Reflections.

Here we are then—at the end of another year—at the end of another volume of Merry’s Museum! There is something in the winding up of the year that is calculated to make us look back, and think over the past: something which seems to stop us on the highway of time, and put the questions—“What have you been doing? Where have you been? Where are you going?”

And it is well for us all to answer these questions,—to answer them fairly and sincerely to that inward monitor which thus calls upon us. Have we done our duty, the past year, to our God, our neighbor and ourself? If we have, let us rejoice: if we have not, let us repent and sin thus no more.

I am not disposed to read a harsh lecture to my friends; for, to say the truth, I am much more inclined to make them laugh than to make them cry: I like a round face, far better than a long face. If I have any advice to give—any correction to bestow, I prefer doing it in a story, a fable or an allegory. If anybody wants to be scolded, they must not come to Bob Merry—I do not like to be scolded myself—and I never scold others. Still—still—my dear little friends, let me ask seriously, are we improving in mind, in temper, in graces of all kinds? Are you growing better, more intelligent, more wise, more dutiful, more sincere, more fond of truth, of mankind, and of God? If you are, I am glad of it: if not—my dear young reader, take old Robert Merry’s advice—which is this—be careful every day, every month, every year, to do better than the day, the month, or the year before. Although it is my design to amuse you—to please you—still, I shall almost feel that my labors are vain, if they do not result in your improvement, mental and moral.

And now, we must say good-bye to the old year, and next month bid a welcome to the new. I hope and trust that those young friends who have trudged along with me for two years, will keep me company for another year, and I promise to give them plenty of stories, lays and legends, facts and fables, songs, anecdotes, sketches and adventures. I have wound up the long tales which have run through two years of our magazine, but others shall be forthcoming. If we have dismissed Bill Keeler, Philip Brusque, Alexis Pultova, and Tom Trotter, still, somebody quite as interesting shall soon be introduced to our readers.

Transcriber’s Note:

This book was written in a period when many words had not become standardized in their spelling. Words with inconsistent hyphenation were left unchanged. Jargon, obsolete words and alternative spellings were left unchanged. Misspelled words were corrected.

Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and were moved to the end of the chapter. Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, unprinted or partially printed letters and punctuation, were corrected. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and abbreviations were added. Duplicate words at line endings or page breaks were removed. Missing header, [Varieties], was added to the December issue.

The following were added where blotches on the page obscured the text: