On the Decay of the Art of Lying

ESSAY, FOR DISCUSSION, READ AT A MEETING OF THE HISTORICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN CLUB OF HARTFORD,
AND OFFERED FOR THE THIRTY-DOLLAR PRIZE.[*]
[*] Did not take the prize.
Observe, I do not mean to suggest that the custom of lying has suffered
any decay or interruption–no, for the Lie, as a Virtue, A Principle,
is eternal; the Lie, as a recreation, a solace, a refuge in time of
need, the fourth Grace, the tenth Muse, man’s best and surest friend,
is immortal, and cannot perish from the earth while this club remains.
My complaint simply concerns the decay of the art of lying.