LIE 
Libration of the earth, is sometimes used 
to denote the parallelism of the earth’s-axis, 
in every part of its orbit round the sun. 
LICHEN, in botany, a ghnus of the 
Cryptogamia Algae class and ordfer. Natu- 
ral order of Algae. Generic character : male 
dowers ; vesicles conglomerated, extremely 
small, crowded or scattered oa the disk, 
margin, or tips of the fronds : female flowers 
on the same, or on a distinct plant ; recep- 
tacle roundish, flattish, convex, concave, 
subrevolute affixed to the margin, often 
differing from the frond in colour, within 
containing the seeds disposed in rows. This 
is a very numerous genus ; many of the spe- 
cies are of considerable use, particularly in 
the art of dying. L. rocella, or orchall, as 
an article of commerce, is of great impor- 
tance, being extremely valuable for dying 
wool or silk any shade of purple or crimson. 
L. onphalodes wiU dye wool of a brown 
reddish colour, or a dull but durable crim- 
son, paler and more lasting than that of 
orchall. L. islandicus is used by the Ice- 
landers in their broth ; they also dry it, and 
make it into bread, &c. 
Lichen, in medicine, a tetter or ring- 
worm, a cutaneous disease, defined by Dr. 
AVillan, “ an extensive eruption of papillse 
affecting adults, connected with internal 
disorder usually terminating in scurf, recur- 
rent, not contagious.” The Doctor has 
mentioned five varieties. 
LICULA, in botany, a genus of the Ap- 
pendix Palm*. Natural order of Palms. 
Essential character : flowers all hermaphro- 
dite; calyx and corolla three-parted ; nec- 
tary sertiform ; drupe. There is but one 
species, mz. L. spinosa, a native of Macassar 
and Celebes, where the inhabitants make 
much use of the narrow leaves for tobacco 
pipes, and the broad ones for wrapping up 
fruit, &c. ; the wood is of little use, not 
being durable. 
LIE, in morals, denotes a criminal breach 
of veracity. Dr. Paley, in treating of this 
subject, observes, that there are falsehoods 
which are not lies ; that is, which are not 
criminal : and there are lies which are not 
literally and directly false. 
I. Cases of the first class are those : 
1. Where no one is deceived; as, for in- 
stance, in parables, fables, novels, jests, 
tales to create mirth, or ludicrous embellish- 
ments of a story, in which the declared de- 
sign of the speaker is not to inform, but to 
divert; compliments in the subscription of 
a letter; a prisoner’s pleading not guilty; 
an advocate asserting the justice, or his 
belief of the justice of his client’s cause. In 
LIE 
such instance no confidence is destroyed, 
because none was reposed ; no promise to 
speak the truth is violated, because none 
was given, or understood to be given. 2 . 
Where the person you speak to has no right 
to know the truth, or more properly where 
little or no inconveniency results from the 
want of confidence in such cases ; as where 
you tell a falsehood to a madman for his own 
advantage ; to a robber, to conceal your 
property ; to an assassin, to defeat or to di- 
vert him from his purpose. It is upon this 
principle, that, by the laws of war, it is al- 
lowed to deceive an enemy by feints, false 
colours, spies, false intelligence, and the 
like ; but, by no means, in treaties, truces, 
signals of capitulation, or surrender: and 
the difference is, that the former suppose 
hostilities to continue, the latter are calcu- 
lated to terminate or suspend them. Many 
people indulge in serious discourse a habit of 
fiction and exaggeration^ in the accounts 
they give of themselves, of their acquaint- 
ance, or of the extraordinary things which 
they have seen or heard ; and so long as the 
facts they relate are indifferent, and their 
narratives, though false, are inoffensive, it 
may seem a superstitious regard to truth to 
censure them merely for truth’s sake. Yet 
the practice ought to be checked : for, in 
the first place, it is almost impossible to 
pronounce beforehand with certainty con- 
cerning any lie, that it is inoffensive, or to say 
what ill consequences may result from a lie 
apparently inoffensive: and, in the next 
place, the habit, when once formed, is easily 
extended to serve the designs of malice or 
interest; like all habits, it spreads indeed 
of itself. Pious frauds, as they are impro- 
perly enough called, pretended inspirations, 
forged books, counterfeit miracles, are im- 
positions of a more serious nature. It is 
possible that they may sometimes, though 
seldom, have been set up and encouraged 
with a design to do good; but the good 
they aim at requires that the belief of them 
should be perpetual, which is hardly pos- 
sible; and the detection of the fraud is sure 
to disparage the credit of all pretensions of 
the same nature. Christianity has suffered 
more injury from this cause than from all 
other causes put together. 
II. As there may be falsehoods which are 
not lies, so there may be lies without literal 
or direct falsehood. An opening is always 
left for this species of prevarication, when 
the literal and grammatical signification of a 
sentence is different from the popular and 
customary meaning. It is the wilful deceit 
that makes the lie;, and we wilfully deceive 
