There is probably no saying of Lord Chesterfield that commends
itself more strongly to the approval of manly-minded men, than
that it is truth that makes the success of the gentleman.
Clarendon, speaking of one of the noblest and purest gentlemen of
his age, says of Falkland, that he "was so severe an adorer of
truth that he could as easily have given himself leave to steal
as to dissemble."
It was one of the finest things that Mrs. Hutchinson could say of
her husband, that he was a thoroughly truthful and reliable man:
"He never professed the thing he intended not, nor promised what
he believed out of his power, nor failed in the performance of
anything that was in his power to fulfil."
Wellington was a severe admirer of truth. An illustration may be
given. When afflicted by deafness he consulted a celebrated
aurist, who, after trying all remedies in vain, determined, as a
last resource, to inject into the ear a strong solution of
caustic. It caused the most intense pain, but the patient bore it
with his usual equanimity. The family physician accidentally
calling one day, found the Duke with flushed cheeks and bloodshot
eyes, and when he rose he staggered about like a drunken man. The
doctor asked to be permitted to look at his ear, and then he found
that a furious inflammation was going on, which, if not
immediately checked, must shortly reach the brain and kill him.
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