As we have just seen, the Church of Rome affirms "penance" to be a "sacrament," instituted by Christ himself, and secret "confession" to be one of its con- stituent parts, instituted by the divine law; and she anathematizes those w^ho contradict her: the Church of England denies " penance" to be a sacrament of the Gospel, affirms it to have " grown of the corrupt follow- ing of the apostles," and " not to have" the proper " nat- ure of a sacrament," as " not having any visible sign or ceremony ordained by God," and of course denies the sacramental character of "confession." The Church of Rome pronounces that, by the divine law, " all persons" must confess their sins to the priest: the Church of England limits her provisions for confession to " sick persons." The Church of Rome pronounces that all persons are " bomid" to confess ; the Church of England directs that the sick " be moved" to make confession. The Church of Rome insists upon a confession of "all sins whatsoever;" the Church of England recommends "a special confession of sins," if the sick person "feel his conscience troubled with any weighty matter." The Church of Rome represents penance as instituted for reconciling penitents to God " as often as they fall into sin after baptism," and imposes confession " once a j'ear ;" the Church of England advises it on a peculiar occa- sion. The purpose of the Church of England in so ad- vising it evidently is the special relief of a troubled conscience ; whereas the Church of Rome pronounces it to be " necessary to forgiveness of sin and to salvation ;" and denounces with an anathema "any one who shall say that confession is only useful for the instruction and consolation of the penitent." Penance, then, ac- cording to the ecclesiastical law of England, is a pun- ishment affecting the body of the delinquent, by which he is obliged to give a puljlic satisfaction to the Church for the scandal he has given by his example. Instead of the ancient discipline practiced against offenders, the United Church of England and Ireland at present con- tents herself with an office "called a commination, or denouncing of God's anger and judgments against sin- ners," which is ainiually read on Ash-Wednesda}' after the morning service. In case of incest or of incon- tinency, the offending party is usually enjoined to do a public penance in the cathedral or parish church, or in the public market, barelegged and bareheaded, in a white sheet, and to make an open confession of his crime in a prescribed form of words. This penance is augmented or moderated according to the quality of the fault and the discretion of the judge. In smaller faults and scandals a public satisfaction or penance, as the judge of the ecclesiastical court shall decree, is to be made before the minister, churchwardens, or some of the parishioners, respect being had to the quality and circumstances of the offence ; as in the case of defama- tion or laying violent hands on a minister, or the like. As these censures may be modified by the judge's dis- cretion, so also they may be totally altered by the com- mutation of penance, by the oblation of a sum of money for pious uses, which shall be accepted as a satisfaction of public penance. Anciently such commutation money was to be applied to the use of the Church, in the same manner as fines, in cases of civil punishment, are con- verted to the use of the public (Burn, Eccles. Law, iii, 77, 80. See also Collier, Eccles. Hist. bk. iv).
In the discipline of all the other Protestant churches penance is now unknown. The nearest approach to the Roman Catholic polity on the subject was that in use among the English Puritans of the 17th century, and more particularly in the Church of Scotland during that and the succeeding century, when it was common "to make satisfaction publicly on the Stool of Repent-
PENATES
888
PENDENTIYE
ance* (q. v.). As far back even as 1570 we find in the records of the General Assembly this enactment :
"The kirk ordiij'iies sic pei'sonos as are convict of in- cest or iuliiltcrie, and hes not stubbornly contemiut the admonitions of tlie Jiiik, nor snfleiii ihe sentence of ex- comniunication for their oflences, shall make pnblict re- pentance in sackcloaih, at their own kirks, bareheaded and barefooted, three severall dayes of preaching, and after the said third day to be receuvit in the socieiie of the kirk in their owne cloathes. The nthers that hes been exconiniunicat for their ofi'euccs shall present them- selves, bareheaded and barefooted, sax preaching dayes, and the last, after sermone, to be receavit in their owne cloathes, as said is. Give they be exconimnnicat for their offences, they shall stand bareheaded at the kirk doore, every preaching day, betwixt the assemblies, secluded from prayers before and after sermone, and then enter in the kirk, and sit in the publick place bareheaded all the lyme of the sermons, and depart before the latter prayer. The nthers that are not excommunicat shall be placeit in the publick place where they may be knawne from the rest of the people, bareheaded, the tyme of the sermones, the minister remembering them in his prayer in the tyme after preaching; all the saids persons to bring their min- ister.s' testimonialls to the next assembly of their behav- iour ill the meantyme, according to the act made there- upon be the kirk in the 2d sessione, haldeii July 7, 15(>9." "No superintendent nor commissioner, with advyce of any particular kirk of their jurisdictione, may dispense with the extreamitie of sackcloath piescryvit be the acts of generall discipline for any pecuuiall soume ad pios ttsus."