much thou art fufpected and hated: and then when it is come to that pass, that the opinion of thy integrity is ruined, loft, and gone, thou wilt every where have a hard game to play. In treating and business, inftead of craft and cunning, make use of affability, sweetnefs, and courtefies by these thou shalt easily slide through difficulties; and when thou fucceedeft not, yet thou wilt be likely to come fairly off. If thou wilt be fecret, thou must be (where confcience will bear it) a fort of a diffembler in fome degree; for men are too cunning to fuffer a man to keep an indifferent carriage. They will beset him with questions, and draw him on, and pick it out of him; fo that, without an abfurd filence, he muft fhew an inclination one way; or, if he do not, they will gather as much by his filence as by his fpeech. As for equivocations, they cannot hold out long. If any trickstering fellow come pumping of thee with crafty questions, to get out of thee what thou oughteft to conceal, and haft no mind to give a refolving answer, receive him civilly, but be not at the expence of a lie to fend him going. A ready man may find out many ways to put put his paffes by. One may be, to better thyfelf of fome interrogation alfo, by which thou may'ft rival the other's; and either procure forbearance, or draw him into an equal hazard with thyself. Chrift did thus to the priests, Matth. xxi. 24. This may be easier done, if thou gueffeft beforehand what will be asked, for then thou may'st prepare thyself. But if he persists and grows rudely importunate, perhaps it may be thy best way, with a smart fort of freedom, to let him know thou understandeft his drift, and wilt not have that pulled from thee by artifice and tricks which thou mightest perhaps have told him, had he not infidiously gone about to overreach thee; and fo on that score thou may'st deny any further converfe in that matter: but this may not be done to those that are much thy fuperiors. Whenever thou feeft a man that would have beguiled and imposed upon thee basely, by making thee believe a pernicious lie, thou may'ft truly fay of that perfon, That is the man who would have ruined me; who would have stripped me of the dignity of my nature, and put out the eye of my reason to advantage himself; or to make him felf fport with my damage, my folly, and my dishonour. But the falfeness of a pretended friend that has betrayed thee, does not give thee a right to do the fame by him. Thy duty does not depend upon his performance: his faults do not authorize thine. Use honesty and fincerity in all thy tranfactions; 'twill put trickish men out of their play; 'twill break all their measures by which they hoped to compass their evil ends: for knaves commonly think that nothing can be well done but by knavery; but this is a great mistake. For put a couple of artful, sharping fellows together upon business, and they shall fall into fo many tricks, and use so many wiles to blind, overreach, and catch one another, that they will be able to bring nothing to pass in a long time, and will leave it entangled, and not so well as they found it: whereas, if two understanding, honest, and plain men meet about it, they will eafily and presently set the matter right. And fo the Lord Bacon might well fay, there is a great difference between a cunning man and a wife man, not only in point of honesty, but ability also. Truft Truft not to a counterfeit outfide to hide thee: flatter not thyfelf in thy fubtilty: imagine not thou art so close that none can see thee, or find out thy ways of working. For fraud and artifice are quickly discerned if they be too grofs; and eafily broken if too fine. And as fome men use craft for their intereft, fo others have an intereft to find it out. Alfo diffimulation requires too much punctual caution to fecure itself from being discovered; and the pains thou takeft to hide it, even that very often betrays it. In fine, if thou art a fincere, plain dealing, honeft man, thy life fhall be quiet and happy; thou shalt have the continual feast of a good conscience, fhalt enjoy the sweets of society, and the bleffings of friendship: and though thou art not rich, yet like the meek man, thou fhalt inherit the earth. But as for thofe that have given up themfelves to tricking and treachery, they are the most miferable and lamentable wretches living: Their own heart will tell them they have been not a whit better than highway rogues: their whole life has been a continued piece of thievery, 06. pain, |