The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1827-01-03
From the Salem Observer
THE DEPARTING YEAR.

| EIL LEI SIIl IJNO L EJ1h.
The progress of life towards its close,
like the travel of the earth in lis orbit,
hurries us imperceptibly onw'rd to the
gaol, while in either case W, seem TO
be reminded of our transit nly by The
alienation of the seasons. Time, as it
speeds down the current to ningle with
foregone ages, passes by U with such
nolseless tread, that we Sarcely heed
lis lapse in the lesser portions Of hours
and days; and even mons wax and
wane 10 such fleeting secession, that
we are almost unconscious of the brief
periods which measure heir age. Ii is
only at the limits Of its broader divis-
ions, that we pause to contemplate the
changes and devastaton which year
may spread over the VIDE face of hui
man society, and to noe the large de-
ductlon ii has made from the term of
our own mortal lease. Such is our
present position at the end Of another
stage in the journey of life. When we
look back upon the distance we have
passed since we last exchanged the sal
uta!lons of the season, we cannot avoid
the sober reflection, that we have fax
EN- long stride towards the tomb; and,
while we bid farewell to the dying wear,
as to an old friend who has fulfilled the
commission Of life, and from whom we
are about TO be separated forever, we
lnvoluntarily throw timid a1d hesitat-
ing glance over the record, which is
now sealing up as part of our final ac-
count
1t is the melancholy distinction of
some of these periods TO be sigalized
IN our calenders as epochs of unyonted
Calamity, and to revive in our mnd the
gloomy train of images, which their
disastrous events have pictured upon
the memory. No such painful memo
rails, however, will sadden the lemem-
brance of the retiring year. lis course
has been marked only by be1efcent
dlspensatioDs and merciful immunities.
No malignant influences of the sky have
descended TO blast the promise of the
fields, or defeat the labors of honest in.
dustry. No desolating tempest8 have
swept over the ocean 10 bury in its bo-
som The hopes of commerce, and strew
its wrecks upon the shores. No con.
vulsions of nature have sc mingled earth
and heaven in elementary strife" or
engulphed the habitahons Of men in the
grave of an earthquake or
The monarch of the tomb
has sent abroad no mortal epidemic to
scatter Pestilence through the land, nor
the grisIy ministers of bis
empire TO shroud whole cities in sack
cloth. Death has, indeed, been march
ing onward in his career with sure and
steady pace, and victim after victim has
been pierced by his shaft. Here and
there we may have seen a domestic
circle in our neighborhood clad in sa-
bles. The friend who, a short time
since, walked bIitheIy along by our side
as buoyant with the hope of life as our
selves, may have been torn from our
embrace, and sunk into the grave at our
feet. But these single coDquests of the
destroyer are only the common mont
tors of our frailty which no portion of
lime has failed to supply, since morrali-
Iy was made a law of our nature. This
gradual waste of life, however, trenches
not upon the truth of our remark; that
the year just closing has been distin
guished by benefcent dispensations and
immunitIes; and we bid ii fare
we'll, with The grateful recollection, that
health, peace and plenty have been
constantly found in its train of blessings.