The Italian is an exceedingly
simple creature, and is apt to share the opinion of the ostrich,
who ducks his head and believes his whole body is hidden.
Foreigners use strong language concerning the Italian lie; but
this only proves how extremely transparent the deception is. It is
indeed a singular fact, but one which may often be observed, that
two Italians who lie systematically will frequently believe each
other, to their own ruin, with a childlike faith rarely found
north of the Alps. This seems to me to prove that their dishonesty
has outgrown their indolent intelligence; and indeed they deceive
themselves nearly as often as they succeed in deceiving their
neighbours. In a country where a lie easily finds credence, lying
is not likely to be elevated to the rank of a fine art. I have
often wondered how such men as Cesare Borgia succeeded in
entrapping their enemies by snares which a modern northerner would
detect from the first and laugh to scorn as mere child's play.
There is an extraordinary readiness in Italians to fit themselves
and their lives to circumstances whenever they can save themselves
trouble by doing so. Their constitutions are convenient to this
end, for they are temperate in most things and do not easily fall
into habits which they cannot change at will.
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