle-aged men danced strange dances round imitation camp-fires, said 'How' to each other, and signed themselves 'Little-Owl-the-long-eared'. . B.-P. was asked to denounce the new cult. But he saw no need to worry provided a sense of proportion was kept. He expressed his views in the Headquarters Gazette in the following terms:
I have been asked by two different Scoutmasters whether I approve of the 'Red Indian or Woodcraft Movement' in the Scouts.
Well, this is, to begin with, a mix-up of terms. There need be, and is, no special 'movement' to the end that I know of, though there used to be one in America which was eventually merged in the Boy Scouts.
Woodcraft is, as I have often pointed out, the key activity in Scouting. For this frequent camping, boating, and hiking are essential, coupled with their accessories of pioneering, Nature lore, and backwoodsmanship generally.
Where these are not so easily accessible Red Indian activities can in many cases be a valuable help.
But it does not need a separate movement in our Brotherhood, and such a step would, for more than one reason, be a bad one.
Personally, I like Red Indian Craft. I was brought up on Catlin and Red Indian stories. It is true that when I came to know the Red Skin personally he was no longer all that history and romance had painted him; so-called civilization had played havoc with him morally and physically.
At the same time, the picturesque achievements, ritual, and dress of these braves have a strong appeal for boys --aye, and even for men in some cases.
One is told that it is ridiculous for a town-dweller to assume some woodcraft name, and to add a sign drawing of it after your signature in imitation of the Indian way. Well, that is true, but I can assure you that when I was given the title of 'The Lone Pine on the Sky-line' by the Red Indian Boy Scouts of America in Olympia the other day, I felt just as thrilled and pleased as when the real Maoris presented me with one of their most treasured war tokens for service in South Africa, or when the Matabele warriors hailed me with the tide of 'Impeesa' for work done in the field.
So, although it may be merely make-believe, yet, as a variation to the ordinary Scout training, Red Indianism can take hold, and can well be applied, for a period, in a Scout Troop.
But the Scoutmaster should remember that its appeal must not always be relied upon to be a lasting one, and boys are apt to tire of it, or to be ridiculed out of it. Moreover, the Indian training ceases to appeal so strongly when the boy begins to become the young man, and therefore more sensitive to the ridiculous.
Whether its practice is a success or not in the Troop depends very much on the sympathy of the Scoutmaster himself. If he can enjoy Indian Lore and enter into the make-believe, and knows the backwoods and their craft, he will make a big thing of it; but boys are critical beggars, and quickly see through the man who does not believe or who has not 'been there'.
His advocacy of outdoor living was not confined to the men in the Scout movement; in 1919 he became President of die Camping Club of Great Britain and Ireland. Such positions were never regarded by him as carrying no obligations; he took a keen interest in all the club activities, contributed articles and sketches to its journal; visited camps when he could, and attended the Annual Dinners whenever he was in England.
The problem of the older Scout had not been solved by the end of the war. As we have seen, B.-P- hoped that the Scouts' Friendly Society might prove the nucleus of some kind of fellowship. He also drew up an elaborate scheme for 'Senior Scouts' which was published in June 1917. The general purpose of this was to provide special attractions for the boy of 18 and over with a view to helping him to make a career, and it was hoped that its elaborate system of badge-work could be fitted in with the work of the Local Education Authorities. The scheme fell flat; the good Scoutmaster can hold his boys until the age of 18 as Scouts; he therefore did not favour a new badge-system. Nor did the boys show any enthusiasm. Public opinion, which killed the compulsory day-continuation school through indifference or suspicion, gave the new venture no backing. So it was all quietly dropped, for B.-P. did not believe in thrusting ideas on Scoutmasters in defiance of their wishes and experience.
But still, something was clearly needed for the older Scout and ex-Scout: gradually the Rover Scout scheme was evolved. Badges were not desired by older boys --- so a badge system was not developed. What they needed more than anything else was an objective, an ideal, with some guiding principles as directions; the working out of details could be left to them according to circumstances and needs. The ideal was provided in the word 'Service', and the general principles in the ideas underlying the orders of chivalry.
His own view of the need and methods were expressed in the following memorandum:
My own feeling is that the Rover stage is the third progressive step in the education of the Boy Scout, and its importance is that it completes his education and also holds him under good influences and in good companionship at the critical period of his life.
But you can't hold a lad without giving him some definite objectives and activities. So we offer Service. For this his previous Scout life, both as Cub and Scout, has been a progressive preparation.
Under 'Service' I should include three progressive steps:
1. Service to Self, viz.
(a) To get himself established in a career so that he is not a burden to his relations.
(b) To develop his health by outdoor activities, hiking, etc.
(c) To work energetically at his employment as his contribution to the national welfare.
2. Service to the Scout Movement. In this direction (until they become too numerous) Rovers can give a lot of help in various degrees according to their respective capabilities; but should be the main source of our supply of Scouters.
3. Service to the Community. This gives point to the Rover's study of 'Civics' and is the final step in making him a good citizen.
The rendering of 'Service' of any kind is, of course, the Scout's method of expressing his promise of Duty to God.
I am against making the Rover branch in any way a form of religious movement, otherwise it will be shunned by the wilder spirits, and those are the lads we want to hold straight.
If men from outside, i.e. non-Scouts, want to come in as Rover Scouts attracted by the good companionship and worth while aims and Service ---so much the better.
To an early conference of Rover Leaders he sent the following six points for their guidance:
(1) That Rovers are Scouts and the Scout spirit and the out-of-door atmosphere are essential.
(2) That Service is not extraneous to the Rovers' daily life and work. Carrying on their professions well is part of their service for the community.
(3) That Rovering is partly preparation for life and also a pursuit for life.
