, 1876-12-31

0uu1Ry ID 6uoN uay AoI eA01uB I'LL ola
year,-much better than for beginning ney
year on the modern plan. We presume tha
most thinking people, unless they forget tn
date, involuntarily turn back over the erecedint
! period that can never be recalled, to remem
Der with satisfaction the pleasant things tha
have happened aud dwell as lightly as posi-
ble upon the disagreeable experiences. Th'
leisure Of holiday affords ample time TO
this sort Of introspective retrospecion, ani
perhaps the hours between church cannot b.
more proftably employed than BY casting NJ
a SORT Of moral account, with the errors o:
the year On the debit side and its charities
on the credit side. Fortunately, this sort o.
thing cannot be done by proxy; every fellow
must balance his own books, and nuke the
best of the result.
The year for the world has been eventfu]
enough, though there have been no great ma
tioual revolutions to startle future readers o1
history. Fer the United States it has been g
Centennial year. It was ushered in with the
booming of cannon, 6zzing of rockets, and
the whang- bang Of various inventions of CHI
nese deviltry. The manufacturers Of bunt-
ing have done an extraordinary business in
red, white, and blue, done up in the star
spangled banner, and may congratulate
themselves upon the addition Of uew star
to the galaxy, which shines at the rate Of two
United States. Senators, one Representative,
and three Electoral votes for President that
the Democrats want to dispute Centennial
celebrations were SO numerous that they be-
gan to pail somewhat, but most of us may
have the consolation that we shall not live to
be bored with repetition thereof. The
grand celebration OF au-the Philadelphia
Exhibihon-has been magnificent success,
as international exhibitions go; it is
admitted to have been a valuable
educational agent in bringing our people face
to face with the manners and industries Of
other countries, and it was triumph in that
it exhibited national progress of one hun
dred years that would bear comparison with
that Of nations who can almost trace the Oar
winian theory by their traditions. But, after
all the fuss and feathers, the Centennial year
has almost skunk away, and tomorrow we
must take up the banner and motto Of &C E1-
celsior /"
The year has been chiefly memorable in. q
national way for Presidential election that
hns strained the supports Of our Constitution
more severely than any previous one. Un-
fortunately, We cannot dismiss this trial with
the old year. For ninety years the Ameri-
can statesmen have been confronted with the
defects Of our organic law relative to
determining the result Of choice
for Chief Magistrate, and they have
evaded the responsibility Of curing them be-
cause the issue has never been SO close as to
jeopardize the country. And now the trial
has come and found Us unprepared. It
remains for the statesmen Of the present day
to compass within the short space of q few
weeks what their predecessors have neglected
for nearly one hundred years. The respon-
sibility is increased by this concentration md
immediate necessity, but it is all the greater
on that account. the Congress Of to-day
must supply the deficiencies Of all its prede-
cessors, and give us law which will foirly
avert the menace of On internecine war that
would render the Centennial year the closing
year Of the Republic. The people who
assemble tonight to witch the old year out
and the new year in should pray as well as
watch, and their supplications should be
mainly directed to the hope Of peaceful
solution of the national troubles that threat
81 us.
The rest Of the world has done as well as
could be expected Turkey has bothered
the Europeans more than a little, and the
Bashi-Bazouks have recalled the barbarisms
Of the dark ages in this enlightened nine
teenth century ; but, on the whole, the civ
lized world has been ,singularly free from
strife and bloodshed, and many Of the na-
lions have progressed notably in the line of
greater personal freedom and better self
government. Commercially We have all
travelled in the same boat. With Us it has
been at once year Of plenty and year Of
trial The products Of our land have been
abundant, but the depression of industry,
ack Of confidence, and the dearth Of specu-
ation have left hard times still on our hands.
We were in fair way to make our escape
LAoAA LILO nAou6A3 %uA @A6 pOuL1clA1l3
put. us by the ears and clogged the
Of tie country to watch the
outcome OF their struggle. Our national
,redit is at the best, our currency is approx
mating par, our exports arc increasing, and
We are on the road to speedy resumption
If commercial prosperity if the politicians
will give US Q peaceful Republic and an i'm
proved civil service.
) We publish in another column necro1ogi-
:al review, which recalls the people of emi-
hence who sought the mysteries Of future
life during the expiring year. To those who
have parted with loved ones Of their own, Ill !
he erninence that istcomprises will notrep-
resent the pangs they have suffered, nor all
the glory Of their fame equal the precious
of silent tear dropped upon an
obscure grave. But tomorrow we must let
the dead bury their dead, and look out into
the new life that new yoar br;ngs. Though