The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1842-09-24

REPUTATION.
E,LrIMoRE, Goth August 1912
duly received your favor of the first OF the
present month, and have given its subjects the
| consideration their importance SO well deserved
confess to you tllut none Of the modern here
ses, in politics or morals, have filled my mind
with such dismay this doctrine of reputation.
HirOss and startling enough some OF those here
sizes have been TO be sure--and it has been pain
tul to see the private and public mind giving way
before their slow und covert approaches But
here is great und liom-like leap in the path OF
dishonesty-pertorned at noon-day--at which
, the mind shudders unl trembles; it shoulders ut
the enorInity and impotence of the sin, and treH-
bles for its effects upon the fair name Of tho coun-
try.
| lfpatriotism be a love of country, and devo-
| ton to its government the sentiment must be-
come extinct in the breast Of the man of virtue
for he cannot love coun, ry that is stained with
intamy, or feel devotion To government that has
tolerated. dishonor. The extinction of this noble
sentiment must speedily he followed by the de-
creptude, the dissolution of the state. Such
gross depravity in the public morals is the fatal
disease of the body polite. Its corrosive and
deadening effect will be apid and certain. Be-
ioie II ,ne state WIZ sihk!-ahd then Will come
inc ~hlfi-w .n anu !nuh der o. revolution, to
atnospbers as the storms 1.-THE elements V s,n
away the eilluvia of pestiltnt boys and pools.
Some men Imagine that the diffusion of the
great shame OF reputation among all the people
NOT enough to sink this indivdnnl o U ,hat sn n,o
disesteem with his follow-rnen; and so they arc
emboldened to countenance in the public coun-
Gus, ana aDt AT en-. S Daoi-ooa measures which
the intercourse OF private lte The faIlacy Of
this position consists, in tho first place, in its
want OF truth; for. in my Judgment, the man who
would rcP9ola'e inc pIOl,c aeot YOU'D fepadase
free to do il The rensonng moroovsr 10 t,iIa.
cious; for tho public disgrace is each citizens
dishonor; the blot upon the national escutcheon
mas It's iull ana broad impress upon tho forehead
Tb u sndrn, s,iam. ia b;s I,op ud h H.
childron's children will feel the hated shame.
Law-givers are aware that without
strong penal restraints upon the private
actions of men sufficiently pure tone of
morals for the purposes of society cannot
be secured Hence, arson and treason and
murder are denounced as capital offences,
and great and hideous punshmen,s are al
lotted to them; and swindling and theft
and procuring money by false pretences
are denotmced as fclonies, and condign in
fictions are allotted to them. Yet what
shall he saw of these law-givers, the Go
vernment, the parental head, when itself
becomes guilty of all these .atter ofences2
For wherein is repudiaticn better than
theft and swinding and withholding mo-
nev that was obtained by false pretences!
Let us not disguise matters. His.ori-
ans and pos,eri,v are to come after us,
and they will speak of our actions with
the praise or the censure-the pride or the
scorn that they may deserve. / affirm that
repudiation of the public deb. is an act
which embodies all the turpitude o: tie
above enumerated felonies. 1t is The re-
suit of purely dishonest emotion in the
public breast. 1t is the open expression
of determination to withhold from an
other what righ,ully belongs to him. 1t
is the deliberate, undisgused, and base
dVOWal vi 0l6hOneSt purpose. ne Oh
fence is not in the slig htest degree mti-
gated by an argument drawn from the in
convenience Of paying the debt, or the bur-
then. of taxation that may be necessary
to remove it. This should have been in
quired into before the debt was contracted;
at any rate, it is Il question with which
the creditor has no concern; it has MOTH
ing to do with the validity of his claim,
or the obligation of the state to meet it..
Complaints of heavy taxation should be
addressed to the government that may
have made the burlhen necessary BY I'M
wise or profliga,s legislation; and not to
The honest creditor who has shown his
respect for the State by relying upon the
faith and honour of its rulers.
The government. of sovereign State
chooses to embark in enterprises, for the
public good, that are beyond its ordinary
means, and cannot be compassed by the