curse upon every one, that either shall " deny", that sacramental confession was ordained by divine right, and is by the same right necessary to salvation:" or shall" affirm that, in the sacrament of penance, it is not by the ordinance of God necessary for the obtaining of the remission of sins, to confess all and every one of those mortal sins, the memory whereof by due and diligent premeditation may be had, even such as are hidden, and be against the two last commandments of the Decalogue, together with the circumstances which change the kind of the sin; but that this confession is only profitable to instruct and comfort the penitent, and was anciently observed, only for the imposing of canonical satisfaction." This doctrine, I say, we cannot but reject; as being repugnant to that which we have learned both from the Scriptures, and from the fathers.

For in the Scriptures we find, that the confession, which the penitent sinner maketh to God alone, hath the promise of forgiveness annexed unto it; which no priest upon earth hath power to make void, upon pretence that himself, or some of his fellows were not first particularly acquainted with the business. "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." And lest we should think that this was some peculiar privilege vouchsafed to "the" man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob," the same sweet psalmist of Israel doth presently enlarge his note, and inferreth this general conclu

a Si quis negaverit, confessionem sacramentalem vel institutam, vel ad salutem necessariam esse jure divino, &c. anathema sit. Concil. Trident, sess. 14. Can. 6.

b Si quis dixerit, in sacramento pœnitentiæ ad remissionem peccatorum necessarium non esse jure divino, confiteri omnia et singula peccata mortalia, quorum memoria cum debita et diligenti præmeditatione habeatur, etiam occulta et quæ sunt contra duo ultima decalogi præcepta, et circumstantias quæ peccati speciem mutant, sed eam confessionem tantum esse utilem ad erudiendum et consolandum pœnitentem, et olim observatam fuisse tantum ad satisfactionem canonicam imponendam; &c. anathema sit. Ibid. cap. 7. e Psalm, 32. ver. 5.

d 2 Sam. chap. 23. ver. 1.

sion thereupon. "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found." King Solomon, in his prayer for the people at the dedication of the temple, treadeth just in his father's steps. If they "turn (saith he) and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly if they return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, &c. forgive thy people, which have sinned against thee, all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee." And the poor publican, putting up his supplication in the temple accordingly, "God be merciful to me a sinner," went back to his house justified, without making confession to any other ghostly father, but only "the" Father of spirits," of whom St. John giveth us this assurance, that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Which promise, that it appertained to such as did confess their sins unto God, the ancient fathers were so well assured of, that they cast in a manner all upon this confession, and left little or nothing to that which was made unto man. Nay, they do not only leave it free for men to confess or not confess their sins unto others (which is the most that we would have); but some of them also seem, in words at least, to advise men not to do it at all: which is more than we seek for.

St. Chrysostom of all others is most copious in this argument: some of whose passages to this purpose I will here lay down. "It is not necessary (saith he) that thou shouldst confess in the presence of witnesses: let the inquiry of thy offences be made in thy thought; let this judgment be without a witness; let God only see thee

e Psalm, 32. ver. 6.

f2 Chron. chap. 6. ver. 37, 39. 1 Kings, chap. 8. ver. 47, 50.

Luke, chap. 8. ver. 13, 14.

11 John, chap. 1. ver. 9.

h Hebr. chap. 12. ver. 9.

* Nunc autem neque necessarium præsentibus testibus confiteri; cogitatione fiat delictorum exquisitio; absque teste sit hoc judicium. Solus te Deus confitentem videat. Chrysost. homil. de pænitent. et confession. tom. 5. edit. Latin.

Col. 901. edit. Basil. ann. 1558.

confessing. Therefore' I entreat, and beseech and pray you, that you would continually make your confession to God. For I do not bring thee into the theatre of thy fellow-servants, neither do I constrain thee to discover thy sins unto men: unclasp thy conscience before God, and shew thy wounds unto him, and of him ask a medicine. Shew them to Him that will not reproach, but heal thee. For although thou hold thy peace, he knoweth all. LetTM us not call ourselves sinners only, but let us recount our sins, and repeat every one of them in special. I do not say unto the, Bring thyself upon the stage, nor, Accuse thyself unto others: but I counsel thee to obey the prophet, saying, Reveal thy way unto the Lord. Confess them before God, confess thy sins before the Judge; praying, if not with thy tongue, at least with thy memory: and so look to obtain mercy. But" thou art ashamed to say, that thou hast sinned. Confess thy faults then daily in thy prayer. For do I say, Confess them to thy fellow-servant, who may reproach thee therewith? Confess them to God, who healeth them. For, although thou confess them not at all, God is not ignorant of them. Wherefore then, tell

