ry, difobedience t, feduction, calumny, diffimulation,

"Is it lawful for a man to eat and drink as much as he can, without any ne effity, but merely for his pleasure? Certainly it is, according to our fa"ther Sanchez, provided he do not thereby prejudice his health, because it is allowable in the natural appetite to be taken up with thofe actions that a e proper thereto."" May a man drink wine at any time, when he pleaseth, and that in a confiderable quantity, without breaking his faft? He may; nay, "if he pleafe, hypocras, etc." Efcob. tr. i. ex. 13. n. 75. et tr. ii, ex. 2. n. 102.

"Children, if their parents being often befought and entreated, refuse to comply, may fteal away, to relax their minds, as far as custom or their difpofitions permit.' Subjects do not fin when they refufe, without any reafon alledged, to fubmit to a law whereof there hath been a legal procla"mation made by their prince." Efcob. Th. Mor, tome i. l. v. § 2.

"It is no injury done to the paternal power a man hath over his children, "for another to perfuade his daughter to run away with him, in order to a "clandeftine marriage against her father's confent."" A man, who hath the ii reputation to be extremely given to women, does not commit any mortal fin "in foliciting a woman to condefend to his defires, when he does not intend 66 to put his design in execution." Baun. Theol, mor, tr. 22. Efc. Theol. mor, tr. i. ex. 8. c. 3.

|| "It was maintained in the public thefes of Levain in 1645, “That it is "only a venial fin to calumniate, and impofe falfe crimes, to ruin their credit "who speak ill of us."-" That it is not any mortal fin to calumniate falfely, "to preferve one's honour, is no doubt a probable opinion," fays Caramuel:' "for it is maintained by above twenty grave doctors, by Gafpar Hurtado, and "Dicaftilius, &. fo that, if this doctrine be not probable, there is hardly "any fuch in all the body of divinity."" This maxim," continues he, "of "Father Dicaftillus concerning calumny, having been by a countess of Germany taught the empress's daughters, the confidence they thence took that it "was no fin, at most but venial, to fcatter calumnies up and down, bred in a "few days fo many, together with fo much opprobrious language, that it put "the whole court into alarm and combuftion: for it is not hard to imagine "what ufe they might make of it: fo that, to appeafe this tumult, they were "forced to fend for a religious capuchin, a man of an exemplary life, named "Father Quiroga, who came and made it appear to them, that that maxim was a moft pernicious one, especially among women; and he took a particular care to oblige the empress abfolutely to abolish the ufe of it."-But what thanks got he for his pains? hear Dicaftillus: "A certain grave religious man, "bare hoofed and deep-cowled, whom I name not, was fo rafh as to cry down this opinion, among a fort of women and ignorant people, and to affirm that it was pernicious and fcandalous, prejudicial to good manners, contrary to the quiet and tranquillity of ftates and focieties, &c.: but I have maintain‹d against him, and do still maintain, that calumny, when it is used against a calumniator, though grounded on abfolute falfities, is not, for that, any mortal fin, either against juftice or charity and, to prove it, I have brought a

"cloud

lation, equivocation *,

mental refervation +, lying,

perfidy,

-cloud of our fathers to witness it, and whole universities confifting of them; among others the Rev. Father John Gans confeffor to the emperor, Father "Henry preceptor, Father Daniel Bastela confeffor to the Archduke Leopold; "all the public and ordinary profeffors of the university of Vienna; all the pro"feffors of the university of Grats; all the profeffors of the university of Prague;

of all whom I have in my cuftody the approbation of my opinion, written "and figned with their own hands: befides, I have on my fide Father Penna"ssa preacher to the emperor and the king of Spain, Father Pillicerolli and 46 many others, who had accounted this opinion probable, before any dispute be"tween us." Caram. Th. "und. Dicaft. de Juft, l. ij. tr. 2. difp. 12 n. 464.

