enfell told me once that that sermon changed
his whole outlook upon life. He realized that he was a Christian in
name only and not in fact. His religious life was a fraud.
There and then he determined that he must be either an out and out
Christian or honestly renounce Christianity. With his home training
and teachings he could not do the latter. He decided upon a Christian
life. He would do nothing as a doctor that he could not do with a
clear conscience as a Christian gentleman. This he also decided: a
man's religion is something for him to be proud of and any one ashamed
to acknowledge the faith of his fathers is a moral coward, and a moral
coward is more contemptible than a physical coward. He also was
convinced that a boy or man afraid or ashamed to acknowledge his
religious belief could only be a mental weakling.
It was characteristic of Grenfell that whatever he attempted to do he
did with courage and enthusiasm. He never was a slacker. The hospital
to which he was attached was situated in the centre of the worst slums
of London. It occurred to him that he might help the boys, and he
secured a room, fitted it up as a gymnasium, and established a sort of
boys' club, where on Sundays he held a Bible study class and where he
gave the boys physical work on Saturdays. There was no Y.M.C.A. in
England at that time where they could enjoy these privileges. In the
beginning, there were young thugs who attempted to make trouble. He
simply pitched them out, and in the end they were glad enough to
return and behave themselves.
Grenfell and his brother, with one of their friends, spent the long
holidays when college was closed cruising along the coast in an old
fishing smack which they rented. In the course of his cruising, the
thought came to him that it was hardly fair to the boys in the slums
to run away from them and enjoy himself in the open while they
sweltered in the streets, and he began at once to plan a camp for the
boys.
This was long before the days of Boy Scouts and their camps. It was
before the days of any boys' camps in England. It was an original idea
with him that a summer camp would be a fine experience for his boys.
At his own expense he established such a camp on the Welsh coast, and
during every summer until he finished his studies in the University he
took his boys out of the city and gave them a fine outing during a
part of the summer holiday period. It was just at this time that the
first boy
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