Morning journal and courier., 1883-04-14
Downright Lying Defenasd.


 Everybody knows what Cardinal Newman somewhere calls the noble science of casuis- try" has got bad name with the world, from it's being supposed to systematize and sanction duplicity; and this evil repute has specially attached-at least since the appear ance of Pascal's Provincial Letters'-to the Jesuit casuists, so that the terms 'Jesuitical' and 'causisticap' have acquired in common parlanee the sense of shuff1ing, dishonest, false It seems that the Greek Fathers gen. orally were in favor of the lawfulness of tell ing direct untruth-as distinct from equiv ocation-for sufficient cause, as, C. g., in self-defsnse out of charity, zeal for Gods honor and the like. And on this point the great English writers ethics follow and often go somewhat beyond them, considering it lawful C. C., to defend ones moral rights against impertinent curiosity by an untruth. Thus Jeremy Taylor says: "To tell lie for charity, to save mans life, hath not only been done at all times but commended by great and wise and good men," Milton speaks still more strongly, asking: ''What man in his senses would deny that there are those whom we have the best ground for considering that we ought to deceive-as boys, madmen, the sick, the intoxicated, enemies, men in error, thieves ?" And he goes on to argue that no lie which does not iniure ones neighbor is violation of the ninth commandment. Paley observes, with his usual terse ineisiveness that sthere are falsehoods which are not lies-thst is, are not criminal" Dr. Johnson is less philoso phical, but equally decided; "The general rule is that truth should never be violated; there must, however, be exceptions-if, for instance. murderer should ask you which way a man had gone."' Sir Walter Scott illustrated the common view among English moralists that an impertinent question need not have true reply by his habitual denial for many years of the au- thorship of the Waverly novels.
 On the other hand, the great body of Lat in divines Cthere are some distinguished ex- ceptions) have followed the lead of S aint Augustine in maintaining that all untruths are lies, and are therefore never allowable, but they have been compelled to supplement this otherwise impracticable theory by sanc- tioning equivoeation. Cardinal Newman's own judgment is in favor of what may be called the English, rather than the Latin, view, though he would strictly limit it and for reason to be mentioned presently, we think he is clearly in the right. After promising that he sees no objection to allowing mis- leading ''silence' in certain cases, he adds that the same principle appears to apply to untruths, though he doubts~lf he could ever, when 1t came to the point, bring himself to act on the principle but he would Ike to 0obliee society-that is, it's great men, it's lawyers, it's divines, its Hterati-pnblicly to acknowledge as such those instances Of S$o 4AAoSSAANS untruths in war" and thus the practical diff ficulty would be simplified for individuals. Equivocation, without presuming to condemn it in others, he ttadmits as little as the rest of his countrymen." q can fancy myself thinking it alloWablein extreme cases for me to lie but never to equivocate eva sion, however, is sometimes allowabfe-albeif a good deal of of moral danger Is attached to it's use"
 It seems that according to Saint Thomas Aquinas, ia lie is a sin, not merely for the damage done thereby to a neighbor, but for it's own inordinateness," and 'lt IS not law fuI to use any unlawful inordinateness to hinder the prejudice of others" But why is an equivocation-or, as MT. Rickaby calls it. sta broad mental reservation Hess inor- dinate '' or in plain English, less untrutnrui, than downright lie It Is difficult to un derstand why the circumstances which would excuse or justify the one would not equally excuse or justify the other. We are told, indeed that s'circumstances must outwardly suggest the reservation to prudent listen er But if this merely means that circum- stances must suggest to him our resolve to keep our own counsel without blabblng, we might as well say so at once and put an end to the conversation; if it means that circumstances must suggest to him the very truth when it is our object, and e hy- pothest our laudable and legitimate object, to conceal, the whole motive for equivocation or reserv vation of any kind is at an end and the secret virtually divulged What we have termed the Latin, and what Mir. Rickaby IS pleased to term the Catholic, doctrine of equivoeation has a prima facie appearance of greater scrupulosity about truth than what Cardinal Newman calls the English view, which he himself adopts. But inasmuch as it is admitted on all hands that thero are cer-' tain cases, however they are precisely to be limited and defined, where it is lawful or ever a dutv to use language te conceal our thoughts, the only question concerns the best method of carrying out this design, whether by downright 'lying, Tor by "equiv- ocation''-in other words, whether by direct or indirect faIsehood. And to our spprehen- sion there is no paradox in maintaining that sthere lives more truth in honest" lying than in the most ingenious and subtle devices for