to so many good works as were performed on that occasion nor put a stop to the course of so many Masses and Prayers as were daily procur'd to be said in the Chappel of the Miraculous Crucifix So he pack'd up all again and put it in the same order as he had found it which may still be seen in case they will permit the viewing of it in the said Chappel where the Devotion continues as great as ever If the Roman Catholick Bishops were a little better stocked with true zeal for the glory of God or at least for the Honour of their own party they would without doubt more seriously apply themselves to the examining of the different Devotions that are in vogue in their Dioceses I am well assured they would find a great deal of downright impiety covered under the Mask of Devotion But so far are they from this that they are the first to authorize and encourage them by the Indulgences they give from time to time to the Churches and Chappels where these Devotions are entertained and accordingly we find that great abundance of them have been granted by the Bishops of Langres to those who shall say five Pater Nosters and as many Ave Maries in this Chappel of the Miraculous Crucifix in the Abby of S. Benignus of Dijon Before I have done with this City Sir I must not forget to entertain you a while with a famous Nest of Monks four Leagues distant from it I mean â—he great and famous Abby of Citeaux the Abbot of which as you know is the chief and general of the whole Order which is without doubt one of the vastest Bodies of Religious the Church of Rome can boast of France Italy Spain Poland and Portugal being throngd with the Monasteries of that Oâ—der who all of them own this Abby of the Citeaux for their Mother I had very particular acquaintance with the Prior of the Monastery who was a young man of the City of Orleans who invited me to come and see him The Abbot sent two of his Coaches with six Horses to fetch some of his Relations whom he had invited to dine with him and with whom I had the honour to joyn my self All the discourse we had on the way from Dijon thither was about the Tragical end of Monsieur Bourre a Gentleman born of one of the most Noble Families of Dijon and a Religious of that order who a little before had been publickly executed at Dijon for Poysoning his Abbot because he went about to make an enquiry into his Crimes the fact being evident that he had Debauched some of the Nuns of a Monastery whither the Abbot had sent him in quality of their Director or Confessor As soon as we were come near to the Citeaux I could not but admire the stately Avenues of that Magnificent Abby This place which formely was nothing but a horrid Wilderness when S. Robert the first Abbot of that Order did institute it is now at present by the Voluptuousness and Luxury of the Monks become an Earthly Paradise abounding with all manner of delights The History tells us that that Abbot being a lover of Silence and Solitude retired himself with some of his Disciples into these parts which at that time was nothing else but a thick Wood and lying out of the way of almost all human Converse Here it was they began to Build themselves Cells with the Branches of Trees and some amongst them digged themselves Caves underground without either Art or Form like to the Dens of Ravenous Beasts The Herbs and Roots that grew in the Wood served them indifferently without distinguishing the good from the bad for Nourishment and all the precaution they used was this that after they had boild them they first gave some of them to a Dog or other domestick Animal which if it did not immediately dye or appear'd distempered they took it for granted that there were no Poysonous Herbs in their Cookery whose dangerous effects they had reason to apprehend But how prodigious a change appeared in that place not long after The People round about being informed of the astonishing severities and strange way of living of these Anchorets came flocking from all parts to admire them and returning to their homes published everywhere that in the Wood de Citeaux they had in their days seen somewhat more and greater than either Elias or S. John the Baptist And as in that Age of the World People were much more compassionate and tender than they are at present towards persons who for the love of God as they exprest it had left all they made it their business from all parts to carry them not only Food but other conveniences of Life These good Hermits contented themselves for some time to accept of some of the coursest and meanest of their supplies and afterwards by little and little the most exquisite and delicate receiving them as by an express order from God by attributing to themselves the promise of Jesus Christ made to his Apostles that having forsaken all for his sake they should receive in this World an hundred fold and in the world to come Eternal Life Thus within a short time from a Life of extraordinary Rigor and abstinence and most signal and remarkable piety they chopt about to a Life as Scandalous and Dissolute and whereof S. Bernard in his time began already highly to complain but at present is advanced to a far more Transcendent degree of excess Instead of a Desart and Solitude as it was before in the highest degree they have now made it a kind of a City which within its compass entertains all manner of Handicrafts men who live there with their Wives and all their Families Instead of that mean and spare Diet to which they were obliged by a Solemn Vow made at the foot at their Altars and in particular of abstaining from Flesh all the days of their Life they have at present directly contrary to their Vows introduc'd the use of it to the highest degree of Delicacy as being always accompanied with the agreeable Variety of Herbs and Fish And for my part I can truly aver That for the Two days that I staid there their Table besides their common Viands were covered with several Dishes of Venison followed by a Service of Fish the Sides of the Dishes being garnish'd with the Tongues and Roes of Carps and the Tails of Crabs Yea the Abbot had sent to Diep which is above an Hundred and twenty Leagues distant at an excessive Charge and by a Post sent Express who ran day and night for Soles which were fresh enough and so costly a Rarity that the Intendants and Presidents of the Parliament of Dijon durst not venture upon them in their most sumptuous Entertainments The Monks of this Abby in the mean time glorying in this Excess which ought rather to have confounded them vaunted with an unparallel'd Impudence That in all that Province there was not a Man besides
