Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1846-07-02
Gus; and the forms in which this vice

quenlly So 100. mere is one WnOn,
in the absence of better term, we
may call the silent 1alsifer. There
may be more wicked ones than he, but
assuredly there are none meaner: he is
an ungaI!ant and ungenerous soul; he
has apathy, nging heartin his bosom;
there is nothing noble and magnan-
nous about him; be is deficient III all
great qualities; he is not a brother to
his race. Fie on him! rather than
provoke the frown of some one whose
favor might be of service to him, the
! wretch will hear, without defending
them, his old father DETAINED, or shame
cast on the gray hairs Of her who bore
him. Your mute falSifers do world
of mischief in their own petty way
They hear your character assailed; cir
cumstances stated to your disadvan-
tage, which they we'll know to be an
utter perversion of the truth, impress
sions conveyed to one or more listen
ers which they are quite aware are
both false and injurious: a word from
them might silence the detractor; but
no; they are either glad to hear you de-
famed, or is it their interest that your
reputation should be suspected, or they
tremble to incur the displeaSure of the
party traducing you, and they are as
quiet, as immoveably taciturn, as if
they had been born dumb. Who
says that these men are not falsifers?
Who refuses our right to class them
with the vile herd of slanderers? 1t is
a nasty heresy that man may surely
hold his tongue ifbe pleases. Proven
bially, silence and assent are the same
thing. There are times when not to
speak out in defence Of our opinions,
is to prove recreant to them; and So,
too, there are times when not to speak
out in defence of our friend is foully
and ignobly to SANDER him-to rob
him of that good name, compared with
which, Shakespeare truly says, a mans
purse is but trash. Your silent falsi-
hers 60 further at times. There are
many ways in which they evince how
willing they are to wound, though
afraid to strike. Heaven save US from
the men who shake the head, shrug
the shoulders, give the piteous whine,
or put on the rueful aspect--all OF
which, when the fabrication is going
round, are but different ways of say
ing, it is uery bad, and but too true!
The cain falsyfers form numerous
class. 1t is easier to keep ones tenn
per serene when speaking of this class;
for, except when their own claims hap
pen to come into competition with
those of others-which, however, is
frequently the case-they are not ad-
dicted to detraction. The truth is,
they are rather fond ofthe idea that all
the world are rich, and respectable, and
happy, were it for no other reason than
this, that they feel it rather credilable
to themselves that they belong to SO
excellent community. AS for tradu-
cling their neighbors, if you take care
not to push the CLAIMS of the latter too
eagerly, so as to bring them into close
rivalry with their own, they will scarce
" say bad word against any one,
finding that to be a sufficiently fertile
topic on which Lord Byron has shrewd-
ly remarked, most men are fluent, none
agreeable-we mean, self. The vain,
taken as class at least, have too
much to say about themselves to have
leisure for discussing the character OF
their acquainances; but their besettlng
sin leads to falsehood Of another kind.
Excessive vanity and the truth-telling
habit can scarcely be found in the
same individual. Every conceited
person is, we may almost say, of neces-
sity falsifer. His ridiculous fctions
are just thefuel to his vain magma
tons; his lies, if we may so express
ourselves, are so many imps going a
bout seeking what they can devour as
prcvender to his voracious vanity
There are few who are not In some
degree censnrable on this score
Whose conscience does not accuse him
with having occasionally perverted the
truth, that he might be thought richer.
more talented, or more benevolent,
than he really is? But while most
men err thus in some measure, there
are not few who 60 to great extremes.
Their vanity so beguiles them into dis
stimulation and ia .ehood that they
come to lose all sense of the distinction
between what is truth, and what is
not. Listen to them in the social circle.
How inflated their tone! How ex-
'travagant their statements! How they