The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-08-23
THE EVERLASTING STRENGTH OF TRUTH
The Folly of Falsehood as Opposed to
Honesty and Truth
By Mr.. J. L. W.


MMMMMNNMMMM
that which comes from the reputa-
tion of always and everywhere tell
ing the exact truth, or of being
absolutely reliable.
Reputation for truth telling
alone has made the names of some
of the great business houses in this
and other countries, worth millions
of dollars.
The moment we attempt to ex-
press that which is not true, we
are crippled, for we are doing an
untoward thing and are not rein
forced by the consent of all our
faculties. The best thing in US,
the divine thing, protests against
the false. No man can be really
strong when in the wrong. Some
thing within him rebukes him.
Something tells him of his coward
ice.
Truth is mans normal state.
Deception is cultivated abnormal
habit. Because there is no substi-
tute for the right.
Just look at the man who has
practiced deceit and lieing all his
life. There is not line of truth
in his face. His very expression
is false. He radiates dishonesty
from every pore. He may at
tempt to deceive with his smooth,
honeyed diplomacy, but we in
stinctively feel that he is false in
every part of his being. 1t does
not matter how he tries to cover
up his falsehoods by appearances,
he cannot long continue to cheat
the heart. What he says about
himself contradicts what we feel.
A perfectly truthful man regards
his honor first, his self-interest
comes later. Truth is everything
to him. Justice must be done, no
matter if it goes against his own
interests.
Man is constructed along the
lines of truth, and he can not vio-
late his nature without showing it
by the loss of the best thing in
him. Deception destreyes his
self-respect, and with it goes his
self. confidence, and what can a
! man accomplish who can not re-
spect himself.
When a man feels that he is but
tressed by the right, entrenched in
truth, he does not feel weak, al
though the whole world may be
against him. He feels the ever
lasting arm about him, because he
knows that nothing can stand
against principle, nothing can be
SO mighty as the right. One of
the mysteries of the ages has been
the marvel of men going to their
death smiling, and without a
tremor. Standing calm in the face
of death. They were supported
by power back of the flesh, but
not of it. By the conviction that
they were in the right. They did
not feel alone or weak. for they
were entrenched in eternal princi-
pie. They believed that they were
protected by the Almighty, and
nothing could shake their conf
dence or disturb their faith. Their
exalted mental condition. lifted
them even above the pain of phys
ical torture.
Things are so planned that if a
man is ever to get very far or to
accomplish very much in this
world he must be honest, for the
whole structure of natural law is
pledged to defeat, the falseness as
we'll as the sham. Only the right,
ultimately, can succeed.
What would you think of man
who tries to defeat the laws OF
mathematical There are unfortu.
mates who try to get ahead of right;
or tries to defeat justice by false.
hood and deceit. No man ever got
around Gods Justice, right. It is
true that a man may get something
by doing wrong-so may a thief.
But the wrong always defeats it.
self because it has no principle in it