The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1861-03-02
Ole Cecil nbis.
ELHTON, MARCH 2. 1861.
That WSccret Circular.r

County Convention, is .co transparent TO re-
qnrc much exposure. The Secret Circular
which it was good enough to publish as proc
Of irroeulariiy in the last named matter
contains intrinsic evidence in proof Of its re-
spiarify. and is. in itself, The best nntidot,
that could be furnished for The banc Of Tn,
Democrats allegations. That circular shows
most corclusivrly, first: that the parties issu
ing it evidently expected. tina, such citizens
Of the county as concurred in the senti
men.s" Of the resolutions adopted by tn,
Baltimore meeting that made the call, wonld
meet the Union men of the county at the pro-
posed primary meetings. and fairly contest
with them, there, the election of delegates to
the County Convention: and further, tina,
they dm not anticipate the rnse by which a
delegation was sent to the Conference Con.
venlion. acittom notice 10 that effect having
been given to the people Of the county, either
respective or irrespective Of party.
The circular shows, secondly; that those
who issued it designed nothing more or ess
than that the parties to whom it was ad.
dressed should, IN the language Of the circu.
lar itself. use all honora bic means to have tn,
Union men turn out to the primary meetings
in order that the county might be properly
represented in Baltimore Gf represented at
ally by good men and true for the Union.
The Democrat evidently had glimpse oil
these truths in the preparation of the article
in question, and became dissatisfied itself
with the meagrcncss Of The internal proof of
secrecy in the matter Of this circular. Con.
scqncn,ly, by some external evidence which
it stumbled on somewhere. it endeavors to re-
pair The arGumen; by asserting, that the ut.
most secrecy appears to have been observed, "
and that "it did not leak out here, until the
morning of the day on which the primary
meetings were to be held" In reply to this
assertion, made, no doubt, isnorsnty. VIC
have to say that, to Our certain know ledge
the intention to hold these primary meetings
was known by Convention men" here, at
least three days prior to the proposed meet
ing. We were asked, personally, on the
Saturday previous, about it. by prominen,
Breckenridge democrat who sympathiz,d
with the meeting ef the 18th ult. That it
was known elsewhere in the county, the col
ums Of The Democrat, in its issue Of 10Th ult
will prove; for on that day The Democrat
published the resolutions and proceedings o!
first district primary meeting. assembled
for the purpose. as is said in the first pream.
ble, Of sending " delegates to County Con.
venticn 10 be held on the ll,h in Elk.on," in
pursuance Of the Baltimore call. which call
ras prominently published IN the Wing Of the
9th ult. The Democrat to the contrary. not
outstanding. So that, no! only was IT known
in the lst district, but il was acted upon, and
by men of all parties. who, after assembling
and finding divergence Of views among
themselves, separated, and the smaller ror.
ton 10 Or 20) passed the resolutions 'lnded
to, while the larger body, numbering nearly
orquite loo, passed the resolutions publish.
cd in The Wing.
The meetings in other districts were also
attended without distinction Of party, rs We
have been Informed. That the Union men pre-.
pondeTated is owing in part perhaps, to tho
circular, but the principal reason for it is the
fact, mot properly appreciated by The Dem.
oclat, we ftar,) that there ale much larger
number Of Union men in the county, than
either disnnionists or seni.disunions.s, C,
both, and these Union men are Of the kind
100, that intend 10 'abidc in the ship Will.
a sufficient number OF planks hold together tt
keep her afloat. They may, therefore. be
reasonably expected 10 turn to" when the
remaining planks are in danger 0 t being torn
off.
Further, as to the secrecy Of the circular
The Democrat says it was not sent TO tho
people Of The county irrespective of party.
We allcge, knowingly. that it was sent tc
about l25 gentlemen comprising Brecken'
ridge, Bell, Douglas, and one or two Lncoh
men. They were sent to these gentlemen a,
Union men. Without respect to party, anG
the fact that so large number were sent out
all over the county, as The Dclnocra
truhfully says, ought, Of itself, to have sug
gested the improbablity of any secret des ign
Fearful that the hypothesis of secrecy
would break down, and tina! even the South
ern Rights AmcricsLs and Democrats" Il
whom it refers would see through the shall
low device invented for the relief, from public
odum, Of the engineers Of the Wednesda,
meeting, Tie Democrat resorts to the OH
trick of raising.the abolition cry, by remind
ing its readers that Mr.. Elder, who it seems
sent out at least one of the circulars 10 a,
american, /" is we'll known to be Republic
can and voted for Abraham Lincoln" Thi
circumstance, in connection with the allega
ton that other Republicans were active il
the primary meetings, is made the founda
ton for the truly Machiavellian suggestion, -
that there has been union of Black Repub
licans, Know Nolhings and certain apostat,
Democrats the latter meaning Douglas men
Of course,) "who ale to act together unde
the specious title Of Union men" against (as
We infer from the remarks in this connection
the rights Of the South under the Constilu
ton.
This suggestion The Democrat attempts Il
clinch by declaration which it quotes from
Mt ~ 4