332 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



ESSAYS ON LIFE AND DUTY. III. 



TRUTH. 



THE love of truth is one of the main elements in all honourable 

 characters. To preserve a keen and delicate edge of feeling in 

 the moral sense in this respect is to conserve the happiness as 

 well as the excellency of character. Where there is little self- 

 respect there can be little real blessedness, and the consciousness 

 of habitual untruthfulness cannot co-exist with any moral satis 

 faction in ourselves. To be true, as it ranks us amongst the 

 noblest, so it ranks us with the happiest of men. To be false is 

 not only to be despised, but to despise ourselves. 



Scarcely any psychologists will doubt the existence in all men 

 of that moral sense wliich is able to discern the true when pre< 

 sented to it, nor will their investigations have been carried on 

 without the discerning of another faculty closely connected with 

 it, and that is a sensation of pleasure in the perception of it. 



Truth is meant to meet not only the eye which perceives, but 

 the instinct which admires and approves. In other words, truth 

 meets not only a mental perceptivity in us, but has a moral 

 affinity with us. 



In all human relationships wo see how valuable is the posses- 

 sion of a love of truth, and how difficult it is to preserve at all 

 times a strict adherence to its behests. 



Unquestionably it is our duty always to be obedient to the 

 truth without dread of consequences. Inasmuch as likes and 

 dislikes may meet us in the way, we shall often have to conquer 

 ourselves. Passion and prejudice may stand on one side, and 

 truth on the other, and the solicitations of the former may bo so 

 strong as to make it very hard work to comply with the com- 

 mands of the latter. Moreover, to act according to truth brings 

 with it sometimes disadvantage loss, for instance, of pecuniary 

 profit, or of flattering reputation ; but in the end these gains 

 if secured would be counterbalanced by the after-loss of our 

 character, and we should have risked and ruined that upon 

 which our ultimate success as well as our ultimate happiness 

 alike depend. 



Lying is of many kinds and degrees, but all lies are hateful 

 and injurious. There is the sitpprcssio vcri. or the hiding of 

 truth, the keeping back that which, if the jury knew it, or if our 

 neighbour know it, would altogether alter the value of the 

 bargain and the complexion of the whole matter ; consequently, 

 though in such cases we remain silent, we may yet air the time 

 be denying the truth by the reservation which keeps back that 

 which is essential to its claims. There is also the speaking 

 falsely for the sake of supposed good ends, a doctrine which 

 has been of old defended by some casuists, but which has not 

 one word to be said in its favour, inasmuch as it leaves open to 

 every man's judgment the decision of what in the end will be 

 best ; a decision which, apart from all other considerations, is 

 only too likely to fall in with his own selfish desires and inclina- 

 tions. There is no more immoral doctrine than this, as it cuts 

 at the very root of an immutable morality. There is also one 

 more form of falsehood which demands exposure, and that is the 

 acted untruth, where the lips indeed are silent, but where the 

 look and the manner give assent to the falsehood. We must ever 

 remember that there is a speech of the glance and the gesture 

 as well as of the lips and the voice, and that it is as base to de- 

 ceive with the one as with the other. 



It is proper, however, to draw a distinction which does seem 

 to exist between the two English words truth and veracity. 

 Truth is always truth, whether we know it to be so or not; 

 whereas veracity seems to relate to the connection between what 

 a man says and what he honestly believes to be true. Thus a 

 veracious man may sometimes err from the truth. He may 

 have been misinformed or mistaken ; he is veracious in respect 

 to his own consciousness of what was done, whilst in regard to 

 the actual truth of things he is wrong. It is not true that the 

 sun moves round the earth ; but astronomers of the Ptolemaic 

 school, who declared it did, were still veracious men. They 

 spoke that which they believed to be true. 



Fidelity to truth has much to do with the stability and pros- 

 perity of nations. The just payment of bonds, the righteous 

 adjustment of claims, and the earnest adhesion to a course of con- 

 duct marked by persistent rectitude, constitute one of the surest 

 guarantees of progress. Empires suffer most severely from all 

 fraudulent breaches of trust towards others in the great commu- 

 nity of nations. That which is true of peoples is true of indivi- 



duals. Whatever material gains may bo secured by fraud and 

 falsehood, the dishonour which is an inseparable part of the har- 

 vest is more than a counterbalance for all the success. Falsehood 

 brings with it in many ways its own punishment. It has been 

 well said that " Liars should have good memories " so sure are 

 they in after days to speak accidentally the truth, and thus not 

 only to reveal the real fact, but also to uncover themselves ta 

 the shame and derision of mankind. 



Fidelity to truth is one of those virtues which cannot suddenly 

 be either learned or practised. Savage and uncivilised people, 

 who have been habituated to falsehood, take many long years of 

 moral education before they lose the lying habits of their nature. 

 It must therefore commend itself to us as one of the first duties 

 of life to inculcate the love and admiration of truth upon the 

 young, that they may be early drilled in its exercise, and accus- 

 tomed to its yoke. In the end it is easy, but in the beginning it- 

 is hard enough to fulfil the injunction, " Lie not at all." 



All pretences and shams are actual untruths ; but it is impos- 

 sible in this article to follow into fullest details all the ramifica- 

 tions of falsehood. Enough has been said to show that there are* 

 many forms of falsehood, and not one of them oven allowable or 

 excusable. 



Truth is as beautiful as it is powerful, and constitutes ono of 

 the richest adornments, as it is indeed one of the strongest bul- 

 warks of character. 



LESSONS IN FRENCH. XXL 



SECTION XXXV. REFLECTIVE VERBS [ 43 (6), 56], 



1. A VERB is called reflective or pronominal, when it is conju- 

 gated with two pronouns of the same person, i.e., the usual 

 nominative pronoun and the pronouns me, to, so, etc. [ 56]_ 

 In these verbs the subject is represented as acting upon itself. 

 Je m' applique a 1'^tude, I of ply (myself) to study. 



Je rne propese de voyager, I propose (to myself) to travel, i.e., 



it t* my intention, to travel. 



In these verbs, the second pronoun is, in fact, only the objec- 

 tive pronoun direct or indirect, which, according to Sect. XXVI., 

 1, 2, is placed before the verb. 



2. The reflective form of the verb, which is much more- 

 frequently used in French than in English, often answers to ther 

 passive form so common in the latter language. 



Cela se voit tous les jours, 



Cette marchandise se vend facile- ( That merchandise is easily sold. 

 . \ 



is se 

 Tliat sees itself every day. 



That merchandise sells itself easily. 

 That is done thus. 



ment, 



~ ,,.... f 



Cela se fait ainsi. < ~, , 



I T7iat does \tself so. 



3. The verb se porter, literally, to carry one's self, is used 

 idiomatically for to do or to be, in speaking of health. 

 Comment vous portez-vous ? Hoia do you do ? 



Je me porte tros-bien, I am very u-ell. 



4. S'asseoir [4, ir. ; see 62], to sit down, is also a reflective 

 verb. 



Votre frere s'assied, Four brother sits down. 



5. So promener means to walk, to ride, etc., for pleasure or 

 health. 



Je me promcne tous les jours, I tal;e a walk every day. 



Je ine prornene a cheval, I take a ride. 



6. Marcher, aller a cheval, aller en voiture, signify to walk 

 or to ride, when we wish to express simply the manner of pro- 

 gressing. 



Marchez-vous teaucoup tous les Do you walk much every day 1 



jours ? 

 Je vais a cheval et en voiture, I ride on horsebaek and in a carriage. 



7. CONJUGATION OF THE PRESENT OF THE INDICATIVE 



OF THE REFLECTIVE VEKBS. 



