Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/319

* CONFESSION. 271 CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG MAN. bishop of the place, which may be given either absolutely or with restrictions. Confes- sion is prescribed in the ritual of the Greek, the Russo-Greek, the Coptic, the Syrian, and the other Oriental churches. In most of these ehurelies the practice is obligatory, but in some it has gone into disuse. The Lutheran Chui-cli professes (according to the eleventh article of the Augsburg Confession) "that private confes- sion must be retained in the Church ; but that full and particular statement of all sins is not necessary, because, according to Psa. xix. 12, it is impossible." In the Apology of the Augs- burg Confession, it is said to bo 'impious' to abolish the practice of private confession to the priest; but in practice the Lutheran Church has widely departed from these rules. The Re- formed Church in Germany has always been more inclined to general confession, and the United Church also substitutes for private confession certain devotional exercises previous to eom- mimion. The Church of England employs a general form of confession and absolution in its morning and evening services, but retains pri- vate confession in the rubric for visitation of the sick (the last not retained by the Protestant Kpiscopal Cluirch in the United States). See ABSOLrTIOX; PEN.4XCE; COXTRITIOX. The sigiHum confessionis ('seal of confession'), in the Roman Catholic and in the German Prot- estant Church, means the obligation of a confes- sor or priest not to divulge the secrets of the confessional. This custom of secrecy is trace- able in the fourth and fifth centuries, but was made binding by Innocent III. (119S-1216). and its violation by a priest makes him subject to the severest penalties that can be inflicted by the Church. See Pkivixeged Communication. CONFESSION (the tomb of a confessor or martyr). In church architecture, the recess, ambulatory, or chapel beneath the central altar, containing the relics of the saints, and corre- sponding to the subterranean tombs of the mar- tyrs in the catacombs over which churches were erected. Such confessions gradually grew in size between the fourth and seventh centuries, until they developed into the crypt (q.v.). CONFESSIONAL (ML. confesslovalis, re- lating to confession, from Lat. coiifessio, con- fession ). The seat, recess, or booth in which the priest sits to hear confession in a Roman Catholic church. These booths are distributed throughout the interiors of churches, in the nave and aisles, and are slight closed structures made of wood. The confessional commonly has a door in front, through which the priest enters, and un opening on one or both sides, like a small window, with a grating of wire or zinc, for the penitents to speak through as they kneel. CONFESSION AND AVOIDANCE. Plead- ings are said to be in confession and avoidance, in common-law practice, when they expressly or by a reasonable implication admit the allega- tions of the pleading to which they are inter- posed, and show some justification or excuse which will deprive them of the legal effect of supporting the plaintiff's claim of a right to recover. The admission must be sufficiently comprehensive to give color to the matter ad- versely alleged — that is. must show it to be prima fiirie, or apparently, true. . y pleading after the declaration may be by way of confes- sion and avoidance of the last pleading of the opposite party. Thus, if the defendant should piead a release by i)IaintilT, the latter miglit in his rei)lication admit that lie gave a release, but allege that it was obtained from liim by coercion or fraud. This might be denied by the opposite party, and then the cause would be at issue. See Ple.ding. CONFESSION D'TJN ENFANT DU SI- ECLE, ko,'fc-syiJ.' du niiN'fiix' du syekT, La (Fr., the confession of a child of the century). A work of fiction by Alfred de JIusset (IS.'iU), founded upon the author's love affair with George Sand. CONFESSION OF JUDGMENT. A method of allowing judgiiK'nt to lie cntcrod against a person upon his acknowledgment in proper form that a claim is, or is about to become, due and owing to another, and consenting that the latter may enter judgment for the amount named. X judgment thus obtained is equally valid and binding as though it had been secured by legal process. While the weight of advantage is with the person obtaining the judgment, in the saving of the time and expense of litigation, this device may also be of advantage to the debtor in sav- ing him the annoyance and costs of suit involved in the ordinary process. It is commonly resorted to in cases where the debtor desires to prefer a certain creditor and give him the priority over other creditors and the additional security which a judgment affords. It differs from cognovit (q.v.) in the fact that it may be made without the institution of an action, and in the further fact that it is gener- ally limited to debts, in the usual sense of that terra, and is not available for the liquidation of claims founded on torts. However, as intimated above, a confession of judgment may be equally valid for a claim not yet accrued, as for future advances. In a few of the States of the United States it is customary to give a promissory note at the time of its inception the form and character of a confession of judgment, whereby the holder of the note is authorized at maturity, or at a specified time thereafter, to enter up judgment thereupon without further process. This exten- sion of the principle is not, however, generally favored. See .Jxtdgment; Warbant of Attob- NEY. CONFESSIONS, Les, la koN'fe-syoN' (Fr., the confessions ). A remarkable autobiography of great frankness and dramatic strength, by Jean Jacques Rousseau, composed between 176(5 and 1770. The work, in twelve books, was pub- lished in 1781 and 1788, after the author's death, contrary to his intention of suppressing it dur- ing the' lifetime of the persons referred to in it. The confessions present the author in an un- favoriible light, showing much that is base and weak in the acts admitted by him ; but the work is distinguished by great narrative skill and a feeling for natural beauty. CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM- EATER. A work by Thomas De Quincey ( 1821 ) . It describes the effects of opium-eating, and is an example of impassioned prose which has few, if any. equals in English. CONFESSIONS OF A YOUNG MAN. See JIOORE, GeOBGE.