upon them any better than damn'd Souls and worse than Devils Neither had he any more charitable Opinion for the People whom the Monks by way of distinction term the People of the World and Worldlings with which words they denote all Laymen in general It seem'd to him impossible for a man that liv'd at large in the World to be saved except he took up and confin'd himself to a Convent yea and it must be in a Convent of his Order too If by chance he saw in the Streets a Woman well dressed without examining whether her Condition or some other reason might oblige her to it he immediately pronounced a Sentence of Eternal Condemnation against her saying that she was a Victim destin'd to the Flames of Hell and if he heard speak of any persons newly Married or that had obtained some good Fortune alas said he these persons make their Paradise of this World but they shall burn for ever in the other for it And thus without excepting any whatsoever and putting a wrong construction upon the most innocent Actions he judged with an inveteracy of Heart what belongs alone to God to judge of What I now say is not only to be understood of this Religious alone but generally almost of all sorts of Reformed Religious or those who profess a more strict life than others and of secular Priests also who by their little Superstitious ways pretend to be quite distinguished from the Common sort of People I have observed that they judge Men without Mercy Some have owned to me that from their Youth up they have been accustomed to these Ideas the World having been always represented to them as a Tempestuous and Raging Sea whence it is very rare for any one to escape without being Shipwrack'd and that their Monasteries are the very Ports of Salvation and the Havens of Grace where it is impossible to perish Whereas it were much better to educate them in a Spirit of Humility and to inspire them with charitable thoughts towards their Neighbour whether they be joyned with them in the same profession of Life or engaged in another way to which we ought Christian-like to believe that God hath called them This indeed we must own that it seems to be the unhappy Let of all Persons whatsoever that engage themselves in a party not to have any consideration but for those of their own company despising and condemning all the rest It was this consideration without doubt that made our Fathers the first Reformers of Religion to disapprove and afterwards to reject all these kind of inequalities which by dividing men into several different States do ordinarily divide their Hearts also and by this means separate them from the Charity of Jesus Christ But to return to our Benedictin who as he was extreamly Rigorous to others so was he as Indulgent to himself He was naturally very Comical and inclined to Raillery and did not affect that Monkish Gravity but upon certain occasions We arrived at Genouâ— the 1 st of September Being informed that there was a very fair Abby of his Order in the City called St. Catharine of Genoua he would needs go and Lodge there in hopes of being as well Entertain'd as he had been hitherto in the several Monasteries he had called at He went and presented his Letter of Obedience to the Abbot who having read it took a view of him from Top to Toe He asked him of what Order he was He answered that his Letter shewed that and that he was a Reform'd Benedictin The other reply'd That he believed nothing of what he said because he was not in the Habit of St. Bennet which was the chief mark which distinguish'd their Order Now it is to be noted that these Monks in France wear Gowns of Course-Cloth with a Cowl cut very strait whereas the Italians have extreamly amplified theirs and wear Stuffs very fine and lustrous they are very neatly shod wear Silk-Stockins fine grey Hats and are not a whit inferiour to the Bravery of Lay-men Moreover a small difference in the Habits in Italy makes also a difference of Order There are about Ten Sorts of the Religious of the Order of St. Francis which are only distinguish'd from one another because some of them have their Sleeves or their Cowls two or three Fingers-breadth larger than the others And yet this makes so great a division between them that they cannot endure the sight of one another and hate one another mortally The Monk of whom I am speaking was not sprucely enough accommodated according to their Mode to please this nice and curious Abbot and the conclusion was That he very basely deny'd him entrance into his Monastery The poor Benedictin was put into such a Rage by this Affront put upon him that he could not forbear downright Railing at the Abbot in his own Monastery telling him That he was an Abbot accurs'd of God that Damnation would be his portion and that all those who lived under his Conduct might make State to go to Hell with him that it was they that had changed the Venerable Habit of the Order and alter'd it to that degree that it seem'd at present rather contriv'd to please and entice young Ladies than to distinguish them from the people of the World and that they would see one day but alas too late what a Reception their glorious Patriarch would afford them in Heaven to that poor Habit which he had upon his Body and which they vilified so much here on Earth The Abbot found himself so extreamly netled at this Invective that he threatned our Reformed Monk that in case he did not that very Evening depart the City he would take care to stop his Pipes for him The poor Monk frighted and trembling at this Threat returns to the Inn where I was and gave me an account of his Disaster This was the Reason that I stay'd only three Days at Genâ—ua because my Companion for fear of being Sacrificed to the Italick Revenge durst not stir abroad but was fain to keep himself shut up in a Chamber all the while I staid there to take a View of the City Revenge is an abominable Vice and which at present is not without great Reason particularly appropriated to the Italians but certainly amongst them all there are none who exercise and act it with greater Rage and Fury than the Clergy who as they have no Families to care for their Attention is less divided and consequently more united and concentred to resent Injuries done unto them and have also more leisure time to descant upon them and besides all this in case of any Accident they have none but their own persons to save Neither do they fear so much as others the Confiscation of their Goods as being assured That whatsoever Country their Lot may cast them upon so it be the Romish Communion they cannot miss of getting a Livelyhood by their Masses and of being furnish'd with a full supply of their
