The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-04 00:00:00

THE POPISH. CONFESSIONAL.
In ene of his recent speeches at Leeds, to a crowded
SU,lience, Father Gavazzi made some startling revela-
tions respecting the immoraltiss of the confessional,
and also of the political purposes to which that tre-
mendous engine of priestly power is applied. The
following passages from the Father's eloquent speech
deserve to be read with the greatest attention :
„ Generally speaking, the priests are all immoral—a
fact which is supperted by the details of the public
trials in France. You have fif:cen or twenty trials of
nadeseers for murder recorded; and from these records
it appears that the beginning of the passion, the cri-
minal passion, was in the confessional. In this manner
these eontessore became guilty while confessing those
girls, who were afterwards alike their accomplices
and their victims.—(Elear, hear.) Go now, you
Remanists, and apologise for your auricular confes-
sion. Auricular confession, I say, is immoral in its re-
sults, as they operate upon private families. Who is the
master of a Christian family? Always the father confes-
sor. Son, obey thy confessor rather than thy father.
Daughters, obey sooner your confessors than your mo-
thers. Wives, obey rather the confessor; and also in the
duties of a wife, obey rather your confessors than your
husbands.—(Applause.) And it is the same with ser-
vants, they will obey their confessors rather than their
masters. Is this moral, is it pure, is it of good report?
No, no. God himself has appointed one to be chief in
every family, but the priesthood seek to destroy this
sadism*, because their ambition and their influence are
pampered and increased at the expense of peace and una-
nimity of private families.—(Applanse.) Confessors and
oonfession are disturbers of everything. We have abun-
dance of facts in history to prove this. We have the
confession of the Kings of Spain—we have the confession
of the Kings of Portugal—we have the confession of the
Kings of France—we have the confession of the Kings of
*ltaly, that the confessional has destroyed all liberties in
those kingdoms. We have it recorded in history, that it
was the eenfessors who obtained the expulsion of the
Moors from Spain and Pertugal—that it was the confes-
sors who obtained the massacre of the Huguenots on the
eve of St. Bartholomew—that it was his father confessor
who obtained from Louis XIV. the revocation of the edict
cd Nantes, in antagonism to the liberty of the Calvinists.--
(Applause.) In this manner you have in every part of Ea-
rape despots acting under the suggestions of their father
confessor; and, as I will demonstrate in my last lec-
ture, even the hyaena of Naples would not be so wicked,
were it not for the influence of his father confessor.
Such is the potency of the confessional even in the
most exalted society in various nations of the earth,
and it is not only in the kingdoms of despots that the
confessional does its unhallowed work, but also in
constitutional kingdoms. You have an instance
of this in the kingdom of Piedmont, when the
siccardi laws were passed against the usurpation
of Pope and Popery. Many of the bigoted seise-
tors had called for as adjournment of the session, in
order that they might coasult their father confessors as
to their votes, and the answer of the confessorsvas,
" you must vote against the laws siccardi and
the liberty cf the citizens—you must support nano abut
Rome emd its tyranny." My friends, it is the same in
England. Last year was a very instructive one to me;
it learnt me a great lesson as to the influence of. the Romish
Church in this country, and that lesson is one which
will be very much enlarged during the forthcoming Ern.
tish Parliament. The Irish Brigade--(Cheers)—thelrish
Brigade do not vote independently like
(Hear.) No; their vote will always be in obedience to
their lather confessors; their vote will always be in
support of the Pope, and the usurpation of the Pope
against the laws and constitution of your country—against
the majesty of your Queen, and against the glory of your
nation.—(Repeated applause.) Such now is the Irish
Brigade. And I say that until you do away with the
confessional, you never will have a proper or a com-
petent Legislature, until you do away with the con-
teasional you
.never will have 2colastitutionll Parliament,
or a free Parliament.—(Cheers.) I coachole my lecture
by quoting a horrible fact—as a pr,of of the immorality
of eurioular confession—l alleoa a ;sc.', which took place
an my poor Italy. It hen the Republic destroyed
the Vallee of the Roman Inquisition, we found many
