ter for censure, nevertheless continue to respect the sacred character with which they are invested, for it is of them that our Saviour has said: "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of My eye."[1]
All that we have said of detraction applies with still more reason to those who make others the object of derision and raillery; for this vice, besides having all the evil consequences of the first two, presupposes pride, presumption, and contempt for one's neighbor. In the Old Law God especially warns us against it: "Thou shalt not be a detractor, nor a whisperer among the people."[2] We have no need to insist upon the enormity of this vice; what we have said on the subject of detraction is sufficient.
Section III.
On Rash Judgments.
Those who are addicted to detraction and raillery do not confine themselves to what they know, but indulge in suppositions and rash judgments. When they no longer find matter to censure they invent evil intentions, misinterpret good actions, forgetting that our Saviour has said: "Judge not, that you may not be judged; for with what judgment you judge you shall be judged."[3] Here also the offence may frequently be a mortal sin, particularly when we venture to judge in a matter of grave importance upon very slight evidence. If it be only a suspicion, not a real judgment, it may be only
