第47章

'It is a result of commutative justice that all honest labour should find its recompense either in praise or in self-satisfaction.When men of good talents publish some excellent work, they are justly remunerated by public applause.But when a man of weak parts has wrought hard at some worthless production, and fails to obtain the praise of the public, in order that his labour may not go without its reward, God imparts to him a personal satisfaction, which it would be worse than barbarous injustice to envy him.It is thus that God, who is infinitely just, has given even to frogs a certain complacency in their own croaking.'" "Very fine decisions in favour of vanity, ambition, and avarice!" cried I; "and envy, father, will it be more difficult to find an excuse for it?" "That is a delicate point,"he replied."We require to make use here of Father Bauny's distinction, which he lays down in his Summary of Sins.- 'Envy of the spiritual good of our neighbour is mortal but envy of his temporal good is only venial.'""And why so, father?" "You shall hear, said he."'For the good that consists in temporal things is so slender, and so insignificant in relation to heaven, that it is of no consideration in the eyes of God and His saints.'" "But, father, if temporal good is so slender, and of so little consideration, how do you come to permit men's lives to be taken away in order to preserve it?" "You mistake the matter entirely," returned the monk; "you were told that temporal good was of no consideration in the eyes of God, but not in the eyes of men." "That idea never occurred to me," I replied; "and now, it is to be hoped that, in virtue of these same distinctions, the world will get rid of mortal sins altogether." "Do not flatter yourself with that," said the father; "there are still such things as mortal sins-there is sloth, for example." "Nay, then, father dear!" I exclaimed, "after that, farewell to all 'the joys of life!'" "Stay," said the monk, "when you have heard Escobar's definition of that vice, you will perhaps change your tone: 'Sloth,' he observes, 'lies in grieving that spiritual things are spiritual, as if one should lament that the sacraments are the sources of grace; which would be a mortal sin.'" "O my dear sir!" cried I, "I don't think that anybody ever took it into his head to be slothful in that way.""And accordingly," he replied, "Escobar afterwards remarks: 'I must confess that it is very rarely that a person falls into the sin of sloth.' You see now how important it is to define things properly?" "Yes, father, and this brings to my mind your other definitions about assassinations, ambuscades, and superfluities.But why have you not extended your method to all cases, and given definitions of all vices in your way, so that people may no longer sin in gratifying themselves?" "It is not always essential," he replied, "to accomplish that purpose by changing the definitions of things.I may illustrate this by referring to the subject of good cheer, which is accounted one of the greatest pleasures of life, and which Escobar thus sanctions in his Practice according to our Society: 'Is it allowable for a person to eat and drink to repletion, unnecessarily, and solely for pleasure?

Certainly he may, according to Sanchez, provided he does not thereby injure his health; because the natural appetite may be permitted to enjoy its proper functions.'" "Well, father, that is certainly the most complete passage, and the most finished maxim in the whole of your moral system!

What comfortable inferences may be drawn from it! Why, and is gluttony, then, not even a venial sin?" "Not in the shape I have just referred to,"he replied; "but, according to the same author, it would be a venial sin 'were a person to gorge himself, unnecessarily, with eating and drinking, to such a degree as to produce vomiting.' So much for that point.I would now say a little about the facilities we have invented for avoiding sin in worldly conversations and intrigues.One of the most embarrassing of these cases is how to avoid telling lies, particularly when one is anxious to induce a belief in what is false.In such cases, our doctrine of equivocations has been found of admirable service, according to which, as Sanchez has it, 'it is permitted to use ambiguous terms, leading people to understand them in another sense from that in which we understand them ourselves.'""I know that already, father," said I."We have published it so often,"continued he, "that at length, it seems, everybody knows of it.But do you know what is to be done when no equivocal words can be got?" "No, father.""I thought as much, said the Jesuit; "this is something new, sir: I mean the doctrine of mental reservations.'A man may swear,' as Sanchez says in the same place, 'that he never did such a thing (though he actually did it), meaning within himself that he did not do so on a certain day, or before he was born, or understanding any other such circumstance, while the words which he employs have no such sense as would discover his meaning.

And this is very convenient in many cases, and quite innocent, when necessary or conducive to one's health, honour, or advantage.'" "Indeed, father!