Item 3 - Letter from C.S. Lewis to the Sir Henry Willink, 17 June 1960

Letter from C.S. Lewis to Sir Henry Willink (Master of Magdalene).

Francis had told him that his opinion might be sough about whether to include those 'curious' passages in a new publication of the Pepys diary. As he couldn't be sure of being able to attend the next Governing Body meeting he was writing to set out his opinions.

A prudential and moral problem was involved.

The prudential one was concerned with (a) the chances of prosecution and (b) with the chances of disrepute and ridicule. In the presence if Master and Mickey [Mickey Dias] it would be ridiculous for him to express an opinion both were lawyers]. As to 9b0 a journalist might make the College distasteful t the public for a week or two but what was a few weeks or years in the life of the College and a decision shouldn't be made on that basis.

It came down to whether the inclusion of such passages would lead someone to commit an immoral act they would to have done if they had suppressed them. The effect of words on people's behaviour is impossible to foresee. But the chances of any lechery being caused by a few obscure passages begin published in a very long and expensive work seemed unrealistic.

A very severe moralist might argue that it was not enough to be unable to forsee heaven and one ought before we act to be able to forsee with certainty an absence of heaven. But that was an argument against doing. He was therefore in favour of printing the whole unexpurgated Pepys.