RAL AND FAMILY JOURNAL 
A mile-stone on the varied path of Life 
We pass this New-Year’s day, and let us pause 
ro mark how much of progress we have made 
In calm review to look again upon 
The beaten road our pilgrim feet have trod. 
- Has it the pathway been of truth and right - 
Of duty done—the law of Love fulfilled, 
To God, our fellow men and our own souls ; 
If so we are at peace—are undisturbed 
;’y aI1 ,ife ’ 8 Aery trials, dreading not 
The lash of Conscience, or Remorse’s sting. 
- Or m Cif e > s warfare, must we feel and own 
H e have been overcome, and yielded oft 
To forces which opposed or tempting lure ; 
Or, led by our deceitful hearts, have come 
VVithm die sway of Evil and of Wrong ? 
. hen let us take a warning from the past, 
And henceforth seek that wisdom from above 
™ free| y an(} without upbraiding given,— 
Ask pardon for the past and grace implore 
■* he (iuties of the Future to fulfil. 
ig- nei 7 aeAu g e till it came within twenty rods, 
mi- " hen the smoke, ashes and air—hotter 
1 a tban the simoom of the desert—compelled 
ry. me to bury my face in the folds of my 
li- cloa h and to receive the attack passively.— 
.re The rushing, roaring flame soon reached 
ie- the road, which for a moment seemed to 
w- subdue its fierceness, and I seized the op¬ 
to portunity to rush to the rear. A few 
;r- breaths of hot air, ashes and smoke, carried 
] e me through to a place of safety. 
Comparatively good settlements are yet 
i- sometimes invaded by these fires and much 
it damage done. But a few days since one 
• e came dashing into our settlement, and al- 
g though it was in the day time, when we 
h were afc work in our fields, I was but just 
o iu time with my “ back fire ” to save my fen- 
e ces, whilst one of my neighbors, less fortu- 
s nate, abandoned in succession, a fence, 
>1 wheat pen ’ and fanning mill, and direct- 
. ed his utmost energy to save his stacks, 
[ stable and house, which he only succeeded 
in by the greatest exertion. 
It would not be supposed that these fires 
. could be made to burn in the rank green 
. grass of summer, but such is the fact. I 
i have seen them burning in every month of 
, year. If the old grass escapes destruction 
in the fall, it constitutes material enough to 
burn, and consume the growing grass of the 
next season. Tender feed through the 
growing months, is thus secured by these 
“ late burns.” L . D w 
Bureau Co., Co., III., Dec. 1850 
BORN TO FORTUNE. 
IIow many of us grieve that such was 
not our auspicious advent in the world.— 
“ If I had only inherited such a fortune, 
how much good I would have done with it; 
how I would have enjoyed life!” Perhaps 
so; but none of us can be certain on this 
point. Riches harden and corrupt the 
heart. Men are too often good only for 
their own welfare; and wealth would often 
divest them of their motive for a proner 
course of life. 1 1 
We were yesterday in conversation with 
an elderly gentleman who has lived a good 
life, and is reaping its just reward. Anoth¬ 
er, who looked older than our friend, ap¬ 
proached us; he was a miserable looking 
object, bent down, and in rags. He ap- 
ot. james denominates the Gospel the 
perfect law of liberty;” and its spirit and 
results may be contrasted with the thral¬ 
dom of sm, which, under the guise of free¬ 
dom from restraint enslaves mankind-lead¬ 
ing them, chained and miserable, at the 
pleasure of the Evil One. 
Obedience to the Law of Liberty results 
in a oneness of spirit with God’s spirit-the 
desires and affections freely and harmoni- 
ously unite ini the fulfillment of the Divine 
Will, with which the renewed human will 
s now coincident, and consequently conforms 
to righteousness, and dwells in purity and 
peace. Thus, the Gospel requirements act 
not as a restraint, but rather permit and 
incite the unchecked aud harmonious move¬ 
ments of the spiritualized will; giving free- 
th .® bonda ge of sin, and the do¬ 
minion of evil passions;-its tendency and 
resu t being the fulfillment of the design of 
man s creation after the likeness and ima^e 
? '"“—having a portion of like immortal- 
ty capacity and intelligence. On the oth- 
Sweden, and Germany, upon Temperance 
and for the promotion of Evangelical piety 
in those countries. As agent of the “ For¬ 
eign Evangelical Society,” be again travel¬ 
ed over our country in ’41, ’42 and ’43 
writing meanwhile his popular book, «Re¬ 
ligion in America.” Since then he has de¬ 
livered many times, a course of lectures on 
Europe, deservedly popular—being the re¬ 
sult ot his remarkable opportunities for in¬ 
forming himself thoroughly concerning that 
country. But we have not space to detail, 
however briefly, his “works more abundant” 
since that time at home and abroad, and 
will close by mentioning a few of the striking- 
points of his character. 
Robert Baird is a man of the people, 
with a heart in sympathy with true progress. 
He is a thorough scholar—a distinguished 
author,—some of his books havino- been 
I matu- 
tgazine, 
1, says: 
I “ Robert was a ‘ farmer’s boy.’ His youthful 
days were spent like those of all farmer’s boys.— 
Ho plowed, and hoed, and 4 did the chores.’ Du¬ 
ring the winter months he trudged to the village 
school, digging as faithfully at his Geography and 
Arithmetic as he did in the field, during the sum¬ 
mer season. 
