Part III, Chapter XXIX

Of Detraction

Rash judgment engenders uneasiness, contempt of our neighbor, pride, self-complacency, and many other most pernicious effects; among which detraction, the bane of conversation, holds the first place. Oh that I possessed one of the burning coals of the holy altar to touch the lips of men, so that their iniquities might be taken away, and their sin cleansed, in imitation of the seraphim that purified the mouth of the prophet Isaias! (Isaias 6) He that would deliver the world from detraction would free it from a great number of sins. Whoever robs his neighbor of his good name is not only guilty of sin, but is also bound to make reparation; for no man can enter into heaven with the goods of another; and, amongst all exterior goods, a good name is the best. Detraction is a kind of murder; for we have three lives, viz., the spiritual, which consists in the grace of God; the corporal, which depends on the soul; and the civil, which consists in our good name: sin deprives us of the first, death takes away the second, and detraction robs us of the third. But the detractor by one blow of his tongue commits three murders; he kills not only his own soul, and the soul of him that hears him, but also, by a spiritual murder, takes away the civil life of the person detracted; for, as St. Bernard says, both he that detracts and he that hearkens to the detractor have the devil about them; the one in his tongue, and the other in his ear. David, speaking of detractors, says, “They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent.” (Psalms 139:4) Now, as the serpent’s tongue, according to Aristotle, is forked, and has two points, so is that of the detractor, who at one stroke stings and poisons the ear of the hearer, and the reputation of him against whom he is speaking.

I earnestly conjure you, then, dear Philothea, never to detract any one, either directly or indirectly; beware of falsely imputing crimes and sins to your neighbor; of discovering his secret sins, or of aggravating those that are manifest; or of making an evil interpretation of his good works; or of denying the good which you know th;t he possesses, or dissembling it maliciously, or diminishing it by words; for in all these ways you will highly offend God, but, most of all, by false accusations, and denying the truth to the prejudice of a third person; for it is a double sin to calumniate and injure your neighbor at the same time.

They who preface detraction by protestations of friendship and regard for the person detracted, or who make apologies in his favor, are the most subtle and venomous of all detractors. “I protest,” say they, “I love him; in every other respect he is a worthy man; but yet the truth must be told, he was wrong to commit so treacherous an action. She was very virtuous, but, alas! she was surprised,” etc. Do you not perceive the artifice? As the dexterous archer draws the arrow as near as possible to himself, that he may shoot the dart away with greater force, so, when these detractors seem to draw the detraction towards themselves, it is only with a view to shoot it away with more violence, that it may pierce more deeply into the hearts of their hearers. But the detraction which is uttered by way of a witty jest is still more cruel than all the rest. For, as hemlock is not of itself a very quick, but rather a slow, poison, which may be easily remedied, yet being taken with wine is incurable; so detraction, which of itself might pass lightly in at one ear, and out at the other, remains in the minds of the hearers, when it is couched under some subtle and merry jest. “The venom of asps,” says David, “is under their lips.” The bite of the asp is almost imperceptible, and its venom at first produces a delightful itching, by means of which the heart and the bowels are expanded, and receive the poison; against which there is afterwards no remedy.

Say not such a one is a drunkard, because you have seen him drunk; nor that he is an adulterer, because he has been surprised in that sin; nor that he is incestuous, because he has been guilty of that abominable action; for one act alone is not sufficient to constitute a vice. The sun stood still once in favor of the victory of Josue, and was darkened another time in favor of that of our Saviour; yet none will say that the sun is either immovable or dark. Noah was once drunk, and Lot another time, and this latter also committed a great incest; yet neither the one nor the other was a drunkard, nor was the latter an incestuous man. St. Peter had not a sanguinary disposition, because he once shed blood, nor was he a blasphemer, though he once blasphemed. To acquire the name of a vice or a virtue the action must be habitual; one must have made some progress in it. It is, then, an injustice to say that such a man is passionate, or a thief, because we have seen him once in a passion, or guilty of stealing. Although a man may have been a long time vicious, yet we are in danger of accusing him falsely if we call him vicious. Simon, the leper, called Magdalen a sinner, because she had been so not long before; yet he accused her falsely, for she was then no longer a sinner, but a most holy penitent; and therefore our Saviour took her cause under his protection. The proud pharisee considered the humble publican as a great sinner, or even perhaps an unjust man, an adulterer, an extortioner; but was greatly deceived, for at that very time he was justified. Alas! since the goodness of God is so immense, that one moment suffices to obtain and receive his grace, what assurance can we have that he who was yesterday a sinner is not a saint to-day? The day that is past ought not to judge the day present, or the present day judge that which is past; it is only the last day that judges all. We can, then, never say a man is wicked without exposing ourselves to the danger of lying; all that we can say, if we must speak, is, that he did such bad actions, or lived ill at such a time; that he does ill at present; but we must never draw consequences from yesterday to this day, nor from this day to yesterday, much less to to-morrow.

