Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-12-31
Jhe essex County 8eraIa.
ISLAND POND. DECEMBER 81. .sse.
NEW YEARS THOUGHTS.


else. The former we know some
thing about; the latter we know
nothing Of. They are really the
same thing, yet, to human under
standing they are distinct. We can
speak about both, although we can
not realize the latter. They are
Synonymous with distance and
space, and some hold are really the
same thing. We have to do with
both time and eternity, and are in
them and cannot get out. Time
is relative, eternity is not. We
divide time into periods, and regu-
late all our doings both in public
and private life by it. For the
sake of convenience we have divided
time. A year is the longest period.
When we go beyond that it is sim
ply matter Of multiplication. At
IL o'clock tonight another year
will have passed and become as
much thing of the past as q
period that occurred ages ago. 1t
is time for reflection, as we draw
to the close of another year, and we
moralizc, and form good resolutions
for the future. Time has been very
variously described as a book in
which is recorded the events of life.
Each year is a volume and it's pages
are the records of what has taken
place, and what is occurring. II is
profitable at times to look over the
record, and no time is more appro-
pirate than the close of the year for
SO doing. At the close Of the
twelve months we balance our ac-
counts, we foot up our bills, and
ascertain how the books stand.
There is no going back on the
record. 1t cannot be wiped out.
1t remains written with indelible
ink. When the year winds up we
find much has been done, but there
is yet more to do. Different people
have different ways of finishing up
the old year. Many dovout person
ages assemble at their places of wor-
ship and, with prayer and Supplica-
ton, calmly await the departure of
the old year and the arrival of the
new. Others feast and rcvel and
pass around the loving cup as the
flame dies away in the socket, and a
new light is kindlcd.
Good resolutions are formed by
most people, and, although there is
an old saying that the road to sheoI
is paved with good resolutions, it is
good to make them, and without
them life would be q blank. 1t is
the ray of hope, the dawning Of a
new light, and the pressing forward
to an end. Good resolutions, by
themselves, never accomplish much,
because they are as a general rule,
the outgrowth of sentimentality.
They may be, and often are at this
eason, the result of custom, but
custom bred of sentimentality,
and, consequently not lasting. The
man who says he will forswear the
use of liquor, or tobacco, or reduce
his expenditures, or become indus
trious, or leave off habits which he
considers bad, does so chiefly be-
cause it is the custom to do so at
the end of an old year and the be-
ginning of new, and not because
he has become convinced that his
previous course was wrong. The
probabilities are that before the new
year was few days old, he will be
back in his old tracks and doing
just the same as as he did five, ten,
or twenty years ago. Yet with all
this and admitting the facts which
are verified by the results of exper-
fence, it is good to have a season
of reflection, and to form good reso-
lutions for the future. If nothing
else, it may break pernicious habits
and like good seeds sown in good
ground take root, spring up, and
ultimately bear good fruit. We are
creatures of habit, more so than we
think, and our present condition is
the result of habits begun long
way back, small and slight at first
like the snowflake, but they keep
adding and accumulating till the
whole nature Of our being is
covered as with a pail. 1t is time
for serious reflection, and we look
back and heave many a sigh and
think of those who have fallen by
the wayside. The friends and rela-
tives Of years gone by are now few