The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-12-17

be said OF course 10 is the principal
Jewel I'm the crown OF America. and 10
IS hut natural that we should work for
IL for all II Is worth. as Milton says IN
his Lay OF the Last Minstrel IL was
a timely and iudiClous truth. and / should
have told IL myself On the circumstances.
But / should have stopped there. 10 was
a stately truth. a lofty truth-a Tower
and 7 think IL was a mistake 20 go on
and distract attention from its sublim-
ity by building another Tower alongside
OF IL fourteen times as high. i refer %
his remark that he could not He
should have fed that 20 the marines; or
left IL 10 Carlyle. IL Is just IN his style.
IL would have taken medal az any Eu-
ropean fair and would have got an Hon
orable Mention even at Chicago II II had
been saved w. But let 10 pass. the
Father ~ His Country was excited
have been I'm those circumstances, and l
recolleCt
With the truth ne told 1 have no OBJ
lection 20 offer. as already indicated.
think IL was not prcmeditated. but an
inspiration. With his fine military mind.
he had probably arranged 20 let his
brother Edward tn for the cherry tree
results. but by an inspiration he saw hts
opportunity in time and took advantage
OF II. by telling the truth he could as
tonish his father: his father would tell
the neighbors: the neiEhbors would
spread Il: IL would travel to all fresides.
i'm the end IL would make him President.
and not only that but First President.
He was a far-seeing boy and would be
likely 10 think OF these things. There
fore 10 my mind. he stands justified for
what he did. But not for the other
Tower: IL was a mistake. Still. / don't
know about that: upon reflection / think
perhaps II wasn't. For indeed IL Is that
tower that makes the other one live. II
he hadn't said Il cannot tell a lie there
would have been no CONFUSION. That was
the earthquake that rocked the planet.
That Is the kind OF statement that lives
forever. and a fact barnacled 20 IL has
a good chance 20 share its Immortality.
To sum up. on the whole I am satisfied
with things the way they are. There IS
a prejudice against the spoken lie. but
none against any other. and by eXamina-
ton and mathematical computation md
that the proportion OF the spoken lie TO
the other varieties Is as L 20 22,S9i. There
fore the spoken lie IS Of no conse-
auence and 1t is not worth while %
go around fussing about IL and
trying 10 make believe that II g
an important matter. The silent CO.
lossal National Lie that Is the support
and confederate Of all the tyrannies and
shams and inequalities and unfairuesses
that affiict the peoples-that Is the one 20
throw bricks and sermons at. But let Us
be judicious and let somebody else begin.
And then But I have wandered from
nv text. How did ] get out OF my second
lie? I think I got out with honor. but
cannot he sure. for Il was a long time ESQ
and some OF the details have faded out %
my memory. I recollect that 1 was re-
versed and stretched across some ona's
knee and that something happened. but I
cannot now remember what II was. 1
think there was music: but II Is all dim
now and blurred by the lapse OF time, aud
this may be only a senile fancy