uttered.

Dr. Dabney, who is far less clear and sound than Dr. Thornwell in his
reasoning on this ethical question, says: "I presume that no man
would feel himself guilty for deceiving a mad dog in order to destroy
him;"[1] and he argues from this assumption that when a man, through
insanity or malice, "is not a rational man, but a brute," he may
fairly be deemed as outside of the pale of humanity, so far as
the obligations of veracity, viewed only as a social virtue, are
concerned.

[Footnote 1: Dabney's _Theology_ (second edition), p. 425 f.]

Dr. Newman Smyth expands this idea.[1] He says: "We may say that
animals, strictly speaking, can have no immediate right to our words
of truth, since they belong below the line of existence which marks
the beginning of any functions of speech." He adds that animals "may
have direct claims upon our humanity, and so indirectly put us under
obligations to give them straightforward and fair treatment," and that
"truthfulness to the domestic animal, to the horse or the dog, is
to be included as a part of our general obligation of kindness to
creatures that are entirely dependent upon our fidelity to them and
their wants." But he cites the driving of horses with blinders,[2] and
the fishing for trout with artificial flies, as evidence of the fact
that man recognizes no sinfulness in the deceiving of the lower
animals, and hence that the duty of veracity is not one of universal
obligation.

[Footnote 1: Smyth's _Christian Ethics_, p. 398.]

[Footnote 2: Here is another illustration of Dr. Smyth's strange
confusion of concealment with deception. It would seem as though a man
must have blinders before his own eyes, to render him incapable of
perceiving the difference between concealing a possible cause of
fright from an animal, and intentionally deceiving that animal.]

If, indeed, the duty of truthfulness were only a social obligation,
there might be a force in this reasoning that is lacking when we see
that falsehood and deceit are against the very nature of God, and
are a violation of man's primal nature. A lie is a sin, whenever and
however and to whomsoever spoken or acted. It is a sin against God
when uttered in his sight.

Man is given authority from God over all the lower animals;[1] and he
is empowered to take their lives, if necessary for his protection or
for his sustenance. In the exercise of this right, man is entitled to
conceal from the animals he would kill or ca