Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-07-26
CAN LYING he JUsTIFIEDs

CAN LYING BE J~UsTIFIEDP
This is tie question asked by Ella
Sterling Cummins ia the North Amer
lean Review, and it is a poser. Should
truth be told at the Urice Of life, lib
erty and reputation? Should the
young be so taught? The question has
never been squarely met Even the
most truth loving svade the issue. II
the psinciple Of truth could be 50 thor
ouehIy instiIled into a nation that
fathers W, uld be seen daily testifying
against their children, children against
Parents, friends against friends,
though their lives, liberty and reputa-
lions were at stake, simply because
they were telling the truth. would 1t
be a desirable condition of atfairs? Is
there not something in the nature OF
man that revolts against such a spec
tacle, no matter how much he loves
the truth? The law meets this feeling
by not compelling q wife to testify
against her husband, a husband
against his wife or the accused against
himself. He is not put 20 so severe a
test.
In daily life it Is not so easy to
answer the question. We evade it,
and push away the responsibility we
o1ght TO meet. None # US know how
soon we may have % face the prob
lem. How shall we meet it? Have
we the right to answer that the life,
liberty or reputation Of the beloved,
the friendless, the fugitive must be
sacrificed TO eold-lloOded truth?
A peoples liter lture reflects its SEN
timents. What 1Oes our literature
say? 1t does no answer the question.
There is a conflict, In the Old Testa-
ment, Rahab, g. woman of no charac-
ter, who hid tie spies Of Israel in her
house and swore they were not there,
was rewarded for the lie, and her
name handed down to be honored as
long IS the tribes of Israel should ex'
let. In the New Testament ALanias
and Ssppbira lied to save their reputa-
lions. and were struck dead. Scott, in
his great novel, "The Heart Of MidlO~
thian,n meets the question squarely.
JEANNE Deans, when her sister Efie
is on trial for infanticIde, tells the
truth, aud her sister is sentenced.
Victor Hugo meets it from the oppo-
site direction in Lies Miserables "
The Bishop, by a generous lie, saves
the life and the reputation Of the man
who robbed him. A sister of mercy,
by a square lie, saves the same robber
from capture by the police In the
play of 1.-THE Two Orphans" the hero
inc escapes the police through an acted
lie by another sister Of mercy, who
shakes her head In negation, when she
should have nodded Eyes" and the
audience never fails to applaud the
lie. This shows what they think Of II.
How many lies were told during
the days of slavery TO save fugitive
blacks from capture and the lash?
Were such lies c~ommendable Or not,
and how should we Tpr a child
who asks US this question? When the
Prince of Wales was called upon to
testify to a womaD's character, what
wac the comment on his evidence? In
the highest circles they applaud
him for having "periured himself like
gentleman"
Is there a higher law than the law?
Is there a point beyond pure ethics,
that human nature feels a sense Of
heroism in telling that which lie not
strictly true TO save life. liberty or rep
utation? Or are life, liberty, repu'a
ton little things compared with truth?
Ought everything-mother's love,
wife's devotion, sisters honor-be sac
rifeed to truth?
The writer does not answer the ques-
ton herself, and ike her we also pause
for a reply. That lies are applauded
10 the echo in tragic and dramaticc cir
cumstances, we know, and the APP
plause is from the highest as well as
the lowest. In a great drama when
the hero is found IN fdgrdnte deIictO
with the heroine, he stabs her to the
heart TO ave her honor and then stabs
himself, dying with a lie upon his lips:
"EHe ma T~esiste, ct je Pal tleey" The
curtain falls amid a tempest Of fren-
zIed applause of the crime and the lie.
Translated and played before an Eng
lish speaking audience, no less a
whirwind Of commendation greets the
fAlsehoOd from the dying lips: she
resisted; and / killed her."