The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1869-12-31
THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW,

We pduS0. we COtlub Tie CAAc0uhA OA
the seasons, we calculate the lost days
the missing opportunities our
wasted inheritance of time. The
clouds of the dead past vanish and its
roseate tints alone remain. It 10 one
of the peculiarities Of human nature
that while retrospect gives Us most
faithfully the beautiful in nature, it
reveals distinctly the deformity Of our
own lives. And though our blighted
hopes and withered loves may lie scat
tered along the way Os if to mock our
anguish, the landscape is always beau
tiful and its skies bright. Here upon
the verge of the past and the futures
brink, we
--"Remember all the friends so linked together
That NC have seen around Us fall
Like leaves in wintry weather."
The New Years is the best day In the
year. It seems to us that such ser
mons could be preached as on no 9th
er day; for when can such depths Of
feeling be reached, such emotions stir
red, such aspirations kindled2
The closing year will occupy q re-
markable prominence in History. It
Is the end OF decade. It witnessed
the completion of = Pacific Railroad.
about which three generations have
wondered and shook their heai Is
More wonderful still. it has inau;yurA-
ted the Suez Canal, by far the great
est of ell mans achievements over M
ture. This year records greater and
better deeds for Lesseps than ali the
ages have shed upoa all the warriors
of the world. He has literally sue
ceeded for the first and only tim e in
history in making the desert blossom
as the rose. He has brought the
ends of the earth together and said to
the ocean
MANS control stops not with thy shore :"
1t was the closing yeartha saw human
hands building miles of solid walls in
the Mediterranean-layinga an embargo
upon the shifting bed of the sea. The
genius of a Frenchman cut the ole
world in two and joined sea TO sea
American enterprise has spanned the
New World with an iron road and ami
hilated the space between shore anC
shore. These two achievements alone
will probably make the closing yeal
unapproachable in Importance, anc
will become familiar theme lin State.
unborn and accents yet unknown.
The bands of monarchy have beer
loosened in France. And even undel
. Napoleon liberalism has made Q. tri
umphant march.
While engineers and statesmen have
procured triumphs. the explorers come
In for a share The discoveries of DR.
Livingston are of the utmost i'm por
tance and interest. Although but (
meagre report has been received from
that explorer, yet it is enough to r svo
lutionize modern geography. InsteaG
of sandy desert in the center of Afri
ca, as was formerly thought, cit i
really rich in vegetation and studdeC
with lakes" The source Of the Nil,
is removed some 400 miles south o
the extreme southerly point Of Victo
ria, N'yanza, and probably traced int
a chain of lakes of which Lake Tan
ganyika is the chief.
The unhappy mystery of the ST
John Franklin exploring expedition
has been cleared up, the credit belong
ing to DIR. Hays, an American explorer
In religious matters, this year is dis
tinguished from the three hundred tina
have preceded it, by the assembling 0
an Ecumenical Council at Rome. Th
opportunities for the Council are great
but whether they will be improved o
not, the event can alone show.
The year is characterized by an unu
sual list of distinguished dead, o
which more than full share has falIel
to the United States. Among then
are such names as George Peabody
Franklin Pierce, Rob't j. Walker
Amos Kendall, General Wool and e
N. Stanton.
There are many minor events pos
sessed of much local importance
among which is the completion of th
first twenty miles of the Oregon Cen
tral Railroad. There is perhaps %,
occurrence in which such an absorbin,
interest is felt by our readers as il
this, since it places us for the first tim,
in the list of railroad States.
Tt does not require the pen of
prophet to write of the past; but con
cerning the future we shall scarcel,
venture to say more than to wish eacl
one whom this paper greets
4 A Harry New YEAR