44 FABLES. 



like the thieves in the Cook's shop, have neither 

 honour nor honesty. An honest man's word is as 

 good as his oath; and so is a rogue's too: for he 

 that will cheat and lie, will not scruple to forswear 

 himself. The former needs no oath to bind him; 

 and the latter, though he swear in the most solemn 

 manner that can be invented, only deceives you the 

 more certainly, as he who scruples not to steal, will 

 never regard the heinous guilt of calling upon the 

 Supreme Being to witness his atrocity. It is no 

 less wicked to quibble and evade the truth, than it 

 is to deny it altogether, for the falsehood consists 

 in what we wish the hearer to believe, not in the 

 literal import of what we say. Men who habituate 

 themselves to this species of deceit, will soon be 

 ready to go the length of any perjury. Early to 

 impress the mind with the unspeakable worth of 

 truth, is of the utmost importance. It is sacred, 

 and no man can say in the face of the world, that it 

 ought not to prevail. No discussions can injure its 

 cause it emanates from heaven it is an attribute 

 of omnipotence, and is therefore eternal. 



