The Providence Journal, And Town And Country Advertiser

From The Farmer's Journal.
MORAL REFLECTIONS,
On the NEW YEAR.

HAVING entered as upon the threshold of another year, gratitude and virtue unite in demanding from us some correspondent reflections. Many of our friends and acquaintance, with whom we have been conversant, have been removed from the world, and ushered into the unknown scenes of eternity. In every year, we are called to feel the loss of those who were near and dear to us, either as friends, relations or connections.

TIME, pregnant with wonders, returns not. Vying incident issues, it advances; introducing at their proper periods, the all wise and incomprehensible designs of the Creator of universal nature. Our days and years are at God's disposal. "Our times are in the hands of God."

Our lives have been protected to the present period through God's goodness and forbearance. In the course of the last year, many in Europe have lost their lives in war, and many in our own country, have been called to combat with the King of Terrors; having been visited with epidemic and contagious disorders. That we are saved amidst the general convulsion of nations, and delivered from the arrows of death, made fatal by war and destructive disorders, demands from us sincere gratitude, accompanied with pious hearts, to our Gracious Benefactor. The period is not far distant, when we must follow the multitude who have gone before us: Perhaps the period, or periods at which some of us must leave this world, are included in the present year. The present life is short; it is always uncertain. We ought, therefore, ever to act with reference to another world. That we are immortal, is demonstrated from the existence and perfections of Deity; from the nature of his present moral government; from our own natural dread of non-existence; from our aspiring capacities and desires, and from the concurring opinion of the pious and reflecting, among all religious sects, in every nation and age. Conscious of our own immortality, we should be emulous to conduct according to the dignity of our nature, and perfections of that state for which we were created. Friendship and benevolence, proceeding from virtuous hearts, are graces which we should assiduously cultivate. God is universally benevolent. In the final result of all things, when years shall cease to be numbered, and Time shall be swallowed up in eternity, we have reason to believe, that love and happiness will then be restored to the whole rational system. In the displays of love divine, and in the exercise of unity and friendship, heaven itself consists. To be benevolent, kind and friendly, is therefore to imitate the conduct of heavenly beings. A few years, at the longest, will bring all present contentions, discord, hatred, malice and evil speaking, whether in nations, churches, or among individuals, to an end. How warm are most of the disputes among mankind: and how trifling do they appear, from the lofty spheres of heaven, from which the celestial hosts contemplate terrestrial affairs! Laying aside every discordant affection, and cultivating a virtuous charity, with true benevolence and friendship, let us devote the remainder of our days and years in regarding with filial obedience the laws of our Creator; serving Him with upright hearts, and doing good unto one another: Then shall we, through the interposing, atoning and most compassionate dispensation of mercy, be received to the paradisaical abodes of Heaven: Then shall we hail the Light of a NEW YEAR, ever serene and happy, coeval with the ages of eternity.

PHILANTHROPIST