(4) That stickability is a branch of character that is most rare and most valuable and therefore most needed in the youth of to-day. It can be developed through Rovering.
(5) That in formulating any rules or schemes for Rovering, for goodness sake let them be elastic. Look wide, since if broadmindedly set out, they will apply not merely to London or Puddlington-in-the-Marsh, but to our far-reaching Dominions overseas and to foreign countries who all look to us for direction and example.
(6) That Rovering is not intended to make a man a self-satisfied prig or a melancholy saint, but to help him to direct his joyous youthful energy into paths which will bring him greater happiness through living a life that is worth while in its service to others.
When the question of a handbook for Rovers arose --- comparable with Scouting for Boys and. The Wolf Cub's Handbook --- B.-P. did not at first see his way clear. He wanted the new Branch, as stated in his six points, to be elastic and not tied down by rules and regulations; nor could there, in his view, be any hard and fast scheme of practical training. When the book did appear in 1922 with the tide Rovering to Success it proved to be a book of advice and guidance in the many problems of young manhood, and as such it has had a remarkable success far beyond the Movement itself. B.-P. had a close knowledge of what those problems were, for he was constantly receiving letters from young men asking for advice in their difficulties. When these referred to particular situations where firsthand knowledge of facts and personalities was essential before help could be given, he refused to advise, but there were numerous other cases where he was able to suggest a line of conduct. Two examples may be quoted.
The first was in answer to a youth who felt that he was not as 'sociable' as he should be.
I have known lots of men like yourself who don't 'mix', and they are none the worse for it. If they are. young, they grow out of it in most cases. Some continue to be a bit apart from their fellows, but there is no harm in them. If you can enjoy rambling and angling, what more do you want? Personally, I am happiest when I am alone, and. that is why, when fishing, I never take a gillie with me. All the explorers and big game hunters that I have known have been what you call solitary men, i.e. self-sufficing in the best sense of the word. So keep on with your camping and hiking in your own way. You will be developing an individual character of your own, all the better for not being shaped by others, but don't keep aloof from other people, with an idea of being different. Mix when you can and laugh with others.
To another youth who was overburdened with a sense of the problems of living, he wrote:
I don't know whether you play golf, or use a scythe, or are a flyfisher, but if you did any of these you would understand the rule 'Don't press'- meaning -'let your implement do the work and don't be over anxious to use your individual strength in pushing it on to its job'.
I have found the same principle useful in life.
It is quite right to think over your future, but if you take yourself too seriously and ask yourself too fervently about your own ability to rise to ideals, you will not go so far towards success (that is the high enjoyment of life) as if you thought a little less of your own individuality and more of the interests of your fellow men and how to help the community. If you narrow your outlook, you become introspective and morbid --- if you broaden it out to include others, life becomes a joyous adventure.
The establishing of the training scheme and the building up of the Rover branch did not by any means exhaust B.-P.'s thoughts and energies. He found time to pay visits of inspection where these would be of special value, and these usually resulted in a careful report to the Commissioners concerned, giving praise for things he liked and advice on how to strengthen weak places. One brief example from a report of 1919 may be quoted.
I was very glad indeed in my short visit to have the opportunity of seeing your County Scout Council in being and to realize that they mean business in the matter of developing the Movement in the County.
It reflects the greatest credit on all the officers that Scouting has managed to keep going in spite of all the war difficulties, and I hope that it will now make a fresh start and go ahead on to a far bigger scale than before. It has the power of doing a great good for the community if its membership can only be more widely extended among the boys.
Two essentials to successful development on the part of the District Commissioners are:
1. Inculcation of the right spirit.
2. Organization.
By the right spirit I mean the desire from within to attain efficiency rather than conformation to orders in doing so. As far as I could see this spirit is already there.
As regards organization the District Commissioner has most of the---I was going to write burthen --- let me say fun. That is, he has to give the incentive to his Assistant Commissioners, Local Associations and Scoutmasters to press on with their work. This can only be done by his own personal belief in the Movement and his keenness in getting it developed.
From what I have seen in other counties I am convinced that the secret of success lies in live and active Local Associations, where the Executive is formed of men who take each a responsible share of helping the Troops in their work, but who refrain from interference with the Scoutmaster in his internal administration of the Troop.
Among the minor points for criticism (not in any carping spirit) noticed at the Rally are the following:
The small number of Wolf Cubs. This may have been due to the difficulty in getting leave of absence from school, but in any case, from experience elsewhere, I can strongly recommend the formation of Wolf Cub Packs as feeders to the Scout Troops. Also I hope that the Sea Scouts will develop on to a good scale in the County where such exceptional facilities for boat work exist.
As a point of minor discipline, sudden silence is a desirable feature after the run in in a circular Rally. Also the blowing of bugles and tapping of drums off a parade conveys the worst possible impression, to the public of the minor discipline of the Movement --- besides giving annoyance to many.
I hear of the revival of wrestling among the clay workers, and also of folk singing and dancing. These give valuable subjects for training Wolf Cubs and Scouts.
Let me thank you once more and also your officers for the very successful Rally which you organized for me in spite of the difficulties of the times. My object in coming just now was of course not so much for the boys, as to learn what preparations were being made to reorganize and develop the Movement in the County. I have come away full of hope and confidence.
Nor was he too busy to answer problems put to him. For instance, I wrote to him because I was worried about the difficulty of coping with the numbers of boys who wanted to join my Troop; he had stated in Aids to Scoutmastership that 32 boys was the maximum desirable number for any one man to train. His reply was typical.
