HARD BODIES, STRONG MINDS, AND TENDER HEARTS.

THE BOY KNIGHT:

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES ON THE EVOLUTION OF
THE BOY SCOUT MOVEMENT.

BY
SIR FRANCIS VANE, BT., J.P., F.R.G.S.
Knight Commander Royal and Military Order of Christ; President of the
National Peace Scouts and the British Boy Scouts.

PUBLISHED BY THE COUNCIL

OF
NATIONAL PEACE SCOUTS
1910
Major Sir Francis Patrick Fletcher Vane Bart JP (1861-1934)

Source: Archives of the British Boy Scouts.

June 2012 ISSN 0276-4084

A BBS Information Booklet.

HARD BODIES, STRONG MINDS, AND TENDER HEARTS.

THE BOY KNIGHT:

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES ON THE EVOLUTION OF
THE BOY SCOUT MOVEMENT.
BY
SIR FRANCIS VANE, BT., J.P., F.R.G.S.
Knight Commander Royal and Military Order of Christ; President of the
National Peace Scouts and the British Boy Scouts.

PUBLISHED BY
THE BRITISH BOY SCOUTS AND BRITISH GIRL SCOUTS ASSOCIATION

(THE NATIONAL PEACE SCOUTS)

2012
WITH AN HISTORICAL PREFACE BY
THE REVEREND DR MICHAEL FOSTER, F.R.S.M., S.S.C., M.I.W.O., M.C.I.J.
Grand Scoutmaster of the British Boy Scouts and National Peace Scouts.

ISBN 1 85139 019 7

Text The British Boy Scouts and British Girl Scouts Association.
Preface The Reverend Dr Michael John Foster F.R.S.M., S.S.C., M.I.W.O., M.C.I.J.
 2012 PREFACE
It has been some 22 years ago when Sir Francis Vane's booklet on The
Boy Knight was first republished. The aim was to make the historic
text available to researchers. The booklet has been out of print for over
fifteen years, and the 1990 reprint is now as rare as the first printing of
1910. Rather than re-issue that edition which was poor quality (it was
a photocopy of the original booklet pasting two pages on to one, with a
simple additional preface) - this printing was in 2008 re-typeset in its
entirety to follow page by page the original work 1. In addition to the
first edition (2008) of the new preface, footnotes were added to explain
a few idiomatic details which will have been understood by an educated
Edwardian, but may now be lost as illustrations. A few additional details
have been added to the updated preface of 2012.

It is clear from the booklet, that Sir Francis Vane had great vision for the
Scout movement, and saw its advent as divinely inspired, as a work of
God;
Founded, and rightly, in the enthusiastic aspirations towards a
nobler life of the young themselves, a spark had to be struck to set
this enthusiasm on fire, and that spark was clearly struck in
Scouting for Boys. Then we go back to thisWho caused the
spark to be struck which has set this noble fire to flame? Who is the
fountain of honour and authority, from whom comes all human
authority and system ? most of us will answerGod. - page 32.
fortunately the work had behind it the Spirit of God; it had the
advantage of being in sympathy with the Zeit Geist - page 34.

Each Scout, in serving as part of the brotherhood, serves as a disciple;

And the child knight, the Scout, will, without knowing it, be very
near and dear to Christ, for he is here not to destroy but to help to
build the Temple not to raise it - page 25.

Vane had used all his personal energies in pushing what he saw as a
valuable work, which showed great potential for the education of the
young.

1
The Front Cover, and Pages 5 47, follow page for page the original
booklet, saving for the fact that original booklet was under half the height of
an A5 page. This allows citations from this edition to line up exactly with
the original version. As noted above, the footnotes are 2008 additions.

1
Early 1910, the Battersea Leaders in Baden-Powells Scouts had
complained about undue military influence and bureaucracy. They
separated from the main movement and created in May 1910, the
pacifist British Boy Scouts.
Although the Peace Scouts had been set up as providing a pacifist
alternative to the more military Baden-Powell organisation, Vane
foresaw the possibility of reconciliation between the two movements
(vide infra page 20) but on the basis of a firmly non-military
organisation.
Yet within two years of the publication of this booklet, the Peace Scout
movement was orphaned by Vane, who had become a Bankrupt late
1912, though his inability to settle his debt with a clothier in Battersea,
who had supplied him with uniform, much of which he had shipped out
to Italy for the foundation of the Scouts there in 1910.
In the period of 1910 to 1912, Vane had worked hard, and the
organisation had expanded abroad. Cassell & Co Ltd, Publishers founded
in 1848 by John Cassell 2, supported the British Boy Scouts. Cassell
published a Weekly Boys Paper Chums founded in 1892, and which had
a circulation within the British Empire as well as in England. From May
1909, this Paper became the official Journal for the BBS. As a result the
BBS was found throughout the British Empire, and other countries.
Reported in Chums was that the BBS existed in; Hong Kong, South
Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, Belgium, Creillos (in
South America) and Egypt. Vane had personally overseen the
development of the organisation abroad in Italy, France, and the USA.
The attempts at rapprochement bore fruit and early 1911, discussions
with the B-P HQ offered a reconciliation, but it was clear, Vane was not
welcomed back. The Battersea Troops and their Leaders returned, and
ended the support from Chums gained by the Battersea Leaders, which
meant that Communication with those abroad was difficult, and Vane
launched a periodical called The World Scout 3 using his own funds.
Vane then launched The Order of World Scouts on the 11th November
1911, St Martins day on the day that Baldwin (Baudouin de
Boulogne) was declared King of Jerusalem on the 11th November
1100 4, signalling the success of the first crusade.

2
Now part of the Octopus Publishing Group.
3
No copies have survived. Three later editions under that title exist; edited
by members of both Associations (B-P Scouts & BBS), January to March
1913. British Library Periodicals Derby PP1102 ah.
4
The coronation was over a month later on Christmas Day of 1100.
2
The organisation in the USA was called The American Boy Scout, but
it became too military and the relationship ended mid 1912. Vane then
embarked upon a new initiative with the publication of a book in the
USA; Russell, Thomas Herbert (Ed), Stories of Boy Scouts and Girls'
Open Air Clubs 5, The book was a mixture of serious articles and Boy
Scouts fiction stories, plus articles on running girls' clubs. The two main
serious chapters by Thomas Russell and Sir Francis Vane, were aimed at
influencing the USA to adopt his method of educational/pacifist
Scouting. The whole book is slanted at selling Vane's ideas of the
World Scouts. Before Vane had been able to develop new ground in
the USA, the Clothier in Battersea, started Court proceedings, and
Vanes Empire collapsed.
Whilst there is no shortage of authors who seek to defend the B-P
organisation from the criticism of militarism, most of the material cited
is from material post the foundation years (late 1910 onward). However,
by then the firm criticism concerning militarism within the B-P
organisation by Vane and others, had caused B-P and his Headquarters
to become sensitive toward the criticisms and they were able to steer to
more middle ground.
For Vane who was contemporary to the period in question (and indeed
he was the London Commissioner for B-P until sacked due to his
criticisms) there was a very real concern about militarism, and Vane was
aware of the power of dissent in the original preface to the booklet he
wrote:
I have bean forced to oppose the misdirection of the movement
energetically and not without effect page 7.

