The Canton times., 1899-12-01

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: "Oh, am so glad to see
you; you are looking so we'll; your
little girl is a dear little thing, and as
pretty as pink; do sit longer; won't
YOU take dinner with us?" Sometimes
she is 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 deceptions, and keep
up good will. What an awful thing it
would be for lady to tell her visitor
that she had stayed about long enough,
and had better go. Not long ago lady
of our town told two boys who came
to see her boys that they had better
go home, for they had stayed long
enough, and it raised rumpus that is
! not yet allayed.
, But the most numerous and provoke
ing of all deceivers are the adver-
tisers of patent medicines. Every
body knows that nine-tenths of their
nostrums are humbugs and their GER
| tificates of wonderful cures are either
made up or paid for, and yet the sick
or diseased will strain their creduity
and take another chance to be re-
stored. That's all right if there is
no harm in the medicine, but we do
get very tired looking at the conspic-
uous heads and faces of doctors and
patients in the newspapers. Ordinary
lying that has no malice in it is not
cardinal sin. 1t is not forbidden in
the Ten Commandments. Ananias was
not suddenly punished for lying unto
men, but he had lied unto God. He
sought to defraud the Lords treas
ury-and there is many a church mem-
Der doing the same thing now. They
make no sacrifice. They withhold a
part and lie unto their own con-
sciences. The poor widows mite is
still bigger thing than rich mans
| large donation.
l wonder what kind of a world we
would have if everybody was good?
don't mean religious, but kind and
just and honest. Our courts and pris-
ons would be abolished. Just think
of it! But il cannot be. Original sin
and total depravity and moral turpi-
tude are still in the way. The mys-
terry of evil still hangs over us. John
Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer and
other great thinkers say that the Gre
ator made the very best world and the
best inhabitants that He could out of
the material that He had, but that it
is improving as the centuries roll on.
And John Fiske says that evil is nec-
essary to teach us what good is, That
if there was no crime or pain or grief
we would have no joy or happiness
and would not know what it was.
Plato said 1000 years ago that we had
to limit Gods omnipotence or His
goodness, one or the other, and many
learned and sincere men, like Calvin
and Edwards, have tried to reconcile
predestiDation with free agency but
it is all incomprehensible to me, and
| have to fall back and intrench my
self on those injunctions which say:
Deal justly-love mercy and obey the
Lord thy God" and the later one
which says: ''Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart and thy
neighbor as thyself," and then accept
David's faith, which saith; Though
He slay me, yet will | trust in Him."
m mt OOinn N sfrafn mind
perplexing problems that have never
been solved. Mr.. Fiske is beautiful
writer, but if evil was created as a
contrast so that We might know what
good is, then how can we enjoy
Heaven, where there is no evil, no
crime or grief or affliction? One
thing do know, that this is beauti-
full world, and this life is a happy
one to those who choose TO make it
so. President Dabney, of the Univer-
sity of Tennessee, said in recent
speech at Huntsville: "England is
about to perpetrate great crime
against the Boers in expelling them
from their own domain. But this is
progress and is inevitable. It is the
law of nature and the law of nature
is the law of God" That sounds like
a strange doctrine to those who be-
lieve that God is love. The Saviour
said: "0ffenses must needs come,
but woe unto them by whom they
comeP. Then what peril are those
rulers in who have the power to op-
press and use it to carry out a self
ish policy After all, it is safest to
be an humble, honest citizen and have
no policy-Bill Arp, in Atlanta Con-
stitution.
Music at Home.