Humanity triumphed over conscience--and with an "All right, then, I'll
go to hell," he tore up the letter.
One of Mark Twain's favourite themes for the display of his humour was
the subject of prevarication. He seemed never to tire of ringing the
changes upon the theme of the lie, its utility, its convenience, and its
consequences. Doubtless he chose to dabble in falsehood because it is
generally winked at as the most venial of all moral obliquities--a fault
which is the most thoroughly universal of all that flesh is heir to.
The incident of George Washington and the cherry tree furnished the
basis for countless of his anecdotes; he wrung from it variations
innumerable, from the epigram to the anecdote. His distinction between
George Washington and himself, redounding immeasurably to his own glory,
and demonstrating his complete superiority to Washington as a moral
character, is classic: "George Washington couldn't tell a lie. I can;
but I won't." Perhaps his most humorous anecdote, based upon the same
story, is in connection with the exceedingly old "darky" he once met in
the South, who claimed to have crossed the Delaware with Washington.
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