This fable shews how little reliance can be placed on either the word
or the oath of those who, 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.
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