“But I confided the secret to but one person; and that one a dear friend, who promised to keep it.”  Yes, but the injured party has a right to the estimation of that one person, and his injury consists precisely in being deprived of it.  Besides, you accuse yourself openly.  Either what you said was void of all harm, or it was not.  In the one case, why impose silence!  In the other, why not begin yourself by observing the silence you impose upon others!  Your friend will do what you did, and the ball you set rolling will not stop until there is nothing left of your victim’s character.

Of course there are times when to speak of another’s faults is derogatory neither to justice nor to charity; both may demand that the evil be revealed.  A man to defend himself may expose his accuser’s crookedness; in court his lawyer may do it for him, for here again charity begins at home.  In the interests of the delinquent, to effect his correction, one may reveal his shortcomings to those who have authority to correct.  And it is even admitted that a person in trouble of any kind may without sin, for the purpose of obtaining advice or consolation, speak to a judicious friend of another’s evil ways.

Zeal for the public good may not only excuse, but even require that the true character of a bad man be shown up and publicly censured.  Its object is to prevent or undo evil, to protect the innocent; it is intended to destroy an evil influence and to make hypocrisy fly under his own colors.  Immoral writers, living or dead, corrupt politicians and demagogues, unconscionable wretches who prey on public ignorance, may and should be, made known to the people, to shield them is to share their guilt.  This should not be done in a spirit of vengeance, but for the sole purpose of guarding the unwary against vultures who know no law, and who thrive on the simplicity of their hearers.

CHAPTER XC.  CALUMNY.

To the malice of detraction calumny adds that of falsehood.  It is a lie, which is bad; it is a report prejudicial to the character of another, which is worse; it is both combined, out of which combination springs a third malice, which is abominable.  All the more so, since there can exist no excuse or reason in the light of which this sin may appear as a human weakness.  Because slander is the fruit of deliberate criminal spite, jealousy and revenge, it has a character of diabolism.  The calumniator is not only a moral assassin, but he is the most accomplished type of the coward known to man.  If the devil loves a cheerful liar, he has one here to satisfy his affections.

This crime is one that can never be tolerated, no matter what the circumstances; it can never be justified on any grounds whatsoever; it is intrinsically evil, a sin of injustice that admits no mitigation.  When slander is sworn to before the courts, it acquires a fourth malice, that of irreligion, and is called false testimony.  It is not alone perjury, for perjury does not necessarily attack the neighbor’s good name; it is perjured calumny, a crime that deserves all the reprobation it receives in this world—­and in the next.