worn to?" but, "Is this true?" The moment evidence is
tested by the standard of reason, the oath becomes a useless
ceremony. Let the man who gives false evidence be punished as the
lawmaking power may prescribe. He should be punished because he
commits a crime against society, and he should be punished in this
world. All honest men will tell the truth if they can; therefore,
oaths will have no effect upon them. Dishonest men will not tell
the truth unless the truth happens to suit their purpose; therefore,
oaths will have no effect upon them. We punish them, not for
swearing to a lie, but for telling it, and we can make the punishment
for telling the falsehood just as severe as we wish. If they are
to be punished in another world, the probability is that the
punishment there will be for having told the falsehood here. After
all, a lie is made no worse by an oath, and the truth is made no
better.

_Question_. You object then to the oath. Is your objection based
on any religious grounds, or on any prejudice against the ceremony
because of its religious origin; or what is your objection?

_Answer_. I care nothing about the origin of the ceremony. The
objection to the oath is this: It furnishes a falsehood with a
letter of credit. It supplies the wolf with sheep's clothing and
covers the hands of Jacob with hair. It blows out the light, and
in the darkness Leah is taken for Rachel. It puts upon each witness
a kind of theological gown. This gown hides the moral rags of the
depraved wretch as well as the virtues of the honest man. The oath
is a mask that falsehood puts on, and for a moment is mistaken for
truth. It gives to dishonesty the advantage of solemnity. The
tendency of the oath is to put all testimony on an equality. The
obscure rascal and the man of sterling character both "swear," and
jurors who attribute a miraculous quality to the oath, forget the
real difference in the men, and give about the same weight to the
evidence of each, because both were "sworn." A scoundrel is
delighted with the opportunity of going through a ceremony that
gives importance and dignity to his story, that clothes him for
the moment with respectability, loans him the appearance of
conscience, and gives the ring of true coin to the base metal. To
him the oath is a shield. He is in partnership, for a moment, with
God, and people who have no confidence in the witness credit the
firm.

_Question_. Of course you k