BV GEO. W. BOWMAX. NEW SERIES. Sclcrt sJottrn. A in null l\ THE AIR* Once wandering throu/h the 'and of dreams, 111 search of something new, A chutch—'twa* on a Sabbath morn— My curious notice drew; And thinking 1 should see the mode Of Christian worship there, I entered just in time to hear The closing hymn and prayer. And when the hymn was given out, With what astonished face I watched a lady da.! in sdk Bend forward l'rom tier place. To share her book with one whose robes So scanty were and mean, No maiden formed of earthly mould To greet her would be seen. And yet 1 saw not that the deed Lessened a single grace. But rather that a sweeter look Beamed on the maiden's lace, And while 1 pondered in mv mind, How such a thing could he, The whole assembly joined to sing Some time-worn melody. And yet the mu-ic of that choir Right pleasant \va> to hear, Though nothing m the strain 1 found To please a critic's ear; But childhood joined its ringing tones With tho-e of laitermg age, And rich, and poor, and old, and young In that blest work eugage. And here r.o fashionable airs, The tedium to beguile, Are set to solemn hymns of praise, And ungin open style. And well, thought I, the church of Clod 'This mockery might spare, i ceased—and every head was bowed in reverential prayer. And all in spirit seemed to join, Nor could I well forbear, For Christ and not the minister, Was most apparent there. ,lts wortls of charity ai d love Did the whole world embrr. *e, Unfettered by the love ol sect. That modern Christian giace. And little did I care to know If Old the School, or New, From whence the soul of such a man it- rich instruction drew, lbs teacher notie could well mistake, One only can impart Lessons ol wisdom that can guide A sinful human heart. Too soon that fervent piayer was o'er, The benediction a?k"d, And sldwly down the spacious aisles The congregation passed. Slowly, as one might turn his back Upon the gates of heaven, Alter a taste of angel's food Unto his soul was given. And now kind greetings were exchanged, With many a friendly word, And Christians met, as Christians should, Who served one common Lord. One heart, one mind, one earnest will Seemed to inspire the whole, A- friend with freedom told The welfare of his soul. Strange though it seem, no single word These curious tolks did say, Ol "politics," of ri.e in stocks, Or gossip of the day. Not only did they "shut up shop," And lock the office door, ihey turned the key on worldly thought, Till holy time was o'er. I he sermon, while a group discussed, 1 listened in amaze, And marveled at the words they used, When speaking in its praise. 1 ney did not call it "great" or "deep," "Ingenious," "witty," "smart," Or "thank their stars they had a man Alter the people's heart." But whispered low, with moistened eyes, "How precious was the word; How lull of hope the promises 1 heir strengthened souls had heard;" And murmured blessings on bis head, ho, laboring by their side, In all simplicity and truth, Preached Chust the crucified. I heard, and could not silence keep, "Ihrice happy souls!" 1 cried, "Am lin heaven ?" With sudden start My eyes I opened wide— hooked round a moment in amaze— Saw my mistake with pain, And never since have dared to take A nap in church again. TUB FUfiBE AT BAGDAD, I\ IS3f. A [ass over a variety of adventures following h.e events to which the preceding pases refer, J" revisit,on the next year, the City of Bagdad. ! I'higue still raged there; and what a change •ad that brief pernxl brought about! After I •-'< quitted the city on the former occasion, the gradually subsided, but left many stag t P°°Ks the nuisance of which combining '•••I Hie effluvia arising fiont the bodies cast in ljf tou " ditch, produced a fever, almost as in its effects, when the hot weather set 1 an the plague had ceased, as the latter dis itself. I aftl 'ne succeeded; but still the vials of wrath 3d not been all emptied on this devoted city. dan's army on the northern frontier had r Mca :, dy watching the progress of the disor -1 t-ii't? 111 ' S ! lor ''3 r a fterit had ceased, they inves t,,'.* ci 'y* I' or some time the Mamelukes rUM" it, and then they were com n 7 . sta "wation to surrender. They were ' s aughlered, and the city given up to pillage, th/**?' an * vv .°"t birds °f the tow n was now r n, ' ns > anf t from complicated disas -IjSSo yi P u 'ation had dwindled from 150,000 I made my way in comparative solitude, driv ing tuy horse beiore me, for he was too much ex hausted for me to remount and ride. 1 had no money, and could not, moreover, find fodder to sustain him; so 1 was reluctantly compelled to part with him for five dollars to a Bedo.vin.