The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1883-09-14
SIander and DetractiOu,

blackstone says that there Is no wrong
without remedy. But can either the
civil law or social regulations afford any
adequate protection against, or redress
for, the serious wrongs done by slandei
and detraction Men are not only prone
to listen with credulity to the whispers Of
fancy, but still more 80 TO the artfully de.
vised statements Of envy, hatred and
malice. And the injuries thus inflicted,
either in business affairs, or upon a mans
reputation, even more sacred and valuable
to him than property, may be ruinous in
their consequences. Here is flagrant
wrong; but where is the remedy? The
ordinary suit for SANDER has become dis.
reputable, and almost obsolete. Besides
this 1t is wholly inapplicable or unavaila-
BILE in most serious cases. The slanderer
often approaches the parties he designs to
influence in the garb of friendship and
confidence, pretending falsely to be giving
information for the benefit Of and out of
friendship for the parties to whom the ma
licious and false communications are
made. So that the victim of the slander
and defamation is often not allowed even
to know the source from which the injury
originates. And the wrong often Injuries
the party to whom the slander and de-
traction are communicated as much and
sometimes even more than the victim Of
the malice himself. Indeed, the slander is
often designated to produce variances,
and to injure both.
AS no adequate remedy can exist for
such wrongs by suit, protection can only
be found in higher tone, and more rigid
conservatism in social and business affairs.
Slander, detraction, and defamation should
be scorned, eschewed, and frowned down
and credulity should be withheld from all
attempts at defamation, however plausible
and covered under the disguise of profess.
ed friendship. The methods of slander
are often subtle and most imposing.
Cicero said, "There is nothing which
wings its flight so swiftly as calnmny;
nothing which is uttered with more ca Sc
nothing is listened to with more readiness,
and nothing dispersed more widely"
Dean Swift said, ''The worthiest people
are the most injured by slander, as we
usually find that to be the best fruit which
the birds haye been pecking at the most"
Peter the Great is said to have remarked
to man speaking ill of another in his
presence, 'It is easy to splash mud but
would rather help a man to keep his coat
clean"
Madame Roland exclaimed, "What in
diligence does the world extend to those
evil-speakers, who, under the mask Of
friendship, stab indiscriminately with the
keen though rusty blade of SANDER"
In the language Of st. Bernard, ISLANDER
Is poison which extinguishes charity,
both in the slanderer and in the person
who listens to it."
And in the words of Leighton, "Cal-
umny would soon die of itself if nobody
took it in and gave it lodging"
Cowper says
''The man that dares traduce because he can
With safety to himself, Is not a man"
In the inimitable language of Sha kes-
peare:
'"The jewel, best enamelled,
WIN lose Its beauty and SO no man that hath
name,
But falsehood and corruption doth It shame"
And, again:
mo might nor greatness In morality
Can censure 'scape; back-wOundng calumny
The whitest virtue strikes.
The only protection which can be pro-
vided against this greatest of all pests to
society and lthe world, is to elevate the
manners and bearing Of men, cultivate an
adherence for the foul spirit of defama-
ton, and utterly eschew detraction, and
refuse all attention and credence to its dis
gusting details. Register.