The penny press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1859-1860, 1859-12-31
The New Year.


The New Year.
Novelty is copious source of Pleasure, be-
cause its promises are liberal and their falhll-
msnt ia prssuppossd. While the Mind often
slings to the Old and the Pastthe Heart turns
to the New and the Future. AS fH
Hope and Imagination halo all thatwe seek
for and desire, and though they even deceive
Us, thsy are our consolation and support. For
the very reason that We should not trust them
ws trust thom most; since from the ruins Of
broken beliefs and shattered feelings they point
us to perfect palaces We shall never reach;
and We, delusion- loving creatures, with swol
len eyes and bleeding feet, bind on our sandals,
and blindly follow, again to bs deceived.
With the Past, the Familiar, Hope and In
agination, have lost their power, and we turn
to the New and the Future for strength and
the realization of the lonyings we can not
conquer nor control. The untried and the
unrsaohed, We fondly believe, must contain
somewhat Of the good we have wished for SO
vaiDly and SO long. Our spirit always vel
comes the Now; for it contains the vast pos
sibiIity Of fortune and the beautiful forms of
the Ideal. There, at last, ia the picture
without the intervening shadow, the jeweed
chslics without its bitter draught. q
All Time is repetition Of this; all life Its
proof. To-day is dark and wearisoms; TO-
morrow will be bright and peaceful. Tho sspent
hour dies unlamentsd, for we are wrapped in
the false seeming Of the new. Every departed
month glsres Back at us from its tomb with
CHASTITY eyes, but we place our head in
the mantle of the new conner, and ask the
stranger to make US happy. The old year
goes out silently, but not sadly; and though
he may have made US better and wiser, we
have no love for him or his. 'N'''- >
Tomorrow The New Year begins; tomorrow
another link which connects two eternities
will have been broken; tomorrow we shall
step into the vestibule Of another of Times
temples, and watch most snxiously the comm g
months. St k. w e. fe H. III !
How many associations, pleasant and pain
fnl; how many memories, sweet and sad; how
many experiences, happy and hateful, docs
New Years Day recall, and how, through all
the Past, runs the dark vein of Rsgreti '-
The years all promised, but none per.
formed. They came to us bearing fruits and
flowers; but ere We had journeysd far, We
found the flowers and the fruits were sacrif-
cial offerings Before our senses knew them,
they were in ashes. 'tHr
What variety Of emotions has filed as on
the 6rst day of the year; and how difsrently
We have felt! There Is time when faith Il
high, because reason has not risen when ex-
istence seems fair, because experience is small;
whom friendship, sympathy and love are the
poetic trinity Of the heart. III <
Alas, that they should not be ever such
But unweloome truth will force us to be wise,
to our sorrow. Our beauties become phan-
tasms, and our deities crumble into dust.
To weep over the buried years would unf,
as for the continued struggle Of the world.
The world has no sympathy with the suffering,
the unfortunate and the weak.
If the wolf tear our bosom, let us conceal
it, like the Spartan youth, beneath our mantle,
though it eat our heart.
sslf-reliance, energy and pride are the secu-
lar virtues. By them must we conquer. Tho
world is a battle field, and every other man our
foe. No rest there; no ease, no harmony. If
we are victorious, we must fight and toll the
harder. Advance or retire; triumph or sur
render. No quarter should be asked, and he
who gives il is misunderstood. Where 10 our
reward We have mono that We know. Tho
reoompenss Of pain Is the pleasure Of suffering.
But lot US not discourage the hopeful Seek
life at its best, and be all you canl Be your
self expect nothing, and trust in your own
heartl
Tho N.xsys.s Rprep.tips Il, geea y
solves, for frssh plans, for better purposes.
Gaze more at the stars than at tie ground; be-
iisve Nature more than man. and seek to wfe,t
from her all she will reveall Be ever true to
yourself, and fate will not desert you in your
naed iAse uib EeiAi4 ri fua4 tat&ft