witnesses: "And," saith St. Luke, "they set up false witnesses,
which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words," etc.
Which instances plainly do show, if we would avoid the guilt of
slander, how careful we should be to interpret fairly and favourably
the words and the actions of our neighbour.

5. Another sort of this practice is, partial and lame
representation of men's discourse, or their practice; suppressing
some part of the truth in them, or concealing some circumstances
about them which might serve to explain, to excuse, or to extenuate
them. In such a manner easily, without uttering any logical
untruth, one may yet grievously calumniate. Thus suppose a man
speaketh a thing upon supposition, or with exception, or in way of
objection, or merely for disputation sake, in order to the
discussion or clearing of truth; he that should report him asserting
it absolutely, unlimitedly, positively and peremptorily, as his own
settled judgment, would notoriously calumniate. If one should be
inveigled by fraud, or driven by violence, or slip by chance into a
bad place or bad company, he that should so represent the gross of
that accident, as to breed an opinion of that person, that out of
pure disposition and design he did put himself there, doth
slanderously abuse that innocent person. The reporter in such cases
must not think to defend himself by pretending that he spake nothing
false; for such propositions, however true in logic, may justly be
deemed lies in morality, being uttered with a malicious and
deceitful (that is, with a calumnious) mind, being apt to impress
false conceits and to produce hurtful effects concerning our
neighbour. There are slanderous truths as well as slanderous
falsehoods: when truth is uttered with a deceitful heart, and to a
base end, it becomes a lie. "He that speaketh truth," saith the