The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-12-07
IF L WE'RE A BOY AGAIN.
BY JAMES T. FIELDS.

Leu mc tSAA gOuS NY YOUNG IlSHuS
some of the things would do if wer'
boy again; some of the too often neg
lected acts l would strive to accom-
plish if it were in my power to begin al
over anew. When we are no Longer
young, we look back and see where W.
might have done better and learned
more, and the things we have neglected
rise up and mortify us every day Of oul
lives. May l enumerate some Of the
important matters, large and small, thai
if were a boy again, would be more
particular aboute
think would learn to use my lef
hand just as freely as my right one, SC
that if any thing happened to lame
either of them, the other would be al
ready to write and "handle things
just as if nothing had occurred. There
is no reason in the world why both
hands should not be educated alike
A little practice would soon render one
set of fingers just as expert as the other,
and have known people who never
thought, when thing was to be done,
which particular hand ought to
do it, but the hand nearest the object
took hold of it and did the office desired,
AT HOME IN THE DARK.
would accustom myself TO go about
in the dark, and not be obliged to have
lamp or candle on every occasion.
Too many of US are slaves to the day
light, and decline to move forward an
inch, without every thing is visible.
One of the most cheerful persons | ever
knew was blind old man, who had
lost his sight by an accident at sea dur
ing his early manhood. He went every
where, and could find things more
easily than | could. When his wife
wanted spool of cotton, or pair of
scissors from up stairs, the gallant old
gentleman went without saying word,
and brought it. He never asked any
one to reach him this or that object, but
seemed to have the instinct of knowing
just where it was and how to get at it.
Surprised at his power of finding things,
l asked him one day for an explanation,
and he told me that when he was boy,
on board vessel, it occurred to him
that he might some time or other be
deprived of sight, and he resolved to
begin early in life to rely more on q
sense of feeling than he had ever done
before. And so he used to wander, by
way of practice, all over the ship in
black midnight, going down below, and
climbing around anywhere and every
where, that he might in case of blind
ness not become wholly helpless and of
no account in the world. In this way
he had educated himself to do without
eyes when it became his lot to live a
sightless man.
LEARN TO BE A MECHANIC.
would learn the art of using tools
of various sorts. think | would in
sist on learning some trade, even if l
knew there would be no occasion to
follow it when l grew up. What a
pleasure it is in after life to be able to
make something, as the saying is; to
construct neat box to hold ones pen
and paper; or pretty cabinet for a
sisters library; or to frame favOrite
engraving for Christmas present to a
dear, kind mother. What a loss not
to know how to mend a chair that re.
fuses to stand up strong only because
it needs a few tacks and bit of leather
here and there. Some of US can not
even drive nail straight, and should
we attempt to saw off an obstructive
piece of wood, ten to one We should
lose finger in the operation.
1t is pleasant relaxation from books
and study to work an hour every day
in tool-shop; and my friend, the
learned and lovable Prof. Oliver Wen
dell Holmes, finds such q comfort in
amending things" when his active
brain needs repose, that he sometimes
breaks piece of furniture on purpose
that he may have the relief of putting
it together again much better than it
was before. He is as good mechanic
as he is a poet; but there is nothing
mechanical about his poetry, as you ali
know who have read his delightful
pieces. An English author of great re-
pute said to me, not long ago, "PrOf.
Holmes is writing the best English of
our time" And 1 could not help add
ing, eyes, and inventing the best
stereoscopes, tool"
KNOWLEDGE OF COUNTRY THINGS.
l think l would ask permission-if l
had happened to be born in a eity-to
have the opportunity of passing all my
vacations in the country, that l might
learn the names of trees, and flowers,
and birds. We are, as a people, sadly
ignorant of all accurate rural knoyl-
edge. We guess at many country things,
but we are certain of very few.
1t is inexcusable in a grown-up per-
son, like my amiable neighbor Simp-
kins, who lives from May to November
on a farm of 60 acres, in beautiful
wooded country, not to know maple
from beech, or bobolink from a cat
bird. He once handed me bunch of
pansies, and called them violets, and
on another occasion he mistook sweet
peas for geraniums.
What right has human being, while
the air is full of bird-music, to be
wholly ignorant of the performer
nameP When we 60 to the opera, we are
fully posted up with regard to all the
principal singers, and why should we
know nothing of the owners of voices
that far transcend the vocal powers OF
Jenny Lind and Christine Nelson?
A boy ought also to be at home in a
barn, learn how to harness a