The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1900-11-03
TELLING THE TRUTH.

1t is not as easy always to tell the
truth as may sometimes appear. The
average man does not tell an untruth
deliberately or maliciously, but he is
quite prone to tell untruths out of his
good nature, his fear of giving offense
or his vanity. 1t takes a man of
moral courage to say II do not
know" Nine men out OF ten Call of
them being accounted honest as the
world goes will pretend to know
rather than confess their ignorance.
Some of them will do it with effron-
terry; others will shirk the confession
and by their silence pretend to have
knowledge they do not possess.
During political campaign like
that in which we are now engag-
ed vast amount of this kind of un-
truthfulness is developed. In the
discussion of the issues of the day
t1onaT PROVISIONS, the laws OF the
country, the history of parties, and
but few of the disputants will have
the honesty to say Il do not know"
when cornered in a debate. They
will either evade the question or in
vent a reply to carry them over the
awkward place. They do not lie ma
liciously, but they are insincere.
So also in social life men and wo-
men act part and deceive or try to
deceive-sometimes out of vanity,
sometimes out of good nature-be-
cause they do not wish to give offense.
1t is quite common to meet other
wise honest men and women who pre-
tend to have family connections or
means or technical skill that they do
not really possess. They are seeking
to give themselves a degree Of i'm
portance to which they are not en-
titled, and while they may not either
tell or act an untruth they suggest
false impression and are absolutely
insincere.
A more common form of insinceri-
ty, because it is prescribed by the
rules of ordinary politeness, is that
which leads us to treat with respect
and apparent interest one who is real
ly despised. There is insincerity i'll
this, no doubt, but is is to some extent
excusable, because the opposite course
is more inofensive. The man is
boorish who, being introduced to one
whom he does not like, says so in
words or manner. Such insincerity
as may be involved in polite behavior
is in such case excusable, but it
should not be extended beyond neces-
sary conventionalities. The social
falsehoods that are to be reprobated
are the efusive utterances that have
no basis of true feeling. Politeness
does not require that one shall say
pleasant things to man for whom
one has no regard, and the insinceri-
ty is absolute when one uses such ex-
pressions for purposes Of deception
and few minutes afterward recants
s1l.5 o be Sincere and truthful it is not
necessary that one should disclose
to the world his inmost thoughts.
But he should not conceal them by
falsehoods. He may remain silent if
he chooses in cases which do not re-
quire an expression of opinion he
may conceal his thoughts or feelings
under a conventional observance of
the rules of society without being
justly accused of insincerity, provi-
ded he is careful not to give positive
expression to false sentiments with an
intention to deceive.
1t is we'll, however, to keep a close
watch upon ones self to see that
there is no unconscious drifting away
from the habit of telling the truth.
The test is ones own conscience, or
feeling of self-respect. What the
world may say is a matter of small
Importance compared with what con-
science says. Have we dealt fairly
and sincerely by Our fellow-men, say
ing agreeable things only when we be-
lieved them and disagreeable things
only when duty required us to do so?
If so we have been sincere even
though we may not have told the
world everything we have thought or
gone out of our way to tell the truth
when justified in remaining silent
Baltimore .Snn.