— Wry much did I regret the necessity of parting with an animal which had carried me marly 3,000 miles. Of the scanty population 500 continued to die daily. The residency was still held there; hut a strict quarantine forbade my gaining ad mittance there, and I put tip for the night in a stable near it. An old gardener was the only person I met there, and he was bemoaning his father and two sons. 1 was not aware of tins second visit of the plague; but, having got into the city, and having no friends, i could not a i gain quit it. 1 therefore took up my lodging in an old Khan, when; J lived economically n tir ed, as my income compelled rne to do. When all symptoms of the/aging pestilence had disappeared, and the waters of the river, which made a second visit to the citv, had a gam subsided to their former level, I quitted my dwelling to seek, as i strolled forth amidst the now desolate city, such of mv friends as pestilence and the (hood had spared. Alas ! how small the number to receive mv greeting! Whole streets were depopulated bv tire one calamity, ami overthrown by the other. I entered several of the dwellings which yet remained standing. \Y hat varied, what hideous seem s presented themselves to me 1 in some, the reputed wealth ol tiieir former possessors liati attracted j the robber hordes to which I have beiore alluded, and ali of value had been carried off. Several struggles had taken place, between the invaders and tiie possessors, for that which perhaps iu hut a few brief hours would probably he less than dross to either. Just within the entrance hall of a Georgian merchant, with whom I was acquainted, there lay the bodies of a slave and one of these rob bers. In the left hand of the latter was a rich kalian. The slave, in intercepting his progress, had been shot through the body, but had after wards, it would app-ar, retained sufficient ener gy to plunge his dagger into the heart of his opponent. They had IKJIII fallen together, and must have expired at nearly the same time, for they lay side by side—the countenance of the , robber turned upwards and hideously distorted, that of the slave placid and mild, although his right hand still retained its hold of the home j stricken dagger. I traversed my way through those apartments that had escaped the spoiler. I wound through halls and along passages which had formerly resounded with the busy din of human voices and human feet. Now how changed the scene! No sounds follow the ear hut the a I infos t noise less echo of my steps. Silent now and deserted Was that banquet hall; more melancholy sti!! t!m reflection that it was not again doomed to be filled by those guests who had taken their departure but yesterday night, to return with renewed zeal on the morrow. They had retir ed to partake their last repose. The bright and brilliant hue of costly divans was runl dimmed by the accumulated dust of months. A few chebnuques, their iiowis par tially filled, were reclining against the cush j ions; beside them were left th- half-finished coffee-cups, with their filagree covering of gold; and the fancy could not but picture the host, on the first symptom of the malady, rising sud denly and staggering to his couch, from whence death alone was - again to summon him. There was an Armenian merchant with whom I was acquainted, who had the good fortune Jo possess a daughter, the most lovely being i had ever cast eyes upon. She was rather above than below the middle height; but her form was of such exquisite proportion, that her superior; height was not perceived till she stood by the side of of hers. Her hands and feet were ex tremely small; her neck long and tapering.— When intelligence of the plague first reached | Bagdad,l had seen her stand over her younger sis'er, to whom she was passionately attached, 1 and with arms folded over her breast, her eyes cast upwards, and flashing through their vet darkened fringes, as she fervently invoked hea ven's blessing and protection on her: and then j thought I hail never beheld a countenance more truly or justly entitled to be called heavenly. Some months had elapsed after our first ac quaintance. before I was made aware that Mir iam was but waiting the return of a young coun tryman from Aloppo, to be united to him; and preparations were in progress for that event, I when plague for the present put a stop to all.