American Republican and Baltimore daily clipper. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1844-1846, 1845-01-27
AN AMERICAN HOME.

/ The following truthful definition and descrp
ton of An American Home, is from Sermon
preached by Rev. Albert Barnes, of Phlade
phia, on the last Sabbath of the year Just clos
ed. The Sermon was intended as a Review
of the year 1914, and is an instructive dis
course--
! In the review Of the past year, il is proper tC
advert TO our continued and remarkable tempo
raj prosperity. The thoughts which can be
suggested on this point will readily occur to all
but it is not improper to dwell for moment on
them to awaken grateful emotions. We may
advert to the fact that the labors of the hus-
bandman have been crowned with success, and
that the bounties of benignant Providence
meet rs N every hand. We may notice the
fact that, n the secure blessings of peace, we
are permitted to cultivate and mature those do
mestc and quiet virtues on which the welfare OF
our country so much depends. In peace, and
in the midst Of such liberty as no other people
erioy, and with the tokens Of universal prosper
ity around US, we are permitted to pursue the
plans, and cultivate the virtues and enjoy the
happiness, connected with the idea Of IN, ,4,ne-
rican Home.
Here let us pause moment. I'm american
The ancient Greek and Roman and Hebrew,
knew not the term. II is stranger to the mo-
dcrn Gallo people, and is found in few of the
languages of the world. The Greek and Ro-
man talked of house and u household: and,
doubtless, there were attractive ideas in the
word to them. Around the oriental phrase,
''the shepherds TENT there is thrown some
charm of Romance-more in the idea than in
hn Nv IN ptal
pleasurable associations connected with it. So
in our boyhood, also, we were charmed with
the description of the happiness of the dwellings
: in Arcadia-more in the dreams of poetry than
there ever was in reality. The ,oord We have
obtained from our old Saxon tongue, and we
have invested 1t with ideas such as could have
been gathered around such a word among no
people except those Of Saxon origin. Transport
the word to the heart Of Africa, or to China, or
to Persia, or to Turkey, or to Russia, and it
loses its meaning. You cannot clothe it there
with what is attractive in it here.
How many tender and beautiful conceptions
enter here into the meaning of the word
homci 1t is not merely the place of our birth;
nor the place where our father and mother
our brothers and sisters live; it is net merely the
place where we have been trained and where
we spoIted in boyhood; it is not that our house
is more beautiful or splendid than can be found
in other lands; it is not that we are clothed in
fine linen and fare sumptuously every day--but
it is that there clusters around an american
home, what is rarely, if ever to be found in any
other habitation Of man. All homes in our
land, are not, indeed precisely the same-but
there is a beau ideal which easily conveys the
conception, and which will find it's original in
thousands of the abodes in this Republic, and
not often III the older portions of the world
rarely except in our own native land: 10 is the
abode of Liberty. The father is allowed to pur-
sue his own plan, for the good of his family
and, with his SONS, to labor in what profession
he choose, and y snjoy the avails of his own
labor. The resuM of his toll are not liable to
be torn away by rapacious officers of Govern
ment; nor is he subject to the will of another as
to the amount of labor which he shall perform,
or the kind of employment which he shall pur-
sue. He may live where he pleases-hc may
purchase field as his own--he may plant, or
SOW, or build, where and what he chooses-and
there undisturbed he may lie down and die. II
is the abode of neatness, thrift, and competence. 1t
is not the wretched hut of the Greenlander or
the Caffrarian, or the underground abode of
the kamschatkan, or the style of the Hotten-
tot. II is the abode Of Intelligence. We associate
with the word instinctively the idea that they
who reside there can read that they have the
Bible; thatthey are not strangers to other books
and other modes of transmitting thought. They
are acquainted with the observation-disclosures
lry; they know their tights as citizens; they know
the value of vote; they know where to find re-
dress if they are wronged-they feel sure that
fthey are wronged they will have red, ess. His
the abode Of contentnent and peace. The bond
that unites all, is iore and mutual respect. A
father and mother are respected, obeyed, and
loved. They have intelligence and virtue which
constitute claim to respect, and they have
laid the foundation for this in the careful train
ing of their children. II is the abode of kindness
There is kindness to each other and to all who
have claim to compassion. The poor neigh
Dor has share in the sympathy existing there
and is sure that he shall not be sent empty a.
way. Ii is the abode Of safety. On my own ia
theirs house, which has stood now for nearly
halfa century, there has never been lock, or
bolt; nor, when left alone, as 1T has often
been, has it ever been in any way secured a.
ganst robbers-and yet it has never been en-
tered for an evil purpose. II, to these things,
as they might be expanded and illustrated, you
were to add the idea of religion-of the bless
ings of the gospel in the purest form known
since the apostolic times, producing kindness,
contentment and peace sustaining the soul in
adversely, and in prosperity leading the heart
up to God with gratitude; inclning his daily
worship in the habitaton, and the ordering Of
all the plans of life in accordance with the prn-
cples of religion you would have completed
the image of an American Home.
Such is the home that is loved-that we re-
vert to with pleasure, when far away, and
L L n
when we are tossed on the pillows of life; and
that we love to revisit again after we have been
absent many years. And, it may be added, it
is in such home, and in the strong attach.
ment which is formed for it, that the stability
of our institutions lies. You have an ndisso-
luble hold on the virtue and good conduct Of
your sons, as long as home is what it should be.
and as long as i: shall seem to them when there