ntersarethe“bestmen,”astheAlgonquinscalledthem.Wecannotbutpitytheboywhohasneverfiredagunheisnomorehumane,whilehiseducationhasbeensadlyneglected.Thiswasmyanswerwithrespecttothoseyouthswhowerebentonthispursuit,trustingthattheywouldsoonoutgrowit.Nohumanebeing,pastthethoughtlessageofboyhood,willwantonlymurderanycreaturewhichholdsitslifebythesametenurethathedoes.Thehareinitsextremitycrieslikeachild.Iwarnyou,mothers,thatmysympathiesdonotalwaysmaketheusualphil-anthropicdistinctions.
Suchisoftenesttheyoungman’sintroductiontotheforest,andthemostoriginalpartofhimself.Hegoesthitheratfirstasahunterandfisher,untilatlast,ifhehastheseedsofabetterlifeinhim,hedistinguisheshisproperobjects,asapoetornaturalistitmaybe,andleavesthegunandfish-polebehind.Themassofmenarestillandalwaysyounginthisrespect.Insomecountriesahuntingparsonisnouncommonsight.Suchaonemightmakeagoodshepherd’sdog,butisfarfrombeingtheGoodShepherd.Ihavebeensurprisedtoconsiderthattheonlyobviousemployment,exceptwood-chopping,ice-cutting,orthelikebusiness,whichevertomyknowledgedetainedatWaldenPondforawholehalfdayanyofmyfellow-citizens,whetherfathersorchildrenofthetown,withjustoneexception,wasfishing.Commonlytheydidnotthinkthattheywerelucky,orwellpaidfortheirtime,unlesstheygotalongstringoffish,thoughtheyhadtheopportunityofseeingthepondallthewhile.Theymightgothereathousandtimesbeforethesedimentoffishingwouldsinktothebottomandleavetheirpurposepurebutnodoubtsuchaclarifyingprocesswouldbegoingonallthewhile.Thegovernorandhiscouncilfaintlyrememberthepond,fortheywenta-fishingtherewhentheywereboysbutnowtheyaretoooldanddignifiedtogoa-fishing,andsotheyknowitnomoreforever.Yeteventheyexpecttogotoheavenatlast.Ifthelegislatureregardsit,itischieflytoregulatethenumberofhookstobeusedtherebuttheyknownothingaboutthehookofhookswithwhichtoanglefortheponditself,impalingthelegislatureforabait.Thus,evenincivilizedcommunities,t