The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1899-11-15
BILL ARP DEFINES HONESTY
SOME MEN ARE AS BAD AS AN
ANIAS.

hypocrisy, Deceit ard Exa&geration
Are Not Confined to Horse Swap
pers.
Honesty is the best policy" said
Ben Franklin, and Richard Whatley,
the great theologian, added, but he
who acts on that principle is not an
honest man."
The truth Is, that real, genuine hon
esty is not u policy at all, for policy
requires thought, plan and generally
some d~isHimulation. 1t comes from the
head, tho Brain whereas honesty is a
moral principle that comes from the
heart, and takes no time for thought.
Policy Is q cold, hard word honesty q
warm, genial, neighborly one. The
poets like it next best to love-Hearns
says, ' It's guild to he honest and true"
and Pope says An honest mans b
noblest work Of God" The best deini-
tion Of the word is, g. free from deceit,
just In speech and action, fair in deal
ing and worthy to be trusted"
l was ruminating about this because
q clever country boy from whom | buy
my lightwood brought me q load today
and the top layers and all that was in
sight were rich In rosin and clean and
attractive. He wanted q dollar and a
half, and | told him 1t was too mucn I;
but he pleaded like Il lawyer, and said
he had hauled it ten miles, and that
kind of pine al getting awful scarce {;
that he could have sold it down town,
but he knew that / liked rich, clean
split pine, and 50 he brought it to me.
He is u good-looking, Woodworking
boy, aud so i bought it and stood by
while he threw it of. The top was ali
right, but that out OF sight was black
knots or half-rotten pieces. aud dis
gustcd me. LOOK here, Felton," said
L, "ao you know of q boy who would
put his best pine in the bottom Of the
wagon, or who would even mix it about
hail and half ?" "No, sir, | DON'T"
said he " we haven't got any OF that
sort in the piney woods" "Don't you
know said |, THAT | wouldent have
given you your price if J. had seen iuto
the bottom of your wagon ?' He smiled
complacently and replied That's
just the reason we put the best on top :;
We couldent get morc'n half price if we
dident, and you know, major, we get
mighty little for a hard days work, any
how" But, FELTON,, that way of doing
is cheating, and they say that cheat
ing never tbrives. | should think you
would feel ashamed to throw your load
OFF right here before me-" "Well, now,
major, to tell you the truth, | was in
hopes you would go in the house before
| throwcd it of but every body has to
put the best on top" and he smiled all
over his face. What kind of a boy is
that? Well, he is a little better than
the average of boys, or of men either,
as to that, for he smiles at you while
he deceives you. Heard a blind phre-
nolOgist tell a man ones hat his bump
Of ~covetousness was so large he would
stea. If he had q fair chance-that is,
II he found u man asleep with his pock.
etbook under his pillow he would take
1T, blu at the same time he had sym
pathy 80 largely developed that he
would kiss his sleeping victim before
he left him. | like hat boy for his
good nature, and had rather he would
cheat me than q boy who wOuldent own
up to anything, and &C Oft and brag how
he got me. Yes, every nody puts the
best on top, and everybody tries to get
the advantage in a trade-not every
body, but the exceptions are very few.
A man can tell u lie by ]concealing the
truth-when | was a lad | heard old
DR.. Nathan Hoyt, OF Athens, preach a
sermon In our town, n have not for.
gotten how he looked straight at me
and said Little boy, you can tell q
lie by winking your eye"
My wife says she was In q store one
day when q country woman came in
and asked the merchant il he could
match that scrap OF bingham which
she showed him. He said no, but he
had something very like it, and pref
tier, and he finally sold it to her. After
she left, my wife remarked that she
might have matched it at the next
door, for she noticed the identical goods
in the window as she passed. Yes, |
knew 1T" said the morchant, "but it
wasent my business to tell her [ must
sell my own goods il | can" That was
the kind OF honesty that was policy, but
it wasent fair or neighborly- lit wasent
doing as you would be done by. The
trading world Is very busy concealing
the truth. | bought a fine SOW from a
neighbor once, and she eat up a dozen
chickens the day | got her. Whom |
asked him why he dident tell me that
she was o chicken eater, he smiled and
said he thought | would find it out soon
enough. A merchant may know that
a certain piece Of prints will fade when
washed, but he does not tell it. You
can hardly find q real linen bosom shirt
nowadays, but they are all sold for
linen. These are not frauds of much
consequence, but they illustrate the
scripture, which saith "a lie sticketh
close in the joints between buyer and
and seller" and at Is naught-it Ia
naught-saith the buyer, but he goeth
his way and r~ejoiceth." That was in a
horse trade. | reckon.
Hypocrisy, deceit, exaggeration arc
not confined to traders professional
men and politicians use all these to
gain their ends. Yes, and even some
preachers will make up a pathetic
story to move their hearers to tears,
or to give a sensational effect to the
sermon. Then, there are the white lies
that the women have TO tell every day.:
y On, am 80 glad to see you {; you are
looking so well your little girl la q
dear little thing, and as pretty as a
pink do sit longer won't you tai
dinner with us ?" Sometimes she ~
not glad, nor is the little girl pretty.
nor does she want the visitor to sit
longer or stay TO dinner. But these are
social receptions and keep up good
Will. What an awful thing it would be
for a lady to tell her visitor that she
had stayed about long enough, and had
better 70. Not long ago u lady of our
town told two boys who came to see
her boys that they had better go home. |
Tor they had stayed long enough, and
1T raised u rumpus that Is not vet al
layed.
But the most numerous and provok-
Ing OF Gil deceivers are tho advertisers
OF patent medicines. Everybody knows
that nine-tenths Of their nostrums arc
humbngs and their certificates OF won.
cures are either made up or psid
Tor, and yet the sick or the diseased
Will strain their credulity and take