The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-07-13

appalling a result TO rebut such a
presumption-and we do not misname
it in terming it an inference only-as a
palpable and objectionable wrong to
men who, while living, were re-
spected by their fellow citizens as
upright and reliable men of business is
the object of this article, and which we
can discuss without personal feeling.
And right here we assert unhesitat-
ingly that the intelligent and discrimi-
mating sentiment of the people of Port
Deposit is misrepresented as being
unanimously in sympathy with McGill,
and therefore inferentially justifying
his act. There is, indeed, universal
sympathy manifested there for him.
But it is pure impulse of humanity
that found expression in the material
aid it rendered the destitute and inno-
cent family of miserable man, who in
a moment Of unreasoning frenzy had
set at defiance every law, both human
and divine. 1t meant no inferential
justification of the double murder and
suicide, resulting from q knowledge of
the merits of the differences existing
between McGill and the Armstrong;
Sympathy for the weak or suffering is
one of the most creditable of human
impulses. Taking the form of active
charity it does not stop 10 institute
ethical questions when its offices are
evoked
So it was in Port Deposit 1t
promptly relieved the suffering and
destitute family of McGill, and possibly
furnished his burial casket. The active
humanity of the town could do no less.
The act, however, is not to he mistaken
or distorted into an approval or justif-
cation of so dabolical a crime We
reluctantly confess, however, that there
is.a class in Port Deposit who mildly
justify the act of McGill, and that in
the face of the most absolute ignorance
of the merits of the issue between him
and the Armstrong; They are COM
munistic gentlemen, social Jewelers., who
see no question involved in this horri-
BILE tragedy except contest between
the poor and the rich, between an I'M
successful man and a prosperous firm.
They forget that few years ago the
Armstrong; were themselves as poor as
the poorest of them, and that the posi-
ton Of competency they attained is the
result of industry. economy and sobriety
They unreasoningly advocate the cause
of the weaker, and studiouslv ignore
all the underlying principles on which
the structure of organized society rests
Besides, to most unsuccessful men. the
success of the prosperous man is a per-
sonal offence. The man without pro-
perty looks upon him that has it as his
natural enemy To some extent every
property holder is regarded as a robber
This is the unwholesome fruit of COM
munistic doctrines and teaching
Doubtless these gentlemen profess to
think that McGill's crime was an act
of righteous retribution, simply because
they would delight to participate in a
universal vindication of the poor
throughout the whole land, being too
ignorant to understand that the millen-
mum they seek to inaugurate would
not be what they hope for, but the Col
gotha of the race to which they belong.
The apologists for the rash act of VIM.
McGill should profit by the lesson it
teaches. and instead Of fostering this
spirit in themselves OF others, they
should resolutel y strive to stamp it out
of existence, for if persisted in and en-
outraged, such a spirit will ultimately
disintegrate society, deluge the land in
blood and end in universal social chaos
and disaster.