Efcobar maintains that " it is lawful, upon occafion of fome great fear, to "make use of diffimulation in the adminiftration of the facraments, and, for a "like reason, that it is no sin to contract a marriage by perfonification, as if it "were in a play upon the ftage, by using equivocal expreffions to elude the "church."-"That a privilege is good and authentic, though it be obtained "by difcovering but fome part of the truth, and in fuch manner that it had "not been obtained, if there had been an abfolute discovery made of the "truth."-"The doctrine of equivocation," fays Blackwell," is for the con"folation of afflicted Catholics, and the inftruction of all the godly." It has been of fpecial ufe to them when refiding among heretics or infidels. So far have the fociety of the Incies carried their diffimulation into religion as well as civil life, that they have made a fhew of conformity to the religion and rites of worship in the countries where they have been, and remained good Catholics in their heart. In China and Malabar, idolaters have been permitted to venerate their old deities in exterior appearance, if they knew how to manage the pious fraud of a concealed crucifix, &c. and could direct aright the intention. The miffionaries themselves by the help of it have tried to make Chriflianity lefs obnoxious, by concealing the crucifixion of the Saviour altogether from fome of their new converts.-The pernicious doctrine of equivocation has been alfo directly taught by Afpilcueta, Marulus Splatenfis, Parions, Leffius, EudæmonJohannes, Roderiguez, Sanchez, Hefius, Fernandes, Tolet-vindicated by Azorius, Maldonatus, Vaquez, Valentianus, Becanus, &c. Efc. Tb. mor, time i, li. § 2. c. 7. et l. vi. § 2. c. 10. Apol. pro Hen. Garn. Abbot, Antileg, cap. ii. p.13. Jo. Prid. Lection. !. x. de Æquivoc. Jefuit. p. 146, etc.

"A man may fwear," faith Sanchez," that he hath not done a thing, "" though he really have, by understanding within himtelf, that he did it not on “fuch or such a day, or before he was born; or by reflecting on fome other "circumftance of the like nature; and yet the words he makes ufe of fhall not have a fenfe implying any fuch thing: and this is a thing of great conveni"ence on many occafions, and is always juftifiable, when it is neceffary or advantageous in any thing that concerns a man's health, honour, or eftate." Filutius fays, "It is the intention that regulates the quality of the action: and "therefore a man lies not though he fay, I fwear that I have not done fuck a

"

thing, if he add whispering to himself, this day: or if when he hath faid

aloud,

i

perfidy

bribery t, fimony ‡, fraudulent dealing,

theft,

“aloud, I fear, he whispers, I say, and then go on aloud, that I have not done "fuch a thing; or if he have, in general, an intention to give his difcourfe "that fenfe which a prudent man would." Thus a man at any time may practife the art of speaking trath to himself, and lying or fwearing falfely to every body elfe. Sanch. Op. mor. p. 2. l. iii. c. 6. Fil. tr. xxv. c. 11.

*Promises oblige not, when a man hath no intention to engage himself "when he makes them: now it feldom happens that a man hath that intention, "unless he be bound by oath or contra&; so that when one fays fimply, I will "do fuch a thing, it is conceived he will do it, if his mind alter not for no

man will upon that account deprive himself of his liberty."" In civil con"tracts, he who hath externally obliged himself either by word or writing, and "who had not, at the fame time, any intention to be internally obliged, is not "in confcience engaged to performance, and may fecretly take back again that "which he had fold, restoring the price he had received. Molina. Efc. Tb. mor. tume i. l. x. § 2. c. 15. et tr. iii. ex. 3.

"Confidering justice simply in itself, a judge may lawfully take a fum of money to give fentence for which of the parties he pleaseth, when both have "equal right."—" If a judge receive a bribe to pass a juft fentence, he is bound "to rektore it'; because he ought to do justice without a bribe, and therefore "the party hath nothing of his money but what is his right: but, if the judge "be bribed to pass an unjust sentence, he is not obliged in confcience to make * any reftitution."" Judges," fays Molina, " may receive presents from the

parties, if they make them either out of friendship, or out of gratitude, for "the justice they have done them; or to oblige them to do it for the future, or "to engage them to take a particular care of their business, or to give them a “fudden dispatch." Efcob. Tb. mor. tome i. l. ii. § 2. c. 6. Moi, tome i, tr. 2. difp. 88.