Abbot perceiving that nothing could be gain'd this way but a double Reproach and Confusion commanded his Fryers to go and unloose him and so admitted him into the Monastery and let the Women go The Penance impos'd upon this Abbot for the Affront and Scandal he had given was this To abide 15 Days in the Monastery without stirring abroad Which was the more easie for him to submit to because the Noise of this gallant Story being spread through the whole City he could not well any sooner without great Shame and Confusion have appear'd in the Streets The General who might easily have Depos'd him from his Charge of Abbot was of Opinion That for so light a Fault as this it was not worth the pains to proceed to so rigid a Censure and thus by a Spirit of Charity which will not permit us to do that to another which we would not have others do to us especially when we find our selves in the same Circumstances contented himself to make him exchange his Abby for some time and Entertain'd him at his own Monastery of Mount Olivet I have given you a true and faithful Relation of this History as having been an Eye-witness of part of it my self because it hapned during the time that I was in the Monastery of S. Michael in the Wood. This Accident gave me the occasion of making a very pleasant Discovery for upon the Sbirries entring into the Monastery a young Religious being extreamly affrighted and apprehending lest they might make a narrow search into his Chambers where for Three Weeks time he had kept a young Lass came directly to me and without much considering to whom he addrest himself desir'd me for the Love of God to hide his Mistress in one of the most private Chambers of my Apartment until the Storm were over But notwithstanding the extream Earnestness wherewith he solicited my Consent I did not think it fit to expose my own Credit to save his and knowing withal how dangerous it is to give a downright Refusal to an Italian and more especially to a Monk I in the mildest way I could wish'd him to Address himself to the Apothecary of the Abby who was a young Man of his own Country and who was not so scrupulous in that point as I was The Religious following my Counsel found the Apothecary very ready to comply with his desire and without making any difficulty took her from him and shut her up in one of the Large Presses of his Shop where she continued the rest of that Night and the Day following in deadly Fears The young Monk came to me the next Morning to Excuse himself and as 't is likely being troubled that he had given me an occasion by the discovery he had made to me to believe That the rest of his Brethren were better than he he took the freedom to discover to me several things which till then I was ignorant of tho' I had now already continued six Months amongst them He told me That most of his Brethren had their Wenches whom they kept in their Chambers and that they got them in from abroad from time to time where they kept them some a Week others a Fortnight or a Month according to the Bargain they had made with them and the Ability of their Purse The Abbot himself was not ignorant of it but prevalent Custom had reduc'd things to that pass amongst them that he was fain to wink at all and content himself with the Presents they made him from time to time for so doing The most convenient time they had to get their Wenches into the Abby was about the beginning of the Night who being come to a place according to Appointment and precisely at such an Hour the Monks who had sent for them brought them Cowls and Frocks and so dress'd them in their own Habit which done these good Fryers entred all without distinction into the Monastery in greater Number than they were gone out I had indeed formerly often been surpriz'd to see several new Figures of Monks entring into the Dormitories which I had never seen before and upon my Enquiry they had always made me believe that they were some Stranger-Monks that were come to Lodge with them Most of the Religious have double Rooms whereby they have a great Convenience of Entertaining their Women unperceiv'd The Abbots make their Profit of it for a Religious cannot have one of these Double-Chambers without paying about an Hundred Crowns for it and they are very well acquainted what it is design'd for but provided their Religious only take care to manage the Matter so as that it may not come to the knowledge of Seculars they do not trouble themselves about it neither doth this hinder them from being advanced to Religious Charges and Employments as much as if they were the Holiest persons of the World I was acquainted at Venice with a Regular Canon of the Abby of S. Saviour who was a young Man of considerable Learning and who publickly taught Philosophy This Man entertain'd the most infamous Whore that was in the whole City and who commonly serv'd for a Model to the Limâ—â—rs of the Academy It was above a Year that he had had commerce with her and his Abbot gave him leave every Evening during Shrovetide to dress himself in Masquerade and to go to her Lodging and lead her thence to the Opera or Comedy after which he either brought her along with him to his Chamber in the Monastery or else past the rest of the Night with her at her own Lodging Now as long as the Matter was carried secretly and without making any Noise abroad the Abbotâ— let the young Monk take his swing without giving him the least Check or Reproof for it and having a particular Kindness for him he had already dispos'd all things in order to his being chosen Abbot when by Ill-luck for this young Fryer a great number of Artizans who lived in the same Street with this Courtizan and who probably were displeased with his frequent Visits to her came and made their Complaints to the Monastery The Abbot having heard what they had to say endeavour'd what he could to sweeten them and to excuse the Monk but all this did but incense them the more and the next Sunday they gather'd together in the Church near to the Chappel where this young Religious was wont to say Mass being resolved publickly to Affront him and to stop him from going up to the Altar but the Abbot having notice of it sent them a piece of Mony to make them desist from prosecuting their Design whereupon they retir'd without more ado But the Abbot perceiving the thing had taken Wind and was become the publick Talk of the City thought it now high time to declare himself against the Monk and notwithstanding he had never before given him the least Reproof for this high Misdemeanour he then wrote a Letter to the Father General of the Order to deprive
except God be pleased to Restrain them or they take some Compassion on them it will make them infallibly go Mad and Distracted The Men especially in Italy go but seldom to Confession because they do not love to be Question'd or Examin'd about their Amours A Capuchin Fryer who was very Ugly and the very picture of a Satyr with his great Beard told me once Smiling That his Confession-Seat was a Scare-Crow to Women but that to make amends for that he was the great Confessor of Jealous Lovers His meaning was That Women did not care to Confess to him because he was Ugly but that on the other hand Men did choose to Confess to him the rather because he was so as judging him incapable of Injuring them by becoming their Rival A Confessor who has a design to make a bad use of his Minsterial Function may easily find means by the Questions he can put and to which his Penitent is oblig'd to Answer to discover the person he speaks of and accordingly may afterwards find means of attempting her A young Noble Venetian having been upon a time too indiscreetly Question'd by a Monk in his Confession where his Mistress dwelt Swore he would never Confess upon that point any more except it were at the point of Death or at least when he should be weary of his Misses and no more apprehend to have a Competitor in his Love I have