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    f # N with perfect confidence , * tharl no - ' Catholic * priest in * Ireland will be found to yield obedience * in this respecty > by betraying the-sacred trust reposed in him . His con- scientious belief is , that the sacra-

    ment of penance is of divine * institution ; tr ^ at confession is one of its essential parts ; that anin . violuble secrrsy attaches to the $ al cramental confession ; that the Confessor is bound to suffer death *

    rather . than reveal ( by word or sign , directly or indirectly ) -any sin or crime , or-any ctrcuni $ tance attending ihVm . mentioned by- the penitent . in confession : yea , that the whoie confession is to be buried

    in eternal oblivion , and that v ac ~ cording to the laws of the Oat ho * lie church , he wouki expose \\ i ' &kJ self to degradation for tofe , as * a punishment for the crime ; of ityioJ . fating such a ~ trust , and •; forfeit eternal salvation" hereafter . *! ( "fie ?

    would be immediately deposed from i allc his priestly i functl ^ Tis , and consigned to universal abhorhence . ! - >< . ¦ >¦ - ''• ? : . '• ' V ¦ ' ¦' . Here we ^ feel \ / pleasure ift ' 4 adu verting to the sentiments of the late Lord Kenydn , chief justice of

    England , upon a case nearly similar to . the present . ^ A case having ; been . cited before him , < ( the Ki « g v * Sparkes ) where the 1 prisonery being a Catholic , had made a con- > fession before a Protestant clergy- > man of the crime for which fie

    was afterwards indicted , and that < confession having been permitted to be given in evidence upon the trial , he was convicte d and exe- / cuted , Lord Kenyon instantly de .

    c ) ared with a generous disaippro- * bation , of such r a < proceedirig , " That he would have paused bc ~' fore he admitted such evidence as < had been there admitted * " ¦ -

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    1 i In fac t , \ ih e ; haritehip ^ tbU 4 irfflicted upon the GafHolic clergy might easily be ^ aH 6 vFated ,

    withi out < I offering any violence ' to established principles . Ttie . Ja ^^ hasr already provided for other cases , perfectly analogous to the present . For-Quakers ( who , from

    conscientious scruples , refuse to take any oaths ) are permitted , irr ' all civil cases , to make simple affirmation only ; and such affirmation is rendered , by express statutes , of equal credit with the oath of another .

    Thus we see the rigid rule of evidence dispensed With , in order to accommodate persbtis who are goJ vcriwd by inviotable principles of a sacred nature . f ; - : ;

    Again , barri&teH and attornies rnayireftasey when ex-dfrirned in courts of justice , to answer ; any questions ; tending to a disclosure

    ofany ^ c ^ ii i ^ ncerep 0 s ^ d in them by their * clients ' ; - nay , ' they are riot permitted to an » wer siibh questions : this is Jhfc privilege of the clierifc $ , ^ not theiVs : ^ - , ^

    Sur ^ ely ^ then , a Similar protec- tion is due 'to the Catholic cFetgy ' and people . ^ Eq ^ i al respect '* and '' tenldemess ought ;* iii ~ jtistice aWd * in courtesy , to be * hewn tow ^ refs ! of

    their Just * sc ' rupl ^ & > ^ c ^ ristHente , so necessary to be ^ tel-fftin ^^ i ( V ^ ancient and long esl ^ blfehed ; HHd so obligatory * ^ updrt '^ fevefy feeling ' of morality , honour , flnd religidrr : 5

    III . " The Catteoli ^ ctergyAre liable to be punished , ^ by civil ' ^ t - tk > n , i > for ? ebc ^ ttkrnuntedti ^ g" titfworthy meitibergi ' of ttoeif oWn commuiiioti /^ ' * ; . ^; i - 1 * 6 ' power of e 3 tx * bmmuniciition lorms a su-bjeet / up ^ on Which 3

    very * gre ' at pfcins hdvebeen ' taken oflale years hiit fruitlessl y ^ tQ . » ex « iw odium kg ^ inst the Gft- tholic clergy of I ^ elmtd . tor *

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    4 S 2 Penal Laws which aggrieve the Catholic of Ireland .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1812, page 422, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1750/page/14/