Now, though we must be extremely cautious of speaking ill of our neighbor, yet we must avoid the contrary extreme, into which some fall, who, to avoid the sin of detraction, commend and speak well of vice. If a person be, indeed, a detractor, say not, in his excuse, he is a frank and free speaker; if a person be notoriously vain, say not that he is genteel and elegant; never call dangerous familiarities by the name of simplicity and innocence; nor disobedience by the name of zeal; nor arrogance by the name of freedom; nor lasciviousness by the name of friendship. No, dear Philothea, we must not, in order to avoid the vice of detraction, favor, flatter, or cherish vice; but we must openly and freely speak of evil, and blame that which is blamable; for in doing this we glorify God, provided we observe the following conditions: —

To speak commendably against the vices of another it is necessary that we should have in view the profit either of the person spoken of, or of those to whom we speak. For instance, when the indiscreet or dangerous familiarities of such or such persons are related in the company of young maids; or the liberties taken by this or that person, in their words or gestures, are plainly lascivious: if I do not freely blame the evil, but rather excuse it, these tender souls, who hear of it, will perhaps take occasion to allow themselves some such like liberties. Their advantage, then, requires that I should freely reprehend these liberties upon the spot, unless I could reserve this good office to be done better, and with less prejudice to the persons spoken of, on some other occasion.

It is, moreover, requisite that it should be my duty to speak on this occasion, as when I am one of the chief of the company; for, if I should keep silence, I would seem to approve of the vice; but if I be one of the least, I must not take upon me to pass my censure. But, above all, it is necessary that I should be so cautious in my remarks as not to say a single word too much. For example, if I blame the familiarity of this young man, and that young maid, because it is apparently indiscreet and dangerous, good God! Philothea, I must hold the balance so even as not to make the matter a single grain heavier. Should there be but a slight appearance, I will call it no more; if a mere indiscretion, I would give it no worse name; should there be neither indiscretion, nor real appearance of evil, but only a probability that some malicious spirit may take from thence a pretext to speak ill, I will either say nothing at all, or say this only, and no more. My tongue, whilst I am speaking of my neighbor, shall be in my mouth like a knife in the hand of a surgeon, who would cut between the sinews and the tendons. The blow I shall give shall be neither more nor less than the truth. In fine, it must be our principal care in blaming any vice to spare, as much as possible, the person in whom it is found.

It is true, we may speak freely of infamous public and notorious sinners, provided it be in the spirit of charity and compassion, and not with arrogance and presumption, nor with complacency in the evils of others, which is always the part of a mean and abject heart. Amongst these, however, the declared enemies of God and his Church, such as the ringleaders of heretics and schismatics, must be excepted, since it is charity to cry out against the wolf, wherever he is, more especially when he is among the sheep.

Every one takes the liberty to censure princes and to speak ill of whole nations, according to the different affections they bear them. Philothea, avoid this fault; for, besides the offence against God, it may bring you into a thousand quarrels.

When you hear any one spoken ill of, make the accusation doubtful, if you can do it justly; if you cannot, excuse the intention of the party accused: if that cannot be done, express a compassion for him, change the topic of conversation, remembering yourself, and putting the company in mind.

that they who do not fall owe their happiness to God alone; recall the detractor to himself with meekness, and declare some good action of the party offended, if you know any.

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