I answer, first, The art and science of the physician are approved and praised in many places of the Scriptures. But the art and science of the confessor are nowhere to be found in the holy records. Auricular confession is nothing else than a most stupendous imposture. The filthy and impure questions of the confessor, with the polluting answers they elicit, were put among the most diabolical and forbidden actions by God Himself the day that the Spirit of Truth, Holiness, and Life wrote the imperishable words,--"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth" (Eph. iv. 29). Secondly, The physician is not bound by a solemn oath to remain ignorant of the things which it will be his duty to examine and cure. But the priest of Rome is bound, by the most ridiculous and impious oath of celibacy, to remain ignorant of the very things which are the daily objects of his inquiries, observations, and thoughts! The priest of Rome has sworn never to taste of the fruits with which he feeds, his imagination, his memory, his heart, and his soul day and night! The physician is honest in the performance of his duties; but the priest of Rome becomes in fact a perjured man every time he enters the confessional-box. Thirdly, If a lady has a little sore on her small finger, and is obliged to go to the physician, for a remedy, she has only to show her little finger, allow the plaister or ointment to be applied, and all is finished. The physician _never_--no, never--says to that lady, "It is my duty to suspect that you have many other parts of your body which are sick; I am bound in conscience, under pain of death, to examine you from head to foot, in order to save your precious life from those _secret_ diseases, which may kill you if they are not cured just now. Several of those diseases are of such a nature that you never dared perhaps to examine them with the attention they deserve, and you are hardly conscious of them. I know, madam, that this is a very painful and delicate thing for both you and me, that I should be forced to make that thorough examination of your person, but there is no help; I am in duty bound to do it. But you have nothing to fear. I am a holy man, who has made a vow of celibacy. We are alone; neither your husband nor your father will ever know the secret infirmities I will find in you; they will never even suspect the perfect investigation I will make, and they will, for ever, be ignorant of the remedy I will apply." Has any physician ever been authorized to speak or act in this way with any of his female patients? No; never! never!