Lexington union. (Lexington, Miss.) 1838-18??, 1839-12-21
For the Lexington Union.
THE CLOSING YEAR.


Another year with its moments of Joy
and of pleasure, Of pain, of trouble and Of
woe, is about TO join The innumerabe train
that belongs to the shadowy realms Of the
past. Ii has rolled over the petty space OF
our being undlstinguished, perhaps, 10 the
mass, from its predecessors and brethren,
the children Of father time; but it has
bourne and is bearing along with it, recol-
lections of that which hath stirred the
breasts of many, with power over which
the soothing hand of oblivion can have no
control; feelings, thoughts and passions
which have walked and burned, though
never barred to the light Of day; and as the
midnight chime may knel the departure
of its last, fleeing hour, the curse Of
many a heart that has been scorched
and scaihod with lis whitening blight,
may respond monrnfulIy 10 the melan.
choly music of its funeral dirgc. Doubt
less, smiles and blessings too, will not be
wanting to redeem it in the remembrance
Of some, from the monotony of past exist
ence, and hallowed recolections may clus'
ter around its memory TO characterize i!
as n green spot in the waste bowling viii
derness Of life. Such sentiments as these
of the one kind or other, will the period
suggest in tho minds of the most Of us.
according as the disposer Of destiny hath
bestowed his gifts for veal or for woe.
But to all the past, is yearly, nay, hourly,
becoming the grave Of some long cherish
ed hope, and every iecting moment bears
away on its wings, some idol Of the afiec-
ton, at whose shrine we have worsbipped
with the intensity of eastern devotion.
We mourn over their loss, and grief sue
ceeis to grief as day after day the flowers
of youth are snapped by the chilling breeze
of approaching age; but it is only at the
close Of the year, that marked and melan.
choy period that irresistibly intrudes itself
upon the notice, that we can dare to call
them up in one dread array, and cast the
eye down the distinct perspective, in which
IRE crowded all that we mourn as lost,
and all that we shudder at, though for ever
past. There may be those indeed, TO
whom the stream of life is as waveless as
the calm that broods increasingly over the
dark sea Of Sodom, who unknowng of the
tide of misery have never yet felt the
bounding impulse of those streams Of Joy
that swell from the secret springs of the
hearts affections. Happy they may be in
the common acceptatlon Of the term, but
unenvied should De their lot Though the
golden mean so much applauded by the
philosophers of all ages, be beautiful in
theory, it must be confessed it is poorly
adapted to bring into existance the most
striking as well as the most amiable traits
in the character Of man. 1t is not while
plodding carclessly along the even and
beaten track of life; no, nor while bound
ing more Joyously on those summer paths
wreathed with gay festoons of flowers of
pleasure, that the mind or the character can
exhibit those nobler sentiments of thought
and action, which so pre.eminently be-
speak the divinity within. It's adversely,
that stern and unrelenting teacher, that
alone can unfold the germ of our immortal
essence, and temper 10 the proper uses of
life, the thoughts and passions that guide
and govern the heart.
In the periodical changes of time there
is much to remind one of the tenor of life
itself, and striking resemblance is pre-.
scented between the year and that space
occupied by human existence. Life hath
its spring time with all its budding hopes
basking and Towering beneath the luxu.
rious sky Of fancied prosperity. Sunshine
and glory attend on every step and the
bounding pulses of young enjoyment, are
attuGed 10 the harmonies of nature. Time
passes on-the summer of our days has
come. Of our hopes, some have beer
nipped by the untimeIy frosis of early dis
appointment, but the most OF them are ex
banding into maturity as yet unprescien'
of the storm. Though their rich and gor-
geous hues are somewhat abated of their
pristine glory, enough remains TO adorn
hueeaaae3n Gfi11full