177 Iris deeds are baser than those of the ~ssassin, in proportion as a ma~'s ~nsu]Iied fame is ~earer to him life. The assaSSIn kIlls the body of hIS enemy, and there mischief ends; but the slanderer attacks the of man, and inflicts a stab ill the hope of fame for ever. None can be safe where adlnittance. The virtues wither round hinI, and die before his baneful touch. His practices are made up of fraud and artful treachery. He dares not to bring the bold and open accusation, but looks and whispers death. To misconstrue motives; to place trifling incidents in contemptible points of view; to insinuate by mysterious signs and broken sentences, that "more is meant than meets the ear," are his study and d.elight. They. become, by the fore.e f habit, as necessary .' a,s the food which affords him nourishment, and this for no other purpose than the selfish aim of depriving bis acquaintance of that estimation from which he can derive no benefit, and which can scarcely be restored by all the united efforts of charity and benevolence: for evil report@ spread with unaccountable facility, and extend to distant P,.a.rts, where the evidence of their falsehood. will never be heard, and thus the record is handed to posterity in the decoration of unrefuted truth. But it must be observed, on the other hand, that ~!t 0.
i#!{~~~Jl~t,*".h,o,und'''it2,m'If~;U~J~gi~1,!~1!i~:t"Qhi~r~i~t~.!., .,,.~B~ .'". 'i~~Il'~~!i~i~li'<'f2!!", b&dmen m~I~Jl:i"/JQ~~~i1~,Qid-tlt~i!!lPJ}!~1!Qli>Yi"QI~$jl1ili~ii!ih. e actions of a brother betray baseness of heart, though it may not be commendable to magnify his vices, or make them a perpetual topic of conversation, yet it
would be equally injudicious to praise him,or bear a testimony to virtues which he does not possess. "None bnta good man deserves to be loved or praised by any one. He vvho says of a badman, whom he knows, and whom all that know him know, to be a bad one, I have reason to speak well of hin1, for he has been kind to nle, utters a detestable falsehood, and discovers a basedisposition."6 The course to. be adopted, under these路 circulnstances, is faithfully prescribed in those lectures which form the subjects of~iscussion at our meetings. "Always speak of a brother as well in his absence as in his pres9
I
Fawcett.