Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1891-03-23

in ten days, but it IS thirty There
have been houses built of which it
might be said that every nail driven,
every foot of plastering put on, every
yard Of pipe laid, every shingle ham
mered, every brick mortared, could tell
of falsehood connected herewith
There arc men attempting to do ten or
fifteen pieces of work who have not the
time or strength to do more than five
or six pieces. but by promises never
fulfilled keep all the undertakings
within their own grasp. This is what
they call nursing the job.
How much wrong to his soul and in
suit to God mechanic would save if
he promised only so much as he expect
ed to be able to do. Society has no
right to ask OF you inlpossibilities. You
cannot always calculate correctly, and
you may fail because you cannot get
the help that you anticipate. But now
| am speaking Of the willful making of
promises that you know you cannot
keep. Did you say that that shoe
should be mended, that coat repaired,
those bricks laid, that harness sewed,
that door grained, that spout fixed, or
that window glazed, by Saturday,
knowing that you would neither be
able to do it yourself nor get any one
else to do it? Then, before God and
man, you are liar. You may say that
it makes no particular difference, and
tllat il you had told the truth you
would have lost the job, and that
people expect TO be disappointed. But
that excuse will not answer. There is
a voice Of thunder rolling among the
drills and planes and shoe lasts and
shears, which says, All liars shall
have their part in the lake that burn
eth with fire and birthstone.
MEASUREMENTS ABOUT CHURCHES.
/ next notice ecclesiastical lies-that
is, falsehoods told for the purpose of
advancing churches and sects, or for
the purpose of depicting them. There
is no use in asking many a Calvinist
what an Arninian believes, for he will
be apt to tell you that the Ar1ninian
believes that q man can convert him
self; or to ask the Arninian what the
Calvinist believes, for he will tell you
that the Calvinist believes that God
made some men just to damn them.
There is no need OF asking a p8do-
Baptist what Baptist believes, for he
will be apt to say that the Baptist be-
lieves immersion to be positively neces-
sary to salvation. 1t is almost impos-
sible for one denomination of Chris
sentation, to state the sentiment of an
opposing sect. If a man hates Presby-
terians and you ask him what Presby
terians believe, he will tell you that
they believe that there are infants in
hell span long.
1t is strange, also, how individual
churches will sometimes make mis-
churches. 1t is especially so in regard
to falsehOods told with reference to
prosperous enterprises. As long as a
church is feeble, and the singing is dis
cordant, and the minister through the
poverty of the church, must go with a
threadbarc coat, and here and there a
wOrshiper sit in the end of u pew, hav-
ing all the seat to himself religious
sympathizers of other churches will
say, "}Fhat Il pity" But let a great
day OF prosperity come, and even min
listers of the gospel, who ought to be re
joiced at the largeness and extent of
the work, denounce and misrepresent
and faIsify, starting the suspicion in re-
gard to themselves that the reason
they do not like the corn is because it
is not ground in their own mill How
long before we shall learn to be fair in
our religious criticisms? The keenest
jealousies on earth are church jealous
les The field Of Christian work is so
large that there is no need that our
hoe handles hit.
THE LIES OF SOCIETY.
Next L speak OF social lies. This evil
makes much of society insincere You
know not what to believe When peo-
pie ask you to come you do not know
whether or not they want you to come.
When they send their regards you do
not know whether it is an expression of
their heart or an external civiiity. We
have learned to take almost everything
at a discount. Word IS sent, Not at
home, when they are only too lazy to
dress themselves, They say, The fur
mace has just gone ont when in truth
they have had no fire in it ali winter
They apologize for the unusual bar
renness Of their table when they never
live any better. They decry their most
luxurious entertainments to win
shower of approval They apologize
for then appearance as though it were
unusual, when always at home they
look just 50. They would make you
believe that some nice sketch on the
wall was the work of Il master painter
ut was an heirloom, and once hung
on the walls of u castle, aud a duke
gave it to their grandfather When
the fact is that painting was made by
a man down east, g." and baked 50 as
to make it look old, and sold with
others for ten dollars ii dozen. People
who will lie about nothing else will lie
about a picture. On a small income
we must make the world believe that
we are affiuent, and our life becomes {.
cheat, q counterfeit and a sham.
Few persons are really natural
When ! say this I do not mean to slur
cultured manners. 1t is right that we
should have more admiration for the
marble than for the I'M
known block of the quarry. From many
circles in life insincerity has driven out
vivacity and enthusiasm. \ frozen
dignity instead floats about the room,
and iceberg grinds against iceberg.
You must not laugh outright; it is vul-
gar. You must smile You must not
dash rapidly across the room, you must
glide. There is a round of bows and
grins and batteries and obs! and ahs
and simpering and nambypambyism-
a world of which is not worth one
good, round, honest peal of laughter.
From such a hollow round the tor
tured guest retires at the close of the
evening, and assures his host that he
has enjoyed himself
What a round of insincerities many
people run in order to win the favor of
the world Their life is a sham and
their death an unspeakable sadness.
Alas for the poor butterflies when the
FROST strikes them!