fe consciously lie, whether it were a forced shift or weakness, fear,
selfishness, or vanity, or any of the other stains of our nature;
perhaps even merely to follow the spirit of falsehood which but too
temptingly allures us. And we need only take a look at the sublime
apostles, to learn, that they had not always strength sufficient to be
faithful to their model, the eternal divine truth. Many instances of
this sort I should be inclined to call innocent lies, which, for the
very reason that they are so decided, a man of a better nature can soon
avoid. But how stands the case then with that varnished self-love, that
parading egoism, that finished hypocrisy, which form the entire life of
many men into one single lie? I have known some, at least, who were
sunk so deep in the spirit of lying, that there no longer existed for
them such a thing as truth. And these men passed for virtuous, they
esteemed themselves chosen vessels, they could even keep up their part
of hypocrisy on their death-bed."

"Such a case is impossible!" exclaimed the Baron, and all agreed with
him; only Alfred expressed his opinion, that a depravity of this sort
might exist, whereupon Dorothea stared at him with surprize. "You are
speaking, in fact," continued the Baron, "of a former world; during
your absence every thing has changed with us so, that if you are only
now beginning to renew your acquaintance with our country, you will
scarcely find a trace of its former state. The old irreligion, that
empty scepticism which called itself philosophy, is, heaven be thanked,
pretty well gone by; the germs of a genuine religious temper are
unfolding themselves from day to day in greater beauty, one is no
longer ashamed of being a Christian, of believing in the Lord, and
elevating one's self to him in fervent prayer. The churches are once
more filled, the higher classes do not disdain any longer the communion
of their fellow-Christian, books of devotion have supplanted frivolous
reading on the tables of our wives and daughters; purified souls,
instead of entertaining themselves with theatrical gossip, converse
upon the bible, animate each other to penitence and devotion,
communicate the experience of their hearts, mutually strengthen one
another, and the spirit of the Lord speaks more and more distinctly in
these exalted affections. All this, my sceptical friend, you will at
least be forced to allow its value and its weight, for here is truth
and love, here n