The Song of Solomon : and the Lamentations of Jeremiah

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THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH
the position to which the elegist desires to lead them
by thus appearing as their spokesman. And yet we
should not make too sharp a distinction between the
poet and his people. The elegy is not a didactic work
the flavour of its gentle lines would be lost directly
they lent themselves to pedagogic ends. It is only just
to take the words before us quite directly, as they are
written in the first person plural, for a description of
the thoughts of at least the group of Jews with whom
their author was associated.
The confession of sin implies in the first place a
recognition of its existence. This is more than a bare,
undeniable recollection that the deed was done. It is
possible by a kind of intellectual jugglery even to come
to a virtual denial of this fact ;in one's own conscious-
ness. But to admit the deed is not to admit the sin.
The casuistry of self-defence before the court of selfjudgment
is more subtle than sound, as every one who
has found out his own heart must be aware. In this
matter "the heart is deceitful above all things."^ Now
it is not difficult to take part in a decorous service
where all the congregation are expected to denominate
themselves miserable offenders, but it is an entirely
different thing to retreat into the silent chamber of our
own thought, and there calmly and deliberately, with
full consciousness of what the words mean, confess to
ourselves, "We have sinned." The sinking of heart,
the stinging humiliation, the sense of self-loathing which
such an admission produces, are the most miserable
experiences in life. The wretchedness of it all is that
there is no possibility of escaping the accuser when he
is self. We can do nothing but let the shame of the
' Jer. xvii. 9.
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