Į "Simony," according to Valentia, " confifts in the receiving of a temporal "good as the juft price of the fpiritual: if therefore the temporal be demand❝ed, not as the price, but as the motive determining a man to confer, there is no fimony at all; though he look on the poffeffion of the temporal good as his "end, and principal expectation.”—“ It is a probable opinion," fays Eradus Billus, and taught by many Catholic doctors, that it is no fimony, nor any "fir, to give money, or any other temporal thing, for a benefice, either by

way of acknowledgment, or as a motive, without which it would not be be"ftowed; provided it be not given as a price proportionable to the benefice." So, Sanchez, Efcobar, and others. Myft. of Jef. p. 178, &c. Greg. Valen, tome iii. difp. 6. qu. 16, trc.

"According to a probable opinion, deciding that a tax imposed upon mer"chandifes is not just, it is lawful for a man to use false weights to gain the ec more, and, if he be charged with so doing, he may deny it by oath, making "ufe of equivocal expreffions, when he is brought upon interrogatories before "the judge."."—" May he who turns bankrupt, with a fafe confcience, retain

46

as much of his own goods as is requifite to maintain himself handsomely;

theft, robbery t, envy, hatred, revenge t, duelling,

ne indecore vivat? I, with Leffius, affirm he may," fays Efcobar, Theol, mor. tr. i. ex. 3. c. 7. &c. Praxis ex Societ. Jes. Do&.

to.

"It is lawful to fteal, not only in an extreme neceffity, but also in fuch a "neceffity as is hard to be endured, though it be not extreme. "A man is not obliged, upon pain of mortal fin, to restore what he hath ftolen by tri"vial and inconfiderable thefts, whatever the total fum thereof may amount ."-" A woman may take money from her husband on divers occafions; " among others, the may take it to game with, to buy her clothes, and to get other things that the ftands in need of."-" A fon who lives in the house "with his father may`exact a certain recompence for the fervices he does him, and, in cafe he does not give him any, he may with a fafe confcience steal "from his father."-" Domeftics, if they take any thing without consulting "their mafters, being rationally perfuaded that it is no injuftice to them, com"mit no crime."-" May fervants, who are not content with their wages, ad"vance them of themselves, by filching and purloining as much from their "masters as they imagine necessary to my ke their wages proportionable to their "fervices? In fome occafions they may, as when they are fo poor when they come into fervice, that they are obliged to accept any proffer that is made to "them, and when other fervants of their quality get more elsewhere." This doctrine, however, these fathers have not relished altogether so well in praxi as in theft, when they themselves have happened to be the lofing party. John d'Alba being a fervant to the fathers of Clermont, and thinking his wages too low, and no doubt rationally perfuaded of it, ftole fomewhat from them to make up the deficiency; never dreaming they would make him a criminal for following their own approved rules. However, they clapped him into prifon, and charged him with felony: upon his trial, the poor rogue confeffed that he had indeed taken away fome pewter plates from the fathers, but pleaded for his justification the doctrine of Father Bauny, which he prefented to the judges, with an attestation from another of the fathers under whom he had ftudied the cafes of confcience. Notwithstanding, the judge gave the following sentence; "That the prifoner fhould not be acquitted upon the writings of these fathers, containing a doctrine fo unlawful, pernicious, and contrary to all laws, natural, "divine and human, fuch as might confound all families, and authorize all " domestic frauds and infidelities; but that the over faithful disciple should be "whipped before the college-gate of Clermont by the common executioner, "who at the fame time fhould burn all the writings of those fathers treating "of theft; and that they should be prohibited to teach any fuch doctrine again, upan pain of death." Less. 1. ii. c. 12. Eft. tr. i. ex. 9. et tr. iii, ex. 9. c. 4. Praxis ex Soc. etc.

