Randolph County journal. [volume] (Winchester, Randolph County, Ind.) 1855-1862, 1858-04-08
From Emerson and Putnam's Magazine
PATRIOTISM.

There arc some passions that sway
the heart of mankind as by common
impulse. In every cline, between the
poles. from the rudest savage to the
highest cultured Caucasian. the loves
of mother for the child, the friend
for the friend, the lover for the lover,
and the native Tor his country, rise,
when evoked in defiance of all philos-
cphy, and sternly assert their right of
empire. Reason may tame these affec-
tions. philosophy may restrain them;
but in some ungnarded moment they
will break from the reigns, and prove
that, though silcnccd, they have never
been subdued
Of these, the more private affections
act only upon individuals, but patriot
ism, or the love of ones country. sways
the people in masses; and, when
guided by those who have the power
to use it, it becomes powerful instru-
ment for good or evil. 'Tis love
that has called forth deeds Of proweSs.
acts of devotion. in all ages and amoEg
all nations; It's a love, too, that can
onizes the objects Of its adoration.-
Always are those skies the brightest
beneath which the eve first saw light
that CLINE the most genial that nurscd
the child into manhood. The Finn
clings to his frozen soil and reindeer
meat; the Orientalist TO his mosques
and waving palm trees; the Indian to
his canoe and hunting grounds: and
the Switzer to his Alps and Chamois.
Every nation locates the site of Para
disc in its own country, and fancics,
too, that the millennium will first drawn
there Ii is very singular this simili-
tude of the minds of men. II any
other proof were needed of the identity
of the Great Soul which is throbbing
in all hearts, it might be found in the
unison in which each vibratcs to the
common chords Of fecling-in the ech-
oes which cac sendsh back to the gcner-
al rallying cries of human nature
As a nation. we are proverbially
patriotic. No country has such noun
tains a. ours-such rivers-such re-
sources-such people-such future
No country talks more loudly of itself,
boasts more proudly, or burns more
powder in its own Qualification
Young America smokes his native ci-
gars; talks of conquest and empire,
claims patent for the whole New
| World, and looks forward to the time
when Yankee enterprise shall put a
girdlc round the earth in forty minutes
Old America looks on admiringly
tells of the days of departed greatness
and cntreats his son TO cherish time
honored institutions and never TO ab
lure the traditions OF his fathers
Both agree that they have reached per
fection. and that the millennium is onl,
DELAYED until the rest OF the world shal
reach their standpoint. When the,
grumblc little at the faults OF tn,
times. il is only Ito use About's sim
lie like the father who scolds his sol
in public. but admires him in private
, and would he very sorry if he were lik
: his neighbor's son. who had neve
caused any body to talk about him.
, Patriotism is beautiful in the ab
stract. as are all the natural affections
When rightly used. they distil tn
richest wine of the heart. They she
sunshine on all around them. and beau
tify the most trivial incidents OF life
We honor the memories that cluste
, round the hearth stones Of our fathers