The Literary echo, and Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1851-1854, 1851-10-16
ChildIaOOd'S Home.

most expressive words In lie EnSlsh language
are Mother, Wife, and Home Good old Saxon
words are they all.
Though the name Home may be Saxon, yet
its Specification is as broad as the Loundlcss
ocean-where man dwels there is its signifca-
ton known and felt-it is confined to no Ian
suage, 10 no people, to no period of time 1t is
not bounded by the landmarks of caste, or
limited in its universal sovereignty by the re-
straint of rank. The lorlly mansion and The
splendid palace possess not more attractions for
their inhabitants than do the habitations of the
more humble, whose birthplace was the lonely
hut, reposing in the shade OF obscuriiy. Be il
but the home of childhood and youth, and for
ever after it
"- is the sacred refuge of our lfe,"
towards which the heart Of manhood ycarns with
The strongest affections. Though he may have
Sazed on bright scenes and sunny landscapes;
the waving forest or the rolling prairie may
have spread their lovliness before him majestic
rivers, i'll their murmuring grandeur, OF the
silvery ripple of some blue lake, joyously dane
ing in the glad sunshine, may have courtcd his
admiration; the rushing hurricane, in its ter
riic sublimity, may have swept over him, on
the spicy brCezes India, in their di camy lstle-
ness, wOoed him to repose; but there, though
they may charm for a while, cannot win his
heart from the place of his birth. He may have
descended the fiery cIatcr of Vesuyius, or sought
the regions of eternal frost. whose icy mountains
in their towering ruggclness are continually
assuming some new and still more fantastic
shape; his footsteps may have echoed amid the
ruins of classic Greece, or his eye swept the
horizon from the SUBMITS of the mysterious
monuments Of Cecrops' proudest days; though
he may look with awe and admiration OIL these
mighty works of Nature and of her younger
sister Art, yet will his heart turn with fo"d
recollection to the home of his childhood. He
may have wandered beneath the glowing skies of
Italy, or scaled the rocky heights of Switzer-
land he may have trod in paths hallowed Ivy
the feet of Hin who trod the earth with no place
to lay his head, or explored the trackless will
derness where the rel man follows his game ,
yet, all these cannot but tempt him to lin.ger
for moment by the way, and then will he press
OH to less favor ed, it may be, but to him far
dearcr land, where his home is.
The wanderer on the rolling deep, as in the
lonely night watch he PAGES the deck Of his gall
liant lark, bounding over some distant sea, while
the moaning wind whistles through the cordagc
like some spirit whispering of The loved ones far
away, longs for the home he so readily quticI,
as the tempest driven bird longs for the nest it
had rashly forsaken. STANCE vicissiudcs has he
passed through. Sometimes the scented gales
Of Araby have waited him gently over the zip
pling waters of the Mediterranean, Mt another
he has listened to the wild lullaby of The whist
| ling hurricane, which sent his rccling ship
leaping and quivering over the mountain waves
Of the broad Atlantic; at one time he repoScs
beneath the shade Of ihc towering palm, anon
lie bows before the deadly simoom from the
burning sands of Africa hui, alike is sunshine
and storm, gontlc zcphyrs cannot woo, nor the
roaring hurricane drive. from his breast the
hope of ,evisiting the home now 50 far away.
II is the thought of home that nerves the arm
OF the miner i'll his struggle for the golden sam,
Of California it inf,iscs vigor into the arm Of
the warrior on the battle field, whilst striving
to defend the hearth against the ruthless inva-
der, and renders him fearless amid the roar of
the cannon, the flash of the brstling bayonet,
and the tramp Of the prancing war-horse by
it the weak and weary pilgrim in q foreign land
is strengthened to renewed exerton, in the
hope of once more visiting those scenes so dear.
! 1t matters not whether that home be among
the snow-tipped peaks Of Switzerland, or on
the vinc-clad hills of laughing France-under
the burning sun of Africas scorched deserts, or
by some glistcning stream OF forest glade Of
" "merrie" Old England-by Niagara's rushing
cataract, or Naples peaceful bay-with the in
habitants of Lapland's snowy huts, or in some
quit dell of New England's rugged shore-be it
but childhood's home, though ever so hOmely
still it is L" Home, sweet, sweet home"
nsy- will our friends of the PHRENoLoGIcAL L
A.. L. o,l, 1.