can be remembered, ought to be confessed, together with the circumstances which may affect the degree of their criminality; but venial sins, though they may be rightly and usefully confessed, may be concealed without guilt. The distinction between mortal and venial sins is not very clearly defined. The former are those which completely alienate us from God; the latter, the faults from which even good men are not exempt. Though sins may be publicly confessed, this is not required, and confession is usually made in secret before the priest alone. The power of absolution, known as the power or ministry of the keys, is limited to bishops and priests; and their function is not merely declaratory, but is a judicial act, whereby sentence is pronounced. Absolution is not valid when pronounced by a priest on one over whom he has not ordinary or delegated jurisdiction. Very grave cases are reserved for the decision of the higher authorities. But there is no reservation when death is imminent, and then any priest may give complete absolution.

Satisfaction, the third part of Penance, is defined in general as the complete payment of something due, or as compensation for an injury inflicted on another, and, in the religious sense, as the compensation which a man pays to God for the sins which he has committed. Complete satisfaction for sin has been made by Christ alone, and apart from this the actions of men would have no value in the sight of God. The name 'Canonical satisfaction' is applied to the punishments which are imposed by the Church upon penitents; and even a punishment voluntarily undertaken, though it can be no part of the Sacrament, may be called satisfaction. Some have defined satisfaction as paying to God the honour which is due, and this involves a determination to avoid sin entirely, and to remove the causes of sin.

Absolution frees from the punishment of eternal death, but does not always release from the remnants of sin and temporal punishment. This distinction marks a difference

between Baptism and Penance. Sins committed before Baptism, being due to ignorance, are entirely remitted; but the case is much more serious when one knowingly grieves the Holy Spirit. The advantages of canonical satisfaction are the restraint which it imposes on the commission of sin, the satisfaction which it gives to the offended Church, and the instruction which it affords to others by the example of our penitence. Two things are necessary for true satisfaction: first, faith and love towards God; secondly, works which naturally cause some pain or trouble, though through the power of love the most bitter pain may be unfelt. The works of satisfaction are prayer, fasting, and alms-giving. Since we are all one body in Christ, it is possible for one to make satisfaction for another. This, however, has its limits contrition and confession cannot be transferred, nor can the works which are prescribed for healing depraved affections be performed by another. In cases in which one has abstracted anything from the property or the reputation of another, the offender is not to be absolved unless he first promises to make restitution. The amount of the penalty is to be determined by justice, prudence, and piety.1

Such, then, is the Catholic doctrine of Penance, which has been so abundantly caricatured. It clearly possesses some admirable features; the Confessional is guarded from abuse by strict rules; and it is easy to believe that, when administered by faithful men amid a population which has not reached a very high level in the religious life, it may be productive of great good. But the historical foundation on which its claim to be a Sacrament is made to rest is of the feeblest character. The saying which is appealed to is recorded only in the Fourth Gospel, which, in the face of recent criticism, can hardly claim to be an infallible witness of matters of fact; and this remark will apply especially to sayings which are ascribed to the risen Christ. But if we accept the narrative as literally true, it says nothing of the 1 For the above see Conc. Trid., Sessio xiv. and Cat. Rom., Pars ii. cap. v.

institution of a Sacrament, nothing of transmitting the power of the keys to the successors of the Apostles, and nothing of the sacerdotal character of those successors. But to my mind it is a more serious objection that the doctrine seems opposed to the whole spirit of primitive Christianity, which was a layman's religion, and largely a revolt against a priesthood, and a proclamation of the immediate communion of the soul with God. Here more than anywhere the Church intervenes, and puts itself in the place of God. In the parable of the prodigal son the offender makes his confession to his father alone, and is forgiven without any mediation. This represents the general tenor of Christ's teaching; and nowhere is there the slightest hint that his disciples are to make confession to a newly instituted sacerdotal order. Men may no doubt help one another in the religious life, and confession to a brother may sometimes be desirable and beneficial; but these things follow lines of their own which are traced by the Spirit of God, and the gifts of spiritual sympathy and wise counsel are not limited to a special and segregated class.

