XI.

Whenever you read the life of a great man, I mean a man eminently
successful, you will perceive all the qualities given to him are the
qualities necessary even to a mediocre rogue. "He possessed," saith the
biographer, "the greatest address [namely, the faculty of wheedling]; the
most admirable courage [namely, the faculty of bullying]; the most noble
fortitude [namely, the faculty of bearing to be bullied]; the most
singular versatility [namely, the faculty of saying one thing to one man,
and its reverse to another]; and the most wonderful command over the mind
of his contemporaries [namely, the faculty of victimizing their purses or
seducing their actions]." Wherefore, if luck cast you in humble life,
assiduously study the biographies of the great, in order to accomplish
you as a rogue; if in the more elevated range of society, be thoroughly
versed in the lives of the roguish: so shall you fit yourself to be
eminent!



XII.

The hypocrisy of virtue, my beloved pupils, is a little out of fashion
nowadays; it is sometimes better to affect the hypocrisy of vice. Appear
generously profligate, and swear with a hearty face that you do not
pretend to be better than the generality of your neighbours. Sincerity
is not less a covering than lying; a frieze great-coat wraps you as well
as a Spanish cloak.