spiritual condition to the priest of the Church, this Church, in her turn, acts on him again by the claim of satisfaction; so that, if contrition forms the essence of penitential feeling, and the confession of sins its form and its completion, its confirmation is secured by satisfaction. These three acts of the sinner,—for satisfaction, as far as regards his will, is already performed, though its execution be delayed,- are the conditions to the priestly absolution, wherewith the sacramental penance is concluded. We may easily perceive, that

vérité, on nous la cache; nous voulons être flattés, on nous flatte ; nous aimons à être trompés, on nous trompe.

"C'est qui fait, que chaque dégré de bonne fortune, qui nous élève dans le monde, nous éloigne davantage de la vérité, parcequ'on apprehende plus de blesser ceux dont l'affection est plus utile et l'aversion plus dangereuse.

"Un prince sera la fable de toute l'Europe, et lui seul n'en saura rien. Je ne m'étonne pas; dire la vérité est utile à celui à qui on la dit, mais désavantageux à ceux qui la disent, parcequ'ils se font haïr. Or ceux qui vivent avec les princes aiment mieux leur intéréts que celui du prince qu'ils servent, et ainsi ils n'ont garde de lui procurer un avantage, en se nuisant à eux-mêmes.

"Ce malheur est sans doute plus grand et plus ordinaire dans les plus grandes fortunes; mais les moindres n'en sont pas exemptes, parcequ'il y a toujours quelque intéret à se faire aimer des hommes. Ainsi, la vie humaine n'est qu'une illusion perpetuelle ; on ne fait que s'entre-tromper et s'entre-flatter. Personne ne parle de nous en notre présence, comme il en parle en notre absence. L'union qui est entre les hommes n'est fondée que sur cette mutuelle tromperie; et peu d'amitiés subsisteraient, si chacun savait ce que son ami dit de lui, lorsqu'il n'y est pas, quoiqu'il parle alors sincèrement et sans passion.

"L'homme n'est donc que déguisement, que mensonge, et hypocrisie, et en soi-même et à l'egard des autres. Il ne veut pas qu'on lui dise la vérité, il évite de la dire aux autres; et toutes ces dispositions, si éloignées de la justice et de la raison, ont une racine naturelle en nous."-Pensées de Pascal, p. 1, art. v. n. 8, t. i. p. 194, etc. Paris,

absolution, according to Catholic principles, can by no means be a mere declaration that sins are forgiven, because the contrition required does not consist in mere terrors of conscience; and something, far other than a mere instrumental faith in the merits of Christ, is demanded of the penitent. The above-described succession of acts on the part of the sinner, united with the sacerdotal function (or, in other words, the full sacrament) is the organ of God's justifying grace, whereby man obtains the forgiveness of sins in sanctification, and sanctification in the forgiveness of sins.

Those theologians who pretend that the differences between the Christian communions, in the article of absolution, consist only herein,-that, according to Catholic principles, the priest acts merely from the fulness of his power, while the Protestant minister declares only the will of God, and announces the same to the sinner; those theologians, we say, understand not a single syllable of the doctrinal peculiarities of the two communions. For never did any man entertain the opinion, that he could of himself forgive sins; and the Protestant declaration, that sins are remitted, bears quite another sense, than scholars of this sort suppose.

Respecting satisfaction, which, before absolution, we considered consummated, at least as regards the will, it is now necessary to enter into a few details. It is of a two-fold kind; the one referring to the past, the other both to the future and the past. For example, if any one accuses himself of possessing unlawful goods, by theft, usury, robbery, cheating, or any other way, it is required, that the penitent should make restitution of the same, if he wish to obtain the forgiveness of his sins. But, as, in many cases, those robbed or defrauded cannot obtain possession of their lost property, so a

corresponding renunciation of the unlawful goods, in some other appropriate way, is enjoined; for it is evidently in the very nature of things, that no one, while retaining the purloined goods, can truly repent of his theft. Hence the forgiveness of sins, which, according to Catholic doctrine, is identical with the internal extirpation of sin, appears determined by satisfaction; for the willing, joyous, restitution of property unrighteously acquired, is, in itself, satisfaction. According to the different transgressions, satisfaction, as is obvious, must take a different form. This is the first species of satisfaction, consisting in the performance of what true contrition absolutely requires. The cure that follows needs the most careful attention, and the still debilitated moral powers require the application of strengthening remedies. The priest, who has learned to know the spiritual state of the sinner, ordains, accordingly, the fitting remedies,-pious exercises, calculated to keep up his self-vigilance, and to impart to the will a safe, lively, and vigorous impulse, in the direction it most needs. The enjoining of such remedies belongs to the active superintendence of the Church; and he who knows the nature of man, his effeminate tenderness towards himself, his timorous unsteadiness in the choice of vigorous means conducive to his salvation, will easily understand why the Church should have come in aid of his weakness, and been directed by Christ to support and to determine, by the declaration of her own firm and manifest will, the will of her children. The declared will of the parent, is the stay to the will of the child; it comes in to its aid, doubling it, as it were, till it has attained sufficient strength.*

