walks in the dark, all his pretences are so transparent, that he who
runs may read them; he is the last man that finds himself to be found
out, and whilst he takes it for granted that he makes fools of others,
he renders himself ridiculous.

25. Add to all this, that sincerity is the most compendious wisdom, and
an excellent instrument for the speedy dispatch of business; it creates
confidence in those we have to deal with, saves the labor of many
inquiries, and brings things to an issue in a few words.

26. It is like travelling; in a plain beaten road, which commonly brings
a man sooner to his journey's end than by-ways, in which men often lose
themselves. In a word, whatsoever convenience may be thought to be in
falsehood and dissimulation, it is soon over, but the inconvenience of
it is perpetual, because it brings a man under an everlasting jealousy
and suspicion, so that he is not believed when he speaks truth, nor
trusted when perhaps he means honestly; when a man hath once forfeited
the reputation of his integrity, he is set last, and nothing will then
serve his turn, neither truth nor falsehood.

27. And I have often thought, that God hath, in his great wisdom, hid
from men of false and dishonest minds, the wonderful advantages of truth
and integrity to the prosperity even of our worldly affairs; these men
are so blinded by their covetousness and ambition, that they cannot look
beyond a present advantage, nor forbear to seize upon it, though by ways
never so indirect; they cannot see so far, as to the remote consequences
of a steady integrity, and the vast benefit and advantages which it will
bring a man at last.

28. Were but this sort of men wise and clear sighted enough to discern