The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-12-31
Nitbmnnh Qispatrh.


The Las, Of the Year -i160 and 1850
This ia the last ~ Of the year lSe0-a year
which. we are disposed 10 think. fatnre ages
will reckon among the most memoraoie Oh
history. la thiaking over its asitatns events
we are irresistibiy carried back a centnry,a anu
we are almost startled to see how different he
world is now from what 1t was .hen' itbas
been said a century Is small period Ia me
lite OF a nation. Perhaps II may be So but
with nations as with men, there ase Two ways
of living; a fast way and SLOW way. al
cam. pet,ods of their existence, men live more
IA A week than they do during period OF
,v,en,y years at others Thas II is with ma
t,ons They pass, sometimes, whole centuries
IN a species OF vegeiat,ng existence. between
sleeping and waking. Nothing seems 10 as'"'s
them. noth,ng 10 rouse them from their SUM
hers. One such period as This In 'he his'o'! oi
,,s Roman Empire is alluded 10 by aIBBoN,
who observes that the hsppiest ages Vi man
kt,a are those which afford the least material
for history and SO they are, II history be the
mere record of siege and battle, Of assault
without provocation, and murder under color
., ,aw. which we have teen taught TO be-
n.ve IL is, and which IT seems TO be,
since Il is record of little else. But
tor IA confs grafton are always accommodating
mischief is always brewing the devil Is al
WAYS roaming the earth-and al last comes an
explosion, to prove that Peace Societies are
farcss. that Col. NAPIKR's position is true, and
that war is the normal state OF man. Nothing
can prevent it, Ii beset by calamity, nations
vent their wrath on their neighbors-f wal
lowing in prosperity and waxing fat, they are
nnndi an Tt
society is opposed TO peace, else why is the
wisdom az statesmen always taxed to eHeIy
extent Of their capacities 10 preserve i'll Why
is it so easy always TO get up war, when
IL is SO hard to preserve The peace Why must
a man. If he wish 10 be good man, live in a
state Of eternal war with HIMSELF Why does
he find il So easy 10 lie Il bad man, II he feel
inclined.
Eras stand out like Islands in that part OF
The ever.roning nood of Time which has
pass ed by US forever, and become lost III the
ocean Eternity. We stand upon the last sand
on The beach of 1865, and loUk over the gull
thA, flows between US aud 1860. 1t appears
near 10 us, because We measure not the breadth
of the waters, but fl our eyes directly upon the
object, not very distant period. Yet we see
n world SO strange and So different from that
|
another planet. Instead Of Il mighty nation,
holding rank with the most powerful of the
ear,p. We behold few scattered settlements,
along "a thin slip Of laud bordering the Allan
tic. pee pied by about two millions Of inhabi-
tants, who owe allegiance to u power that lies
beyond The great waters of the deep. Occasion
ally we Tee "a town struggling into the respect
ability OF ciiyhood, aud u few villages as
~. A,,f "a
courier arrived about once week At this
goodly hamlet of Richmond, and we hear OF 4
vessel at City Point, six weeks out Fl ON the
old country, with a cargo TO suit the market,
ard a few newspapers to give the planters
assurance that the world GU tside is still alive
Perhaps a pos / boy arrives from the seat OF
the Royal government, Williamsburg, with
the last gazette, and the denizens Of the ham
let eagerly crowd 10 hear the news As
founding intelligence-do leful news-can the
world survive-wili not the sun be extin-
guished-will not The stars fight IN their
courses - does not the moon already run
blood-wIll not nature Undergo coavui-
sion which shall destroy all failure existences
in the germ The King is dead GEoRaE
IL is dead He expired suddenly on The % n
CT October! Oh what a calamity, ye Ia
tions A King die say The young. We never
heard OF Hugs dy ing before. We thought
ii was impossible A kiug die say the old.
Such a lining has not happened tor The last
thirty-lhTee years, 10 US, at least. True, MY
frieucs even Kings are mortal. The Reeve
rend MIR. DAVIS the great Presby terrain divine
and orator, VIII tell you SO, II You viii only
attend his church. III The county of Hanover.
Listen TO his eloqu almost inspired, most
prodigally lavished, upon that dirty old King,
who has just gone to his long account, sum
moned So suddenly that he had no time 10
prepare, dying i'll an instant, before he could
even know that his spirit was demanded Of
him.