Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Iowa) 1861-1864, 1862-01-02
The New Year.

Time, in his rapid flight, still moves
onward !! A new year has dawned
upon us, and what changes have been
wrought since our last annual greet
ing Events of startling interest and
OF portentous magnitude, disturbing
the even tenor of our national pro-
gress in the arts Of peace and prospect
ty, have come to impress new direc-
ton on our thoughts at this grateful
occurrence of the annual new year
festival, called as we are to lift up
the voice of gratitude amid the cries
of battle and the shock of arms. ii
we narrowly scan the manifold and
multiform boons which still mark our
lot, as individuals and as q nation, we
shall find that the dark shadow OF
war has not wholly obscured the
pleasant places in which the lines
have fallen to US, and that, despite
the waste and havoc of our civil
feuds, we still have a goodly heritage
of personal and political blessings.
We can still return thanks for barns
bursting with plenty +; for commerce
pursuing its gainful traffic, unframed
by the maritime brigandage with
which it has been threatened by do
nestle foe; for the humanizing nurture
of schools and colleges, whose doors
have not been shut because those oil
Janus are open for the onward
march of the arts and sciences, as
also for the rich rewards of humber
industry in nearly every walk of life,
so that no complaining is heard in our
streets under stress Of bcggary and
famine for the general security of
our political rights, Notwithstanding
the flood of sedition which, in large
portions Of our land, has overwhelmed
and swept away the mounds and
dykes of law, and whose surges have
beaten with violence against our own
defences and, above all, for the
blessings and consultations of that
Christian faith which, in it's realiza.
ton, has the promise both of the life
that now is and of that which is to
come, irradiating as it does the dark.
est corners of the earth by transform
ing the "habitations of cruelty" into
the training. school of a more heroic
generation, and recruiting as it does
from the ranks of men the hierarchy
of that celestial nobility of which the
world is not worthy.
1t has been as truly as frequently
said that the fiery ordeal of civil wal
through which we are now passing
deserves to be regarded as transit
tion period in our history. Whatever
be the result of current events we
shall never again be precisely the
same people we were before. If we
are true to ourselves, and if we are
also true to that Providence which
calls US to mark the operations of His
hands, and to behold "what desola-
tons He hath wrought in the earth y
for the punishment of national sins,
we shall be wiser and better our
Government will be purer and more
bcncfcent our social institutions will
be more fully appreciated ; and We
shall learn that q nations soul is
something better and higher than a
nations soil, though life and treasure
be freely poured out in defence of the
latter. Let us, then, in view of the
blessings still vouchsafcd to us, and
of the high responsibilities imposed
by our tribulations, thank God and
take courage. Let us extend to all
our readers the courtesics of the sea-
son, and wish them "a happy new
year."