(_PENNED BY MR. PUNCH ON BEHALF OF "NOBODY'S BOYS."_)
"We propose soon to take our rescued Street-Arabs for
'A Fortnight's Holiday under Canvas'--_by the sea, if
possible."--Appeal of Mr. J.W.C. Fegan, of the Boys'
Home, Southwark_.
[Illustration]
_Thalatta! Thalatta_! Not XENOPHON'S Greeks, O benevolent Public, but
"Nobody's Boys,"
Wild Arabs of London, by tenderness tamed, at the sight of the sea vent
exuberant joys
In vociferous shoutings! Imagine the rapture of wrecks from the gutter
and waifs from the slum,
When first on their ears falls the jubilant thrill of the sky-soaring
lark, or the wild bee's low hum!
Imagine the pleasure of plunging at will into June's leafy copses of
hazel and lime,
Of scudding through acres of grasses knee-high, and of snuffing the
fragrance of clover and thyme.
But what is all this to the dumb-stricken wonder, swift followed by
outbursts of full-throated glee,
Which fancy can picture, when London's pale outcasts from some grassy
cliff catch first sight of the Sea!
_Thalatta! Thalatta_! There's many a lad who has never before had a
glimpse of the wave;
For these are of those who, from London's dark wastes 'tis the aim of
their leaders to rescue and save.
"Nobody's Boys," the lost waifs of the city, foredoomed, but for aid,
to debasement and crime,
Possible gallows-birds,--they with wan faces late cleansed from the
rookery's hideous grime,
Snatched from the gutter whilst boyhood bears hope with it, gathered and
tended with vigilant care.
Servants of soul-thrift their volunteer champions! Weeds of the slum,
with fresh soil and sweet air,
Grow into grace and fair fruitage. These pariahs, "Southwark Boys,"
strays from the slime-sodden east,
FEGAN takes forth in gay troops to the meadows, in freshness of nature to
frolic and feast,
Climb in the woodlands and plunge in the waters, ramble and scramble
through tangle-hedged lanes,
Fish in the pools with youth's primitive tackle, breathe quickening
vigour through bosoms and brains.
Picture the boys "camping out" on the commons, and gipsying gaily in
tents midst the heather,
Armed with their canvas and blankets and boilers and pannikins well
against hunger and weather.
Picture them--CALLOT'S free brush might have managed it--gathered in
pow-wow around the camp-fire,
Sun-tanned and wind-browned, in picturesque raiment, with wisp of the
wild hop or trail of the briar
Hat-wreathed or button-holed. BURNS should have sung of them;
trim-skirted Muse, with punctilious tastes,
Were not at home with these waifs from the rookery, pastured at large
in free Nature's wild wastes,
Bounding, and breathing fresh air, romping, wrestling, and disciplined
only to cleanness and order.
Otherwise free as the tent-dwelling Arabs, or outlaws of Sherwood, or
bands of the Border.
Picture it! FEGAN'S pink pamphlet _has_ pictured it. Read it, all lovers
of Nature and youth,
All who have care for the wrecks of humanity, all who are moved by the
spirit of ruth.
Ere Spring returns, far Canadian homesteads will house their contingents
of "Nobody's Boys."
Let them take with them kind thoughts of Old England, and memories sweet
of its rare rural joys.
Let them "camp out" once again, by the ocean, and plunge in the billow,
and rove on the sands;
Know the true British brine-whiff by experience. Help, British Public,
their friends' kindly hands.
Good is the work, and the fruit of it excellent; giving poor wastrels a
fair start in life,
Taste of true pleasure, and wholesome enjoyment, aid in endeavour, and
strength for the strife.
What better use for spare cash at this season? Come then, _Punch_
readers, right willingly come!
_Mr. Punch_ knows scarce a cause more deserving, or worthy of aid, than
the Southwark Boys' Home!
_Mem_.--Mr. J.W.C. FEGAN, of the Boys' Home, Southwark, the writer of
the pleasant pamphlet entitled _Camping Out_, makes appeal towards
the expenses of giving "a fortnight's holiday under canvas--_by the
sea, if possible_"--to the waifs and strays in Mr. FEGAN'S Homes.
To that gentleman, and NOT to _Mr. Punch_, subscriptions should be
sent. Remittances may be made to him (by P.O.O., payable at General
Post-Office, or by cheque crossed "London and County Bank") at the
Boys' Home, 95, Southwark Street, London, S.E.
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