Apologia Pro Vita Sua by John Henry Newman (books you need to read .txt) 📕

rest of my countrymen: and, without any reference to the right and the wrong of the matter, of this I am sure, that, if there is one thing more than another which prejudices Englishmen against the Catholic Church, it is the doctrine of great authorities on the subject of equivocation. For myself, I can fancy myself thinking it was allowable in extreme cases for me to lie, but never to equivocate. Luther said, "Pecca fortiter." I anathematize his formal sentiment, but there is a truth in it, when spoken of material acts.

Fourthly, I think evasion, as I have described it, to be perfectly allowable; indeed, I do not know, who does not use it, under circumstances; but that a good deal of moral danger is attached to its use; and that, the cleverer a man is, the more likely he is to pass the line of Christian duty.

But it may be said, that such decisions do not meet the particular difficulties for which provision is required; let us then take some instances.

1. I do not think it right to tell lies to children, even on this account, that they are sharper than we think them, and will soon find out what we are doing; and our example will be a very bad training for them. And so of equivocation: it is easy of imitation, and we ourselves shall be sure to get the worst of it in the end.

2. If an early Father defends the patriarch Jacob in his mode of gaining his father's blessing, on the ground that the blessing was divinely pledged to him already, that it was his, and that his father and brother were acting at once against his own rights and the divine will, it does not follow from this that such conduct is a pattern to us, who have no supernatural means of determining when an untruth becomes a material, and not a formal lie. It seems to me very dangerous, be it ever allowable or not, to lie or equivocate in order to preserve some great temporal or spiritual benefit; nor does St. Alfonso here say any thing to the contrary, for he is not discussing the question of danger or expedience.

3. As to Johnson's case of a murderer asking you which way a man had gone, I should have anticipated that, had such a difficulty happened to him, his first act would have been to knock the man down, and to call out for the police; and next, if he was worsted in the conflict, he would not have given the ruffian the information he asked, at whatever risk to himself. I think he would have let himself be killed first. I do not think that he would have told a lie.

4. A secret is a more difficult case. Supposing something has been confided to me in the strictest secrecy, which could not be revealed without great disadvantage to another, what am I to do? If I am a lawyer, I am protected by my profession. I have a right to treat with extreme indignation any question which trenches on the inviolability of my position; but, supposing I was driven up into a corner, I think I should have a right to say an untruth, or that, under such circumstances, a lie would be material, but it is almost an impossible case, for the law would defend me. In like manner, as a priest, I should think it lawful to speak as if I knew nothing of what passed in confession. And I think in these cases, I do in fact possess that guarantee, that I am not going by private judgment, which just now I demanded; for society would bear me out, whether as a lawyer or as a priest, in holding that I had a duty to my client or penitent, such, that an untruth in the matter was not a lie. A common type of this permissible denial, be it material lie or evasion, is at the moment supplied to me:—an artist asked a Prime Minister, who was sitting to him, "What news, my Lord, from France?" He answered, "I do not know; I have not read the Papers."

5. A more difficult question is, when to accept confidence has not been a duty. Supposing a man wishes to keep the secret that he is the author of a book, and he is plainly asked on the subject. Here I should ask the previous question, whether any one has a right to publish what he dare not avow. It requires to have traced the bearings and results of such a principle, before being sure of it; but certainly, for myself, I am no friend of strictly anonymous writing. Next, supposing another has confided to you the secret of his authorship:—there are persons who would have no scruple at all in giving a denial to impertinent questions asked them on the subject. I have heard a great man in his day at Oxford, warmly contend, as if he could not enter into any other view of the matter, that, if he had been trusted by a friend with the secret of his being author of a certain book, and he were asked by a third person, if his friend was not (as he really was) the author of it, he ought, without any scruple and distinctly, to answer that he did not know. He had an existing duty towards the author; he had none towards his inquirer. The author had a claim on him; an impertinent questioner had none at all. But here again I desiderate some leave, recognized by society, as in the case of the formulas "Not at home," and "Not guilty," in order to give me the right of saying what is a material untruth. And moreover, I should here also ask the previous question, Have I any right to accept such a confidence? have I any right to make such a promise? and, if it be an unlawful promise, is it binding when it cannot be kept without a lie? I am not attempting to solve these difficult questions, but they have to be carefully examined. And now I have said more than I had intended on a question of casuistry.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATTER. I. LETTERS AND PAPERS OF THE AUTHOR USED IN THE COURSE OF THIS WORK. February 11, 1811 3 October 26, 1823 2 September 7, 1829 119 July 20, 1834 41 November 28, " 57 August 18, 1837 29 February 11, 1840 124 " 21, " 129 October 29(?)" 132 November " 135 March 15, 1841 137 " 20, " 170 " 24, " 208 " 25, " 137 April 1, " 137 " 4, " 138 " 8, " 138 " 8, " 187 " 26, " 188 May 5, " 188 " 9, " 138 June 18, " 189 September 12, 1841 190 October 12, " 143 " 17, " 140 " 22, " 140 November 11, " 145 " 14, " 144 December 13, " 156 " 24, " 157 " 25, " 159 " 26, " 162 March 6, 1842 177 April 14, " 173 October 16, " 171 November 22, " 193 Feb. 25, & 28, 1843 181 March 3, " 182 " 8, " 184 May 4, " 208 " 18, " 209 June 20, " 178 July 16, " 179 August 29, " 213 August 30, 1843 179 September 7, " 213 " 29, " 225 October 14, " 219 " 25, " 221 " 31, " 223 November 13, " 140 1843 or 1844 178 January 22, 1844 226 February 21, " 226 April 3, " 205 " 8, " 226 July 14, " 197 September 16, " 227 November 7, " 230 November 16, 1844 228 " 24, " 229 1844 (?) 225 1844 or 1845 167 January 8, 1845 230 March 30, " 231 April 3, " 232 " 16, " 180 June 1, " 232 " 17, " 180 October 8, " 234 November 8, " 155 " 25, " 235 January 20, 1846 236 December 6, 1849 185

II. CARDINAL NEWMAN'S WORKS.

N.B.—This List, originally made in 1865, is now corrected up to 1890.

