The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-11-14
Adanl's Lonely Boyhood.

It's rather difficult to conceive Adam
as boy, owing to the popular supersti-
ton that has painted him coming into
the world full grown, with whiskers and
mustache complete, and prevailing be-
lief that there wasn't boy in the world
until Eve came and raised the Old Boy
with Adam; yet we prefer to think of
our ancient progenitor as having had
something of boyhood, and we suppose
we have as good right to theorize upon
the subject as any one else.
Adam was probably as mischievous,
naturally, as boys generally are. In fact,
Darwin says he was "perlect little mon
key" which we believe, is synonym for
mischievous the world over. But he had
no companions in his gambols. If he
staid out after dark and got to cutting up,
it was all by himself. And what sport
could he have ringing door-bells without
lot of other boys to scamper away with?
And consider the melancholy fun Of
fastening cords across the walks at night
with nobody to trip over them.
We can imagine young Adam, with all
the instincts of boy two inches thick
in his nature, looking about for some
way to divert himself as other boys do,
and whispering to himself "Can't have
any fun p
Of course he couldn't by any possibil-
ity have any fun. No fun running away
from school, or stealing off to 60 in swim
ming, because there was no one to lick
him when he got home. No fun sneak
ing up into the haymow to indulge in
surreptitous game Of euchre-always had
to "play it alone" He couldn't play
"tag," because he might yell "I've got
the tag" all day, and there would be no
one to come and take it away from him.
"Hi.spi" had no charm, for boy soon
gets tired of hiding when he has to 60
to work and find himself. And where is
there boy who likes to work and "find
himself"
The more we think of Adams lonely
boyhood the more we are inclined to pity
him. He never knew what a circus
meant, at least not till Eve came and in.
troduced him to one. But we hav.
nothing to do with that now, as we are
only treating of Adams boyhood. True,
there was big menagerie ell round him,
but the animals were tame affairs, lambs
and lions lying down together in the
most spiriGless concord, and the hippo
potamuses and canary birds playing with
each other like kittens. Little Adam
never sat way up on the highest seat and
gazed awe-stricken while man in span
gled tights sprang, whip in hand, into a
cage of savage beasts that rolled their
eyes, gnashed their teeth, and roared
until the canvass overhead tapped for
very fear. No, indeed. He never saw
thin-leggcd female in short skirts ride a
Looping horse around a ring, and jump
through hoop, while a man with his
face painted white and his mouth a red
exaggeration tells that convulsive story
about stuffing hay into his shoes to fill
them out, and his calves going down to
eat the hay. Young Adam never saw
"the old clown" though he came very
soon after Adams day, and the jokes he
commenced with he has been getting of
ever since.
And how about base ball? Do you
suppose that Adam knew anything about
that exhilarating diversion that is now
doing so much toward developing the in
tellects of our American youth? There
is no likelihood of it, not while he was
boy. His son Cain, however, seems 10
have been the first who got up "club," "
but it was the death of his brother Abel.
While there were so many things that
the boy Adam missed, think not that his
solitary life was without its compensa-
ton. There was no other boy to steal
his marbles, or hide his top, or jcer at
him because he had to wear his brothers
cast-off clothes, or holler across the
street that he had ga letter in the post
Office" or fix bent pin for him to sit
down on, or make faces at his sister, or
spell him down, or steal his dinner, or
tell on him when he had been in mis-
chief, or beat him out of his sweetheart.
Adam escaped these and thousand
other annoyances that boys subject each
other to. He had not any brothers and
sisters to tease and worry him, and with
whom he was compelled to divide his
playthings and nice things to eat that
might come that way. He could leave
piece of sweetcake lying around any
where, knowing that none of the rest of
the children would touch it; and at
night, on retiring, he could stick his