Year: 1878

quality of the act. Even murder was JUS


titled by the Jesuits, if the purpose of the
assassin was pious.


To deceive robber is approved on the
ground that he has no right to the truth;
but if it be established as a principle that
it is right to tell an untruth to robber,
no robber will accept statement as true,
and its utility is destroyed. To tell lie
to save life is justified by some writers
because the higher obligation must be
| obeyed when two come into conflict To
save money is not so important as to
speak the truth To save our own life,
or that of others, may be higher duty
than to speak the truth. That is the
reasoning of able and good men of the
Protestant school, yet we do not adopt it
as beyond dispute.


But these suggestions readily show
that truth between man and man is one
of the highest, if not the highest, of all
the obligations under which members of
human society are placed. 1t is of su-
preme Importance that we get right ideas
on this subject and carry them into prac-
tice The salesman who conceals de-
feet in the goods he is selling, and thus
deceives his customer, commits a sin,
unless there is a distinct understanding
that the goods are bought at the buyers





rule, unless otherwise declared. In the
store, shop or market the understanding
is that the goods are sound unless other.
wise stated. The essence Of honesty, in
tegrity, purity of SOUL is exhibited in full
filling what one supposes to be the un
derstanding, the promise, or obligation.
To disappoint that understanding is to
lie and is in It's nature sinful. A score
of illustrations might be given, but they
could not make palmer the principle
that we must do what we believe our
neighbor understands to be our obliga-
tion, or we must tell him so and decline
the bargain. To deceive him is to injure
him and to destroy our own soul.


Now is there anything in these obvious
principles to justify the use of deception
in order to convict men of crime? May
a detective tell as many lies as he pleas
es, in order to bring rogue within grasp
of the law2 The law forbids unlicensed
persons to sell intoxicating liquors; it
forbids the sale Of corrupting books and
pictures Is it right for the detective to
practise arts of deception to obtain evi-
dence against the vendors in this unlaw-
full traffic? The apostle writing to the
Romans, and it were we'll that Romanists
would heed it, says of them who "do evil
that good may come" their "damnation
is just"


What a man would do to save his life
or even to save his money: what he
would do in dealing with a sick person
or a madman, to promote his welfare, is
not the question in hand. We are in
quiring as to the duty of men in dealing
with responsible beings in the voluntary
pursuits of intelligent persons. If gov
ernment is at war with those who break
l., +,o foc, Of ha
lawful on the part of government agents,
but with private individuals, if not with
officers of Justice, the means must be con-
fined to the limits of veracty or they be-
come morally wrong, injurious to him
who resorts to them, destroying his own
sense of right, and incurring the divine
displeasure.


There is another question growing out
of this, which we do not now discuss: it
concerns the morality of buying what
the law forbids being sold: or inducing
one to sell what the law forbids. Here
the defence is that the intention Of the
buyer is to do a good deed, that is, to
punish the vender. Thus the intention
of the buyer is made the justification of
the act which otherwise would be con-
demned In these times of general laxi-
ty of moral obligation it is probably re-
garded as IDLE to raise such questions as
these. And we know very well that in
the world, in business circles, among
men who deal in horses and some other
stock a rigid enforcement of the rule
forbidding all deception, is regarded as
impracticable. We do not think it is so,
but we believe that in all lawful bust
ness, honesty requires frankness and
truth between man and man. even in the
minutest matters. But we are now deal
ing with private Christians, whose avow
ed purpose is to promote good morals
and execute the laws. To them we COM
mend the practice of undertaking veraci
ty under all circumstances, and the
avoidance of all statements by signs, let
ters or words, that are not strictly true.