The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-07-10
The puIDVf7
:
a SERMON A8ES
BY TtE REN-( .Ne
uA%EtNDERScNWN
~'"r"1~ sas i
Subject: Lying.

Irving Square Presbyterian Church,
Hamburg avenue and VERIFIED
street, on the theme Lying" The
Rev. DR.. l.. w. Henderson, pastor,
took as his text Elk. 20:16, Thou
shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbor.
To cut the text down to four words
and to make it come straight to the
point and our own day, we will re-
write it: Thou shalt. not lie" In
our time-whether because Of the
prevalence of the evil or not, I shall
not attempt to say-the word lie
seems to cause a shudder to run
over the average human frame and
to merit reprimand from many. Plain
words, we are told, are too harsh,
and besides, you know they aren't
good form. The thief, be he weak
enough to give us strength of corr
age so to do, we will generally name
without the slightest hesitation, but
we are slow to give any man the lie.
This desire to be proper and polite
is all very we'll in it's place. Harsh
words are not necessary over points
upon which WI may honestly and rea-
sonably disagree. Either or both Of
the parties to a matching Of ideas
may be at fault. All men are fallible
and prone to error and mistakes.
US now and then remember things
that are not SO, and make statements
that the facts will prove untrue. The
sharp answer Is here very manifestly
out of place. But the common liar
who wilfully, deliberately, malicious
ly spreads untruth should be branded
as a liar-and that in hot haste.
The varieties of falsehood are like
the shades of black-endless. But
perhaps in no other place than our
courts of law is the lie found more
frequently or in a more vicious and
abandoned form. The unbridled per-
Jury which takes place in our courts
is really past belief. One would
think that men would hesitate to
swear in falsehoods under v of
Gods name, but any Judge will tell
you that hundreds do.
The Infamous attacks upon men
in our public life, the lies gigantic
of our political campaigns, started
with malign intent to destroy trust
in a candidate who is beyond re-
proach, are unworthy of a self-re-
specting people and should be aban-
doned. The unfounded attacks up
on the characters Of good men, by
editors who should be above such
things, are not fair either to the at
tackled or to the intelligence Of the
writer's. The stories that arc spread
through financial centres in order to
weaken public confidence in standard
securities or to destroy public faith
in the standing and solvency of ind1-
viduals, firms, or corporations, are
pieces from the same cloth. They
are clearly within the meaning OF
the text. No desire to give vent to
spite, no satisfaction Of a grudge, is
sufficient excuse for any man to en-
danger the happiness Of other men
or the health Of his own soul. The
jugglery of figures to prove balances
trade or profits that never did or
will exist, is wrong; and the men
who do it know it to be unmixed
evil.
The number Of palpable false
hoods that are told in the business
world is beyond compute. The de-
sire to excel leads many a man to be-
come exceedingly careless in his
choice of words. The very ADVERTISE
ments Of our day are self-confessed
falsehoods. No one believes them
half the time, for experience has
proven the need to take them with a
grain Of salt. Palming off something
''iust as good" which really isn't;
selling a%dulterated food stufs under
the guise of pure supplies; unload
ing on the public veneers Of all sorts
as solid material throughout; the
publishing Of symptoms that may
exist at intervals in the physical con-
dition of any man, as the certain and
unmistakable signs OF the speedy de-
%struction of our bodies by t~ncurable
disease; these and a hundred more
untruths may be charged against the
liar. The great American sin OF fal-
sifcation by exaggeration and over
statement is too rife in our land.
1t bodies no good for respect for truth
and it can and does do harm.
In our social, or should say So
ciety, life we find the seeds Of false
hood also. The desire to seem to be
more than we are makes many OF
us resort to means that are, at bot
tom, false. Stimulation Of position,
wealth, character or wisdom that 1s
not ours, is precarious business.
Sooner or later the lie will down us
and the truth will find US out. Be-
fore we expect we may be caught.
Who of us does not pretend to friend
ships which never did or will exist?
Those little social catch words that
slip so glibly from our tongues but
that have no heart behind them, had
just as we'll be left out Of our vocab-
ularies. The desire to say something
that we do not feel, in order not to
hurt, makes many Of US liars. 1t is
not necessary to perjure oneself to
escape embarrassing predicaments.
The sure way is to be silent. If you
can't speak the truth say nothing
or better turn the point Of converse
ton. Don't be affected, for afecta-
ton is a sham, and anyway the Guilt
vation of self is best.
OF all the mean and despicable
things in this world the lie that is
born of malignant motives is the
worst. The lie, like the opportunity
that is passed, never can be called
back. Spawn Of an evil mind, it goes
on a way of sin. Before its scorch-
ing breath good regulations die. and
in it's wake sorrow, trouble and dis
trust are sure to lurk. OF all the
mean things in this world the lie
is the most contemplate.
Here as in other cases the popular
mind is slow to perceive the truth
behind a sentence. Men are not
quick to carry principles to conclu-
sions nearly half so extensive as logic
will demand. The point-blank false
hood with intent to ruin reputation
or to bulster up another lie is usu-
ally what we think Of first. Most OF