The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1848-01-01
F5r TIE CfcH Hug.
Tie Close CT the Year.

Cur thoughts still cling to the mouldermg past
The year which has just closed
has laid his heavy hand on many hearts
that are ready 10 ask SIS there any sor-
row like unto my SORROW" Thousands
Of our countrymen have fallen sacri-
I flee in a foreign land to the demon Of
war Some in their own homes have
fairs. Difficulty and doubt have attend
ed their every effort. Their path has
been oycrslladowed by the dark wing of
dread despair, and they have been fear
fui OF ere long becoming his victims.
Some have lost dear friends whose pres
ence once gayeIlc a cheerful Spring, but
who dixie a bright cXhaIation in the eve
ming" have now passed away to the
splrit-land. Others have witnessed the
hopeless departure Of those who were
cndeared by many ties Of friendship and
affection but who never wovc a single
cord to draw their remaining friends af-
tsr them to "A brighter and better world.
OF these things it is natural at the close
OF the year to take a retrospective view.
Nor is it proGtiess. New Years are
steps TO the grave, miIe-poSts to mark
the journey Of Time. They fit rapidly
by us, and tell us that our present state of
existence draws near its close-that this
mysterious life TO which we cling with
invStinguishablc desire viii soon be end
cd.
Do we turn away from by-gonc hours
and forget the past as the grave Of our
buried hopes! What then!-Thc Future
is shrouded in darkness. We cannot and
would not pierce the veil that hides it
from our vicw-We know however that
what has been, will be-that we must
pass through trials and vicisSitudes--that
we must mretthe common lot of mortals,
disease and death. We shall probably
find disappointment constantly at our
side, for we ale apt to anticipate that
future changes will be pleasing ones
that yicissitudcS will be SUGGESTIONS Of
good-that disease will not enter or
dwellings and that death Will be far from
Us. 1t would be prcsumptious to say to
any one ''this year thou shalt die ''but
the laws Of probability, so true in gene
raj, so lallacious in PARTICULAR" should
impress upon us the uncertainty OF life,
and free our minds and our hearts from
an undue attachment to the things Of this
world. Noone can covenant with death.
Gold cannot bride him. Youths and
Beauty cannot save when his glittering
sword is drawn. The tears Of weeping
friends do not move him, nor does he re-
gard their sorrows. The aged and the
young alike become his victims. He
lays his icy finger on the smiling infant
and tears the little cherub from the fond
mothers breast. The manly youth in
the pride of his strength is laid low, and
he whose constitution seemed to bid de-
fance to disease and death, sickcns and
dies.
Like other tyrants, death delights TO smi.o,
What snittcn, most proclaims the pride Of
power"
We do not know that the present year
will terminate our life, but if there is a
possibility Of 1t wisdom demands that we
should prepare to meet that awful issue.
Let us all hare virtue and then there
will be little need to ttlt OF it. Let us
treat every one, both human and divine,
as we would do We're we sure that death
was at the door. Then may we reason
ably expect as the seasons roll away, that
their annual revolution will always bring
to us Happy New Year. =. *.
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For The Tcrj5 Hin