in ordinary cases, is a declaration of some intention to be put in execution; but in morals it is a solemn asseveration by which one pledges his veracity that he will perform, or cause to be performed, the thing which he undertakes. As such a declaration excites expectations in the minds of those to whom it is made, and to frustrate such expectations might arouse indignation, and be followed by consequences injurious to the person, the character, or the interest of him who made it, it becomes a matter of prudence in the promiser to keep his word. And farther, since a certain degree of confidence is found necessary to the very existence of civil society, and others may have acted upon the faith of such promise, it is now not a matter of prudence only to keep one's word, but is a duty which every man owes to all who have spent their time, their money, or their labour, in consequence of those expectations which he has warranted them to entertain. It being, then, consonant to sound reason, necessary to the existence of civil society, and in general the interest of both the promiser and promisee, that the words of the promise should be fulfilled, it has become a maxim in morals, that a man is obliged to perform his promise. See Moral Philosophy.