— The family established a quarantine; and J had since heard no more of them. The gate, as I now approached the house, was closed : I struck my staff'against it several times without attracting attention, and, with a conclusion that its inmates had shared the fate ot but too many others, 1 was turning away with a sigh, when the wicket opened slowly, and the feeble voice of the old merchant bade me enter. I grasped him by the hand : he spoke not ; but, beckoning me to follow him, slowly tottered up the stairs. I looked around —he w as alone. "Your daughter Miriam ?" said T, in a fal tering voice. The spell was broken—the old man threw himself on a chair and gave vent to a flood of tears; as these chased each other down his venerable beard, he sobbed so piteous ly, that 1 was fearful it would put an end at ; once to him and bis sorrow. What a mockery it would have been to have offered words in consolation ! I remained gazing on him 1n si lence. To my great relief, he at length calm ed himself in a measure, and in broken st-n --tences conjured me to forgive a father's weak ness. "You," said he, "O Frank, are the first per son I have seen, except those who for months were immured within these baleful walls.— But I am unequal to the task of talking: now." He clapped his hands, and a slave appeared, who seemed scarcely less astonished at my pre sence than was his master. The o'd man sent him for pipes and coffee ; and, after we had a gain seated ourselves, I gained from him tile particulars of the following affecting incident : "For three weeks," said he, "by adopting the most rigid precautions, we succeeded in shutting out the pestilence, although the neigh borhood around resounded with the groans and shrieks ofthose who were suffering thumsel ves, or wept the fate of others. One morning, how ever, 1 went into Alumina's (the sister of .Mi riam) room, and found that some animal had reposed the previous evening on her bed. Ful ly aware that it was but too often that disease is by such means communicated, I nevertheless said nothing. Some days elapsed, and already had I cherished hopes that my fears were groundless, when one morning too fully con vinced in" that the poor child was infected. She complained of a cold shivering, which was, as she retired to her pallet, followed hv a burn ing heal, and intense pain about the pit of the stomach, while dimness and lustre were strange ly combined in her full but fixed eve. "The malady could not for an instant he con cealed from the anxious eve-of Miriam ; and, despite the prayers and entreaties of her father an i friends, the heavenly girl tore herself from their arms, and rushed to the chamber of her beloved sister. There, by the side of the poor little sufb rer, sat Miriam, watching her every look—now moistening her parched lip?, bath ing her pallid but burning brow, dressing the loathsome ulcers, or quietly striving to soothe the ravings of delirium. She neither ale, drank, nor slept ; she breathed tie* same breath with her, and lived but for her sister ; and when, al ter five days and five nights of intense watch ing, the pure and gentle spirit of the sufferer fled, Miriam uttered no shriek—manifested no outward emotion ; but slowlv and calmly per formed the last sad offices. Rising then, from Iter solitary task, she gazed on those wan and pallid features she was about to behold for the last time, threw her whole snnl into a glance, and waving aside those who at the door of the apartment had in much wonder watched her every acti >n, she quitted the room. Entering her own chamber, she threw herself on the couch and buried her fare' in the pillow ; but there followed no soli? or tears only at first a gentle shivering, and then violent convulsions. Jt was now her lover's turn to display his self devotion. His voice, it was evident, soothed her ; and, after remaining some hours by her side, he was happy to perceive that first a drow siness, and then a happy insensibility stole over her. Exhausted by long watching, she slept soundly, and awoke with the usual fever, but in perfect possession of her senses. Her lover held her hands within his own ; looking at him fixedly and tenderly : 'Leave me, my beloved,' said she, seeks a new home in the West should not stop to make a location until he has visted this Territory. The organi zed emigration of th* world i< now turned to wards it,and it,possesses advantages on this ac count which are not offered by any Western State. In December last, the Superintendent of In dian affairs for the Indian territory, in his an nual report said, in substance, "Aside from the government agents' troops and missionaries, there are not at this time, three white inhabi tants in all that region lying west of the Mis souri, and embraced in