Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-12-30

/ scroll has rolled it and sealed it. and
4 Time places ii among the myriad other
mysterious records which flIhis treas
4 ure- house. The year has gone or
rather let us say the year has become
/ our own forever; no mutation nor ac-
Cident can take from us its days and
hours. Looking back at this season
+ over the centuries OF the worlds his
( tory. we see ourselves the crown and
/ glory Of them all. at the apex of human
/ greatness That for which the dream
ers ycaried IN the dim old times. when
men were ''girt with doubtful light,
has become a reality, that for which
. the great Of earth prayed. when igno-
+ rance and brutality reigned supreme,
+ stands glorious and permanent in the
sunlight of the smile of the Creator
/ The brotherhood 81 Man and the
/ Fatbcrhood Of God are recognized as
/ great facts all over the earth to-day.
/ \ retrospect fills Ms with awe and
/ wonder at the mighty forces, the ON
/ nipntcnt Power that have led the world
/ along. through paths dark and bloody,
( through fiery trials and conflicts, to
/ the glad Present and the hilltop Of
+ Hope, from which we may view the
/ Beulah land of the glorious future.
\ In the immutable purpose running
/ throughout the warp and wool Of hu-
/ man history. we see the sign Of the
! Divine hand upon an nations Through
+ out all the ages. up 10 this very hour
/ when We stand upon the verge Of a
/ new year and q now epoch, man err
/ rors have never been able to thwart
/ that purpose. though they have made
! suffering necessity in the publication
/ of human ideals.
| Our own nation has become the heir
| of the worlds noblest heritage both
/ spiritual and material Every new
year has marked stride forward Of
| liberty under law, Of culture and pros
! perity, But little more than a century
ago. the patriots of our land looked
forward to the new year with doubt
and almost despair Foes were on
every side, ready to invade and desc
crate the home Of freedom. which was
then comprised in a narrow strip OF
thinIy settled country on the shores of
our eastern ocean. To-day the temple
of liberty is arched by skies stretching
from ocean to ocean, and il is filed
with the fairest trophies of mans en-
deavor. Art science, literature and
religion have been revivified by the
breath of the republic, which, like the
Hercules of the fable, has strsngled
the lion of tyranny. has performed the
labors deemed impossible, and reigns
the ideal of government In every land,
a vital force in the world, a center of
impulse and aspiration.
A runner must pause to take breath,
birds fight cannot Toe straight upward
or its wings viii weary, and now and
again fate lays her hand upon nations
that they may pause TO view whence
they have come and whittier they go.
The year just past has witnessed such
halt in our own career of material
prosperity. Though financial distress
was widespread and the wheels Of
commerce almost idle, though the palsy
of inaction seized upon our Legislators,
even this pause in the race has made
its contribution 10 our national great
ness. The people of our country have
/ seen with swelling hearts the patriot
ism Of the leaders of the masses rising
above all political and personal mo-
tives and the noble charity of the ia
vored of fortune to the poor and un-
fortunate has quickened the fraternal
/ spirit and softened' class prejudice.
! Public and private beneficence has
reached a height never before wit
messed in any country, and the narrow
! lines of intolerance have been erased
or dimmed by the Christening touch OF
adversely,
As individuals, the New Year opens
/ to us boundless opportunities If it
bring sorrow. is not woe the fire that is
/ to burn the drOss from our souls? II it
bring poverty, let MS remember that
/ there is an infinite side to it. and the
poor have before them a world Of hope
I and endeavor that is closed to those
! who must make no struggle against OPP
! posing forces. Riches may be its boon,
! but riches are precious only for their
! power of comforting happiness and en-
! lightenment upon the world Death
/ may be its cup of healing, yet there is
no death but the cessation of cndeavor;
/ and leaving this fair earth Is no more
/ death than merely living upon il is life
False 0as the song of the poet who
said that the New Year is a Time for
memory and for tears For memory
il is indeed time, for the CLEANED
sheaves of the sweetness of past days
is an imperishable possession, but
tears, even though their waters surge
over the fragments Of shattered resolve
and self-murdered hope, are vain and
idle Then let us give Time a benedic-
ton as he turns bis glass, for he has
mingled the bitter in our draught Of
life with sweet and as the blithe New
Year assumes the robe and crown shout
with earnest hearts. lie roi est mort,
vive lie roi.
The Opening Wedge
Mics pink nr1 Have v-o,1 ~, a do a ~,