The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1845-09-19
An 4 uIcricau Home.
BY TnE Rky. ALnEbT nARNrs.

The following eloquent and truth
ful picture of an American home,
from sermon by the Rev. Albert
Barns, cannot be read without both
pleasure and profit. 1t is, indeed,
admirably drawn;
"How many tender and beau
tiful conceptions enter here into the
meaning of the word-home! 1t is
not merely the place of our birth ;
nor the place where our father and
mother--our brothers and sisters
live; it is not merely the place
where we have been trained and
where we sported in boyhood; it is
not because our house is more beau
tiful and splendid than can be found
in other lands it is not that we are
clothed in fine linen and fare sump-
tuously every day-but it is, that
there clusters around an american
home, what is rarely, if ever to be
found in any other habitation ofman.
All homes in our land are not, in
deed, precisely the same-but there
is a beau MeaI which easily conveys
the conception, and which will find
its original in thousands of the
abodcs in this Republic, and not Of
ten in the older portion of the world
rarely except in our own native
land. II is Tie aJOde Of liberty.
The father is allowed to pursue his
own plan, for the good of his family,
and, with his son, to labor in what
profession he chooses, and to enjoy
the avails ofhis own labor. The re-
suit of his toll are not liable to be
torn away by rapacious officers of
Government; nor is he subject to
the will Of another as to the amount
of labor he shall perform, or the
kind of employment which he shall
pursue. He may live where he plea
ses-he may purchase field as his
own-he may plant, or sow, or build,
where and what he chooscs-and
there undiSturbed he may lie down
and die. his The abode IF neatneSs,
thrift and competence. 1t is not the
wretched hut of the Greenlander or
Cafrarian, or the underground
abode of tho Camschatkan, or the
stye of the Hottentot. IL 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; that they
are not strangers to other books and
other modes of transmitting thought.
They are acquainted wit the con-
stitution of their country they
know their rights as citizens, they
know the value Of a vote; they
know where to find redress when
they are wronged--they feel sure
that if they are wronged they ,ciN
hare redress. II IS tie abode of
contentmem and peace. The bond
that unites all, is LOyf and mutuaII
respect. A father and mother are
respected, obeyed, and loved. They
have intelligence and virtue which
constitute a claim to respect, and
they have laid the foundation for this
in the careful training of their chill
dren. 10 as the abOde Of kindness.
There is kindness to each other
and to all who have claim to COM
passion. The poor ncighbor has a
share in the sympathy existing there,
and is sure that he shall not be sent
empty away. II IS tie ab0de Of SAFE !
n. On my own fathers house,
which has stood now for nearly half
a century, there has never been a
lock, or a bolt; nor, when left alone,
as it has often been, has it ever been
secured against robberS--and yet it
has never been entered for an evil
purpose. If, to these things, as they
might be expanded and Illustrated,
you were to add the idea of religion
of the blessings of the Gospel in
the purcst form known since the
apostolic times, producing kindness,
contcntment, and peacc--sustaining
the soul in adversely, and in pros
pcrity leading the heart up to God
with gratitude; inclining his daily
worship in the habitation, and order
ing all the plans of life in accord
ancc with the principles of religion,
you would have completed the i'm
agc'of an American Home.
4" Such is the home that's loved
that We revert to with pleasure,
when far away, and 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
a home, and in the strong attach
mcnt which is formed for it, that the
stability of our institutions lies.
You have an indiSsoluble hold on
the virtue and good conduct of your
sons, as long as home is what it
should be, and as long as il shall
seem to them when there or