od you hear, but believe only the bad you
see. Malice does the contrary. It demands proofs for good reports,
but believes bad reports on the slightest grounds. Out of every
thousand reports one can scarcely be found accurate in all its
details. When, as a rule of prudence, Superiors are told to
believe only half of what they hear, to consider the other half,
and still suspect the remaining part, what rule should be
prescribed for inferiors?

When the act is evidently blameworthy, suppose a good intention,
or at least one not so bad as apparent, leaving to God what He
reserves to Himself the judgment of the heart; or consider it as
the result of surprise, inadvertence, human frailty, or the
violence of the temptation. Never come to hasty conclusions--
_e.g._, "He is incorrigible; as he is, so will he always be."
Expect everything from grace, efforts, and time.

3. Efface as much as possible the bad impression produced on the
mind, because calumny always produces such.

The recital of something bad about a fellow-religious based on
probabilities has sufficed to tarnish a reputation which ample
apologies cannot fully repair. The detractor's evil reports are
believed on account of the audacity with which he relates them,
but when he wants to relate something good he will not be believed
on oath. We know by experience that evil reports spread with
compound interest, while good ones are retailed at discount.

XXX

ELEVENTH PRESERVATIVE

_Not to judge or suspect rashly_

EXPEL every doubt, every thought, likely to diminish esteem. They
amuse themselves with a most dangerous game who always gather up
vague thoughts of the past, rumours without foundation,
conjectures in which passion has the greatest share, and thus form
in their minds characters of their brethren--adding always, never
subtracting--and by dint of the high idea they have of their own
ability conclude that all their judgments are true, and thus
become fixed in their bad habit. St. Bernard, comparing them to
painters, warns them that it is the devil who furnishes the
materials, and even the evil conceptions, necessary to depict such
bad impressions of their brethren. We read in the "Life of St.
Francis" that our Lord Himself called in a distinct voice a
certain young man to his Order. "O Lord," replied the young man,
"when I am once entered, what must I do to please You?" Pay
particular attention to our Lord's answer: "Lead thou a life in
common wi