210 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



jAM-.iWra, f-Jiff. 



tendencies, his aims and modes of pursuing them, 

 his individual character, and his character in the 

 mass, may be studied almost as well here as on the 

 theatre of nations ; and with this great advantag^e, i 

 that, be the lesson ever so disastrous, its Lilliputian 

 scope still makes the beholder smile." 



" Have you done much for the improvement of 

 the city?" asked the New Year. "Judging from 

 what little I have seen, it appears to be ancient 

 and time-worn." 



" I have opened the Railroad," said the elder 

 year, " and half a dozen times a day, you will hear 

 the bell (which once summoned the Monks of a 

 Spanish Convent to their devotions,) announcing 

 the arrival or departure of the cars. Old Salem ; 

 now wears a much livelier expression than when I 

 first beheld her. Strangers ramble down from ! 

 Boston by hundreds at a time. New faces throng 

 in Essex treet. Railroad hacks and omnibusses j 

 rattle over the pavements. There is a perceptible ' 

 increase of oyster-shops, and other establishments 

 for the accommodation of a transitory diurnal mul- 

 titude. But a more important change awaits the 

 ven^pible town. An immense accumulation of 

 musty prejudices will be carried off by the free - 

 circulation of society. A peculiarity of character, 

 of which the inhabitants them.«elves are hardly sen- 

 sible, will be rubbed down and worn away by the 

 nttrition of foreign substances. Much of the re- 

 sult will be good ; there will likewise be a few 

 things not so good. Whetlier for better or worse, 

 there will be a probable diminution of the moral 

 influence of weallli, and the sway of an aristocratic 

 class, which, from an era far beyond my memory, 

 has held firmer dominion here than in any other 

 New Eu^rland town." 



The Old Year, having talked away nearly all of 

 her little remaining breath, now closed her Book of 

 Chronicles, and was about to take,, her departure. 

 But her sister detained her a whil^Jonger, by in- 

 quiring the contents of ihe huge band-box, which 

 she was so painfully lugging along with her. 



" These are merely a few trifles7' replied the 

 Old Year, which I have picked up iti' my rambles, 

 and am going to deposite, in therecepjtacle of things 

 past and forgotten. We sisterhood of Years never 

 carry anything really valuable out of the world 

 with us. Here are patterns of most of the fashions 

 which I brought into vogue, and which have alrea- 

 dy lived out their allotted term. You «ill supply 

 tlieir place, with others equally ephemeral. Here, 

 put up in little China pots, like rouge, is a consid- 

 erable lot of beautiful women's bloom, which the 

 disconsolate fair ones owe me a bitter grudge for 

 stealing. T have likewise a quantity of men's dark 

 hair, instead of which, I have left grey locks, or 

 none at all. The tears of widows and other afflict- 

 ed mortals, who have received comfort during the 

 last twelve months, are preserved in some dozen of 

 essence bottles, well corked and sealed. I have 

 several bundles of love-letters, eloquently brcating 

 an eternity of burning passion, which grew cold 

 and perished, almost before the ink was dry. More- 

 over, here is an assortment of many thousand bro- 

 ken promises, and other broken ware, all very light 

 and packed into little space. The heaviest articles 

 in my possession are a large jiarcel of disappointed 

 hopes, which, a little while agfl, were buoyant 

 enough to ha,ve inflated Mr Lauriat's balloon. 



" I have a fine lot of hopes here in rny basket," 

 remarked the New Year. " They are a sweet- 

 smelling flower — a species of rose." 



" They soon lose their perfume," replied the 



sombre Old Y'ear. "What else have you brought ] 

 to insure a welcome from the discontented race of | 

 mortals ?" 



"Why, to say the truth, little or nothing else," | 

 said her sister, with a smile — " save a few new | 

 Annuals and Almanacks, and some New Year's 

 gifts for the children. But 1 heartily wish well to 

 poor motals, and mean to do all I can for their im- 1 

 provenient and happiness." s 



"It is a good re^dution," rejoined the Old Year; 

 "and, by the way, I have a plentiful .nssortment of j 

 good resolutions, which have now grown so stale ' 

 and musty, that I am ashamed to carry them any j 

 further. Only for fear that the city authorities i 

 would send constable Mansfield, with a warrant I 

 after me, I should toss them into the street at once. 

 Many other matters go to make up the contents of 

 my band-box; but the whole lot would not fetch a \ 

 single bid, even at an auction of v.orn out furni- j 

 ture ; and as they are worth nothing either to you | 

 or anybody else, 1 need not trouble you with a j 

 longer catalogue." | 



" And must I also pick up such worthless luggage I 

 in my travels ?" asked the New Year. 



" .Most certainly — and well if you have no heav- 

 ier load to boar," replied the other. " And now, j 

 my dear sister, I must bid you farewell, earnestly f 

 advising and exhorting you to accept no gratitude 

 nor good will from this peevish, unreasonable, in- 

 considerate, ill-intending and worse-behaving world. 