With regard to your question about large Troops --- there is no harm in having larger Groups than 32 boys provided that a reasonable adult head has charge of each Troop of about 32 boys. In fact there are plenty of such (e.g. Manchester Grammar School, Harrow County School, etc.). It is rather a matter of nomenclature. To avoid confusion one would prefer the word Troop should include the ordinary unit of about four or five Patrols. This not only ensures the fact of individual and personal training, but it also ensures some fairness in inter-Troop competitions, comparisons, etc. A group of Troops should not therefore be called or count as a Troop. It should have some other name to distinguish it such as a 'tribe', a 'clump' or 'band', or something that does not bring us back to 'company or 'battalion', etc. (N.B. A 'clump' was the medieval term for a body of spearsmen.)
But the evident remedy for what you put forward is to get more Scoutmasters. Either make a genuine well organized campaign to get them, or promote some of the 'splendid Patrol Leaders' to be Assistant Scoutmasters.
The recognition of large units as 'Troops' would, I am afraid, stultify our training and be unfair on Troops that adhered to the scheme as everywhere accepted. We have to cater for the powers of the average Scoutmaster, not for the geniuses, otherwise the average get left!
This quotation illustrates his instinct for suitable words. Soon, through his agency, the word 'Jamboree' was to take on a new significance. It was not an invented word, but he had come across it somewhere and it had stuck, with the result that the Oxford English Dictionary now contains the following entry:
JAMBOREE. (Of uncertain origin.) 1872. 1. A noisy revel; a carousal or spree. U.S. Slang. 2. Cards. In railroad euchre; a hand containing the five highest trumps, which entitles the holder to score sixteen points. 3. A rally of Boy Scouts: orig. applied to the international rally held at Olympia in Aug. 1920.
In 1916 B.-P. had proposed that the tenth anniversary of the foundation of the Movement should be celebrated by some kind of festival in 1918. The war inevitably delayed this event, but soon after the Armistice, plans were discussed for such a Rally in 1920. At first the scheme was for getting together as many as possible of the British Scouts from Great Britain and Overseas. Then B.-P. threw out the idea, 'Why not invite the foreign Scouts as well?' So the Jamboree --- no one seems to recall when he first used the word --- became International.
Olympia, London, was chosen as the site for this first jamboree, with a Camp in the Old Deer Park, Richmond, to sleep some 6,000 Scoutmasters and Scouts. Had the gathering been one of British Scouts alone it would have been remarkable, for all parts of the Empire were represented; but there were representatives of twenty-one other nationalities. During twelve years the Movement had spread throughout the world, and Olympia saw Boy Scouts from the United States and China, from Norway and Siam, from Chile and Japan --- all united by one code of conduct and practising common activities. B.-P. was frequently reminded of his past adventures; thus amongst the South Africans were three boys whose fathers had been in the forces which besieged Mafeking.
All --- British and foreign --- looked to him as their real Founder, so it was not surprising that towards the end of the Jamboree they acclaimed him as Chief Scout of the World.
The full story of that week --- of the Displays and Competitions, the Demonstrations and Pageants---is told in the official record; the public was amazed and enheartened by this Rally of Youth --- a feeling well shown in Bernard Partridge's Punch cartoon of the War-weary World saying, 'I was nearly losing hope, but the sight of all you boys gives it back to me'. Few present then will ever forget the great service in the arena on the opening Sunday when the Archbishop of York (Dr. Lang) preached to a congregation of 8000 Scouts. His final words were, 'You are now a great power, which can make for peace, I exhort you to take this as your aim --- the bringing into existence the peace of the world. This is my message to you, Boy Scouts. Keep the trust'.
Then on the final evening came the most amazing scene of all. B.-P. was always quick to seize dramatic possibilities --- not as some would say for publicity, but as a sure means of leaving an indelible impression in a boy's mind. A pageant symbolized the friendship of Great Britain, represented by the figure of Britannia, and America represented by the figure of Columbia; the other nations assembled round them. Then B.-P. faced the assembly, and his strong, ever-youthful voice rang out:
Brother Scouts, I ask you to make a solemn choice. Differences exist between the peoples of the world in thought and sentiment, just as they do in language and physique. The War has taught us that it one nation tries to impose its particular will upon others cruel reaction is bound to follow. The Jamboree has taught us that if we exercise mutual forbearance and give and take, then there is sympathy and harmony. if it be your will, let us go forth from here fully determined that we will develop among ourselves and our boys that comradeship, through the world-wide spirit of the Scout Brotherhood, so that we may help to develop peace and happiness in the world and goodwill among men. Brother Scouts, answer me. Will you join in this endeavour?
The answer came with no uncertainty; then the boys took charge; B.-P. was picked up and carried across the arena and at length released as wave after wave of cheering brought the first Jamboree to a close.
His own sometimes whimsical spirit led him to pick out the following incident of that evening --- an incident which must have annoyed the Managers, however much it delighted him.
A vast rally of Scouts from dozens of different countries was assembled in the arena at Olympia, before an equally vast concourse of interested spectators. Displays were given by the boys and it wound up with a processional pageant, carefully planned and worked out by a group of enthusiastic Scouters, mostly American, and adept at this sort of thing. It was calculated to rouse the patriotic fervour of the veriest louse among the onlookers. First came the band, braying out a grand and popular march, then a super-sized Union Jack and Stars and Stripes, marching side by side. These were followed by the stately figures of Britannia and Columbia, represented by handsome and dignified actresses, proceeding majestically hand in hand. I was directed to follow these slowly and at a respectful distance. Behind me came a forest of flags of all the nations; and these were succeeded; in their turn, by phalanx after phalanx of Boy Scouts of all the assembled countries.
