Litchfield enquirer., 1836-09-15
From Chanbers' Ed;nburga Journal.
THE NO-CHILDED HOUSE.

THE NO~CHILDkD HOUSE.
 One cannot well step over threshold
 without being able to distinguish whether
 it belong to a house of no children or O many children. There is primness ant
 neatness about the childless mansion, whicl is entirely wanting in. the many-childed. = From the steps outside llIe door, to the in nermost penetralia, all is chill and clean ly decorunl. The seyeress duties of thu lady consist in slight repairs of slight de readjustment of ruffied crUmb-cloths affei morning calls, the replacing of table covers after meals, or the removal, from half-wOr- shipped chimney ornaments. of single par ticles of dust which have no business thcre.' 1.-the house were something kepl under glass case, it would hardly pre- serve more toy-like precision of outline, or more perfect exemption from all dis turbing circumstances. Everlasting silence reigns-or is broken only by sounds whicl otherwise would not be heald, such as the foot fall of the solitary maid in distant kitchen, or the futter of the left wing of q iavorite canary dipped into his water-glass. Every thing which tends to Arrangement or to noise is banished. Coal merchants are given up if their wares have the least
 propensity to either dust or cracking. The
 cats infant family are regularly dismissed
 as soon as they can properly leave the ma ternal bosom. The visit of a friends children is dreaded as descent of caterans upon the peaceful Lenox was dreaded of old and the damage which few minutes of them will occasion, although impercept- ible to ordinary eyes, is not repaired in less than halfa day. In entering such house, the mind is oppressed with sense of aw- ful propriety. The tyranny of unimpeact- able cleanliness comes upon the heart like the breath of hyperborean gales. One feels like the dove of Noah, us if there were no place whereon to set ones foot. You pass awc-struck among the reflections of glitter ing furniture, and fear to offend chairs and sofas by sitting down upon them. The very coal-scuttie has kind of touch-me- not air about it, while the neatly gildsd brush beside the bell-pull seems to plume itself much more upon its service towards the ornamental than the useful. Twenty years may have elapsed since the sitting up of the house but every article still seems fresh from the shop of the upholster. The fine edge, the primeval shine, the Eden in nocence of every thing, is still there.
 In domain thus sacred from disturb ance and almost from use, the worthy couple are stuck up like statues in shrines. The lady sits in perpetual accuracy of att tire by window or by fireside-sewing at one endless seam, or engaged upon some volume, from circulating library which is on the point of declaring itself exhausted. Her husband occupies an opposite chair. like companion picture, with perhaps the next ensuing volume of the novel. His feet are raised upon the fender 1; the light is properly arranged at bis back lie is endued with slippers and gown. and knows no annoyance but that he has no annoy ances. Their meals consist of little dishes not often changed-roasts so small as to have lost all sap, mutton chops, outlets, and other fiddlefaddles.. If they venture upon any ordinary dish, they have to sit down with cold mon otony for week, which is not half elapsed till they wish they could be conscientiously relieved iron, it, either by plunder or putrescence. The lady makes i, her chief business to coddle the gentleman, and the gentleman makes 1t his chief business to take care of the lady.- There is always one pair of his spare shoes perfectly dried by the side of the fire. h their hearts they pine beyond all that could be confessed for children, but invariably profess to themselves and to each other, that they infinitely prefer the serene com fort which they at present enjoy, and dread the trouble of rearing an infant. They are nevertheless great theoretical educators. They perceive and discuss every fault in the upbringing of every child of every fam fly of their acquaintance, describe one set of parents as too severe, another as too gem tie, third as having no, system at all, and think how beautifully they could correct all the said errors. if they had anything to say in the matter. In the meantime, while railing at their friend Mrs. Easy for spoil ing Tom and Fanny, they assiduously pamper their own lapdog Pinch. till the lit iIe creature arrives at an aggrayation offat and mischief intolerable to all but thenl- selves. When Mrs. Greenfield loses a child, and is absorbed in grief for the event, OUT worthy pair severely reprehend con. duct SO irrational, and are clear that no mother is justifiabie in ncglecting the com fort of the living out of grief for the dead. Next week Pinch dies, and so great are the distress and Arrangement which follow, that for three days the gentleman has to wear unsired slippers, aud the lady thinks of jaunt to Paris, as the only means of recovering her spirits. .as
 HISTORY or AN IRISH FAMILY.
 R. was an Irishnlan, who like thousands, came fn A nlerica DOOf. He married H. a