Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. I.djvu/143

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HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD.
119

simply describes its object to be, “a beginning upon a small scale of those industrial armies which shall go forth to subdue, to render fruitful and to beautify the barren fields of the earth, and to make of them worthy dwelling-places for practical Christian communities, and the wider extension of general improvement for the best interests of mankind.” Practical Christianity is the watchword of these peaceful conquerors. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall inherit the earth.”

I shall for the present write no more about my campaign: although often amused and interested, I wonder continually whether I shall ever again have any rest; there seems no prospect of it, however. The cold is now also come here, and it is a hard master to strive against. To-day it is a regular tempest.—I wonder how it is with you, my darling, and whether you find yourself warm and comfortable in our quiet home in Stockholm. May you be so, my beloved Agatha, and may the winter not be too severe for you!


Boston, December 2nd.

Here I am now, my dear child, in the midst of severe cold, but in a warm and handsome room in Revere House, with a glowing fire to bear me company. Here I am installed by Marcus and Rebecca, who merely exhorted me to be comfortable and not to want for anything.

In the forenoon I went with them to church, and heard a singular kind of sermon from Theodore Parker, a man of powerful character, and richly gifted as a speaker, who, with a strong and fearless spirit, applies the morality of Christianity to the political and social questions of the day and the country. He has a Socratic head, large well-formed hands, and his whole being, expression, gestures, struck me as purely original—the expression of a determined and powerful nature.

I shall go in the evening to a Socialist meeting; that