1 Διὰ τοῦτο παρακαλῶ καὶ δέομαι καὶ ἀντιβολῶ, ἐξομολογεῖσθαι συνεχῶς τῷ Θεῷ. οὐδὲ γὰρ εἰς θέατρόν σε ἄγω τῶν συνδούλων τῶν σῶν, οὐδὲ ἐκκαλύψαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἀναγκάζω τὰ ἁμαρτήματα· τὸ συνειδὸς ἀνάπο τυξον ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ αὐτῷ δεῖξον τὰ τραύματα, καὶ παρ' αὐτοῦ τὰ φάρμακα αἴτησον. Δεῖξον τῷ μὴ ὀνειδίζοντί, ἀλλὰ θεραπεύοντι καν γὰρ σὺ σιγήσῃς, οἶδεν ἐκεῖνος ἅπαντα. Id. circa finem hom. 5. περὶ ἀκαταλήπτου, de incomprehensib. Dei natur. op. tom. 1. pag. 490.

* Μὴ ἁμαρτωλοὺς καλῶμεν ἑαυτοὺς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἀναλογιζώμεθα, κατ ̓ εἶδος ἕκαστον ἀναλέγοντες. Οὐ λέγω σοι, ἐκπόμπευσον σαὐτὸν, οὐδὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἀλλοις κατηγόρησον, ἀλλὰ πείθεσθαι συμβουλεύω τῷ προφήτη, λέγοντι, ̓Αποκάλυψον πρὸς Κύριον τὴν ὀδόν σου· ἐπὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ταῦτα ὁμολόγησον, ἐπὶ τοῦ δικαστοῦ ὁμολόγει τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, εὐχόμενος, εἰ καὶ μὴ τῇ γλώττῃ ἀλλὰ τῇ μνήμῃ, καὶ οὕτως ἀξίου ἐλεηθῆναι. Id. in epist. ad Hebr. cap. 12. homil. 31. op. tom. 12. pag. 289.

η ̓Αλλ ̓ αἰσχύνῃ εἰπεῖν, δίοτι ἥμαρτες. λέγε αὐτὰ καθ' ἡμέραν ἐν τῇ εὐχῇ σου. καὶ τί; μὴ γὰρ λέγω, Εἰπὲ τῷ συνδόυλῳ τῷ ὀνειδίζοντί σε ; εἰπὲ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ θεραπεύοντι αὐτὰ. οὐ γὰρ, ἐὰν μὴ εἴπῃς, ἀγνοῖι αὐτὰ ὁ Θεὸς. Id. in Psal. 50. hom. 2. op. tom. 5. pag. 589.

• Τίνος γὰρ ἕνεκεν αἰσχύνῃ καὶ ἐρυθριᾶς, εἰπέ μοι, τὰ ἁμαρτήματα εἰπεῖν; μὴ γὰρ ἀνθρώπῳ λέγεις, ἵνα ἀνειδίσῃ σε; μὴ γὰρ τῷ συνδούλῳ ὁμολογεῖς, ἵνα ἐκπομπεύση; τῷ δεσπότῃ, τῷ κηδεμόνι, τῷ με

me, art thou ashamed and blushest to confess thy sins? For dost thou discover them to a man, that he may reproach thee? Dost thou confess them to thy fellow-servant, that he may bring thee upon the stage? To Him who is thy Lord, who hath care of thee, who is kind, who is thy physician, thou shewest thy wound. IP constrain thee not, saith God, to go into the midst of the theatre, and to make many witnesses of the matter. Confess thy sin to me alone in private, that I may heal thy sore, and free thee from grief. And this is not only wonderful, that he forgiveth us our sins; but that he neither discovereth them, nor maketh them open and manifest, nor constraineth us to come forth in public and disclose our misdemeanors; but commandeth us to give an account thereof unto him alone, and unto him to make confession of them."

