Mountain Democrat., 1857-04-11
For the Democrat.
HHn~e.

| Home.
Reader, in your wandcrings through
life you have viewed many and varied
scenes Of Natures beauty and loveliness !;
you have seen the flecting cloud kiss
peak after peak Of her mountain grandeur,
rs it sailed along the ocean of the sky up
on the gentle wind you have seen the
noisy little brook, as If for sport and frol-
ic, leap and gambOl adOwn the mountain
side, now bounding from rock to rock
like the startled hare, then Nesting to its
bed in some little eddy as if frightened at
the noise itself had made then flowing
on you have followed its course and ac-
cumulations until it wound gentle,
peaceful river through verdant meadows,
with banks fringed with wild flowers, and
shadowed by the leafy boughs Of the
stately elm and sycamore, while the droop-
ing willow laved its slender tassels in its
cooling freshness on, on have you fol-
lowed its course through scenes that have
struck and charmed the eye, until it min
gled its waters with the great ocean of the
world. You have viewed these scenes in
the land Of perpetual SstImer," and
where the chill frosts of winter veil for
season their many charms, that they may
bloom again with returning spring in two
fold beauty and lovclincSS. You have
seen, too, the noisy city, with its busy
multitude, and have wandered amid the
marble palaces and gildcd halls of pomp
and splendor, and viewed all the magnifi
cent beauty art can invent or wealth pur-
chase; you have seen, too, the quiet vii
lage, with its neat and tidy dwelling clus-
teFing arouud the little church and school
house, while waving grass and grain, and
tecming orchards greet the eye for miles
around. Again have you seen the lonely
cottage, lovely in its loneliness, secluded
amid the cooling shade of fruit and forest
tree, with walls guarded from the sum-
mer sun by Towering shrub and vine,
from whose fragrant blossoms the gentle
zephyrs, ere they enter at the open win
dow, snatch kiss and bear its sweetness
to the happy dwellers within. All these
have you seen, the city, village, cottage /;
and in viewing them, methinks you
said magniticence. beauty, lovcliness.-
But, gentle reader. there is one spot,
though perchance family described, still
not named, around which all that is pure
and holy in our natures clings with a
never-dying fondness and delight; to
leave it unclasps the casket Of our affec-
tions, any we scatter the dewy pearls, rs
the tribute ofour heart offering, upon the
sacred ground; to view it again, after an
absence, brings thronging back to the
soul, in all their early freshness, the fond
est and tendercst of earthly joys; and
they, who, though absent, separated by
long and dreary distance, hold not within
their breasts its fond remembrance,
pity, for they are bereft Of earth's most
hallOwed tie. Ono word, and only one
can name it-Home-sweet home-child-
hoods home; the star Of earth-earth's
eden, its paradise. o! what sunlight of
joy and happiness, as we tread life's dark
and dreary path, comes flooding upon the
soul at tho mention Of this loved spot.
Would you sound the music Of the heart,
strike but hero its harp-strings, and all
that is sweet and pure within will gush
forth at thy bidding. There, we learned
to lisp thc"name Of father, mother, sister,
brother; there, VIC heard their words Of
kindness and felt their tender care; there,
we drank ut the sparkling fount of child
hoods joy, and chased youths fceting
pleasures, and yet though fceting, never
past, for We bear to the tomb the fragrance
Of their memory. Earth is full of beauty
and lOvelineSs; we see it oft and mark it
well but c0ntTaSted with the charms Of
home they seem but the smooth and pla-
cid waters Of the lake upon which the
fragrant lily rests; or the yellow ring
within which the sparkling gem Is set.
All homes arc not alike, and yet each
heart is bound 10 itS own with the same
universal cord Oflrse. An msy not b.
pleased with the same wealth and COM
forts; all may not claim father, mother,
brother, sister; death may have entered
there and seized some for his own, and
the busy walks Of life led others Car from
its enchantment leaving pcrchance one
solitary tenant, and that mother, dwell
ling within it's cherished walls. Mother
and home! sacred and holy objects, to
which the heart in their loneliness clings
with double sfondness and delight. o!
cherish that father, mother, brother, sis
ter-one and all; bear ever in thy heart
the impress Of that home-cast it not
aside, for with it, we lose the haven of
our earthly rest there would we dwell
in life, and there repose in death.
NIGHT.
0vor tho P;vo~ Morch OK 1oH1