been told by several Gentlewomen That Confessors have come to Visit them in their Houses being led thither only by the Light they have got from the Confession of their Penitents This Confession is one of the New Sacraments of the Church of Rome and we see to what goodly Ends it is made use of and the Interest the Priests and Monks have to preserve it This is that which makes them so boldly to protest against Marriage which they care so little for the Corruption of Mans Nature being so great that it represents Sin more sweet and pleasant to him than that which is honest and lawful I remember a Saying of a Regular Abbot of a Monastery in Italy who talking with me about Women said Melius est habere nullam quam aliquam That it was better to have none than any And having demanded of him what he meant by those Words Because said he when a person is not tied to one he may make use of many This you 'l say was a fine piece of Morality and to give this Prelate his due his Practice was very Conformable to his Doctrin He Entertain'd above a Score of Women with the Revenues of his Abby he had many Country-Houses which he turn'd into as many Brothel-Houses for himself and his Friends where he splendidly Entertain'd them and the excessive Expences he was at in these places of Pleasure procur'd him the Surname of Liberal But he was not of the same Humor towards his poor Farmers who labour'd hard to make the best of his Incoms and to Till his Ground for he was to them an insatiable Exactor and Oppressor insomuch as they could scarcely get out of him some part of the Mony which was of Right due to them These poor Men finding themselves so ill Treated by him resolved on a time to have their full Revenge of him and to play their Master such a Malicious Trick as he might have Reason to remember ever after They knew very well the Archbishop was a sworn Enemy to Monks and Abbots and therefore question'd not but They would find him in a disposition of favouring their Enterprize They went therefore and complain'd to him of a Scandalous Life their Abbot led who was at that time Three Leagues distant from Bononia at one of his Country-Houses with Three young Women who lay in the same Bed with him every Night The Archbishop having taken their Information lost no time but the same Evening sent away all his Marshalsey compos'd of the Barigel or Provost and Threescore Sbirries or Serjeants well Arm'd with Orders to seize the Abbot and the Women that were with him They arrived at the Abbots Country-House but a moment after he was gone to Bed The Farmers who had the Word and the Keys of all the Doors made the Provost with his Sbirries enter to rights into the Prelates Chamber who you may easily imagin was extreamly surpriz'd with this unwelcom and unlook'd for Visit He desir'd to compound with the Provost and the Sbirries as he had often done before and to persuade them the better open'd to them a Purse full of Gold but their Orders were too express to be so eluded and the Farmers who out of pure Revenge had solicited the Seizing of their Landlord were in presence and would not have fail'd to give in their full Information concerning all that had passed to the Archbishop So the Barigel and Sbirries tho' People otherwise of base and covetous Minds upon this occasion shew'd a forced Resolution not to be corrupted by the Prelates Gold Accordingly they took the Abbot stark Naked as he was without suffering him to put any thing upon him besides a Morning-Gown and in this Equipage having Mounted him with his Three Concubines upon an old Cart they found in a back-Yard of the House they tied them all together Back to Back and thus led them in Triumph in the most ignominious and reproachful manner into the City of Bononia before the Archbishop It was about Midnight when they arrived and the thick Darkness of the Night favour'd the poor Abbot very much sparing him a great deal of Confusion he would otherwise have been put to The Archbishop seeing him in this condition fell a Laughing and by way of Raillery told him That since it was not lawful for him to take any Cognizance of the Affairs of Monks he was willing so far to honour them as to make themselves the Judges of their Brethren and so order'd him with his Wenches at that very instant to be carried in the same posture to S. Michael in the Wood a Monastery of the same Order about a Canon-Shot distance from the City It was about One of the Clock in the Morning when all this goodly Train arrived there The Sbirries Knock'd with that violence at the great Gates of the Monastery and made such a Hollowing and Shouting that the Abbot himself was fain to Rise and to go accompanied by all his Monks to the great Gate where he met with a Sight he had little dreamt of He at first would not acknowledge the Old Abbot for his Brother upon pretext forsooth he was in his Night-Gown without the Habit of his Order and refus'd to receive him into the Monastery But the Sbirries told him That if he was so resolv'd they had no more to do but to carry him back again to the Archbishop who would not fail to send for his Habit and to send him back the next day at High Noon in his Prelates Habit and accompanied with his Doxies as now he was The
long a time had been the Object of the Peoples Adoration besides That the Devotion of Laicks in assisting the Clergy was already so far cooled that scarce any thing now was to be got from them but by some pious Fraud or holy Artifice The Archdeacon heard all his Discourse without contradicting him in the least and the Curate of the Parish as being the person most concerned in the Case very officiously returned him his most hearty Thanks This done they proceeded to the opening of the Cases and the truth is Bones either of Saints or no Saints were found in them In the mean time a Monk of the Abby of St. Lomer in Blois who was present cried out at the very instant That he smelt a very sweet Odour which proceeded from them wherewith he was so strongly seized that it was like to overcome him A young Religious his Companion seconded him immediately and some Country People of the Parish protested the same thing The Archdeacon and the rest of the Company freely declared that they smelt nothing Yet forasmuch as it might be that those Persons having some more particular Merit before God he might think them worthy of Receiving the like Favours it was ordered that their Attestations should be received and set in the Margent of the Verbal Process which was then making of that Translation the Original whereof was to be shut up with the Relicks in the new Cases I had the Curiosity some weeks after in the time of Viâ—tage to examine some of these Persons about the Odour they pretended to have smelt of what kind it was whereupon some of them said it was the sent of a Rose others of Jessamin and others of a Violet But finding that they faultered in their Expressions and smiled withal I took occasion to press them more seriouly so that at the upshot they confessed that the good Opinion they had of the two Monks which first started