True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1856-11-05
9isttIlang.
THE SUMNER IS PAST.

God has divided human life into years
and years into seasons. Each is striking
in itself and full Of instructive suggestion,
As each year ends, it is well that every
man reviews the past, ascertains his pres
ent position, aud prepares himself fol
the future, from the living, speaking facts
that surround him. A wise man gathers
wisdom from its lessons wherever to be
found, and turnes it to account as he con-
tinues to pass along in the path Of duty,
The seasons Of the year are also most
expressive.
Spring and Summer, and Autumn and
Winter, remind US of the successive peri.
DDS through which we pass as We start
into existence, expand, grow and strength
en-, and then 60 into decline, wither, droop
and die, and finally drop the body in the
grave, and there sleep till the Spring Of
Eternity opens on the view as ushered in
at the morning of the resurrection.
The year Of 1856 is striking one in
the history of our own and other nations.
Other nations, the most populous and
strong on earth, have been to war for
years, in the battle field, and there have
sacrificed life and wasted treasure almost
without limit, but this year has seen il
terminated, and the olive tree Of peace,
scattering its branches far and wide. In
our own land there has been strifes. car
mage and blood, while peaceful inhabi-
tants have been hunted as beasts Of prey.
by lawless invaders; their settlements
burned to ashes, and their blood shed
while seeking home for themselves and
children on the virgin soil Of territory
hitherto wilderness and peopled by
savages.
Freedom and slavery have been assum.
ing organized forms, strengthening them
selves, one side and the other, and prepar-
ing, by desperate effort, for final victory.
No such year, in this respect, has marked
our progress during our existence as a
nation, and what the result will be none
can tell We are now standing on vol
cano, whose explosion may he fatal, or
send ou. ernptions that shall make trem-
bling TO cease, and leave behind a state of
quiet for generations to come. The sea-
sons now passed, and yet passing, speak
TO US in loud and earnest tones, awaking
reflection and filling with varied emotion.
We have had Spring and seed time,
Summer and cultivation, when the fields
have been covered with vegetation, smiled
with ripening fruits and gladdened man
and beast, as the wants of all may be
supplied. God has been indeed propiti-
Gus. He has driven away the dreary
SHOWS and frosts Of Winter, ushered in
genial sun, soflened the earth with
showers and put all nature in state of
life, growth and harvest.
Since we before spoke 10 our readers,
Summer has flung its last rays upon us
and departed. welcoming Autumn to take
the vacant place and finish its appointed
destiny. As the Summer is ended, we
may enquire what has been its peculiar
character, and what the lessons taught !
AS a whole, it has been fruitful one,
yielding enough from the field to meet the
necessities of each and all. If in some
things there has been scarcity, in others
there has been rich abundance. Drive
ou. of the country speculation, break up
the miserly spiiit of boarding, open the
natural channels of communication be.
tween the rich and poor, and every want
may be supplied from the plenty God has
scattered over the earth. The contrast is
most striking with that of two years ago,
and never have we seen the future opening
with bris shter prospects. Nature has been
lavish Of her bounties commerce has
poured in the products of other clines,
and health now throbs in the heart and
sends its pulsations throughout the social
system. Capital stands on firm basis,
and business of all kinds is safe and en-
couraging. And yet, there is a dark as
well as u bright side to the picture we
are drawing. No Summer for many
years has been so marked with calamity
and suffering. While one of the hottest
ever known, parching up the earth for
many successive weeks with the scorch-
ing rays Of the sun, and reducing dwell.
ings TO a tinder, fires have often burst
forth in our cities and large towns, and
the ravages have been most awful and
desolating. In this way property almost
without limit has been wasted, valuable
lives have been lost in multi,uies of cases,
and gloom has spread over many family.
Accidents on the sea and on the land
have been frequen. and appalling. Steam
ships, freighted with human life. have
continually disappeared from the face of
the deep, and finally led to the conclusion
that they, from causes unknown to the
living, are resting on the bed of the ocean.
Never have we known SO many railroad
disasters, and of so fearful heart.rending
nature. A single one, in the suburbs Of
Philadelphia, while an excursion for
pleasure was undertaken, sent scores into
the eternal world under the most painful
circumstances, carrying sorrow to many
hearts. aad spreading cloud of gloom
over the whole city. while sorely bereaved
or sympathising with the afflicted. Many
others, of a similar nature, have occurred
iu other places, making the exclusively
ho. month Of July one abounding will
accident and death.
August has been marked for its storms
foundations, and sweeping desolations
Many parts Of the country have beer
deluged, and destruction Of life and prop
erty has been fearful indeed. From the