XXIII.

BEING THE PRAISE OF KNAVERY.

A knave is a philosopher, though a philosopher is not necessarily a
knave. What hath a knave to do with passions? Every irregular desire he
must suppress; every foible he must weed out; his whole life is spent in
the acquisition of knowledge: for what is knowledge?--the discovery of
human errors! He is the only man always consistent yet ever examining;
he knows but one end, yet explores every means; danger, ill-repute, all
that terrify other men, daunt not him; he braves all, but is saved from
all: for I hold that a knave ceaseth to be the knave--he hath passed into
the fool--the moment mischief befalls him. He professes the art of
cheating; but the art of cheating is to cheat without peril. He is
_teres et rotundas_; strokes fly from the lubricity of his polish, and
the shiftings of his circular formation. He who is insensible of the
glory of his profession, who is open only to the profit, is no disciple
of mine. I hold of knavery, as Plato hath said of virtue, "Could it be
seen incarnate, it would beget a personal adoration!" None but those who
are inspired by a generous enthusiasm will benefit by the above maxims,
nor (and here I warn you solemnly from the sacred ground, till your head
be uncovered, and your feet be bared in the awe of veneration) enter with
profit upon the following descriptions of character,--that Temple of the
Ten Statutes, wherein I have stored and consecrated the most treasured
relics of my travelled thoughts and my collected experience.