It was a wholly impressive spectacle --- or at least it should have been if I had not blundered and spoilt the whole show, more or less. As we marched past, with the eyes of thousands upon us, I tried to 'throw a chest' and look the part of a hero, but I felt more like an abject worm, just the sort that Bateman could draw so well. My mind was in a sort of blank confusion. A Boy Scout suddenly stepped forward from nowhere carrying a chair, and plunked it down in front of me.
'Eh? What's this?' 'For you to sit on, Sir,' he said.
'What, now?' I asked, thinking this must be an incident in the proceedings.
'Yes, Sir, that's it.'
So I sat down, rather wondering how this came into the programme. It didn't, as I soon discovered. The band marched on. The stately figures of Britannia and America sailed on after it without looking back, and I was left stranded in my chair. The mass of flags behind me came to a sudden and confused halt. The rear members piled up to those in front and phalanx after phalanx piled up behind them in a mass of wondering boys. A startled marshal of ceremonies rushed up quickly followed by others.
'What the . . . ' etc., etc., and so on!
Then it turned out that this gallant little Scout had made this chair for me, all on his own. He had not so far had an opportunity of seeing me and presenting his gift, but when he recognized me coming along --- alone and not otherwise busy---he seized the chance to make his well-meant offering. What he had intended for a private occasion, thus became, though unrehearsed, a public presentation of a top-hole character-and it brought top-hole trouble to the marshal of the pageant. But I got the chair!
One of the most important outcomes of the Jamboree was the formation of an International Committee and Bureau --- this was made possible by the generosity of an American citizen, Mr. F. F. Peabody, and its continuance owed much to the support of another American, Mr. Mortimer Schiff. During the war an S.O.S. (Save Our Scouts) Fund had emphasized the comradeship of Scouting and the gathering at Olympia had further demonstrated that there was reality behind the sentiment. Some of the older leaders were not enthusiastic about such a Bureau; they feared it would mean interference, but B.-P., even in the darkest period of the war, had believed in the future possibilities of Scouting as the basis of friendship between boys of different nationalities. Thus, in 1916, one Commissioner had gloomily foretold disaster if Scouting became an international Movement; he even suggested that the Movement was already 'tottering to its fall'. B.-P. sent him the following note:
Don't be frightened, you take too serious a view of the whole thing.
If the Movement is tottering, let it totter. As a matter of fact it has plenty of vitality under the surface, and is quite capable of doing a very big thing in promoting international amity --- and, what is more, it is going to do it.
It was therefore with B.-P.'s full support that the International work of Scouting was put on a more regular footing. When the first world census was taken in 1922 it was found that there were 1,019,205 Boy Scouts in 32 countries. By 1939 this figure had risen to 3,305,149.
Two years after the Olympia jamboree, a Posse of Welcome was organized to greet the Prince of Wales on his return home from his Empire Tour. The word 'Posse' came into use because when the Scouts formed a Guard of Honour to the Prince at Buckingham Palace on a former occasion, they had spontaneously broken out into cheers and had waved their hats on their staffs. King George V. had been watching the arrival and he felt that 'Guard of Honour' was a misnomer for such a youthful company; he suggested that a more suitable term might be found. B.-P. suggested 'Posse'; he had in mind the sheriff's posse of the Wild West, and also the 'posse comitatus' which came to arrest Sir Robert, the Baron of Shurland, as recorded in the Ingoldsby Legends.
On the 7th October 1922, some 60,000 Scouts and 19,000 Wolf Cubs met at the Alexandra Palace to greet the Prince. Before the Rally, B.-P. was decorated with the Legion of Honour. In previous years he had received many honours from foreign countries, and on this occasion he wrote to a friend:
Really, between ourselves --- I wish they wouldn't! I feel ashamed of the cheap way of winning them ---when the whole work is a joy to me and I only wish I could do more. At the same time, it means that they appreciate the Movement and its possibilities, and that is something.
It was an amazing spectacle. One of the Scouts who was there recalls the following incident:
I was only a young Scout and separated from the rest of the boys I knew ---and probably looking frightened! A crowd of us was moving along when what we thought was a Scoutmaster came along with us. He chatted freely to us, asking where we had come from, how long we had taken to travel there, if it were our first trip to London and other such small talk until we arrived inside the room. Then to the overwhelming surprise of each of us, he made a cheery parting and walked up on to the platform. He was the Chief Scout!
An adult spectator recorded the following impression:
Personally, I shall not easily forget those wonderful boy crowds, nor shall I forget the eagerness of the Prince, who apparently finds it so hard to leave boyhood behind, the smiling interest of the Duke of Connaught, the keen, humorous humanity of the Chief Scout, and the tireless eminently practical enthusiasm of his staff, most of them mature men leading busy professional lives.
When the Empire Exhibition was held at Wembley in 1924, it was suggested that an Empire Rally of Scouts should be organized at the same time. This was a project much after B.-P.'s heart, and he energetically set to work to get such a Jamboree organized. The response was immediate, and amongst the 12,500 Scouts in the Camp in Wembley Paddocks were boys from all parts of the Empire. Echoes from his past must have sounded in B.-P.'s cars as he heard the Rhodesian Scouts shout:
Or when touring the Exhibition he met scouts from the Gold Coast and Ashanti, sons of men who spoke of him still as Kantankye ---'he of the Big Hat.' With the Gold Coast natives was Captain R. S. Rattray who was head of the Anthropological Department in Ashanti. He was typical of the new school of colonial officials who were studying native customs with a view to encouraging development along congenial lines. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Scouting, and he interested B.-P. in the use of the Ntumpane or talking drums, and with some Scouts he made use of them for sending messages in Morse. An African Boy Scout successfully sent messages to Captain Rattray through the dense forest country, and at Wembley an English Scout Troop learned how to use the drums.
