Part IL in the Creation. 389 



a talkative Perfon muft needs be impertinent, and 

 fpeak many idle Words, and fo render himfelf 

 burdenfome and odious to Company, and may 

 perchance run himfelf upon great Inconveniences, 

 by blabbing out his own or others Secrets; for a 

 Word once uttered, fuglt irrevocabile^ is irrevo- 

 cable, whatever the Confequence of it be ; great 

 need therefore have we to fet a Watch over our 

 Mouths^ and to keep the Door of our 

 hips, Pfal. cxli. 1. and not fufFer our *//^^'^>' ^^' 

 longues ^ ^^r^^')^eiv tn<; dtxvpict^ wit. 

 as IJbcrates phrafeth it. 



Secondly^ Lying, or falfe fpeaking. There is 

 difference between mentiri and mendaciwn dicere^ 

 that is, lying, and fpeaking of an Untruth, or a 

 thing that is falfe. Mentiri y is contra mentem ire, 

 which, though it be no good Etymology of the 

 Word, is a good Notion of the thing ; that is, 

 to go againft one's Mind, or fpeak what one does 

 not think. 



As Homer expreffes it, to conceal one thing in 

 the Mind, and fpeak another with the Tongue j 

 heuice a Man may fpeak an Untruth and yet not 

 lie, when he thinks he fpeaks the Truth j and 



C c 3 on 



