Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
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A42517
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Observations on a journy to Naples wherein the frauds of romish monks and priests are farther discover'd / by the author of a late book entituled The frauds of romish monks and priests.
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Gabin, Antonio, fl. 1726.
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1691
(1691)
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Wing G393; ESTC R25455
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167,384
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354
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always been Souldiers by Profession before that we took this Habit upon us It was a French Hermit a great Runner of the Countries and who made a shift to live very well in Italy that persuaded us to do as much and to follow the same Course and procured the Habit of Hermits for us at Rome and having some time after found this Hermitage Vacant we retired thither and we have lived here as other Hermits do on the Alms we beg in the Neighbouring Villages We at first refused to change our brown Bread for other Necessaries amongst the poor Peasants but when this came to the knowledge of many Persons it was a great prejudice to us in our Quests and they began to reproach us for dainty Persons that could eat no Brown Bread wherefore we now rather chuse to cast it to the Crows than either to sell or give it away And thus much for the Pieces of Bread you met with But seeing you have cast your Eyes upon some Female Ornaments that are left here with us we shall tell you the Mystery of them also in order to desire you to give us your Advice in a business that extreamly perplexeth me and my Companion In the next Hermitage which is joyned to ours there lives an Italian Hermit of a very bad Life tho' he be not known for such He hath debauched a Roman Gentlewoman whom he has kept with him for some Months and seeing he had no prospect of keeping her with him long but that we must discover because we have some Windows that look out towards his Hermitage and that we go daily to Visit him with a great deal of Freedom he rather chose to Communicate the Matter to us than to endeavour to conceal it He hath made a hole in the Wall of our Garden by which his Lady in case of sudden Surprize or of any one coming to Visit him might retire her self into our Hermitage For the rest we have nothing but the sight of her for he is so extreamly Jealous that he keeps her all the day shut up in a Hole that differs nothing from a Prison and when at any time he brings her to take a Walk he continues all the while with her And it seems she does not think much of it neither for she loves him extreamly 'T is she that furnisheth all manner of Expences for she hath brought abundance of Gold and Silver along with her from Rome And to speak the Truth we have found our selves very well since the Hermit has Discover'd all to us for there is not a day passeth over our Heads in which we do not receive some Present or other from them He came and gave us a Visit this Morning with his Lady and they brought with them the Pasty and Bottle you have seen it is not much above a quarter of an hour since they are gone and it seems the Gentlewoman forgot to take her Fan and Gloves with her It was great good luck for you Sir that you did not come whilst he was here for he would certainly have kill'd you for fear of being Discovered He carries always a great Dagger under his Gown to make use of it upon occasion Neither would we advise you to stay here any considerable time for should he return hither as sometimes he does and as in all likelyhood he will to fetch the things his Lady has left behind her you would be in great Danger We only desire you would be pleased to assist us with your Counsel how we might best discover this without doing our selves a Mischief I told them that the most safe and short way was to acquaint the Cardinal Vicar and that they needed not to trouble themselves any further And that as for my part I knew not whether I should return to Rome or no. They told me that this Hermit was so cunning that now for some time they had not durst so much as to take one step towards Rome so narrowly did he watch them I had been told that there was a very fair Abby of Bernardines upon the same Mountain and therefore I asked the Hermits why they did not discover the matter to the Abbot but they repli'd that they knew they would not be welcome there with such a Story because all the Monks there led a very dissolute Life and had all of them their Mistresses as well as the Hermit Moreover they told me that they suspected the Hermit to be a Sorcerer which made them the more fearful to make the least step towards the discovering of him That they were of opinion also that he had bewitch'd this Gentlewoman because that tho' he had no considerable Qualities and was besides very deform'd in Body with a great slovenly Beard a stinking Breath and rotten Teeth yet that she had always loved him Passionately from the time that she had first receiv'd one of his Letters wherein was enclosed a Piece of white-Wax like unto an Agnus Dei That they had also frequently had cause to admire his knowledge of many secret things that had hapned at very far distant Places all which gave them great suspicion that he had to do with the Devil They were about to tell me more of him but the fear into which they had put me lest this Venerable Hermit might return to give me a Visit made me after that in a few words I had exhorted them not to follow such wicked Examples and to have the Fear of God before their Eyes to take my leave of them desiring them to shew me the way to the Abby of the Fathers where I intended to go and say Mass having made a Vow to do so at the Altar of S. Sylvester when in clambring the Rocks I found my self in great danger of my Life This was also the reason why I refus'd to Eat or Drink with these Hermits because no Man may say Mass except he be Fasting So I went a little higher up the Mountain by a very pleasant way and I Arriv'd at the Abby just at Dinner time I had much ado to get the Church Door open'd for me in order to acquit my self of my Vow After I had said Mass I desir'd them to let me see the Monastery but they made great difficulty also to grant me this Request because the Monks according to the Custom of Italy were almost all of them gone to take their rest However at last one of the Monks by order of the Prior led me into a small Garden which he told me was the place whither S. Sylvester retir'd himself during the Persecution which afflicted the Church in his time and that there he wrought that great Miracle whereof mention is made in his Life time viz. that some of the Emperours Men being come to look for him the Saint had a desire to entertain them but having nothing wherewith he sent a Deacon that serv'd him to Sow some Carots in the Garden and having about an Hour after order'd some of
