It is disgraceful to be silent. When a man is conscious that he is capable of instructing his fellow-citizens, or those with whom he is connected, in any art that might be beneficial to them, it is disgraceful, or perhaps criminal, to withhold it.

«Be niggards of advice on no pretence,
For the worst avarice is that of sense».

It may also be said by any one, who should find others not so well qualified as himself, acquiring honour by the practice of any art or profession, I must now exert myself, and shew these men, that it was not through incapacity, that I have hitherto abstained, «It would be disgraceful to be any longer silent», and to a circumstance of this kind, the adage is said to have owed its origin.