SIGHT OP NATIVE LA.XD. 383
Held thce in thine armor bright, Nearest to me day and night. Home ! by absence made more dear, Heaven be praised that thou art near ; Heaven be praised, that o er the sea Once more I return to thee.
What has been the traveller s gain ? Sight of foreign land and main ? Sight of visioned forms that sweep O er the castle s ruined steep ? Sight of haunts to history dear ? Sight of palace, king, or peer ? No ! the joy that lights the eye, When the native shore draws nigh, In the heart a deeper sense Of its humbling impotence, On the lip a grateful strain, This hath been the traveller s gain.
��" Travelling," said Lord Bacon, " is to the younger sort a part of education." Neither are its advantages confined to the season of youth. They may act strongly upon the ripened character, in higher forms than through the pleasure derived from the works of art, or the excitement of sublime scenery, or the deepened knowledge of the topography of this little planet, or the varied languages and customs of those who inhabit it. They may be made to bear upon the moral senti ments and innate charities, that " more excellent kind
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