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THE OOU VTB, YMAN.
67
The Robin.
(for the children.)
There is a pretty robin flying about the
room. We must give him something to
eat. Fetch some bread for him. Throw
the crumbs on the floor. Eat pretty robin,
eat. He will not eat. I believe he is
afraid of us. He looks about, and wonders
where he is.
0, he begins to eat. He is not afraid
now. He is very hungry. How pretty it
is to see him pick up the ciumbs, and hop j
upon the floor, the table, and the chairs.
Perhaps when he is done .eating, he will
give us a song.
My GcamW? attunes Gftair.
“De omnibus rebus, et quibusdam aliis."
RY W. W. TURNER.
Yol. 1. NOVEMBER 24, 1862. No. 4.
Boys.
“NowT'will believe
That there are unicorns; that in Arabia
There is one tree, the phoenix’ throne; one phoenix
At this hour reigning there.”
The race whose name stands at the
head of this article is fast becoming extinct.
Specimens are, even now, and have been,
for a good while, objects of curiosity.
Some years ago, a wag, in the town of
Greensbovough, walking along the street
one day, called to some of his acquaintan
ces, telling them to follow him, and he
would show them a sight, such as they had
not. viewed for many a day. Well, they
accompanied him, and he stopped at the
cake table of an old negro woman—it was
court-week—where they beheld a genuine
15-year-old boy, clad in a complete suit of
copperas homespun, round jacket, and
trowsers, eating gingerbread, and drinking
-persimmon beer. There was no mistaking
him, for he was as different from the mod
ern yearling as if he had belonged to an.
other and distinct genas.
Boys, I say, are fading from the earth.
The time will probably come when it will
be doubted whether such beings ever had
existence. All authentic record of them
may be lost, and men will be able only to
wonder and conjecture concerning them,
as they now speculate about the dodo. The
only evidence that such a race flourished
will be, not actual, tangible skeletons, like
those of the mastodon, which we dig out
of the earth, but certain anecdotes; cer
tain mental remains,that will tell something
of their natures and habits. Long ages
hence, people may read how young per
sons were modest, respectful to the old, and
distrustful of themselves; in short, the
very reverse of anything known in that
degenerate day; and then those who read
will perceive that those characteristics
must have belonged to a kind of animal
then forever passed away from the face of
the globe. From scattered passages in an
cient books, men will gather materials out
of which to construct a theory concerning
a species to which they may or may not
give the proper name of boys.
Still farther, in the course of time, even
these evidences may be wanting. All sucb
accounts will be considered fabulous, and
the boy will be ranked with the strange
beings which peopled wood and stream in
the heathen mythology. Even now, it is
thought, by many, that if some Barnum
would capture a good specimen of the
real, old-fashioned boy, he would be amp
ly repaid for any outlay of money that
the experiment would cost him.' People
would flock to his museum in such crowds
as he never dreamed of, and he would re
alize such sums as would astonish even the
proprietor of Joyce Heth. Mermaids and
woolly horses would be entirely overshad
owed and forgotten, in the presence of so
rare and strange an animal as a sure-enough,
live, kicking, playful boy.
Before tlie very last of them shall pass
away, reader, let us examine some of their
peculiarities. Perhaps, in a future age, the
antiquarian may pore over this description,
and wonder whether it has any foundation
in truth. I will do what 1 can to preserve
at leasttlie nameoi the boy from threatened
oblivion.
The pure and unadulterated boy is
known, at once, by the fact that he actual
ly believes grown-up people to be wiser
than he is. When in company with them,
he listens with profound respect to what
they say, and never presumes to dispute
with them. If he differs with them in
opinion, still he keeps silence, or states,
with diffidence, what he “ thought” in the
premises. Somehow he cannot rid himself
of the idea that old persons, having had
more opportunities for observation, every
thing else being equal, must have more
knowledge than young ones. Especially
is he convinced that his parents can tell
what is best foi him. He has something
akin to reverence for his father, a
sweet and holy love for his mother. The
displeasure of either is exceedingly painful
to hun.
He is content with boys’clothes. A de
cent hat, around jacket, plain trowsers and
shoes, with a nice turn-down collar—these
satisfy him.
His amusements are suited^to his age.
He^loves tops and marbles, kites and balls.
Minnow-fishing, chinquapin-hunting, &c.,
delight him. He dearly loves to get a pack
of curs, lialf-hounds, Jices, &c., and chase
the hares through the swamps aud fields,
on Saturdays. All these sports he follows
with avidity, except when his parents have
some other employment for him. Few
children love to labor, but the true boy, if
required by his parents, does not consider
it a very great hardship to work part of
the time, when not at school. L He loves
shows—how can he help it 1—but he does
not take it for granted that he must throw
away a quarter or half on every company
of vagabonds who stroll through the coun
try. If he has a sweetheart—and who
among my readers can blame him if he
has 1—he loves her in a boyish, blushing
kind of way, that does nobody any harm.
So far from spoiling the youngster, this
makes him better.
Nowadays, the age of boyhood is skip
ped ; passed over ; left out. From child
hood to the grown-up state, there is but a
single leap. In place of boys, we have
Young Americans; fast young men ; b’hoys.
These have little respect for age. They
have a pool opinion of the wisdom of pa
rents,whom they call “the old man”and “the
old lady.” They consider sober-sided, de
cent people as old fogies, who are ignorant
of what is fit and proper. Such amuse**
ments as are afforded by tops and balls
have no charms for them. These are too
slow ; too boyish. Minnow-fishing and
rabbit-hunting are beneath their notice.
They want fast horses, cigars, billiaids and
brandy.
The fast youth will not wear boyish ap
parel. He looks on round jackets with
contempt. A long-tailed coat must dan
gle around his calves. Some sort of wide
awake hat, the uglier the better, sits jaun
tily on cne side of his skull to show how
empty" it is. Fantastic pantaloons encase
his legs. A flaming vest displays itself on
his front. His feet are crowded into high-
heeled boots, or costly shoes, so tight that
he appears to walk on sharp-pointed rocks.
A garrote collar protrudes itself out of a
leopard-spotted neck-tie, and frequently a
hyena-looking shirt completes the ridicu-
ou8 costume.
Such are the humans who are fast ta
king the place of those concerning whom
we may soon say :
“ The wind blows out, (Re bubble dies ;
The Spring entombed in Autumn lies;
The dew dries up ; the star is shot;
The flight is past, and boys forgot.
“ Perfect valor consists in doing, with
out witnesses, all we should be capable of
doing before the whole world.”