Lying and Couzening is a General Practice in the World, tho’ it appears
in some Men, and in some Trades, more then in other. _Æsop_ is still
Introducing some or other of the Gods, to Countenance the Corruptions
of Flesh and Blood: And since Custom and Interest will have it so, that
all Tradesmen must use Fraud, more or less, even in their own Defence,
the Practice being in some sort so Necessary, ’tis not amiss to bring
in _Jupiter_ to justifie it. But why is this False and Double Dealing
apply’d to Tradesmen only, when it is Common to Mankind? And why among
them, to _Taylors_ above the Rest? when all the Bus’ness that passes in
this World betwixt Man and Man is Manag’d by Collusion and Deceit, in as
High a Measure: So that the Composition might have been as well Prepar’d
for Human Nature. Are we not False, in Our Pretended Civilities, Formal
Complements, and Respects; in our Confidences, and in our Professions?
Are we not False, in Promising, and Breaking? Is not He that Robs me
of my Good Name, a more Abominable Cheat, then he that Couzens me of a
Yard of Damask? Is not He that Betrays me in his Arms, a more Detestable
Wretch then He that Contents Himself in the Way of his Trade, to Pick my
Pocket? Without any more Words, we are All Jugglers in some Kind, or in
some Degree or Other. But there’s this to be said for’t yet, that we Play
Foul by Consent. We Couzen in our Words, and in our Actions; only we are
Agreed upon’t, that such and such Forms of Civility, like some Adulterate
Coins, shall pass Current for so much. A Fashionable Imposture, or
Hypocrisie, shall be call’d Good Manners, and so we make a shift in some
sort to Legitimate the Abuse. In _Jupiter_’s appointing these Frauds, we
read the Power of Humane Frailty that Disposes us to Entertain them: For
we are False enough by Nature without any need of Prescription.