dice of this Protestant country against us, unless it be the
vague charges which are drawn from our books of moral theology; and
with a notice of the work in particular which my accuser especially
throws in our teeth, I shall in a very few words bring these
observations to a close.

St. Alfonso Liguori, it cannot be denied, lays down that an
equivocation, that is, a play upon words, in which one sense is taken
by the speaker, and another sense intended by him for the hearer, is
allowable, if there is a just cause, that is, in a special case, and
may even be confirmed by an oath. I shall give my opinion on this
point as plainly as any Protestant can wish; and therefore I avow at
once that in this department of morality, much as I admire the high
points of the Italian character, I like the English character better;
but, in saying so, I am not, as will be seen, saying anything
disrespectful to St. Alfonso, who was a lover of truth, and whose
intercession I trust I shall not lose, though, on the matter under
consideration, I follow other guidance in preference to his.

Now I make this remark first:--great English authors, Jeremy Taylor,
Milton, Paley, Johnson, men of very distinct schools of thought,
distinctly say, that under certain special circumstances it is
allowable to tell a lie. Taylor says: "To tell a lie for charity, to
save a man's life, the life of a friend, of a husband, of a prince,
of a useful and a public person, hath not only been done at all
times, but commended by great and wise and good men. Who would not
save his father's life, at the charge of a harmless lie, from
persecutors or tyrants?" Again, Milton says: "What man in his senses
would deny, that there are those whom we have the best grounds for
considering that we ought to deceive--as boys, madmen, the sick, the
intoxicated, enemies, men in error, thieves? I would ask, by which of
the commandments is a lie forbidden? You will say, by the ninth.
If then my lie does not injure my neighbour, certainly it is not
forbidden by this commandment." Paley says: "There are falsehoods,
which are not lies, that is, which are not criminal." Johnson: "The
general rule is, that truth should never be violated; there must,
however, be some exceptions. If, for instance, a murderer should ask
you which way a man is gone."

Now, I am not using these instances as an _argumentum ad hominem_;
but this is the use to which I put them:--

1. First, I have set down the di