the limits of Kansas and Nebraska." But ten months have passed since then, and now, instead of a population enumer ated by a monosyllable, there are many thous ands settled all over the country, and hundreds are pouring in daily, selecting and staking out farms, which they propose locating with their families. We confidently predict that in less than a year from this time, we shall number fully 100,000 souls. The times indicate it. In all the northern Stales: indeed, in nearly every Freedom of Thought and Opinion. BEDFORD, PA. FRIDAY MORNING, DEC. 1, 1854. country, there are movements Kansas-ward, and frequently the numbers are so great as to deter iorate the value of property, particularly real estate. And why not 1 Lands in many [tarts of the north, not favorably located for a market, or peculiarly productive, command from thirty to fifty and seventy-five dollars per acre. Here the government price is but one dollar and twenty-live cents, and the titles are from the government, hence no question as to their validity. The cost of turning over the prairies ranges from two to three dollars per acre. The first crop—usually of corn—will_pa v the expenses of culture; then the farmer with his hundred mres of the richest land in the world, perfectly subdued, and capable of raising anv species of vegetation, finds it costing but from three- hun dred and severity-five to four hundred dollars'. It is in a condition v.hich twenty years of hard labor in a timbered country cannot make if; and he finds himself enabled to produce a luxuriant crop of vegetation with nearly one third the labor required on "Aim/pm" soil of most of the northern and middle States. It is true mna v of the conveniences of a tim bered country are wanting here; hut these can all be supplied by the hand of labor. "But," says the enquirer, "what will be done for fences ? You have no timber, or not sufficient, to be used for fencing purposes, and it appears to me impossible to get along in such a coun try." In some of the western States they have ! got along very well without timber, a;ul here, in Kansas, wi expect to get afnng still better, j The Osage Orrnge, is used for hedges, grows in j three'years and produces a natural fence capa ble of turning aside the largest animals. The severity of (lie winter in more northern latitudes ; makes this useless to the prairie farmers of lowa and Wisconsin; hut here it will increase in value j from year to year, and is worth more than a dozen rati fences, which cost such an immense a rsount of labor to erect. , It is objected that our market is too far re moved. To those who are uot at all acquainted with our position in the Republic, the objection is insurpassable; but to those w ho have observed that we have an excellent water communica tion u it h a!! parts of the world; and in two years, at the furthest, we shall be handed with iron, and a railroad connecting ns with Boston and New York, along which the steam horse will be propelled at the rate of from thirty to fortv inih san hour, the objection is worthless. The whole valley of the Mississippi will Finnish us a market, as will the government trains which cross the plains to New Mexico and Rock -Y luntains to I'tah, California, Origan and YF.usiiingt n Territory. Besides this, we ex pect a large home market; for mechanics have already commenced pouring in by thousands, and the numerous article's which are imported into other States w ill lie manufactured among us. Agricultural implements of every species, which are usually made in the eastern States, will be constructed in the Kansas Valley. We are already talking of our commercial city, which we claim is to rival the growth of any western town. Chicago, with its population of 70,000 in twentv-two years, will find her growth less rapid than the great City of the Plains, which is t > he the half-wav house be tween the Atlantic and Pacific and the com mercial emporium of North America. The Pacific Railway w ill be completed tinr ingthe next ten years. It must necessarily pass along the southern hank of the Kansas ami up one of its principal tributaries to the south pass in the Rocky Mountains. While this road is being constructed the surplus products of the farms which fancy sees already covered with "bending grain and golden-rinded fruit," will be needed to supply the w ants of its laborers, and money will be required in return to meet the incidental w ants of the Kansas farmer. Again we snv, send on the five hundred thousand farmers, mechaucis and artizans, and we will pledge them the mot beautiful farms, and the richest country, in