The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-08-09
A STORY WITHOUT A MORAL
A Short Sermon from the Editorial Co..
umns of the Tribune.

4 story has gone the rounds of the papers
about Il certain good-hearted young fellow
nllncd Skinner, who ten years ago, was
kind to an unknown man from Antigua.
The other day this stranger died, leaving
to John Skinner S750,00O Another story,
which we believe to be true was told lately
of Il young female school teacher who was
travelling two years ago on the PennSylva-
MIA railroad, when another woman apparent
~ as poor as herself, was taken i'll. The
girl delayed her journey for 4 day or two to
nurse the stranger ut an inn, and then went
on her way, and heard Of the incident no
more until last September, when she re-
ceived information that she was the heir to
Il fortune which would make her comforta-
bic for the rest of her life.
The newspapers have been passing
these cheering anecdotes rs "Stories with 4
Moral We are not quite sure what the
moral is Fit is that we are all to become
amiablc or benevolent in the certainty of Il
good fat annuity from fate i'll hard dollars,
the moral is Il deluSon and 4 share. Your
lucky Skinner is one white elephant in Il
herd of a million. The good Samaritan paid
cash for the oil AM wine, and was by so
much out of pocket: but we are not told
that his ncighbor whom he Succored ever
bursed him for the same. We are not
even told that he paid him by decent
amount of gratitude. live should hold up
John SINNERS good luck to our readers as
a specimen of the ordinary dealings of des-
tiny with the charitable, every one of them
would produce hundred good fellows he
knows with big hearts, open hands and lean
pockets :" lie that giveth to the poor
lcn,leth to the Lord we all know: but it
would be bad policy to invest i'll charity
with the expectation that payment would be
made in cash, and with Skinner's ten
thousand or so per cent. at that.
Look about in any village, and it is your
old Griper who owns the controlling shares
of the bank stock and the heavy end of the
local railway. Money-making chances come
to him as nets drift to the big lInpet in the
pool. Take his neighbor, the man best
known for bencvolence in the town, and
where are his shares of bank or railway
stock? Who leaves him legacy The very
qualities which make him genial, credulouS,
generous, render him n bad business man.
His is one of those families which money
seems to shun his sons turn out half-Starv-
ed clergymen; his daughters marry into
houses bare of everything but love: it is on
the farm next to his that oil is struck: he
invariably Just grazeS good fortune, but he
never hits it. Yet the public draw on him
rs freely as they would from the town-pump.
Every case of misery or want i'll the county
comes straight to him to drain on his SYM
pathy and purse; he is pcrpetually cheated
to-day by an Irish niobe of a waShcrw oman,
tomorrow by benevolent association that
calls itself an apostle and carries the bag. ~
This man lot is the one to hold up to boys
as the result of good Slmaritanism; not the
mythical SINNERS with his gorged pockets
To show it to them fairly though, it is just
to state that this man is never torSaken
never comes 10 want: his children never beg
their bread So far the promise of HOLY
Writ is passed to him who lends to the poor
Yen must show Them too the real possession
which is given to him in lieu of Gripcr'S
stocks and bonds. You will find 10 trace of
il in his bare house or shabby clothes: but
it is limited i'll the tones of his voice: The
content of this great possession is in his dead
face us he lies with his old friends about him
the widow and the fatherless and the poor
that he had delivered. The payment made
TO such men is intangible: it holds no place
in the market: yet the splendor of it shines
in their homes and out of their graves like Il
light in Il titr!l place: it has made that little
deed of the good Samaritan Il beacon through
all tn" ages: it is all that makes a house, or
Il village, or tie world itself Il happy home
for human beings instead of Il den of greedy
selfish beasts.
Let lis teach charity, good fellowship, care
for our fellows, TO our children: but let us
teach Them too what the reward is To be-
Not SINNERS, hut Il price which makes his
laltry thousands Il matter OF indifference.