the matter had drawn them in and in a manner forced their imagination to make them believe that they smelt that which they never smelt indeed This ingenuous Confession of theirs made me to seek an opportunity to discourse these two Monks I went to see the youngest of them and after I had given him two or three Visits of Civility to encrease our Familiarity I obtained leave of his Superior for him to accompany me to a Country House where after friendly Entertainment given him I put him upon the matter of the Relicks of S. Victor The young Monk overcome by my kindness assured me he would open his Heart to me as to his own Brother that the truth was he had not smelt any such Miraculous Odour which he then attested but that partly that he might not contradict his companion and partly by a sudden shame that surprized him lest he should not seem to be as much graced with Heavenly favours as his Brother had made him to depose against his Conscience for which afterwards he was somwhat troubled But Father said I how can you be at Peace without unsaying again what you so openly averr'd and deposed and this in Honour to Truth The Devil is the Father of Lies and you cannot pretend to the quality of a Child of God without destroying the work of the Devil whereof your self have been the Instrument He answered that he had consulted with his Superiors about the matter and that the general Rule they had given him to pass over Scruples of that nature was to consider whether the thing undertaken or exerted into act were opposite to the Glory of God or the good and advantage of his Order That it was not against the Glory of God to advance the Honor of one of his Saints especially when some Circumstances that were both Glorious and Profitable to the Order engaged the doing of it and that all the evil that could be supposed in the case came but to this To say that God had done what he might have done and which he hath done on many other occasions which at the highest could be no more than a small Venial Sin as they say all Lies are that do not infringe Justice that is to say that do no Body any harm Having thus got this truth out of him I had no more to do now but to convince the old Monk which it was not possible for me to do for he continually persisted in asserting the truth of what he had deposed ay and much more for he added that the Odour had followed him every where as long as the least dust of those sacred Relicks was left upon his Cloaths In the mean time this did not hinder me from considering that all the Credibility of this Miracle was now reduc'd to the Conscience of one single Person upon whom the affirmations of all the other Deponents rested and that when ever these Cases should chance again to be opened in which the Verbal Process was shut up as Superstition is used to get strength by length of time this Miracle would come to be believed with as much assurance as a great many other most false and Ridiculous ones are in the Church of Rome I was the more willing Sir to represent this to your Consideration as being a thing which happened in your Neighbourhood and whereof you may fully inform your self whensoever you please that so finding the Faithfulness of my Relation in this particular you may be the more disposed to give Credit to what I shall Write to you concerning Foreign Countries I return now to my Voyage From Flavigny we went to Dijon the Metropolis of the Dutchy of Burgundy where I was Eye-witnes of a horrid cheat practised by the Men of the Church I do not relate this passage to you so much for its own sake but to the end you may make a reflection upon it of great importance to our present Subject We took a walk to the Holy Chappel where they shewed us many Relicks that were indeed very Ridiculous and amongst the rest that which they call the Holy Host or Wafer from whence they tell us Blood issued in great abundance after that a Protestant had in several places Stabbed it with a Knife that upon his so doing the Wafer was chang'd into an Infant and from an Infant to a Wafer again as it was before Whereupon entring into Discourse we at last were insensibly led to this Question How it came to pass that at present there were not so many Miracles to be seen as in former times In answer to which the Canon who shewed us the Relicks told us that in the Abby of S. Benignus in the same City there were almost every day Miracles wrought at an Altar of the Blessed Virgin where Still-born Children were restored to Lifâ— for some Moments till they could be made partakers of the Sacrament of Baptism which was look'd upon as a very great happiness for them forasmuch as according to the Opinion of the Church of Rome Infants dying in
Church I had occasion Sir to remind my self of this passage during my Italian Voyage for being at Bononia they shewed me an excellent piece of Caratâ—he in Fresce upon the Walls of the Cloyster of the Abby of S. Michael in Bâ—sco which being extremely injur'd by all-dâ—vouring Time had moved the Compassion of Gudo Rhin another famous Italian Paintâ—â— who so dexteâ—ously mended the defects thereof aâ— in a manner to restore it to its former Beauty But yet we find that the new paint laid upon the 〈◊〉 colours falls down in scales and that without a Miracle too there being nothing more natural and obvious than that new colours cannot so well incorporate with old paint as fresh colours do with one another But notwithstanding the Obviousness hereof when Superstition has once gaind the ascendent of a Mans Spirit she doth so strangly prepossess the same that there is nothing so common and ordinary but appears to them Miraculous I have seen several other Images of the Blessed Virgin in Italy which they say were all painted by the same S. Luke and are consequently reputed Miraculous particularly that of S. Mary the greater in Rome but in truth they are so very different from one another that it is impossible they should have been painted by the same hand or that all of them shou'd be the Pictures of the Blessed Virgin the Lineaments Figure and proportions of the Face and Body vastly varying from one another I shall give you a more particular account of them in my observations of Italy For the present because we have not yet quit Dijon I will only relate to you what I was Eye witness of my self in the same Abby of S. Benignus belonging to the Reformed Benedictin Monks where is kept the Miraculous Image of the Blessed Virgin that brings Still-born Children to life again as we have already mentioned I went to visit one of my Brothers who is a Religious of that Abby and as I was walking with him in the Garden after Dinner another Religious came running towards us in great haste and told my Brother in his Ear that he should immediately repair to the Church to see something well worth his Curiosity and forasmuch as I was then in my Brothers company and well enough known to the Fathers I follow'd them to the Church The business was this The Prior accompanied with seven or eight of his Monks was about to uncover an old Crucifix which was