That this disingenuous passiveness belongs to that common species of falsehood, withholding the truth.

That lying is a common vice, and the habit of it so insensibly acquired, that many persons violate the truth, without being conscious that it is a sin to do So, and even look on dexterity in white lying, as it is called, a thing to be proud of; but, that it were well to consider whether, if we allow ourselves liberty to lie on trivial occasions, we do not weaken our power to resist temptation to utter falsehoods which may be dangerous, in their results, to our own well being, and that of others.

That, if we allow ourselves to violate the truth, that is deceive for any purpose whatever, who can say where this self-indulgence will submit to be bounded?

That those who learn to resist the daily temptations to tell what are deemed trivial and innocent lies, will be better able to withstand allurements to serious and important deviations from truth.

That the LIES OF FLATTERY are, generally speaking, not only unprincipled, but offensive.

That there are few persons with whom it is so difficult to keep up the relations of peace and amity as flatterers by system and habit.

That the view taken by the flatterer of the penetration of the flattered is often erroneous. That the really intelligent are usually aware to how much praise and adiniration they are entitled, be it encomium on their personal or mental qualifications.

That the LIE OF FEAR Springs from the want of moral courage; and that, as this defect is by no means confined to any class or age, the result of it, that fear of man, which prompts to the lie of fear, must be uni

versal.

That some lies, which are thought to be LIES OF BENEVOLENCE, are not so in reality, but may be resolved into lies of fear, being occasioned by a dread of losing favour by speaking the truth, and not by real kindness of heart.

That the daily lying and deceit tolerated in society, and which are generally declared necessary to preserve goodwill, and avoid offence to the self-love of others, are the

result of false, not real, benevolence,-for that those, who practise it the most to their acquaintances when present are only too apt to make detracting observations on them when they are out of sight.

That true benevolence would ensure, not destroy, the existence of sincerity, as those who cultivate the benevolent affections always see the good qualities of their acquaintance in the strongest light, and throw their defects into shade; that, consequently, they need not shrink from speaking truth on all occasions. That the kindness which prompts to erroneous conduct cannot long continue to bear even a remote connection with real benevolence; that unprincipled benevolence soon degenerates into malevolence.

That, if those who possess good sense would use it as zealously to remove obstacles in the way of spontaneous truth, as they do to justify themselves in the practice of falsehood, the difficulty of always speaking the truth would in time vanish.

That the LIE OF CONVENIENCE-namely, the order to servants to say, "not at home," that is, teaching them to lie for our convenience, is, at the same time, teaching them to lie for their own, whenever the temptation offers.

That those masters and mistresses who show their domesticks, that they do not themselves value truth, and thus render the consciences of the latter callous to its requirings, forfeit their right, and lose their chance of having servants worthy of confidence, degrade their own characters also in their opinions, and incur an awful guilt by endangering their servants' well-being here and here. after.

That husbands who employ their wives, and wives their husbands, and that parents who employ their children to utter for them the lies of convenience, have no right to be angry, or surprised if their wedded or parental confidence be afterwards painfully abused, since they have taught their families the habit of deceit, by encouraging them in the practice of what they call innocent white lying.

That LIES OF INTEREST are sometimes more excusaple, and less offensive than ciberse disgusting when

told by those whom conscious independence preserver from any strong temptation to violate truth.

That LIES OF FIRST-RATE MALIGNITY, namely. lies intended wilfully to destroy the reputation of men and women, are less frequent than falsehoods of any other description, because the arm of the lew defends reputations.

That, notwithstanding, there are many persons, worn both in body and mind by the consciousness of being the object of calumnies and suspicions which they have not the power to combat, who steal broken-hearted into their graves, thankful for the summons of death, and hoping to find refuge from the injustice of their fellow-creatures in

the bosom of their Saviour.

That against LIES OF SECOND-RATE MALIGNITY the law holds out no protection.

That they spring from the spirit of detraction, and cannot be exceeded in base and petty treachery.

That LIES OF REAL BENEVOLENCE, though the most amiable and respectable of all lies, are, notwithstanding, objectionable, and ought not to be told.

