Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/318

* CONFEDEBATION OF THE EHINE. 270 CONFESSION. Germany to imitate their example. Tlie Arch- Ciiancellor Dalberg was made Prince Primate of the Confederation, with his seat at Frankfort. Diring the years 180G-08 other German sover- eigns enrolled themselves as members of the Con- federation, and at the close of 1808 it embraced a territory of 122,230 square miles, contained a population of 14,008,877 souls, and kept up an army of 119,180 men. The disasters which over- took the French army in the Russian campaign acted like a solvent on the Confederation, and it vanished in 1813 in the sudden outburst of Ger- man patriotism. Consult: Rambaud, La domi- luttion fran^aise en AUcmagne, ISO.'f-ll (Paris, 1876) ; Seeley, Life of Stein (3 vols., Cambridge, 1S78) ; and the general histories of Ranke, Pertz, Oncken, and Treitschke. See Germany. CONFERENCE (ML. confercntia, from Lat. confen-e, to carry together, from com-, together + ferre, to bear). The assemblage of persons gathered for the purposes of consulting upon any course. In legislation there are often conference committees appointed when the two houses of a legislature disagree on any measure. The two houses may meet in joint session for certain specified purposes, but never in conference. There have been many international conferences, such as those of Geneva in 1864, of London in 1864, 1807. and 1871. and that of The Hague, 1899. An ecclesiastical conference was held at Hampton Court Palace, at the instance of James I., in 1604. It Avas composed of prelates of the Church of Eng- land and dissenting ministers, the object being to establish a scheme of 'comprehension' or common creed. This conference led to the translation of the Bible known to English readers as the Au- thorized Version. Another conference was held in 1061, the Savoy House Conference, when some alterations were made in the Prayer Book. Sim- ilar conferences were once frequent in the Roman Catholic Church ; and in other churches there are pastoral and other conferences. The annual meeting of the Yesleyan Church of England is called the Annual Conference ; and the title is used for annual or other stated sessions in the JMethodist Episcopal, the Evangelical, and some Baptist denominations. Under the name of 'Evangelical Church Conference,' delegates from the Reformed churches in the German States and Austria meet for the consideration of questions affecting church matters. CONFER'VA (Lat., a kind of water-plant, from confervere, heat, from com-, together + fcrvere, to be hot). A general term sometimes applied to certain simple filamentous green algje. Also the name of a genus of the Chlorophyceae (q.v.). CONFES'SIO AMAN'TIS (Lat., the lover's confession). A long poem of over 30,000 lines by John Gower (1393). It is a conversation be- tween Genius, the representative of Venus, and a lover, in which a series of tales, illustrating the efl'ccts of the various vices, is introduced. CONFESSION (Lat. confessio, from confiteri, to confess, from com-, together + fateri, to ac- knowledge; connected with fari, Gk.rjfaL, phenai, to speak). In law, a purely voluntary declara- tion made by one who has committed a misde- meanor or a crime, to some other person, of the agency or participation which he had in the offense. Also, the admission of a prisoner that he is guilty of the offense with which he is charged. If made before a magistrate or in the course of judicial proceedings before a court, such confessions are 'judicial;' if made any- where else, they are 'extra-judicial.' An entirely voluntary confession is admissible in evidence: but not so if procured through inducements, threats, promises, or hope of escape or favor. . confession in answer to questions by a magis- trate or by any other person is admissible. A l)risoner"s confession when the corpus delicti (q.v.) is not otherwise proved is not sufiicient to warrant conviction. Whether an alleged con- fession is admissible, as having been made vol- imtarily, for example, is a question for the court : what weight as evidence it is entitled to is a question for the jury. See Admission; also Chimix.vl Law, and consult the authorities re- ferred to there. CONFESSION. In Roman Catholic theol- ogy, a declaration of sins to a priest in order to obtain absolution. The practice of confession is believed by Roman Catholics to be of divine in- stitution, being founded on the power of binding and loosing from sin conferred on the Apostles by Christ ( JIatt. xvi. 19, xviii. 18, and John xx. 22, 23). The power of binding or loosing, being in the view of its advocates judicial and discre- tionary, presupposes a confession of sins in order to its being judicially exercised. Catholics do not allege any formal scriptural precept for it, but they contend that the above passages eon- tain an implied precept. Though the Apostle James recommends that Christians should con- fess their 'faults one to another,' yet open and public confession appears to have been first re- quired in eases where persons guilty of gross apostasy desired to be again received into the Church, llotives of piety, and a wish to avoid the scandal of open confession, led gradually to the preference of private confession. Open or public confession, which was part of the dis- cipline of public penance, ceased when that discipline went into disuse. Private confes- sion has been retained, and though its de- fenders hold it to have been at all times in use, a general law was enacted by the fourth council of the Lateran in 1215 (can. xxi., omnis utri- Hsgiie srxtis) I'eqniring that every Christian who has attained the years of discretion should con- fess to a priest approved for the purpose, at least once in the year. Confession is one of the three 'acts of the penitent' — contrition, confes- sion, and satisfaction — which the Council of Trent declares to be parts of the sacrament of penance. The sinner is required to confess each and every mortal sin, in thought, word, and deed, which, after diligent examination of his conscience, has occurred to his memory. To con- ceal one vitiates the confession. He is exhorted, but not required, also to confess venial sins (q.v.), especially if they be habitual. Confession, in order to be fruitful, must be accompanied by contrition and a purpose of amendment. It commonly embraces the sins committed since the last confession : but may include a longer period, and even the entire life. In the latter case, the confession is called general. It is called 'auricular,' as being made to the private 'ear' of the priest, and is ordinarily spoken ; but in cases of necessity may be made in writ- ing, by signs, or even by an interpreter. Priests cannot validly receive confessions in any place without the 'approbation' of the