Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-01-01


The time for commencing diaries aud
making good resolutions is at hand. In
most cases neither are long kept. The
labor of recording events becomes druid
gerry. and promises made to ones self are
so easily evaded that thor faithful per-
formance is almost impossible Neverthe-
less, it is probably well that there comes a
time when a mental overhauling is under
taken, and improvement of conduct deter
mined upon. The trouble lies not in
making the resolutions, but in putting of
their performance TO a time IN future. No
time is like the present. If reorganization
Unnecessary, 7tO1g is the time HO,n, wheth-
er it be Jan. ], 1870, or February,
March or April. 4 contemporaries advice
on this point is to begin when the necessity
for change becomes patent Don't put off
till tomorrow. Don't look back, grieving
for days that have ilOwn-the innocence of
childhood comes not again till the dignity
of reason is dethroned Study the past for
its influence on the future learn It's les
sons of severe experience, and thus avoid
the same errors. This IS prac-
teal age-everything must be util-
lied. Time is a commodity, sale
| able to those wanting to purchase, pur-
chaseable from those desiring to sell.
Eighteen sixty-Dine is sold out, but to
some ''there are a few more left of the
same sort. With others the books are
posted, balanced and closed, and the book
keeper sent to account for his stewardship.
All! how many erasures, blots and false
entries have we all to account for, How
easy to see faults in others, how reluctant
to see them in ourselves.
Newspapers are the best diaries, and as
we turn hastily over the years file, what a
phantasmagoric panorama presents itself.
Jan. !. 1869, good, bad and Indifferent
editorials try to divine the future, Hope
smiles benignly from the leaders, and good
advice glistens on every page. The year
rolls on-bright hopes have faded and a
moan seems to swell upon the air. Great
events are chronicled, the waters are
crossed by another electric thread, con-
tinent is bridged with iron rails, and two
great oceans connected. But the people
all! the people" Business languishing,
money scarce, expenses high. How many
are there, apparently flourishing, who trem-
bic on the verge of ruin! The extravagances
of dress, the style of living and the conven-
tionalisms of society require expenditures
far beyond the ability TO pay. The evil Of
all this becomes painfully apparent upon a
few visits to the counting rooms Of our
dealers and trades-people. Really, sir,
am unable to pay you that little amount
to-day; call in next week. So says A. A
dimes on roast turkey, TeClines on velvet
lounges and smokes fifteen-cent cigars.
As wife dresses gorgeously, orders out her
carriage, goes shopping gives parties and
reads the last novel. b, G and d do the
same Result
Learn to do without that for which it is
impossible to. pay, and, above all things,
achieve Independence of thought and nc
ton. BE economical, not mean. The free
circulation of 1norey through the legitimate
channels Of tradefs eminently beneficial
and the natural laws regulating commercial
affairs, when not interrupted by outside
interference, Will set all things in motion.
The uncertainty consequent upon financial
or commercial legislation produces I'M
mense mischief The regular. course being
upset, time must clapSc before affairs re
sumo their even tenor The future is at
the best uncertain, but when the natural
uncertainty Is complicated 10y eXtraneous
circumstance, the difficulty Of clearing
treachcruUs rocks becomes far greater.
In the clly dawning of the New Year it
is well to &c what has been done, what is
to he done Past and future become i'm
pcrccptbly merged. The last stroke that
rings the incl Of the dead year reverbcrates
through tho corridors Of time yet unex-
plorcd We listen to the notes with some
what of sadness, though faces smile
greeting, and joyous voices wish a
Happy New Year"