Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1871-02-09

10 I'd % asa1ol s1H sTs2f,o suf
> sII -5--..- -A-1'1 : - n =. 1'.IS,
round our rustic hearthstones; up
on its precepts. rests our social, do,
mestic, and political bliss. : 1t i: i:
the stay 10 civil'triumpk, and pub
llc disorder; the secret of peace
fpl submission and oacquiescence
on the part Of good citizens, the
only anchor sure and steadfast, to
liberty. freedom, and republican,
ism. But iflyou blend allmthe
learning of earth with all the. .yir.
tues known to the category Of hu
man perfection, and have not the
saving knowledgelof God she'd a.
broad 9 in your hearts-youICare
still qundutiful citizens, Above
all other duties, it is your boundeH
duty to be christians. Without
this, life is but a blank at last,
and death butai terrible reality.
In, the .praisyorthy Iaudable
exertiqn to learn and discharge
your duties as citizens on earth,
you should ever remember that
there is higher citizenship, for
which ;youDq should stFive-re.
served only for those whoI fear
God, Tdf you neglect your. duties
for this life, irs heavens name neg
fect them not for the life to come.
Rather let US be strangers and
foreigners here, bntfellow citizens
1.-THE sanity and OF sthe house,
hold OfGod. Without christianity
this life is but a dismal dream,
from which the future is but the
wretched awakening. But make
it, find it, and its presence is bright
ness, sunshine and holy pesceAon
earth, and the swift eager wing
upon which our hopes nestle and
soar. TO the eternal pleasures of
the great hereafter. But young
gentlemen permit me in conclusion
to insist that you ponder well
these suggestions. Remember the
value. of time, the brevity7of hfe2
the Importance of the task assigned
you, and that if these duties are
not discharged soon they never
can be. Time f1ies-we cannot
recallit, and in the whir1 of life's
duties let us pauseIfori breath and
contemplate the knell of the dying.
year as It's borne over the; dead
face of nature upon. the chilly
winds of December. sThe yearof
our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and seventy, will soon
haves wasted its sands into the
hourrglass of the past, and it's last
moments registered on the dialsof
time. And to me there is always
a peculiar melancholy that. attends
the last hours of the, departing
year2Xfor it is a part Of US. Per-
lIaps the weigbtiest pages Of our
history, are spread upon its rec
9ds-our hopes, our fancies, and
all lie as withered flowers, in. its
receding shadows; as we consign it
tothe past we bury with it much
that's 2saoest, much that's sad. From
some of its brightest days many
will reckon tie anniversary Of their
bridal, and many of their tomb.
O! how we struggle in giving IL
up. for it bears with it, to- the
arena of timey joys, friends, earc
rieda away-1neveri TO !oreturnf :
Even its darkest periods4hat teare
up with ruthless hands the ioun-
tains of the heart, now sleep up
en- memory's tablets enriched with
the softening halo of distance, and
that darkness almost softened to
light. We would gladly recall it,
because wegtried it, we kneY it,
andits blessings were greater than
its sorrows, The future is treaeh-
erous uncertain, ,untried. We know
not bdt the epitaph we penned for
another this year becomes our own
the ReYt,4 The se1rtain'sdrawn-
we can { see. We hear the snrging
waves and fear to enter--we trust
not! We'd live again the years
OF the pastE Check the wheels
Of Eternity here, for we fear to go
forward. WED backward, turn
backward. Old time in his flight.
shd with his own scythe, cut the
eords1f his might. The present
is ours, and the future Hithits love
we'd gladly forge for the loved
ones of yore. But rfarewelI--we
loved you /; your memory's still.
sweet, and will.cherish till time in
his rounds shall meet, and blend
IN one bright and endless day
Past, Present. Future life, Eter,
nity-All.
] lMIAullIbsrry, IAlIb Tenn, Dec. 20, 1870.
,0I 'aon eal y60I I9T7 7re .v d
Ihe latest agony among fash