1. SERMONS.

VOLS. 1-8. Parochial and Plain Sermons. (Longmans.)

9. Sermons on Subjects of the Day. (Longmans.)

10. University Sermons. (Longmans.)

11. Sermons to Mixed Congregations. (Burns and Oates.)

12. Occasional Sermons. (Burns and Oates.)

2. TREATISES.

13. On the Doctrine of Justification. (Longmans.)

14. On the Development of Christian Doctrine. (Longmans.)

15. On the Idea of a University. (Longmans.)

16. An Essay in Aid of a Grammar of Assent. (Longmans.)

3. ESSAYS.

17. Two Essays on Miracles. 1. Of Scripture. 2. Of Ecclesiastical History. (Longmans.)

18. Discussions and Arguments. 1. How to accomplish it. 2. The Antichrist of the Fathers. 3. Scripture and the Creed. 4. Tamworth Reading-Room. 5. Who's to blame? 6. An Argument for Christianity. (Longmans.)

19, 20. Essays Critical and Historical. 2 vols. 1. Poetry. 2. Rationalism. 3. Apostolical Tradition. 4. De la Mennais. 5. Palmer on Faith and Unity. 6. St. Ignatius. 7. Prospects of the Anglican Church. 8. The Anglo-American Church. 9. Countess of Huntingdon. 10. Catholicity of the Anglican Church. 11. The Antichrist of Protestants. 12. Milman's Christianity. 13. Reformation of the Eleventh Century. 14. Private Judgment. 15. Davison. 16. Keble. (Longmans.)

4. HISTORICAL.

21-23. Historical Sketches. 3 vols. 1. The Turks. 2. Cicero. 3. Apollonius. 4. Primitive Christianity. 5. Church of the Fathers. 6. St. Chrysostom. 7. Theodoret. 8. St. Benedict. 9. Benedictine Schools. 10. Universities. 11. Northmen and Normans. 12. Medieval Oxford. 13. Convocation of Canterbury. (Longmans.)

5. THEOLOGICAL.

24. The Arians of the Fourth Century. (Longmans.)

25, 26. Annotated Translation of Athanasius. 2 vols. (Longmans.)

27. Tracts. 1. Dissertatiunculæ. 2. On the Text of the Seven Epistles of St. Ignatius. 3. Doctrinal Causes of Arianism. 4. Apollinarianism. 5. St. Cyril's Formula. 6. Ordo de Tempore. 7. Douay Version of Scripture. (Burns and Oates.)

6. POLEMICAL.

28, 29. The Via Media of the Anglican Church. 2 vols. with Notes. Vol. I. Prophetical Office of the Church. Vol. II. Occasional Letters and Tracts. (Longmans.)

30, 31. Certain Difficulties felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching Considered. 2 vols. Vol. I. Twelve Lectures. Vol. II. Letters to Dr. Pusey concerning the Bl. Virgin, and to the Duke of Norfolk in Defence of the Pope and Council. (Longmans.)

32. Present Position of Catholics in England. (Longmans.)

33. Apologia pro Vita Sua. (Longmans.)

7. LITERARY.

34. Verses on Various Occasions. (Longmans.)

35. Loss and Gain. (Burns and Oates.)

36. Callista. (Longmans.)

37. The Dream of Gerontius. (Longmans.)

¶ It is scarcely necessary to say that the Author submits all that he has written to the judgment of the Church, whose gift and prerogative it is to determine what is true and what is false in religious teaching.

III. LETTER OF APPROBATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF BIRMINGHAM, DR. ULLATHORNE.

"Bishop's House, June 2, 1864.

"My dear Dr. Newman,—

"It was with warm gratification that, after the close of the Synod yesterday, I listened to the Address presented to you by the clergy of the diocese, and to your impressive reply. But I should have been little satisfied with the part of the silent listener, except on the understanding with myself that I also might afterwards express to you my own sentiments in my own way.

"We have now been personally acquainted, and much more than acquainted, for nineteen years, during more than sixteen of which we have stood in special relation of duty towards each other. This has been one of the singular blessings which God has given me amongst the cares of the Episcopal office. What my feelings of respect, of confidence, and of affection have been towards you, you know well, nor should I think of expressing them in words. But there is one thing that has struck me in this day of explanations, which you could not, and would not, be disposed to do, and which no one could do so properly or so authentically as I could, and which it seems to me is not altogether uncalled for, if every kind of erroneous impression that some persons have entertained with no better evidence than conjecture is to be removed.

"It is difficult to comprehend how, in the face of facts, the notion should ever have arisen that during your Catholic life, you have been more occupied with your own thoughts than with the service of religion and the work of the Church. If we take no other work into consideration beyond the written productions which your Catholic pen has given to the world, they are enough for the life's labour of another. There are