His Bankruptcy meant that he had to watch from the sidelines, as the
Peace Scouts collapsed leaving but a remnant. Some of the Peace Scout
Troops in England became Boy Life Brigade Scouts, before being
absorbed into the Boys Brigade losing their Scout identity, and others
joined the B-P organisation, and a remnant continued as the British Boy
Scouts, existing still today.
After the First World War, Sir Francis was able for a short period to
support the Catholic Scouts in Italy. His own Scouts in Italy founded in
1910, by 1914 had been absorbed into the B-P foundation of 1912 the
National Corps of Italian Boy Explorers. Some Troops which were not
absorbed formed a Catholic Association; Ragazzi Esploratori Cattolici
Italiani, which was absorbed into the Associazione Scautistica Cattolica
Italiana at its foundation in 1916.

5
L H Walter, Homewood Press, Chicago, USA 1912.
3
During the interwar period in 1927, Mussolini suppressed the Scouts in
favour of the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB), an Italian Fascist youth
organization. Despite a private letter to Sir Francis Vane 24th April
1933, sympathising with Vanes worries, the Balilla was an organisation
that was publicly highly praised by Baden-Powell, as the application of
scouting as part of national education 6.
It was not just Vane who was let down by Baden-Powell, in his failure
to back Scouting in Italy, and by the moral support he gave to the
Balilla, it was also the Scout cause in Italy. With the end of the Scouts in
Italy, this effectively ended Vanes Scout career. His last year of life
was marked by illness.
There was perhaps, a minor consolation. There is evidence that suggests
that Sir Francis was involved with the British Boy Scouts after his return
to England in 1927 7. Also in his last active year of life, Vane was in
correspondence with Percy Pooley, who was by then the Chief
Commissioner. He did try and reconcile the BBS to B-Ps Scouts, but
the latter required the BBS to disband and apply to join in the normal
way. Vane may have also learnt from Pooley that Australia was still
represented as part of the Order of World Scouts, with a few Troops still
surviving, and with the BBS in England, that some of his work was
continuing, though in a modest way.
Sir Francis died on June 10th 1934 aged 72, having spent his last year in
St Thomas Hospital, Lambeth.
In terms of reading this booklet if the view is held that this is 1910,
and Vane is confident, and the fortunes of his vision for a solid
contribution for the betterment of society and the enriching of children
lives was in the ascendancy it is in this context that the booklet can be
fully understood.

The Reverend Dr Michael Foster.

6
See Jeal, Tim, Baden-Powell, Hutchinson, 1989, page 545.
7
For Sir Francis this was a continuing interest. In 1915, whilst on leave
from his Army duties in Ireland, he inspected the Troop of the BBS London
Commissioner, Percy Pooley.

4
 WHO IS FOREMOST AT DANGER'S CALL,
WHO KEEPS THE BEST LOOK OUT,
WHO IS THE KINDLIEST FRIEND OF ALL:
HE IS THE NOBLEST SCOUT.

HARD BODIES, STRONG MINDS, AND TENDER HEARTS.

THE BOY KNIGHT:

ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES ON THE EVOLUTION OF

THE BOY SCOUT MOVEMENT.

SIR FRANCIS VANE, Bt:, J.P., F.R.G.S.

Knight Commander Royal and Military Order of Christ;
President of the National Peace Scouts and the British Soy Scouts.

PUBLISHED BY THE COUNCIL

OF

NATIONAL PEACE SCOUTS.

5
 THE OATH OF THE SCOUT. 8

I. To serve God, the King, and my Country.

II. To help others, whatever it may cost me.

III. To trust the word of my brother Scout.

IV. To respect my Parents.

V. To be a friend to all and to be a brother to every other Scout.

VI. To be courteous to all.

VII. To be kind to animals and to save them from pain.

VIII. To take trouble as pleasure, with a smiling face.

IX. To be thrifty, but never mean.

8
The nine clauses of the Peace Scout Oath follow the original Scout Law
written by Baden-Powell in 1908, which was not a Decalogue, but also had
nine clauses the tenth was added in 1911. Vane absorbed B-Ps Oath and
Law into his Peace Scout Oath as a single instrument. In the Peace Scout
Oath, obedience to Officers (not appropriate to the Peace Scouts as it was
seen as having military connotations) was replaced by respect for Parents.
In the text of this booklet there is another copy of the Peace Scout Oath
(page 28). They differ on Law VIII. With a smiling face which reflects
Baden-Powells original, has been replaced by with a trusting grace
making this akin to a theological virtue. It is this latter version that was
accepted as the final version for the National Peace Scouts, and will reflect
influence from both the Quaker membership, and that of the Boys Life
Brigade (led by the Reverend Dr John Paton, a Congregationalist) who
allied with the British Boy Scouts to create the National Peace Scouts. The
British Boy Scouts used their own Oath and Law (later termed Pledge and
Law) which was the first Scout Law to equate with a Decalogue, having 10
clauses as early as 1909.

6
 PREFACE.

I HAVE been asked to put together certain speeches and

articles of mine for the purpose of explaining the boy Scout
movement, and I have chosen, not altogether at random, five of
these. As one who is an enthusiastic believer in the system
propounded in Scouting for Boys, I should reckon myself
unworthy of being considered a true Scout were I not to accord
honour to Sir Robert Baden-Powell. He first placed the
scheme on paper, and by its publication inspired my young
comrades to enter it with all their young vitality. It is true I
have bean forced to oppose the misdirection of the movement
energetically and not without effect, but I would prefer to set
down the militarisation of the Baden-Powell association to
his advisors rather than to original intention. However It may
be, there can be no doubt but that now we have to deal with
facts and not theories, and we have all of us to help direct this
most hopeful scheme for the training of the young to its real
end, namely, a physical, moral, and educational revival, instead
of allowing it to degenerate into simply a recruiting-ground for
an army.

The chapters deal with the questions of greatest

importance. Scouting, Civil and Military gives a history of the
evolution of the movement. The Scout Knighthood describes
it from the point of view of a new chivalry. The Scout
Movement in Education looks at it from the instructional
standpoint ; and the chapter on Organisation points out some

7
of the original difficulties and how they may be overcome,
while a letter of the Duty of the British Boy Scouts places
before him some of his work in the world.

In conclusion I have added the essential parts of the

Constitution of one and the first branch of the rational Peace
Scouts, the British Boy Scouts, which may be instructive in
pointing out how the chain of authority, based as it is on human
sympathy, may be made to run from the President to his
smallest comrade, and back again.

Finally, speaking as a soldier and as one who has the

highest admiration of the self-sacrificing qualities of a true
soldier, and yet as one who has seen no little of the misery and
intolerable injustice of war, I say that I am infinitely happy if it
has been my lot to prevent a noble movement from being
degraded into mere military experiment. It is the duty of every
man to attempt to have done with war, if for no other reason
than this, that war kills not only some of the best men, the men
the world requires in peace, and the world wants them alive not
dead ; but no less that war destroys not only the men in the
field but it starves, out of existence thousands of the tender
young at home by the depletion of the nation's capital
squandered in its operations.

And I hold it as criminal as, profane to allow a boy or girl

to be brought up in the belief that war is inevitable a part of the
Divine Ordinance ; for he who believes it so will, consciously
or unconsciously, make it so ; and in so doing he can have no
true belief in the mercy of God.

8
 THE BOY KNIGHT
====================

CHAPTER I.

SCOUTING, CIVIL AND MILITARY.

IN dealing with this subject and to give a clear statement

of my views in respect to it, it will be necessary to refer to the
causes which have contributed in bringing about the present
mental confusion.

There can be little doubt but that we find ourselves

to-day living in a reactionary period. The mid-Victorian
writers and politicians, it least on the Liberal side, were
optimists to the end of their nails. They were so certain of
the immediate benefits which were to accrue from
compulsory education, civil service commissions, education
boards, and the rest, that many of them preached, and even
more, believed, that within an appreciably short distance
of time much of the machinery of force which binds society

9
together would become unnecessary. They believed that what
the world required for its renovation was the schoolmaster, and
that with the advent of this now usually amiable person, order,
discipline, true patriotism widening out to universalism, and all
the rest, would speedily follow.

