The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-09-17

There ID AZ 0~A Nv ~0eoAAsus
% Judge, no teacher who ie not con.
,;ouslly hindered ip his work BY the
omnipresent lie.
For the historian it is made difficult
- separate the real facts from the
MIXTURE of truth and lies which always
constitute his material. The task Of
tbe Judge is almost superhuman, be.
o,use there is always the possibility
that the accused, the witnesses or the
counsel on either or both sides may
tell things that are not exactly true
and very often barefaced lies, and
every teacher and educator knows that
t,uthfulness and sincerity are the
very foundation Of all morals, that the
child who lies will very often do even
worse things, and that the person who
does not hate the lie will not have the
vill.power to resist the temptations Of
all kinds which offer themselves to all
Of us during our life.
I shall try to explain the origin and
nature Of this vice Of lying that we
find in all classes and all ages. I
shall try to analyze the complicated
soul Of the person who lies.
FRS. Of all let Us try to discover
how child begins to lie, what mo.
tiyes drive him to lying and what So
phisms he uses to justify his lie, aud
then afterwards few words as to how
to counteraot the lie, how to fight
against it and, if possible, to drive it
out.
How does child become o liar, how
does it discover how to lie, and how
does it get into the habit Of lying?
The child in its very first years
neither lies ses Stimulates; It's
thoughts, its ideas, its feelings are
Immediately transformed into facts.
This is the great, natural, primitive
law. Every idea, every desire imme-
diately becomes an act. The act is
only the idea, left to itself and follow
ing its natural course, and this is what
we see in all impulsive OF all hypno-
tized persons whose personal will
power is not strong enough to control.
In the child all thoughts are imme-
diately expressed in movements in
cries or later in words. It's body is
the perfect and constant expression of
its inner self.
How is it then possible that child
may take up the habit Of lying?
In this passing from the primative
sincerity to mendacisy we are able to
discover q certain number Of mo-
ments.
First, the child discovers the lie,
then it notices that lying is practiced
all around it, then that lying is useful
or even necessary, and finally it starts
to lie itself.
The child first discovers the lie by
playing. To play ia to live in q world
Of dreams, os uuTeality, OF illusion.
To play is to transform the monoto-
nous reality isso an alluring fiotiou
which is mora in accord with the de.
sires of the child. A little girl, for
instance, plays with her doll and tells
that she has baby, that it will soon
grow, that it has taken cold, that it
begins to talk, and 80 on.
From this to lying the step is very
short, and what proves this is that we
are often deceived ourselves.
A child will come to US crying, say
Ing that auother child has struck it.,
or has broken its toys, and we believe
in it until suddenly the child will
burst out laughing and tell us that it
was all said for fun.
OF course, from moral point Of
view, there is world Of difference
between playing and lying, but from
the psychological point of vieweIhe
difference is almost imperceptible, be-
cause both are in contrast to the
truth. a.4
It's very n4tural that the child
should discover the lie through play
lng-it is sufficient that it sees that
grown people are taken iu once or
twice, that it discovers it can fool US.
1 1t amuses itself over our credulty
and then it will soon know how to lie.
The second moment ;s. .ho teaching
ioai lying by example, the revelation
that the lie is not only possible, but
5'eal; that it is practiced by the per.
3'0ns that surround it, and what is the
worst of all, BY its OWE parents.
We all lilo before our children; We
lail tell any number Of fbs that we
consider excusable; we let the ser.
3vauta tell <hok GO So z,.a -