r sins if they
want to be forgiven.

She calmly, but with an air of dignity which no human words can express,
said, "Is it true that, after the sin of Adam and Eve, God Himself made
coats of skins, and clothed them, that they might not see each other's
nakedness?"

"Yes," I said, "this is what the Holy Scriptures tell us."

"Well, then, how is it possible that our confessors dare to take away from
us that holy, divine coat of modesty and self-respect? Has not Almighty God
Himself made with His own hands that coat of womanly modesty and
self-respect that we might not be to you and to ourselves a cause of shame
and sin?"

I was really stunned by the beauty, simplicity, and sublimity of that
comparison. I remained absolutely mute and confounded. Though it was
demolishing all the traditions and doctrines of my Church, and pulverizing
all my holy doctors and theologians, that noble answer found such an echo
in my soul that it seemed to me a sacrilege to try to touch it with my
finger.

After a short time of silence, she continued, "Twice I have been destroyed
by priests in the confessional. They took away from me that divine coat of
modesty and self-respect which God gives to every human being who comes
into this world, and twice I have become for those very priests a deep pit
of perdition, into which they have fallen, and where, I fear, they are for
ever lost! My merciful Heavenly Father has given me back that coat of
skins, that nuptial robe of modesty, self-respect, and holiness, which had
been taken away from me. He cannot allow you, or any other man, to tear
again and spoil that vestment which is the work of His hands."

These words had exhausted her; it was evident to me that she wanted some
rest. I left her alone, but I was absolutely beside myself. Filled with
admiration for the sublime lessons which I had received from the lips of
that angel, who, it was evident, was soon to fly away from us, I felt a
supreme disgust for myself, my theologians, and--shall I say it? yes--I
felt, in that solemn hour, a supreme disgust for my Church, which was so
cruelly defiling me and all the priests, in the confessional-box. I felt in
that hour a supreme horror for that auricular confession, which is so often
such a pit of perdition and supreme misery for the confessor and the
penitent. I went out, walked two hours on the Plains of Abraham, to breathe
the pure and refreshing air of the mountain. There alone I sat on a stone,