Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-03-24

| 4 ntAb nOblCb tCCicSldSOlCol liSS
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 Calvinist
what an ArIninian believes, for he will
be apt to tell you that the Ar1ninian
believes that a man can convert him
self; or to ask the Arminian 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 pedo-
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
tians, without prejudice or misrepre-
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-
statements about other individual
churches. 1t is especially so in regard
to falsehoods told with reference to
prosperous enterprises AS long as
church is feeble, and the singing is dis
cordant, and the minister, through the
poverty of the church, must go with a
threadbare coat, and here and there a
worshiper sit in the end of a pew, hav-
ing all the seat to himself, religious
sylnpathizers of other churches will
say, What 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 falsify, 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 criticismsl 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 j 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 civility. We
have learned to take almost everything
at discount. Word is sent mot at
home" when they are only too lazy to
dress themselves. They say, ''The fur
mace has just gone out" when in truth
they have had no fire in it all 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 a
shower of approval. They apologize
for their appearance as though it were
unusual, when always at home they
look just so. They would make you
believe that some nice sketch on the
wall was the work of a master painter.
"It was an heirloom, and once hung
on the walls of a castle, and duke
gave it TO their grandfather. When
the fact is that painting was made by
a man "down east, " and baked so ms
to make it look old, and sold with
others for ten dollars a 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 afiluent and our life becomes
cheat, counterfeit and a sham.
Few persons are really natural |
When | say this do not mean to slur
cultured manners 1t is right that we
should have more admiration for the |
sculptured marble than for the un.
known block of the quarry. From many
circles in life insincerity has driven out
vivacity and enthusiasm. A 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 ilatteries and obs and abs
and simpering and nambypambyism
n world of which is not worth one
good, round, honest peal of laughter
From such hollow round the tor
tured guest retires at the close of the /
evening, and assures his host that he
has enjoyed himself
What round of insincerlties 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
LuFE A MASQUERADE TO soME.
Compare the life and death of such
one with that of some Christian aunt
who was once u blessing TO your house
hold. do not know that she was ever
offered the hand in marriage. She
lived single, that untrammeled she
might boJeverybody's blessing Whom.
ever the sick were to be visited, or the
poor TO be provided with bread, she
went with a blessing She could pray
or sing Rock OF Ages" for amy sick
pauper who asked her. As she got
older theFe were days when she was a
little sharp, bat for the most part
auntie was sunboam-~just the one
for Christmas eve. She knew better
than any one else how TO fix things
Her every prayer, as God heard il, was