Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1855-11-07
Devotion to Ones Native Land.

Although it is thought dishonorable. il not Grim.
inal. for an American to indulge in any feelings
of pride towards his native land, or exult IN any
glory over the unmatched achievements of her war
rors and statesmen, still it may not be amiss 10
refer to the manner in which that feeling is cher
ished by the natives OF all other countries. That
poor privilege we believe, is still accorded to US.
We, who are citizens of the U. States by the sac
cident of birth, !" may yet praise the poeIs and
great men of foreign climes without being amia-
bly, styled murderers, assasslns, church burners,
dark lanternites, Sc.
Devotion to the lard Of ones birth is The high.
est and holiest of human dutes-sec0nd only to
that the mortal OWES to his God or the child to
its mother. In all lands, civilized or savage, this
feeling of devotion has been cultivated and honor
ed, and the man or men most thoroughly imbued
with it were thought worthy of the must lluslr-
Gus dstinctiOn-were regarded as the truest patriots
and safest repositories OF the pnJlic Interests
while those holding antipodal sentiments were
looked upon, and often punished, as the basest and
blacklist apOstates that ever disgraced the earth.
Walter Scott-the ''IYzard of the Norlh"-
once sang, in reference to gl1rious Old Scotland
s'Oh Caledonia stern and wild,
Meet nurse for poetic child
Land of brown heath aad shaggy wood,
Land Of the mountain and the flood,
Land of my Sires tci1t mortal hand
Can e'er unite the ftiaI band,
That binds me 10 my rugged strand %
And no "moral hand" did sever, or could sever
the oyerfowing love which Walter Scott bore to
the land Of his nativity. When age had overia
ken him when nfrmity was pressing hard upon
him; when his mighty intellect had become dim.
med, by labor and by struggles, and adversely;
when he, the foremost man of all the earth, was
lingering, as.it were, superfluOus on the stage.
visit to the South of Eurupe was recommended,
and there the undisputed Napoleon Of the realm
OF song and romance repaired in quest of health
in the hope that a change of air and scenery
might tend to the renovation of his aged and over
tasked frame. But all was in vain. Ii was too
late. The great old man felt his end approach
inc, aud what were his orders to his attendants
",To Scotland to Scotand!" said he, in tones of
unsurpassed emotion. Once more he wanted 10
breathe the air he inhaled in his infancy. Once
more he wished to gaze upon grand and magnlh
cent scenes his matchlesss pen had made mmor-
tal Once more he desired to look upon the blue
skies which bent over, and the noble mountains,
rivers dales and woods, which adorned and beau.
tilted the glorious land of his birth. And, finally
he sought to yield his life to the God who gave it
upon the soil which had been made lustriOus by
his genius, and where he had gathered all those
glories which will make his name ilustrious
through all coming time Even while the death
damps were on his brow, his nativeism stood forth
in bold relief He wanted to die at home, in the |
land of his childhood. Hence he said, "To Scot
land, to Scotland !"
The same feeling which lent its last impulses to
the heart of the poet, exists, 10 greater or less
degree, in the heart OF every human being. The
longing for, the attachment to, and pride in, the
spot that marked life's nativity, is never obliera-
ted while the gushing tide of life courses health
fully through the veins. The hand of death only
suffices to eradicate it, as our illustration fully de-
Asnatives of the soil ofthis country, we honor
such sentiment. We deem them worthy of all
We look upon them as the index
Of true manhood and honesty. And we would
no more confide in the American. or the Irshman
or the Englishlnan, or the Scotchman, or the
Frenchman, or the German, VINO, no matter what
the changes in his condition or location, does not
feel an interest and take pride in the land upon
which he was born, than we would in an escaped
convict from the penitentiary o. Crescent.