all the bounties of nature, which the sun of heaven ever shone up on. GREAT RAILROAD SPEED. Three Hundred .Miles jicr Hour. A paper was lately read hv Judge Meigs, before the American Institute Farmer's Club, at New York, upon the subject of rapid railroad travelling, in which he said : "I have, with others, admired the progress made in velocity on railroads up to even one hundred miles tin hour on straight raits , which has been done in England. But I entertain views of railroad velocity far beyond any yet ventured to he expressed. The Emperor of Russia has taken the first great step towards what I deem the ultimatum of railroad travel. "Instead of cutting a narrow alley through the country, or going around everything in the w ay of a straight line—he has cut a broad way five hundred miles, from St. Petersburg to Mos cow— he has made it all the way two hundred feet w ide, so that the engineer sees everything that conies on the road ! "Such is part of the future : the railroad from point to point a mathematical line: the rails ten times stronger than any now used : the locomo tives on wheels of far greater diarnameter, say twelve or fifteen feet ; the gague of a relative breadth ; the signals and times perfectly settled ; the road, walled on both sides, during the tran sit of trains having the gates of the walls all closed. Then instead of one hundred miles an hour! we shall more safely travel three hun dred miles an hour ! I will not pretend to say more —one hundred seems last enough : so did twenty, a few years ago : and now, on very straight rails or some straight runs, we do travel sixty miles an hour in this State, and in England, one hundred miles have been accom plished. "Mathematical precision and time will solve this problem—a passage from New Aork to San Francisco in ten hours I" jWe have no doubt ol one hundred miles per hour being perfectly practicable railroad speed, by the building of such railroads as those descri ; bed by the Judge, and this opinion we expressed j in the columns of the scientific American some years ago. But three hundred miles per hour i inclines us to the fogy side of the question.— i This speed would require a piston velocity 33,- | 000 feet per minute, of eighteen-inch stroke, if the driving wheels were twenty-four feet in circumference, (nearly eight feet in diameter— whoppers) they would have to make 1100 rev olutions per minute. As the wheels cannot turn around without steam, thp query with us is, the means of raising the steam necessary to ! perform this fi at, as the boiler would have to evaporate about a tun of water per minute—stx !y in an hour. So far as it related to the final velocity of steam in a vacuum, the speed of three hundred miles p-r hour could be obtain ed, nut how can such a quantity of steam be evaporated in a locomotive boiler, in this space of time? Judge Maig's may perhaps be able to answer us. With respect to the velocity of bodies, our ideas are bounded by what lias been performed before our eyes—the flight of the swallow, the pigeon, the eagle ; and when we look to the heavenly bodies ar.d calculate the awful velocity with which they are unceasing ly wheeled through space, the mind is struck with solemn awe at the mighty power of the great Creator, who has made huge Jupiter to re volve once on his axis in ten hours, and through s[ ace at the rate of 4685 miles per hour, or fifteen times the velocity of a locomotive, run ning at the rate of three hundred miles an hour. —Scientific Jimtrican. Distrrssiug Suicide. WASHINGTON, NOV. 13. —Mr. Charles W. Stewart, long know n as the assistant doorkeep er of the J Fuse of Representatives, was found la should very soon see ! If a young man wants to c hoose a wife, let him invite the lady he has in view, to take a walk, a very long one, and when he comes back, if he find? his companion obliged to ;H> to bed with a headache, let him look somewhere else for a wife, unless he is fond of paving Doc tor's bills." Speaki:i<: of ea. ly marriages, the 1) t (or re marked : TERMS, §2 ITK YEAR. VOL XXIIJ, NO. 10*. "Til this country very few ladies are fit eith er physically or mentally t<> become mothers before they reach the age of twenty-one, twen ty-tuo, or twenty-three, but so precocious are our young ladies, that if they happen to pass twenty without having made definite arrange ments, they begin to couskfer themselves old maids, and before a school girl is fairly out of short dresses and pantaletts, she is looking up a beau." Among the ancient Germans, than whom a finer race of men, physically, perhaps nev<*r existed, it was ?