BABES OF THE EMPIRE AN ALPHABET FOR YOUNG ENGLAND BY THOMAS STEVENS PICTURES BY A. H. COLLINS [Illustration] LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN 1902 Babes of the Empire where sun never sets, Yours is the manfullest banner unfurled! Yours is the proudest of all alphabets, Babes of an Empire as wide as the world! Follow the sun from the east to the west: Follow the birds from the north to the south; Peace be the law where your faith is confessed, Love be the gospel that lives in your mouth. Babes of Great Britain from sea unto sea, Happy the land where your monarch has sway! King of contentment, and Lord of the Free, Yours be an Empire that fades not away! TO PRUDENCE BOURCHIER A's an Australian, born in the bush, An A.1. ally, when it comes to a push; He can ride, he can shoot; and his gun and his horse Are the flower of our Empire's irregular force. [Illustration] B is a baby once known as a Boer. He was troublesome then, but all troubles are o'er: Now his trekking and wrecking and fighting are done. Britain welcomes in peace her recalcitrant son! [Illustration] C's a Canadian, hardy and bold; A warm-hearted baby who laughs at the cold. And the fields of his harvest, so golden and free, Find food for the Empire from sea unto sea. [Illustration] D is a Dervish from sunny Soudan; He dances no more his eccentric can-can, But, trained to our manners, is eagerly fain, When Britain once calls him, to dance in her train. [Illustration] E is an English babe, ready to take The yoke of the world for humanity's sake, So that every one knows, be it dreary or bright, When it's England that leads him, the road must be right. [Illustration] F's a Fijian, her hair like a mop; Let others spin yarns, _she_ can spin like a top! Now she's winning her way to a place in our nation By skipping from frenzy to civilization. [Illustration] G is a Gurkha--a big little man-- With a lion-heart under his covering of tan. He's fond of his kukri, his gun, and his rice, If the Empire requires him, it needn't call twice. [Illustration] H is Hong-Kong, with a pig-tail yards long: (They always wear pig-tails in distant Hong-Kong!) Though he laughs, he's not laughed at; he's old and yet new; There'll be no "Yellow Peril" while he is True Blue! [Illustration]