ooks and his copy-books? Do you not see
anything else? Can you not think of anything more? I will
give you a hint: Paul is an industrious pupil, an honest,
good-natured companion; you are all fond of him, and he
deserves your affection. What do we call the esteem we all
feel for him, the good opinion we have of him?--Honor ...
reputation.--Well, this honor, this reputation, Paul acquired
by good conduct and good manners. These are things which
belong to him.--Yes, Sir; we have no right to rob him of
them.--Very good; but what do we call this kind of theft,
that is, the theft of honor and reputation? And first of all,
how can we steal them? Can we take them and put them in our
pockets?--No, but we can speak evil of him.--How?--We could
say that he had done harm to one of his companions ... that
he had stolen apples from a neighboring orchard ... that he
had spoken ill of another.--That is so. But how could you rob
him of honor and reputation by speaking thus?--Sir, people
would no longer believe him if they had a bad opinion of him;
he would be beaten, scolded, and left to himself.--Then if
you speak evil of Paul, and what you say is false, do you
give him pleasure?--No, Sir, we should cause him pain, and do
him a wrong, which would be very odious and wicked of
us.--Yes, boys, this lying with intent to injure would be
odious and wicked, and it is called calumny. I will explain
later that evil speaking differs from calumny or slander in
that what is said is not untrue, and I will point out the
terrible consequences of evil speaking and slander.

Now let us sum up what we have said: Paul is a living and
sensitive creature. We ought not to cause him suffering, to
rob him, or to slander him; we ought to respect him. The
honorable things in Paul constitute rights, and make him a
moral person. The obligation laid upon us to respect these
rights is called _duty_. The obligation and the duty of
respecting the rights of others is also called _justice_.
_Justice_ is derived from two Latin words (_in jure stare_),
meaning: to keep oneself in the right.

The duties of justice enumerated by us are to be summed up
thus: Not to kill ... not to cause suffering ... not to steal
... not to slander. Always reflect upon the words you say in
which "Not" is followed by a verb in the im