The Portland daily press., 1877-07-04
WEDNESDAY, MORNING, JULY a,

Inen wine is poured out merely for the look
OF the thing but he does not drink it. Then
VINE Is promiscuously provided at all state
olnners, but not at the ordinary family meals;
ana mere is where, of our Cheshire cat, is left
h0thlng but the grin. For see the pitful
Phght in which the Reformers leave the Presi-
Dent. The Reformers, say do not allege
Lnat It is the President who is trying to run
MI WIN the mare and hold the hounds. 1t is not
.ne PRESIDENT who is Boosting his moral cour
ase ana TOTAL abstinence to the total abstinence
people, and laying the lack of it to Mr. Evarts
ana the woman whom Thou gavest to be with
me The President, so far as can see, has
Isue no utterance upon the subject; has
otsnk his wine and his settler, his tea and
cotiee, his lager and his buttermilk, or re-
Framed from it, like any other gentleman, call
lug no attention to it, desiring no comment
upon 1t; and lis doubtless, as any gentleman
must be, extremely annoyed by the Pharisac
gongs which his deluded devotees have beaten
10 attract the admiration of the populace. tits
these dreadful friends who have put him in the
attitude OF weakness and withdrawal. If wine
urlnking Is wrong what is 1t to offer wine
10 others? Is Russian soul less precious
than an American soul? Is Mr.. Evarts
IA higher auth GRITTY than conscience? Are
we called upon to admire the Secretary
at State delivering his little lecture on
etiquette to Mrs. Hayes, or shall we admire
ing this Margaret from her Noble Stand? Is it
more heroic for the President of the United
States to yield his principles to his comrades
and to social customs than it is for the young
man at the corner grocery? Is this what
religious newspapers think "a sound tenn
perance policy, IAN example worthy of
imitation by all Presidents and State Cover
nors?' Why is there any more merit in mans
having wine at his company dinners and not
at his family meals than there is in the display
of his dress.coat and old china instead of the
French white and frock-coat of the family
circle. There are hundreds of gentlemen who
40 not have wine at their family dinners; but
they do not pretend to be apostles to any
grander cause than that Pommery Sec and Dry
Monopole are $50 case. The Reformers GER
tainly will not put our President in the awk-
ward attitude of the old miser who was said
to be fond only of the o. z. Brand! IN
doubleday the President of the United States is
TEMPERATE gentleman, but the total abstinence
crusade that has been started upon the fact
has not been creditable to his self-appointed
clsa9uers or edfyiDg to the jddicious.
Nor is the attempt to build him up into a
chief cornerstone of the church much more
successful. We are told that the Presidential
carriage was dismissed on Sunday from con.
scientious scruples, and the President and his
family set the naughty and extravagant aristo-
Gratis good example by walking to church.
Thus the willy Reformer kills two birds with
one stone, capturing both Religion and De
mocracy by one pleasant walk to the sanctuary
Having done which, he rests from his labors
and illustrates the Presidents great persona
ahhuOuOO Wy tCAlinS US lew IucS' VI
how the President rode out on Sunday with
Col. Ingersoll and completely converted him tt
his policy. l attribute not the slightest osten
tation to the Presidents church going. l have
no doubt he walked to church just as he walked
around to Gen. Garfeld's as he expressed it,
because it was good to stretch his legs The
free and intelligent American citizen is per.
fectly willing that President Hayes should e
TO church exactly as he chooses. Our people
take no especial pleasure in the legs of man
the Cushl0ns of coach If ia a m n
profound indifference to us whether our Presi
dent walks or rides, especially rides; but the
keformer who will stoop to no such common
level. but is determined to see in every wag O
the Presidential head and every step of thu
Presidential foot the outward and visible sigl
OF an inward and spiritual grace, is bound tt
tell us whether the Presidents scruples apply
to his own horses and not to another mans, OF
whether it is only Methodist cattle that shall
rest on the Sabbath day, while the Radica
brutes OF Col. Ingersoll have no rights which
PRESIDENT is bound to respect
GAIL HAMILTON.