the anarchy and social disorder which are equally fatal to all human advancement and all social good.

"Throughout this discussion the Tribune has charged us with being hostile to all reform, and especially to every attempt to meliorate the hard lot of the degraded poor. The charge is as unfounded as it is ungenerous. We labor willingly and zealously, as our columns will testify, within our sphere, in aid of everything which seems to us TRUE REFORM, founded upon

just principles, seeking worthy ends by worthy means, and promising actual and good results. We regard it as our duty to do all in our power to benefit our fellow-men; but we are not of those who 'feel personally responsible for the turning of the earth upon its axis,' nor do we deem it our special mission' to reorganize society. We believe much good may be done by improving the circumstances which surround the vicious and the wretched; but the essential evil lies behind that, and must be reached by other means. We should not differ from the Tribune as to the Christian duty of the rich towards the poor; but we cannot denounce them as the tyrants and robbers of those who have been less industrious and less fortunate. We would gladly see society free from suffering, and all its members virtuous and happy; but we believe social equality to be as undesirable, as it is impossible, holding, rather, with Plato and Aristotle, that a true society requires a union of unequal interests, mutually sustaining and aiding each other, and not an aggregation of identical elements, which could give nothing like coherence or strength to the fabric. We believe in human improvement, but not in a progress which will have nothing fixed; which consists in leaving behind it everything like established principles, and which measures its rate by the extent of its departure from all the pillars which wisdom and experience have erected. We cannot regard with favor any principle or any scheme, no matter how plausible its pretensions, which involves the destruction of the FAMILY RELATION, or subjects the MARRIAGE union to the caprice of individual passion; for not only the dictates of wisdom and experience, but the explicit injunctions of God himself, are thus rejected and disavowed. We would not venture upon the tremendous experi

ment of taking off from human passions all the restraints which society, law, and religion have hitherto imposed, however plausible the plea that the law of passional attraction will again bring them into more complete harmony, and with 'pacific and constructive' power, build up, as by enchantment, a new and more perfect social form. As soon would we unchain and turn loose upon unprotected women and children a thousand untamed tigers, or lead mankind, in search of its lost paradise, into the very heart of hell, — in the hope that some Orphean lute might charm wild beasts from their nature, and convert even the furies of the infernal world into angels and ministers of grace. The walls of Thebes may have risen to the sound of Amphion's harp; but he himself was a son of the Highest, and received his lyre and acquired his skill in such creative melody, from the direct teachings of its Sovereign God. So, in these

latter days, must the principles of all true REFORM come down from heaven. We have no faith in any system that does not aim at the extirpation of MORAL EVIL from the heart of man; or that sets aside, in this endeavor, the teachings of Revelation; the eternal principles of spiritual truth therein proclaimed; and the method of redemption therein set forth. The CHRISTIAN RELIGION, in its spiritual, life-giving, heart-redeeming princi ples, is the only power that can reform society; and it can accomplish this work only by first reforming the individuals of whom society is composed. Without GOD, and the plan of redemption which he has revealed, the world is also without HOPE."

PRESENT CONDITION OF THE RAYMOND HOMESTEAD IN LIMA, N. Y.
James Emith, Lima, Photo.

CHAPTER VIII.

RAYMOND AT TWENTY-EIGHT.

MR. RAYMOND'S HIS VISIT TO LIMA

HIS FILIAL DEVOTION-BURNING OF THE HOMESTEAD IN LIMA
LETTERS TO HIS PARENTS AND HIS BROTHER SAMUEL
-HIS SOLICITUDE FOR HIS FATHER AND MOTHER-A TOUCHING TRIBUTE.

On the last day of September, 1848, while Mr. Raymond was diligently performing the onerous duties which fell to his lot in the office of the Courier and Enquirer, the house which had been the shelter of his early years was destroyed by fire, and his father and mother were suddenly thrown upon the world without a home, and with but small means of support. By this time, fortune had smiled graciously upon the son; and the disaster to the old homestead gave him the opportunity of repaying a part of the debt of gratitude he owed to loving and self-denying parents.

A telegraphic despatch announced to Mr. Raymond the fact of the destruction of the homestead, but gave no particulars. He immediately sent to his father the following letter of condolence, written very hastily in the pressure of business:

"NEW YORK, Saturday P. M. [Sept. 30, 1848.]

"MY DEAR FATHER: - I have just heard by telegraph from Samuel of your misfortune. So the old house bas gone! - Well, I little thought when we were all there so snugly this summer that it would be for the last time, from such a cause. I trust and suppose that it was insured, so that the actual loss will be but little, if anything. And if this is so, although it will put you to a great deal of inconvenience, still it will not be without its advantages, - as you can now build one more to your liking.

"I suppose I could be of no service even if I was there, so that I regret less than I should do otherwise the impossibility of my going. If you want any assistance that I can give, you have only to let me know what it is. I hope mother will not let it trouble her much. It's bad, to be sure - but it can't