The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1885-03-26
<. N. PEPPER breaches.
he Prioks Several Bubbles and Ex-
poses Hollow Shams.

g poses Hollow Shams.
;, l stood beneath hollow tree,
O The blast it hollow blew,
. thought upon the hollow world
&c And all its hollow crew
II Ambition aud its hollow schemes,
N And the hollow hopes we follow;
Imagination's hollow dreams,
All hollow, hollow, hollow!
= The first thought, Mr.. Editor
that fits across my mind is, what
: will the editor write over the head
Of this piece. I'll wait and see
; l confess l don't know what to call
It. sit may turn out song it may
turn out a sermon" But If l
thought it would turn out to be as
hollow as some other correspon-
dents 1 would quit instantly and go
to stone cutting or some other bus
mess as solid. Now, Mr.. Editor,
don't you think when the little sen
timental twenty year-old, who just
begins to feel the incipient symp-
toms of manhood and whom a
couple of holes in his pocket
behind and the furze upon his chm
proclaim him man, and he begins
to tiptoe to attain the height of his
daddy, shouts, zone more soul
made happy-it's boy" Don't you
think that's hollow? Just as hol-
lew as a blown up bladder, and its
like saw dust pudding-occu pies
entirely to much for its substance.
oh. shame! Where did you get SO
much cheek? And again, Mr.. Edi-
tor, when the man who is regarded
as the arblter of taste and morals,
one who shapes and fashions pub
lie sentiment, more perhaps than
the man of God who stands upon
the walls Of Zion. for the sake of
the profit secured will puff and pub
lish all sorts of nostrums and pat
ent humbugs and even assail the
combined experience of the medi-
cal profession which is the result of
two thousand years of scientific in
vestigation, because forsooth they
do not endorse or recommend the
pretentions of pseudo. quacks and
retail slang mongers, with their
hundred forged certificates, and
raise his hands with sort of holy
horror and say that "Ex-President
Grant must he sacrificed upon the
altar of professional courtesy" NOW,
Laps, don't get mad, but don't you
think that is a good deal like the
old Baptist preacher said by his
poplar? He said he thought when
he looked at it it would make a
hundred rails to the cut, but be-
hold when he cut it down he said |
it was hollow In the butt. It's ex-
terror is smooth aud delicate but |
the interior is as rough as the road |
to ruin; and the gas with which it
is inflated partakes so much of the
nature of high-dry- gin as to render
it too volatile for any essential ser
vice. Now don't think l write this
just to pitch into you. mean to
say that almost every thing we see,
hear or feel, is morally speaking, as
hollow as a gourd, and that there
is nothing truly solid but heavenly
virtues, straight forward honesty
and cannon balls,
It is said by some that the earth
itself is hollow and keeps yearly
growing hollow and more hollow
still. L don't know how it is but
1 do know that the whole world,
take it in lump, is hollow.
Oh, how hollow is the heart of
mana mere shell of hypocritical
pretentions lined with the silk of
fratsrnal sympathy.
The hollow tree that 1 mentioned
is a very fit emblem of the hollow
ness of all things. 1t tells how hope
puts forth its green leaves beneath
the genial sun ef prosperity, and it
tells how the bitter blasts of adver-
sity pronounce it to he hollow, hol-
low, hollow. Ambition is as hollow
as the soul of an echo. How hol-
low are the airy dreams CT magma
tion-mere soap bubbles floating
about ia the atmosphere of ideality.
A crown is as hollow for the most
part as the head that wears it. And !
love, my friend, is as hollo~ as a
blasted hickorYnnt. 1t may be full
of the manifestation of sincerity in
the summer of its existence, but
when the autumn comes there is
nothing left of it but the dry and
withered leaves of its former sweet
ness.
Friendship too is as hollow as a
box. IA friend with
smiles will grasp you by the hand
o-day while the sun of fortune
shines clear and bright, but as soon
as it is obscured by the clouds of
misfortune he is off like a state
treasurer and leaves you exposed to
the storms and tsmpests of penu
rious world The hollow critic
vents his hollow praise to the hol-
low tool who heeds him. Such is
the duplicity of human nature.
After all it may be that my letter
may prove about as hollow as every
thing else that l have written about
and about as fruitless as the bios
SONS of the cucumber vine.
K. N. PEPPER.