Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-03-23
CHAPTER XII-A PLENARY CoNFEs-
SION,

CHAPTER XII.-A PLENARY CONFESS
SION.
Many sins shall be forgiven to man
before he marries, provided there Is a
reasonable prospect of reformation. Het
ty was about to hear a confession and to
pronounce an absolution. The former
brought rs much shame to herself as to
her lover, out the latter cost her little.
Bethiah brought Paul to the studio ard
went away, shutting the door upon Paul
and Hetty To be sure, she had prepared
Hetty beforehand with such excuses and
ways of putting things rs might soften the
blow. You have heard how she put the
case to Tom.
But" said Tom, "he did pretend-tre-
mendous."
That was 80. You may explain as elab-
orately rs you please, the process by which
the wicked man arriveth at his wicked
ness you may show how he was led by a
tempter and driven by a fiend and enticed
by siren ; you may snow him poor, starv
ing and hopeless you may explain how
his conscience had been soothed and dead
ened, and now he has come to live in an
enchanted castle The fact remains that
he has arrived at his wickedness. 1t is al
ways an ugly fact it cannot be righted !;
all we can do is to forgive it,
"And Hetty," Bethiah concluded,
"whatever Paul has to say, remember
that it is all finished, and done with No
kind of temptation could ever make him
repeat the past. My dear, no one hates
spiritualism more than you-eXcept Paul
No one is more ashamed of it than you
except Paul. When you have told me
about the shame and the sin of it, the pre-
fences by which silly people are beguiled,
and the preparation for the spontaneous
manifestations, have felt as if, of all peo-
pie in the world, you were the most to be
pited. Because there seemed no escape
for you, anyhow, exceptto run clean away
from all of it. / could not imagine more
horrible lot for any girl than to live half
the day in the house where mantle stations
were prepared and the other half where
they were exhibited and believed. Paul's
lot no ever, is worse. You have OF
to reproach yourself He knows how deep
Nv he has impressed himself on the minds
of his friends, and how the whole struct-
ure rests upon colossal falsehood."
Not the whole"
Yes, the whole Paul will tell you.
He has promised me that he will hide no
thing from you. The whole structure, my
dear, and not u part only as you think"
The most terrible sight in the world-a
thing which somehow covers one with
shame only to witness-is that of a man
confessing shameful thing, feeling him
self the whole shame and guilt of it. If
there be really, as many still believe, q
day in which the secrets of all hearts shall
be laid open, it will be also, | am sure 8
day in which the baseness OF those secrets
will be fully manifest to every man. We
shrink from letting even our dearest
friends know our own secret thoughts
But to think of the secrets of all hearts
all hearts-being laid open Then the
hero and the statesman and the philau
thropist and the preacher and the sage
will he on the level now occupied by the
convict in prison and the convict out and
where the convict will be, Heaven know
eth, ana we shall all be ashamed for eacf
other rs well as for ourselves; and pool
humanity shall hide her guilty head and
cover her face and call upon the rocks tt
fall upon her. 1t is not enough, you see
to be forgiven. One has also to folgiv,
oneself.
YES, Paul, yes, oh stop. cannot bea
it," cried Hetty, the tears flowing dowl
her cheeks 81 cannot bear any more
Oh to think that it is all deception-all
Oh my poor mother All is deception. 4"
(TO be Continued