and many thousacols of letters wri“en by Ii ,man
Catholic bishops a;1 over the world, discovering and
makitig known all the chief liberals, not only
in Europe, but iu America and Asia. Now all tail
iriformtoion had been extorted by means of the
confessional.—(Sensation.) We lave four bulls of
Popes, Bniedier, XIII., Pios VII., Leo XII., and Gre-
Lory XVI., who thereby command all confessors to
Oblige all penitents to discover or reveal to them all the
liberals who exist to their knowledge. Oh, English-
men, Englishmen, judge you from this only fact of
the wicked tendency and immoral nature of auricular
confession.—(Applause.) In my poor Italy, many
sisters were obliged to denounce their brothers. In
my poor Italy many, many sons were obliged to de-
nounce their fathers. And, horrible to say, many
mothers were ()bilged tt denounce their sons—their
dear sons—who, after a few hours, were bennd by
the police, condemned to prison—nay, not unlikely, to
the scaffold itself. This is the confessional in my coun-
try, and it is a system of universal espionage over
all Europe. Its purpose is to suppress all aspira-
tions for freedom, for civil and religious liberty, and
for the nationality of my poor country. Oh, cruel con-
fessional.—(Applause.) Some of the facts which I
have quoted, mind you, are Irish facts. In Ire-
land there is a fanatic, a desperate man, that green-
stockiuged angel of Tuam—(Loud applause)—Dr.
who, some months ago, gave judgment upon
a reserved case of reading the Bible, and his
sentence went to deprive of absolution all Irishmen read-
ing the Holy Bible. Now, take notice, my friends, in
Ireland there exists a bad society, a society of murderers.
liirts society called the Ribbon Society. Is it a Pro-
testant or a Cithelic society? It is a Catholic society.—
(Applause.) Answer me, priesthood of Ireland. Answer
me, ye Romish bishops of Ireland, answer me.—(Loud
applause.) In my country, on all the Continent, and
throughout Great Britain, the opinion is that the Ro-
mittla clergy in Ireland encourage the Ribbon Society—
(reehement applause)—and without the approbation of
the Romish clergy the present Ribbon Society would not
eft. You Romish priests, when you preach to these
societies, you preach to the murderers who are among
their members. You Romish priests, when you
absolve members of the Ribbon Society, you absolve
those who are murderers. You Realists bishops,
you approve silently cf the murders committed by
the Ribbon Society. It is not true, you say. Well,
but we ask you to deprive of the sacrement and of abso-
lution all the members guilty of murder belonging to
the Ribbon Society; and then you will see, and
the world will see, that in a few short months the
Ribbon Society will fall and be extinct.—(Loud ap li
-
plause.) If the Ribbon Society is still to exist, and to
remain so great * difficulty for Parliament and the
English nation—if the Ribbon Society is to continue a
scandal to Christianity. you, priests of Rome, are alone
responsible for it, because you are the confessors always
and everywhere of its members, and you absolve the
members guilty of murder belonging to te the Ribbon
Society.—(Loud cheers.) Tnis is -Itnogo surely the fact.
Deny it if possible. I repeat,
there. is not an in-
stitution of the Church of Rome so immoral in itself, or
so immoral in its effects as auricular
calor confession is a game played b %Inr,fesii;ioa. Auri-
opes for se-
eming the bondage of couscience arirdrfoi the enslaving
of nations.—(Cheers.) Beware, En'
Without auliculer confessions you g are beware.
goad Chris-
tians, arid ganorolly speakintg,epytoie3.,r population is im-
pressed with great moral pin
hcoeurentrisy.muclhf
and sincere morality
true -anydoauradT,
ore defend and
you would preserve that
defend and
guard yeureel yes against. confess
I yourselves against auricular confession.guar( In
ntessors and
my dist:Acted country we have co •
confession in abundance ; but we ere bigots—ore are
, ete are slave's, we are the tools and .gietiili,
oppressed—we
of the Icquisition.
Oo that God may bless your roan.
try. Wiaiout almicukr confession, tri'
the
pour- without bg,, ;
God sad ;n: ta
Per tneity ok the priest between
your
science, you can preserve the good, anal bright, and pre.
cious inheritaae, of your aneestorT-your glorious
formatioc,yourogarisiran Roiormed Gtourcn.—(c aecra),

SEABORNE MAILS.
itigtftles that the mall are gent 1r; il6 the Garierzd Post-o:d0
by the qiitht—and If by the merntnio—V-IIIntot"3
k

When ma .e up Iv. From :41.11 s'::„
GerwralPost-of?.ce par: 113- due.
Loudon: ' palni:o+l,
--I

Lives:pool .. :Sept. G
rrpoot 't.-ept. 14
),ioatiAmpt..,Sept. 9