I hail as a benefactor every
writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine,
or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always
that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is
absolutely truthful. The liar is no whit better than the thief, and if
his mendacity takes the form of slander, he may be worse than most
thieves. It puts a premium upon knavery untruthfully to attack an honest
man, or even with hysterical exaggeration to assail a bad man with
untruth. An epidemic of indiscriminate assault upon character does not
good, but very great harm. The soul of every scoundrel is gladdened
whenever an honest man is assailed, or even when a scoundrel is
untruthfully assailed.
Now, it is easy to twist out of shape what I have just said, easy to
affect to misunderstand it, and, if it is slurred over in repetition,
not difficult really to misunderstand it. Some persons are sincerely
incapable of understanding that to denounce mud-slinging does not mean
the indorsement of whitewashing; and both the interested individuals who
need whitewashing, and those others who practice mud-slinging, like to
encourage such confusion of ideas.
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