The Portland daily press., 1870-01-01

Time in its ceaseless flight is ever changing
the New into the Old without any natural
pause or mark in its uninterrupted flow; but
man has measured it into hours, its days into
weeks and months, and the alterations of
its successive seasons into years. In tbe
darkness and silence of Yesterdays midnight
another Of these great divisions eynired and
this mornings dawn opens upon a new wear.
That it may prove an suspicious and "Hannv
New Year" to this State and Nation, and. SO
lar as the inevitable vicissitudes of this NOR
TAI lie permits, to those with whom we main
Tam business and friendly relations tbrouoh
Inese columns is our sincere wish and earnest
nope. 1t is fitting and natural that we should
now look back into the Past to interrogate il
as to the cause of its errors, failures and dis
appointments (that if remediable it may be
removed, belorei we turn to the Future to de-
''fion OF our hopes. From the
.'.z';alt of much
success
! mingles
ttH'i' fa que, inter
0~Ott. oter past
with the months composing r that has
just escaped us who can question that we ara
somewhat nearer the millennium dawn than
when this old year was new? Who can fail
to perceive that progress is the law that God
has imposed upon man and nature ever since
Time began and that this law must be I'M
Manageable tillltime shall be no longer?
Take our own nation: not disparaging the
lnestlmable labors of its founders we vet feel
that the principles which they enunciated
have been more widely extended in the past
decade than they ever dreamed of; TO mill
IONS whomthe fundamental law, as they con-
structed it, left in bondage We speak now
OF principles and not of the increase of ma
terial wealth and prosperity, as we might do.
IN one sense there as nothing new under
the sun; and this is true too in such sense of
the principles Of which we speak. They are
never new nor old but eternal. The love of
liberty and Of the race burned in the breasts
OF Hampden, Milton, Sidney and hosts of
their predecessors and contemporaries. known
and unknown, before it inspired orr revolu.
tlonary fathers TO heroic thought and action.
In their development in the worlds history
and in their application to the governments
and conduct of men they are new; in this
respect the thing that is is no longer the
thing that shall be. Many of those who in
the national councils and in the field belped
on the triumph of free thought and free prin-
ciple have passed to their reward within the
circuit of the year just passed. With the ac-
complishment of the object to which thew
freely offered and sacrificed their lives their
special mission" here was ended: had thew
longer lived we should still have felt that the
work OF their lives was already done. Feel
ing this themselves they were ready TO de-
part. They had seen of the travail of their
souls and were satisfied. But the New Year
just opening viii be the happier all over this
broad land because Of their having lived and Ia
bored, not simply for the few short DAYS thew
had to stay here, but shortening and seer.
hcing them, for tue long duration of future
centuries that are to contain the existence of
the republic. May it be perpetual; and as
each New Year adds to its population and
wealth may it also show corresponding in
crease of knowledge, liberty and virtue and
all that makes free government BLESSING
to the world