LIES OF TRADE.
NOT a word was said on the subject of the previous evening until the
lessons for the morning had been recited; and then Miss Salsbury called
upon the young ladies to resume their seats at their desks.
"I wish to make some remarks," she began, "on a subject of vital
importance to every one of you; that is, the habit, too prevalent at
the present day, of falsifying the word. But first I will relieve your
curiosity concerning Clara by informing you that, early in the morning,
she was overheard planning an excursion which she was well aware was
contrary to the rules of the school. With premeditated deceit and
cunning, painful to think of in one of her years, she carried these
plans into execution, slipped away from the companion she had induced
to join her in a walk, and ran for half a mile to meet a child with
whom I had forbidden her to associate.
"Here she disobeyed another rule and bought a pair of earrings without
permission of any teacher to make such a purchase. This morning, a
lady came to claim the earrings which the wicked child had stolen from
her. I went to Clara's room, where I had left her till she was willing
to confess where she had been, and found the jewelry thrust into her
pocket; but even then she made many excuses before she would confess
the truth. I shudder to think that I have a child under my care so
dreadfully addicted to the sin of lying. And I think perhaps no time
will be so favorable as the present for impressing the enormity of this
offence upon your minds.
"The subject for discussion and essays this week will, therefore, be
the various methods by which persons falsify their word, such as lies
of convenience, lies of flattery, lies of malignity, etc., etc. To aid
you in the examination of the subject, I wish to direct your attention
to Mrs. Opie's excellent work on lying, which you will find in the
library, and more particularly to the word of God. In your essays on
this subject, I wish you to quote and illustrate as many passages of
Scripture as possible."
The bell for the long recess then was rung, and the scholars dispersed
to talk over poor Clara's sin, and to speculate on the punishment she
would receive.
A group of young misses stood together on the lawn, eagerly listening
to Miss Gleason's account of the stolen interview of the morning. When
she had finished, one pupil said,—
"It's horrid to think that such a little girl should be so deceitful!"
"It's so mean to lie!" rejoined another. "I should be ashamed to show
my face if I had told an untruth!"
"God showed his displeasure at the sin," remarked Amelia Davis,
gravely. "I think I shall take the case of Ananias and Sapphira for my
composition."
At this moment, Alice gracefully crossed the lawn and joined the
group. On her head she wore a bewitching straw hat, trimmed with a
long drab plume and tied with ribbon of the same hue. Her complexion
was as delicate as an infant's, the color in her cheeks being somewhat
heightened by her excitement.
"What a fuss Miss Salsbury makes about a few white lies that child has
told!" she said, her lip curling contemptuously. "I doubt whether Clara
is old enough to know that there is any harm in what she said,—such a
little thing as she is!"
"But if the fault is not corrected while she is young," said the lady
who last spoke, "it will grow upon her. I can conceive of no worse
trait than to be a confirmed liar."
"Certainly. Of course lying is vulgar, to say nothing of its being
immoral; but I don't believe the child meant to deceive, or would
have done so, if she hadn't been frightened into it. She wanted the
earrings, and, as the girl offered to sell them, I don't see how she
can be much blamed."
The young ladies seemed rather surprised at this view of the case,
coming as it did from one they admired; and presently the baneful
influence began to work; for one of them said, playfully,—
"I think Miss Salsbury is making quite too much of it."
"Of course she is. I dare say she would call me a liar for sending
word 'not at home' to a caller whom I wish to avoid, as if it were not
everywhere understood that it means you are engaged; or because I reply
that 'my tablet is full of engagements,' when a disagreeable gentleman
wishes to dance with me. If she knew anything of fashionable society,
she would understand that such white lies are unavoidable. It would be
an insult to a gentleman to refuse to dance with him."
"Oh, how I wish I could go to a ball!" exclaimed one enthusiastic young
lady. "I don't think there would be much danger of my having to tell
white or black lies; I'd dance with every one who asked me."
"I shall never go into fashionable society if such deception is
necessary," remarked Amelia Davis, in a serious tone.
Friday afternoon was devoted to the composition, each young lady
signing hers with a mark known only to the teacher. These were placed
in a box, and pupils, generally the highest class, were called to the
platform in succession to read them. As some of these explain the
different kinds of lying I shall copy them.
