[英文] 育幼成人　25萬人參加童子軍

MAKING MANLY MEN.

QUARTER OF A MILLION BOY SCOUTS ENROLLED.

The striking success of the Boy Scout movement is shown by the fact that in less than two years since it was started by General Baden-Powell, nearly a quarter of a million boys have been enrolled. Nor is this a matter for surprise, for the principles and work of the scouts are such as appeal to a lad's nature. What British boy is not fond of adventure or has not a taste for hunting, in some form or other? Probably very few indeed, and it is here that the secret of the success of the scout movement lies. The movement, which owes its origin to the hero of Mafeking, teaches the boy to help himself, and to help others - especially the weak. What the boys are called upon to do is shown in the following laws which he has to obey:-

1.- On my honour I will do my duty to God and my King.

2.- On my honour I will help others to do at least one kind act every day.

3.- On my honour I will obey the scout law.

And the law is this:

1.- A scout's honour is to be trusted.

2.- A scout is loyal to parents and to friends.

3.- A scout is a friend to all and a brother to every other scout.

4.- A scout is courteous.

5.- A scout is a friend to animals; he must save them from pain, and must not even kill a fly unnecessarily.

6.- A scout smiles when in trouble.

7.- A scout is thrifty, but not mean.

I think it will be admitted, writes Francis Vane, Commissioner for Boy Scouts, London District, that this is a pretty comprehensive law of life from the moral standpoint. In the training of the boy in the text-book the greatest attention is paid to physical development. He is taught hygiene, and has to go through a course of physical drill; nothing, in fact, is neglected to induce him to get the best out of his body, and, naturally, the maneuvers he performs in the country benefit him not a little. From the very first moment of his novitiate as a scout he is encouraged to observe and to deduce from observation. This is fundamental, of course, to all good scouting. You may notice two little men marching down the street, and their alertness may attract you.

BLIND MEN NEEDING GUIDING.

If you inquire what they are doing, you will find, perhaps, they have been sent to discover if there are any cripples requiring assistance, or any blind men needing guiding. Or it may be they are searching for the fire alarms to report where they are, or the police or ambulance stations. Or they may merely have been sent to observe any peculiarities in the street and to make a report of these, or for practice purposes the articles in the shop windows to be noticed and reported on vice versa. Everything is done with the object of sharpening the boy's intelligence, powers of observation, and sense of responsibility. But the training is much wider than this, for, in fact, the handicrafts, the arts and sciences are brought in to make him a good scout. To enable the scouting human boy to find his way at night, he is taught something of the mystic movements of the stars; to be a hunter he must know how to build huts, bridges, and even boats, to light fires and to cook, he learns of trees, of plants, of the birds and beasts of the field, and he studies field-sketching to enable him to report on the country. Again, he is especially instructed in ambulance work, life-saving, fire brigade work, and the way to stop runaway horses, for is he not hunter to find means of helping others, a little knight errant of to-day? Then he is encouraged to learn history, for he must know what his predecessors, the knights and pioneers of past times, have done, and to learn by their example.

A KNIGHT ERRANT.

And always his eyes are kept busy and the little brain behind his eyes at work to direct his hands to works of usefulness, for is he not a knight errant and a hunter after useful things? In fact, in Scouting for Boys which is the textbook of the movement, you have not only a complete system of training in good and useful citizenship, but also a skeleton of a system of technical and secondary education, which is unique in many particulars. In the first place, it is popular beyond all belief among the boys - for its inventor has shown genius in this - that he has realised that boys must hunt and seek after adventure, but that this natural tendency can be utilised to save, as well as to destroy, to learn as easily, as simply, as to play. Secondly, as an auxiliary to education, it has this great advantage - it finds out what the boys' inclinations are. We all know that in our schools, with their classes composed of 20 or 30 boys, it is almost impossible for the master to discover the individual tastes of each of the students. This is quickly discoverable in scouting. Thirdly, this is no system imposed by the authorities; it has been, on the contrary, adopted with enthusiasm by the boys themselves, a voluntary system of education in which the student cooperates with the master. In conclusion it is only fair to say that the Boy Scout movement is in this somewhat unique. It does not beg for funds, but everyone in it, from the boys themselves, from the scoutmasters, the committees, and the affiliated associations, to the chief scout himself, are expected to obtain the necessary funds by their personal service to the cause. From the bottom to the top, every one is expected to assist by personal effort and by showing that sympathy with the work which soon arises when this scheme is carefully considered.

資料：

1. 宣统元年七月廿四日《士蔑西報》第4頁

   • 己酉年七月廿四日（白露）

   • 公元1909年9月8日（星期三）

2. 宣统元年七月廿七日《士蔑西報》第340頁

   • 己酉年七月廿七日

   • 公元1909年9月11日（星期六）