The fifth Sacrament is that of Extreme Unction,' known also as Sacramentum unctionis infirmorum, or exeuntium. The matter of this Sacrament is olive-oil consecrated by a bishop; and this is applied to the several organs of sense, eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, and hands (as the principal organs of touch). The form is the prayer which the priest employs in the several anointings, saying, Per istam sanctam unctionem indulgeat tibi Deus, quidquid oculorum, sive narium, sive tactus vitio deliquisti,' though equivalent words are, and may be, used. This is the only Sacrament in which the form consists of prayer; and prayer is employed because one object is that health may be restored to the sick, and this is not regularly accomplished by the force of the Sacrament which bestows a spiritual grace. It is applicable only to those who are seriously ill, and may not be administered even to those whose lives may be from any other cause in danger. It ought not to be postponed till the sick man has

lost consciousness or reason, for it is more profitable when it is religiously observed by the patient. Though it may be administered only once in the same illness, it may be repeated as often as a fresh attack places the life in danger. With a view to suitable preparation it ought to be preceded by the Sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist. It may be administered only by a priest, who must be the pastor possessing jurisdiction or some other person delegated by him. Its benefits are the remission of venial sins, liberation from the infirmity contracted by sin, the filling the mind with a sacred joy, arming the faithful to resist the power and artifice of the devil, and sometimes health of body. The last blessing so often fails because the faith either of the minister or of the recipient is too weak.

The scriptural authority for this Sacrament is found in James v. 14, 15, 'Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, having anointed him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him, and if he have committed sins, he shall be forgiven.' That this passage should receive from Catholics the interpretation which it does is very natural; but, nevertheless, it labours under several disabilities. In the first place, the authorship of the Epistle is much disputed, and it was a considerable time before its authority was generally recognized in the Church. It may, however, be regarded in any case as an evidence of fairly early Christian practice. Secondly, there is nothing to prove that by the elders' is meant the single parish priest. Thirdly, according to our best historical information the elders in the primitive Church were not priests at all; and that the writer had no thought of a priesthood in his mind seems to be indicated by verse 16, 'Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed'; and it is added that the prayer, not of a priest, but of a righteous man, had great efficacy. And lastly, the chief blessing promised is healing,

and the forgiveness of sins is added in accordance with the belief of the time that sickness was due to sin; but healing is the very result of the Sacrament which is confessedly most uncertain. A further difficulty in the way of the Catholic doctrine is this, that a Sacrament, in order to be such, must have been instituted by Christ. Now, as there is no historical evidence of this, it is necessary to derive history from the Sacrament, and not the Sacrament from history; and so it is affirmed that, since Extreme Unction is a Sacrament, it was instituted by Christ. A feeble support is found in Mark vi. 13, where it is said that the twelve who had been sent out to preach anointed many sick persons with oil and healed them.' But even this semblance of Extreme Unction is not said to have rested on any command of Christ's. The Good Samaritan also used oil for healing wounds, and his conduct is expressly contrasted with that of a priest. Nevertheless, no one will deny that the solemn offices of religion may bring comfort and spiritual strength to the sick or dying; but such effects do not depend on a prescribed form, nor are they the monopoly of an official class. The earnest prayer of the righteous man is what is needed. But where there is a stated ministry, it is the duty of the minister to visit the sick. In doing so, while he remembers the duty, let him think of himself only as a brother man, or rather let him altogether forget himself, and pray that he may go in pure sympathy and love, and he too, according to his sincerity, will be an instrument of grace, reviving the heart of the contrite, and bringing a Divine peace into the anguish of death.1

Ordination, the Sacramentum ordinis, is so called because it involves an orderly succession of ecclesiastical functions. For the highest grade, the priesthood, the most exalted claims are made. Bishops and priests act as interpreters of God and messengers between him and men, and bear upon

1 See a useful note on 'anointing with oil'in The Epistle of St. James, with an Introduction and Notes, by Dr. R. J. Knowling, 1904, pp. 154 sqq.