AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH BKECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, {Agbicultural Wakehoi'^e.) 



vol.. XVII.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 9, 1839. 



. CNO. ar. 



AGRICULTURAL. 



We do not know how to give more pleasure than 

 ly the republication of the following, which came 

 us ill tlie form of a pamphlet. It is by the au-' 

 hor of " Twice Told Tales," whose pen ought not 



be sutfered to get dry. It is imaginative, instruc- 

 ive, patriotic, beautiful. How it puts to shame the 

 ;arbage in the form of rhyme which news carriers 

 ave been accustomed to circulate on Now Years 

 3ay. 



THE SISTER YEARS. 



5etn°- the Carrier's Address to the Patrons of the 



Salem Gazette, for the first of January, 1830. 



Last niglit, between eleven and twelve o'clock, 

 vhen tiie Old Year was leaving her final foot-prints 

 m the borders of Time's empire, she found herself 

 n possession of a few spare moments, and sat down 

 —of all places in the world — on tlie steps of our 

 Lew City Hall. The wintry moonlight showed that 

 he looked weary of body, and sad of heart, like 

 nany another wayfarer of earth. Her garments 

 laving been exposed to much foul weather and 

 ■ough usage, were in very ill condition ; and as the 

 lurry of her journey ijad never before allowed her 

 o take an insUint's rest, her shoes were so worj^-^S 

 be scarcely worth the mending. But, after 

 rudging only a little distance further, tliis poor 

 )ld Year was destined to enjoy a long, long sleep, 

 i forgot to mention, that when she seated herself 

 DH the steps, she deposited by her side a very ca- 

 pacious band-bo.t, in which, as is the custom among 

 travellers of her sex, she carried a great deal of 

 valuable property. Besides this luggage, there 

 was a folio book under her arm, very much resem- 

 bling the annual volume of a newspaper. Placing 

 this volume across her knees, and resting liEr elbows 

 upon it, with her forehead in her hands, the weary, 

 bedraggled, world- worn Old Year heaved a heavy 

 sigh, and appeared to be taking no verj' pleasant 

 retrospect of her past existence. 



While she thus awaited the midniglit knell, that 

 was to summon her to the innumerable sisterhood 

 of departed Years, there came a young maiden 

 treading lightsomely on tip-toe along the street, 

 from the direction o.' the Railroad Depot. She was 

 evidently a stranger, and perhaps had come to town 

 by the evening train of cars. There was a smiling 

 cheerfulness in this fair maiden's face, which be- 

 spoke lier fully confident of a kind reception from 

 the multitude of people, with whom she was soon 

 to form acquaintance. Her dress was rather too 

 airy for the season, and was bedizened with flutter- 



1 ing ribbons and other vanities, whicli were likely 

 soon to be rent away by the fierce storms, or to 

 fade in the hot sunshine, amid which she was to 

 pursue her changeful course. But still she was a 

 wonderfully pleasant looking figure, and had so 

 ir.uch promise and such an indescribable hopeful- 

 ness in her aspect, that hardly anybody could meet 



i her without anticipating some very desirable thing 

 • — the consummation of some long sought good — 



from lier kind offices. A few dismal characters 

 there may be, hero and tliere about the world, who 

 have so often been trifled with by young maidens 

 as promising as she, tliat they have now ceased to 

 pin any faith upon the skirts of the New Year. 

 But, for my own part, I have great faith in her ; 

 and should I live to see fifty more such, still, from 

 each of those successive sisters, I shall reckon 

 upon receiving something that will be worth living 

 for. 



The New Year — for this young maiden was no 

 less a personage — carried all her goods and chat- 

 tels in a basket of no great size or weight, which 

 liung upon her arm. She greeted the disconsolate 

 Old Year with great affection, and sat down beside 

 her on the steps of the City Hall, waiting for the 

 signal to begin her rambles through the world. 

 The two were own sisters, being bath grand daugh- 

 ters of Time ; and though one looked so much 

 older than the other, it was rather owing to hard- 

 ships and trouble tlian to age, since there was but 

 a twelvemonth's difference between them. 



" Well, my dear sister," said the New Year, af- 

 ter the first salutations, "you look almost tired to 

 deatli. What have you been about during your 

 sojourn in tliis part of Infinite Space ?" 



" Oh, I have it all recorded here in my Book of 

 Clironioleat," answered the Old Year, in a heavy 

 tone. • ',' There is nothing that would amuse you ; 

 and you will soon get sufficient knowledge of such 

 inatters'Vrom your own personal experience. It is 

 But tiresome reading." 



