I cannot but think that the sentence of the court at Ipswich on George Frederick Wilfrid Ellis was excessively severe. He was condemned to seven years’ penal servitude for having pretended to be a clergyman of the Church of England. For five years he lived as Rector of Wetheringsett, and appears to have given perfect satisfaction in that capacity. He did no perceptible harm in that parish, for even the marriages that he solemnised are valid in English law. He only lied systematically and acted a part to perfection, that was all. But systematic lying is constantly practised by unbelieving laymen who conform outwardly, and they, too, act their part with skill. They may also, like the false Rector of Wetheringsett, often derive great pecuniary advantages from their falsehood, either by getting rich wives or lucrative situations that would be refused to them if their real opinions were known. Yet instead of being condemned to seven years’ hard labour as the sham clergyman was, these sham Christians get nothing but rewards for their lying. It becomes, therefore, an important question, in estimating the general truthfulness of a country, whether religious hypocrisy is encouraged in it or not, and to what degree. Is this kind of lying more encouraged in England or in France? [Sidenote: Value of Hypocrisy in England and France.] [Sidenote: “Fearless Truth” gaining in English Estimation.] [Sidenote: French Truthfulness.] [Sidenote: Power of the English Clergy.] [Sidenote: Discipline of Society.] [Sidenote: English Fear of the Clergy.]