The truth, however, is, and with shame we must admit it,
these things did not happenpossibly because we had not
arrived at the true methods in education, or because we had
mixed with education some totally irrelevant questions.

With an expensive system of education, yet not generous

enough for our wants, and a machine for its working agreeably
designed to attempt to satisfy at one and the same time two
distinct and opposing principles, supported by a people whose
interest in scholarship was much less marked than their
enthusiasm in pseudo-sport, the result was, as might have been
anticipated, failure to inculcate that important element in all
true education, namely discipline. It failed to do many other
things also, for example to induce a sense of respect for
themselves and their families which is the foundation of all true
patriotism, but for the present purpose we need not go beyond
the question of discipline.

When one fine day it was borne in upon the forty odd
millions of our compatriots that instead of, as they imagined,
rearing a race of orderly citizens, they were confronted with
the fact that a considerable proportion of the rising
generation were devoid of all respect either for seniority or for

10
themselves ; that the more enterprising of them developed into
the unjustly condemned hooligan, and those with less vitality
successfully maintained an attitude of passive resistance to
authority, there was a general call for more discipline. Now this
was a little rough on the schoolmaster, who after all had
maintained excellent authority within his sphere of influence,
and it was only outside it and beyond it that this irreverent
spirit prevail. It was also hard on him because he had not been
encouraged to do more than inculcate the inestimably refining
influence of arithmetic, and was left to depend on its effect
rather than on the setting up of some more inspiring enthusiasm
than prosperity attained by a knowledge of double entry. It was
clear, however, that in every class and in every sect, religious
or political, a feeling had arisen that more discipline was
required.

Then came the opportunity of the militarist, for if you can

say no other thing of a soldier, and there are many good things
to be said of him, at least he shows respect for authority,
because if he does not he will soon find himself in the cells.

It was clearly the opportunity of the militarist, and one

which he did not neglect. Many other contributory causes also
there were. The Boer war had shown us by means of telegrams
and other disillusioning inventions that one Englishman was
not equal to dealing with three Boers and to lick 'em all three
in the classic words of the song. John Bull as depicted is fat,
and clad in a dress which might be adopted by an imaginative

11
and aspiring grocer if he desired to masquerade as an early
Georgian farmer ; but neither his figure nor his dress is exactly
suitable to campaigning on the frontiersand so it was found.
It was also discovered by the militarist, and this was really a
great achievement on his part, that the patriotism of the music
hall was by no means a fair gauge of the desire of the people to
experience the discomforts and dangers of war, and that it was
not infrequently the very man who most loudly shouted for the
flag, who was the last to wish to march under it, even if it were
only a volunteer one. Therefore the militarist pronounced for
compulsory military service or training, and the demand for
this was more especially emphasised when a distinguished
general publicly declared that not only was an Englishman not
equal to one dirty Frenchman and two Portugee, but that
even in defending his country, as he said, it would be necessary
to oppose one German by no less than six Britons.

It was, however, on the disciplinary side of the argument

that the militarist depended, because even in our electorate
there is a limit to credulity ; and he made a point of the fact that
only by military training could we become an orderly, a
patriotic, and a handy, people. This enthusiast said more than
this, for he pointed out that if you offered your boys and young
men to the care of the drill sergeant for two years, this latter
professor would not only train and mould their bodies, but
would inspire them with all those qualities which make for
success in life, and incidentally for an invincible and imperial
race.

12
 It was a truly noble ideal, but unfortunately just about this
time appeared some statistics respecting the ever-increasing
body of unemployed and unemployables in this happy land of
ours, which showed very, clearly that of these latter victims of
our enlightened, institutions, no less than fifty per centum were
old soldiers. These facts hardly bore out the contention of the
militarist ; so naturally he ignored them.

But in the middle of the controversy appeared a work

called Scouting for Boys. by Sir Robert Baden-Powell,
which advocated a really inspiring system of boy training,
which seemed capable of doing for the young what in the past
was done for men ; namely, to offer them an object in life,
coloured by the hint of adventure, imbued with the spirit of
chivalry, and certain, if adopted, to supplement in the play
hours the educational work of the schoolmaster at his desk. It
created a freemasonry for the young as inspiring as a crusade,
and by the fact that it caused the boy to realise his
responsibilities to his neighbours and the world, brought into
being the very binding force for the nation which some of us
had for so long failed to observe. Anyone who understood boy
nature, who still possessed the heart of a boy, might have
predicted the success of the movement on first reading the
manual ; but, alas! either it was not read by serious
educationalistsor else they had forgotten their own youth !

While the young clamoured for enrolment, nay

enrolled themselvesfor it is one of the interesting
things in this scheme, that it is a reform in education

13
demanded by the boys themselvesthe venerable seniors
regarded it merely as a game, or as a new form of militarism. It
was certainly not a game, for, if so, every great democratic
upheaval is a game ; and it was not an army in formation,
because by its oath and law it is far wider than the mere
village-pumpism of racial antagonism ; for does it not say that
a Scout must be a friend to all, and a brother to every other
Scout ? And it definitely does say that public responsibilities
must be recognised, for the young Scout-knight declares on his
honour that he will help others whatever it costs him. At any
rate the movement was neglected by those who should have
recognised its potentiality for good or for evil.

On the other-hand, while the educationalists and

politicians were neglecting this work, the militarists who had
made no appreciable success of their crusade in favour of
universal military, training, wisely saw that by this flourishing
organisation they might arrive at their aims under the cloak of
Peace Scouting. Perhaps I am doing an injustice to them in
saying that they realised so much ; rather, perhaps, they did not
appreciate the wide import of this work, and, like the
educationalists, saw only the superficial military exterior of it,
and jumped to the conclusion that here was at their hand a new
cadet army. From my personal intercourse with some of the
leaders I may acquit them from the reproach of any very deep
design ; they did as they not unusually do ; saw the externals
only, and troubled to look no deeper down.

14
 However that may be, the Council of the B.P. Movement,
as soon as General Baden-Powell had been persuaded to have a
Council at all, was almost entirely recruited from ex-generals
or colonels, and among them three such eminent Peace
Scouts as are Lord Roberts, Lord Charles Beresford, and
General Elles, all of whom are leading members of the
National Service League. In fact it became a military cabal
controlling a great educational movement.

Now even if there were no other reasons to deplore this,

there is one which can hardly be set aside.

It is reasonably obvious that officers who have spent the

best years of their lives abroad or in garrison towns in
England have not a very great experience in the delicate social
and religious divisions which prevail in this country. It is not
conceivable that the ordinary retired soldier could be capable,
however well intentioned, of directing a movement in which
many and great questions touching on education, instruction,
religion, and political economy are involved. Moreover, the
direction of such a work as the Boy Scout Movement
demands especial care in its whole course, but more
especially at its initiation. It is a democratic enterprise, and
therefore arising from below ; consequently the regularisation
of the scheme requires the most delicate handling. It touches
on the vested interests of many and powerful societies and sects ;
therefore there are rocks to steer between which only can

15
be negotiated by those possessed of a very intimate knowledge
of the feelings inspiring these bodies. It possesses possibilities
of corruption which here need not be alluded to, but
nevertheless are pretty obvious to the man of the world. It is
certain, therefore, that a movement which must affect a large
proportion of the next generation is, in a way, dangerous in the
ratio of its promise ; I have no hesitation in saying it can make
or mar our country. It is with no disrespect to the officers who
form part of General Baden-Powell's council that I affirm that
this is a work beyond their powers.

