notice of the fact, let him transact that affair wholly between God and his own soul. And this of declaring a single action, as it is of great use in the repentance of every man, so it puts on some degrees of necessity, if the man be of a sad, amazed, and an afflicted conscience. For there are some unfortunate persons, who have committed some secret facts of shame and horror, at the remembrance of which they are amazed, of the pardon of which they have no sign, for the expiation of which they use no instrument, and they walk up and down like distracted persons, to whom reason is useless, and company is unpleasant;-and their sorrow is not holy, but very great; and they know not what to do, because they will not ask. I have observed some such: and the only remedy that was fit to be prescribed to such persons, was to reveal their sin to a spiritual man, and by him to be put into such a state of remedy and comfort, as is proper for their condition. It is certain, that many persons have perished for want of counsel and comfort, which were ready for them, if they would have confessed their sin; for he that concealeth his sin, non dirigetur,' saith Solomon, he shall not be' counselled or directed.'

108. And it is a very great fault amongst a very great part of Christians, that, in their inquiries of religion, even the best of them ordinarily ask but these two questions: 'Is it lawful? Is it necessary?' If they find it lawful, they will do it without scruple or restraint; and then they suffer imperfection, or receive the reward of folly. For it may be lawful, and yet not fit to be done. It may be, it is not expedient. And he that will do all that he can do lawfully, would, if he durst, do something that is not lawful. And as great an error is, on the other hand, in the other question. He that too strictly inquires of an action, whether it be necessary or no, would do well to ask also whether it be good? Whether it be of advantage to the interest of his soul? For if a Christian man or woman, that is, a redeemed, blessed, obliged person, a great beneficiary, endeared to God beyond all the comprehensions of a man's imagination, one that is less than the least of all God's mercies, and yet hath received many great ones, and hopes for more, if he should do nothing but what is necessary, that is, nothing but what he is compelled to; then he hath the obligations of a son, and

lessens the shame, lessens also the hatred of sin, and his future caution, and the reward of his repentance; and takes off that which was an excellent defensative against the sin. But with the shame, the minister of religion is to do as he is to do with the man's sorrow: so long as it is a good instrument of repentance, so long it is to be permitted and assisted, but when it comes irregular, or disposed to evil events, it is to be taken off. And so must the shame of the penitent man, when there is danger, lest the man be swallowed up by too much sorrow and shame, or when it is perceived, that the shame alone is a hinderance to the duty. In these cases, if the penitent man can be persuaded, directly and by choice, for ends of piety and religion, to suffer the shame,then let his spirit be supported by other means; but if he cannot, let there be such a confidence wrought in him, which is derived from the circumstances of the person, or the universal calamity and iniquity of man, or the example of great sinners like himself, that have willingly undergone the yoke of the Lord, or from consideration of the divine mercies, or from the easiness and advantages of the duty; but let nothing be offered to lessen the hatred or the greatness of the sin; lest a temptation to sin hereafter be sowed in the furrows of the present repentance.

106. XX. He that confesseth his sins to the minister of religion, must be sure to express all the great lines of his folly and calamity; that is, all that by which he may make a competent judgment of the state of his soul. Now if the man be of a good life, and yet in his tendency to perfection, is willing to pass under the method and discipline of greater sinners, there is no advice to be given to him, but that he do not curiously tell those lesser irregularities, which vex his peace, rather than discompose his conscience: but what is most remarkable in his infirmities, or the whole state, and the greatest marks and instances, and returns of them, he ought to signify; for else he can serve no prudent end in his

confession.

107. But, secondly; if the man have committed a great sin, it is a high prudence, and an excellent instance of his repentance, that he confess it,-declaring the kind of it, if it be of that nature, that the spiritual man may conceal it. But if, upon any other account, he be bound to reveal every

notice of the fact, let him transact that affair wholly between God and his own soul. And this of declaring a single action, as it is of great use in the repentance of every man, so it puts on some degrees of necessity, if the man be of a sad, amazed, and an afflicted conscience. For there are some unfortunate persons, who have committed some secret facts of shame and horror, at the remembrance of which they are amazed, of the pardon of which they have no sign, for the expiation of which they use no instrument, and they walk up and down like distracted persons, to whom reason is useless, and company is unpleasant;-and their sorrow is not holy, but very great; and they know not what to do, because they will not ask. I have observed some such: and the only remedy that was fit to be prescribed to such persons, was to reveal their sin to a spiritual man, and by him to be put into such a state of remedy and comfort, as is proper for their condition. It is certain, that many persons have perished for want of counsel and comfort, which were ready for them, if they would have confessed their sin; for he that concealeth his sin, non dirigetur,' saith Solomon,' he shall not be' counselled or directed.'

