[To THE EDITOR Or THE "Srsernoit."] SIR, — Among the cases of
conscience discussed by Cicero in his "De Mollie" (III. xxiii. 89) it is of sad interest to find
a passage (quoted from the Greek casuist Hecate) which puts clearly the terrible alternatives before the passengers on the sinking ' Titanic' :-
"' Si tabnlam do naufragio stultus arripuorit, extorquebitne cam sapiens, si potuerit ? ' Negat, 'quia sit iniurium. ' Quid dominus navis ? eripietne mum ?' Minime, non plus qiuun navigantem in alto eicere do nevi velit, quia sun sit. Quoad enim perventum est eo, quo sumpta navis est, non domini est navis sad navigantium. 'Quid P si una tabula sit, duo naufragi eique sapientes, sibine uterquo rapiat an alter cedat alteri ?'
Cedat vero, sod ei cuins magic intersit vel sua vel reipublicae cause vivere."
Christian ethics and Christian chivalry ensure that the weak shall be given a preference where only " one plank " of succour is available, although the weak may be less "profitable to the State" ; but the Stoic tradition that the shipmaster shall
count his ship and its resources as at the disposal of the passengers in the first instance is still honourably followed.--.
The Palace, Kilkenny.
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