Note 27 — Chapter XI · THE MOUNTAIN MARCH.

In the Swedish Church there used to be a regular private confession made to the priest before every Communion, on which occasion an offertory, called confession-money, was deposited on the altar. It is, indeed, the rule of the Church still, though, since a royal ordinance, in 1686, forbade penitents to select their own confessors, confining them to the priest of their parish, the custom has fallen into disuse; still the old expressions are frequently retained.