clarations of repentance may be proper, if made with decency and propriety, which are necessary to preserve the best actions from contempt and ridicule; but they are necessary only, for the sake of destroying the influence of a bad example, and are no otherwise essential to this duty. No man is obliged to accuse himself of crimes, which are known to God alone: even the fear of hurting others ought often to restrain him from it; since, to confess crimes, may be, in some measure, to teach them; and those may imitate him in wickedness, who will not follow him in his repentance.

It seems here not impertinent to mention the practice of private confession to the priest, indispensably enjoined by the Roman church, as absolutely necessary to true repentance; but which is no where commanded in Scripture, or recommended, otherwise than as a method of disburdening the conscience, for the sake of receiving comfort or instruction; and as such is directed by our own Liturgy.

Thus much, and no more, seems to be implied in the apostle's precept, of "confessing our faults one to another," a precept expressed with such latitude, that it appears only to be one of those which it may be often convenient to observe, but which is to be observed no further than as it may be convenient; for we are left entirely at liberty, what terms, whether general or particular, we shall use in our confessions. The precept, in a literal and rational sense, can be said to direct no more than general acts of humiliation, and acknowledgments of our own depravity.

No man ought to judge of the efficacy of his own

repentance, or the sincerity of another's, by such variable and uncertain tokens, as proceed more from the constitution of the body than the disposition of the mind, or more from sudden passions and violent emotions, than from a fixed temper or settled resolutions. Tears are often to be found where there is little sorrow, and the deepest sorrow without any tears. Even sorrow itself is no other than an accidental, or a secondary part of repentance, which may, and indeed ought to arise from the consciousness of our own guilt; but which is merely a natural and necessary effect, in which choice has very little part, and which, therefore, is no virtue. He that feels no sorrow for sin has indeed great reason to doubt of the sincerity of his own repentance, since he seems not to be truly sensible of his danger and his misery; but he that feels it in the highest degree is not to put confidence in it he is only to expect mercy upon his reformation.

For reformation is the chief part of repentance; not he that only bewails and confesses, but he that forsakes his sins, repents acceptably to God, that God, who "will have mercy, and not sacrifice;" who will only accept a pure heart and real virtue, not outward forms of grief, or pompous solemnities of devotion. To conceive that any thing can be substituted in the place of reformation, is a dangerous and fatal, though, perhaps, no uncommon, error; nor is it less erroneous, though less destructive, to suppose, that any thing can be added to the efficacy of a good life by a conformity to any extraordinary ceremonies or particular insti tutions.

To false notions of repentance many nations owe the custom, which prevails amongst them, of retiring in the decline of life to solitudes and cloisters, to atone for wickedness by penance and mortifications. It must, indeed, be confessed, that it may be prudent in a man, long accustomed to yield to particular temptations, to remove himself from them as far as he can, because every passion is more strong or violent, as its particular object is more near. Thus it would be madness in a man, long enslaved by intemperance, to frequent revels and banquets with an intent to reform; nor can itbe expected that cruelty and tyranny should be corrected by continuance in high authority.

That particular state which contributes most to excite and stimulate our inordinate passions, may be changed with very good effect; but any retirement from the world does not necessarily precede or follow repentance, because it is not requisite to reformation. A man whose conscience accuses him of having perverted others, seems under some obligations to continue in the world, and to practise virtue in public, that those who have been seduced by his example, may, by his example, be reclaimed.

For reformation includes, not only the forbearance of those crimes of which we have been guilty, and the practice of those duties which we have hitherto neglected, but a reparation, as far as we are able to make it, of all the injuries that we have done, either to mankind în general, or to particular persous. If we have been guilty of the open propagation of error, or the promulgation of falsehood, we must make our recantation no less openly; we

must endeavour, without regard to the shame and reproach to which we may be exposed, to undeceive those whom we have formerly misled. If we have deprived any man of his right, we must restore it to him; if we have aspersed his reputation, we must retract our calumny. Whatever can be done to obviate the ill consequences of our past misconduct, must be diligently and steadily practised. Whoever has been made vicious or unhappy by our fault, must be restored to virtue and happiness, so far as our counsel or fortune can contribute to it.

Let no man imagine that he may indulge his malice, his avarice, or his ambition, at the expense of others; that he may raise himself to wealth and honour by the breach of every law of heaven and earth, then retire laden with the plunder of the miserable, spend his life in fantastic penances or false devotion, and by his compliance with the external duties of religion, atone for withholding what he has torn away from the lawful possessor by rapine and extortion: let him not flatter himself with false persuasions that prayer and mortification can alter the great and invariable rules of reason and justice. Let him not think that he can acquire a right to keep what he had no right to take away, or that frequent prostrations before God will justify his perseverance in oppressing men. Let him be assured, that his presence profanes the temple, and that his prayer will be turned into sin.

A frequent and serious reflection upon the necessity of reparation and restitution, may be very effectual to restrain men from injustice and defamation,

from cruelty and extortion; for nothing is more certain, than that most propose themselves to die the death of the righteous, and intend, however they may offend God in the pursuit of their interest, or the gratification of their passions, to reconcile themselves to him by repentance. Would men, therefore, deeply imprint upon their minds the true notions of repentance in its whole extent, many temptations would lose their force; for who would utter a falsehood, which he must shamefully retract, or take away, at the expense of his reputation and his innocence, what, if he hopes for eternal happiness, he must afterwards restore? Who would commit a crime, of which he must retain the guilt, but lose the advantage?

There is, indeed, a partial restitution, with which many have attempted to quiet their consciences, and have betrayed their own souls. When they are sufficiently enriched by wicked practices, and leave off to rob from satiety of wealth, or are awakened to reflection upon their own lives by danger, adversity, or sickness, they then become desirous to be at peace with God, and hope to obtain, by refunding part of their acquisitions, a permission to enjoy the rest. In pursuance of this view, churches are built, schools endowed, the poor clothed, and the ignorant educated; works, indeed, highly pleasing to God, when performed in concurrence with the other duties of religion, but which will never atone for the violation of justice. To plunder one man for the sake of relieving another, is not charity; to build temples with the gains of wickedness, is to endeavour to bribe the