It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath.

Frag. 385.

Footnotes

[695:1] See Gray, page [382].

[695:2] The three great laws ascribed to Triptolemus are referred to,—namely, to honour parents; to worship the gods with the fruits of the earth; to hurt no living creature. The first two laws are also ascribed to the centaur Cheiron.

[695:3]

Apt words have power to suage

The tumours of a troubl'd mind.

Milton: Samson Agonistes.

[695:4] God is not a man that he should lie; . . . hath he said, and shall he not do it?—Numbers xxiii. 19.