The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-11-29
SPEAKING OF LYING.

| a characteristic essay on the SuDJecl
of lying In his view judicious, benev-
client, conventional lying is one of the
noblest of the fine arts. He holds it
| to be prime necessity in life. To tell
the truth, bluntly and always. he
declares, is brutal. cruel, and breeds
hatreds, passion, and malignant feel
| ings in others, and SO does immeasur-
able harm in society. Mr.. Burreli
cites a common case as an illustra-
ton, as follows:
"On fine day lady dons her glad
rags and goes calling If it Is not
convenient for another lady to receive
her-if she's in the bath, or dress
maker is fitting gown on her, or II
she Just doesn't want to be bothered,
she sends down word, not at home.
Lady No / knows No. 2 is lying, but
Tits the same kind of an agreed-upon
conventional lie she herself has often
told, so she is not mad. but drops a
card and sails off in perfectly good
lspirits. cherishing no resentment.
Nobody is hurt, neither the fair liar
nor the fair lied-to. 1t is not counted
as even snub, but convenience.
"A pair are invited to a party or
function of any sort. At the close,
before they say good bye, the man
slightly squeezes the hostess hard,
keeps his face straight, and says,
Madame, you are the most charming
of your sex; We have had delightful
time. Thanks for the privilege and
pleasure He knows he's lying and SO
does the amused hostess and every
body else. But it's that perfumed
unguent that makes the skids OF social
| life slick and smooth. He is pleased
with his whopper, madame is pleased
SO all's well that ends we'll Suppose
he had told the possible truth; Mad
anne, this party of yours was the
goldingdest bore was ever at: your
stuff to eat was rotten. I'll be dyspep-
tic for week; / won't sleep wink
i tonight; will feel like thirty cents
! tomorrow; the music was punk; you
put on too much dog in manners; l
wish you would never ask me to
come here again'-alI that might be
true, but to tell her so would be very
rude, and not bit nice, and ever
after he would know which was the
lady or the tiger. How long could
society and neighborliness exist on
such terms? Not five minutes by
grandfather's clock
ITS the truth that hurts" where
fore Burrell connsels that one should
never tell the truth when it isn't nee
essary. Truth" he says, lis toe
tprecious TO be wasted On everybody
Never tell a lie to do harm to anoth
er;; always lie to male folks fee
good. That's religion. That is true
lbenevolence A bull in china shop
never fails to do mischief, and gets
Idisliked" MI Burrell lays it down as
a rule that one should never tell the
truth at a bridal, or in an obituary. OF
in a book review, or in dramatic
or musical notice The sitter the lie
the better; the thicker the batter o
praise, the more agreeable all round
Grease means grace" In speaking
of martyrdom for truths sake he says
who wouldn't rather lie a million
times than suffer martyrdom once
In one way, it is the glory of thu
human race that tens of thousand
did have the nerve, pluck and grit t
die rather than recant an opinion o
faith, but that was long ago and j
long since old-fashioned. We hav
got over that silly folly Rattle
, than be burned at the stake for
. doctrine. would skin it back to-
quick, and SO would you. Yes, yo
would, for you know as we'll as
that we are as green as certat
kind of elm wood, and wouldn't bur
l. well, but might smoke lot an
+ smell like the stock yards. Wh
! sizzle, scorch and fry when recants
ton, with mental reservation,
= course, a la Calico, would stop you
slow bonfire? Martyrdom in thi
age is very heroic. in theory, bt
Z thunderin' bad practice. Gig it bacl
back water, and save your bacon, eve
If you have to lie about it. What
& a holy lie among friends, or enemie
I. either?''
Lest he be misunderstood Burre
!; hastens to add that lie in bushes
or trade, or in friendship and low
lis bastard thing Everyone shou
! keep his credit good and his word
sacred matters as sound as his bon
The curious fact is pointed out in tn
:, connection that 1t is only in politi
). that we do not uniformly lie:
- Republicans are apt to call an G
= ponent horse-thief and a Democr'
W as Greeley was accused of doing. a.
he the latter sings it back, You are
Black Republican-how'd you like
to have your daughter marry niggel
ST. We are all accustomed to that sort
go brutal frankness, calling spade
ny spade, and not beating around I
sh bushes for rabbits. No doubt this
M so, because in this age politics is t
it. lineal descendant of war with all
ks cruelty and hatred. Politics in Il
nd tame time is our diluted game of W;
In battle, the purpose is to XII
I'D there's no lying abou, that; co
batants are in dead earnest or earnt
dead In politics we jeer, accuse. la
80 bast. sass, cuss the other fellow a
' ,9 they us, and make horrid faces at ca
ne other. All that is not lying each 81
an probably tells too much truth to
Ich palatable. and that is one of the b
on things about politics. And If 20
of ical party Is torn by factions, t
II acuter and more acrimonious is t
q :. luminosity of the two wings. Bry
men and anti-Bryanites hate ca
I'D other VET StaDd-DattprS and nropr