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propensity, in different degrees, which they 

 call secretiveness. It is certain that many 

 persons are naturally reserved and uncom- 

 municative, and thereby apt to conceal 

 what it is useful that others should be in- 

 formed of; whilst, on the contrary, there 

 are those who seem to tell all they know 

 or think, even in opposition to the dictates 

 of common prudence, and thus become, not 

 only babblers, but mischief-makers. The 

 propensity to secrecy induces us not simply 

 to conceal our opinions, but also to pretend 

 to others, in order to prevent the real ones 

 from being discovered ; and this is gene- 

 rally called cunning. 



OF THE PROPENSITY TO HOARD. 



Some animals have a propensity to hoard 

 and lay by things ; they bury superfluous 

 food, and take it again when they want it ; 

 but some hide things which can be of no 

 use to them, and to which they do not 



