—have never been made with full honesty, yet ever without an evil conscience: one used boldly to set up principles—which one longed to be true—as truth despite appearance, and in so doing felt neither religious nor moral compunctions—for it was in maioren honarem of virtue or of God that one had over-reached the truth free from any selfish intentions whatever. Many honest people even in our days act upon this standard of truthfulness; when they feel unselfish they deem it permissible to think more lightly of truth. Remember that the word “honesty” is not to be found in the code of either the Socratic or Christian virtues: it is one of the youngest virtues, not quite ripened, frequently mistaken and misconstrued, hardly conscious of itself, as yet something in embryo, which we are at liberty either to promote or to check.
457
Final taciturnity.—Some fare like the digger after hidden treasures: they quite accidentally discover the secrets of another soul, and thereby gain a knowledge which is often a heavy burden to bear. According to circumstances we may to a certain extent know both the living and dead, and sound their hearts, so that we shrink from speaking to others about them; for, at every word we speak, we are afraid of being indiscreet. —I can fancy a sudden silence of even the wisest historian.
