The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1891-04-02
IS OTHERS SEE US.
PREVARICATORS, FALSIFIERS, AND
PLAIN LIARS.

and Het Nobody Deceived for ANY
Length of Time.
NEW YORK, March 22.-''The Plague
of Lies' was selected by DR.. Talmagc
for the subject OF the fifth Of his dis
courses on ''Thc Plaques OF These Three
Cities" which he preached to-day.
Both at the morning service in Brooklyn
and at the evening service under the
auspices Of the Christian Herald in New
York, the vast buildings were not large
enough to hold more than onc-half the
crowd who came TO hear the sermon.
His text was Genesis iii, 4: "Yc shall
not surely die"
That was point blank lie. Satan
told it to Eve to induce her to put her
scmi-circlc of white, beautiful teeth.
into forbidden apricot, or plum, or
peach, or apple. He practically SAID to
her, ''Oh, Eve! Just take bite of this
and you will be omnipotcnt and omnis-
cent. You shall be as gods" Just the
first lie that was ever told in our world.
IT opened the gate for all the falschoods
that have ever alightcd on this planet.
1t introduced plague that covers
all nations-that Plague of Lies. Far
worse than the plaques Of Egypt, for
they were on the banks Of the Nile; but
this is on the banks of the Hudson, on
the banks of the East river, on the banks
Of the Ohio, and the Mississippi, and the
Thames, and the Rhine, and the Tibcr,
and on both sides Of all rivers. The
Egyptian Plaques lasted only a few
weeks, but for six thousand years has
ragged this Plague of Lies.
There are hundred ways Of telling q
lie. A mans entire life may be Il false
hood, while with his lips he may not once
directly ialsiiy. There arc those who
state what is positively Untrue. but after
wards say 'may be-" softly. These
departures from the truth arc called
"whitc lics;" but there is realty no such
thing as u white lie. The whitcst lie
that was ever told was rs black as per-
dition. No inventory Of public crimes
will be sufficient that omts this gigantic
abomination. There are men, high in
church and state, actually useful, self
denying and honest in many things,
who, upon certain subjects, and in
certain spheres, are not at all to be
depended upon for vcracity. Indeed,
there arc many men and women who
have their notions of truthiulnCsS so
thoroughly perverted, that they do
not know when they arc lying. With
many it is a cultivated SIN; with some it
seems Il natural mlirmity. | have known
people who seem to have been born liars.
The talschoodS Of their lives extended
from cardlc to grave. l'rcvarcatons,
Misrepresentation, and dishonesty of
speech appeared in their first uttcrancrS,
and were ~ natural to them as any of
their lniantlc dis cases and were a sort
ol moral Group or spiritual Scarlatina,
But many have been placed i'll circum-
stances were this tendency has day by
day, and hour by hour, been called to
larger development. They have zone
from attainment to attainment. and from
class to class, until they have bee ONE
regularly graduated liars.
The air Of he city is filled with false
hoods. They hang pendant from the
chandeliers otour finest residences; they
crowd the shelves Of some of our mcr-
chant princes! they fill the sidewalk from
curbstonc to brOwn-StOnc facing. They
cluster around the mechanics hammer,
and blossom from the end OF the mcr-
chants yard-stick, and sit in the doors
OF churches. Some call them ''iiction.N
Some style. them "iabrication." You
might say that they were subtcriugc,
disguise. dcluSiOn, romance, evasion,
prctensc, fable, deception, misrcprcscn-
tation, but, as | am ignorant Of anything
to be gained by the bidin~ via God
dciylng outrage under Heterogeneous
blanket, l shall chiefly call them what
my father taught nc to call thcm-lcs.
L shall divide them int" agricultural,
mercantile. mechanical, ecclesiastical
Y and social lies.
4 Eirot tlo, I e Al,
arc more particularly agricultural.
There is something in the perpetual
presence OF natural objects to make a
man pure. The trees never issue
'ialsc stock" Wheat fields arc always
in the night, not paying for the place
never make night, not paying Or the place
make false assignments. Mountain
brooks arc always "currcnt.' The gold
on the grain is never counterfeit. The
sunrise never Naunts in false colors.
The dew sports only genuine diamonds.
Taking farmers as class, | believe they
are truthful and fair in dealing, and
kind-hearted. But the regions sur
rounding our cities do no. always send
by day there cr2ak through our streets,
and about the market, houses, farm
wagoLs that have not an honest spoke
in their wheels orr truthful rivct from
tongue to tail-bJard. During the last
few years there have been times when
domestic cconr:ny has found red on the
farmers lirt IN. Neither high taxes nor
The high price Of dry.goods nor the
cxorbitancy OF labor, cDulI excuse much
that the city has witncs ;cd III the be
haylor O, the ycomanry. by the quiet
lirassldcs in Wcstchcstcr and Orange
counties, [ hope there may be seasons of
deep reflection and hearty repentance.
Rural districts arc accustomed to rail at
great cities as given up to fraud and
every form OF unrightcousncss; but our
cities do not absorb all the denominations.
Our citizens have ,ear;icd the importance
Of not always trusting to the size and
stvle Of apples Oh the top of a farmers
barrels as an indication Of what NAV
no foup1 farther down Nopy Of 49,,