That, to deceive the sick and dying, is a dereliction of principle which not even benevolence can excuse; since, who shall venture to assert that a deliberate and wilful falsehood is justifiable?

That, withholding the truth with regard to the character of a servant, alias, the passive lie of benevolence, is a pernicious and reprehensable custom; that, if benevolent to the hired, it is malevolent to the person hiring, and may be fatal to the person so favoured.

That the masters and mistresses who thus perform what they call a benevolent action, at the expense of sincerity, often, no doubt, find their sin visited on their own heads; because, if servants know that, owing to the lax morality of their employers, their faults will not receive their proper punishment, that is, disclosure, when they are turned away,-one of the most powerful motives to behave well is removed, since, those are not likely to abstain from sin, who are sure that they shall sin with impunity.

That it would be REAL BENEVOLENCE to tell, and not to withhold, the whole truth on such occasions; be

cause those who hire servants so erroneously befriended may, from ignorance of their besetting sins, put temptations in their way to repeat their fault; and may thereby expose them to incur, some day or other, the severest penalty of the law.

That it is wrong, however benevolently meant, to conceal the whole extent of a calamity from an afflicted person, not only because it shows a distrust of the wisdom of the Deity, and implies that he is not a fit judge of the proper degree of trial to be inflicted on his creatures, but, because it is a withholding of the truth with an in tention to deceive, and that such a practice is not only wrong, but inexpedient; as we may thereby stand between the sufferer and the consolation which might have been afforded in some cases by the very nature and intensity of the blow inflicted; and lastly, because such concealment is seldom ultimately successful, since the truth comes out, usually in the end, and when the sufferer is not so well able to bear it.

That LIES OF WANTONNESS, are lies which are often told for no other motive than to show the utterer's total contempt for truth; and that there is no hope for the amendment of such persons, since they thus sin from a depraved fondness for speaking, and inventing falsehood. That dress affords good illustrations of PRACTICAL

LIES.

That if false hair, false bloom, false eyebrows, and other artificial aids to the appearance, are so well contrived, that they seem palpably intended to pass for natural beauties, then do these aids of dress partake of the vicious nature of other lying.

That the medical man who desires his servant to call him out of church, or from a party, when he is not wanted, in order to give him the appearance of the great business which he has not; and the author who makes his publisher put second and third edition before a work of which, perhaps, even the first is not wholly sold, are also guilty of PRACTICAL LIES.

That the practical lies most fatal to others, are those acted by men who, when in the gulf of bankruptcy, launch

out into increased splendour of living, in order to obtain further credit, by inducing an opinion that they are rich.

That another pernicious practical lie is acted by boys and girls at school, who employ their school-fellows to do exercises for them; or who themselves do them for others; that by this means, children become acquainted with the practice of deceit as soon as they enter a public school; and thus is counteracted the effect of those principles of spontaneous truth which they may have learnt at home.

That lying is mischievous and impolitic, because it destroys confidence, that best charm and only cement of society; and that it is almost impossible to believe our acquaintances, or expect to be believed ourselves, when we or they have once been detected in falsehood.

That speaking the truth does not imply a necessity to wound the feelings of any one. That offensive, or home truths, should never be volunteered, though one lays it down as a principle, that truth must be spoken when calld for.

That often the temporary wound given by us, on principle, to the self-love of others, may be attended with lasting benefit to them, and benevolence in reality be not wounded, but gratified since the truly benevolent can always find a balin for the wounds which duty obliges them to inflict.

That, were the utterance of spontaneous truth to become a general principle of action in society, no one would dare to put such questions concerning their defects as I have enumerated; therefore the difficulty of always speaking truth would be almost annihilated.

That those who in the presence of their acquaintance, make mortifying observations on their personal defects, or 'wound their self-love in any other way, are not actuated by the love of truth, but that their sincerity is the result of coarseness of mind, and of the mean wish to inflict pain.

That all human beings are, in their closets, convinced of the importance of truth to the interests of society though few, comparatively, think the practice binding on them when acting in the busy scenes of the world.

That we must wonder still less at the little shame attached to white lying, when we see it sanctioned in the highest assemblies in the kingdom.