We have seen that this scheme is now weighted very

considerably on the side of militarism. Let us now consider
how this affects it.

The text-book of the scheme, is Scouting for Boys.

This work is one the underlying principles of which are
somewhat delicately poised between militarism and the pacific
ideal. It would be easy to quote passages which advocate
man-hunting as the highest kind of sport, and killing as the play
of the gods. On the other hand the principles running through
the Scout oath and law, nay, pervading most of the chapters,
inspire humanitarianism, chivalry, public spirit, and that nobler
patriotism which realises that we cannot do better than follow
the highest traditions of our own race, while at the same time
respecting those of other peoples and other races. The author of
it did not see clearly where he was going. When, however, such
a scheme is weighted on one side, there is a certainty that it
will follow the direction to which it inclines. Clearly this has

16
been done B.P. Scouts take part in army manuvres, B.P.
Scouts have maxim guns, B.P. Scouts are informed by their
leader that we all know for whom we are preparing ; they, in
fact, are not launched into this world without prejudice, but are
rather led to believe that war is an inevitable condition of life,
and racial battles will continue until doomsday:

Even more fatal to the character of the race than the

outward carrying of rifles and the impression made that war is
inevitable, is another, and more subtle influence consequent on
the military control of the Baden-Powell Association. This
requires some little explanation. It will be obvious to any
person cognisant of organisations dealing with boys, that
authority must be gained in one way or another, either by
official power, or as that which is secured by personal
influence, the human equation. Now the Boy Scout movement
has not behind it either military law or even the authority
which is exercised by the masters in the government schools. It
is, therefore, dependent, in a peculiar manner, on personal
influence from the top to the bottom, from the President or
Chief Scout to the smallest comrade. Just as the scoutmaster to
be effective in his sphere must obtain a personal influence over
his boys, so must the commissioner obtain personal influence
over the scoutmasters in his district. To gain the confidence of
a body of men so varied in education, rank, and circumstance
as are the scoutmasters, requires the constant and persistent
work of a commissioner who possesses an expert knowledge in
social and political questions, as well as a very wide human
sympathy.

17
 That the military commissioners are usually totally
unfitted for this work is clear enough, and their training would
as a rule make them in efficient in it, even if they were able to
give their whole time to it.

Then what has happened in the Baden-Powell movement

is this. Failing the personal influence on which the whole
structure depends, there has been a tendency to resort to a
system of bluff, reinforced by bribes, and even supported by
threats, as morally deleterious as any system can be.
Depending largely on the ingenuousness of the young
scoutmaster's loyalty to a man and not to a principle is insisted
on. Then to reinforce authority is introduced the system of
bribes, King's badges, popular ftes, and the ordinary methods
of popular advertisement. Further more, when all else fails,
comes the threat, namely, the withdrawal of the warrant from
the scoutmaster. This, to the ordinary person, would, not seem
a serious punishment, but it is really a more serious question
than it seems. The young schoolmaster who publicly and
without an opportunity of defence has his warrant withdrawn,
naturally in his restricted circle falls under suspicion. There
must really... say the tatlers 9, be something in this, or such
an action would never have been taken. He loses his pupils
and may be ruined. This is no hypothetical case ; many such
have come within my knowledge ; and the effect will be that a
terrorism may be created which would be as un-English as it
would be detrimental to the movement as a whole, and to the
character of the men and boys concerned.

9
An obsolete word meaning gossips.

18
 On every ground, therefore, the military system must be
fought, both as directing the scout's mind towards racial
animosity, and in another way degrading his character and
destroying his independence.

It is clear from what has been said above that we have in

our hands a great power, a force for good, in this enthusiasm of
the young for education which we call Scouting. If we direct it
wisely we can include in this voluntary school practically all
the boys of England, and even the girls. If we direct it,
consciously or unconsciously, towards militarism, we touch but
a minority of the young, those in fact who might be cadets in
any of the regiments. We wish to include all the boys, even
those whose fathers are most opposed to war, and can do this
only by regaining the confidence of the public, lost by the
military methods and control adopted by General
Baden-Powell and his associates.

Consequently, seeing that the control of the

Baden-Powell's Boy Scouts has inevitably fallen into the
hands of his military advisers, in no spirit of opposition
(for a scout is a brother to every other scout, as long as he
keeps the scout law) we have formed a new body called
the National Peace Scouts. While we follow the text-book
and adhere to the oath and law, to prevent any possibility
of militarism intervening, we have placed on our council
men who are leaders in education and in civil work among
the young. We have obtained the active support and
assistance of such organisations as the International Peace
Council, the National League of Workers with Boys, the

19
National Hygienic League, and the Moral Education League,
and are in negotiation with most of the leading societies for the
training of the young, the Sunday School Union, etc.

That an organisation in which the non-military element

prevails is popular may be proved by the letters from all over
England which are received daily welcoming this movement,
and by the fact that troops are hourly leaving the Baden-Powell
organisation to join the National Peace Scouts.

My own hope at any rate is that eventually the organisers

of the Baden-Powell Scouts will realise that they have made a
false step, when there will be no reason why a substantial
federation may not be effected. Until then, however, the
National Peace Scouts will continue to set before the boys the
ideal of a patriotism which contains in it no spark of racial
animosity, of a chivalry which has for its aims, as all true
chivalry has, relief from oppression, protection of the weak,
and defence of the suffering ; and will encourage adventure in
the saving of life rather than in the destroying of it.

20
 CHAPTER II.

THE SCOUT KNIGHTHOOD.

(Address at Birmingham, November 3, 1909)

IN speaking to you to-night on a movement which has

had a quite phenomenal success in the past, I wish to dwell
as little on this success as need be.

It is true that within the shortest period I should think

in the history of the world, a large proportion of the boys of a
country have banded themselves into a great brotherhood, the
object of which is to create a great moral and educational
reform.

I might dwell on the peculiarity of the enthusiasm with

which our young comrades are obviously inspired, an
enthusiasm so real and general as to surprise even the
passers-by, who meet them on their treks, and who see them in
their homes.

But I do not dwell on numbers only, because evil

things, as well as good things attract, evil more than
good, alas ! sometimes. I wish in this connection only to point
out why, in my humble estimation, the scheme attracts, and

21
where lies the attraction. This may be summed up in a few
words. In a dull and somewhat grey centurydull and grey for
all those who cannot see deeply into things, but extraordinarily
coloured and interesting to those like your great philosopher of
Birmingham, Sir Oliver Lodge, who dogrey and dull to the
boy a dweller in a uniformal street of dull grey housesdull
and grey to the ten or twelve hours a day worker at perhaps
uncongenial labour duller and more grey to he who would be
a worker but cannot obtain work. And to the boy brought up in
such circumstances, the scout movement presents him with a
possibility of excitement, of adventure, of scope for his
imagination, probably inconceivable to him before, Every
young animal of the human race lives in imagination in a world
of action, of adventure, of colour. The little gutter snipe
brought up in a slumand this designation is one of honour
from me rather than one of contemptbuilds in his alley mud
castles of slime and in imagination defends them with knightly
prowess. The seaside shows the trend of the thoughts of the
youngsand-castles of glory furnished with a light which
never dwelt on earth, which belongs, as indeed I fully believe,
to the kingdom of heaven.
Trailing clouds of glory do they come
From God who is their home. 10

Then, gentlemen, the great faculty of pretending

belongs to the childto the youngthe inestimable
privilege of enthusiasm belongs to the young, the noble
vocation of self-sacrifice especially belongs to the young. The

10
Here Vane quotes William Wordsworth, Intimations of Immortality; Our
birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; The soul that rises with us, our life's
star, Hath had elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar; Not in entire
forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we
come from God, who is our home.

