ON LYING. "Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue."PSALM CXX. 2. "The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death."-PROV. xxi. 6. PHILADELPHIA: No. 304 ARCH STREET. ON LYING. READER, we ask thy attention for a few moments to consider the character and debasing influence of this terrible vice, which is both hateful in the Divine sight and despicable unto men-despicable unto all men, even to those who may not be entirely clear of it themselves in its more plausible, and, as the world would say, more excusable forms. There is the whole, bold, unblushing lie, that usually calls for more to make good the first. Then there is the partial lie—the keeping back a part of the truth — the equivocation — the shuffling to conceal, which proceeds from the same evil spirit as the first, and which, we fear, is winked at in others, and excused in themselves, by men claiming to be honorable, and even professing to be religious. What, in reality, is thy opinion of the liarof him who seeks to gain an advantage over thee by equivocation, by double-dealing, by a concealment of the truth, or that resorts to misrepresentation to screen his evil deeds? We know thy confidence in him must be much impaired; and, however much thou may continue dealing with him for the sake of gain, still thou always regards him as one that needs watching. Well, just as thou regards him, do others look upon thee, when thou yields to the temptations of the father of lies, and falls into the same evil ways. And though thou may be per suaded by this enemy of thy soul, to settle down in the belief that thou hast so nicely covered up everything as to defy the scrutiny of thy fellow-men, be not deceived; he whom thou hast wronged may see through thy strategy, and will form his opinion accordingly. But, however this may be, remember there is One, the Lord thy Judge, from whom thou canst secrete nothing. And suppose thy baseness does remain forever hidden from the eye of man, what dost thou gain by it?—or, rather, consider for one moment what thou losest by it-nothing less than the favor of God. Thou hast planted a canker-worm in thy own soul, which, if suffered to live, will produce its own kind in abundance, tending to eat out every holy thing within thee; and thou wilt in time be surprised even at thyself, to see how composedly thou canst misrepresent, and feel little or no compunction therefor. And thinkest thou to screen thy guilt from the eye of Omniscience?from Him whose all-searching eye penetrates the thickest covering, and looks down into the innermost recesses of the heart? Vain and deluded man! art thou really a believer in the truths of Christ's gospel, or only a professor? Has a man that will lie any more right to be admitted into respectable society, than one that will steal? Does he who "lies a little" deserve any better consideration at the hands of others, than he who steals a little-he who equivocates, than he who takes a paper of pins from the shop-counter? We shun the man whose body is covered with a loathsome disease; how much more should we shun him whose heart is made loathsome with lies, with equivocation, with deceit, and with double-dealing. The Psalmist, in his professions of holiness before the Lord, declares, "He that telleth a lie shall not tarry in my sight;" and he calls him "blessed," who "respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." But he who giveth heed to false lips, is himself pronounced a "wicked doer." In the terrible judgments of Babylon told us by Jeremiah, liars are specially mentioned as being under the avenging sword of the Most High; and the Apostle Paul, in his First Epistle to Timothy, classes these among the vilest of sinners, in that he says, "The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for liars, for perjured persons," etc. Again, St. John expressly declares that "all liars shall have their portion in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." Liars render themselves miserable; for, although they make lies their refuge, they are in fear lest their deceptions be discovered. There are no gradations permitted in the scale of deceit for the seeming accommodation of the would-be-good; but every species of deception, all prevarication, all hypocrisy, all lying in wait to deceive, as well as the flagrant untruth has received the Divine seal of condemnation, as hateful in the Lord's holy eyesight: "Lying lips are abomination to the Lord; but they that deal truly are his delight." "These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations; feet that be swift in running to mischief; a false witness that speaketh lies; and he that soweth discord among brethren." Liars, too, so long at least as a sense of wrong remains, are troubled with a feeling of shame which they would glally shake off, but cannot. We often find them affect. ing a very happy and independent demeanor, so hard do they strive to rid themselves of the reproofs of conscience, and to appear unto men to be honorable; but their shame can often be seen and read; their very countenances pro claim their guilt; the mark of the beast is on their fore heads, and cannot be obliterated but by the washing of regeneration; and, although every deceiver does at times feel this, yet oftentimes such is the power of the enemy over him, and such his own weakness, that he still believes himself the gainer, he remembers not the query, “What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul;" but he stubbornly persists in a practice which must eventually lead to the chambers of death. It has sometimes pleased the Almighty to visit this heinous sin and other flagrant violations of the Divine law, with immediate and awful punishment, that others may be the more effectually warned thereby. The case of Annanias and Sapphira was a memorable instance of this kind; but it does not stand alone. Since their day, numerous well-authenticated instances have occurred where persons have been cut down in the very act of sin. The bold blasphemer has been smitten with the half-uttered oath upon his lips; the drunkard, when in the very act of lifting up the intoxicating cup; and the liar, when solemnly calling heaven to witness the truth of his falsehood! Men, who are liable to die at any moment, should not for a moment indulge in sin, lest that moment should be their last: "Because there is wrath, beware, lest He take thee away with his stroke; then a great ransoın can· not deliver thee." Job xxxvi. 18. On the Market Hall, at Devizes, England, may be seen the following inscription: "The mayor and corporation of Devizes avail themselves of the stability of this building to transmit to future times the record of an awful event which occurred, in this market-place, in the year 1753, hoping that such a record may serve as a salutary warning against the danger of invoking the divine vengeance, or of calling on the holy Name to conceal the devices of falsehood and fraud. On Thursday, the 25th of January, |