THE CONFESSIONAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1746, 21 January 1888, Page 2

THE CONFESSIONAL

4 eomowhat remarkable instance of what many persons will hold to be a proof of the value of the coafes ional baa b«en •dated to u« (flays the " Sydney Morning Herald ") m connection with the present Mayor of Sydney. Some 20 years ago Mr Blley presented Mra Riley with a 7»!uable gold watob. which, however, m i short time mynforlouly diiappsared, and oould not be tf»ce3. A few days ago a priest of the Oathollo Oharob, residing m or near the metropolis, comnaonicated with the Mayor* brother to know if aiy female relative to hit bad lost a watoh, and the Mayor having been Informed of tbe fsot, it waa aoom settled beyond all donbt that the watoh was the identical one Mrs Riley had lost. The explanation co this fa: A man on his doathbsd, who was about to receive the vlatioam — the sacrament administered by the Githolio Ofiuroh to dying persons— confeis^d that he had et <len a gold watoh. The priest told him the watoh would have to be restored to ita owner before the sin eoald be forgiveu. Without delay, it wai handed over to the priest, and the name of the owner revealed, with the result already atated,