Case XX: Detraction

Case.—William, a native of New England, moved to Canada in order to live down the stigma of illegitimate birth. Here he was successful in business and finally married a lady of good family, concealing from her the condition of his birth. A few years later, James, a friend of his, traveling through Canada and hearing of William’s marriage, intending no harm, divulged the hidden facts to a distant relative of William’s wife, who, of course, immediately reported the matter to her. Hereupon the expected happened. James, conscience-stricken, hurried to Confession, only to be told that he had fallen into mortal sin.

Question.—Was James guilty of mortal sin?

Solution.—This is a case of detraction, and a grave case. Every man, by the law of God, has a right to his reputation. His good name is worth more to him than his bank account and, therefore, No one may steal this valuable asset, any more than he may steal his neighbor’s purse, without falling into serious sin. The reason for this is evident. Grave and often irremediable harm is done, and this unjustly, in depriving one of his good name. In the present case we have a forceful exemplification of this. William’s wife’s parents would never have given their daughter to him in marriage, had they been aware of the defect which stigmatized William when he came into this world. For it is a fact that spurious children are frequently looked down upon, and treated as outcasts, though the curse that comes upon them is none of their own doing.

Secondly, the knowledge of the existence of this blot often interferes with the good of the marriage, affecting at times the primary as well as the secondary end of the union. It is a widely accepted theory that children of ill-gotten parents receive as an inheritance a disposition which early shows tendencies to various evils, especially to that of lust; and though this be by no means universal, it occurs frequently enough to create a feeling of aversion to a marriage of legitimate with illegitimate offspring. This feeling of moral infection, with its partiality towards moral degeneration of the family tree, naturally causes parents to throw every impediment in the way of marriage between their children and the spurious.

From this we can see what a shock the revelation of the defect in William’s birthright brought to his wife and her relations. To realize that they had been deceived by him was cause plenty for grief; but add to this the feeling that their family escutcheon had been dishonored, and the purity of their blood tarnished, and we face a condition well calculated to destroy all harmony—all peace in that family. Here then is another and serious result of James’s garrulousness.

He has succeeded then in lowering William in the eyes of his wife and her relatives, if not in the eyes of his own children; he has put enmity between husband and wife, which frequently leads to the divorce court; he belittles William in his own estimation, and thus, in robbing him of what was most precious, he certainly has committed a very serious mortal sin. The fact that he did not intend the harm does not acquit him; he must have foreseen the effect that would necessarily follow from his revelation; hence, he must accept the responsibility entailed by that revelation.