The Plymouth Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1869-1941, 1870-05-12
BOYS AND GUNS.
BY HENRY WARD BEECHER,


itself as much inventive thought as the
gun. In Olden times the sword was the
typical implement of war. 1t still re-
mains so in literature, and probably will
continue long to 90 so, just as yet we
speak of palms and laurels, though ages
ago the custom died out which gave them
eminence. The sword has become little
more than side ornament Even in cav
airy it more and more gives place to the
pistol and the carbine.
But it is not of the gun as a military
weapon that we mean chiefly to speak. Ii
is as an instrument of amusement and
profit in the hands of private citizens.
Every man should own good gun (better
if he can afford it, shotgun and rife
both), and no parent should let boy go
past fourteen years of age without having
taught him to handle gun with skill and
safety. We shall give the reason for our
position after first disposing of an objec-
ton which all parents will at Oncs express,
viz the danger of accidents from fire.
arms.
We admit that fire.ar are dangerous.
The long list of fatal accidents scored up
every year leaves no doubt upon that
point 1t will therefore seem paradoxical
to many when we say that it is in part to
prevent accidents that we recommend
carly instruction in the use of firearms.
No amount of care will keep boys from
handling guns 1t is fascinating imple-
ment There is charm about gun
which bewitches a boys imagination.
Guns are now 80 cheap that everybody
can have one. Even if timid parents
withhold fowling pieces from their sons,
mil ~ ho.r hnn
The town is fail of them. And accident
ally or on purpose your son will find out
something about cunning.
The military companies are so many,
and the manual of arms so fascinating,
and sharp-shooting has become such a
fashion, that you may be sure that an av-
erage boy will come by gun clandestine-
ly, if he does not with your permission.
Now, we argue that it is far more dangerous
TO leave boys to find out secretly the plea
sures of gun than it is to teach them its
skillful use. A child soon learns caution
After few weeks, a boy of ten years old
is in as little danger of doing mischief
falling into the river, or downs stairs, or OF
stabbing himself with knife.
We hold it to be sound philosophy, that
children are safer by being taught how to
meet danger and to overcome it, than by
seeking to keep them away from all dan
ger. 1t is not the bold and brave lads
that are apt to be harmed
In wrestling, climbing, swimming, rid
ing, leaping, shooting, they who have
been taught skill and selfreliance are sci
dom injured 1t is the clumsy hand, the
awkward foot, of one untaught in manly
xLat i.
that is familiar with the gun is not the
one who snaps it at his sister, thinking
that it is not loaded, and shoots her dead.
1t is the green lubber who las never been
permitted to know anything about fire
arms that does that A wise father should
teach his boy how to load, how to carry a
gun safely, how to scale fence, and all
the precautionary arts of hunting. 1t
would be well, too, to teach every girl
how to use pistol. Many woman has
been placed in the power OF burglars for
lack of that knowledge.
The moral uses of firearms are not the
least to be considered. A boy with a gun
on his shoulder, on Wednesday afternoon,
or on Saturday, tramping the forests
threading the river valleys, or searching
the hills, is learning self-relance, skill,
enterprise. He is far less likely to fall
under temptations which so easily beset
high-spirted boys that have nothing to
do, than if he was pent up in narrow
quarters at home
There is more power condensed in
small compass in a title than in any other
engine. 1t is so docile, so manageable, so
reaching, so oinstantaneousin its effects,
that it is attractive to every wide-awake
boy. 1t is still an object of fascination to
ourselves. When We shall be so old as
not to care for fine rifle, and not to be
curious of every new invention that make g
firearms more efficient, We shall consider
ourselves in our dotage.
But, with little care and instruction,
a boy soon hunts for something more than
merely to secure game. He becomes in
terestcd in .atural history. He begins to
read about and to observe the habits of
birds, beasts and fishes. Nothing is more
important than to teach child to derive
pleasure from the use of his higher facul
| ties. A boy that knows all the birds in his
neighborhood, their haunts I. :, habits
the style of their nests, their eggs, tht
color OF their young, their food, disposi
tions and uses in nature, the common
| wild animals that exist in the regioI
around his home, the flora and simpler
elements of geology, has opened up in
himself tastes and habits which will
have power upon his whole life for good
Such education, by broadening the source
of enjoyment, and by making him les
dependent for happiness upon any singl
set of circumstances, diminishes the powe
| of misfortune and of commercial revul
sions. Men who derive their joys from
one or two sources only are usually Yer,
unhappy or very stupid in old age. Tn
wider the range on which the mine
pastures, the less likely will it be to sufle
from famine
These considerations are equally ap
plicable to the rod. Whether it be gun o
rod, or better yet, both, the man VIII,
never saw anything but the pan and TIT
spit is not half sportsman. The tru
sportsman has keen zest for early hours
fresh air, the exhilarations of vigorou
exercise; he learns to love the face O
heaven, of the earth, and of the sun
Rejecting the stewing and cuddling luxu
ries of lazy life, he purchases health an
pleasure in lone bargain. Nor is tru
son of the stream and the forest an un
kindly man. On the contrary, a tru
sportsman is tenderiof every living thine
He knows the rights of birds and beast.
and respects them
Would true man stand near by the hou
firing into the dense crowds of pigeol
roostY 1t is bird murder that shoul
shock true son of a gun killing fo
the sake of killing is simple barbarity
One may, and should, be lover of feel
sports, and yet be in sympathy with a
animated nature. An instructed and hon
crable boy will never kill anything TO
the sake Of killing. ong-birds, sparrow
and the small fry are sacred. For tn
! table, it is lawful to slay that you ma