The Washington herald., 1907-06-30


poiutmeHt.
This he did. then and there. sailing for
China BY the very next steamer, and
leaving Lord Ripon not only IN a great
Quandary through the lack Of an eff
cient private secretary. but likewise, I'M
der the public imputatiOn Of having quar-
relied with one Of tie most popular heroes
In England BIS attempting to force him
20 write a lie Had it not been for this
dispute Gordon would probably have
served out his term 0i alice in India
with Lord RipOn. and might never have
been sent to Khartoum and TO his death
at the hands of the deryishes there. Sir
Walter Scott entertained the same con-
5CientlOus objections to lies. no matter
how white they might be, but resorted
to all sorts Of verbal juggles 20 escape
telling them. When. for instance, an
ugly baby was brought to him, he knew
full well that he was expected 70 admire
il. Therefore in the kindness Of hts
heart he invariably exclaimed, as though
overwhelmed with a sudden blaze Of in
fantile beauty. We'll. 1 am sure that is
A baby with a great emphasis on the
is Constantly taxed with the author
ship Of the Waveriey novels. he. while
never denying outright, would generally
reply Il shall not own Waverley," with
the emphasis on the not which might
be taken whichever way the interlocutor
pleased, but which was generally con-
strued as a denial II was only toward
the close Of his career that Sir Walter.
who in all affairs Of life vas a model OF
chivalrous honor, consented TO admit that
he had written the popular series known
as the Waverley novels. thereby divesting
Of much literary credit a number of un-
scrupulous people who had taken advan-
tage Of his reticence to encourage the
authorship 20 be ascribed 70 themselves.
Such men as Sir Walter and Chinese
Gordon are anomalies. and their intense
cUnscientiOusness. while admired I'm them
as virtue, would be regarded as simply
intolerable in ordinary everyday citizens.
How, for instance, could we put up with
servants who declined to utter the time
hOnOred formula Of not at home" when
we DO not find It convenient TO receive a
visitor? And what a number Of disagree
able invitations we should be forced 10
accept, did not we have at our beck and
call the conventional white lie with re-
gard 10 "a previous engagement" Balls
would become a source Of torture rather
than pleasure 10 the fair sex were they
obliged 10 dance with every awkward
swain who considered il % be his duty TO
ask them. And how. when demanded by
your host for your opinion with regard
TO his children. his wines. or his cigars.
can you tell them the plain. unvarnished,
and. in nine times out Of ten. intensely
disaEreeable truth2 In fact the whole
routine Of society. as at present consti-
tuted. is nothing more nor less than one
continual long drawn out white Die. which
is quite as much OF a bleaChsd lie if it
is implied as when uttered
Good old Sir Walter Scott might just
as well. as far as the question Of strict
truthfuIness is concerned, have used
words Of admiration about the baby when
presented to him, as 10 have contented
himself with pretending an enthusiasm
that he did not feel. and in the same way
II is just as much Of a kindly flo 70
squeeze the hand Of a painter or Of
singer with a look Of hypocriticaI rap
ture in the eye, as 20 tell him outright
that his execrable daub Is a dream Of
beauty. or that the song which YOU have
just listened 10 with pain has transport
ed you TO the seventh heaven Of delight.
The only excuse that can be offered for
all this deceit and mendacity is that its
main object is to avoid giving pain, and
that without IL life, as constituted to-
day. would be impossible The result is
that our success and popularity in So
ciety have ended by depending 10 a great
extent upon the talent which we display
IN aTtistically and agreeably disfguring
the truth. We have not quite reached the
stage where a man can boast of his sue
cesses as a lar where he can taste the
sweets Of fame by touching one Of his
victims on the arm, and saying: You
think ne an honest and respectable man.
l am not l am an accomplished liar,
Gaze at me and admire. But We are get
ting there. and the English translation OF
the solemn words. "ReQuiescat in pace.
which figure on nearly every tomb, will
acquire a new significance. since a d0u-
bic meaning can be applied to the phrase,
Let lie undisturbed.'
When I say that We are getting there,
/ I mean that we Euglish-speaking people
are not yet as gifted as other nations in
the art Of picturesque and artistic men
dacity Dean Hadley in his sermon on
Sunday last wound up his address by de-
claring TO the graduating class that from
your fathers and mothers you have in
/ herited instincts Of trUthfulness' SCru-
pies for truth may be said TO be imbibed
with the mothers milk among the Eng
| disappearing races, and the slightest
/ scruple Of truth is fatal 10 the perfect lie.
| While these scruples may disappear in
thu. space OF the next two or three gem
erations. It will take considerably longer
/ before we can ever hope TO rival the ORR
entails in the art OF lying Asiatics. and.
/ In fact. Africans as we'll may be described
as born liars, instead Of being merely
educated 70 untruth, as in our case. The
| Persians. for instance, lie, even when the
/ truth would serve their purpose equally
we'll But they do it so glbly, so artis-
| tically, and so agreeably. that they &C
tually command your admiration and es-
/ TEEN.
Oriental lying presents q striking anal
Ogy 10 Oriental embroidery. In each case
the foundation is of the very fiimsiest
character, but so profuse is the applica
ton, and so intricate the design thereof.
| that one loses sight altogether Of the un-
substantial character Of the original fab
/ rio. Orientals exemplify above all others
the very highest type Of liar and when
they tell fb they are prepared for all
/ that its creation entails namely the ne
| Cessity Of being ready with two or three
dozen more with which 10 prop il up, and
| for each OF these subsidiary lies they may
/ have to coin still others, a task which
they never shirk. and through which they
60 with supreme grace and consummate
! skill. To accomplish this demands con-
structive talent Of the highest order, and
when this is absent the strain upon the
mind and the imagination is 50 great that
| the person IS liable to break down and
to make that false step which brings
| the whole edifce to the ground.
! Possibly Il is because there is a strongly
developed touch of the Oriental in their