The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-04-01
How ;Gac:, wrcng to bis soul anu IA

\ Oh cannot al Way ) ca;culdtT cpli itCLis,
and YOU may fail because Eou cannot
get the hep that y0u ANTICIPATE. But
now | am speaking OF The wli!!u! max
ing of promises that you know ycu
cannot keep. Did you say that that
Shoe would be mended. that coat re-
paired, those bricks laid, that harness
Sewed, that door grained, that spout
fixed. or that window glazed. hy Satur-
day. 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 that if YOU had tod the truth you
would have lost the JOB, and that peo-
pie expect to be disappointed. Bat
that excuse will not answer. There is
voice OF thunder rolling among the
drills, and planes, and shoe lasts, and
shears, which SAYS: AL liars shall
have their part in the lake that burnetn
with fire and birthstone.
/ next notice ecclesiastical lies: that is,
falsehcods told for the parnoSe OF advanc-
ing chIrchcS ard sectS. or or the purpose
of depicting them. There is no use IN
asking many a Calvinist what an Armlnian
believes, for he will be apt to tell you thai
the Amman believes that man can con.
vert himself. OF to ask tie Armlnlan what
the Calvinist believes, fer be Will tell you
tnat the Calvinist believes that God Eade
some men just to damn them. There IS
no need of asking a pfedo-Baptlst what
Baptist believes, for re will be apt to say
that the Baptist believes immersion to be
positively necc SSary to salvation. 1t IS al
most imDoSSib'e for ore denomination OF
Christians, without prejrdice or mis-: epre-
seltat1ol, to s.ate the sentiment OF an op-
posing sect. If 4 man hates PleS5yterlanS,
and you ask him what Presbyterians be-
Ijeve, he tell you that they bel eve that there
are infants in hell a span long.
1t is strange also how individual churches
will sometimes make misstatencnts about
other individual churches. 1t is especially
so is regard to falSehoods told with refer
ence 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, Lust go with
threadbare coat. and here and there wor-
shipper sits in tie end OF pew, having al
the seat to himself, religious sympathiZerS
of other churches will say, "WEat pity. ,
Eut. LETT great day of prosper y come, and
even ministers of The Gospel, who oISht to
be reioic d at the argenesS and extent OF
the work, denouncc, ard miSreprcsent, ana
faSify, starting the suspicion III re@arO 70
themselves. that the reason they 90 not ike
the corr is because it is not ground IN tnelr
own mill. How long before we shall learn
to be fair in our religious criticisms. Inc
keeneSt iealousieS on earth are churcn
iaaiousieS. The field of Christian work IS
so large that there is no need that our hoe
handles hit.
Next, L speak of social lies. This evil
makes much of society inslncere. You
know not WHIT to believe. When people
ask you to col.e, yon do not know whether
o. not they w"nt yol to come. When they
send their regards, YOU do not know wheth-
or il is an eXpl ession o. their heart, or an
external civility. We have learned to take
almost everything ct discount. Word IS
sent, ''Not at home" When they are only
too law to dress themselves. They say,
1.-The furnace he's Just gone out when III
truth tley have had no fire in IL all winter
They apologize for the unusual barrenness
of their table, when they never live alv
better. They decry their most luxurious
entertainments, to win a shower OF ap-
proval. They apologize for their appear
ance, as tholgh it were unusual, when al.
ways at home they look just so. The
would make you believe that some nice
sketch on the wall was the work OF mas
fer PAINTER. cit was an heirloom and once
hung on the walls of a castle; and duke
gave it to their grandfather" When tie
fact is, that painting was made by a man
s.down east" and baked so as to make it
look old, and sold with others for $40
dozen. People who will lie about nothing
else will lie about picture. On small
income we must make the world believe
that we are afluent, and our life becomes
cheat counterfeit, and a sham.
Few persons are really natural. When
saw this, I do not mean to Slur cultured
manners. 1t is right that we should have
more admiration for the scu' ptured marble
than for the unknown block OF quarry.
From many circles in lie irsircerlty has
driven out yi'.city and er yhus,asm. y
frozen dignity instead floats aDolt the room,
and iceberg grindS AGAINST lceperG. You
must not l"ugh outright, it is vulgar. You
must smile. You must not dash rapidly
across the room: you must glide. Inere Is
a round Of bows, and grins, and f1atteries,
and obs! and abs. and slmpcrlng, and
Observation-Disclosures wo d of which is rot
worth one GOOD, round hor est pea, of laugh
ter. From such ahollow ro'-1 nd the tortured
cucst retires at the close of the evening, and
assures his host that he has enjoyed him
self
What a round of insinceritieS many peo-
ple run. in order 20 win the favor OF the
world. Their life is sham and their death
an unspeakable sadness. Alas. for the
poor butterflies when the frost strikes
them!
Compare the life and death of such one
with that of some Christian aunt who was
once a blessing to your household. DO
not know that she was ever offered the
hand in marriage She lived single thai
untarmmelled She might be eYelybody,S
blessing. Whenever the sick We're to oe
visited, or TIE poor to be provided with
bread, she went with ablesslng. She could
pray, or sing Rock Of Ages, for any SICK
paupec who asked her. As she got older,
but FOR the most part S1' tie was sunbeam
lust the one for Christr as Eve. She knew
better than anyone else how to iX Things;
Her every payer, as Goa teHEd IL, was luil
ofeverybody who lad trouble. The bright
est things in all the house dropped from her
fingers. She lad peculiar notions. but the
arandest notion she ever had was to make
You happy. She dressed well; auntie al
ways uieSSCU "SIj, pNto AiSA i'SH."
ment was that of meek and quiet spirit,
which, in the sight of God, is of great price.
When she died, you all gathered lovingly
about her; and as you carried her out to to
rest, the Suuday-scfool class almost covered
the coffin with iaporicas. and the poor pc D
pie stood at the end of the alley. with their
aprons to their eyes, sobbing bitterl y; and
tie man of the world said, with Solomon,
'Her price was above ruhies;" and Jesus,
as unto the maiden in .Judea commanded,
81 sayunto thee. arise"
But tomany, through insincerity; this life
is a masquerade ball. As, at such enter
tainmerts, gentlemen and ladies appear in
the dress OF kings and queens, mountain
bandits or clowns, and at the close of the
dance throw OFF their dissulSes, so, III this
diSsipated life, all unclean passions move
in mask. Across the foo: they trip merri-
". The lights sparkle along the wall, or
drop from the ceilinS-aa cohort OF II. =!
The music charms. The diamonds glitter;
! I, A.. - way Dl, a