The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1851-01-03
THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW.

THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW.
Nature has set bounds to the Seasons
and in their ceaseless course we witness al
eyer.varying scene. Seed.time and harvest
By their unchanged recurrence with equA
cearness teach the duty Of industry and TIT
goodness of our Creator. The rude north
ern blast, bearing Onward the s,orm-clou
of winter; the gentle May shower, and TIT
beautiful bow OF promise; the keenes' flasl
in midsummer and the loud st roar Of Hra
vents artillery, nre alike manifestations o
Dcirv-,hence and constantly come AUDIBLE
whispcrings that say. Fear Him! Tia
vsice has long been characterized MS sttl
and small by many unheard, md by thou
sands dlsregnrded. The greatest event u
life is death. and the greatest in the Year l.
its close. The one steals upon us, ant
with or without warning. the loom OF dis
solution shuts ~ upon oil, the last sane
runs out. and We sink to the tomb. Thu
other approaches with The same speed witt
the same resisllessness; the last day an'
hour and minute disappear from the g ass
and the year passes hack into the CRANE
mausoleum Of Time. amidst the wrecks art
ruins Of former ages.
After the accustomed hilariiies of the
season are over, the thoughtful heart may
learn and improve by reflection on the Past,
and BY scanning the Future. Days return
not, but deeds engraft themselves upon the
soul and live with it. Chronology may be
at fault and years lost in The reckoning. yet
it will forever renal true that the action
nf Mind shall no, be etfaced by the oblvi"us
hand of Time, nor obscured by the mighty
ocean of Eternity. The past year affords
many chapters of rare interest, even to the
lmperfec, eyes of those who have acted
part. VIVA, scroll will be the leaf for
1850 in the great Book Of Gods memory
The millions Of our globe have struggled
through another year; the larger number in
the 'enfod mist of paganism and blind
dolatry. Ever and anon the infant hns
,hrieked 10 the arms of the gods, or smolh
cred IN the smoke and flames Of the alIars.
In the more civilized nations thousands Of
men. women. and children have
passed the same bourne, sent BY the hands
IF their own neiehbors and brethren. who
should have been frs, to protect and cherish.
Plans OF ancient date have been carried out;
leep laid schemes have been exposed or
rave succeeded, ns fortune favored; hopes.
ipon which the very soul had lived. have
ed The wanderer on to full frui,iun, or have
proved but bitter ashes Of disappointment.
These things will all fast pass from mor'al
vision and remembrance, but they will be
made re appear with intensified vivdness
" the light Of future day. 1t is a rich
.onsoIat lion 10 an honest man to know that
III villainy shall be exposed.
The weeks and months Of the past year
ire indeed gone, yet the wise man has
earned lesson. has acquired fund Of ex.
,erlence Of priceless value.
The age Of romance and chivalry is
ruilful field for the poet and novelist, but
o the practical man, who lives to learn
low to die, the last year affords the richest
the most profitable lessons in
human nature. Its proximity TO the present
enables us TO see its events without me-
lium, and they are all Of the nature ofper.
,onal experience. We shall always live in
he present, and should ever study the past
md future; still we cannot safely neglec
he scenes TINT surround US. Indeed, we
must carve our own fortunes. Mr.. Web
,ter, the great oracle Of American phioso.
ply. says, "The scenes of this world
change. What our ancestors saw and felt
we shall not feel. The severer duties of
life were theirs. They were called upon for
for abstinence, and for labor.
Hcy WctS Cu'Icu upoi Io' We CNS'S''o w
those aus,erer virtues, the exercise of
which before they came here made them, as
they were, aus,ere man. Things have
In the progress of society. the
ia. hions of life, the habits Of life. the con-
d,ions of human life, have all changed"
And thus it shall ever be.
'Were man to live coeval with the sun,
Tie patriarch pupil would be learning s,ll.
And. dying, leave his lesson half unlearn'd,
CHRISTMAS developments 60 to
show that the 25ih of December is moi
Christmas. and that the year just passed
was not 1850. bu. Ammo Domini, 1856. We
don't knew whose almanac has been con-
sul,ed-perhap Parham's-but 1t is said ia
be that way. We are not aware. however
that i, makes any very material difference
We reckon one day is just about as good as
a mother for Christmas. when the manner in