Immediately after the Imperial Jamboree, the second World Jamboree was held near Copenhagen. Here were gathered boys from 33 nations; part of the time was spent in camp with the usual displays, pageants and competitions, and part was spent by the boys as guests in the homes of Danish Scouts.
Few men have been so hero-worshipped as B.-P. was at these Jamborees, but it had no visible effect on him; he remained as companionable as ever and the youngest Scout could feel at ease in his presence. His sense of humour was too keen for him to stand on a pedestal, aloof and unapproachable. It was that sense of humour too which brought laughter at times when it was most needed. Thus on the final day of the camp when the King of Denmark inspected the Scouts, the rain poured down and all were drenched. When the time came for B.-P. to announce the results of the competitions, he looked at the boys massed in front of him, and with a laugh said, 'I have seen great numbers of Scouts in my life, but I have never seen any as wet as you!' Even those who did not understand English recognized the tone, and faces broke into smiles.
His own thoughts on the Jamboree are a fitting comment.
For the boys themselves I am confident that the Jamboree has been a valuable experience --- they have met Scouts from every part of the world and have realized something of the wide extent of the brotherhood, they have realized that their self training in good citizenship is taken seriously by their elders, and thus they realize something of the responsibility and importance which rests upon them. They feel that they are valued and trusted. They have learned the need for discipline. In their travels about the country, visiting its farms, factories, castles and museums, they have picked up a good deal that will be of educational value to them. But most important of all will, I think, be the friendships they have struck up both with the Danes and their brother Scouts from other countries. This as the result of mutual goodwill, sympathy, and understanding should have a very real value on their actions in after life, and have a very palpable political effect later on in international relations.
As a result of the whole Jamboree and conferences I am confident that in those few crowded days the Movement has made a great step forward. It is no longer in the experimental stage. it has stepped out into position as a pioneer in a line of civic education that has never before been attempted. It has demonstrated to parents, pastors, teachers, and patriots that Scouting can, quite as well as any military form of training, turn boys into manly men and patriotic citizens; and, moreover, it gives a wider outlook of a brotherland beyond the borders of the Motherland. It has opened the eyes of all of us to the fact that boys are alike all the world over and that they are by nature free from the prejudices and suspicions of us their fathers, and that therefore we have virgin soil to work upon.
No one could have foreseen five years ago what we have now seen in this camp---viz. boys of different nations who were then at desperate war together now living together in cheery comradeship. This fact alone should be an inspiration to continue to foster that comradeship and to strengthen our net of scouting and spread it yet wider. Here lies before the leaders, before every member in fact of our brotherhood, a wonderful opportunity of vast and far-reaching promise for the future peace and happiness of the world.
As soon as the Boy Scouts became an established organization, B.-P. was approached by organizers of many good causes in the hope that he would make pronouncements supporting them or bring to them the backing of the Movement. There were of course some who merely wanted to get inexpensive service and they traded on the idea of the 'good turn' so frequently that at last he had to state that Scouting 'is not a messenger agency for the convenience of the public'.
Misunderstanding was caused through lack of appreciation that the Movement was concerned solely with the shaping of character and conduct, and not with the moulding of opinion. B.-P. firmly held to his purpose, and it was indeed a triumph that he was able to prevent the Boy Scouts from being associated closely with any one political philosophy or religious creed. But this did not prevent difficulties from time to time.
He himself was not a supporter of any political party; indeed he sometimes expressed himself strongly on the evils of the party system, and had the typical soldier's attitude towards hot-air politicians. When the conscription campaign was m full swing between the South African War and 1914, Lord Roberts invited B.-P. to stand for Parliament, but the answer was not encouraging as it read, 'Delighted --- which side?' An amusing newspaper controversy was once opened by a correspondent who claimed that he could prove from Scouting for Boys that B.-P. was a Conservative. The reply came from a Wesleyan Minister who stated that he could prove from the same source that B.-P. was 'a Socialist, a Liberal, or Conservative'.
Some years later B.-P. received from a young Communist a model of a black coffin as an expression of that Party's attitude. Indeed, when preparations were being made for the Coming-of-Age Jamboree at Birkenhead in 1929, an Anti-Scout Campaign was started on the grounds that Scouting is 'an organization to complete the work the Schools have begun in training the workers' children to be supporters of capitalism, imperialism and militarism'. And the Teachers' Labour League condemned the Movement whole-heartedly in this pronouncement:
The militarists and nobility in control, the capitalists who provide the funds, all alike agree with the aims of the Scout Movement. These are to train working class children to be 'loyal' to their employers and traitors to their class, to be ready to serve as cannon fodder in the approaching war which modern imperialism is leading to and for the preparation of which the Jamboree forms an essential part.
And when the Secretary of the Young Communist League interviewed B.-P. and declared that 'the gloves are off', and 'we are out to fight to a finish', B.-P.'s reply was that 'he need not worry, it takes two to make a fight, and we are not out to fight, as our aim is to help the poorer boy, independent of all political questions, to get his fair chance of happiness and success in life'.
While such attacks could be ignored, it was more difficult to get people to understand why Scouting could not identify itself with movements inspired by the highest motives and for purposes which had wide support.
Thus time and again the Movement has been attacked on religious grounds. Unlike, for instance, the Boys' Brigade or the Church Lads' Brigade, the Boy Scouts are not linked with any religious organization; Troops can be, and are, attached to individual Churches, but this is purely a matter for local decision. This is partly explained by the origin of Scouting, since it was intended as an additional activity for existing organizations. But it went deeper than that. B.-P. wanted to find common ground on which boys of varied denominations could meet; his vision broadened to include boys of religions other than Christianity, all worshipping God, but each according to the teaching of his own Church. Even more anxious was he to bring in boys of no religious upbringing in the hope that by practising the Scout Law and through contact with Nature they would be drawn into the Churches.