The first read was entitled "Lies of Trade," and was as follows:—
"The sin of lying is denounced in the Bible in the same catalogue
with the most heinous crimes. In the Revelation we read, 'For
without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers,
and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.' The
punishment denounced against them is dreadful: 'All liars shall
have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.'
"There are many kinds of lies; but I shall only mention one of
them, which I shall call lies of trade. In these are embraced
all the different forms of deception by which persons dispose of
the articles they have for sale. I was once acquainted with a
storekeeper who confessed many of these tricks of the trade, as
he called them, and insisted they were perfectly harmless. For
instance, he used to tell customers that calico would wash like a
piece of white cloth, which was literally the fact, though they
understood him to mean that the colors were fast.
"Or he would say, 'I gave a dollar a yard for this silk by the
piece, and cannot afford to sell it less than one twenty-five,'
when these very goods had been bought at auction prices, and would
bring a good profit at ninety cents.
"Or, when questioned as to quality and durability, he would
answer, 'This delaine is all wool,' when he knew it to be part
cotton; 'it will wear like iron,' when he more than suspected it
to be tender, and, therefore, wished to be rid of it.
"This storekeeper also told me of tricks by which the grocers try
to get off cheap or injured articles. They mix sand with sugar,
adulterate tea and spices, sell barley for coffee, and Indian meal
for ginger, all the time giving their word that the articles are
pure and of the best quality."
The next composition began in this way:—
"What is a lie? By some writers it is explained as an intention to
deceive.
"Can a person be guilty of lying who does not speak? I think he
can; for a single motion of the head will sometimes convey a wrong
impression.
"What is the difference between a lie and a falsehood? A person
may tell what is not true, or a falsehood, without the intention
to deceive, which constitutes a lie.
"What does the Bible say of lying lips? 'The lip of truth shall
be established forever; but a lying tongue is but for a moment.'
'Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.' 'He that speaketh
lies shall not escape.' 'Speak ye every man the truth to his
neighbor.'
"Is there such a thing as a lie of flattery? There is; and I will
give an instance.
"A girl named Hannah Morrill once lived with a lady as a kind
of companion. She soon discovered that her mistress had a weak
mind and was very susceptible to praise. The lady was exceedingly
homely; but Hannah flattered her with the assurance that she was
fine-looking and remarkably intelligent. She falsely quoted the
opinion of others who agreed with her that her mistress was a
pattern of elegance, taste, and refinement, until she succeeded in
convincing the lady that her glass deceived her as to her personal
appearance and that, as to her other qualities, her modesty had
hitherto blinded her as to her many excellences.
"In this way Hannah gained many favors, and was so much encouraged
by them, that she became so gross in her flatteries that at last
her mistress began to suspect her of insincerity. Wishing to
try her, she brought from the store an elegant lilac silk, more
suited to a bride than to a lady past sixty. Expressing, herself,
a doubt whether this color was becoming to her age, she asked
Hannah's opinion, when the girl warmly declared that she was
only slandering herself when she thought the color trying to her
complexion; for it made her look like a young miss, holding the
rich folds up before her.
"Only half convinced, the lady was called from her chamber to see
company, from which she returned suddenly, unobserved by any one.
Hearing loud talking and laughing in the next room, she stopped a
moment to listen, and soon heard Hannah mimic her voice and manner
before the mirror.
"'What an old fool she must be to believe you!' answered the cook,
with a coarse laugh.
"'I can make the simpleton believe black is white,' urged Hannah;
'I told her, yesterday, that her old yellow, crooked teeth were
the envy of half the young ladies, and the silly creature actually
swallowed the flattery.'
"'Not quite,' said a low, stern voice; 'that lilac silk I brought
from the store to test your frankness. If you had told me what
I knew to be true,—that it was ill-suited to me,—I intended
to have given it to you. I am glad I have been undeceived in
season to dismiss both of you from my service. I will give you
an hour to pack your trunks; and at the end of that time, I will
have a constable here to search them; for I am not so great a
simpleton but that I understand that a person who will lie to her
benefactress will steal from her whenever opportunity occurs.'
"Many interesting anecdotes illustrating different kinds of lies
are given by Mrs. Opie in her book on lying."
[Illustration]