Truth is the very bond of society, without which it must cease to
exist, and dissolve into anarchy and chaos. A household cannot be
governed by lying; nor can a nation. Sir Thomas Browne once
asked, "Do the devils lie?" "No," was his answer; "for then even
hell could not subsist." No considerations can justify the
sacrifice of truth, which ought to be sovereign in all the
relations of life.
Of all mean vices, perhaps lying is the meanest. It is in some
cases the offspring of perversity and vice, and in many others of
sheer moral cowardice. Yet many persons think so lightly of it
that they will order their servants to lie for them; nor can they
feel surprised if, after such ignoble instruction, they find their
servants lying for themselves.
Sir Harry Wotton's description of an ambassador as "an honest man
sent to lie abroad for the benefit of his country," though meant
as a satire, brought him into disfavour with James I. when it
became published; for an adversary quoted it as a principle of the
king's religion. That it was not Wotton's real view of the duty
of an honest man, is obvious from the lines quoted at the head of
this chapter, on 'The Character of a Happy Life,' in which he
eulogises the man
"Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill."
But lying assumes many forms--such as diplomacy, expediency, and
moral reservation; and, under one guise or another, it is found
more or less pervading all classes of society.
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