Such an outlook was almost inevitably misunderstood. The stress B.-P. put on the value of the outdoor life as an aid to religion was interpreted by some as pantheism; he would have agreed with Wordsworth that
One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can,
and,
There's not a man
That lives who hath not known his god-like hours,
And feels not what an empire we inherit
As natural beings in the strength of Nature.
But like Wordsworth, B.-P. did not rest there; contact with Nature was but a step towards realization of God. Nor is it without significance that both men were members of the Established Church. B.-P. by his early training would be described in an outworn term as a Broad Churchman: although his father had died before he could influence his son, the knowledge that the contributor to Essays and Reviews was regarded by some Churchmen as a heretic, must have had its effect on the son's outlook. He was not so much interested in formularies and creeds as in bringing the influence of religion into the everyday life of the boy as a matter of practice. Where he differed from many was in the methods by which he believed a boy's religious instincts could be quickened and satisfied. He based his ideas on the fact that boys prefer to be active rather than passive, and he therefore laid great emphasis on the 'good turn' as a beginning in the exercise of the duty to one's neighbour; by practice he believed the habit would be formed of thinking of others, and so developing more fully that love which is the basis of all religion.
Here is one of his statements on the problem.
We in Scout-work recognize as a first step that everything on two legs that calls itself a boy has God in him. The worst little hooligan has inherent glimmerings of good moral qualities --- at least he can admire pluck and daring, he can appreciate justice, he can show loyalty and chivalry for a pal and thriftless openhandedness --- which all means the spark of divine love is there, although he may --- through the artificial environment of modern civilization --- be the most errant little thief, liar, and filth-monger unhung.
Our job is to give him a chance. We have to probe and discover those sparks of good and blow upon them till they glow and burn away the dross that covers them: in other words we can help the soul to develop itself by giving it good work to do on lines that interest the lad and lead his God-given instinct into daily-life practice.
Another statement amplifies his view:
The average boy and girl (if there be such a thing as an average one) does not want to sit down in school and be the passive recipient of instruction, he wants to be active in self-expression, i.e. in doing something.
The abstract does not appeal to him, while the concrete does. By utilizing this trait we can get best results. With Scouts and Guides we do not insist so much on their learning Biblical History or the Scriptures as a first step, but rather we take them out into the woods and fields to learn something of the concrete facts of nature, the wonder of the natural law running through plant life and animal life and their aesthetic beauty, until, through this means, the child's tone of thought is raised to a sufficiently high plane to realize God the Creator and what he sees around him.
And then through performance of his daily 'good turn' his 'playing the game for his side', his active patriotism for the community, the boy becomes Christian by practice rather than by profession, and develops within himself that love and charity for others that is the Love of God.
In the early days of the Movement B.-P. consulted the leaders of the Churches as to the wisest policy to lay down for the guidance of the Scoutmasters. This policy safeguards the religious obligations of the boys who are members of Churches. The best testimony to its success is demonstrated in the following passage from a sermon preached by Cardinal Bourne, Archbishop of Westminster, at the Coming-of-Age Jamboree on the 4th August. 1929.
It may be well now to recall to you the attitude which I have always held towards the Boy Scout movement. Almost at the outset 1 was honoured by being consulted by its founder, the Chief Scout, who very courteously sought my advice. I discussed the whole matter at considerable length with him, and I was assured that Scouts would always be taught to follow the voice of their conscience and to worship God as they best knew how; that those who had well-defined religious convictions would be helped and encouraged to worship God in accordance with those convictions; that there would be no attempt to gather all Scouts together in some newly conceived form of worship; above all, that Catholics would have full freedom for that worship of God which is set before them as a duty of conscience by the Catholic Church; and that neither directly nor indirectly would any attempt be made to hinder or impede their complete religious freedom.
After twenty-one years I am glad to bear testimony that, except in some rare and isolated instances --- due to the unwitting mistakes of subordinate officials, and always promptly checked and corrected when brought to the knowledge of higher authority --- these very definite assurances have been loyally observed.
Supporters of the League of Nations, and of the Peace and Disarmament policies of the between-wars period, naturally thought that in the Scout and Guide Movements they would find official support, since both were world-wide on a basis of friendship between the nations. They were surprised when B.-P. firmly refused to commit the boys and girls to any declaration of opinions on such matters. He himself became a Vice-President of the League of Nations Union, but he kept true to his principle that the Movements he had founded were not intended to do more than develop character of a kind which would lead to good citizenship, but not to any one type of political thought. Moreover, he constantly stressed the fact that no treaty or pact could lead to peace between nations unless the hearts of the peoples were friendly. As he said:
If we are to have a League of Nations and not merely a League of Governments, we shall do well to utilize the spirit of brotherhood which can have effect where no amount of legislation can ever penetrate.
And again:
The object of the Scout and Guide Movements is to provide health-giving, character-forming recreation for girls and boys; also, through its wide expansion, to breed among its members the spirit of brotherhood without regard to differences of country, creed or class. In this way we hope to develop more generally in the oncoming generation the qualities of good citizenship and the Christian practice of mutual goodwill and co-operation in place of the prevailing self-interest and mistrust which is the main obstacle to the establishment of peace in the world.
Our Movement is in no sense militant, nor is it concerned with politics. It accepts all boys and girls irrespective of their parents' political views.
For this reason and recognizing our responsibility to the parents, we regret that we cannot utilize our boys and girls as a body for promoting causes, however worthy in their aim, nor can we encourage them to record their opinions on questions of policy in which their immature judgement cannot be of any real value.
