Men of honour are careful not to tarnish their reputations by
falsifying their word, and always consider well how far it may be in
their power to fulfil their promises before they make them. They always
strive to walk on the straight line of rectitude; and should they, in
an unguarded moment, happen to stagger from it, they instantly retrace
their steps, and feel unhappy until they have regained their station.
There is a simplicity in truth and virtue, which requires no artifices,
and never leads us into difficulties, but points out the plain and safe
way. Deceit and cunning, on the contrary, involve those who practise
them in a maze, and they are bewildered in their own falsehoods, from
which no dexterity can extricate them. The brain-racking schemes which
villains practise to delude others, are commonly detected, and end in
the unpitied punishment of themselves; for they seldom discover the
folly of being wicked, until it has betrayed them into their ruin. But
such persons would do well to refresh their memories with the old adage
which says, that “all knaves are fools, but all fools are not knaves.”
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