The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1891-07-22
DIFFERENT KINDS or LIARS.
Various Motives Which Prompt People to
Preyaricate.

Various Motives Which Prompt People to
Prevaricate.
Nowadays there is danger OF our be-
coming too polite of manner, too suave
of speech, too nice in our choice of
words. Our old English vocabulary is
strong, forcible, full of meaning. We
have cast many of its phrases aside for
soft circumlocutions. In using the less
offensive terms we have lost the original
meanings or SO wrapped them round in
multitude of the delicate tissues Of
evasion that their force is spent before
it can penetrate our comprehension. In
banishing the word lie from ordinary
conversation--and, in truth it is an ugly
word, but no more hateful than that
which it representative have lost, in
measure, the aversion to that thing
which lie is. The man who would
naturally resent being called liar does
not become so wrathy at being attrib-
uted with rare imaginative powers; at
having it said he draws the long bow or
has genius for diplomacy. Not at all.
On the contrary, he is rather flattered
by the imputation of having more than
ordinary ability The woman who can
maintain that there is Il distinction be-
tween telling a servant to say Not at
home" instead of Out to unwelcomc
callers is putting fine point on an
ethical question, and may discover, too
late, that she has been teaching her
servants to lie-purely, plainly and sim
ply without their making any such dis
tinctions There are those who resent
being called diplomatic, and yet pride
themselves upon their tact" In a ma
jority of these cases it is safe to assume
that what they call tact is grand ca
pacity for lying.
Liars are like the poets, born, not
made. But once made, they divide
themselves into few definite classes.
The man who may have been forced
into an untruth is not a liar; afterwards,
he may sincerely repent his falsity in
metaphorical sackcloth and she's. But
the man. who lies and knows no pang,
he is the natural-born liar. There is
the pretentious liar, the one who is al
ways striving to appear rather than to
be. He would be if he could, but as he
can not, he will try to appear that
which he wishes he was. This is TIE liar
who has claims to social distinction,
who babbles about his rich and infiueL-
tial connections, who tries to make his
acquaintances believe he is very i'm
portant parsonage. If the pretentious
liar be a woman, she. will mention the
number of calls she has to make, the in
vitations she receives, the people with
whom she is so intimate.
The amusing liar is one who tells fas-
cinating little tales which charm his
hearers even while their lack of truth
is most evident. This is the person who
tells what 'he said" and then 81 said
to him." These little conversations are
generally very dramatic, and are al
ways listened to with great interest,
and afford no end of amusement, but
they are not true, and every body knows
it. The narrative liar is one who tells
long and interesting stories regarding
people she has met places she has seen,
and thrilling experiences through which
she has passed. They are not true, and
everyone knows it, but they brighten
up an afternoon, and so they pass.
Then there is the sneak of liar, one
who lies because it is natural to do so,
who lies in obedience to the law of sim
istrality which dominates her. whole
being. Instead of taking the straight
and narrow path, she prefers the wide
gate and the broad way simply for the
express purpose of walking zigzag
along the road. Of all liars, the agree
able liar is the most endurable, for this
parsonage devotes her time to saying
nice, fattering little things to make her
listeners feel well satisfied with them
selves . Who is proof against such deli
cate attention? We are almost ready
to pardon the agreeable liar at once,
for so natural is it to be pleased with
ourselves, that it does not seem as if
these fulsome words could be so wide of
the truth, after all!-San Francisco
News Letter.