Birmingham age-herald., 1895-02-15
LIES AND THE LIARS.
THE WORST OF ALL EVILS AND MOST
 DIFFICULT TO CONTROL
Growth of the Habit Due Tn Great Meas ure to Self Deception-The Causes an In- teresting study-Liars Should Be Shut Up In Asylums as the Insane Are.


 teresting study-Llars Should Be Shut
 Up In Asylums as the Insane Are.
 There Is nothing in tho power of the hu- man being so bad as lie. There is noth- Ing that smirches character so bad as a He. There is nothing that turns one so against himself as lie There is nothing that so destroys the confidence of our friends as lie There Is no compensation possible for tho evil of lie It eats back corrosively into yourself and you cannot get back your soundncss It rarely ever even tenn porarily makes profit, and think in the end never
 The puzzle of puzzles is why some peo- pie lie so easily. They rarely undertake to be exact and yet do not recognize them- selves as liars It is their first impulse to avoid straightforwardness, and they plunge ahead in conversation, simply trying to get around point after point It is mis- take and a misfortune to form such hab- it It grows on the victim, and it increases its power. In nine cases out of ten the simple facts would be easily told, and the telling more advantageous than either con- cealment or a falsehood but the habit has been encouraged to msrepresent or con- coal, and the whole mental nature ex- SS open and honest When this appears in person of good ability, mild disposition and industry, it is lamontable.
 The power of lying as habit to grow is amazing The reason probably is that the liar lies to himself us badly as he does to othcrs-that is, he tries to believe he is truthful until he believes what he says is true, or Ut least is uncertain about it. 1 know ono or two persons with whom you may say lying is a chronic disease. They talk on at entire random. Their whole life becomes a romance They may occa- sionally touch bottom on fact, but they do it by accident They do not know it. It is simply because facts are so many as to get in their way. What an uncon- scionable liar that creature is, " said a friend "She cannot tell the truth" :" nm not sure but we should have a now name for this sort of people. Tho fact is they have lost all sense of the true and the false, as they have of right and wrong. Louis Stevensons novels are no more . piece of intellectual manufacture than are their everyday conversations. This Is true not only of some of the lower class but of an occasional person in the highest ranks of society. l know an eminent litteratour who is so snarled up among the creatures
 
 real from the fictional It is dangerous to be his friend, for he is liable to get you woven into a great web of his fanoies, and then with all his might he believes you arc guilty of absurdities or worse that were enacted only in his brain. He will swear to these facts with all sincerity. Ills life can never be restored to basis of realities
 There should be hospitals for liars, or retreats, such as we provide for the in- sane when their cases become chronic and dangerous They become dangerous to the community quite as dangerous as forgcrs and shoplifters, and far worse for our own peace and happiness. If by accident you get one of these people into your house. hold, you never will get the confusion rec tifed East becomes west Love is per- verted into evil intent Even facts fail to tell the truth. Everything is wrong end foremost. Half the suicides come from liars tongues The worst cases should be treated as insanity and mild cases sent to @ hospital.
 It would be an interesting study for an analytic mind to study the causes of lying and liars It is in some cases no doubt matter almost wholly of heredity Moth CTS and fathers hand down moral traits
 
 mother should make it law of her life to be sincere and undertaking If not, she Is suro to reap a sore punishment in and from her children. Practice a habit of living very open hearted. 1 do not mean prattling facts all the while, but with no chests locked against your beloved ones. An open heart is better than an open mouth
 pity really honest person who has tumbled herself hastily into a lie. The temptation came on suddenly, and before she was able to be quite self masterful she prcvaricated Now, to back out of a lie is like backing out of slough of mud. You get out with mire on you. But is 1t any better to stay in the slough and wallow about? There is nothing gained, my friend, by sticking to falsehood simply because you are ashamed to back out Be as frank as your better nature suggests and get as quickly as possible on the line of absolute honor
 But there are other causes for the liars character besides heredity. Society is not abased on honor, but very largely on pre- tenses Tho good half of social intercourse is offset by another half of deceit and in- sincerity This, of course, is stamping it. self on character People cannot live lies and not be liars The Quakers felt this social degradation and tried to correct it. Lot your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay for whatsoever is more than this cometh of evil The Quakers, however, do sometimes lie, and all tho worse because they have placed so much emphasis on the yea. yea. as better than yes, yes. But they do not make mistake in insisting on tho importance of words Social flattcry and much of social manners arc cover for lies. There is no truth in it. Are you social liarY-Mary E Spencer in St. Louis Globe Democrat
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