3776. HONESTY, Individual.—
I know
but one code of morality for men, whether
acting singly or collectively. He who says
I will be a rogue when I act in company with
a hundred others, but an honest man when
I act alone, will be believed in the former
assertion, but not in the latter. I would say
with the poet, “hic niger est, hunc tu Romane
cavato”. If the morality of one man produces
a just line of conduct in him, acting
individually, why should not the morality of
one hundred men produce a just line of conduct
in them, acting together?—
To James Madison. Washington ed. iii, 99.
Ford ed., v, 111.
(P.
1789)
