by winking for the
time at the less, or at mere improprieties or faults; and this is the
key to the difficulty which Catholic books of moral theology so often
cause to the Protestant. They are intended for the confessor, and
Protestants view them as intended for the preacher.

2. And I observe upon Taylor, Milton, and Paley thus: What would a
Protestant clergyman say to me, if I accused him of teaching that a
lie was allowable; and if, when he asked for my proof, I said in
reply that Taylor and Milton so taught? Why, he would sharply retort,
"_I_ am not bound by Taylor or Milton;" and if I went on urging that
"Taylor was one of his authorities," he would answer that Taylor was
a great writer, but great writers were not therefore infallible. This
is pretty much the answer which I make, when I am considered in this
matter a disciple of St. Alfonso.

I plainly and positively state, and without any reserve, that I do
not at all follow this holy and charitable man in this portion of his
teaching. There are various schools of opinion allowed in the Church:
and on this point I follow others. I follow Cardinal Gerdil, and
Natalis Alexander, nay, St. Augustine. I will quote one passage from
Natalis Alexander:--"They certainly lie, who utter the words of an
oath, without the will to swear or bind themselves: or who make use
of mental reservations and _equivocations_ in swearing, since they
signify by words what they have not in mind, contrary to the end for
which language was instituted, viz. as signs of ideas. Or they mean
something else than the words signify in themselves and the common
custom of speech." And, to take an instance: I do not believe any
priest in England would dream of saying, "My friend is not here;"
meaning, "He is not in my pocket or under my shoe." Nor should any
consideration make me say so myself. I do not think St. Alfonso would
in his own case have said so; and he would have been as much shocked
at Taylor and Paley, as Protestants are at him.

And now, if Protestants wish to know what our real teaching is, as on
other subjects, so on that of lying, let them look, not at our books
of casuistry, but at our catechisms. Works on pathology do not give
the best insight into the form and the harmony of the human frame;
and, as it is with the body, so is it with the mind. The Catechism
of the Council of Trent was drawn up for the express purpose of
providing preachers with subjects for their sermons; and,