Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1891-03-27

dollars. Dld lJl III SO, Jnen all fl5nJ III IL
did not then YOU have falsifs1
Suppose you are purchaser. You are
''beating down the goods. You say that
that article for which five dollars is charged
Is not worth more than four. Is it worth no
more than four d0llars9 Then all right. IL
It be worth more, aud for the sake ofgetting
IL for less than its value, you willfully de-
preciate 1t, you have falsifed, You may
call Il sharp trade. The recording angel
writes it down on the ponderous tones OF
eternity, "Mr. So-and-so, merchant on Water
street or in Eighth street or in State street,
Or Mrs So-and-so, keeping house on Beacon
street or on Madison avenue or Rittenhouse
Square or Brooklyn Heights or Brooklyn
Hill. told one falsehood." You may consider
it insignificant because relating to an
insignificant purchase. You would despiss
the man who would falsify III regard to some
great matter In which the city or whole coun-
try was concerned: but this is only box OF
buttons, or row of pins or a case of
needles. Be not deceived. The article pur-
chased may be so small You can put it in
your vest pocket but the sin was bigger
than the Pyramids and the echo Of the dis
honor will reverberate through all the
mountains of eternity.
You throw on your counter some specimens
Of handkerchiefs. Your customer asks:
''Is that all silk? No cotton il in?' You
answer, ut is all silk Was it all silk! If
so. all right. But was it partly cotton2
Then YOU havo falsihed. Moreover you
lost by the falsshOO1. The customer, though
he may live at Lynn or Doylestown or
Poughkeepsie, will find out that you hare de
frauded him, and next spring when he again
comes shopping he will look at your. sign
and say: II will not try therel That is the
place where | got that HANDKERCHIEF" SO
that by that one dishonest bargain you
pick your own pocket and insr'ted the
Almighty.
Would you dare to make an estimate OF
how many fa.sehoods in trade were yester-
day told by hardware men and clothiers and
fruit dealers and dry goods establishments
and importers and jewelers. and lumbermen
anil coal merchants and stationer5 and
tobacconistsi Lies about saddles, about
buckles, about ribbons, about carpets, about
gloves, about coats, about shoes, about
hats, about watches. about carriages, about
books-about everything In tho name OF
the Lord God Almighty, | arraign COM
mercal falsehoods rs one OF the greatest
plaques in city and town.
In the next place | notice mechanical lies
There is no class OF men who administer
more to the welfare OF the city than artisans
To their hand we must look for the building
that shelters us, for the garments that clothe
us, for the car that carries us. They WELD
widespread influence. There is much deris-
ion of what is callel Muscular Christian
ity" but in the latter day OF the worlds
prosperity | think that the Christian will be
muscular. We have right to expect OF
those stalwart men OF toll the highest posi-
bic integrity Many of them answer all our
expectations. and stand at the trent Of relig-
ious and philnnthropic enterprises But
this class, like the others that have named,
has in it those who lack in the element OF
veracity. They cannot all be trusted. In
times when the demand for labor is great it
is impossible to meet the demands of tho
public. or do work with that promptness
and perfection that would at other times be
possible.
But there are mechanics whose word can
not be trusted at any time. No man has a
right TO promise more work than he can DO.
There are mechanics who say that they will
come on Monday, but they DO not come until
Wednesday. You put work in their hands
that they tell you shall be completed in ten
DAYS, but it is thirty. There have been houses
bnilt of which it might be said that every
nail driven, every foot of plastering put on.
every lafO OF pli'e lttu, tNti gum SC i.'h'
mered. every brick mort lred, could tell OF
falsehood connected herewith Th,rs are mel
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 prom
ises never fulfilled keep all the undertakings
within their own grasp. ms IS wnao tney
call nursing the jo0.
How much wrong to his soul and insult to
God a mechanic would save if he promised
only so much as he expected 70 be able to do.
Society has no right to ask OF you IMPOSE
bilities. You carnot always calculate cor
rectly, and you may fail because you cannot
get the help that you anticipate. But nov
am speaking OF the willlu making OF
promises that you know you cannot keeI.
bid you say that that shoe should be mende1,
that coat repaired, those briefs laid, thai
harness sewed, that door grained that spout
fixed or that window glazed by Saturday
know NJ that you would neither be able 70
do it youself nor get anyone else TO 40 II!
Tnen, before God All man you are liar.
You may say that it makes no particular
difference, and that if you had told the
truth YOU would have lost the job. and that
people expect 70 be disappointed, but the ex-
cuse will not answer There is a voice Of
thunder rolling among the drills AMI planes
and shoe lasts and shears which says, An
liars shall have their part in the lake that
Lurncth with fire and birthstone"
| next notice ecclesiastical lies-that Is,
falseh0ods tod for the purpose Of advancing
Churches ani sects. or for the purpose Of de-
pleting them. There is no use in asking
many a Calvsnist what an Arminian be-
lieves, for he will be apt to tell you that the
Armiuian believes thai man can convert
himself; or TO ask the Arminian what tho
Calvinist believes. for he will tell you that
the Cilviaist believes that God made some
men Just to damn them. There IS no need
in asking a pGe1O-Baptist what Baptist be-
lieves for he will be apt to say That the
Baptist believes immersion to be positively
necessary TO salvation. 1t Il almost i'm
pcssible for one denomination of Christians,
without prejudice o. misrepresentation, TO
sta.e the sentiment Of an opposing sect. il
n man hates Presbyterians, and you ASK him
what Presbyterians believe, he will tel yoI
that they believe that there are infants in
he'll a span long.
1t is strange also how individual churches
will sometimes make misstatements about
other individual clurcSes. IL is especially
so in regard to fasehoods told with reference
70 prosperous enterprises ~ long rs a
church is feeble, anc the singing is discori-
ant, and the min ster, through the poverty oil
the church. mus. q with thr ,adtere coat,
and here and there wOrshiper sits IN the
end o. a pew, having ell the seat to himse !,
sympaihizers If other churches VIII
say, what pity But let a great day OF
come, and even ministers of the
gospel who ought TO be rejoiced at the large
ness and extent of the worS, denounce AMI
and falsify, starting the suspic-
ion in regard to themselves that the reason
they do not Ii le the corn is because it IS not
ground in their own mill. How long before
W sh1ll learn tn be fair in our religious criti-
cisms The keenest jealousies on c1rth are
church jealousies. The field Of Christian
WORK is 50 large that there is no Feed that
our hoe handles hit.
Next I speak of social lies This evil makes
much of society insincere You know not
what to believe. When people ask you to
come you do not know whether or not they
want you to come. When they send their
regards you do nos know whether it is an ex-
preston of their heart or an external civil.
ty We have learned TO take almost every
thing at a discount Word is sent Not at
home," when they are only too lazy TO dress
themselves. They say, "fhe furnace has
just gone ont, " when in truth they have had
10 fire in it all winter. They apologize for
the unusual baYrenness OF their table when
they never i've 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 mako Won heIievn that soma nice