The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-06-12
ALL MEN ARE LIARS.
Some Reflections by Professor Swing.
The Alliance!

so far ss to state that the allegation wss
made in haste. 1t is not particular to
the modern reader just how sweeping the
ancient intended to be, but it is oil great
! Importance to note that the world has
made progress since the days of King
! David, for no one would now say, even
| in haste, that all men are lia-s. Excep-
| tions to the rule have become quite nu-
merOus OF late times, so that the word
all can no longer be used by calm and
| thoughtful persons. Only a reckless seOld
could affirm mendsCity OF all mankind.
! George Washington disturbed the long
; succession to which the psalmist alluded,
and, since Washington, almost each viI-
lage or large town has been able to point
to some one man who was almost certain
to speak the truth. There being about
three thousand towns in the United
States, and admitting that there is one
man in each town who is stubbornly
opposed to falsehOod, this would give US
quite an army OF persons who can state
the fact so far as they know it.
In Cincinnati, thirty years age, there
was lawyer who would not tell a lie.
] He may indeed now be dead, and there
may not be in that city any living sue
cesser, but the existence of that one
lawyer, of that mental and moral quality.
would show that We are living in an age
that is liable to produce truthful men,
and that if this liability is not Just now
| blessing our city it must be at work in
some other metropolis. The one attorney
following so close upon the departing
heels of George Washington speaks vOle
umes in favor of the progress of veracity
in our century. There is not, indeed,
conclusive evidence that Chicago or st.
| Louis has the actual duplicate of that
Cincinnati barrister, but the drift of the
| sge is such that we are almcst warranted
| in saying that so large s city as Chicago
must possess at its legal bar some one
mind which is disposed to state the exe
isting as existing.
XenophOn complained of some scout
whs brought back to the general the
| non existing as the existing. In such
words we find the philosophical analysis
of the common liar, but that all men are
like that scout we should deny. The
| fact of truthtelling lawyer has already
| been cited. To such favorable evidence
must now be added the fact OF a truth
| telling calciminer. There may be one or
two others in America, for the popula-
| tion of North America is now
about sixty millions. and of this
vast crowd the number of per-
SONS who decorate rooms about the first
of each May must be st least one mil
lion, and therefore in this million there
may be some other frescO~artist who
reports the existing as existing, and the
non-existing as non~existing; but many
persons who have studied the habits OF
these May-bugs are not satisfied that
there are more than just this one who
are stubbOrnly opposed to a false asser-
ton. We do not feel that It would be
important to name this one and designate
his street and number, for as he is now
very aged, and totally blind, and out OF
service, the information could not be
turned to any valuable account by any
parties wishing to renew the color of
wall or fence.
CRsuists and all dealers in moral sta
tistic declare that there are plumbers
and psper-hauger5 who consider their
promises as binding. But there are two
reasons why this theory should be cons
sidered as rose-cOloTed. The first reason
is that very few of these cssuists and
statisticians have any house to which an
actual artisan ever is wont to come, !
either in time or out of time. These |
deep thinkers dwell in garrets, and have !
no more use for plumber or q paperer !
than they have for a cOachman. Their |
remark iH not based upon experience. |
The second objection to the theory is |
this, that we have already found an |
honest lawyer and an honest calciminer, |
and must be slow to load any more |
virtue upon the eredulity of our readers.
while we admire greatly our own era,
we do not feel inclined TO speak boast |
ingly of its superiority over the ancient
periods.
AnJ +,r+L ar,,,,a ,bo,,I5 40 J-,;+
that here had been, or now is, a yer
aciOus plumber, then along would come .
some other little Herbert Spencer to ask
MS to admit some real estate sgent of |
Europe or America, or AfTica-an ad> |
mission it would be reckless to maze.
There would be no end to the rush for
places should it be once seen that even /
real estate men were liable to follow the
story of the cherry tree and the hatchet
In this estimate OF the story of the |
truth-telIing men which our age pos
sesses, a special and exceptional line Of |
argument must be made over the Office
of the clergy. They do not enter into
the common herd of mankind. They are
peculiarly nodded by conversion and
sanctiicatiOn, and by theology, and by
much teaching of the ten commandments
to society, and by speaking truthful
/
All things tend to make this class lovers
of plain truthfulness. Having enjoyed
an exceptional training and practice,
they must not be clsssed with plumbers
and whiteWashers and real estate
agents, for evidently they form a
higher estate. We have found one
honest lawyer, and one spotless
calciminer (nOt spotless as TO his pig.
ments for the wall, but as to his soul),
but passing over to the clerical profess
sion, it is but Just to say that there are
perhaps q large number of these IN the |
United States vino do not tell lies on any
occasion. OF that grave body of minis
ters who are now holding court over q
clergyman in Brooklyn, it is probable
that there are three or four who do not
state what did not exist as being what
did ordoes exist. Well. now, if In that
one group there are at least three men
whose words stand for actual events,
then extending our sway all over the
United States, in which there are $4,000
preachers, we find by mathematics that
there are only 10000 of these who viii
tell 8 small story when in straits That
is, out of 75, 900 preachers, here are 5000
who Febuke that ancient who felt thss
all men were liars. i is not true OF hui
maDity at large, it is not true of the
clergy in particular. Many Of them tell
the truth. and If things 90 on IS they
are now going, It viii be no more than a
score of geological epOchs before the 4
plumber and the whitewssher viii stand /
at the front door at the time appointed.
AS some lady visitors were going
through penitentiary Inder the escoTt
of a superintendent, they came 70 q