say, is, I trust, our creed about lies and liars too. We know
where the lie comes from. We know whither it tends. We have made up our
minds that it, and all its belonging, were best swept clean away and
pitched into the Big Fire. Blessed be the man, we say, who successfully
kills lies! He is a man to be honored and loved, no matter how rough he
is in the process. It is never very smooth business. It is not a thing
that can be well done in gloves. Let us not quarrel with how the
champion does it. The main end is to get the lies well choked somehow.

But the one great difficulty in the way of such a man is, that so many
people believe in lies. My eager young friend, Philalethes, supposes
that, if he can only expose this falsehood, show up this sham, or sound
the emptiness of this piece of cant or pretence, he will do the state
some service, that men will thank him and call him benefactor. He does
the work, and lo! to his amazement, many excellent men count him their
deadly enemy.

These good souls see what he sees, that lies, and shams, and cheats in
business, in science, in politics, in religion, in social life, are
often very successful and very powerful, and they come to _their_
conclusion, which is not his by a great deal. He thinks the lie ought to
be hated, with a hatred the more intense because of its success. They
conclude that lies, in this world at least, are necessary. They have
seen, with their own eyes, how powerful, venerable, or respectable lies
are, and they act on their knowledge. They take the lie into sleeping
partnership--Quirk and _Co_.

There are men who do not believe plain truth can walk alone in this
world. She needs a pair of lies for crutches! Men will actually write
and print lies for the truth's sake. Men have piously written down and
copyrighted lies (I have their books on my shelves) for the sake of
religion! They have so little faith in God, they think they must wheedle
Satan over on His side, or the truth and the right will fail. It is very
easy to believe in God for the other world, but very hard to believe in
Him for this. He will be omnipotent lord and master there, but here,
now, in this bewildering world, in this confused and wretched time,
where wrong seems so prosperous and lies so strong, is He omnipotent
here? Hereaway, is not the Devil mightier? Can we get along without a
little of his help?

Now lies can never end till this ends. While men think them necessary to
truth, in b