22
young crave to be heroes, martyrs, manly saints ; they have for
long asked, to be such, and the reply of the schoolmaster has
been, No, you must be respectable grocers of the twentieth
century, possessing a vote which you will regularly record, for
the Conservative or the Liberal Candidate. The child who
cried out to be a knight-errant, to be a crusader, to be
something active and coloured, was fed with instruction and
told that he must be a respectable citizen with a bias either
towards Tariff Reform 11 or the Manchester school 12.

It comes to this, then ; we have not known how to deal

with the child mind. I have very good authority for saying this,
for during the last month I have been in touch with some of the
more eminent persons in the field of education, and in human
contact with many hundreds of boys and girls. And I claim this,
that if I know nothing else, I understand the heart of the child.
By a stroke of genius, one of those which even illumine the
centuries, a scheme was propounded which struck fireit
interpreted the aspirations of childhood and suggested their
direction. It was realised that the boyand the girl alsolives
in an earlier century than ours, say the fifteenth or sixteenth
centuries, and that to get what is best from them you must
appeal to the highest ideals of the century in which they live.
Knight-errantry was the highest of these, so, in the form of
modern scoutism, was placed before the youth of the
countryknight-errantry in khaki, and attractive khaki,
chivalry in short trousers. It has succeeded ; therefore the
11
The Tariff Reform League (TRL) was a pressure group formed in 1903 to
protest against 'unfair' foreign imports and to advocate Imperial Preference
to protect British industry from foreign competition. It was well funded and
included politicians, intellectuals and businessmen, and was popular with
the grassroots of the Conservative Party. By 1914 it had approximately
250,000 members. It is associated with the national campaign of Joseph
Chamberlain, the most outspoken supporter of Tariff Reform.
12
The Manchester School was the term British politician Benjamin
Disraeli used to refer to the 19th Century free trade movement in Great
Britain. The movement had its roots in the Anti-Corn Law League (ACLL)
of Richard Cobden and John Bright, headquartered in Newall's Buildings in
Manchester, UK.
23
numbers. The enthusiasm is consequent on the appreciation of
the needs, nay, the demands of the young.

Now let us see what this new chivalry means. And before
doing so, let us enquire what claim we have to be, not war
scouts but peace scouts. Now I, as a humble politician, have
enquired into this matter somewhat carefully, and have gauged
the opinion not of one class or sect, but of all classes and sects,
in our country. I found that everywhere, in every sect or class,
there was a suspicionnay a certitudethat the young were
being brought up without a true sense of discipline. I have no
hesitation in saying that this was the view of all the classes and
sects in the community, from my friends the Quakers to my
friends the Roman Catholics.

Now, gentlemen, this feeling was one which the enemy

depended on, the enemy being the militarist party. They said
that only by military discipline and compulsory military
training could the young of our country be brought into line,
into realising their responsibilities as citizensas well as those
privileges derived from citizenship. That they were wrong was
obvious, for alas ! I find that five out of every ten of the men
who ask me to give my pence to them are soldiers ; so if
military training was what was required, it seems rather futile
in effect.

Then this scheme of civil training in discipline was

invented, this youthful knight-errantry, this positive
sacrifice for the public good, for it carried with it the
spirit of adventure which they craved, and the colour

24
which they loved. It succeeded beyond all conception, for it
came from another place and a brighter day, and bore with it
the light of other spheres. It appealed to the imagination of the
young as it indeed appeals to me and to you, Scoutmasters,
also ; for if it did not would you sacrifice your time and your
work for this cause? It appealed to the young, and through
them to you, because it has been realised that what we wanted
was something great to do or to aspire to doing. It was found
that scouting meant becoming strong to enable us to help the
weak, becoming observant to discover in what way our help
was required, living in such a manner as to show to the world
that a new order of manhood had arisen, where simple habits
harmonise with great ideals, and the love of the young may by
its ingenuousness and its purity inspire the old to acts of
noblest sacrifice. And the child-knight, the Scout, will, without
knowing it, be very near and dear to Christ, for he is here not to
destroy but to help to build the Temple not to raise itthat he
is, it is true, hardening his body, strengthening his mind ; but at
the same time keeping his young heart tender. God save the
King and God keep the hearts of the young tender and true.

25
 CHAPTER III.

THE SCOUT MOVEMENT IN EDUCATION

(From The Daily Telegraph.)

EVERYWHERE during the summer holidays we witness

small and picturesquely-dressed youngsters hunting in couples,
in patrols, or in troops. Nay, we see them in our town life also,
apparently scouting the streets. Their intentness, their
whole-hearted devotion to the business, is both engaging and in
these day of slackness, unusual. As it is pretty certain that I
shall see them more frequently still as the summer progresses,
it may be well to inquire what it is they are doing, and how
they are employed ? I notice that this is very little understood,
even by those who pass them every day.

In the first instance, it may be as well to say that it is no

game our little men are engaged in, even though they
themselves may think it is, not even the delightful sport of
pretending, which so much fascinated us years ago, nor are
they a part of an army of potential Territorials.

What it really is, is a school, a novel and

open-air school, the curriculum which is applied in a
scientific and sympathetic manner to suit the taste of

26
the young. For the scouting we all see, the play, the hunting,
the sport is, in fact, the veneer of the thing, the attractive part ;
but its essence is moral, physical, and intellectual training of a
very complete kind. Let us see how his is shown.

MORAL SIDE OF THE TRAINING.

It is a commonplace to-day to hear that the young are

lacking in discipline, and undoubtedly this is true, especially in
our own country. Apparently the educational system has not
kept pace with the requirements of the age in this respect, for it
is not less discipline we require as civilisation becomes more
complex, but moreand this truth should be written on every
school wall. And how, indeed, can we expect much discipline
when the majority of our children are dismissed from all
school-training at the most impressionable age, between twelve
and fourteen, too often to spend the greater part of their
working hours in the streets of a city. When some of us, for our
own sins, have to try predatory youth, are we not struck with
the fact that very generally the young faces of our prisoners
seem honest enough, and sometimes are we not ashamed? As a
rule, these boys are in the dock just because they are boys and
adventurous, and have not had the advantage of the discipline
of school or home.

Now, it is the recognition of the adventurous

nature of the boy, who is by nature a spooring,
hunting, trailing animal, which is at the bottom of the

27
scout movement. He is encouraged to do all these things, and
to do them well, but he is taught to hunt to find opportunities of
assisting others, of finding adventure in saving and protecting
the weak. Let us see what is the solemn oath which the boy
takes and the law which he observes :

I. To serve God, the King, and my Country.

II. To help others, whatever it may cost me.
III. To trust the word of my brother Scout.
IV. To respect my Parents.
V. To be a friend to all, and to be a brother to every other Scout.
VI. To be courteous to all.
VII. To be kind to animals and to save them from pain.
VIII. To take trouble as pleasure with a trusting grace.
IX. To be thrifty, but never mean.

I think it will be admitted that this is a pretty

comprehensive law of life from the moral standpoint.

In the training of the boy in the text book the greatest

attention is paid to physical development. He is taught hygiene,
and has to go through a course of physical drill ; nothing, in
fact, is neglected to induce him to get the best out of his body,
and, naturally, the manuvres he performs in the country
benefit him not a little.