108. And it is a very great fault amongst a very great part of Christians, that, in their inquiries of religion, even the best of them ordinarily ask but these two questions: "Is it lawful? Is it necessary?' If they find it lawful, they will do it without scruple or restraint; and then they suffer imperfection, or receive the reward of folly. For it may be lawful, and yet not fit to be done. It may be, it is not expedient. And he that will do all that he can do lawfully, would, if he durst, do something that is not lawful. And as great an error is, on the other hand, in the other question. He that too strictly inquires of an action, whether it be necessary or no, would do well to ask also whether it be good? Whether it be of advantage to the interest of his soul? For if a Christian man or woman,—that is, a redeemed, blessed, obliged person, a great beneficiary, endeared to God beyond all the comprehensions of a man's imagination, one that is less than the least of all God's mercies, and yet hath received many great ones, and hopes for more,-if he should do nothing but what is necessary, that is, nothing but what he is compelled to; then he hath the obligations of a son, and

end these advices with the words of Origen: "Extra veniam est, qui peccatum cognovit, nec cognitum confitetur. Confitendum autem semper est, non quod peccatum supersit, ut semper sit confitendum; sed quia peccati veteris et antiqui utilis sit indefessa confessio:" "He shall have no pardon, who knows his sin and confesses it not: but we must confess always, not that the sin always remains, but that of an old sin an unwearied confession is useful and profitable1." But this is to be understood of a general accusation, or of a confession to God. For in confessions to men, there is no other usefulness of repeating our confessions, excepting where such repetition does aggravate the fault of relapsing and ingratitude, in case the man returns to those sins, for which, he hoped, that before he did receive a pardon.

SECTION IX.

BUT because, in all repentances, there is something penal, it is not amiss that there be some inquiries after the measures and rules of acting that part of repentance, which consists in corporal austerities, and are commonly called penances.

111. I. He that hath a great sorrow, need neither be invited nor instructed in the matter of his austerities. For a great sorrow and its own natural expressions and significations, such as are fastings, and abstinence, and tears, and indignation, and restlessness of mind, and prayers for pardon, and mortification of the sin, are all that, which will perfect this part of repentance. Only, sometime, they need caution for the degrees. Therefore,

112. II. Let the penitent be careful, that he do not injure his health, or oppress his spirit, by the zeal of this part of repentance. "Sic enim peccata compescenda sunt, ut supersint quos peccasse poeniteat." For all such fierce proceedings are either superstitious, or desperate, or indiscreet; or the effect of a false persuasion concerning them, that they are a direct service of God, that they are simply necessary, and severely enjoined. All which are to be rescinded; or

In Psal. 36. Hom. 1.

in the particular circumstances of it, but that it be done heartily and wisely; that is, so as may best serve the ends to which it is designed: and that no man do it in despite of himself, or against his will; for the thing itself is not a direct service of God immediately enjoined, but is a service to ourselves to enable us to do our duty to God, and to receive a more ready and easy and certain pardon from him. They indeed, who pretend it as a necessary duty, have, by affixing rules and measures to it of their own, made that, which they call necessary, to be intolerable and impossible. Indeed it is certain, that when God hath appointed a duty, he also will describe the measures, or else leave us to the conduct of our own choice and reason in it. But where God hath not described the measures, we are to do that, which is most agreeable to the analogy of the commandment, or the principal duty, in case it be under a command: but if it be not, then we are only to choose the particulars so as may best minister to the end, which is designed in the whole ministration.

110. XXI. It is a very pious preparation to the holy sacrament, that we confess our sins to the minister of religion for since it is necessary, that a man be examined, and a self-examination was prescribed to the Corinthians in the time of their lapsed discipline, that though there were divisions amongst them, and no established governors, yet from this duty they were not to be excused; and they must, in destitution of a public minister, do it themselves (but this is in case only of such necessity); the other is better; that is, it is of better order and more advantage, that this part of repentance and holy preparation be performed under the conduct of a spiritual guide. And the reason is pressing. For since it is life or death, that is there administered, and the great dispensation of the keys is in that ministry,—it were very well, if he that ministers, did know whether the person presented were fit to communicate or no: and if he be not, it is charity to reject him, and charity to assist him that he may be fitted. There are many sad contingencies in the constitution of ecclesiastical affairs, in which every man that needs this help, and would fain make use of it, cannot; but when he can meet with the blessing, it were well, it were more frequently used, and more readily entertained. I