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182 IDEAL HOME LIFE |
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determined to educate the boy. But they had different ideas as to how it was to be brought about. It is the dream of the Woodcraft to show the way; it has already done so in many recorded cases.
The Natural Development of Man
In the very beginning, when the first man became man, Woodcraft was the one science that he knew and practiced. He lived in the woods and wilds, and had to win his living by his wits, his speed, and his strength; so that excellence in Woodcraft was his very hold on life, and continual striving to improve the quality of his science, ever improved the quality of his mind. Thus it was Woodcraft that first took the four-legged, hairy brute, set it up on its hind legs, and gave it a bigger brain.
A new epoch then was marked by a new habit—by one all-important accomplishment—man learned to throw stones. Missile weapons gave him a mighty advantage over the beasts. He could kill the too swift without catching them; he could slay the too strong without risking his own life.
Perfection in the new science was of ever-growing importance, and forced on the rough brute the unconscious fact that the more the front limbs were relieved of duty as legs the better they could throw stones. Because the precision of fine adjustment, that made accurate aim, was worth far more even than force. Thus, in time, the missile weapons gave man a new dominion and also made him a two-legged animal; while the perfecting and sensitizing of the hand and its reaction on the brain made for further development. Man must have had many kinds of missile weapons and used them long—yes, long and well, before the next great event took place: the advent of fire.
How did it come? There can be little doubt that it came by accident, and came many times by accident, before man learned to use it, and he learned to use it long, long before he learned to produce it. The Fire, the fierce mystery, changed all his life. Up to this time, when night came down, men, our |
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