Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1849-01-04

Tue Closing IEAe.--it is Il mtian
,hoIy task 10 reckon w IN the departed
wear. To trace back The curious threads
of affection through its many cOorcd wool
and knet anew It's brokcn placcS-lo nun
Der the missing objects oi interest, the dead
aud the neglected-to sum up the broken
resolutions, the delerred hopes, ihc dlssol-
we'd pt antoIns of anticipation, and the many
wanderings from the leading s,ar OF duly
tals is indeed a melancholy task bui with
bh profitable, aud, it may sometimes
el,, pleasant and n soothing one. IL is
wonderluln what short courses he objects
Of this world move They are like arrows
feeby shot A year-a briel year, is full
Of thugs dwinded and finished and forgot
ten. Nothing keeps evenly on what Is
there in the running calender Of the year
that has departed, which has kept It's place
and its ma agnilude2 Here and there an as
prant for lame still stretches after his eIud-
ing shaiow-herc aud there ae enthusiast
still clings to his golden dream-here and
there (aud alas !how rarely) friend keeps
his truth, and a lover his iervor-but how
many more, that were as ambitious, as en-
thusiastc, as loving as these, when this
year began, are now sluggish, and cold.
and false ? You may keep a record otllc
and az surely MS it is human. il vii be a
ifagmented and disiointed history, crowded
with unaccountableness and change. There
s nothing constent. The links Of life are
or ever breaking, but we rush on still.
fellow traveller drops from our side into the
grave--a guiding star OF hope vanishes
from the sky--a creature of our affections.
a Child or an idol is snatchcd from us-pcr-
haps nothing with which we began the
race is left TO us, and yet we do not halt.
Onward-stil Onward = is the eternal
cry, and as the past recedes, the broken ties
are forgotten and the present and future
occupy Us alone.
There are bright chapters in the past,
however. If our LOT is capricious and brok
en-, 1t is also new and vurous. One
friend has grown cool. but we have won
another. One chance was less fortunate
than, we expected, but another was better.
We have encountered one mans prcjudi.
ces but, in so doing, we have unexpected,
hattered the partdlities Of his neighbor. -
We have neglected recorded duty, but
deed Of charity done upon impulse, has
brought up the balance. In an equabe
temper OF mind. memory, TO u man OF or
binary goodness of heart, is pleasant com
pany. A careless rhymer, whose hear! is
better than his head, snys:
Il would uot escapa from mcmory's land,
For ell the eye can view;
For there's dcarer dust in memory s land
Than the ore Of rich Peru
clasp the fctier by memory twincd,
The wanderers heart and soul TO bind
Afier all, this is a melancholy season. 1t
is prominent point in lifc's pilgrimage some
Of us, il is true, are still ascending the hill,
very many others have reached lis summit,
some have just turned the mount, and COM
menced the downward passage, while vastly
many more are going down its decliyity with
an alarming speed. Standing upon the SUN.
nit, We look back upon the long road which
we have travelled and behold il uiersperscd
with obstacles and perploxitios which severely
uicd us in our progress, but now we
can look calmly through the whole, seeing
hsw we might have avoided much of our
trouble, aud behold at the foot of The bill the
cradle where We lay in The garden ofinnocencc;
the memory Of fond mothers smile as she
anxiOusly bent over us is stl there. but that
mother has either advanced some distance on
the otbor eide OF the hill,---or else We may
oasi our eye at the foot aud there behold hci
~ The shroud, ieruout Of the cold grave
on. the changes aud ,icissitudes that lay,
tc'ossed our pathway, ia tlle last twelve months
iIo~ fnauy rfr' have stood Uy'r ihr graves o