Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 January 1888 — LIARS AND LYI[?]G. [ARTICLE]

LIARS AND LYI[?]G.

Fashion able Lies that Do Not Count. —Some Different Types of Liars. Kila Wheeler Wilcox in Globe-Democrat. “Let hi <p whd is without sin cast the first stone.” - ~ - We are all hars to a greater or less degree, but that lamentable fact does not lessen the enormity of the crime. I once saw a charming lady, in the presence of several guests whom she bad been delightfully entertaining, take a card from her servant’s hand, scan it with a slight frown and return it,saying: Tell the gentleman I have gone to bed with a violent headache.” The servant bowed and conveyed the message, thus increasing the number of liars by two, Fashionable lies of this kind are not supposed to count in the catalogue of sins, but it seems to me they are like parasites which destroy the delicate leaves of a plant after a time. They injure and blunt the finer perceptions of right and wrong. A gentleman laid a wager with a lady the other evening that she could pot live through the following day without lying, unless she hurt the feelings of her friends by seeming rudeness, fine lost the wager, declaring that she found polite lying absolutely necessary, as he had said. Ido not believe them necessary, however, and I am confident we would win and retain more friends in the long run if we built our daily lives on a foundation of absolute truthfulness.

The moment I detect man or woman in a lie, however trivial, my interest and respect is lessened, and lam sure other people are influenced in the same way. The moment my own lips have uttered a polito lie I feel a decided lessening of regard for myself, and am conscious that silence or tact could nave save me from the foolish error. The liar who possesses a good memory may make a success of his profession for years without detection. It is seldom, however, that the art of flying, and the art of remembering are combined in one person. I remember a woman in my own prowho told me in our first interview that she had received $75 for a short article which had recently appeared. On our second meeting she spoke of the matter again, and said she had received SSO for it. A few days later I heard her mentipn it to a third party as having brought her $25. I learned afterward that she was paid sls for the article. Had she recollected her first statement I might never have doubted her word. Lying is like the opium habit. I have known people wbo began to tell “white lies” for convenience and ended by be-

coming the most absolute and shameless of liars on every occasion. In some cases lying is a disease and should be treated as such. I know two ladies who are otherwise excellent in character, and both are valua ole members of society. One is a devout church member in high standing, and foremost m good works of charity. Both these ladies seem physically and morally unable to tell the truth. . the truth would better serve their purposes, they choose a lie. They harm no one but themselves, as their lies are never malicious, but refer usually to their own affairs. One of these ladies ia fond of telling the most marvelous stories of herself and friends, their remarkable adventures, their extensive wealth, their wide travels, their~ intimate "acqtiaTn lance with renowned people. If you repeat these fairy stories after her you cover yourself with humiliation, as they are almost entirely fabrications of her brain. If you disprove her statements to her face she looks you in the eyes and smiles, and emphatically declares you misunderstood her words. Her conversation is sparkling and bright, and you are amused and entertained highly, until you discover her gift for improvising.

The other lady’s talent runs more in a mercantile channel. She makes a purchase in your presence for which she pays $lO. Let a third person enter the room, and she declares smilingly that she has just pa : d S2O for the article. If you correct her she insists that you are mistaken. Her doctor’s and dentist’s bills, her servants’ wages, the price of her bonnets and boots, are all subjects ot exaggerated statements. She has, like the majority of liars, a memory like a sieve, and consequently contradicts herself a'dozen times in as many hours. Her friends all acknowledge her unfortunate peculiarity, but she is so kind-hearted, and possesses so many other admirable traits, that she is tolerated in spite of her lies. It seems to me both these ladies need the serious attention of some specialist ou diseases of the brain.

I have heard an opinion expressed that women arc lees frank and truthful than men. If this is true, it is due to their education. Women are taught to conceal and men to reveal their true natures from the cradle up. Women are taught that the them to be statues of decorum, and that it is m to the one wh o by word or act indicates that she could step down from her pedestal. Man is taught thht he is a human being of varied passions, table to fall into error, which the world quickly forgets and forgives. He tells the truth about his nature #xd his temptation

and the world listens, sympathize.' and admires. ' Woe unto the woman who, no matter how free from sin, confesses to her best friends that she has ever, even hi thought, been stirred from her role of absolute decorum. She is forevermore branded “doubtful.” Consequently she hides from the world, and, if necessary, lies to conceal her real human self from detection. I have heard the objection offered that if we all speak absolute truth we must speak ill of many people. Ido not believe it. There is no human being so depraved that a good word can not be spoken of him It would be an interesting experience if we should all experiment for an entire month in finding the excellent quality to mention in each person we meet, and keeping silence concerning his or her faults. Silence, however, is often made to serve as the he' pless handmaid of liars. I can imagine no more despicable lie than the one conveyed by silence when speech is needed to defend the reputation of some victim of malice or envy. Many a name has been shadowed by the significant silent lie of one who should have spoken the word of defense. lam afraid this is a phase of Talsehood more feminine than masculine. Liars, like poets, are more frequently born than made, but certain methods of education can increase or cure the malady. It is said that several of our great novelists were terrible liars in their childhood. Their vivid imaginations portrayed events and scenes which they related as actual occurrences. Utilized in fiction, their inborn propensity to exaggerate common events became valuable to lovers of exciting fiction. A child should be taught to consider a slight prevarication as a departure from morality; and strict truthfulness of speech, even in trivial matters, as one of the highest virtues. However lightly we may speak of telling “white lies,” we all feel an instinctive respect for the man or woman who has won a reputation for sincere truthfulness, and we have but to build our own lives on the same foundation to be regarded in the same light. The African Sleeping Disease. A singular and invariably fatal malady, called lethargus, is reported to be peculiar to negroes in certain districts on the western coast of Africa. The patient, usually a male, is seized, without any premonitory symptoms, with a sensation of drowsiness, which continues rapidly to increase, in spite of all efforts to throw it off, until he sinks into a profound and seemingly natural sleep, and which continues for about twenty-one days, when death takes place. Throughout the course bf the disease, the patient preserves a quiet and peaceful

countenance, may be easily aroused for a short time, will take nourishment, and generally answer a few questions in a perfectly rational manner; the pulse, respiration and temperature remain normal throughout, the pupil is neither dilated nor contracted to any noticeable extent, and the voidings are comparatively regular; in fact, with the exception of the abnormal tendency to sleep, nothing exists to denote disease. Many careful post-mortem examinalions have been made by competent men, but nothing of an abnormal character has been found, while every remedy that could possibly be of any avail has been used without any apparent beneficial effect.