"Lie not one to another, brethren, seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds."

That obedience to this law is demanded by the will of God, is manifest from several considerations:

1. We are created with a disposition to speak what is true, and also to believe what is spoken. The fact that we are thus constituted conveys to us an intimation that the Creator wills us to obey this constitution. The intention is as evident as that which is manifested in creating the eye for light, and light for the eye.

2. We are created with a moral constitution, by which we suffer pain whenever we violate this law, (unless our moral susceptibility shall have been destroyed,) and by which also we receive pleasure whenever, under circumstances which urge to the contrary, we steadfastly obey it.

3. We are so constituted that obedience to the law of veracity is absolutely necessary to our happiness. Were we either to lose our feeling of obligation to tell the truth, or our disposition to receive as truth whatever is told to us, there would at once be an end to all science and all knowledge, beyond that which every man had obtained by his own personal observation and experience. No man could profit by the discoveries of his contemporaries, much less by the discoveries of those men who have gone before him. Language would be useless, and we should be but little removed from the brutes. Every one must be aware, upon the slightest reflection, that a community of entire liars could not exist in a state of society. The effects of such a course of conduct upon the whole, show us what is the will of God in the individual case.

4. The will of God is abundantly made known to us in the Holy Scriptures. I subjoin a few examples:

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Ex., xx. 16. "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord." Prov., vi. 16. ́ “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile." Psalm, xxxiv. 13. Those that speak lies are called children of the devil; that is, followers, imitators of the actions of the devil. John, viii. 44. See also the cases of Ananias and Sapphira, and of Gehazi. Acts, v., and 2 Kings, v. 20-27. "All liars shall have their portion in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." Rev., xxi. 8. "There shall in no wise enter therein, (into heaven), any thing that maketh a lie." Id., verse 27.

From what has been said, the importance of strict adherence to veracity is too evident to need further remark. I will, however, add, that the evil of falsehood in small matters, in lies told to amuse, in petty exaggerations, and in complimentary discourse, is not by any means duly estimated. Let it be always borne in mind that he, who knowingly utters what is false, tells a lie; and a lie, whether white, or of any other color, is a violation of the command of that God by whom we must be judged. And let us also remember that there is no vice, which, more easily than this, stupifies a man's conscience. He who tells lies frequently will soon become an habitual liar; and an habitual liar will soon lose the power of readily distinguishing between the conceptions of his imagination and the recollections of his memory. I have known a few persons, who seemed to have arrived at this most deplorable moral condition. Let every one, therefore, beware of even the most distant approaches to this detestable vice. A volume might easily be written on the miseries and loss of character which have grown out of a single lie; and another volume of illustrations of the moral power which men have gained by means of no other prominent attribute than that of bold, unshrinking veracity.

If lying be thus pernicious to ourselves, how wicked

must it be to teach it, or specially to force it upon others! What shall we say, then, of parents, who, to accomplish a momentary purpose, will not hesitate to utter to a child the most flagitious falsehoods? Or, what shall we say of those heads of families, who direct their children or servants deliberately to declare that they are not at home, while they are quietly sitting in their parlor or their study? What right has any one, for the purpose of securing a momentary convenience, or avoiding a petty annoyance, to injure for ever the moral sentiments of another? How can such a man or woman expect to hear the truth from those whom they have deliberately taught to lie? The expectation is absurd; and the result will show that such men in the end drink abundantly of the cup which they themselves have mingled. Before any man is tempted to lie, let him remember that God governs this universe on the principles of veracity; and, that the whole constitution of things is arranged by him so as to vindicate truth, and to expose falsehood. Hence, the first lie always requires a multitude of lies to conceal it; each one of which plunges the crimi nal into more inextricable embarrassment; and, at last, all of them will combine to cover him with shame. The inconveniences of truth, aside from the question of guilt and innocence, are infinitely less than the inconveniences of falsehood.

CHAPTER SECOND.

VERACITY OF THE FUTURE.

THE future is, within some conditions, subject to our power. We may, therefore, place ourselves under moral obligations to act, within those conditions, in a particular manner. When we make a promise, we voluntarily place ourselves under such a moral obligation. The law of veracity obliges us to fulfil it.

This part of the subject includes promises and contracts.

I. Of promises.

In every promise, two things are to be considered: the intention, and the obligation.

1. The intention. The law of veracity, in this respect, demands that we convey to the promisee the intention as it exists in our own minds. When we inform another that we intend to do a service for him to-morrow, we have no more right to lie about this than about any other matter.

2. The obligation. The law of veracity obliges us to fulfil the intention just as we made it known. In other words, we are under obligation to satisfy, precisely, the expectation which we voluntarily excited. The rule of Paley is, "a promise is binding in the sense in which the promiser supposed the promisee to receive it."