28
 THE INTELLECTUAL SIDE.

From the very first moment of his novitiate as a scout he

is encouraged to observe and to deduce from observation. This
is fundamental, of course, to all good scouting. You may notice
two little men marching down the street, and their alertness
may attract you. If you inquire what they are doing, you will
find, perhaps, they have been sent to discover if there are any
cripples requiring assistance or any blind men needing guiding.
Or it may be they are searching for fire alarms to report where
they are or the police or ambulance stations. Or they may
merely have been sent to observe any peculiarities in the street
and to make a report on these, or for practice purposes the
articles in the shop windows to be noticed and reported on viva
voce. Everything is done with the object of sharpening the
boy's intelligence, powers of observation, and sense of
responsibility. But the training is much wider than this, for, in
fact, the handicrafts, the arts and sciences are brought in to
make him a good scout. To enable the scouting, human boy to
find his way at night, he is taught something of the mystic
movements of the stars ; to be a hunter he must know how to
build huts, bridges, and even boats, to light fires and to cook,
he learns of trees, of plants, of the birds and beasts of the field,
and he studies field-sketching to enable him to report on the
country.

Again, he is especially instructed in ambulance

work, life-saving, fire-brigade work, and the way
to stop runaway horses, for is he not hunter to

29
find means of helping others, a little knight-errant of to-day?

Then he is encouraged to learn history for he must know

what his predecessors, the knights and pioneers of past times,
have done, and to learn by their example. And always his eyes
are kept busy and the little brain behind his eyes at work to
direct his hands to works of usefulness.

As an auxiliary to education, it has this great advantage

it finds out what the boys' inclinations are. We all know that in
our schools, with their classes composed of twenty to even
sixty boys, it is almost impossible for the master to discover the
individual tastes of each of the students. This discovers itself,
as the French say, in scouting.

Then, there is no system imposed by the authorities ; it

has been, on the contrary, adopted with enthusiasm by the boys
themselves, a voluntary system of education in which the
student co-operates with the master.

Now, therefore, we have a scheme, popular, unique, and

religious, not a military scheme, but one of civil training ; we have
the boys ready to learn (250,000 are already enrolled), but what
we have not yet got are the leaders. We have a unique system and
a unique opportunity of national improvement, and all that we
require now is for the elders to come forward and help us to
guide this great work. I most sincerely hope that all those who
have done me the honour to read this article will go further,
and study the system adopted by the National Peace Scouts.

30
 CHAPTER IV.

ORGANIZATION.
(Address at Putney, October 30, 1909.)

As we are engaged in an organisation of almost unique

interest, because it grew of itself, it may be worth while to
look into the general principle of organisation and see on what
it is based. I have said that this is a unique example of
organisation, and I am not wrong in saying so if you will
consider its width, not merely in numbers and internationality,
but unique in this that it is immensely wide in its aims, aims
which if understood mean a renaissance of the world, the
education or self-tuition of the future generation in the essential
binding force of the world which is only arrived at by human
sympathy combined with a clear knowledge of the limit of
individual authority.

Therefore this Boy Scout movement is clearly interesting

from these two sides, of numerical power and of the width of
its aims. But it has another claim to especial attention. It is
perhaps the only wide movement, excepting the British Empire,
even now in the process of formulation, which sprung up from
the bottom, grew like a mushroom in a short period in time

31
in a few monthswhich, as it so grew, had little cohesion, and
especially lacked that certain necessary uniformity, without
which tests, standards, or ranks, even, have no appreciable
value in the world.

Such a promising, such a really noble growth as this of

our brotherhood, an enthusiasm of the young for a system of
higher and nobler living and education, grew from below.
Founded, and rightly, in the enthusiastic aspirations towards a
nobler life of the young themselves, a spark had to be struck to
set this enthusiasm on fire, and that spark was clearly struck in
Scouting for Boys. Then we go back to thisWho caused
the spark to be struck which has set this noble fire to flame?
Who is the fountain of honour and authority, from whom
comes all human authority and system? Most of us will
answerGod. If we admit this, then we have arrived at the
half-way house to understanding organisation.

Every system must have force, mental or physical, behind

it, to give it authority. Go as you please leads nowhere, or to
the land of the lost, because with such to even strive after a
good end men will be tumbling over each other in confusion.
The fate of all nations demonstrates this, and more especially
the fate of the Holy Roman Empire, which was, perhaps, the
greatest project of unity under God, and it failed for lack of
organisation and force.

Then we arrive at this, that to be successful

every organisation must have authority, and the
authority must be known and recognised. That

32
which must connect God, through the King, the President, the
Patrol leader, in all the long chain, in intimate relationship with
the smallest comrade in the brotherhood, that which must
connect it up, is human sympathy. The authority, which is
sympathy, must not break down anywhere, and to be perfect
must be equally strong at all parts.

Now, reverting to our own affairs. It will be seen as this

movement sprang up from the scout who formed a patrol, and
the patrol which joined other patrols to form a troop and
elected a Scoutmaster, at some time it was necessary to create,
to place all these loose-end patrols and troops into a true
fraternity, first of all committees to unify the work of troops
and councils and secondly Commissioners had to be appointed
to formulate the work of committees. The great difficulty,
however, the chief cause of misunderstanding in the
organisation of, say, our London district was this, that some
times units of committees were formed without councils, and
often councils were formed without committees. Consequently
there was no established unit of authority. It has been admitted,
and rightly, that the local authoritythe body which has the
transmitted spark of Divine Power in itshall be the
committee in its sphere of influence, the local area. This unit,
call it council or committee, was to be the supreme authority,
and to have a secretary, who acted as its mouthpiece, and was
to it in the position of inspector, organiser, and generally
the individual keeping up the touch between the
scoutmaster on the one side and the superior authority on the

33
other. But as the areas were, as I have said, varying in every
part, even in London, and in some parts totally ineffective, it
was clear that this could not be a final organisation. Because in
one place it might be that headquarters was dealing as a unit
with three or four little troops, even with patrols and scouts as
units ; in another it was dealing with great areas representing
many hundreds of troops. The result was that it was much to
the advantage of those troops or even patrols, not to organise, if
they were inefficient, than to organise. The consequence was
that monkey patrols arose, men obtained warrants who were
clearly and obviously unfitted to have charge of boys, and the
whole of our great movement was discredited, and justly
discredited in the eyes of the public. But fortunately the work
had behind it the Spirit of God ; it had the advantage of being
in sympathy with the Zeit Geist 13, and in spite of these
disadvantages it had to proceed towards its goal by the force of
nature which had brought it into being. Recognising its great
potentiality some of us came into the movement and were
placed in the somewhat difficult position, of co-ordinating and
formulating what was, in its inspiration, a purely democratic
and go-as-you-please movement, or, rather, it was a democratic
movement occasionally and spasmodically controlled by
autocratic authority. The chain of authority was broken at the
committee or the troop, and there was clearly a hiatus between
the committee and the chief authority.

It may be an unpleasant thing to say here, but

it must be said if we are to be understood, that if
there is lack of discipline in the adult there must of

13
The general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era. German
which literally translated is Time-Spirit.

34
necessity be lack of discipline in the scout. It is a long way
from here, but I remember talking with a Scoutmaster who was
persuaded that his boys should show the completest submission
to himself, but he said he did not see the necessity for any other
authority. He went on to say that if the Scoutmaster was clever
the boys would stick to him, and if he were not they would go
away. In a mild manner I pointed out to him that the
Scoutmaster might be clever, attractive, and thoroughly
immoraland he has not replied to me up to this moment. Of
course, it is to attain to uniformity in the standard, efficiency,
and morality in the Scoutmaster, if for no other reason, that the
necessity of supervision comes in.

