Quasqueton guardian. (Quasqueton, Buchanan County, Iowa) 1856-1858, 1857-01-10
Communicated
OUR NATIVE LAND.

This has often been the theme of the
Poet, the Statesman, and the Scholar
and we might add, that scarcely an indi-
vidual has neglected to express, in some
form, the feelings of his heart on this
subject. Though those feelings were not
clothed in the greatest wealth of words,
embelished with the beauties of fancy or
the livery of rich and varied imagery, still
they have been uttered with as deep and
heartfelt a reverence by the poor toiler
along the wayside of life, as, u~nlearned,
penniless, friendless, and alone, he Jour-
neyed onward through the labyrinthian
fortunes of time, as by the more favored
ones of earth.
AT the close of the day, when the last
rays of the setting sun are fading from
the upper sky, and the stars begin to shed
their liquid light DER the world, how Of
ten has mar meditated upon the scenes of
his native land, while his pulse beat high
with patriotic love, and his bosom swelled
with r,,urest emotions, for the land of his
birth.
The exile cherishes with fond affection,
recollections of that far-off home he may
never see agnin. To the sons of Erin
how dear is the Emerald Isle, set like a
gem mid the waves of ocean. How oft
his thoughts wander back to the old home,
where in gladness and sadness he gam
boiled and toiled, where in plenty he feast
ed, and in famine he starved. Where
warm hearted kindness smiled through
the tears that oppression wrung out from
the hearts of its victims. The German,
as he sits all unconscious of things pre-
sent and to come, watching the smoke as
it ascends in spiral wreaths from his fav-
orite pipe, enveloping him in purple
clouds of fantastic forms, and unmistaka-
BILE aroma, drops a tear in remembrance
of Faderland and his far-away home on
the Rhine. The S~cotchman, as he sees
) the heather pine and die on a foreign soil
though tended with care and skill, sadly
| thinks Of the bonny braes Of Scotland,
5 and of his highland home by the lake
among the mountains.
+ These feelings are so natural that only
he who hath lost the better part of his
} nature is ashamed to own that place as his
: former residence and home where, in the
innocent days of childhood, he derived
his support, his enjoyment-where the
%fairest, purest hours of his life were spent
7 where, on the green turf he sported il
childlike simplicity, before the cares o.
life had cast a cloud of gloom DER hi.
! mind before sin had formed a lodgmen
in his heart. How many memories clus
0 ter around the home of our youthful days
where a fond father and loving mother
4 watCncu uvcr up urrn "nNrvuo- -~rrcItuuc
and endeavored to instil into our young
P minds sentiments of an ennobling char
: acter, The old school-house where W,
used to sit through the long day, and impa
G %tiently wait the hour that set us free, hat
a a charm most dear. The very thought 0
G hat old sc~hool-house has associated will
it the memory of many loved companions
some of whom, ere this, have passed from
earth as flowers that fade in early spring
S while others are pursuing their unknown
: destiny in various lands. Those teach
ers, too, whom We loved in spite of tn
I punishments which they inflicted upol
us for our little mischiefs, are all arrayet
before us, and we feel to bless them 70
their kind endeavors to instruct us. TIL,
neighboring fields, where we chased tn
squirrel, or wandered after berries, an,
received a severe scolding from the sterl
old farmer for trampling down his gras
and grain /; and the brook where we use,
n to angle for fish at times, or plunged be
IS meath the bright waters, or swan at noon
d day, have a place in our memor,
more dear than any scenes of after life
!, All of these, and a thousand other littl,
o incidents are woven into our affection
n from early infancy, and we love the lant
e wherein they are situated, for it is tn
r iald of our birth, the home of our child
!, hood, the paradise of our existence.
j. G. HEAD.
n EE- We hope that another Arctic Elk