Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1891-03-28

your vest pocket, but the sin was bigger
than the Pyramids, and the echo of the dis
honor will feverbefate through all the
mountains Of eternity.
You throw on your counter some specimens
81 handkerchiefs. Your customer asks:
SIS that all silk2 No cotton in in" You
answer, at is all silk Was it all silks If
so, all right But was it partly cotton?
Then you have falsifed. Moreover, you
lost by the falsehood. The customer, though
he may live at Lynn or Doylestowu or
Poughkeepsie, will find out that you have de-
frauded him, and next spring when he again
comes shopping he will look at your sign
and say: II will not try there! That is the
place where l got that handkerchief" So
that by that one dishonest bargain you
pick your own POCKET and insuitei the
Almighty.
Would you dare to make an estimate of
how many ia schools in trade were yestar-
day told by hardware men and clothiers and
fruit dealers and dry goods establishments
and importers and jewelers. and lum oermen
and coal merchants and stationers and
tobacconists? Lies about adlles, about
buckles, about ribbons, about carpets, about
gloves, about coats about Shoes, about
hats, about watches, about carriages, about
books-about everything. In the name of
the Lord God Almighty, L arraiga COM
mercial falsehoods as ons 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 called Muscular Christian
ity," but in the latter day OF the worlds
prosperity think that the Christian will be
muscular. We have q right TO expect of
those stalwart men of toll the highest posi-
BILE integrity. Many of them answer all our
expectations. and stand at the trent of relg-
ious and philanthropic enterprises. But
this class, like the others that have name1,
has in it those who lack in the element of
yeracity: They cannot all be trusted In
times when the demand for labor is great it
is impossible to meet the demands of tbs
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 q
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
built of which it might be said that every
nail driven, every foot of plsstering put on,
every yard of pipe laid, every single ham
mered, every brick mortared, could tell of
falsehood connected Herewith. There are 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 prom
ises 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 insult to
God a mechanic would save if he promised
only so much as he expected TO be able to do.
Society has no right to ask of you impossl-
bilities. You cannot always calculate cor
rectly, and you may fail because you cannot
get the help that you anticipate. But now
| am speaking of the willtul making of
promises that you know you cannot keep
Did you say that that shoe should be mende1,
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 youself nor get anyone else to do ita
Them before God and 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 to be disappointed, but the ex-
cu5e will not answer. There is a voice of
thunder rolling among the drills AMI planes
and shoe lasts and shears which says, Gan
liars shall have their part in the lake that
turneth with fire and birthstone"
/ next notice ecclesiastical lies-that is,
falsehoods told for the purpose of advancing
c.,urches and sects, or for the purpose of de-
pleting them. There is no use in asking
many a Calvanist what an Arminian be-
lisves for he will be app to tell you that the
Arminian believes that q man can convert
himself; or to ask the Armlnian what the
Calvinist believes, for he will tell you that
the Cilvinist believes that God made some
men just to damn them. There is no need
in asking q pee baptist what Baptist be-
Iieyes for he viii be apt TO say that the
Baptist believes immersion to be positively
Necessary to salvation. 1t is almost i'm
p. ssibie for one denomination of Christians.
without preJu ilce or Misrepresentation to
stare the sentiment OF an opposing sect. II
man hates Preshyteriaus, and you ask him
what PresbyterianS believe, he will tell you
that they hei-ve tint thcre are infants in
he'll span long.
1t is strange also how individual churches
will sometimes make miS5tatsments about
otner Individual c1urc>es It is especially
50 in regard to falseaoods told with reference
to prosperous enterprises As long as a
church is feeble, anc the singing is discorJ-
ant, and the min ster, through the poverty of
the church, mus go vita thresdbare coat,
and here and there a w0rshiper sits in the
end Of a pew having all the seat to himself
religious sympai hizerS of other churches VIII
say, "What pity" But let great day of
prosperity come, and even ministers of the
gospel, who ought to be rejoicad at the large
ness and extent OF the WORK, denounce ami
misrepreseDt and faisify, starting the suSpic-
ion in regard to themselves that the reason
they do not ike the corn is because it is not
ground in their own mill. How long before
we shall learn to be fair in our religious criti-
cisms! The keenest jealousies on e1rtl are
church jealousies. The fieil of Christian
io Ian fIa4 i, ~,
our hoe handles hit
Next 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 10 come. When they send their
regards you 90 not know whether it is an ex.
preston OF their heart or an external civil.
ity. We have learned to take almost every
thing at discount. Word is sent Not at
home, when they are only too lazy to dress
themselves. They say, The furnace has
just gone out" when in truth they have had
no fire in it all winter. They apologize for
the unusual barrenness 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 soma nice
sketch on the wall WIS the work Of master
painter. ut was an heirloom, aud once
hung on the walls of castle, and q duke
gave it to their grandfather" When the
fact Is that painting was male by a man
down east" and baked SO as to maze it
look old and sold with Others for ten dol
lars dozen. People WAC will lie about
nothing else will lie about picture. Ga a
small income we must make thu world be-
ileve that we are aftilent, and our life be-
comes cheat counterfeit and sham.
Few persons are really natural When
say this do not mean to slur cultured man.
ners. 1t is right that we should have more
admiration for tue scuipturei marble than
for the unknown block of the quarry. From
many circles in life insincerity has driven
out vivacity and enthusiasm A frozen dig
nifty instead floats about the room, and ice
berg grinds against iceberg. You must not
laugh outright: it is vulgar. You must
Smile. You must not dash rapidly across
the room; you must glide. There is roun
OF bows and grins and flatterie; an / ohsl
ana ans and simpering aud nambypam5y
ism-a world of which is not worth one
good, round, honest peal of laug hter Fron
such hollow round the tortured guest re-
tires at the close of the evening and assures
ms host that he has enjoyed himself.
What a round of insncerity many people
run in order to win the favor of the word
Their life is a sham AMI their death an IN
speaAaole salnsSS. AI9s Tor the poor butter
HES when the frost strikes themi
Compare the life and death of suca a one
with that of soma Christian aunt who was
once blessing to your household. do not
know that she was ever offered the hand in
marriage. She lived single, that untram-
meled she might be everybofy's blessing.
Whenever the sick were to be visite or the
poor to be provided with bread, she went
with a blessing. She could pray, or sing
Rock of Ages for any sich pauper who
har A eho 49,. n1,Ia- 49,, 49,.