14

Lettr. Provin, let. 6. etc.

Valquez fays, that "when a man fees a thief refolved and ready to rob a poor body, he may, to divert him from fò doing, affign him fome rich per.on, "whom he may rob inftead of the other." Cefiro Pal, t. i. tr. 6, d. 6. Efc. ir. u.

ex. 5.

"Envy at the fpiritual good of another is mortal; but envy at the temporal, "is bet venial."—"A man may pray unto God to fend fudden deflruction on " thofe

ling, homicide t, infanticide t, regicide, with other

vices

"those who endeavour to

perfecute him, if he cannot avoid it otherwife." j Hurt. Difp. tome ii. di. 15, 3. § 4, 55, 48.

Baun. Som des Pech. c. 7. *It is but rational to affirm," fays Sanchez, "that a man may not only "fight a duel to fave his life, but his reputation, nay, his eftate, if it be any "thing confiderable, when it is clear that others endeavour to take them away "by foul practice and vexatious fuits at law, and there be no other way to pre"ferve them: and Navarrus fays very well, that in fuch a cafe it is lawsul ei"ther to accept or give the challenge; nay farther, that a man may dispatch " his enemy at unawares; and that, in fuch occurrences, a man need not con"fine himself to the ordinary way of duels, if he can fecretly murder his adverfary, and thereby put an end to the bufinefs: for by that means he fhall 66 not only avoid the hazard he may be in by exposing his life in fighting, but "alfo not participate of the fin which his enemy would commit by the duel." The fame doctrine is found in many other cafuifts. Efcob. Th. mor. tr. i. ext 7. c. 3. Laym. Prax l. iii. t. 3. par. c. 3. Hurt. in 2. 2. part. 5. tr. 13.

difp. 170. Dian.

↑ "According to Efcobar, " a man is said to kill treacherously, when he kills "him who hath not the leaft fufpicion that such a thing will happen to him:

he therefore that kills his enemy is not faid to kill treacherously, though he "do it behind his back, or by way of ambush:"-" He who kills his enemy "with whom he had been reconciled, though under promife never to attempt "his life again, is not abfolutely faid to kill him treacherously, unless there had "been a very intimate friendship between them before." According to others of that horrid fraternity," a man may kill a falfe accufer, the witnesses produ"ced by him, and the judge himself, when they cannot be otherwife diverted "from oppreffing the innocent.""It is lawful," fays Leffius," by the con "fent of all cafuifts, to kill him who would give a box on the ear, or a blow "with a stick, when a man cannot otherwife avoid it." Nay, they permit to kill for opprobrious words, for giving the lie, for detracting from a man's learning or reputation, and almost for any offence or injury whatever: Molina hath eftimated the value of a man's life fo low as fix or seven ducats, for which he declares, "it is lawful to kill a man, though he who hath taken them fly for "it;" and farther," that he durft not charge that man with any fin, who "kills him who had taken from him a thing of the value of a crown or lefs;" which makes Efcobar fay, "That regularly it is lawful to kill a man for the "value of a crown, according to Molina." Some have gone yet farther, and affert, that one may do it for an apple, "in cafe it were a great dishonour to "him to lose it; for in fuch a cafe a man may recover it, fays Leffius, et, fi

opus, occidere, and if need be, to that end, kill the perfon that hath it."There are many more of thefe infernal murderous maxims which fhock huma nity, and make the mind recoil with horror. Efc. tr. i. èx, 7. 6. 3. et tr. vi, ex. 4. Azor. Infi, mor. part. iii. l. 2. p. 105. Tanner, to. iii, disp. 4. 9. 8. d. 4. Filur, to, ii, tr, 29. c. 3. - Leff. de Fuft, I. ¡¡. č. 9. – Becan. Sum. par. iii, tr. 2.