that Campanella, in his Poesie Filosofiche (Delia Bellezza: Madr. 9), does not hesitate to say: “Bello � il mentir, se a fare gran ben' si trova.” On the other hand, the current teaching as regards necessary falsehoods is a wretched patch on the dress of a poverty-stricken morality.

Kant is responsible for the theory found in many text-books, which derives the unjustifiableness of lies from man's faculty of speech; but the arguments are so tame, childish and absurd that one might well be tempted, if only to pour contempt on them, to join sides with the devil, and say with Talleyrand: l'homme a re�u la parole pour pouvoir cacher sa pens�e. The unqualified and boundless horror shown by Kant for falsehoods, whenever he has the opportunity, is due either to affectation, or to prejudice. In the chapter of his