9 



must be remembered, on tlie other hand, that there is 

 not so great an exposure to the sweep of wintry winds, 

 the population is not so sparse, nor are the privileges of 

 social life, the means and appliances, the influences and 

 results of civilization so limited. 



The one, therefore, who plants himself on the prairie 

 — a monotonous wilderness — where his possessions have 

 so little to distinguish them from those of others, must 

 often turn with a sigh to the spot so dear to memory, 

 where the companions of his boyhood continue to weave 

 the chain of their early friendships. There is the old 

 homestead surrounded by the everlasting hills, their bold 

 outlines giving grace and grandeur to the scene, their 

 forests waving like Lebanon, their crystal streams dash- 

 ing down to the valley and sparkling through the sweet 

 green pastures, bearing refreshment and health to man 

 and beast. Each hill-side and interval are covered with 

 crops, which exhibit the results and fair rewards of care- 

 ful tillage ; while frequent, neat and convenient dwell- 

 ings, embowered mid fruit trees and gardens, like rubies 

 set round with emeralds, betoken a numerous and thrifty 

 population, whose characteristics are testified no less by 

 the general appearances of industry and comfort, than 

 by the district schools and village spires. 



Recalling such scenes, our exile must be made of 

 sterner stuti' than most of us if he does not have some 

 slight symptoms of homesickness ; and musing upon 

 his own estrangement from the old familiar faces and 

 places, from the cottage of his childhood and the graves 

 of his sires, repeat, with emphasis, the well-known lines : 



'* Happy the man whose wish and care 

 A few paternal acres bound ; 

 Content to breathe his native air 



On hk ovt-n ground. 



