Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1900-01-04
Looking Backward.

the last uay Of tho year is reflective ono.
IT il enc Of the miloStcncB of lifo, at
which we arc prone to pause and look
back ovor tho way we have travelled
and tho tendency to tako this retrospec-
two Wow is ono that increases as tho wears
go on, and as the memory becomes
moro and more burdened by the wrecks
of lovo and trust that strew tho pathway
Of all, oxcopt tho fortunate fow who 90
through life without meeting with re-
verses or experiencing real sorrow. In
youth tho coming and going of tho years
had but littlo significance for us. The
Now Year but romiuded us that another
twelve months was beginning, in which
much pleasure awaited us, and the Now
Ycar greeting sounded as real prophecy
of tho happiness in store for us. If wo
thought Of tho old year at all, it was
without any lingo of melancholy; it had
boon very pleasant to us, and, although
wo wore grateful for tho good enjoyed,
yet wo accepted it rs our right, and rs
all earnest Of what awaited us in all tho
coming years. At last thero camo to us
y
gono before, for it found q void in our
heart and life, and was bearing from us
something that could novor DO given
back. No othor year could ever 10 the
same to us rs was this, because ono whom
so loved would have DO part in it, Ono
day in the passing year was marked for
cvor i'll our memories rs that OIL which
thn ho1nuoI fr;
and, although tho grass may bo groon
upon tho mound that covers him, the
pain IF the parting is still fresh in tho
heart, and can only be dulled by time,
mover forgotten. After ono such export
oncc life is never again tho Same to us:
wc neither look back so carolcssly, nor
forward with such confidence. NVo cling
in each closing year. both because of it's
sweet memories and it's sad ones, and We
look forward to tho future with q certain
shrinking of heart, not knowing what it
may have in store for us.
Some writer's have cndcavorcd to show
that tho change Of a century date has
generally brought with it many marked
political changes in the world at large;
but some of tho instances thcy have
adduccd in support of their statements
arc rather forced, as when they number
tho American Revolution among them,
since American independence had been
an assured thing almost score of years
before this century began That the
present moment is a most critical ono i'm
tho history of several nations of the
Garth cannot be denied; but they have
all passed through many such crises
before, and may do SO this time with loss
disastrous consequences to themselves
Than at present appears POSSIBLE. In
looking back over tho course of tho con-
tury, rs it concerns Our own country. wc
have every reason for gratitude to the
Power which holds tho destiny of nations
and of individuals alike in His hands, for
it is without parallel in the story of the
nations. Two-thirds of the width of the
continent has been added to our terri
tory, without including recent additions
i'll other parts of tho globe. Tho United
States have como victorious out of every
contest of arms i'll which they have Gil
gagged. Tho population is NOR, than
sixteen times what it was then, while in
material prosperity, in tho advance of
education, and in the inventions and dis
coveries that have added so much to the
convenience and comfort of life, the gain
has been truly phenomenal In fact so
rapid has been the improvement Of tho
country in every way, that thcrc seems
to be little left to tho next century, OK
ccpt to sit at case and Joy tho fruits
Of the labor of this. And so far as tho
sciences arc concerned, the scientists of
the nineteenth century have achieved so
much that their Successors in tho twcn-
ticth will need considerably increased
brain power to make any great improve
mcnt upon their work. But farther
boasting in these regards is checked by
the reflection that, probably our fore
fathers were equally confident that tho
inventors and discovcrcrs of their day
had left us no new worlds to conuucr.
and were as far from dreaming of the
marvellous powers concealed in the
heavens above, the earth beneath and
the waters under the earth, as we arc
from thinking that any new powers yet
remain undiscovered in them.
Great rs has been the advance made in
the past hundred years in all these ma
tcrial things, there has been an equal
progress in philanthropic efforts for the
alienation of suffering, the cure and care
of the sick, and for the Improvement of
the lower classes both morally and pllysi-
cally. When we compare the dcscrip
tions Of the aims houses and asylums of
the early part of the century, with those
now provided both by the State and by
private generosity, we can sec the won
dcrful change that has taken place in the
matter of caing for the poor and aflict
ed. Even the prisons of modern times
arc as palaces contrastcd with those of
former years. Hospitals arc no longer
places feared and Stunned by every one
unless forced by poverty to resort to
them; but have been made so perfect i'm
their appointments, and so attractive i'm
every way, that thousands of persons of
means prefer to be treated in them
rather than in their own homes, when
ever serious surgical operations are nee.
csSary. Many Of tho orphanagcs of to-
day are hardly distinguishanlc from first
class boarding schools, except in the
particular that the officers in charge of
them feel themselves responsible to far