The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1860-12-26
SCOTLAND.


aud climate, SCI ms but q poor and barren
COUNTRY: but there is that in the
ass &C ii MS with which they have been
il v sted " hich make her dearsr to tho
Scotsman that if she We'd with the rich
est lands of earth The charms of poe
try and romance rest upon her shaggy
rocks and heathy glens, and make them
Respondent with a beauty that no posi-
bic combination of forms and coIors could
convey. Scotland Is an idealized land.
Her children see her not with the ma
ked eye, but through the glorifed vision
of her poets. Burns, and Scott, and
Wilson have poured flood of ideal light
upon her scenery, SO that every object
glows with celestial radiance. The
msts which curl around her mountain
tops, and the frs which clothe their rug
ged sides -the hare-bell that blooms in
some sheltered nook, the sweet-scented
hawthorn, and the yellow broem-tho
whipping burn that steals through some
level strath, and the lonely loeh that lies
in the arms Of the majestic hills all
these speak to tho Scottish heart 10 Ian
guage that mocks the grandest phenomena
and the fairest landscapes of nature
And soft is with everything pertaining
to the national life ofthe people. There
is always some romantic or poetical as
ISOLATION to cndow it with an interest far
transcending what belongs to any object,
however wondrous or beautiful in Itself,
tat has not received the magic touch
which consecrates it forever to a nobler
purpose than its material significance can
yie'd. The humble kirk, with its hallow-
ed graveyard, standing alone in some
quiet glen, to him who has felt the bless
cd influence of its Sabbath calm, is ho-
her temple ofthe Most High, than the
grandest cathedral with all its pomp anc
circumstance of ritual, because the faith
which is there protested was purchased
with the blood of its martyred saints
The old dismantled castle is moro sacred
in the eyes of the Scott than the shatter-
cd arches Of the Roman Coliseum, be-
cause in days ofyore, valerous chiefta;ns
guarded the liberties of their country
within its embattled towers; and tho cot
ter's hut by some pleasant wayside, has
a higher meaning to him than the state
lest palace, because it is the home of
"honest men and bonnie lasses"-God's
last and noblest handiwork.
But there is one feature of Scottish
history that stands out in bold relief, and
which goes far in accounting for the af-
lection which warns the bosom of every
Scotchman for his Motherland. When
we consider what Scotland has done for
civilization, there is reason enough to be
proud of having been born on h'r soil
Her entire history is one gran .i!nstra-
ton of resistance ofprinciple to power;'
from first to last it is the struggle of
Right against Night. Her battles were
fought in defense Of civil and religious
liberty, and not for the selfish aggrand-
izement of the nation. Her heroes were
more than soldiers,-they were patriots
fighting for the Independence of their
country and the spiritual freedom of her
people; and every blow they dealt was to
tell upon the destiny of the whole human
uTfl3 Wudl tOulI l. MOI say vi
the achievements of her sous in the arts
of peace; of he: inventors, her phiosoph-
ers, her poets and her statesmen? Nor
is the valor and genius of Scetsmen on
ly thing of tho past 1t is but yester-
day that Dundonald, the terror of all the
navies in the world, went to his rest. Is
not that glorious charge of the High
landers at the battle of the Alma, still
fresh in our memories? Was it not
Scotsman that saved the Indian Empire
to Britain Are there any volunteers in
Garibaldis batallions whose hearts beat
truei for the regeneration of Italy than
those Scottish ones who fought SO stout
ly before the walls of Gacta? Aud are
not Scotsmen still foremost in all that re-
lates to the cultivation of science and lit
erature, and the spread of liberal and en-
lightened principles! Is there any name
among the saUdnts of the nineteenth
century better known to the world than
Hugh Miller? Has any modern traveller
shown more daring spirit of adventure,
and with more benficent results, than.
Livingstone, who is now battling the
twin idols of Superstition and Icnor
ance on the banks of the Zambeze? Is
not Carlyle the recognized leader of the
culture of our age? Does not Brough-
am still live to organize Social Science
Conventions, for the purpose of super
sedlng Inc charlatanism of politicians, by
the sure inductions Of phAlosophyl Does
not the harp of Scotia still yibrate with
a melody that enchants the soul of the
listening world? These are the memoir
les and thoughts that thrill the heart of
the Scot, and ncur;sh the pride which
he feelsin the ancestral glory, and l:y-
ing fame of his native land.
Now, Sir, am not going to apologize
for these sentiments. I do not think
that any Scotsman need ever be afraid to
speak them; but at the same time | am
not unaware of the fact that there are
many persons who hold the cherishine
of such feelings to be inconsistent with
the enjoymep. of the rights and duties of
American citizenship. l must confess
that | zee nothing but the sheerest absur-
dity in this opinion. What! do | rever
ence Washington the less because / first
learned to admire the greatness of pat
riotism in the character of Wallace? Do
| glory less in Bunker's Hill, because the
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