3. Appropriate names for backbiters. Usual chastisements to which they expose themselves.

Plutarch says that nature has thought of everything: it has given man two ears and only one tongue, since he should listen more than speak. Such was the opinion of a sage formed in the school of Christ: Saint James says, "Let every man be swift to hear and slow to speak." (1) The tongue is a member hard to govern; it rarely moves without harming itself or others. Anarcharsis the philosopher states, "It is better to trespass with your feet than with your tongue." We are rarely sorry for keeping silence and often sorry for speaking. The poet Ausonius declares, "You harm no one by your silence, but by your words."
(1) Jas 1:19
Xenocrates confirmed this truth by his example. As he listened without a word to a conversation in which his neighbor incurred detraction, someone asked him why he alone maintained a stubborn silence. He answered, "I have often regretted speaking in public, but never not speaking." This quiet reply closed the mouth over those evil tongues.
We have treated the vice of backbiting, its various species and its gravity. We have demonstrated how difficult it is, though necessary, to restore our neighbor's reputation. Let us now draw the true portrait of a backbiter.
I.
We do no one harm in saying that a spade is a spade, and a cat is a cat. We should call all things by their name.
Now, backbiters have as many names as species. They attack first this person and then that one, putting on a fox skin today and a lion skin tomorrow. Among all the splendid names that apply to flatterers, only one applies to backbiters:
1. Backbiters are dogs. Scripture tells us, "Like an arrow lodged in a dog's thigh is gossip in the heart of a fool." (2) A dog will have no rest till he is rid of something lodged in his flank. So it is with a backbiter: as soon as he sees anything with his curious eyes or hears anything with his long ears, he broadcasts it everywhere.
(2) Sir 19:12
The food most suited to dogs is dry bread and bones. But dogs with faces of men eat not only bones; like famished wolves, they need flesh... human flesh. When Job was struck down he said, "Why do you hound me as though you were God, and insatiably prey upon me?" (3) I see you gnashing your teeth like dogs. You insult me; and you bite, devour and swallow my reputation and good name.
(3) Job 19:22
Saint Gregory declares, "There is no doubt that those who indulge in backbiting others, feed on their flesh." (4) Making himself equal to God, the backbiter pretends to examine hearts and discern the most secret things in man, even his intentions. He would wrest God's sword from His hand if he could. The backbiter is so fond of human flesh he often spares not even his own relatives.
(4) Saint Gregory, Moral, Book 14, Chapter 14.
After Actaeon had been turned into a deer by the goddess Artemis, his dogs attacked him. He fought like a madman and cried out in vain:
My name is Actaeon, recognize your master! (5)
(5) Ovid, Metamorphosis, Book 3.
But none of the dogs would recognize him as Actaeon. Such are backbiters. They know neither father nor mother; they tear into everyone. Their main activity consists in biting the first comer. The prophet Ezechiel predicted, "Fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of thee, and sons shall eat their fathers." (6) And Jeremias adds, "Everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend." (7) With a single bite, the backbiter tears into bishop, archbishop or pope, king or emperor. Though he should be satisfied with beef or mutton on fast days, he must absolutely have human flesh. With his bloody mouth, the backbiter streaks through the public square like a dog. Beware of the dog! Run from him when he barks, "Come along with us! Let us lie in wait for the honest man; let us, unprovoked, set a trap for the innocent; let us swallow them up like hell, alive and in the prime of life, like those who go down into the pit!" (8)
(6) Ez 5:10
(7) Jer 19:9
(8) Prov 1:11-12