kept in a very fair Chappel which thence was called the Chappel of the Miraculous Crucifix and had for Forty years been covered with a Vail of black Velvet The Story tells us that a Religious of that Abby saying his Prayer one Evening before that Crucifix the Image of Jesus Christ which was fastned to it spake to him and said My dear Brother Cover me that I may no more see the Iniquities of my People and let no man from henceforwards be so bold to uncover me to behold my Face This Monk presently performed the charge laid upon him by adviseing his Abbot and Brethren thereof who were not wanting immediately to carry the News throughout the whole City which occasioned that great Devotion which continues still to this day There is a vast concourse of People to this Crucifix especially on Frydays but more particularly on Good-Fryday when the whole City gos in procession to the Image to Worship it and pay to it the same Honour as they would to Jesus Christ himself Now the Prior of this Monastery who was an old stander and well versed in Monastick Intrigues was not much scared at this threatning of the Crucifix being resolved cost what it would to satisfie his Curiosity about it as he also did and in this resolution he was fain to put his hand to the work himself some of his Monks having absolutely refused to do it expressing themselves extremely frighted at his undertaking saying that should they offer to touch it they could expect no less than to be consumed with fire from Heaven But the Prior not concerned at their apprehensions with a wonderful courage uncovers the Mysterious and dreaded Machin I could not but laugh to my self to see the posture of the Monks that were present Some of them betook themselves to their Heels declaring they would not by their presence make themselves partakers of so horrid an attempt and Sacriledge others shut their Eyes that they might not be dazled and struck Blind with the Majesty of the Crucifix Ne opprimerentur à gloriâ— Scrutatores Majestatis and others prostrated themselves with their Faces on the Ground that they might be seen by their Divine Master as they said themselves in that most profound act of Adoration and self-abasement There were scarce any that kept standing besides my Brother and I we were very near to the Prior of the Monastery who was very busie with uncovering the Crucifix and who beginning himself to be frighted or at least pretending to be so began to repeat the 51 st Psalm Miserere Meî Deus But as it hapned neither the one nor the other had any great cause to fear for when the Velvet covering was taken off they found nothing but a Linnen Bag with some bits of Rotten Wood in it which were the Remains of that dreaded and adored Crucifix Amongst these mouldred Fragments we had much ado to distinguish the Head where was the Miraculous Mouth that had spoke to the Monk In a word it was in a pitiful state being all Rotten and Worm-eaten without either Form or Figure full of dead Flies and Spiders Insomuch that the good Monks that were present being somewhat recovered from their Fright and perceiving no such Glory as they had prefigur'd to themselves began to discourse amongst themselves how to reconcile their Story with the present discovery that is the condition wherein they found the Crucifix with their Tradition concerning the Revelation and Discourse of the Crucifix with the Religious For if it were true that it had never been uncovered since the time of its speaking when it was yet fixt to the Cross how could â—t be that at present they found it in a Thousand pieces and in a Bag The Superiour concluded very wisely that it was probable that this Crucifix had of old been had in great Veneration and thereby been of great advantage to the Monastery and that this Monk by â—inadvertency or otherwise had let it fall and broke it to pieces and fearing to be severely punished by his Abbot therefore had gathered up the pieces into a Bag and having fastâ—â— them again to the Cross and covered them with that piece of black Velvet had afterwards forged and published that his pretended Revelation However forasmuch as he knew nothing of Certainty concerning the matter he chose rather to suspend his Judgment than to pass a rash one concerning it and besides that according to their general Principles the Devotion being already fixed he would by no means be a hinderance
he chose rather to turn his answer into a piece of Raillery saying he confessed that he was indeed a very bad politician because when he was on the Alpes he spake like an Italian but that at present he spoke as a Frenchman Because it is true that the People of Italy especially those of the Popes Territories do own the Popes Infallibility in matters of fact which the greatest part of the Roman Catholicks of France do deny This distinction of speaking as an Italian or as a Frenchman was indeed very frivolous and intruth if it were permitted to utter ones opinion sometimes according to the humor of one Country and sometime of another if our Benedctin had spoken like a German or an Hungarian he would have reduced the Papal Authority to a very low Ebb for I have observed in my Travels that these People thô for the most part they profess the Romish Religion yet have this advantage that they believe little of it Without doubt Sir it would much better have become him to have spoke as a Christian ought to do viz. Like a good and honest man with a sincere and unbyassed Spirit strengthened by Grace supported by Reason and grounded upon the Holy Scripture for then would he never have attributed the title of Infallible to a mortal man upon Earth which belongs to God alone I was ready to give him my thoughts to this purpose but I called to mind that I was got into Italy where one only word might drag me before the cruel and merciless Tribunal of the Inquisition and therefore thought it more wisdom to hold my Peace However I could not but make this reflection on these procedings of the Religious that in cases wherein the Priests or Monks find their advantage or in things altogether indifferent to them they are not wanting with open Mouth to publish the Popes Infallibility but when his Infallibility seems in the least to clash with their interests he is no more than an ignorant and mistaken man who may be bubbled as well as any other From Susa we came to Turin which is a very fine City situate upon the Banks of the River Po and the Court of the Dukes of Savoy Here it was that a dawning of the Beauty of the Churches of Italy presented it self to our Eies The greatest part of the Parish-Churches Monasteries and Convents are very sumptuously built and most Richly adorned within Nothing is seen in them but Marble Porphyry Jasper Stones and most exquisite Guilding and Painting The Crosses the Candlesticks Lamps Statues and Cases of the Relicks are all of Gold and Silver and almost infinite in number and value Some good French Priests who had joyned themselves with us to take a view of the Churches were in a strange rapture at so dazling a sight and being