Now as to discipline, that much-abused word, I desire to

say a word. Discipline is the life-blood of organisation, the
vital force which circulates through the parts of the system and
which gives force to it. Too often systems are conceived
without thought of discipline, and they are no more than dead
bodies, mere semblances of vitality without vital force. On the
other hand, too often discipline, or, rather, a false idea of it,
paralyses and crystallises human energy and human vitality by
making the unit into a machine depending on the word of a
superior. And again, some see in discipline merely the outward
form of it, mistaking the shell for the interior and being
satisfied with the shell. The worst disciplined regiment in
South Africa was, for example, one of the best drilled ones.

The truth, therefore, is that discipline lies in this, the appreciation, the

35
understanding of the chain of authority, the realisation of the
Scout's place when the drum beats 14. For every man to know
his place and to do his best in conjunction with his comrades
when the world demands his services. To pull on the rope
together and in a manner which utilises his power to the best
advantage in the service of mankind.

Now to learn this needs sympathy, training, care and

intelligence, not only on the part of the Scout, but equally so on
the part of officer. We must have just enough formality and,
not too much, there must be substance without show. If you
can make your scouts know their place and the place where
they are most useful, you have arrived at all that can be taught
in discipline. The commander is the best and must powerful
one who gives the fewest orders. The man who gives many
orders condemns himself, for he has not inspired his men with
discipline or taught them his purpose. He is fussy because he
has been idle, he orders men about because he has been stupid.
The commander also who does not realise that authority is not
an honour for him, but an additional burden imposed on him, is
unworthy of ruling.

To go back to organisation generally, the same principle

is found. If each unit realises its own sphere of action, there is
no trouble, the trouble comes in when it does not. But much
nonsense is talked about organisation as if it were something
apart. A man is said to be a good organiser as we might say he
is a good arithmetician. This is clearly not so. A man is a

14
Here Vane may be alluding to a Poem quoted by Sir Walter Scott;
When the drum beats, make ready;
When the fife plays, march away
To the roll-call, to the roll-call, to the roll-call,
Before the break of day.
These lines are quoted from;
Scott, Sir Walter. The Journal of Sir Walter Scott From the Original
Manuscript at Abbotsford Edinburgh, David Douglas1890. Entry of 2nd
March 1826.

36
good organiser if he has human sympathy and through it a
knowledge of men. No organiser can organise by himself,
beyond the mere rule of thumb of placing the units in their
places. The art in it is not the men numbering of the units, but
the placing of the men in the order of their varied powers. This
can only be done by a knowledge of human nature and
by sympathy. Moreover, even after you have placed them in
correct order you have another difficulty which without
sympathy you cannot overcome. This is to get the best work
out of each and to do this you have to gain their hearts. And
this again can not be done by rule of thumb. Therefore, in this
great Scout movement, dependent not on military law,
dependent not on the authority of the civil administrator,
dependent alone as to the effectiveness of its chain on the
personal equation, I cannot urge you too much to look to your
influence over your scouts for its value, as also I urge you who
are Commissioners and Leaders, to acquire your authority over
the Scoutmasters by learning intimately to know your men and
thereby gaining that influence with them which, if you once
obtain, will be even a more powerful authority than that
mechanically erected by judges or generals.

37
 CHAPTER V.

OF THE DUTY OF THE BRITISH BOY SCOUT.

To my Comrades,
In this confraternity of the Scouts in which we have all
entered there is much more than drill and pledges, there is real
work to be done, service to your fellows, the constant demand
on your alertness to serve mankind. We have joined an Order
of Chivalry, not a mere decoration of our breasts, as most of
them are to-day, but a working Order which the uniform your
wear, and the white lily you sport, are the outward signs.

In entering into this brotherhood of Peace Scouts we have

accepted great responsibilities, even to revive chivalry and to
make it something real. We have therefore a noble vocation,
direct from the Knights of old, from Bayard 15, who was
without fear and without reproach, from Sir Philip Syndey 16, a
perfect Knight, from all the great men who by their
self-forgetting actions have made our old Country and the
World a nobler dwelling place. These great men failed in their
enterprise, though they left great names behind them, because in
each age there were too few of them imbued with the true spirit,
and the common or ordinary man only looked on while these

15
Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (14761524) was a French soldier,
generally known as the Chevalier de Bayard. Throughout the centuries since
his death, he has been known as the knight without fear and beyond
reproach, (le chevalier sans peur et sans reproche). He was not only
admired by his countrymen but by such as Henry VIII of England.
16
Syndey - a typo (typographical error) for Sidney; Sir Philip Sidney
(1554-1586). Following his death by an unhealed musket-shot wound
gained in action at the Battle of Zutphen (Dutch Protestants aided by the
English fighting the Spanish overlords), it is said that Londoners, who came
out to see the funeral progression, cried out Farewell, the worthiest knight
that lived. A story about Sir Philip Sidney (intended as an illustration of his
noble character) is that as he lay dying he gave his water-bottle to another
wounded soldier, saying, Thy need is greater than mine.

38
great men worked; just as in a smaller way men now look on at
football matches. We have now a better chance than these, we
of the Scouts, because we are not a few workers fighting in a
world of indifference, we are a great Army of Knights, young
and old, bound to carry on a great campaign against meanness,
oppression and wrong.

I knowno one can better know than I dothat you are

ready to fight against meanness and wrong, for is it not true
that you, my comrades, when you thought I was wronged,
rallied nobly and at once to my side. As you have been loyal,
not to me, but to right, so, God helping me, I will be loyal to
you.

And this is a lesson for all of us to learn. Loyalty does not

mean only the following of a man or a flag, but it means to be
respected : that the man, or the flag, must represent a noble
ideal, and that he is followed for the ideal and not for himself.
It also means that as the smallest of my Scouts is loyal to me
and to the ideal, so equally it is incumbent on me to be loyal to
my comrade and to the enthusiasm which inspires his soul.

How then can we carry out this great work we have

undertaken ?

We join our patrols, our companies, our divisions, and

we learn, in the first instance, our place in the ranks of the
Peace Scouts. To carry out our vocation we must not only do
that and to leave to others the thinking, we must think
ourselves, think out what is right and what is wrong. We

39
have no use for unthinking Scouts, machine-made boys or men.
To avoid becoming mere machines we must learn everything
which comes our way to be learnt. We march out through a
dull looking street, the dullness of a street is often in ourselves,
not in the street, because behind the window panes of each
dwelling house there are human hearts beating in harmony with
our own and in exactly the same way as those which beat in
our breasts whether we be our noble brotherhood, whether we
be peers or knights, or tinkers or tailors. They all want the same
thing, a better world, though they do not always know how to
express their desires ; it is for us, the active workers, the Peace
Scouts, to see not only into their open doors, but a little into
their hearts as well, and to discover not what divides us from
them, but what joins us to them. We are Scouts and we can find
out.

A simple way, enjoined by your Oath and Law, is this.

You see an old woman hesitating at a crowing. She hesitates
for some reason, possibly because she is afraid to venture. You
come in, not shyly, not awkardly 17, but deliberately, and say,
can I help you, madam? You do not wait, or hesitate, you act,
and between you and that woman is created a feeling of
kindliness which the stupidity of the world cannot destroy, nor
even its wickedness.

You Scout, therefore, learn how to help.

But you also Scout to learn how to trust. By

the work you do, by the experience you gain among
your comrades in the field, in camp, on the march,

17
sic. awkwardly.

