Déceives not, defraud not; but keep up to the strictest Rules of Juftice, and Honesty, For all unjust Acquifitions will one Day prove like a barbed Arrow, that must be plucked back again; and that not without horrible Pain, and Anguish, or else will destroy thee eternally.

By no Means come into the Way of the Men of the World, that think themselves cunhing, and are eternally counterfeiting, and diffembling: for the Advantage thou wilt get by it will be, never to be believed when thou; ferioufly speakest Truth. I grant, this may once or twice perhaps pafs upon Men; but to profess concealing of thy Thoughts, will be to give warning to all, who have any thing to do with thee, that whatsoever thou fayeft is all but Lying and Deceit. And by how much more thou art fubtile, and cunning, by fo much thou art fufpected and hated. And then when it is come to that pafs, that the Opinion of thy Integrity is ruined, loft and gone; thou wilt every where have a hard Game to play.

In Treating and Bufinefs, instead of Craft and Cunning, make ufe of Affability, Sweetness, and Courtefies: By thefe thou shalt eafily flide thro' 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 Sort of a Diffembler in fome Degree; for Men are too cunning to fuffer a Man to keep an indifferent Carriage. They will befet him with Questions, and draw him on, and pick it out of him, fo that with out an abfurd Silence he must fhew an Inclina

tion

tion one way; or if he do not, they will gather as much by his Silence as by his Speech. As for Equivocations they cannot hold out long.

If any trickstering Fellow come pumping of thee with crafty Queftions, to get out of thee what thou oughteft to conceal, and haft no mind to give a refolving Anfwer, 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 his Paffes by. One may be to better thyfelf of fome Interrogation also, by which thou may'ft rival the others; and either procure Forbearance, or draw him into an equal Hazard with thyfelf. Chrift did thus to the Priests, Matth. xxi. 24. This may be eafier done if thou gueffeft before-hand what will be asked for then thou may'ft prepare thy felf.

But if he perfifts and grows rudely Importunate, perhaps it may be thy best Way, with a fmart Sort of Freedom to let him know thou un-derstandeft his Drift, and wilt not have that pul led 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'ft deny any further Converse in that Matter: But this may not be done to those that are much thy Superiors.

Whenever thou feeft a Man that would have beguiled and impofed upon thee basely, by making: thee believe a pernicious Lie, thou may'ft truly fay of that Perfon; That's the Man who would -have ruined me; who would have ftripped me of the Dignity of my Nature, and put out the Eye of my Reason to advantage himself; or to make

himself

himself Sport with my Damage, my Folly, and my Difhonour.

But the Falseness 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 don't authorize thine.

Use Honesty and Sincerity in all thy Tranf actions; 'twill put trickish Men out of their Play; 'twill break all their Meafures by which they hoped to compafs 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 fharping Fellows together upon Bufinefs, and they fhall 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 pafs in a long Time, and will leave it entangled, and not fo well as they found it: Whereas if two understanding, honeft, and plain Men meet about it, they'll eafily and prefently fet 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 alfo.

Truft not to a counterfeit Outfide to hide thee: Flatter not thyfelf in thy Subtilty: Ima-. gine not thou art so close that none can see thee, or find out thy Ways of working.

For Fraud and Artifice are quickly difcerned if they be too grofs; and easily broken if too fine. And as fome Men ufe Craft for their Interest, so others have an Intereft to find it out.

Alfo

Alfo Diffimulation requires too much punctual Caution to fecure itself from being difcovered; and the Pains thou takest to hide it, even that very often betrays it.

In fine, if thou beeft a fincere, plain dealing, honeft Man, thy Life fhall be quiet and happy; thou fhalt have the continual Feast of a good Confcience, fhalt enjoy the Sweets of Society, and the Bleflings of Friendship: And tho' 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 moft 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, Pain, and Perplexity; and at last, if (which commonly happens) they come to Beggary, then (as it is in the Pfalms) They will grin like a Dog; and will go about the Gity. They will run here and there for Meat, and grudge if they be not fatisfy'd.

An ABSTRACT of Archbishop Tillotfon's Sermon, upon John i. 47.

Incerity fignifies a Simplicity of Mind and S.Manners in our Converfation and Carriage

one towards another; Singlenefs of Heart, difcovering itself in a conftant Plainnefs and Opennefs of Behaviour, free from all infidious Devices, and little Tricks and Fetches of Craft and Cunning, from all falfe Appearances and

deceitful

déceitful; Difguifes of our felves in Word or Action.

It is to fpeak as we think, to do as we pretend and profefs, to perform and make good what we Promife, and really to be what we would feem and appear to be.

Not that we are obliged to tell every Man all our Mind, but we are never to declare any thing contrary to it. We may be filent, and conceal as, much of our felves, as Prudence, or any other good Reafon requires; but we must not put on a Difguife, and make a falfe Appearance and empty Shew of what we are not, either in Words or Actions.

Contrary to this Virtue of Sincerity is most of that Complement, which is generally in Converfation; and which for the moft Part, is nothing but Words, and a Pretence of that Kindness and Efteem for Perfons which we have not, or not to that Degree which our Expreffions feem to import..

Which if done with Defign is that which we call Flattery, a very odious Sort of Infincerity, and fo much the worfe, because it abufeth Men into a vain and foolish Opinion of themselves, and an ill-grounded Confidence of the Kindnefs and Goodwill of others toward them.

Now befides that, all Hypocrify and Infincerity is mean in itfelf, having Falfhood at the Bottom; it is also often made ufe of to the Prejudice of others in their Rights and Interefts when -Men practise upon one another Falfenefs, Fraud, Perfidioufnefs, and infinite little Crafts and Arts of Deceit.

Thefe