May 1, 1983

MOZART was the quintessential wonder child. Before he was out of the 18th-century equivalent of rompers, he had been taken by his father, Leopold, through England and most of Europe, where he was feted in the capitals and courts for his virtuosity, his uncanny ability to sight-read and improvise and - to a lesser extent - for his compositions. Superficially, Mozart was outrightly exploited: He got the applause, his father got the money. More important for posterity, however, he was exposed to all the important musical influences of his time -new ideas about form, the developing knowledge of instrumentation and the extension of the possibilities of melody and harmony - which he absorbed and filtered through his incredibly perceptive mind. They emerged with the unmistakable stamp of his genius.

EARLY in March, James F. Gillespie, who has lived in Westport, C onn., for 20 years, dashed off an irate letter to the local n ewspaper. He was furious, he said, because town zoning regulations p ermit psychiatrists to operate out of their homes but do not offer t he same privilege to psychologists like himself. Why should he be d enied equal economic opportunity?, he asked. With his three children now grown and gone, his five-bedroom contemporary-style house was ideal for a professional office, he said. Moreover, it offered him a reprieve from the $800 a month he now paid for commercial space. Across town, Martha Stewart, the food writer, also was angry. Her home-based catering business had also run afoul of the local zoning regulations. ''They are archaic,'' she said. ''I can have four servants come to my house each day. But if I have two people come in to help me with my new book I am considered in violation and causing a traffic nuisance.'' She has been considering filing a lawsuit against the town. The town plans to undertake a special review of its home-occupation regulations.

Prospective buyers who visit the Cape Cod-styled model house at U.S. Home Corporation's Beckett, N.J., development, should be as concerned about the area's soil conditions and rainfall as they are about local schools and mortgage rates. The homes planned for this unusual housing development will not be on standard lots but will sit on 98 minifarms ranging in size from 1.6 to 18 acres.

EACH spring the blooming forsythia signals the return, not only of the shad but also of the shad fishermen, to the Hudson River. It is a springtime event dating to the Indians.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz said today that he was prepared to go to Damascus to discuss a Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon. He said he would interrupt his diplomatic shuttle between Jerusalem and Beirut to make the trip as soon as he was satisfied that there was ''genuine progress'' toward an agreement on an Israeli pullout. Mr. Shultz has been in the Middle East since last Sunday trying to work out an agreement between Lebanon and Israel on an Israeli withdrawal. He has said the talks are ''inching forward.'' 22-Page Document Is Reviewed To step up the pace of the Lebanese-Israeli talks, he worked late into the evening with Lebanese leaders to review in detail an agreement and annex, 22 pages in all, that the two countries have been unable to conclude in the last four months.