40
in the headquarters at your games, by helping lame dogs over
stiles, you soon learn how very much there is in common
between you and even those you least liked at first.

You, as Scouts, approach people differently from the

others. You are of a confraternity bound by a sign and an oath.
You therefore look at things and men from above not from
below. There is a great difference in regarding the world from
above or from below. From underneath you are constantly
brought to see the meaner things, the worse side, the hinder
side of life. You expect evil, you suspect it. In looking at
affairs from a higher plane you see the world in perspective,
you see the people in it in relation to their purposes in the
world as struggling units, but not as contending units. From
this higher point of view you see the world of life as a whole,
and from this standpoint you are able to recognise the
beneficent trend of it. You will not look for evil in your
neighbours, but for the good in them. You will learn to trust
them, and if you trust them you will call but of even the least
worthy the best that is in them. My comrades will, as they learn
to look at the world from a secure place, from a high peak,
from our Brotherhood of Peace Scouts, you will take a noble
survey of life, and learn to trust, and trusting gain influence
over the hearts of men.

To arrive at this attitude, however, no detail to your

work must be neglected. The formal drill, so that you
may know your places and more quickly lend assistance.
You will learn to observe everything your eye meets

41
and to retain what it sees, not only to retain it, however, but to
think out its causes. If a word occurs of which you do not know
the meaning, ask its meaning, scout it out. A statue in the street
or a coat-of-arms on a house, do not be content to vapidly18 see
it, but find out what it means, and why it is there. So in the
country with footprints, spoor, trees, birds, and beasts, learn all
you can, see all you can, compare and criticise all you see and
hear. Take nothing for granted, enquire, ask your Captain, keep
on asking, and retaining the information acquired.

You have a badgea white Florentine lily 19 on a blue

ground. Enquire what this means; learn the history of it. Your
Chaplains have the white lily on a purple ground; ask why
there is a difference. Be never tired of enquiring, and be never
afraid of trusting.

Finally, all that you learn try to keep in some pocket of

your brain, so that at some future time you may be able to use
this information.

Above all remember that we all are joined together in an

active, struggling brotherhood, for the benefit of the world, that
we are knights-errant in fact and in deed, that we are proud of
our uniform as of our vocation, because it is a great one, and that
we belong to a new and active knighthood, or aristocracy,
pledged by our oath and by the strength of our combination to
make our country, and indeed the world, a nobler dwelling
place.

18
This is not a typo, but a seldom-used word. It means casually, or,
insipidly without animation, without spirit.
19
In the Florentine fleur-de-lis (which is based on a plant which is in fact an
Iris and not a Lily), stamens intersect the petals. This heraldic charge is
often known as the Florentine Lily to distinguish it from the conventional
fleur-de-lis. The Lily is an emblem meaning peace and purity, this is re-
inforced by the white colour. The Blue ground symbolises truth and loyalty,
and can denote the sea which connects continents and therefore people
together. The purple ground represents royal majesty, sovereignty, and
justice. The chaplains represent God who is sovereign over all.

42
 CHAPTER VI.

SPECIMEN OF ORGANIZATION IN NATIONAL PEACE SCOUTS.

CONSTITUTION OF BRITISH BOY SCOUTS.

GENERAL COUNCIL.

THE General Council of the B.B.S. is composed in the

first instance of the Commissioners from the various Districts,
and will assemble at least once a year for discussion of the
policy of the movement. The General Council will deal with all
changes in the Constitution.

An Executive Committee is constituted and has full

control over the Administration and all Bye-Laws, Regulations,
etc., and all questions not touching the Constitution.

The President, Chief Scout Commissioner and General

Manager and the present members of the Executive Committee
are appointed by the General Council.

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 The Executive Committee shall not be composed of more
than twelve members.

The General Council will elect a President who will

be the Chief Executive Officer of the Movement and will
preside at the Meetings of the Executive Council.

The-General Council will further elect by co-option an

Educational Sub-Committee composed of leading
Educationalists and representatives nominated by cognate
Societies dealing with the training of youth. The Education
Committee will report to the General Council and act as the
Advisory Committee in all questions relating to the training of
the Scouts within the sphere of Education.

The General Council will appoint either by election from

its own body or co-option from outside a Central Finance
Sub-Committee, whose duties will be to control the Central
Finances, to raise a Central Fund by means of making the
objects of the Movement clear either by public meetings or in
any other suitable manner and by raising in the various towns a
Fund, for the purpose of promoting the interests of the
Movement, assisting poorer troops, and payment of the
expenses of a Central Office.

The members of the Education and Finance Committees

will be members of the General Council.

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 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

The Executive Committee will meet not less often than

monthly, and the duties will be to deal with all questions of
discipline, training, etc., etc., under the constitution and will
have full powers as to all questions of internal discipline not
already dealt with in the Constitution.

The Executive Committee will appoint a Secretary and

Treasurer and other officials who will act in that capacity for
the General Council when assembled.

LOCAL COMMITTEES.

Each District will form its own Local Committee

composed of the Scout masters commanding Companies in
their circle, and which Committee will have power to co-opt on
to it leading local persons interested in the education of the
young.

The Local Committee will furthermore appoint a Finance

Sub-Committee either from its own body or in conjunction
with the leading persons outside it interested in the Movement,
whose duties will be

1. To take charge of the District Finance and equalise

these to the best advantage of the Scheme as a whole.

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 2. To raise a Local Fund for this purpose by means of
stirring up interest in the movement, educating the district
as to its aims, at concerts, and rallies, etc.

The Local Committee will elect a Commissioner for the

District who will be the chief Executive Officer, and he will be
the Officer representing the district at the General Council.

He will hold himself responsible to the General Council

in respect to the carrying out of the Constitution, and to the
President in respect to all questions of discipline and internal
economy.

The Local Committee will be responsible for all

recommendations of the candidates for the appointment of
Scoutmaster within its area. It will require that each
Scoutmaster before appointment shall be recommended as a fit
and proper person to have control of boys by either a Minister
of the Parish in which he lives, or a Magistrate and a leading
citizen of this Parish.

The Local Committee will appoint for its area a

Sub-Committee of Examiners in the various subjects according
to the Code and all recommendations for Badges, etc., will be
forwarded to the Executive Committee duly endorsed by the
Sub-Committee of Examiners.

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 COMPANIES.

The Company shall be composed of four sections of not

less than eight Scouts each under command of a
Non-Commissioned Officer. The Company Commander or
Scoutmaster shall represent his company on the Local
Committee and be responsible for the Scout Training and
discipline within his Company.

He will see that the educational side of the movement be

understood by the parents and friends of the boys and that the
Scouts themselves realise that they form part of a chivalry, the
principles of which are self-improvement both mental and
physical, responsibility in their duties as citizens outside their
own personal interests.

The best Scoutmaster is he who brings what is best and

noblest out of his young comrades, and this may be done in
many ways, perhaps the best of which is through inducing the
sense of collective and individual responsibility and that
honourable and adventurous knight-errantry which compels the
Scout to seek his excitement in finding useful work to perform.
The Scoutmaster will be responsible for all contributions from
the Scouts, and for the supply of uniforms, and he will, within
his command in all matters specially affecting the Company,
act as far as possible with the advice and assistance of a Court
of Honour composed of the Non-Commissioned Officers. It
will be his duty to encourage in his scouts a sense of collective
responsibility for the management and general efficiency of the
Company.

47
Sir Francis Vane with a British Boy Scout Orderly.

Source: Archives of the British Boy Scouts.

 st
Sir Francis Vane and 1 Brixton British Girl Scouts 1910

Sir Francis Vane and the Italian Boy Scouts 1910