Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-11-02

"~1hundcr! / had forgotton Ill about
Uou.'
heavily, in careless attitudes. He stir.
red his dinner into n hash of eggs, pO-
tatoes. squash and parsnips and ate 1t
lcisurely with a spoon, his head braccd
often with his left forearm. its elbow
resting on the table. It was a sort of
letting so after the immense activity
OF the day. and n casual observer
would have thought be affected the
uncouth, which was not true Of him.
lie asked me to tell him all about
my father and his farm. At length |
saw III absent look in his v and
stopped talking, because | thought he
had ceased to listen.
Very well, very well said he.
/ looked NJ at him, not knowing
what he meant.
go on! Tell me all about it," he
added.
II like the country best" said le
when | had finished. because there |
see more truth in things. Here the lie
has many forms-uniQuc. varied. in
genious. The rouge ana powder on
the lady's check -tlcy are lies. both Of
them; the baronial and ducal crests
are lies, and the fools who use them
are liars; The people who soak them
selves in run have nothing but lies in
their heads; the multitude who live by
their wits snd the lack of them in 9th
ers-thcy are ali liars, tie many who
imagine Il vain thing and pretend to be
what they are not-iiars. every one OF
them. 1t is bound to ic 50 in the great
cities. and it is a mark Of decay. The
skirts of Elegabalus, the wigs and
rouge pots of Mmc. polnpadour. the
cruciix Of M%acliav"ili and the inno-
cent smile of Fernando Wood stand for
something horribly and vastly false in
the people about them. For truth
you've got to get back into the woods.
You can find men there a good deal as
God made them genuine. strong and
simple. When those LIen cease TO
come here you'll see grass growing in
Broadway"
| blade no answer, ana the great
commoncr stirred his coffee a moment
in silence.
"Nanity is the curse OF Cities" he
continued. and llattcry is its hand
maiden. Vanity Iiattery and Deceit
are the three di~graces. | like Il man
10 be what he is o,lt and ont. If he's
ASHAMED Of himself it won't be long be
fore his friends IL be ashamed of him.
There's the trouble with this town.
Many Il fellow Is pretending 10 be
what ne isn't. A man M be
strong unless h. is genuine"
one Of his children-a little girl
came and stood close 10 linn as he
spoke. He put his big arm around
her. and that gentle. permanent smile
OF his %broadcnrl as he kissed her and
patted her red check.
"Anything new in the south:" Mrs.
Greeley inquired
Worse and worse every day" he
said. Serious trouble coming. The
Charleston dinner yesterday was a
feast of treason and a flow OF crimi-
nal rhetoric. The Union was he chief
dish. Everybody slashcd it with his
knife and jabbcd it with his fork. 1t
was slaughtered. roasted, made into
mlnccmeat and devourcd. One orator
spoke of rolling back the tide of IA
natlcism that finds its root in the con-
science of the people Their meta.
phors are as bad as their morals
He laughed heartily at this example
Of fervid eloquence, and then we rose
from the table. He had to go to the
office that evening, and | came away
soon after dinner. ] had nothing to
do and went home, rejecting upon all
the great man had said.
l began shortly to see the truth OF
what he had told me men licking the
hand OF riches with the tongue or flat
terry, men so stricken with the itch OF
vanity that they groveled for the
touch OF praise, men even who would
do perjury for applause, do NOT say
that most of the men | saw were OF
that ilk, but enough to show the
ency Of life in a great town.
was filled with wonder at first by
meeting so many who had been every
where and seen everything, who had
mastered all sciences and all philoso-
phies and endured many perils on land
and sea. ! had met liars b~efore-it
was no Eden there in the north country
and some of them had attained a
good degree of efficiency, but they
lacked the candor and finish OF the
metropolitan school. | confess they
were all too much for me Mt first. They
borrowed my cash, they shared my con-
hdence. they taxed my credulity, and
! saw the truth at last.
Toms breaking down." said q CO.
laborer on the staff one day.
"HOw's thatT" | inquired.
Served me a mean trick"
"Indeed!"
"Deceived me-" said he sOrrowfulIy.
"Lied. I suppose"
mo. lie told the truth. as Gods my
witness"
Tom had been absolutely reliable up
10 that time