general belief in Ireland--a belief expressed to me by many
trustworthy men in all parts of the country, and by Protestants as
well as by Catholics--that the singular purity of female life among
the lower classes there is, in a considerable degree, dependent on
this very circumstance."[59] "With a view of testing, as far as was
practicable, the truth of the theory respecting the influence of
Confession on this branch of morals, I have obtained, through the
courtesy of the Poor Law Commissioners, a return of the number of
legitimate and illegitimate children in the work-houses of each of
the four provinces in Ireland, on a particular day, viz: the 27th of
November, 1852. * * * It is curious to mark how strikingly the results
there conveyed correspond with the confessional theory: the proportion
of illegitimate children coinciding almost exactly with the relative
proportions of the two religions in each province; being large where
the Protestant element is large, and small where it is small."[60]

Good sense ought to make objectors remember that priests have mothers
and sisters and relations whom they love; and priests would be the
first to prevent these beloved ones from the demoralizing influences
which enemies ignorantly attribute to the confessional.

3. Once more let it be remembered that the Tribunal of Penance is for
the accusation and absolution of sin. Name, nor abode, nor fortune,
nor domestic concerns, have any place there. The priest is the
spiritual physician, and it is the disease which is submitted to him;
all else is foreign to his office, nor has he the right to ask of
other matters. Nay, more: a sacramental secret surrounds his work;
this involves obligations greater than any natural or promised
secrecy. Information obtained in Confession the priest can never use,
be it in his own interest, or in that of a family, or of the State, or