Nevertheless, she turned over the leaves of the 

 folio, and glanced at them by the light of the 

 moon, feeling an irresistible spell of interest in her 

 own biography, although its incidents were remem- 

 bered without pleasure. The volume, though she 

 termed it her Book of Chronicles, seemed to be 

 neither move nor less than the SALEM GAZETTE 

 for 1838 ; in the accuracy of which journal this 

 sagacious Old Year had so much confidence, that 

 she deemed it needless to record her doings with 

 her own pen. 



" My whole history," continued she, " is here set 

 down by a very able and faithful secretary of mine ; 

 and, now that I have no further use for his services, 

 I would recommend' you to employ liim on the same 

 fnotmg !" 



" What are his politics ?" inquired the New 

 Year, with an air of grave deliberation, and a dubi- 

 ous expression of countenance. "Not Whig, I 

 trust." 



" Wliig — to the back bone," answered her elder 

 sister ; " and whatever your own opinions may be, 

 his are not very likely to change. But, at any 

 rate, his narratives of fact may pretty safely be 

 depended on, and you may gain from this volume 

 a compendious summary of my efforts and achieve 

 ments, my good and evil fortune ; and, in some 

 degree, of my thoughts and feelings throughout my 

 earthly career. Men will not look back to me as 

 a very distinguished Year, in any part of the 

 world." 



"What have you been doing in the political 

 way ?" asked the New Year. 



"Why my' course here in the United States," 

 said the Old Year — " though perhaps I ought to 

 blush at the confession — my political course, I 

 must acknowledge, has; been rather vacillatory, 

 sometimes inclining towards the Whigs — then 

 causing tlie Administration party to shout for tri- 

 umph — and now again uplifting what seemed the 

 almost prostrate banner of the Opposition ; so that 

 historians will hardly know what to make of me, 

 in this respect. But the Loco Focos" — 



" I do not like these party nicknames," interrupt- 

 ed her sister, who seemed remarkably touchy about 

 some pbintp, " Perhaps we sliall part in better hu- 

 mor, if we avoid any political discussion." 



" With all my heart," replied the Old Year, who 

 had already been tormented half to death with 

 squabbles of this kind. " I care not if the names 

 of Whig or Tory, with theif. interminable brawls 

 about Banks and the Sub Treasury, Abolition, 

 Texas, the Florida War, and a million of other 

 topics — which you will learn soon enough for your 

 n comfort — I care not, I say, if no whispei; of 

 these matters ever reaches my ears again. Yet 

 they have occupied so large a share of my attention, 

 that I scarcely know what else to tell you. There 

 has indeed Ji-ei) a curious sort of war on the Cana- 

 da border, where blood has streamed in tho mme.s 

 of Liberty and Patriotism ; but it must remain for 

 some future, Jerlftipafar distant Year, to tell whether 

 or no those flol^ natlies" have been rightfully in- 

 voked. Noftiiiig so much depresses 'V.e, in my 

 view of' mortal I affairs, as to see high energies 

 wasted, and human life and happiness thrown away, 

 for ends that appear oftentimes unwise ; and still 

 oftener remain unaccomplished. But the wisest 

 people and the best keep a steadfast faith that the 

 progress of mankind is onward and upward, and 

 that the toil and anguish of the path serve to wear 

 away the imperfections of the Immortal Pilgrim, 

 and will be felt no more, when they have done their 

 o.tfice." 



" Perhaps," ciied the hopeful New Year — " per- 

 haps I shall see that happy day !" 



" I doubt whether it be so close at hand," an- 

 swered tlie Old Year, gravely smiling. " You will 

 soon grow weary of looking for that blessed con- 

 summation, and will turn for amusement (as has 

 frequently been my own practice) to the affairs of 

 some sober little city, like this of Salem. Here 

 we sit, on the steps of the new City Hall, which 

 has been completed under my administration, and 

 it w«uld make you laugh to see how the game of 

 politics, of which the Capitol at Washington is the 

 great chess-board, is here played in miniature. 

 Burning Ambition finds its fuel here; here Patriot- 

 ism speaks boldly in the people's behalf, and vir- 

 tuous Economy dc.uands retrenchment in the em- 

 oluments of a lamp-lighter ; here the Aldermen 

 ranse their senatorial dignity around the Mayor's 

 chair of state, and tlie Common Council feel that 

 they have liberty in charge. In short, human 

 weakness and strength, passion and policy, man's 



