A few dismal characters there may be , here and there about the world , who have so often been trifled with by young maidens as promising as she , that 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 chattels in a basket of no great size or weight , which hung 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 both granddaughters of Time ; and though one looked so much older than the other , it was rather owing to hardships and trouble than to age , since there was but a twelvemonth 's difference between them . `` Well , my dear sister , '' said the New Year , after the first salutations , `` you look almost tired to death . What have you been about during your sojourn in this part of Infinite Space ? '' `` O , I have it all recorded here in my Book of Chronicles , '' answered the Old Year , in a heavy tone . `` There is nothing that would amuse you ; and you will soon get sufficient knowledge of such matters from 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 remembered without pleasure . The volume , though she termed it her Book of Chronicles , seemed to be neither more 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 history with her own pen . `` 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 the Administration party to shout for triumph , -- 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 , '' interrupted her sister , who seemed remarkably touchy about some points . `` Perhaps we shall part in better humor , 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 navies of Whig or Tory , with their 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 own comfort , -- I care not , I say , if no whisper 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 been a curious sort of war on the Canada border , where blood has streamed in the names of Liberty and Patriotism ; but it must remain for some future , perhaps far distant XXXXX , to tell whether or no those holy names have been rightfully invoked .
Florida Focos Gazette Opposition Texas Time Whig Year brawls salutations