S. Bennet chose for his Retreat when he was as yet but a young Child In another Journy I made to Naples finding my self near this place some advantageous Accounts I had receiv'd concerning it inclined me to go and Visit it I first Arrived at the Burrough of Sublac where the Monks of S. Bennet have both Temporal and Spiritual Jurisdiction There is an Abby of Nuns of the same Order and a League further in the same Valley but in a part of it that is Narrower there is a very Fair Abby of Monks who are very Civil to Strangers especially to those who come with an intent of Visiting the Grotto of their Patriarch S. Bennet I met here with a Father who was a French Man by Nation and to whom my Relations in France were not unknown who was the cause of staying me here a whole Day and he himself led me to the Grotto of S. Bennet which is about a quarter of a League further in the Narrowest part of the said Valley The Mountains on both sides are very steep and the Brook that runs between them takes up well nigh the whole Space of the Valley However these Fathers have made a shift to find place enough to Build here a Monastery all in length which can contain Fifty or Threescore Monks and yet it serves but for a Lodging to Ten only whom they call Hermits tho' indeed they be only so by Name because they live in a Community and because they only stay there for the space of Two Months after which they send Ten others thither out of the Neighbouring Monastery to relieve them Thus they succeed by Turns to one another The only difference there is in their Observance is this That those of the Monastery where the Grotto of the Saint is do eat no Flesh-Meat and in the other as throughout all the Order in Italy they eat Meat Four times a Week notwithstanding that the use of it be forbid them by the Rules of their Institution which they have Vow'd to observe They say It is out of the Respect they have to these Rules that their Abbots have order'd That no Flesh should be eaten in this Little Monastery no more than in their Great One of Mâ—nt Cassin that it might be true at least That the Rule of S. Bennet was observ'd in Two of their Monasteries which as they believe is sufficient to quiet their Consciences as to this matter The Fathers pretend forsooth That the Bodies of Men are much changed in their Constitution since the time of their Legislator and that they are not so strong nor consequently so able to undergo such Rigid Observances and indeed they Treat all their other Rules much in the same manner and content themselves with the observing of them by Turns or by Halves In this Little Monastery they shewed me the Grotto of S. Bennet upon which they have built an Altar and we see there also a most curious Statue of white Marble representing this Saint very young and upon his Knees with a Countenance very humble and penitent The Habit wherewith he is represented serves to condemn that which the Benedictins of Italy do wear at present they have so amplified and pleated it for to make it shew fine and magnificent that it is no more to be known to be a Copy from this Original The Father Benedictins of the Congregation of S. Maurus in France have taken the form of their Habit from this Figure and retain the same to this Day as believing it with Reason to be the true Pattern After we had said our Prayers in this Little Chapel they led me to a little Garden and they bade me take notice of a huge Stone at the Top of the Rock they wished me to observe it very well as being no less than a perpetual Miracle which demonstrated the visible Protection God afforded to that Holy Place and to those that dwelt there This Stone according to their Talk was quit loosned from the Rock and suspended in the Air by the alone Divine Power God not suffering it to fall down because if it should it could not fail of utterly destroying the Grotto and the whole Monastery I told them after that I had viewed it very narrowly that I saw it so well fastned to the Rock that in my thoughts it would be a Miracle indeed if it should fall and that they ought not to pretend the contrary to those that had good Eyes I saw well enough that my Answer did not please them but I was so weary to hear them talk of such kind of Miracles which they will force upon Men contrary to all Reason that I could not by times hinder my self from expressing my resentment of it The French Father that was my Guide wish'd me to cast my Eye upon certain Rose-Trees which were in a Corner of the Garden and told me that as soon as we were got out of the Hermitage he would tell me the mystery of them And in the mean time he shewed me the rest of the Buildings I did not find the place so frightful as was the Impression they had given me of it tho' it must be owned That in S. Bennet's Time it was a very Desert place Having therefore taken a View of all we return'd to the Great Monastery from whence we came where being arrived the Father told me as to those Rose-Trees which he had wished me to take notice of that the Monks had not thought sitting to tell me of the great Miracle wherewith they commonly entertain Strangers for fear I should reflect upon them for it as I did upon occasion of the Stone It is Related said he in the Life of our Blessed Father S. Bennet That he had one day a furious Temptation of the Flesh in this place and that in order to quell it he went and rowled himself stark naked upon Thistles and Thorns that were near unto his Cell and made all his Body on a Gore-blood until he found that the Temptation was quite dissipated Now the History tells us that these Thistles and Thorns ting'd with the Blood of S. Bennet were miraculously changed into Roses Wherefore special Care has been taken always to preserve these Rose-Trees the Roses whereof we dry and being pulverized do exhibit them to those that are Sick for it is an universal Remedy against all manner of Diseases to those who take them in Faith I told this French Father That the Monks his Confraters had done very well not to mention this Miracle to me for I should presently have put them in mind of the Fable of Pyramis and Thisbe whose Blood changed the colour of Mulberries from white to red Could they have shewn me Thistles Nettles or some Blackberry-Bushes and Brambles that brought forth Roses this would have been something rare indeed I will not say miraculous for I know not whether they have found out the Art of grafting Rose-Trees upon these kind of Wild Plants but to shew a