The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-10-10
"rnE GOOD OLD TINES"


oOOO OGG
GOOD Undoubtedly. But Behind the Times
of the Present In Sonic Respects
Yes "the good old times" undoubted-
had much to boast Of. but in one regard
they were wofully behind the present
times. be the latter good, bad or indif-
.erent. We refer to mendacity. Not
that there is any less lying now than
there was in ages gone. but rather that
the practice is looked upon with a
larger spirit of charitableness than
formerly. and that mankind Is more
willing to condone his brothers excur-
sions from verscity than be was in those
good Did times aforesaid.
We read in sacred writ OF the qu.ck
and teeI1rIoie visitation upon AnaI las
and Sapphira. not because they lied. but
simply because they kept back par. of
the truth. II the precedent establis ned
In their case were strictly followed to-
day, what an epidemic Of sudden deaths
che newspapers Would be called upon to
record The, Asiatic, cholera and his
twin destroyer, Yellow Jack. together
with. all their cousins and their sisters.
and their aunts, would be forced to shut
up shop and go out of business, Las
much as there wouldn't be enougI of
humanity left for them to work upon
and pay running expenses. while oon-
sumption. fever and diseases of the
Kidney, heart. brain Ell al, would long
ago have gone into hopeless bank
ruptcy. Possiblt even the medical fra
ternite might ere this have become dis
Outraged and become reputable nlsn-
bers 81 society.
Why. look about you, and you will
not fail to discover an Ananias Or a
Sapphire in every other man or womsg
Shom you meet in your daily walk.
Here il the real-estete deslet. for az
ample. He takes you to look al the
piece of property he wishes to sell. He
points out the beautiful prospect but
says nothing of the raw winds which
roar about the place from November to
June; he speaks of the fine elevation.
oait is silent in regard to the Recovered.
slippery hill you must climb, if you can,
next winter; he explores with you the
commodious cellarage and comments
upon its roominess in eloquent terms,
but he strangely fergets tc tHentioH
that II is ahoat two-thirds of the year
he shows you the fine well of water and
asks you, with assurance born of per-
sonal knowledge, if you ever tasted
better. but it does not occur to him to
remind you that in summer. when the
well isn't as dry as q Sunday-schooi
discourse, the water tastes almost
as bad an it smells and smells
almost as bad as il tastes; be
takes vou into the chamber-not syl-
liable about the leaky roof he points
oEt tile external beauties of the house
1.-The fact that there Is nothing but
faith between the clapboards without
and the plastering within entirely U.s.
capes him. he dilates upon the splen-
did neighbors, but fails to refer to tho
neighbors' hens. And so on, to The end
of the chapter. What he tells you is
true. He does not lie He only keeps
back part of the truth. Should he die
suddenly. nobody would be so unchari-
table as to intimate that his taking-off
was a punishment for constructive men
dacity. especially if he be rich. 1t
sould be apoplexy or heart disease, or
some other respectable malady. and the
stain which still hangs about the
memory of Ananias and Sapphire would
never cause his heirs, administrators
and assigns to hang their heads and
blush
The landlord of the summer hotel adj
vertises his finely appointed house. its
extensive views and its well-appointed
table; but advertising costs money, ana
he Can not, afford to pay for space in
which to tell of the malaria which rises
from the swamps down there in the
hollow. or of the mosquitoes which
throng the air and bleed the guests
with persistency almost equal to his
own, or of the fact that his fresh"
vegetables are fresh only in the sense
that they are fresh from the can in
which they have been imprisoned
twelvemonth, or of the diphtheretic con-
dition of the outbuildings. OF of any one
of the many lofts" and outs with
which he is only too familiar. He keeps
back part of the truth. He does moth
ing more, nothing worse. And he reads
the story of the Biblical fbbers with
complacency, if not with contempt.
The doctor feels of your pulse and
gives you dose. He does not tell you
you are better off without medicine.
Perhaps he goes so far as to not tell
you candidly that he doesn't know
what's the matter with you. At all
events, he keeps back part of the truth.
The fate of his Scriptural prototypes
has no terrors for him.
But why waste words over matte
that is apparent to ALP In every pro.
tession, art, craft, trade and occupation
you will find the same thing Every
body, everywhere. no matter what he
he doing. or whether he be doing moth
ing at all, is engaged, more or less con-
'.tantly, in keeping back part of the
truth. And whoever hears of 'death
by lyingp" You will search the NOR
tnary reports in vain for it among the
,auses of deaths.
To be sure, there is one exception,
iamely, the newspaper writer; but he
Is the exception which proves the rule.
boston transcript.