Truth in the abstract is perhaps made too much of as compared
to certain other laws established by as high authority. If the
Creator made the tree-toad so like the moss-covered bark to
which it clings, and the larva of a sphinx so like the elm-leaf
on which it lives, and that other larva so exquisitely like
a broken twig, not only in color, but in the angle at which
it stands from the branch to which it holds, with the obvious
end of deceiving their natural enemies, are not these examples
which man may follow? The Tibbu, when he sees his enemy in the
distance, shrinks into a motionless heap, trusting that he may
be taken for a lump of black basalt, such as is frequently met
with in his native desert. The Australian, following the same
instinct, crouches in such forms that he may be taken for one
of the burnt stumps common in his forest region. Are they not
right in deceiving, or lying, to save their lives? or would a
Christian missionary forbid their saving them by such a trick?
If an English lady were chased by a gang of murdering and worse
than murdering Sepoys, would she not have a right to cheat their
pursuit by covering herself with leaves, so as to be taken for
a heap of them? If you were starving on a wreck, would you
die of hunger rather than cheat a fish out of the water by an
artificial bait? If a schoolhouse were on fire, would you get
the children down-stairs under any convenient pretense, or tell
them the precise truth, and so have a rush and a score or two
of them crusht to death in five minutes?--OLIVER WENDELL
HOLMES.
(704)
=Decision Dependent Upon Call=--See TESTIMONY, A SHEEP’S.
=Decisive Deeds=--See OPPORTUNITY.