South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-06-16
The ChiIdIess Home.

MANY newly-married people consider
childlessness a peculiarly fortunate cir
cumstance. 1t relieves them from many
cares, a~nnoyances and ~vexations. 1t abol-
ishes the nurse, 'sleepless nights, Mrs.
Winslow," and the cradle. tt gives OPP
portunities for parties, balls, the opera,
and sundry trips to the mountains and
sea-shore, which would be exceedingly
~inconvenient if a little trouble'maker had
to be taken along or left behind. There
is nobody to litter the floors, turn the
show articles upside down, and make con-
fusion generally; and there are no sobsEUr
squalls, which those may call "music" who
have an ear for such sounds, which our
ehildless people have not. And then, the
landlords are always so civil when they
are told, mo children; that is the
"open sesame" to any desirable suit of
apartments or love of q cottage. Indeed,
many of our newly married people look
upon no children as the universal panacea
for the ills of life, and the infallible re-
cipe for connubial, and, indeed, all other
happiness.
But after awhile the brightest and most
engaging couples tire of receptions, thea
tres, concerts, and the like. The appetite
" CAClIClAChb bOOOllOo LIN ANAA1A
for artificial enioyments gets cloyed. The
desire for comfort and quiet takes the
place of the feverish craving for active
pleasures. To sit down st home owe an
entertaining book; to break the monOtOny
of an evening by a pleasant chit chat, a
few touches of music, or an amusing
game; to be warned Of to bed by
velvet-footed dreams, stealing over
81. $500 81 ETs.-. 4ka e. fan0u
with drowsy delights-these things in
variably come in time. And then comes a
yeaTning for something the heart has not,
a looking for what the room does not con-
tain, a feeling after what no provision has
been made for. But the cradle does not
come. The aversion to care, infantile
cries, and confusion of all sorts, has be-
come chronic; but little Two Shoes is a
tyrant, and wherever he sets up his small
despotism insists that the laws OF dis
order" shall prevail. The desire for some
body to pet, and play with, ddote upon,
grows to a hunger, which, alas, does not
feed itself, and only gives way to the more
painful need of that sympathy, affection,
friendship, ~solace, and support which none
but a child can supply. There may be
wealth; yet who but a child shall keep at
bay the great brood of vultures and cor
morants which peck remorselessly at the
life of whoever has a purse? There may
be social position, and even fame; but
how empty and barren are all honOrst that
must dissolve with the breath of their
wearer? The home may be a palace; but
its splendid halls will be cold and cheer
less as the %forecourt of a se%pulchre, if they
are not made the portals of Heaven by
the prattle, the merry laugh, and innocent
hilarity of children, through whom the
Divine Paternity bestows perennial youth,
and hope, and earthly immortality upon
parents here.
OF all cherries, unnatural places in the
world, a childless home is quite the most
uncomfortable. There is something op-
pressive in its vacancy. It's stiffness is sti-
fling. The heart faints and cries for what
is not there. The home into which the
Great Father has once placed n of His
little ones, for however short a stay, is
transformed by that visitation, and can
never lose the charm of that mysterious
coming, nor the light that streamed
through the door of the noiseless depart
ure. That door is open, and no hand can
shut it; and just on the other side the un.
seen child engages in gambols, or is busted
with tasks, which it needs but a little i'm
agination, blended with faith, for a parents
heart to hear. No home can ever be the
same again into which one immortal being
rose to conscious life, and saw a heaven OF
love in q mothers eyes. Birth is the great
sacrament. But the home that has had no
such baptism, cold, dull, and dreary is it al
the best, with none of the poetry of life
in it, no legends of angels trailing about
it, and no star shining yer it to Indicate
that it is favored of Heaven.-Ths Goldsn
-1oe IE E-a. .N