* Catechismus ex decreto Concil. Trident. p. 343. "Satisfacere

Considered from one point of view, however, these penitential exercises, imposed by the Church, bear the character of real punishments, and, from the foundation of the Church, were ever regarded in this light and this again drew down upon her the charge of Pelagianism. The matter accordingly stands thus: By the transgression of the eternal moral law, man contracted an infinite debt, which he was totally incapable of discharging. Christ took it upon himself and to all, who will enter into a true, interior, living communion with Him, the Righteous one, that debt is remitted.

est causas peccatorum excidere, et eorum suggestioni aditum non indulgere. In quam sententiam alii assenserunt, satisfactionem esse purgationem, qua eluitur quidquid sordium propter peccati maculam in animâ resedit, atque a pœnis tempore definitis, quibus tenebamur, absolvimur. Quæ cum ita sint, facile erit fidelibus persuadere, quam necessarium sit, ut pœnitentes in hoc satisfactionis studio se exerceant. Docendi enim sunt, duo esse quæ peccatum consequuntur, maculam et pœnam ac quamvis semper, culpa dimissa, simul etiam mortis æternæ supplicium, apud inferos constitutum, condonetur, tamen non semper contingit, quamadmodum a Tridentina Synodo declaratum est, ut Dominus peccatorum reliquias et pœnam, certo tempore definitam, quæ peccatis debetur, remittat," etc. P. 347: "Divus etiam Bernardus duo affirmat in peccato reperiri, maculam animæ et plagam: ac turpitudinem quidem ipsam Dei misericordia tolli: verum sanandis peccatorum plagis valde necessarium esse eam curam, quæ in remedio pœnitentiæ adhibetur, quemadmodum enim, sanato vulnere, cicatrices quædam remanent, quæ et ipsæ curandæ sunt: ita, inanima culpa condonata, supersunt reliquiæ peccatorum purgandæ," etc. P. 352 : "Sed illud imprimis a sacerdotibus observari oportet, ut, audita peccatorum confessione, antequam pœnitentem a peccatis absolvant, diligenter curent, ut, si quid ille forte de re aut de existimatione proximi detraxerit, cujus peccati merito damnandus esse videatur, cumulata satisfactione compenset: nemo enim absolvendus est, nisi prius, quæ cujuscunque fuerint, restituere polliceatur. At quoniam multi sunt, quibus etsi prolixe pollicentur, se officio satis esse facturos, tamen certum est ac deliberatum nunquam promissa exsolvere, omnino ii cogendi sunt, ut restituant," etc.

But, as in the fulness of His mercy the Almighty instituted this ordinance, it was not His will to release all who should return to Him, after personal guilt, from the temporal punishments which man is capable of enduring. And justice, which is not superseded by love, requires the imposition of such penalties, the more especially as those who believe in Christ, and by baptism are become members of His body, have received full strength to observe the Divine law; for it is of such only there is question in the article of penance.

The contempt of God's commandments, on the part of these, and, still more, the grievous violation of them by a believer, is, even in case of amendment, deservedly punishable, and must be atoned for. Holy Writ abounds in examples of men who, after having obtained the remission of their sins, still received temporal chastisements at the hand of God;-a fact utterly inexplicable, if a man, being once justified, could escape entirely without punishment. The reformers, indeed, explained these chastisements, as having a mere correctional tendency, yet in such glaring contradiction to many passages of the Bible, that, so interpreted, they offer no sense.* From this emasculated opinion the Reformers might well have turned away, had they but calmly interpreted the language of the uneducated man, on meeting with misfortunes: "I have deserved them," is his ordinary exclamation. They would then have perceived, that undebauched feeling regards sufferings as something far different from mere means of correction; and humility would not have failed to suggest a view more consonant with its own spirit.

Moreover, if there be no temporal punishments for

* See note A in appendix.