 However warmly its inhabitants may seem to wel- 

 come you, yet, do what you may, and lavish on 

 them what means of happiness you please, they 

 will still be complaining — still craving what it is 

 not in your power to give, — still looking forward to 

 some other Year for the accomplishment of projects 

 which ought never to have been formed, and which 

 if successful, would only provide new occasiflns of 

 discontent. If these ridiculous people CTjsr see 

 anything tolerable in you, it will be after you are 

 gone forever." 



" But I," cried the fresh-hearted New Y'ear, " I 

 shall try to leave men wiser than I find them. T 

 will ofl^er them freely whatever good gifts Provi- 

 dence permits me to distribute, and will tell them 

 to be thankful for what they have, and humbly 

 hopeful for more ; and surely, if they are not abso- 

 lute fools, they will condescend to be happy, and 

 will allow me to be a happy Y'ear. For my happi- 

 ness must depend on them." 



" Alas for you, then, ray poor sister!" said the 

 Old Y'ear, sighing, as she uplifted her burthen. 

 " We grand children of Time are born to trouble. 

 Happiness, they say, dwells in the mansions of 

 Eternity ; but we can only lead mortals thither, 

 step by step, with reluctant murmurings, and our- 

 selves must perish on the threshold. But hark ! 

 My task is done." 



The clock in tlie tall steeple of Dr Emerson's 

 church struck twelve ; tliere was a response from 

 Dr Flint's, in the opposite quarter of the city ; and 

 while the strokes were yet dropping into the air, 

 the Old Y'ear cither flitted or faded away — and not 

 the wisdom and might of Angels, to say nothing of 

 the remorseful yearnings of the millions who had 

 used her ill, could have prevailed with that depart- 

 ed Year to return one step. Hut she, in the com- 

 pany of Time and all her kindred, must hereafter 

 hold a reckoning with mankind. So shall it be, 

 likewise, with the maidenly New Y'ear, who, as the 

 clock ceased to strike, arose from the steps of the 

 City Hall, and set out rather timorously on her 

 earthly course. 



" A happy New Year!'' cried a watchman, ev e. 

 ing h.er figure very questionably, but without t he 

 least suspicion that he was addressing the New 

 Year in person. 



"Thank you kindly I" said the New Year; and 

 she gave the watchman one of the roses of hope 

 from her basket. " May this flower keep a sweet 

 smell, long after I have bidden you good bye." 



Then she stept on more briskly through the si- 

 lent streets ; and such as were awake at the mo- 

 ment, heard her foot-fall, and said — "The New 

 Year is come !" \\ herever there was a knot of 

 midnight roisterers, they quaffed her health. Slie 

 sighed, however, to perceive that the air was taint- 

 ed — as the atmosphere of this world must continu- 

 ally be — with the dying breaths of mortals who had 

 lingered just long enough for her to bury them. 

 Hut there were millions left alive, to rejoice at her 

 coming ; and so she pursued her way with confi- 

 dence, strewing emblematic flowers on the door-step 

 of almost every dwelling which some persons will 

 gather up and wear in their bosoms, and others will 

 trample under foot. The Carrier Boy can only say 

 further, that, early this morning, she fille,! his bas- 

 bet with New Year's Addresses, assuring him that 

 the whole city, with our new Mayor, and the Alder- 

 men and Common Council at its head, would make 

 a general rush to secure copies. Kind Patrons, 

 will not you redeem the pledge of the NEW 

 YEAR ? 



We have unusual pleasure in presenting the 

 readers of the N. E. Fanner with the agricultural 

 address of Josiah T. Marshall of Watertown, N. 

 Y. He speaks of himself in the beginning of the 

 address as a mariner arifl shipmaster. It has al- 

 most grown into a proverb that such men always 

 make good farmers. The habits of command, of 

 intelligent and exact observation, of order and dis- 

 cipline, and energy and perseverance under diffi- 

 culties, elements of character which are of indis- 

 pensable importance in the successful management 

 of a ship and its crew and the prosecution of ar 

 important voyage, qualify a man for the manage- 

 ment of a farm, enable him to avail Jiimself of 

 the best aid and counsel, and in some good measure 

 supply the want of experience. The address in- 

 dicates a reflecting and cultivated mind. It is true, 

 sensible, instructive, and eloquent. H. C. 



AN ADDRESS. 

 Delivereil before an .Agricultural .Meeting at Plcssis, 



Jefferson county, A'". Y., on Ihe 2Gtk ^September, 



1836. By JostAH T. Marshall. 



By the partiality of your Execetive Committee, 

 I have been called upon to address you at this time. 

 The occasion on which we have assembled, is one! 

 of novelty and interest. So far as we know, the 

 meeting of this day may be deemed an experimen- 

 tal one. County Fairs have been common through- 

 out our land. But to-day a Town — a new town, i 

 just in the infancy of its being — has sent its in- 

 habitants to mingle in an Agricultural Festival. 

 We have come together to see each other's faces ; 

 to amicably compete for prizes on tlie products of 

 our labor ; to seek improvement and pleasure. 

 How fitting the time in which we meet I The har- 

 vest is past, the summer is ended, and through the 

 abounding goodness of the Great Creator, peace ^ 

 and plent.y are within our borders. 



I have felt embarrassment, my friends, in select- 

 ing a topic for your contemplation at this time. It 