Some of his speeches were at times misinterpreted by those who had not taken the trouble to understand his principles. He did not believe that the 1914-1918 war had ended war---he hoped it had done so, but as long as there was any doubt, he believed people should be prepared, and that young men, for instance, should be encouraged to join the Territorials.
Pacifists were angry and puzzled at the seeming paradox of the leader of a world-wide brotherhood advocating military preparedness, and in 1937 he replied to their criticisms in the following terms:
I think everyone realizes now that we are living in an as yet uncivilized world where treaties and agreements are treated as scraps of paper, where bullies are looking round for weaklings among the nations whom they can attack.
So it is for the grown-up Scouts I advocate learning, while they can, these duties, should occasion ever unfortunately arise when defence of the country should be necessary. Much will, of course, depend on the circumstances that may cause the need for defence, so it is impossible to lay down beforehand a hard and fast rule of conduct, for the Scouts. As boys, they are not needed for fighting, but they can be prepared to help others and prevent suffering by knowing first-aid work and being useful in a hundred other ways as the Boy Scouts in China and Spain are doing so admirably to-day. This need not imply inculcation of warlike ideas.
It is unfortunately inevitable that in war as we have it to-day, friend will, in many cases, have to fight against friend in carrying out his duty. But our aim should be to work to bring about the spirit of goodwill and brotherliness so widely that before long the will of the people will supersede that of aggressive rulers and bring about peace in the world.
That is what we must all strive for and is what we are actually gaining to some extent through the World Scout Brotherhood; but we haven't got it yet, nor shall we get it, if we all evade the issue in trying selfishly to serve our own individual views and interests.
Some years before this statement he had tried to get Labour more fully represented on the Council of the Boy Scouts Association. It was always his aim to make that Council as truly representative of the national thought as possible, and Mr. Will Crooks was for a time a member, and in 1923 B.-P. tried to persuade Mr. Ramsay MacDonald to join the Council, but without success. Mr. MacDonald replied:
12th January 1923
DEAR SIR ROBERT BADEN-POWELL,
I am glad to receive your letter with its remembrances of that extraordinary lunch and the conversation which Nicholson, you and I had.
I have always as an outsider taken great interest in your Boy Scout Movement. A warm controversy is going on at present amongst my friends as to whether it is not being militarized, and whether as a matter of fact it is not under the effective control of masters who mean quite definitely that it should be so. I remember your assurances on the Terrace of the House of Commons given to Mr. Crooks and myself and I am sure that so far as you are concerned they still hold good. You are after the making of clean minded, chivalrous souled, healthy, resourceful youth; in my own limited way so am I. If, however, I agreed with your proposal, it would be adding one more internal trouble to what is my chief concern at the moment, the Labour Party. Nothing would justify that. So pray let me remain a sympathetic friend to your Movement as you explained it that night and believe me to be
Yours very sincerely,
J. RAMSAY MACDONALD.
A few months afterwards, B.-P. wrote to Mr. George Lansbury about some remarks the latter had made on Boy Scouts at a meeting. Mr. Lansbury's reply was as follows:
4. vii. 23
DEAR SIR,
I have your letter of the 3rd. I have always very much regretted that I could not see eye to eye with you about the Scout Movement. There is so much of it that I believe is not only good but really fine for boys and girls; but there always seems to me so much of patriotism and union jack flying, that I am somehow choked off from it.
You see, my point of view is that love of one's home and parents and love of country ought always to lead on to love of humanity; and if we stress our own interests, defence of our own land too much, the international side just gets blurred out.
As to war: I know that you do not teach fighting, but I think it is also true that the doctrine of defensive warfare is taught, and every war that I know anything about has been defended as a defensive one. My view is contrary to this. All wars so far as I can judge them are in the ultimate offensive. You may tell me of the evils which will come upon us unless we are prepared to fight: I can only say that the unknown and known horrors of the fighting seem to me to eclipse, or at least to equal, any evil that might befall us.
I ought not to have bothered you with so long a letter about my point of view; but I do want you to know that I appreciate very much all that you have done to help make boys strong and healthy and take a virile interest in living; but I also wanted you to know why I felt bound to say what I did at the Caxton Hall, and why it is not possible for me to join m the Movement.
I hope sometime there will be one flag symbolizing the human race and not nationalities.
Yours truly,
G. LANSBURY.
To this B.-P. replied:
6th July 1923
DEAR MR. LANSBURY,
I am very grateful for your letter and I am not going to bore you with a long letter in reply. Although you say you don't see eye to eye with me, I on my part do see eye to eye with you --- particularly in the matter of world brotherhood, and as you say when we can bring this into actual being there can be no need even for defensive armament. But we have a bit of road to travel before we get there which means unity and goodwill in our own countries as a first step. I send you a copy of our Scout International Journal in the hope that you may find time to read the points marked which will better explain our line.
If you would care to see our Training School in Epping Forest which is now being attended by men and women from all parts of the world, you could see for yourself what we are teaching. I think it would show you that we are out very much for your ideal of a world brotherhood of peace and goodwill and that we are working on practical lines to bring this about.
Yours sincerely,
ROBERT BADEN-POWELL.
Six years later, Mr. Lansbury had an opportunity of expressing his views on Scouting publicly at the Coming-of-Age Jamboree.
It had been decided to hold an International Jamboree every four years, each time in a different country. By this rule the Copenhagen Jamboree should have been followed by one in 1928 in some country other than England or Denmark. But it was felt that as 1929 would be the Coming-of-Age year, the Jamboree should be held then in the country where Scouting began. Arrowe Park near Birkenhead was chosen as the site, but before the Jamboree opened two events must have given B.-P. special delight.
