The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1876-01-06
PUBLIC oPINI0N.

/ tons of the cOuntry-in the crowded
city, the quiet village, aad in remote
rural districts. Among his devoteeS can
be found persons Of wealth, distinction
and intelligence, Of poverty, obscurity
and ignorance. Every profession, every
business of life, every shade Of character
/ every grade. Of society, furnishes its
quota ofVotaries who bow the knee in
supplieation to tIlis mighty god which
sometimes, like juggernaut, brushes nun
bsrs of his deluded victims beneath the
blood stained wheels Of his tr.umphaI
car.
It IS a source of regret that the au-
clients did MT invent name and god
to bear it, having all the attributes of
public opinion, and transmit the same to
modern times, together with the ceremo-
MES Of the apothesis, so that we in the
ritual of our worship-of the god under
consideration, could use a more eupho-
NOUS title than plain public opinion.
This omission on the part Of god-maLing
portion OF the ancients cannot be accouu-
ted for, save on the supposition that the
idea never entered their heads that men
would ever become so deficient in indi-
viduality, and 80 lost to personal indie
! pendence as to worship at the shrine of
god tickle and inconsistent. To-day,
public opinion viii Iaud man to the
skies, smother him with honors and
epithets Of adultation are applied cd pau
SUM tomorrow It casts him into the
slimiest pit of infamy, strips him Of his
honors, aud finds more mean places in
him, than Lazarus had sores, or Job
bOils. Notwithstanding public opinion
| is god, it has some of the weaknesses
of mortaIs. 1t fumes and raves about
the merest abstraction, creating a nine
| days wonder about nothing, aud it is
| a remarkable coincidence that puppy's
eyes are opened in the same time, show
ing him that he is simply a pup. The
frantic ebulitions of passion, and the
elaborate preparation for small things,
often INDUCED in, or displayed by pub
lie opinion,
Resembles ocean into tempest wrought,
To wait feather or drown fly
When political excitement runs high,
and the peopIo are surging to and fro,
and frothy orators find their way to the
remotest corner Of the most out-oCthe-
way place, holding up to the gaping null
titude the name AID deeds of a fa7orite
candidate unknown, alike to them CT
fame when a bakers dozen Of the "rep-
resentatiye men of such a"locality are
shualed together by the dexterity of one
or more political tricksters, and q set Of
resolutions passed by this very passive
body when such a meeting is su bse- !
quently announced in the papers as "
large and enthusiastic meeting IN Hard |
Scrabble--the masses moving-Yict0ry |
will be ours Then it is that public |
opinion shines in all its glory, scattering
praise and and censure with a lavish /
hand, both being as plentiful and cheap t
as moonshine in winter In such times I
public opinion is easily conjurod up and
cheapIy exercised, for you have only to
give three days notice of public meet
ing at some cross road repair to that
place early with jug of whisky, and
by an hour by sun IN the evening public
opinion viii be staggering under the in,
fuenee OF the potent arguments with
which it had been potationed during the
day
Public opinion locks upon justice with
a iaundiced eye eye and biased mind. A
wild, reckless, devil-may-caro young man
is guilty of ell debaucheries known to
society yet public opinion says he is on
ly sowing his wild oats" that he will
presently settle down and become a So
Der, steady citizen, and an ornament to
society. IF however this prophecy prove
false, or if the friends Of some Of his vic
TINS prove relentless, public opinion
calls upon mammon for the means, nam
mon calls upon public conveyance for
his speed, and public conveyance calls =
upon distance to inteTpose his miles be-
tween the seducers and the avengers of
some ruined character. In the mean RI
time, all the charity outside Of heaven is
called into requisition to make q mantle
to hide his crimes from the scOrchng | {
gaze of honor and virtue. The gentler I
sex as a rule, do not indulge in wild cat
sowing, but as an exception, an indiyid-
ual may commit some act Of indiseretion
q fauxpas, more or less depIorable. What {
then is the sentence of this tydra-headed
serpent-tongued, janus-faeed, protsan-
shaped, ehameleon-hued judge, public
opinion She is banished from her cir
Gle in society, and som etimes from the
paternal roof, her name cast oat as evil,
becomes a by-word and reproach, no
effort is made TO restore her to her for
mer position, and whoever has the NOR
al courage to speak in her behalf to ]
hold up to view. facts and circum stances
that should palliate the fault, and miti-
gate the punishment, is regarded as the
law regards the receiver of stolen goods
Thrown upon the world friendless and
penniless, a life Of want, misery, and
ehau,a - before her still eba Il FoTfo--o1 I