The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1866-05-26
The South Expects Every Han to do
his Duty.

his Duty
Our condition as n people who have fallen
under the ban Of the government under
which we live, may seem too hard to be borne,
but notwithstanding we should not permit
ourselves to give way to desp2iE5or let the
remembrance of wrongs paralize our ener-
gies. Though the present is overcast with
sombre clouds and perpIexing doubts, yet
we should remember that how dark so ever
the cloud which overshadows us like spirit
Of wrath, the silver lining is there to cheer
the heart and fascinate the gaze of the be-.
holder; that how tempestuous so ever the
night, how dark its frown, it is merely the
prologue Of dawn as radiant and lovely as
ever won the admiration Of Natures wor
shippers. The war-cloud has passed away
like dream Of the morning, leaving ruin
and desolation wherever it cast its baleful
shadows, and ours is now the task to repair,
ifpossible, our fortunes wasted by the at
triton of steel meeting steel, rebuild our
temples and our towns which, the merciIess
invader, possessing all the fury of the Hun
and all the spirits Of the Yandal leveled to
the earth, thereby bringing disgrace upon
the profession Of arms, and the blush Of
shame to every American having the instincts
Of a gentleman. We have a great work be-
fore us, and it becomes US to approach the
task with willing hands and courageous
hearts. Away with your repinings. Be
men Already the flowers of hope, as fra
grant as any that ever shed their sweetness
IN the garden of GuI, are beginning to spring
up in the hearts Of many of our people, and
they see behind the curtains of the future
land smiling in plenty and population res
nowned for their thrift and prosperity This
vision may appear too golden and it may
never be actually realized; but we submit
is it not better to cultivate the idea that there
Is a better day coming; that the South viii
yet become the seat Of mighty Empire-an
empire equalled to any that Charlemagne
ever dominated, or Napoleon swayed-than
to yield to the opposite opinion, which would
teach US to fold our hands upon unmanly
hearts and become as useles as the " dull weed
that rots on Lethes shore" In state Of
dependency, no people ever performed any
deed Of prowess in the field, or executed any
grand measure of craftsmanship in council
The mind, in such a condition, is united to
perform the duties of its Office, and it is only
when hope appears upon the scene, and gives
play to her magical wand that all misgivings
and fears as to the destiny in store for us in
the womb Of the YET TO BE, take their flight,
and are superseded by the 90uZ to do, and the
spirit to accomplish the dictates of that viii.
Cast dependency then, to the winds-have
none of it. True it is, the South is in ruins,
but is she not like the Coliseum, beautiful
even in her ruins Ours is the task to make
her waste places to rejoice, and her deserts
to bloom and blossom as the rose. Ours the
sacred duty to adhere all the closer to hei
now that she stands so much in need of as
sistance and leave nothing undone to render
her as beautiful as she was before she was
overcome by disaster and Frustrated in the
dust by the merciless legions of tyranny.
What though the result Of her struggle fol
independence was disastrous the result has
not furnished her fame or rendered her cause
less sacred in our eyes. What though eonfa
grafton and death have wrought their sac
work Of ruin and woe What though war
prosperity? What though rapine and plum
der have swept over her fair possessions a
with bosom Of destruction she has los
none of her charms for us,-she is still tn
object Of our admiration-still the cynosur
Of every eye that takes delight in viewin
the fairest of climes, possessed by a peopl
whose heroism of spirit is only equalled b,
their magnanimity of soul and generosity 0
disposition.
AS a carollary to the above, we would re
mark that it is the duty of every good citi
zen--of all who have hearts to feel, heads {
understand and hands to execute the ofice
of brave and high-minded Southrons-to
all that may belong to each man in his ind
vidual station to enIeavor to give impetus t,
the car of progress, and by moral courag
and the necessary energy of mind and bod
TO yet retrieve the day-for peace hath he
victories no less renowned than war"
In the walks, therefore, of peaceful pun
suits; in commerce, trade and finance /
the effort to make two blades of corn to gro
whore only one grew before, and in the de
IightfuI task incidental to the education q
Jue youth OF tui country ISo US TAKE TIA
position which nature and natures God il
tended us to occupy when she bestowed "a
on us a land so Astounding rs our own in a
that 80 to make powerful commonwealth
Let the Romans be our exempIars. After
great calamity, they did not as many of l
are disposed to do; waste their energies
complaints which viii avail nothing, nor bu1
them in gloomy torpor, and they surrounde
with public honor, the man who, whatev
were his errors, had the redeeming quail
ofn despairing, even in the last emerge
CIV Of the fortunes Of his country. That
roic spirit saved the Republic in many &
emergency, which faint-hearted poop
would have considered as desperate. Ron
recovered herself, after Italy had been owe