At the end of July 1928 a Reunion of the survivors of the Brownsea Island Camp of 1907 was held at B.-P.'s home, Pax Hill, Bentley. Of the original twenty-five, seven had died --- some of them in the war, and six were abroad. Twelve met together to recall that early experiment. Only B.-P. and Mr. P. W. Everett were still active in the Movement.
Then at Charterhouse a pleasant incident occurred. The 'Masque of Charterhouse' was performed, and at the roll-call of famous Carthusians. Peter Baden-Powell called 'Adsum' for his father. A scene in the Masque was devoted to the foundation of the Boy Scouts, and the performers were boys of the School Troop. The lines spoken were these:
ORATOR. Now the old heroes of a former day,
Have struck their shadowy tents and stol'n away,
Their voice is still, and hushed their music's strains..
The legend of a living man remains,
Who, youthful yet at three score years and ten,
To manly service trains the sons of men.
In our own Copse he learnt the tracker's art
Wherewith to unlock the door of boyhood's heart,
Called the world's youth to adventurous brotherhood
And generous effort for the common good.
Now young and old alike his work acclaim,
And bless our school for Baden-Powell's name.
See here an eager band of roving boys,
Seeking the open road with all its joys,
Woodland and valley, stream and mountain height,
The scorching noontide sun, the starry night.(A trek-cart enters, and a group of Scouts are welcomed by others around a Camp Fire.)
When the Jamboree opened on the 31st July 1929 there were gathered together Scouts from forty-one nations of the world and of thirty-one parts of the British Empire. It is difficult to speak in measured terms of that amazing experience. In spite of rain and mud, it was throughout a joyous festival of youth; it was indeed a fitting tribute to the man who had founded and fostered the Movement. His own work was recognized by the King who conferred upon him a peerage; after consultation with the members of the International Committee he decided to choose the tide of Baden-Powell of Gilwell ---an indication not only of the place the Training Centre had gained during its decade of life, but of B.-P.'s own estimate of the importance of training. The boys naturally expressed their admiration for their Chief in their own exuberant ways whenever he moved amongst them, but they also presented him and Lady Baden-Powell with a Rolls-Royce car and caravan---promptly christened the 'Jam-Roll'.
Amongst the many eminent visitors, the Prince of Wales naturally took the leading place, but no one was more popular than Mr. George Lansbury; he quickly made friends with the boys and at one camp helped spread the bread and jam, explaining that when he was a boy, 'they called this gravel rash'. During a Rally in the arena, he paid this tribute.
I am quite certain that in the days to come, in the days that he has yet to live and in the days that will come after, the name that will stand and be remembered in the world of the nations will be Baden-Powell. Nothing in the world can add, I think, to the wonderful work that has been done. He won't mind me saying, and his friends will not mind me saying, that the one thing that people like me hope and pray for, if we ever pray at all --- the one thing we really hope for is that all these great movements of the world amongst young people, and especially this great movement, may in the future remove all man-made evil of the world, not the evil that we cannot help, but man-made evil, and will also establish the sort of relationship which pervades this place amongst people of all nations meeting together to enjoy themselves and to learn from one another how to live.
One of the most interesting tributes was spoken at a luncheon at which the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster were present. The speaker was the Rev. T. H. Bateson representing the Free Churches, and he recalled his former association with B.-P. in India.
When in India our Chief Scout impressed himself upon the men of his regiment in a most marked manner---it was a regiment of clean livers and hard workers. I had then an opportunity of putting my finger on the pulse of the entire Indian Army, and I can say it was second to none there. What he did on behalf of his men to enable them to resist the temptations of the East, he came home and did here; and when I found what his Scout movement meant and was doing among boys of all classes and all creeds, I wrote to him --- in 1909 --- and asked if I might help in some little way in a movement which was going to count for so much in social and world life.
The fulfilment been greater than the aspiration, and my friends say to me that Baden-Powell will go down to history as the man who did more than anyone else for the peace of the world.
At the final Rally, B.-P. seized again the opportunity of driving home to the Scouts the significance of the Jamboree. He symbolically buried the hatchet of war, and then passed down the lines of Scouts, radiating from where he was standing Golden Arrows --- recalling the name of Arrowe Park --- and as he did so he said:
From all corners of the earth you have journeyed to this great gathering of World Fellowship and Brotherhood. To-day I send you out from Arrowe to all the world, bearing my symbol of Peace and Fellowship, each one of you my ambassador, bearing my message of Love and Fellowship on the wings of Sacrifice and Service, to the ends of the Earth. From now on, the Scout symbol of Peace is the Golden Arrow. Carry it fast and far so that all men may know the Brotherhood of Man.
Besides being raised to the Peerage, B.-P. was honoured in other ways in 1929. The City of London conferred upon him the Freedom of the City, and at the ceremony he was naturally presented by the Master and Wardens of the Mercers, his own Company. At the luncheon, B.-P. called himself a 'cockney bred and born', and said that he had learned swimming in the Serpentine and had there caught his first tiddler. He referred to his days at Charterhouse while it was still in London and the annual fights with the butcher boys.
Mr. David Jagger was engaged to paint his portrait for the Mercers, and a second one for the Boy Scouts Association; in both he is represented in Scout uniform. The following year Mr. Simon Elwes was invited to paint another portrait for the Girl Guides Association. B.-P. when asked how he would like to pose for this, replied that he would prefer to be represented at work, and in explanation he wrote:
My suggestion that I should be 'doing something' when sitting to you has a twofold meaning underlying it. One (entirely selfish) is that it is difficult for me to sit still and do nothing when I have so much on hand to do. Secondly, I (in common with many others) feel that (though it is very usual with portraits) to hand down to one's successors the representation of a man staring vacantly into space with hands lying idle, does not give a true picture of an active worker.