inwardly moved to see so many Temples of the Lord so gloriously adorn'd wept for joy For as in their Journy from France they had taken their way through Geneva and the Swiss Cantons where they had seen the Protestant Churches devoid almost of all material Embellishments they from thence concluded how truly I leave you to judge that there was no other true Religion besides that of the Church of Rome whose zeal for the House of God was an evident Witness of the truth of her Faith I told them that this their conclusion seemed to me to be built upon very weak Principles and that where we had a mind to prove the truth of any Religion the Grandeur and Riches of the World were too weak premises to support a conclusion and that for my part if I were to form a presumptive Argument in favour of any Religion I should sooner take it from the good life and manners of those that profess it than from the sumptuous Ornaments of their Churches They shewed us the Church Treasury where is preserved the holy Shrowd or Sheet and soon after the Canons and Priests entred the Quire to Sing their Vespers and Complins which are the Evening Prayers of the Church of Rome They entred without any order and very undecently talking and laughing together and pushing one anothers Elbows The first come without expecting till the rest were seated in their places began to sing the Office and that which might well have lasted an hour and half in case it had been said with the required Pauses devoutly and modestly as it is practised in the Common Prayer of the Church of England was dispatched in less than a quarter of an hour with a strange kind of precipitation so that it was scarcely possible to distinguish between one word and another or between the end and beginning of the Verses In truth Sir were it lawful to judge of the Consciences of men from any thing that is outward I might have had good reason to infer from their behaviour that their Hearts were much stranged from the words of their Lips and their Lips and their Hearts yet further from God They did not much weary our Patience with hearing them and the Service being thus roundly dispatched they rather fled than went out of Church every one his own way The Father that was with me perceving that I was Scandalized at it told me as having had some former experience of Italy by a Journy he had before made through it that it was not yet time for me to be offended and that the nearer I should appear to Rome the more cause I should find for it I had been told indeed that the further I went the more stately Churches I should find and the more richly adorned So that joyning these two together I concluded that all this outward Bravery and Ornament did not proceed from the piety or zeal of the Clergy of Italy for the House of God because they neglected the chief Glory and Embellishment of it viz. the inward and that something else must be the Motive to it as I discovered afterwards and of which I shall give you a more particular account upon another occasion After we had visited the Churches towards Evening we went to view the great Piazza of Turin facing the Palace of his Royal Highness Here we saw many Theaters or Stages of Rope-Dancers and Mountebanks wherewith the Market Places of the Cities in Italy are always well provided for the Satisfaction of the Publick But that which surprized me most was that the greatest part of those that assisted as Auditors and Spectators about those Theaters were either Priests or Monks who clapped their Hands in Applause of the most Ridiculous and Scandalous stuff they produced and laughed with all their might We saw there of all sorts of Orders some Father-Jesuits that seemed the most concerned for these Fopperies saluted the Father Benedictin that was with us and having understood that he was Procurator general of the Order they offered him an Eminent place near unto themselves which he accepted of For my part I was unwilling to engage my self in the concern and retired
receiv'd and entertain'd there Three days together according to their Quality But that at present it admits none besides the Priests and Monks that pass that Way and to other Travellers they only give a Loaf of Half a pound weight and a Pint of Wine at the Gate and before they can be admitted to this Favour they must produce several Passports and Letters to prove themselves Pilgrims for want of which our Father was in a great danger of being shut out and rejected but instead thereof he boldly produc'd his Letter of Obedience The good Priest who examin'd them seeing that the Letter was writ in Latin in which probably he was not over skilful according to the Custom of the Priests of Italy let it pass saying That he perceived that it was a Travelling-Letter of the Apostolical Nuncio at Turin so that by this shift he was at last admitted He told me That his Entertainment there was very tolerable and that upon his Enquiry into the manner of the Government of that Hospital an Old Servant of the House told him There were Twenty five Officers that were Intendants over it some of them with the Titles of Guardians Administrators and Receivers and others with the Names of the First Second and Third Officers of the Pantry and Butlery which were all Râ—â—h Clergy-men who divided amongst themselves almost all the Revenues of that Hospital there being but a very inconsiderable part of it reserved for those few Charitable Deeds that are exercised there From thence he came to Pesche which is a very fine City a small days Jonrny from thence where there is a vast Number of Convents and Monasteries He went and presented himself to several of them to procure himself a Lodging but every where they shut the Door upon him for the Italian Monks are very pityless and never give any Alms to Strangers They have an Artifice amongst them they make use of to refuse poor Passengers which is this All the Monks and Brothers have order to tell them That they Abbot Guardian or Prior is not in the Monastery and if you happen by chance to meet with the Men themselves they tell you That the Steward Butler or some other Officer that has the Purse is gone abroad By this means they make the poor Travellers lose all Patience forcing them to depart without the least Relief Our Monk being thus refused Admittance every where was fain to seek out an Hospital which he found very different from that of Alto Passo for the bad Entertainment he there met with tho' it was with much more difficulty that he was admitted because his Letter mention'd That he was sent to Rome about Business and not upon the account of Devotion For tho' for the most part they understand but little Latin yet they are so wise as to put Travellers upon shewing them these two Words in their Letters Ex Devotione Two Hermits of Those Italian Vagabonds who spent their Life in running from one Hospital to another having perceived that our Monk had been somewhat Rudely used by reason of his Letter came to him after Supper offering to remedy the matter and to supply the defect of his Letter so that he should never