"And the men of his city did as Jezabel had commanded them. They proclaimed a fast and made Naboth sit among the chief of the people. And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him, and they like men of the devil bore witness against him before the people, saying, Naboth hath blasphemed God and the king. Wherefore they brought him forth without the city and stoned him to death. And they sent to Jezabel saying, Naboth is stoned and is dead.

"And it came to pass when Jezabel heard that Naboth was stoned and dead, that she said to Achab, Arise and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, for Naboth is not alive but dead. And when Achab heard this he arose and went down to the vineyard of Naboth to take possession of it.

"And the word of the Lord came to Elias the Thesbite, saying, Arise and go down to meet Achab; behold he is going down to the vineyard of Naboth to take possession of it. And thou shalt speak to him, saying, 'Thus saith the Lord, Thou hast slain, moreover also thou hast taken possession. In this place wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also. And the dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel"" (3 Kings xxi.)

I have now explained to you the various sins of deed and of thought which are forbidden by the seventh and tenth commandments. But every commandment, as I have told you, commands as well as forbids. What then are the duties which these two commandments enjoin? They are principally two, namely, to give to every one his due, which is the perfect practice of justice; and to be content with our own condition and state of life.

THIRTY-THIRD INSTRUCTION.

The Eighth Commandment. What it forbids. False Testimony, Rash Judgment, Lies, Calumny, Detraction, and Talebearing Obligation of Restitution. What the Eighth Commandment commands.

Q. What is the Eighth Commandment?

A. The Eighth Commandment is "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

The Apostle St. James tells us, my dear children, that the tongue is a little member, but that it is the cause of innumerable evils, defiling the whole body, inflaming the

passions, and infecting the soul with a deadly poison (James iii. 5-8). I have already explained to you some of the terrible evils which spring from the abuse of this unruly member. False teaching, cursing, swearing, blaspheming, injurious words, impure talk, bad advice, &c., are all sins of the tongue, but there are many others; for example, all words which tend to ruin the character and destroy the good name of our fellow-men. It is of these that we speak under the eighth commandment— Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

This commandment is given us by God to preserve our character from the unjust attacks of malicious men, in the same way as the fifth commandment is given us to protect the safety of our person, the sixth to guard our purity, and the seventh to secure our earthly goods from the violence and injustice of others. Were it not for the eighth commandment, our good name-which, as the wise. man tells us, is far more precious than great riches (Prov. xxii. 1)—would be ever at the mercy of envious and designing men. Let us now see what are the particular

sins which are here forbidden.

Q. What does the Eighth Commandment forbid ?

A. The Eighth Commandment forbids all false testimony, rash judgment, and lies.

Q. What else is forbidden by the Eighth Commandment?

A. Calumny, detraction, and talebearing, and any words which injure our neighbour's character, are forbidden by the Eighth Commandment.

In these two answers are mentioned seven distinct sins, which all tend more or less to the taking away of our neighbour's character, and are therefore forbidden by the eighth commandment.

By false testimony, we mean bearing false witness against any one in a court of justice. This is the most grievous of all the sins here named, because by it we offer the greatest outrage to God, and inflict the greatest injury upon our neighbour. You know, I daresay, that when any one is called as a witness before a public tribunal, he is always examined upon oath. A copy of the New Testament is placed in his hand, and he swears upon that,

which is the Word of God, to answer with perfect truth the questions put to him. If, therefore, he answers falsely, he has called upon the God of Truth to bear witness to that which is a lie. This, as I have before explained to you, is the crime of perjury, and it is a perjury of the most grievous kind, both on account of the public and solemn manner in which it is committed, and on account of the injury thereby inflicted upon society. Indeed, if the words of witnesses thus solemnly pledged to speak the truth could not be depended upon, there would be an end of all public justice, and every one would be at the mercy of the malice and rapacity of his enemies. Moreover, the injustice committed against him whose character is thus defamed is almost beyond remedy, for besides the punishment inflicted upon him in consequence of this false evidence, the public disgrace which is attached to the sentence accompanies him throughout life, and often falls likewise upon his family and nearest connections. Of those who are guilty of this heinous sin, some are prompted by sheer malice, like the Jews who accused our B. Lord before Pilate as guilty of blasphemy and sedition, or the two elders who out of revenge publicly charged the chaste Susanna with that very crime which she had refused to consent to. Others give false testimony through interest, for instance, those who swear against their neighbour in order to remove blame from their own shoulders. Finally, there are many who commit this sin through a criminal negligence, because they do not consider well what they say. They speak at random, exaggerate what they have seen or heard, give their suspicions as facts, or represent as certain what is only doubtful. This kind of false testimony is less grievous than that which is prompted by malice or interest, but still it cannot be excused, where the negligence is great, from the guilt of mortal sin and the obligation of restitution. For a witness is strictly bound, both out of respect for his oath and regard for the rights of justice, to weigh well what he says, and to state nothing but what he knows to be the exact truth.

