Partisan Loyalty.
My own experience leads me to the conclusion that there is less of this sham admiration in England than in France. I grant that the English are often sham admirers of Shakespeare, and that the pretence to appreciate the national poet is not good for the habit of veracity, but I should say that any Englishman who was accustomed to reading would, as a rule, say truly what he thought of modern authors. I would not trust much to his honesty about the Greek and Latin classics, because the admiration of these is mixed up with ideas of culture and of caste. Mr. James Payn says that the habit of literary lying is almost universal in England. The temptation to it is certainly very strong. It is the same temptation that induces painters to over-colour for the exhibitions. Writing which guards and keeps the delicacy of an exquisite honesty, writing which says exactly what the writer feels, and refuses to go beyond his feeling, such writing can rarely appear forcible, especially in comparison with work that is done for force alone without any regard for truth. It will certainly seem weak if it comes after exaggerated writing on the same subject, and it is liable to be eclipsed at any time by coarser work that may be done afterwards. This is especially the case with regard to the criticism or appreciation of great men. The public likes to hear them loudly praised, and easily acquires a sort of partisan loyalty to their names even when it cares nothing for their work. To offend this partisan loyalty is to set it against ourselves, but there is no risk in judicious lying.
Sentence of a Court at Ipswich.
Systematic Lying.
Handsomely rewarded.
I cannot but think that the sentence of the court at Ipswich on George Frederick Wilfrid Ellis was excessively severe. He was condemned to seven years’ penal servitude for having pretended to be a clergyman of the Church of England. For five years he lived as Rector of Wetheringsett, and appears to have given perfect satisfaction in that capacity. He did no perceptible harm in that parish, for even the marriages that he solemnised are valid in English law. He only lied systematically and acted a part to perfection, that was all. But systematic lying is constantly practised by unbelieving laymen who conform outwardly, and they, too, act their part with skill. They may also, like the false Rector of Wetheringsett, often derive great pecuniary advantages from their falsehood, either by getting rich wives or lucrative situations that would be refused to them if their real opinions were known. Yet instead of being condemned to seven years’ hard labour as the sham clergyman was, these sham Christians get nothing but rewards for their lying. It becomes, therefore, an important question, in estimating the general truthfulness of a country, whether religious hypocrisy is encouraged in it or not, and to what degree. Is this kind of lying more encouraged in England or in France?
Value of Hypocrisy in England and France.
“Fearless Truth” gaining in English Estimation.
French Truthfulness.
Power of the English Clergy.