De absentibus nihil nisi bonum

Meaning

The Via cites this proverb as 'Say nothing of the absent except good' while discussing Adam von Bodenstein. Its practical force is conspicuously limited: the speaker says he will not speak much ill of the absent man, then continues to distinguish Bodenstein's medical usefulness from his alleged failure to understand true alchemy. The proverb frames restraint within a polemic rather than ending the criticism. The aligned English retains both the courteous maxim and the contrary accusations, which must remain the Via author's judgments. The passage neither retracts them nor independently establishes their truth.