1. I do not think it right to tell lies to children, even on this account, that they are sharper than we think them, and will soon find out what we are doing; and our example will be a very bad training for them. And so of equivocation: it is easy of imitation, and we ourselves shall be sure to get the worst of it in the end.
2. If an early Father defends the patriarch Jacob in his mode of gaining his father's blessing, on the ground that the blessing was divinely pledged to him already, that it was his, and that his father and brother were acting at once against his own rights and the divine will, it does not follow from this that such conduct is a pattern to us, who have no supernatural means of determining when an untruth becomes a material, and not a formal lie. It seems to me very dangerous, be it ever allowable or not, to lie or equivocate in order to preserve some great temporal or spiritual benefit; nor does St. Alfonso here say any thing to the contrary, for he is not discussing the question of danger or expedience.
3. As to Johnson's case of a murderer asking you which way a man had gone, I should have anticipated that, had such a difficulty happened to him, his first act would have been to knock the man down, and to call out for the police; and next, if he was worsted in the conflict, he would not have given the ruffian the information he asked, at whatever risk to himself. I think he would have let himself be killed first. I do not think that he would have told a lie.
4. A secret is a more difficult case. Supposing something has been confided to me in the strictest secrecy, which could not be revealed without great disadvantage to another, what am I to do? If I am a lawyer, I am protected by my profession. I have a right to treat with extreme indignation any question which trenches on the inviolability of my position; but, supposing I was driven up into a corner, I think I should have a right to say an untruth, or that, under such circumstances, a lie would be material, but it is almost an impossible case, for the law would defend me. In like manner, as a priest, I should think it lawful to speak as if I knew nothing of what passed in confession. And I think in these cases, I do in fact possess that guarantee, that I am not going by private judgment, which just now I demanded; for society would bear me out, whether as a lawyer or as a priest, in holding that I had a duty to my client or penitent, such, that an untruth in the matter was not a lie. A common type of this permissible denial, be it material lie or evasion, is at the moment supplied to me:—an artist asked a Prime Minister, who was sitting to him, "What news, my Lord, from France?" He answered, "I do not know; I have not read the Papers."
5. A more difficult question is, when to accept confidence has not been a duty. Supposing a man wishes to keep the secret that he is the author of a book, and he is plainly asked on the subject. Here I should ask the previous question, whether any one has a right to publish what he dare not avow. It requires to have traced the bearings and results of such a principle, before being sure of it; but certainly, for myself, I am no friend of strictly anonymous writing. Next, supposing another has confided to you the secret of his authorship:—there are persons who would have no scruple at all in giving a denial to impertinent questions asked them on the subject. I have heard a great man in his day at Oxford, warmly contend, as if he could not enter into any other view of the matter, that, if he had been trusted by a friend with the secret of his being author of a certain book, and he were asked by a third person, if his friend was not (as he really was) the author of it, he ought, without any scruple and distinctly, to answer that he did not know. He had an existing duty towards the author; he had none towards his inquirer. The author had a claim on him; an impertinent questioner had none at all. But here again I desiderate some leave, recognized by society, as in the case of the formulas "Not at home," and "Not guilty," in order to give me the right of saying what is a material untruth. And moreover, I should here also ask the previous question, Have I any right to accept such a confidence? have I any right to make such a promise? and, if it be an unlawful promise, is it binding when it cannot be kept without a lie? I am not attempting to solve these difficult questions, but they have to be carefully examined. And now I have said more than I had intended on a question of casuistry.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATTER.
I.
LETTERS AND PAPERS OF THE AUTHOR USED IN THE COURSE OF THIS WORK.
| February 11, 1811 | 3 |
| October 26, 1823 | 2 |
| September 7, 1829 | 119 |
| July 20, 1834 | 41 |
| November 28, " | 57 |
| August 18, 1837 | 29 |
| February 11, 1840 | 124 |
| " 21, " | 129 |
| October 29(?)" | 132 |
| November " | 135 |
| March 15, 1841 | 137 |
| " 20, " | 170 |
| " 24, " | 208 |
| " 25, " | 137 |
| April 1, " | 137 |
| " 4, " | 138 |
| " 8, " | 138 |
| " 8, " | 187 |
| " 26, " | 188 |
| May 5, " | 188 |
| " 9, " | 138 |
| June 18, " | 189 |
| September 12, 1841 | 190 |
| October 12, " | 143 |
| " 17, " | 140 |
| " 22, " | 140 |
| November 11, " | 145 |
| " 14, " | 144 |
| December 13, " | 156 |
| " 24, " | 157 |
| " 25, " | 159 |
| " 26, " | 162 |
| March 6, 1842 | 177 |
| April 14, " | 173 |
| October 16, " | 171 |
| November 22, " | 193 |
| Feb. 25, & 28, 1843 | 181 |
| March 3, " | 182 |
| " 8, " | 184 |
| May 4, " | 208 |
| " 18, " | 209 |
| June 20, " | 178 |
| July 16, " | 179 |
| August 29, " | 213 |
| August 30, 1843 | 179 |
| September 7, " | 213 |
| " 29, " | 225 |
| October 14, " | 219 |
| " 25, " | 221 |
| " 31, " | 223 |
| November 13, " | 140 |
| 1843 or 1844 | 178 |
| January 22, 1844 | 226 |
| February 21, " | 226 |
| April 3, " | 205 |
| " 8, " | 226 |
| July 14, " | 197 |
| September 16, " | 227 |
| November 7, " | 230 |
| November 16, 1844 | 228 |
| " 24, " | 229 |
| 1844 (?) | 225 |
| 1844 or 1845 | 167 |
| January 8, 1845 | 230 |
| March 30, " | 231 |
| April 3, " | 232 |
| " 16, " | 180 |
| June 1, " | 232 |
| " 17, " | 180 |
| October 8, " | 234 |
| November 8, " | 155 |
| " 25, " | 235 |
| January 20, 1846 | 236 |
| December 6, 1849 | 185 |