Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1859-03-18

a NELL ORDERED FAMTIY.-A writer in
Blackwoods Magazine thus Describes tie
fntoicrAhl' urpr >siou of ming ia. family
govern Il byii-likc rules -
II oncc spent week in one of these we'll
ordered families it was "A grca' punishment
to me | hope, also, in some degree, to my
entertain rs. The iron rule of that house
was, ga place for everything. and every
thing in its place" The disgrace my some
what vagrant habits led me into there was
dreadful. The very first morning, opened
Pater-familias newspaper, which was always
laid in one particular spot upon the break
fast table, never to be violated by any hand
but his. There stood. with my back to
the fire, coming the on spread sheet. and
nodding n cheerful good morning to my host,
when he entered. | had the hardhood even
to read to him (out of his own paper y the
last Indian disratch-v'rv u,lt.lv. a~ I
thought-anl to request hisass,lrncn -
deciphcr the possible pllc, intended by II
dozen letters which the telegraph clnrE APP
pearcd to have selected at random. 10 ID
him justice, he bore this inroad on his
rights with tolcrablc outward composure
but was formally made aware on the first
opportunity, by Mrs. p, of the outrage I
had committed, and made to feel as uncom-
fortably as | deserved. Then left my
handkerchief on the drawing-room floor,
one glove on the library table, another in
the govcrncsss parasol, (Which, certainly
wa. not the place for it, and how it got
there, have no conception). and was lor-
mally presented with each article separate
lv, with an account of its discovery in the
presence of the whole family, assembled for
dinner
''One day, the whole household was under
strict cross-examination as to who had come
into the drawing-room with dirty shoes. |
was the culprit, of course, but was too
great n coward to confess /; besides, the lady
knew perfectly well who it was, but was po-
lite enough to entertain the fiction that such
conduct was impossible in any well-bred per-
son , it must have been one of the children
or the housemaids, of course and the
whole investigation was intended for my sol
emn warning and improvement, Just as they
used to whip little boy vcariously to strike
terror into misbehaving little princes.
" Then the terrible punctuality which
made slaves of us, and kept me always look
ing at my watch, and always afraid of being
late for something. us indeed was once for
dinner. in spite ofall prccautions-four min
utes and half exactly. Shall ever forget
it? If they only had had the charity to sit
down quietly without me-if they had put
me off with no soup, col fish, and the last
ragged cut of the mutton-if they had sent
me to bed without any dinner at all, as once
happened to me when was a little boy, or
inflicted upon me any other reasonable and
human form of punishment but no. there
they We're, all waiting for me in the drawing
room all standing up, the door set wide open,
and the head of the family opened fire upon
me at once, before was well inside it, with
Now, Mr., will you take in Mrs Pr
OF course, | hemmed and stammercd over
an apology quite unintentonal, " and 50
forth. 'Oh' of course, they knew it must be
quite tentional-only in II semi-whis-
per-'Mr. P. did not like waiting for his
dinncr,'
There was an abominable child. too, in
that family, the very incarnation of promo
turc method and order All the other chill
dren had redceming points of carelessness and
destructivencss about them and we soon cs-
tablishe1 a sort of ireemasonry among our
selves as fellow culprits, trying to keep each
other out OF scrapes as much as possible
they conveying to me private warnings as to
how on the prayer-bell would ring in the
morning, and furnishing me with much va
luable secret intelligence as to the cnemy's
weak points. and the Interpretation of the
laws OF the Medes and Persians, to whom |
was in captivity; and I,fnding substitutes for
impounded pencils, mcnding broken Cupid,
who carried the wax matches in his quiver,
brushing the boys clothes after birds nest
ing, before mamma saw them, and actually
cutting up the ribbon Of my eye-glass into
shec-strings for one young lady who was
generally in trouble on that score. But as to
the imp speak of, he was irreproachabe
If | left the door open, he got up and shut it
not quietly, you understand, but ofiiciously
and rcproachfully. If took down a volume
from its shelf and it left my hand for one
moment, if he could get ut it, it was up
in its place again before | knew what
had become of it, took courage one cold
morning, there being no one but he and in
the room, to stir the fire, and put the poker,
when had done with it, under the crate
(Which take to be the natural place for a
poker) when up jumps this well-bchaved
little monster, and arranges it by IA rule and
measure where he has been told it ought to
be. | take credit to myself for the very great
torbcarancc-he and being alone-that
checked an inclination to punch his head
with it, Is it excusablc in any rational
beings to put themselves under such life
long penance at this, and to bring up their
children and toforce the poor unhappy strang-
er whom they get within their gates, to do
likewise