Litchfield enquirer., 1837-03-02

and fairness so entirely gone; the old acO man sat by my side, looking up in my face through pair of spectacles. And wha was my first thought! It was tllis.-that my dear mother was grown old and infrm, that her life was rapidly on t.:e wanc, and that during her best days, the enjoyments Of which might have eha,cd and promo ted, had been far away in distant land. am aware that l must very imperiectly describe the feeling that chilled me : saw a change that lad not anticipated, and for which l was unprepared,-and l cried like an infant.
 My brother had married the year after quilted England, but he still resided in the same town, and, had he been aware of my arrival, would certainly have met me at my mothers; bnt was surc to see my for- mer playfellow the next morning. One of my sisters Ohe eldesi) was a widow, the other two unmarried, and now all reside with my mother.
 Ihey will come to you immediately sad my mother; but you were not ex- ?ected so soon. and you know George, that 'adies ot cert0in age cannot bear 10 be en dishabille.'
 A certain age!' said I. sOh, yes: Matilda 's five years older than r.
 And presently down came Matilda, the widow, lady of forty-fve, who, by dnt of overmuch rouge, overmuch black front, and eyebrows arti6cially arched and black ened, had contrived to make herself appear fifty at the very least. It was mot the Ma tilda that had left twenty years before ; there was not the slightest resemblance !; iace' hgure, manner, voice, all utterly un. like my sister Matty.' saw it,-1 fet II: The meeting gave me not the slightest pleasure; on the contrary, it was more painful than ! can describe, particularly when l perceived that she never would have recognized me.
 But l have not done yet. Presently appeared the elder of the two old maids, aged forty-fve; she had never been the least good-looking, and had therefore, suppose, relinquished all matrimonial views earlier than many women, and was now what my mother hinted at as 'r0ther seyi- ous.' and what the widow had openly de- c'ared to be 'very methOdisticaL.' She was as neat as possible, as mild as milk, and l thought as cold as an icicle. She was soon followed by the youngest spinster (of forty-lhree) who was always called by the other two child She had been pret- ty-very much SO I thought. when I left homeland she now, suppose, might be said to have traces of beauty; but not a glimpse ofmy own sister Mary! She wore what, to my mind, on s0omGn's head, is the greatest of abominations-a wig. A male wig is to my fancy bad business il, never makes any body look younger or better than he would without it; it de- ceives nobody, and yet every body who wears one fatters himself that no one in a hundred discovers his secret. When man above forty is pointed out as good-looking, he is invariably the man sCithOnf the acig ; but fensGle wig is hundred times worse a wig with long tail, which is twisted up to act youth! wig with flower stuck in it! It is like a garland on tombstone. for a wig, after all, is but memorial of departed youth and such wig was my sister Mary's with bit of the lily of the valley hitched under one of the curls. l longed to snatch it off, and throw it in the fire, but thought perhaps that might not be taken in good part, and desisted.
 felt miserably out of spirits, wofully disappointed, and could not tell one of tho family the cause of my depression. I felt relieved when it was time to take my candle and go to bed, and, after so long a journey in the open air, soon fell fast a. sleep. The next morning ! awoke by nc means giant refreshed; my wetting el the previous day had given lumbago and pains in all my limbs, and when ] entered the breaakfast room, with my back bent, and one leg following the other with con- siderable difficulty, saw clearly that my mother and sisters looked at me with cont passion, and considered me premature Mcthusalen,. There was, however, an old gentleman standing by the fire to keep me l in countsnance, and by his side ren'arka- bly fine young man, who on turning round at my entrance, displayed the very face ol my elder brother, just as had left him twenty years before. I shuf1ed tip to the lad without an instant's hesitation, and cal ling him by his name, caught him in my arms; to my surprise the young man laugh ed good humoredly, but as it appeared ra- ther with a feeling of awkwardness' and' without by any means reciprocatlng my endearments, walked away to the window. The elderly man, however, ende"vorcd to make amends he shook me most Pater- nally by the hand and apologized for my nephew's coldness. My nephew yes, he was born two years after left Englaud and there was my brother, who, having been married near twenty years, and pos. socS;u0 ,norroypr n numerous family. had lctt of being c young man. and might, as the phrase goes, be taken for any Gge.'
 Some men kaue of bsi"g young much