Is it not a fact worthy of attention, that such a 
large proportion of our great men—that those who 
are now the working men of the age—the effect¬ 
ive philanthropists, the devoted patriots, and guid¬ 
ing statesmen have been, with few exceptions, far¬ 
mer’s boys. We will find that the practical, com¬ 
mon sense, straight-forward, serviceable men of 
the age, had their early training in the sensible, 
regular, matter-of-fact life, connected with a farm.” 
£>ome indications in the boy of the mind 
of the man, coming to the notice of the vil¬ 
lage pastor, he recommended his being sent 
to college. His parents, though startled 
by this suggestion, had such reliance upon 
their minister’s judgment, that they decided 
Robert should “ have an education.” His 
biographer continues:— 
“ Robert was blessed with a mother who be¬ 
longed to the noble, self-sacrificing order. She 
would attend to the boy’s support, she said. The 1 
thing could easily be done; and it was done. That 
mother supported her son through all his academ¬ 
ical and collegiate course by the proceeds of her 
churn. And she is not the only mother who has { 
done the same thine - . There are niLor 
mg emu cneering us on-another, with only 
false, alluring- lights, leading into danger and 
tailing us in our deepest need. The one 
path grows more difficult, its lights more 
deceptive burdens more galling, its chains 
c oser and stronger, til), weary, despairing, 
end luined, we sink into endless wo. The 
o ier —ah! happy they who, suspicious of 
their own abilities, seek a law to direct and 
restrain, rather than such a freedom—the 
other is an established way, which a cloud 
of comfort overshadows by day, and a pillar 
ot guidance and protection illumines by 
night. A friend true and powerful, is with 
them in every calamity; for eveiy sorrow of 
mortality a solace is provided. 
And the Way prescribed and provided 
by the Law of Liberty, leads to a heavenly 
land, of which heavenly glimpses are given 
us—we may have a foretaste of the joys 
-.—J. Instead of weari- 
is ever-increasing strength and 
nke the rushing ot a mighty wind. Under 
such circumstances it is irresistible, and wo 
to him who must encounter its terrific force. 
To view it in its most awful grandeur, it 
should be seen in the night. It then ap¬ 
pears differently according to its extent and 
distance from the observer. — Sometimes 
only a slight Vermillion color on the sky in¬ 
dicates its direction, and a dozen of these 
may, at times, be counted in one evening. 
Sometimes it is a gentle fire advancing in 
curved lines, which might be somewhat fan¬ 
cifully compared to a line of sheep bound¬ 
ing along, each with his fleece on fire. 
When darkness, high wind, heavy grass, 
aud a great expanse are all combined, the 
sight is truly sublime. The whole vault of 
Heaven is filled with a crimson glare, while 
h which await the faithful. 
e ness, there r 
a delight; instead of ruox 
L tbe P a th opens brighter and brighter; in- 
“ „ d of despair and uncertainty, Faith, 
{ Hope, and Love invigorate and bless, and 
- THE END THEREOF IS EVERLASTING HAPPI- 
' HESS. „ 
5 J. H. B. 
t Sabbath Schools— The most gifted can- 
- not find a worthier field of labor than the 
, unday school. The noblest work on earth 
» is to act with an elevating power on a hu¬ 
man spirit. The greatest men of past times 
nave not been politicians or warriors,who have 
! ^nuenced the outward policy or grandeur 
1 0 . kingdoms; but men who, by their deep 
wisdom and generous sentiments, have given 
light and life to the minds and hearts of 
their own age, and left a legacy of truth and 
virtue to posterity. Whoever, in the hum¬ 
blest sphere, imparts God’s truth to one hu¬ 
man spirit, partakes their glory. He labors 
on an immortal nature. He is laying the 
foundation of imperishable excellence and 
happiness. _ His work, if he succeed, will 
outlive empires and the stars. 
It is not by great deeds, like those of the 
martyrs, that good is to be done; it is by the 
daily and quiet virtues of life-the Christian 
temper, the meek forbearance, the spirit of 
forgiveness, in the husband, wife, father 
mother, brother, sister, friend, or neighbor 
[ that good is to be done. 
A Profound Remark— The theologies 
of Scripture and of Nature are the same. 
Both preach against injury to life; each 
proves that to strengthen and to purify the 
mind and the body is to immortalize the 
soul. 
Hypocrisy is the necessary burden of 
villainy, affectation part of the chosen trap- 1 
pings of folly. J 
creasing momentum. Viewing it for the 
first time, and not knowing the cause, we 
might suppose the earth was about to be 
burned up with lire. All combustible sub¬ 
stances in its course are consumed, like 
chaff. If iences, stacks, and houses, are 
not secured by plowing, or timely protected 
oy a back fire, all is lost. Life, too, would 
be in danger, were there not many places of 
safe retreat. 
Eleven years ago the present month, I 
was crossing with a companion in a‘one 
horse wagon, a large prairie said to be 20 
miles in width. Near the middle of it an 
axletree of our wagon irave out. wIipd 
Fashionable Manners.— There is a set 
of people whom I cannot bear—the pinks 
of fashionable propriety—whose every word 
is precise, and whose every movement is 
unexceptionable; but who, though versed iu 
all the categories of polite behavior, have 
not a particle of soul or of cordiality about 
them. We allow that their manners may 
be abundantly correct. There may be ele¬ 
gance in every gesture; and gracefulness in 
every position; not a smile out of place, and 
not a step that would not bear the measure¬ 
ment of the severest scrutiny. This is very I 
