202 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ourselves in favor of absolute veracity in tliis respect is quite anotlier 

 matter. 



"We may now regard our subject from a different point of view, 

 briefly considering veracity under the three partially independent 

 forms distinguished by Mr, Lecky — the industrial, the political, and 

 the philosophical.* 



1. Industrial Veracity. — By this we may understand, with 

 Mr. Lecky, " that accuracy of statement and fidelity to engagements 

 which is commonly meant when we speak of a truthful man." The 

 description of this kind of rectitude as " industrial " may, however, 

 cause some surprise, since the idea that the industrialization of life 

 has cultivated not candor, but mendacity, is deeply rooted in popu- 

 lar thought, and finds numerous expressions in literature — as, for in- 

 stance, in Pope's line — " The next a tradesman, meek, and much a 

 liar." f And that this common notion is apparently supported by 

 many conspicuous facts can not be denied. We are all of us too fa- 

 miliar with the countless abuses of trade as they come home to us in 

 our own experiences — with the tricks and subterfuges to which all 

 classes of dealers resort, the adulteration of almost everything we eat 

 and drink, the lying advertisements of our newspapers — to need to be 

 reminded that the commercial spirit is not in these days marked by 

 any profound respect for truth. Might it not even be urged that, in 

 this particular respect, we have lost by the encroachments which in- 

 dustrialism has made upon the old chivalrous code of honor? That 

 code — at least as we know it through romance — insisted upon a cer- 

 tain integrity of character, squareness of dealing, honesty even with 

 enemies. But a moment's thought will convince us that, after all, 

 these manifest facts give us only one side of the matter. It is equally 

 certain that, whatever results may reveal themselves in practice, na- 

 tions come more and more to recognize in theory the need and impor- 

 tance of veracity as their relations grow more and more industrial. 

 Mutual confidence, like justice, is a prerequisite condition to indus- 

 trial development; and mutual confidence is possible only when 

 people as a whole fulfill their promises, keep their engagements, and 

 to some extent stick to the truth. Even the abuses of trade are, in a 

 certain sense, evidence of the growth of general veracity. The liar 

 depends for the success of his lying upon a broadly accepted tradition 

 of truthfulness; the dishonest trader is as much interested as those 

 whom he cheats in the honesty of other people. If no one were 

 expected to speak the truth, false statements would lose their value; 



* FAiropean Morals, third edition (New York, 1891), vol. i, pp. 137-139. 

 ■)• Moral Essays, i, 152. See also Tennyson's vigorous denunciation of commercial 

 morality in Maud. 



