The Princeton union., 1897-11-04
in tho oharit

fund, While they put much of it in their
own pocket. There was no necessity
that they give all their property away,
out they wanted the reputation of so
DONG. Ananias first lied about it and
dropped down dead. Then Sapphira
lled about it, and she dropped down
oead. The two fatalities are warn
Ing to all ages of the danger of sacri-
ticing the truth
: Ihere are thousands of ways OF tell
ing lie. mans whole life may he
talsehood and yet never with his lips
may ne falsify once. There is way
OF utterlng falsehood by look, by man
ner' as we'll as by lip. There are persons
VINO are guilty of dishonesty of speech
ana then afterward say may be- call
ing 1t a white lie,g when no lie is that
Color. The Whitest lie ever told was
as plack as perdition. There are those
SO given to dishonesty of speech
lhat they do not know when they are
lying. With some it is an acquired
SIN, and with others it is a natural in
ninlty' There are those whom you
Will recognize as born liars. Their
"nole life, from cradle to grave, is filled
up WIN vice of speech. Misrepresen-
tatlon and prevarication are as natural
10 them as the infantile diseases, and
are sort of moral Group and spiritual
: scdrlatlna Then there are those who
IN after life have opportunities of de-
, Veloplng this evil, and they go from de-
ceptlon to deception, and from class to
|
ateo liars. At times the air in our ci-
; ties is filled with falsehood, and lies
cluster around the mechanics hammer,
blossom on the merchants yardstick,
and sometimes sit on the door of
churches. They are called by some
fabrication, and they are called by some
hctlon. You might call them subter-
tuge or deceit, or romance, or fable, or
misrepresentation, or delusion; but as
know nothing to be gained by COVER
ing up God-defying sin with lexi-
i cographer's blanket, 1 shall call them
b IN plalnest vernacular, lies. They may
# De divided into AGRICULTURAL CONNER
/ clal, mechanical, social and ecclesiasti-
h al. I:.
6, First of all, I speak Of agricultural
e falsehoods. There is something in the
h presence of natural objects that has a
u tendency to make one pure. The trees
r. never issue false stock The wheat
l. fields are always honest. Rye and oats
to never move out in the night not paying
e. for the place they occupy. Corn
r. shocks never make false assignment
y. Mountain brooks are always current
le The gold of the wheat fields is never
h counterfeit. But while the tendency
u of agricultural life is to make one hon
w. est, honesty is not the characteristic
of all who come to the city markets
le from the country districts. You heal
the creaking of the dishonest farm
wagon in almost every street of oul
great cities-a farm wagon il
9 which there is not one homes
~ spoke, or one truthful rivet
&c from tongue to tail-board Agar
and again has domestic economy
of in our great cities foundered on tn,
- farmers firkin. When New York an(
. Washington sit down and weep ove
~ their sins, let Westchester county an<
r the neighborhoods around this capita
sit down and weep over theirs.
The tendency in all rural districts il
to suppose that sins and transgression
cluster in our great cities; but citizen
&c and merchants long ago learned tha
it is not safe to calculate from tn
. character of the apples on the top O
Va the farmers barrel what is the char
acter of the apples all the way dow
nv y1 t1nh hNf -
;" zens and merchants have learned tha
. it is always safe to see the farme
measure the barrel of beets. Milk can
ne are not always honest. There ar
e, those, who in country life, seem +
r think they have right to overreac
III grain dealers and merchants of al
styles. They think it is more honor
he able to raise corn than to deal in corr
r. The producer sometimes PRACTICAL
", says to the merchant, You get YOU
n money easily, anyhow" Does he &c
il easily? While the farmer sleeps an
on he may go to sleep, conscious of th
rz, fact that his corn and rye are all th
at time progressing and adding to his fol
lie tune or his livelihood, the merchal
fit tries to Sleep while conscious Of til
fact that at that moment the ship ma
- be driving on the rock. or a way
80 sweeping over the hurricane deck spot
- ing his goods, or the spectators ma
-. be plotting monetary revolution, {
80 the burglars may be at that moment {
his money safe, or the fire may has
kindled on the very block where b
= store stands.
81 al Easy, is it? Let those who get the
~ living on the quiet farm and barn tai
aoo the place Of one of our city .nerchan
~ and see whether it is so easy. It is hal
enough to have the hands blistert
with outdoor work, but it is hard
with mental anxieties to have the hra
~ ~ consumed. God help the merchant
aa aa. And do not let those who live
y ~ country life come to the conclusi
- - that All the dishonesties belong TO ci