Neither doth St. Chrysostom here walk alone. That saying of St. Augustine is to the same effect: "What' have I to do with men, that they should hear my confessions, as though they should heal all my 'diseases?" and that collection of St. Hilary upon the two last verses of the fiftysecond Psalm, that David there teacheth us "to confess to no other but unto the Lord, who hath made the olive fruitful with the mercy of hope (or the hope of mercy) for ever and ever." And that advice of Pinuphius the Ægyp

λανθρώπῳ, τῷ ἰατρῷ τὸ τραῦμα ἐπιδεικνύεις. Id. homil. 4. de Lazaro, op. tom. 1. pag. 757.

Ρ Οὐκ ἀναγκάζω, φησὶν, εἰς μέσον ἐλθεῖν σε θέατρον, καὶ μάρτυρας περιστῆσαι πολλοὺς. Ἐμοὶ τὸ ἁμάρτημα εἰπὲ μόνῳ κατ' ἰδίαν, ἵνα θεραπεύσω τὸ ἕλκος, καὶ ἀπαλλάξω τῆς ὀδύνης. Id. ibid. pag. 758.

4 Οὐ τοῦτο δὲ μόνον ἐστὶ τὸ θαυμαστὸν, ὅτι ἀφίησιν ἡμῖν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, ἀλλ' ὅτι αὐτὰ οὐδὲ ἐκκαλύπτει, οὐδὲ ποιεῖ αὐτὰ φανερὰ καὶ δῆλα, οὐδὲ ἀναγκάζει παρελθόντας εἰς μέσον ἐξειπεῖν τὰ πεπλημμελημένα. ἀλλ ̓ αὐτῷ μόνῳ ἀπολογήσασθαι κελεύει, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐξομολογήσασθαι. Ιd. Cateches. 2. op. tom. 2. pag. 240.

Quid mihi ergo est cum hominibus ut audiant confessiones meas, quasi ipsi sanaturi sint omnes languores meos? Augustin, confess. lib. 10. cap. 3. op. tom. 1. pag. 171.

* Confessionis autem caussam addidit, dicens; Quia fecisti, autorem scilicet universitatis hujus Dominum esse confessus; nulli alii docens confitendum, quam qui fecit olivam fructiferam spei misericordia in seculum seculi. Hilar. in Psal. 51. op. pag. 81.

tian abbot, which I find also inserted amongst the canons collected for the use of the Church of England, in the time of the Saxons, under the title, De pænitentia soli Deo confitenda: "Who" is it that cannot humbly say, I made my sin known unto thee, and my iniquity have I not hid? that by this confession he may confidently adjoin that which followeth: and thou forgavest the impiety of my heart. But if shamefacedness do so draw thee back, that thou blushest to reveal them before men; cease not by continual supplication to confess them unto Him from whom they cannot be hid: and to say, I know mine iniquity, and my sin is against me always; to thee only have I sinned, and done evil before thee: whose custom is, both to cure without the publishing of any shame, and to forgive sins without upbraiding." St. Augustine, Cassiodor, and Gregory make a further observation upon that place of the thirty-second Psalm: "I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin;" that God, upon the only promise and purpose of making this confession, did forgive the sin. "Mark," saith Gregory, "how great the swiftness is of this vital indulgence, how great the commendation is of God's mercy; that pardon should accompany the very desire of him that is about to confess, before that repentance do come to afflict him; and remission should come to the heart, before that confession did break forth by the voice." So St. Basil, upon those other words of the

Antiq. lib. canon. 66. titulorum, MS. in bibliotheca Cottoniana.

" Quis est qui non possit suppliciter dicere, Peccatum meum cognitum tibi feci, et injustitiam meam non operui? ut per hanc confessionem etiam illud confidenter subjungere mereatur : Et tu remisisti impietatem cordis mei. Quod si, verecundia retrahente, revelare ea coram hominibus erubescis, illi, quem latere non possunt, confiteri ea jugi supplicatione non desinas, ac dicere Iniquitatem meam ego cognosco, et peccatum meum contra me est semper: tibi soli peccavi et malum coram te feci: qui et absque ullius verecundiæ publicatione curare, et sine improperio peccata donare consuevit. Jo. Cassian. collat. 20. cap. 8.

* Attende quanta sit indulgentiæ vitalis velocitas, quanta misericordiæ Dei commendatio: ut confitentis desiderium comitetur venia, antequam ad cruciatum perveniat pœnitentia; ante remissio ad cor perveniat, quam confessio in vocem erumpat. Greg. exposit. 2. Psal, Pœnitential. op. tom. 3. par. 2. pag. 476.