299 CHRISTIAN MORALITY. asked, there are manycases whesein it maybe lawful to turn the discourse aside, to wave adirect Answer, to be entirely silent; or in some circumstances it may be both lawful, prudent, and pro- per, to conceal a part ofthe truth, as I hinted in theformer sermon ; yet in my opinion it is neither prudent, proper nor lawful, to speak a falsehood to deceive my neighbour. The whole truth may not always benecessary to be spoken tomen ; but such falsehood is alwaysa sin in the sight of God. All lying is utterly forbidden ; and the true meaning of a lie' is, when we speak that which we believe to be false, with a design to deceive the person to whom .we speak. Mere may arise two questions : -1. If I have a good and valuable end in speaking, and my desigh is to serve the glory of God, or the good of my neighbour, may I not then use the art of lying, or speak a known falsehood without sin ? -2. Surely there are some sort of persons who have no right to truth, such as children, eommon liars, knaves or cheats ; may we not therefore deceive them by direct falsehoods, either for their good, or for our own ? These are enquiries of very great importance to the honour of truth, to the satisfaction of conscience, and to the welfare of mankind : And it is my present opinion (and I think there is good reason for it) that hone Of these cases can make an express and deceitful falsehood to be lawful, or change the nature ofa lie, and make it innocent ; but to debate thesetwo cases as largely as they .deserve, would too touch incumbenthe present discourse ; I leave them therefore to be read with an honest and serious mind, as an Appendix to these sermons of truth; and so proceed to the next direction, how to preserve our veracity. II. The second rule to preserve veracity is this ; accustom 'yourselves to a sober, modest way of speaking, avoid all those method's of speech that border upon falsehood: I shall mention a few of them, to give sufficient notice of what I mean. Some personsaffect to be certain ofevery thing they speak, and pronounce all that they say with the highest assurance. If they are relating matters óf fact, which they only learn by report, they tell you every circumstance without the least hesitation, and endeavour even in a dubious matter to make thehearer believe it with the highest confidence : They are never in the wrong, never doubtful, v Nether they are in the rightno. If they are declar- ing their own sentiments-of the most difficult subject, it is always as clear to them as the light, they are always as positive as if it weredivinely revealed, and written in the most express words o scripture. Now such sort of speakers will often find they have been mistaken; and if they have modesty enough to retract their
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