Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1896-02-14
STA TEsNEN TO TIE Front

Can phtIlOl NO nhu Can uOpeiuhJ SnOiioh
trust in the future OF our Institutions who
does not hug with especial endearment TO
his bosom the consciousness of the fidelity
and worth of his political mother Ardent
reverence for her name, coupled with innate
reluctance to admit any weakness, makes
and can alone mai foundation for that
devotion on which the patriotic fabric rests.
Pride In the States achievements lie the
source Of the thrill that must animate the
citizens 10 emulous deeds. He who cannot
find fonder admiration for the proves OF
his fellow. statesman than in the deeds &C
complished by the stranger is already aft
for treason, strstagem and spoils.
A nations glory, not more than that OF
State, rests on the virtue Of her sons. He
who honors bravery, integrity, devotion, is
already more than half brave, half upright,
half devoted. He who carps as cynic at
the valor of his neighbor is properly the
subject of distrust.
1t has always been Maryland's proneness
to worship at the shrine of her heroes. That
the hero worship has too often been mis-
placed, is only too truly the fault OF the
sparseness of true greatness here enthrohed.
Nevertheless the devotion has had its legiti
mate reward Every animate thing can de
fer TO what is greater. The mouse may
worship the elephant even while it gnaws
the cords that bind him. The lamb will
defer 70. the lion, nor question the rectitude
of his leonine instincts.
II is the facility Of enshrining what is not
intrinsically worthy, because of the worth
1t represents, that makes patriotism patri
otto. Marylanders have no reason to be
ashamed of the blindness that enabled them
TO see heroes where pigmies may have con
gregated. The slur on their perception is
tribute TO their impulse The heart has vim
dictated what the head could not approve.
On such reflection may proudly rest the
Marylander's pride in much that Maryland
ers have done smiss or done in density
What State history lacks in true greatness,
State pride has made up in ascribed hero
ism. II Ciceros have been created OF Pink
neys, Solons of Smiths, and Chathams OF
1DItudUB, luC l1uit 10 ubt III Vic dCNOtiohs
but 10 the material to shrine it.
Perhaps It may be that this patriotic i'm
pulse has been overwrought. Perhaps the
willingness 10 heroize little men has encour
aged, il il has not justified, the heroism of
littleness, and, by consequence, relegated
true greatness to the rear. II so, We may
pardon the weakness while we deprecate the
essential decadence.
II the result has been to beittle the State
by forcing the dregs to the top, the amiabil
ity OF the error will more than half atone
for tie magnitude of the folly. But it will
not Justify or excuse the continuance of the
folly.
The time is surely at hand when the land
that gave resting place to Calvert and toler-
alton, and furnished the heroes that made
Washington's immortality possible, should
bring its best and grandest representatives.
to the front II Mars land has whereof to
be proud Of, let Marylanders invoke it.
Too much importance cannot be attached
TO the drafting of the best services of the
best men. Private business never ignores
this rule. Can public affairs afford to dis
regard it? The quadrennal test Of the fit
ness of our institutions is again at hand L.
The roots of our constitutional government
are again about to be laid bare and the prun
er and fructiier applied. In this work our
State will be called upon to assume It's full
share Of responsibility Can there be any
doubt of the line that duty marks?
10 this contingency, what name or career
stands out more fitting to do and dare, to
think and act for the best and highest inter.
est OF Maryland than the nonpareil orator,
the tried and incorruptible statesman, the
philoeophic thinker, the pure man, Isidor
Raynerl The SENTINEL proudly and
promptly dominates him as one of Mary
lands representatives TO the electoral con
vention whose duty 1t shall be to select ma
tional standard bearers Of Democracy in the
coming contest. All that true and pure
Democracy represents or embodies Rayner
stands for. All that is pernicious in system
or vicious in practice, his very name men
aces Tariff, currency, State sovereignty,
international obligations, have in him their
sound and reliable vindicator He is free
from faction, as he is above intrigue. Moth
ing that is mysterious because mystifled, or
venal because it is selfish, can find recogni
ton in him. AS Maryland's representative
he would furnish shining example to the
select men Of the many States of this mul
titudinous nation that Maryland really is
entitled to what her fond citizens claim for
her, u peerless place in the councils of the
federated assembly. When Rayner appears
the people are proud because the people
know that he is never incompetent, never
uncertain, never unworthy.
Let Rayner be one of the delegates to the
Chicago convention, and the Democracy oi
Maryland will share in pride similar tc
that which the old Wing party of the STATE
enjoyed when John v. L Mcmahon repre-
scented il in the Wing convention of 1874