Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1885-08-29

A. F. ALEXANDER.
Land of the Patriots hope, the statesman's
dream,
Land where the genial influence of the
Cline
Sheds beauteous sOftness DER each lovely !
And purples DER each mountain height
sublime;
Where fields of corn and wheat alternate
seem
Like emeralds chased in gold. Land in
all time
The abode of freedomloving saxons, and the
How 1 have have loved thy rivers, plains' and
sweet, Sunny South, throughout thy vast
From broad Potomac to the Rio Grande,
The sounds of peace are heard. and blythe
Leads forth his flock to Craze his pas
ture land;
Thy verdant hills no marks of war retain;
No rifle pits are digged about the strand;
The stock dove murmurs on tho leafy spray,
Where erst the bursting shell has cleft its way.
The plow, the reaper, and the drivers good
Are now thine arms. Where bristling
earthworks frowned
And rude abatis blocked the approaching
IOaQ,
The fruitful vineyards hide each grassy
And orchards bend beneath their rlpening
load;
Deep fields of clover blossom DER the
ground;
Where the stout skirmish line so brsvely
stood.
A sounds was heard above the ceaseless
dash
OF waves on Morris Island, where the
Was heaped in gun-pierced ramparts,
Then the crash
OF loud artillery shool. the palmy strand.
Then all was hushed. The flames were
From burning casemates on the low. fiat
Where sumpter's bastions frowned; one
thrilling yell
Then pierced the skies, as that grim fortress
fell.
That sound awakened millions. First they
All mute as 10th to credit news so dire;
Then through their Saxon veins the ruby
flood
As sudden seemed to run with liquid hre.
They rose by thousands prompt for blows
From the gay STRIPPING to the aged sire;
The news Of war, then actually begun.
At once made warriors of both sire and son.
Then there was marshaling IN arms; the
Pulsed on the rosy morn, nor ceased at
night
The bugle's warning note, the incessant
OF cars importing arms. The dawning
light
Flashed on strange bands of horsemen new
The mountain howitzer. the saber bright,
The gsudy sash. the knightly plume. For all
Her noble sons responded to the call.
They sought no chart their freeborn right
10 know;
The invaders foot was ON their soil. Be-
meath
The ensigns which coercive bonds foreshow
The tramp of hostile armies vexed the
heath.
The hand Of beauty waived them on the foe
To seek triumph or 3 noble death;
The rights their slres bequeathed they scorn
ed to yield,
But rushed indignant to the blood field.
How we'll they fought how nobly many fell
In loftier strains the future bard will say
A hundred fields have heard the fearful
OF their wild shout, when rushing to the
Aud the stern Northern warriors knew too
well
That fatal slogan on the battle day,
As tho deep, dreadful, herald-like appeal
or blood, by feomen "wOrthy of their STEEL
What matters it, although the cause was
lost;
The warlIke record will outlIve all time
More glorious than the proudest nations
boast,
More brilliant than the Homeric age sub
lime;
Well was 1t worthy of the blood it cost;
Unsullied by ambitions Odious crime,
No letters marked its fall, no conqueror's cal
Was driven in vengeance for successless war
The lightnlng's crash which wrecks the
| summer skies,
A fresher verdue on each plant bestows
Tho hardy oak the tempest's shock defles,
Tried, when sapling. by each blast thai
blows;
From daily toll which youth severly tries
The stronger, healthier type of msuhoo
| grows;
And thus the energy derived from war
Has made the southern people what they are.
Where weeds deformed the streets and pub
grounds,
Where iron-clad denizens would idly
roam,
The busy burst OF commerce now resounds
| The hum of mills and whir of bpindles
| come
With deafenlng force; substantial wealth
| abounds
| In every tenement and thrifty home;
| The factories throb in one continuous round
And ceasless trains of cars cOnvulse the
L