Letters to His Son 1750 | Page 5

so slightly taint it. Show yourself, upon all occasions, the advocate,
the friend, but not the bully of virtue. Colonel Chartres, whom you
have certainly heard of (who was, I believe, the most notorious blasted
rascal in the world, and who had, by all sorts of crimes, amassed
immense wealth), was so sensible of the disadvantage of a bad
character, that I heard him once say, in his impudent, profligate manner,

that though he would not give one farthing for virtue, he would give ten
thousand pounds for a character; because he should get a hundred
thousand pounds by it; whereas, he was so blasted, that he had no
longer an opportunity of cheating people. Is it possible, then, that an
honest man can neglect what a wise rogue would purchase so dear?
There is one of the vices above mentioned, into which people of good
education, and, in the main, of good principles, sometimes fall, from
mistaken notions of skill, dexterity, and self-defense, I mean lying;
though it is inseparably attended with more infamy and loss than any
other. The prudence and necessity of often concealing the truth,
insensibly seduces people to violate it. It is the only art of mean
capacities, and the only refuge of mean spirits. Whereas, concealing the
truth, upon proper occasions, is as prudent and as innocent, as telling a
lie, upon any occasion, is infamous and foolish. I will state you a case
in your own department. Suppose you are employed at a foreign court,
and that the minister of that court is absurd or impertinent enough to
ask you what your instructions are? will you tell him a lie, which as
soon as found out (and found out it certainly will be) must destroy your
credit, blast your character, and render you useless there? No. Will you
tell him the truth then, and betray your trust? As certainly, No. But you
will answer with firmness, That you are surprised at such a question,
that you are persuaded he does not expect an answer to it; but that, at
all events, he certainly will not have one. Such an answer will give him
confidence in you; he will conceive an opinion of your veracity, of
which opinion you may afterward make very honest and fair
advantages. But if, in negotiations, you are looked upon as a liar and a
trickster, no confidence will be placed in you, nothing will be
communicated to you, and you will be in the situation of a man who
has been burned in the cheek; and who, from that mark, cannot
afterward get an honest livelihood if he would, but must continue a
thief.
Lord Bacon, very justly, makes a distinction between simulation and
dissimulation; and allows the latter rather than the former; but still
observes, that they are the weaker sort of politicians who have recourse
to either. A man who has strength of mind and strength of parts, wants
neither of them. Certainly (says he) the ablest men that ever were, have
all had an openness and frankness of dealing, and a name of certainty

and veracity; but then, they were like horses well managed; for they
could tell, passing well, when to stop or turn; and at such times, when
they thought the case indeed required some dissimulation, if then they
used it, it came to pass that the former opinion spread abroad of their
good faith and clearness of dealing, made them almost invisible.
There are people who indulge themselves in a sort of lying, which they
reckon innocent, and which in one sense is so; for it hurts nobody but
themselves. This sort of lying is the spurious offspring of vanity,
begotten upon folly: these people deal in the marvelous; they have seen
some things that never existed; they have seen other things which they
never really saw, though they did exist, only because they were thought
worth seeing. Has anything remarkable been said or done in any place,
or in any company? they immediately present and declare themselves
eye or ear witnesses of it. They have done feats themselves,
unattempted, or at least unperformed by others. They are always the
heroes of their own fables; and think that they gain consideration, or at
least present attention, by it. Whereas, in truth, all that they get is
ridicule and contempt, not without a good degree of distrust; for one
must naturally conclude, that he who will tell any lie from idle vanity,
will not scruple telling a greater for interest. Had I really seen anything
so very extraordinary as to be almost incredible I would keep it to
myself, rather than by telling it give anybody room to doubt, for one
minute, of my veracity. It is most certain, that the reputation of chastity
is