Montgomery County sentinel., 1889-01-04
K : + N I | N + l..
ok WILLIE. MID.
! Morning.....".January 4, 1889.
CLOSING OF THE OLD YEAR
Nd OPENING OF THE NEW.

luB iOl VIC DiIlu Vi tut NtW 1ChT.
Raking among the embers-what waves
OF black aud bitter memories come rushing
past like the restless sweep of the waters
what feeting and innumerable phantoms
with toodsbot eyes, like lamp in tomb,
showing with its faint but steady light the
wreck oi the beautiful, the noble and the
sublime se--showing the dust of much accum-
ulated dishouor-showing the crumbling
skeleton of a purpose that had started per.
feet and bright and pure az the new born
beauty of spring, when the breath of bud
ding blossoms weighs on every breeze
Ah ride as we will on the swiftest billow
OF tomorrow, we are never out Of sight of
yesterday-out Of the black gulf Of the
buried past ever flows the current Of mem
ory-fiowng onward and onward to the
sea. Nations disappear and are buried be-
meath the obscurity of revolving years
dynasties change and eventually the seat
OF their opulence and splendor is los: be-
meath the succeeding waves of change
Even then this same current will roll on
ward, and the same thoughts will fill the
listen TO itsvoice-the records of dead years.
Raking among the embers-three hundred
and sixty-iive days ago, suddenly, as the
blast OF meteor, the dying year, like
mighty monarch, strobe the waveess ocean
of space to contest the empire OF earth. He
was young then, and his advent, in the per
feet beauty Of the perfect night, was wei.
coined with joy and the ringing OF silver
(beis-1he is old now and everything is ST.
lent and motionless as tombstone standing
in an obscure corner ofsome deserted grave
yard. People flock with open arms to greet
the new, they forsake the old and leave
them to
"sit by the raked-up ashes of the past,
Spread their thin hands above the whiten-
ing embers
That warm the creeping iie.blood to the
last"
Raking among the embers-the hands on
the dial are near together, how ghost like
and deep the silence. Heat and warmth are
disappearing under the cold of the death
dew that gathers thick and fast. Yonder,
over the hills, comes Father Time, punctu.
ality is one of his chief virtues. He carries
in one hand an hour glass from which the
sands have almost all run, in the other he
has spade such as 9rave-dggers use How
the Yesterdays come troopng down upon
d, "Dont iorger-alasl "who does not
remember" The clock seems to tick faster
nearer and nearer come the hands, fainter
and sadder grow the heart beats. Hark !!
the iron strokes OF the lofty steeple of the
) distant Cathedral are falling on the wind.
less night, one, two-oD, on, to twelve. The
tide has gone out into the dark river-"beads
from shvered necklace have rolled darkly
a+Ssy into the dust" The Old Year is dead,
and he died as quietly and silently as though
he had never been saddened with sorrow or
dtsecrated by sin
80 pass, Old Year, beyond life's stormy sea
Whateer the waiting New Year bring to me
l know lis ordered by Hand divine,
So, fearless, mid the wild bells mingled din,
ope the door and let the New Year in"
A retrospective glance brings to mind
many things, and we may well inquire what
OF the year that has just left US. All things
may not have terminated as we most de.
sired, life has its joys anu SORROWS, the QUE
Jas "feeting us snowhakes upon the lips of u
volcano" the other binds and cankers ut
the heart; il likewise has its trials, disap-
pointments and difficulties. But II is well
for us to remember that by the natural laws,
the rule of existence is one of compensa
tons, with Its lights and shades, its sun
shines and its storms, wherein desired frui
ton OF our most sanguine hopes and ambi
tons may eVentuate In calamity rather than
good. The past cannot be recalled, but we
may grapple with the events of the future,
and like the eagle to his eyry, spring with a
sublime hope and resolute will to the grand.
est achievements in all that concerns our
selves or the community OF which we are a
part We may not stay the whirlwind, dis.
arm the thunIerbolt or change the laws
governing climate and health, but, in obedi.
ence 10 the same laws, we may take shelter
from one and shut out the germs and apply
the antidotes for the other BY the law of
graVltation "A sudden fall may be fatal, but
as prudent and resolute beings we may stand
safely and make the existence of that law u
boon rather than bane.
There is room for hope, none for despair
the chilling winds of adversely may have
blown piteously around us, the songs of hope
nearly hushed forever, but our misfortunes
should rather nerve the arm, fire the heart
and give us reinvigorated courage and vigor.
The mighty oak could never be monarch of
the forest il il was grown in Il hot house and
never wrestled with the tempest. We cannot
get along without the clouds and the storms.
Dickens has well said that "tears are sum.
mer showers that lay the dust on our hard
heart" and the saying is true as it is trite,
"there is no excellence without labor" and
labor means the overcoming of difficulties
: Life means duty done and progress made
and character developed, and these demand
difficulties TO be overcome and victories to
be won
1t is no time to weep over the ashes of the
Old Year-whether it has written the cpl
taph of our finest feelings and noblest as.
pirations-whether 1t has seen jeweled Joys
shivered into atoms, rounded and mellow
hopes wrecked ere they parted with the
shadow OF their cradle, whether it has
brought happiness or sadness another
volume in the progress of time has been
closed, the seal has been placed upon a
sepulcher whose stone no angels hands
will ever roll away. The grim spectres of
self accusation may come To rear their hide
nns irfnts before us as living witnesses of
unholy deeds and imperlections, but we can
never obiierate them however much we
may desire. We cannot recall the joys that
have been dashed iuto pieces, the hopes and
the aspirations that have been stranded, We
cannot wipe out a blot that rests upon the
past or erase single stain our sin has left,
but amid the general wreck and the dark