The second sin against this commandment is rash judgment; that is, condemning a person in our own mind

as guilty of a fault upon slight and insufficient grounds. If we have good grounds for believing him guilty, then our judgment is not rash; though charity, "which thinketh no evil but hopeth all things" (1 Cor. xiii. 5, 7), would rather incline us not to judge him at all, but to leave all judgment to God. Moreover, how liable we all are, even the wisest amongst us, to be deceived and misled by appearances! The golden cup of Joseph, which was found in the sack of Benjamin, seemed in the eyes of all a convincing proof of his guilt, and yet he was perfectly innocent (Gen. xliv.) So it is continually in regard to the judgments formed by men; for God alone can see all things, and he alone knows not only the acts but the secret motives and dispositions of each one. "Man seeth those things that appear," says the Holy Scripture, "but the Lord beholdeth the heart" (1 Kings xvi. 7).

It is not enough, however, to have a horror of rash judgments, we must also, as far as we can, avoid even rash suspicions; for it is unjust not only to condemn, but even to suspect a person of wrong without cause. Moreover, we should strive always to act by that golden rule of charity, "Do as you would be done by." Now which of you would like to be even suspected of being a thief or a liar on slight and insufficient grounds, or perhaps without any grounds at all? Would you not think it exceedingly unjust and uncharitable in those who suspected you, and much more so if they actually formed a judgment about you and condemned you in their own minds? Avoid, then, my dear children, in your own conduct that which you would so much blame in others. Turn your thoughts, rather, to your own faults, which are so many and so great, but to which you are often blind. "Why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye," says our Lord, "and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye?" (Matt. vii. 3). And again, "Judge not and you shall not be judged, condemn not and you shall not be condemned. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Luke vi. 37; Matt. vii. 2).

THE ABBOT AND THE ANGEL.

It is related in the Lives of the Fathers of the Desert that the Abbot Isaac, being one day present at an assembly of the religious, formed a bad opinion of one of the monks whom he met there, and, from some trifle which he noticed, judged him to be worthy of correction. Upon his return to his cell he found an Angel waiting at the door, who opposed his entrance. Filled with awe, the Abbot

humbly begged to know the object of his mission. "I am come from our B. Lord," replied the Angel, "to inquire what you wish to be done with that monk whom you have condemned in your own mind?" The holy Abbot at once cast himself upon the ground, acknowledged his fault, and implored pardon of God. "Go," said the Angel, "God pardons you; but in future be more careful about judging your brethren and condemning those whom God himself, perhaps, has not condemned."-Lives of the Fathers of the Desert.

TOTILA AND THE BISHOP.

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In the days of Totila, king of the Goths, there lived at Narni in Italy a holy Bishop named Cassius. It happened that Totila, seeing him one day, formed a bad opinion of him, on account of his red and fiery complexion. "This man," said he to himself, "is certainly a drunkard." But Almighty God undertook upon the spot the defence of his servant. At the same moment he permitted a devil to enter into the person of Totila's sword-bearer, who became grievously tormented by the evil spirit. The bystanders in the greatest alarm carried the poor possessed man to the feet of the holy Bishop, who at once delivered him by simply making over him the sign of the cross. Thereupon Totila retracted his judgment, and ever after esteemed and reverenced Cassius as a saint.-St. Gregory the Great.

If

The next sin which we speak of-that of telling liesis one against which I am particularly anxious to warn you, both because it is, unhappily, very common among children, and because it is the root of many other vices. To tell a lie, is to say what we believe to be untrue. we believe that we are speaking the truth, and happen to be mistaken, it is not a a lie; on the other hand, if we say what we believe to be false, and it turns out to be true, it is really a lie in the sight of God.

All lies are sinful, because they are all directly opposed to Divine Truth, which is one of the most admirable Perfections of the Almighty. Moreover, they are an abuse of that most excellent gift of speech, which God