The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1857-12-31

over E. L. Richardson's Hard
ware Store, to the large and
.commodious rooms in the third
STORY of No. 6 Phoenix Block.
Entrance between Hatch's Drug
Store and Bostwick & Beatty's
Dry Goods Store.
"A HAPPY New YEAR.-To-morrow ID
,,sthe beginning Of the new year. 1t seems
( but little while since we greeted ouI
patrons at the first Of January, 1857. YET
rapidly as time flies, il has left its i'm
!. press and its footsteps every where. The
little child is year nearer the sports
and enioyments Of youth; the youth, q
year nearer to the stern duties of man
hood; the full grown man, year nearer
to the winter Of old age, and the aged, q
year nearer the grave-the final resting
place Of all living. Reader, You are near
Aer the close Of your earthly pilgrimage;
are you nearer the true end and aim OF
your existence. Has your advancement in
purity, virtue, knowledge and usefulness
been as rapid as your approach to the
grave! What have you done by which
: your title 10 true manhood Is made bet
teri Whit enterprises, calculated to ad-
ivance your own substantial interests or
l-the interests of your fellow men, have en-
guged yorr attention.
Each new year is h milestone in the
great pathway Of human life. AS the
traveller on a journey counts them as he
passes and computes with anxious care his
distance from the pSih. whence he start
ed in the morning, so may we number
ench returning New Years day among the
evidences, that, whatever we do for our
selves, our neighburs, our friends, our coun-
try, must be done speedily.
The year 1851 will be remembered as
remarkable in one respect, for the unexam-
pied prosperity Of the people, and yet in
another. fer its adversely, The harvests
gathered during the past season in the
.difreTen: sta,es 81 <he Ynien,, have far ex-
ceded any ever before krown.in the history
of agriculture. Even in the State Of Ohio
we have raised wheat enough to give bread
to h.lf the inhabitantg Of The land. The
aggregate amount Of grains inrnll the States
will be sufficient to supply ogr own people
and furnish large share Of the support re-
quired by other nations. -,
Yet in the midst Of all this unparalleled.
plenty, cry OF distress is heard from the
poor aud laborng classes such as never be
fore greeted our ears. The money crisis
" hch has shaken the whole commercial
world to its foundations, is more fearful in It's
consequences, than was ever before expe.
,rienced. 1t broke dPcn The country as
clap of thunder froitaa d cfoudless sky. II
gave no warning Of its approach. Since the
first of August, it is estimated that there have
been failures in the country amounting to
more than two hundred millions of dollars.
E,ch failure has not only involved its own
firm but all those who were dependent upon
its business for their support. The year
1857 then, will be remembered as one of
wide spread pecuniary disaster. Thousands
once rich and prosperous, are penniess; and
thousands more ofhonest laborers are al
most begging for bread. 4,
The fearful ruin wrought odt by the none
iary crisis is the result Of radical errors in
our modes Of livings, in ous modes of.doing
bu.inese. and last but not the least, in our un
certain and depreciating currency. We are
ut the bottom OF the ladder now, and the be-
ginning of the new year will date the COM
mcncement oil our progress upward in wealth
snd prosperity, AS storm purifes the. .at-
m,sphere, SO will the storm which has swept
ever the business world, give new health and
vigor to the monied interests Of the country
There are better times ahead, .. -,
i The year gone by has been attended with
the usual amount Of disaster, death and
crime, on the land AID on the ocean,. We
have not before uo al, estimate Of 4the lives
list, by accidents, daring the year. The
mos, heart rending calamity at sea was the
destruction Of fhp California steamer, Cen
trail America. More than four hundred per-
sens were lost by this accident. = Many q
brave and manly heart lies cold and pulse
less in his ocean grave. The dead, which
lie buried in the bosomof the deep, would
make long procession.
i, No pes,ilence or epidemic OF any kind has
visited our shores during the year. In this
respect our people have been most highly
favored. ~. mr
Since the beginning Of the year. a new ma
tionalodministration has been inaugurated
and is moving on in the successful dis
charge OF it's important duties. Democrat
ic victories have been the, order of the day
Now and then a question arises which
threatens. tEe, peace. of the country; but q
reference, ,ahd~ adherence to the chart o.
Democratic principles, always has. and al
ways viii, furnish Already mode of ADJUST
ment. ~ = ~. 4,
The prospect spread before the Ameri-
can people is pleasant 10 contemplats.--
Politically, socially, and. pecupiarily, The
signs OF the times are promising. Let III
look forward to the future with happy ant