The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-01-04
Liars.
by REV. c. T. DEEMS.


We are growing too polite to call things
by their right namcs We have soften.
ed .:Grog shops into Sample Rooms,
and those whom our blunt Saxon ances.
tors called liars" We now designate AS
"pcrsons who aregiven to e3aggeratlon
And the doom of those people which Is
thus stated in our good old honest Bible,
"All liars shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and 6rIm'
stone" we euphemistically paraphrase
into 'All those who are conspicnously
incxact shall go to place Of very torrid
temperature"
70 charge man with being liar, is
TO offer him the last possible indlgnity,
because it lays at his door the most de.
spicable Of the crimes, crime which IN.
volve, total decentralization.
There was a time when it resulted in
nduel. and if duel ought ever to be
fought, it is upon such charge. man
that is a liar deserves to be shot, if any
man ever does. To make the charge is
TO attempt to do the man the greatest in.
jury possible.
1t is the most dcspicable Of crimes be-
cause a liar is u coward, knave aud
fool. lie is coward because he does
not dare to face the results Of facts OF
his own creating. He is u knave because
he attempts to gain ends By false pre-
tense. He is fool because he does not
see that, il all men were liars, society
would be hurled n,oa he'll Of anarchy.
There is no defense for it. 1t is not
witty, nor wise, nor beautiful. nor profit
able. ANY blockhead can lie. A lie is
moral dcformty. /, has no counter
part il any realty.
All nature and all fixed facts of the
universe conspire TO fling II lie to the sur.
face and fling it out. ~ the bodily system
makes n universal effort to eject poison.
In the long run tho truth will come to
be known and the lie exposed. In the
long run, therefore, the lie is Improbable.
And yet liars abound, with all history in
demonstration Of the folly of falsehood.
There are business liars, the buying liar
and the selling liar The buyer unduIy
deprccia,ing the goods, and the seller uu
duly extolling, are in this class. Solomon
caught them at it in his day. 1T ia
naught 1t is naught! saith the buyer !;
but when he has gone his way then he
boasteth." Even in this day many a
man boasts when he has lied another out
Of his own property. The seller attempts
TO lie the buyer out of his money. Both
regard it rs very witty. Some parents
rejnice when their children display this
kind Of smartness. Some employers en-
courage their statesmen in this sharp
practice" In ouch cases the employed
will some time be too sharp for his EN-.
rloyer, and rice rersd.
They are two dogs hunting in couples,
that tear each other when they cannot
catci. tie prey. An employer ought to
instruct his salesman il he detects him
deceiving customer he will discharge
him on the spot. Business may come in
slowly, but confidence once secured, for
tune follows; but buaness built on lies
falls down in q day, when the want Of
honesty in the tradesman is discovered
Lying does not pay. There are polite
lnrs whom we smoothly call "dplo-
mats" men whose paws are az SOFT rs
velvet but are armed with claws like
steel.
Iney gain nothing by direct force Of
truth. Their whole brains are given TO
the study of circunveution. AS SOON ns
man who is more smooth and patient
comes along, their time of ruin comes.
There are liars OF gossip, both men and
women, the only s,lt Of whose discourse
is fulsehood, who scatter firebrands, ar
rows and death, and say, Are we not in
sport?'
There are begging liars who live by
their wits, such IA they have, who are
framing narratives of niisfortunes, who
are attempting to deceive tie charitable,
who are dead beats" Such nicu and
women make point Of going to the cler-
gynlan at the dinner hour or just after
his night sermun. The poor clergyman
has barely enough to live on. His only
time of rest ia while he is eating. These
iniiost0is know that the man cannot
hear tale of hunger and go back with
comfort to his meal without giving some
relief.
He has been preaching the gospel If
charity and he cannot go home and sleep
if he does not relieve un applicant w!.n
"does not know where to slecp to night
They know that the clergyman cannot
then take time to investigate the case.
The worst of the class is the long. faced
liar, the "pious" deceiver who tasks a
blessing" on the lie that he il about to
tell and then "retnrn thanks" mt its sue
cess. Alas for the success! 1t always
comes back on the hypocrite in a curse.
God will avenge himself if any man
attempt to make him party to false.
hood.
Truth il clear 1t is ensy l, requires
no study. 1t does not have to be watch
ed. The fnlsehood has no real and DER.
mancnt power in it.
Truth ;riumphs at last. The SiniPiest
soul can conquer life to himself by
truth, but it il not in the wit of man to
bring beauty and good up out Of too
rocking cOrrunfinn of l;ea