ter
pursued the panting deer; he gazed on the same moon that smiles for
you, and here too the Indian lover wooed his dusky mate.

Here the wigwam blaze beamed on the tender and helpless, the council
fire glared on the wise and daring. Here they warred; and when the
strife was over, here curled the smoke of peace.

Here, too, they worshiped; and from many a dark bosom went up a pure
prayer to the Great Spirit. He had written His laws for them, not on
tables of stone, but He had traced them on the tables of their hearts.
The poor child of nature knew not the God of revelation, but the God of
the Universe he acknowledged in everything around.

He beheld Him in the star that sunk in beauty behind his lonely
dwelling; in the flower that swayed in the morning breeze; in the lofty
trees as well as in the worm that crawled at his feet.

All this has passed away. Four hundred years have changed the face of
this great continent, and this peculiar race has been well-nigh blotted
out. Art has taken the place of simple nature, and civilization has
been too strong for the savage tribes of the red man.

Here and there a few Indians remain; but these are merely the degraded
offspring of this once noble race of men.

SELECTION XI

MY FATHERLAND

There is a land, of every land the pride,
Beloved by Heaven o'er all the world beside,
Where brighter suns dispense serener light,
And milder moons imparadise the night.
O land of beauty, virtue, valor, truth,
Time-tutored age, and love-exalted youth!
The wandering mariner, whose eye explores
The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores,
Views not a realm so bountiful and fair,
Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air.
In every clime, the magnet of his soul,
Touched by remembrance, trembles to that pole;
For, in this land of Heaven's peculiar race,
The heritage of nature's noblest grace,
There is a spot of earth supremely blest,
A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest,
Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside
His sword and scepter, pageantry and pride,
While, in his softened looks, benignly blend
The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend.
Here woman reigns; the mother, daughter, wife,
Strew with fresh flowers the narrow way of life;
In the clear heaven of her delightful eye,
An angel guard of love and graces lie;
Around her knees domestic duties meet,
And fireside pleasures gambol at her feet.
"Where sha