The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-05-25
A PORT DEPOSIT PHARlSEE.
HE THANKS GOD HE is NOT AS OTHER MEN.

HE THANKS GOD HE Is NOT AS OTHER MEN.
The interest in the temperance meetings
here is not abating if we may judge of the
spirit of the masses by the way they attend
these Tuesday evening meetings.
The old adage, constant dropping will
wear even stones " has been demonstrated
in this work here [ Port Deposit and some
of the most crooked or hardest hearts are
feeling the effects of the public opinion
that is setting against them. And yet
some men are SO entrenched behind wealth
and prejudices that they think they can
dam up this temperance stream and make it
find some other channel. We feel some
times like repeating the Macedonian cry.
"come over and help us" Here we have
trustees of a church who will assume the
responsibility of renting room for the
sale of liquor. Has the Gospel been so
altered to suit modern churches, that IL
man may now serve both God and Nam
mon?
Aud yet we are still inclined to be little
pharisaical, for it seems a sister church in
Elkton uses the room of liquor dealer as
place to hold festival for church benefit.
But why stop for appearances? Is it any
worse to use their store room than the mon
ey that has been made there? They are
always quite free in giving for "the sup
port of the Gospel!' Where the men
themselves are ashamed of offering it direct
cannot they send wife and children to help
in Church or Sabbath school?
And our county papers have combined to
screen the disgraceful acts from public con
domination, and this is why we appeal to
your generosity to allow voice from the
down. trodden to be heard.
We cut the above extract from the
Oxford Press of Wednesday, and
confess our surprise that the editor of
that paper should give space to such
reckless and ridiculous Statements
What grievances the writer Of it-who
appears to be a citizen of Port DEPOSIT
may have to complain of, or how far
protesting Christians and official men,
bers Of the churches of that town are
damming up the temperance stream, we
know not, and which, for present pur-
poses, is not pertinent to our inquiry.
We believe the statement, however, to
be an unmitigated SANDER upon the
people of Port Deposit, and the mali
cious invention Of some local hypocriti-
cal ranter But when this pharisaical
scribbler goes out Of his way to sit in
Judgment upon the churches of the
county, and arraigns the local press for
a combined effort to conceal what he
recklessly and untruthfully terms d" dis
graceful acts" upon the part of Chris
tian denominations, it becomes our pro
vince to refute and deny his ISLANDERS.
The animus of this attack is not
deeply concealed Because the extreme
views of a few temperance fanatics in
the town Of Port Deposit are not enter
tanned by the trustees of church there,
and because the local papers in Cecil
county cannot be suborned as a means
to vilify and abuse those who entertain
serious doubts as to the propriety of
using the edifices consecrated solely to
the worship of the Almighty for any
other purpose, even as admirable as the
temperance cause, he resorts to the
press of an adjoining State, and makes
it the medium Of objectionable detrac-
ton.
The narrow-minded bigotry, however,
of this self-confessed Pharisee is readily
betrayed in his ignorance of the facts
relative to the festival held by ga sister
church :" in Elkton. Evidently his MA
LICIoUs INFORMANT misled him into the
belief-which seems to have been no
difficult task-that the church benefit
referred to was held either in bar or
other room, still fragrant with intoXi-
eating odors Has any one, familiar
with Elkton and its affairs, ever heard
OF malt, spirltuous or termented liquors,
wine or cider, being sold or consumed
in the store house now vacant on Main
street, and in which the ladies of the
Presbyterian church recently held their
festival! Certainly he does not mean
that mere ownership of a room by
liquor dealer should debar its use for
public or moral purposes If so, let US
relight the fires around the martyrs
stake and consume people for opinions
sake. This must be the next step in
the perfected crusade Perish all such
fanatical folly.
But the Cecil papers have combined
to shield the church in its disgraceful
acts" Profound philosopher, Most
malicious moralist, We speak for one
paper only. Ever since The Wine
was, it has been, is now, and ever will
be, sincere advocate Of temperance
We mean practical not professional tenn
perance. 1t may not endorse the stupid
folies Of hair Drained lunatics, or lend
its aid to the impolitic schemes of fanat-
zeal gentlemen of the " Oxford Press /"
correspondent type, or open its arms to
every shabby and impecunious evangel-
ist who may happen to stray into town.
Ragged rascals of the St. Clair type