Republican Herald

REPUBLICAN HERALD.

"The will of the People must be understood, respected and faithfully executed"

PROVIDENCE,

WEDNESDAY MORNING, January 4, 1837.

THE PRESENT—THE PAST.

Says, Young "The clock strikes one—we take no note of time":—As our moments rapidly flit away, and we float downward on time's swiftly ebbing current, we scarcely mark the transition which brings us nearer and nearer to the close of our earthly pilgrimage. To awaken us fully to a sense of how fast existence wastes away, of how many moments have passed, and how few probably remain to us, we have recourse to birth day anniversaries, to periods characterised by remarkable events, and particularly to the occurrence of the New Year. Thoughtless as we may be at other times, when we first cast our eye upon the date, increased by an additional unit, we can scarcely fail to indulge in a passing reflection on the months which have gone, or, while we involuntarily glance over the page of memory on which they stand recorded, forbear to moralise on the apparent rapidity with which time rolls onward, and on the solemn truth, that, not all our efforts can arrest the wayward flight of a single fleeting moment.

They were here—they are gone—and never can return—and all that is left to us, is to enjoy the consciousness of having improved them aright, or by a proper use of what may remain to us, to correct in future the errors of the past.

Another year has flown—And another yet has just commenced its flight—Who among us shall live to reflect on its close, is a serious question to which no one can reply. While then life is so uncertain, and death the inevitable result to all—while life at best is short, and is frequently cut short of that which is considered its allotted period, it becomes us all to appropriate it to the best possible uses; and, considering ourselves individually, as integral parts of the great mass which constitutes society, to employ our noblest efforts, under the direction of our best judgment, to advance the true interests of the whole. This constitutes genuine morality—This makes up the sum of all earthly duties—And he who conducts on his principle, never need fear to scan the pages which record the past, nor to look forward in the uncertainties of the future.

On the close of the old year, and the commencement of the new, we present our readers with the compliments of the season; and while we thank them for their aid and support we congratulate them and the public most cordially, on the general prosperity of our country, on the events which have concurred in producing it, and the brilliant prospects which open for the future. We sincerely sympathise with human suffering, wherever it may exist, and most devoutly hope for its removal with the causes that may have produced it. We close wishing to all, a long life of happiness and usefulness, as the greatest good which mortals can enjoy on earth.