run the hazard of exposing himself to the like Affront for time to come The way was this They promis'd to draw up for him a Letter of Pilgrimage and to affix to it the Seal of the Archbishop of Lions which they had Counterfeited So that the Question now only was about a piece of Mony they demanded of our Benedictin for this seasonable Service who having none to give offer'd them his his Breviary The one of them absolutely refused it saying That that was a bad Implement to carry with one to Hospitals that it was long since they had been happily Robb'd of theirs and by this means were excus'd from a tedious repeating of them according to the Decree of the Sacred Congregation at Rome to that purpose Amisso vel ablato Breviario non tenetur Presbyter Officio A Priest is not bound to the Duty of Saying his Breviary in case he hath lost or is robb'd of it They added That not long since they had seen a Priest expell'd an Hospital because having a Breviary about him he had forgot or neglected to say the Office before Supper But his Companion accepted of the Bargain saying He would make it his Business to rid himself of it the first Bookseller's Shop he came at Thus the Benedictin at the same time procur'd two Advantages the one of being rid of the trouble of Saying his Prayers the other of having got a sure Key to give him Entrance into all Hospitals and this by means of a Counterfeit Letter of Pilgrimage which these two Hermits were ready for their Mony to give to any that did desire it The Father being thus provided boldly prosecuted his Journy through all the Cities of Italy till he came to Rome having been every where received into the Hospitals without any difficulty But he protested to me That if it were in his power to inflict a severe Punishment upon all the Guardians and Administrators of them he thought that in so doing he should render a most acceptable Service to God as well as to all poor Pilgrims Because said he it is a most lamentable thing to see how they treat them what they give them to eat does not amount to Two-pence Charges for each person and this too in such a nasty and slovenly manner that it turns ones Stomach whilst in the mean time those Wretched Priests engross and sweep all the Mony into their own Coffers to maintain their Coach and Horses with the Magnificent Titles they take to themselves of High Almoners Grand Administrators and Grand Priors of the Hospital 'T is an infamous thing to see how they Lodge poor Strangers There are about Twenty or Thirty Beds in a great Room where they lye Two and Two or Three and Three in a Bed according as they are stock'd with Company Before they are suffer'd to enter into this Room they are stript stark Naked in another without suffering them so much as to keep on their Shifts This done they are all of them shut up together till next Morning The Beds are all rotten and spoil'd and crawling with Vermin and most of them without any Sheets The Hospitals indeed are well Endow'd but it is the malicious Contrivance of those who have the Care and Administration of them to give their Visitants the worst Entertainment they can devise to turn their Stomachs from ever coming there again and indeed a man must be reduc'd to extream Necessity before he can resolve on a Second Visit The Benedictin gave me a more particular Account of an Hospital which is in the Hands of the Dominicans of Viterbo These Fathers employ'd their utmost Endeavours with the Magistrates of the City to procure the Direction of it promising That they would make it their business to take a
till it be come to its full growth and maturity and then gather it and make their profit of it or like Merchants that Traffick in company who do not divide the Purse till it be full All these external practices and shews of Piety and Devotion visibly terminating in self-interest make it evident beyond dispute that they proceeded from no other Principles than Avarice and Hypocrisie You may probably object to me here Sir that the Italians whom I have elsewhere represented to you as men of Wit and Understanding must needs be very simple in suffering themselves to be persuaded to bestow their Goods upon such Foundations as these considering the great abuse of them To this Sir I shall answer that the Priests in all Countries have a very powerful Ascendent over the Spirits of the People and that this joyn'd with the Doctrin of the Church of Rome which is that the Prayers of Pilgrims are of a particular efficacy with God to deliver Souls out of Purgatory and with the practice observed in these Hospitals of obliging the Pilgrims at night to make long Prayers for the Souls of their deceased Benefactors and causing Mass to be said for them in the Chappels belonging to the said Hospitals is a powerful motive considering the false belief wherein they are engaged to persuade them to it Moreover these Priests are very Dexterous in divulging every where that they are very faithful in the Administration of their Alms that they are very careful in giving good Entertainment to their Pilgrims even so far as to contribute of their own Mony to defray the charges they are at for Provisions But it is evident enough that by a mental restriction they must understand this of Provisions for themselves tho' before God they cannot by this means excuse themselves from lying There were formerly many more Hospitals in Italy than there be at present every Monastery had its Hospital S. Odon Abbot of Clugny seeing that these Hospitals were all in vogue and that it was a kind of Devotion that made a great noise in the World would not in this point come behind any Seculars He divided the vast Revenues of his Abby into three parts The first was for the Abbot and the Entertainment of Strangers of note that came to the Monastery The second for the Maintenance of the Monks which was called the Conventual portion and the third part for the relief of the Poor and the Entertainment of Pilgrims whose Feet the Abbot himself as an effect of his Humility was pleased to wash Almost all the Abbots of France Germany and Italy follow'd this Example and in like manner made a Tripartition of the Revenues of their Abbies But this their abundant Chairty was not of any long continuance for soon after that which had been given with one Hand was taken away with the other The share of the Poor was lost or rather confounded with those of the Abbot and the Monks At present there are no more of these Hospitals to be found in Italy excepting one at Mont-Cassin and another at the Great Camaldule where they entertain Pilgrims The Chartreux Monks have also another in the Dutchy of Milan at their Monastery of Pavia But it is not to their Charity Strangers are beholden for this Convenience but to that of Galeacius Viscount Duke of Milan their Founder who would have this Monastery which he had endowed with a vast Revenue to be a place of publick reception and Entertainment for all whether Rich or Poor The Fathers of this Foundation have since done their utmost endeavour to rid themselves of this Hospitality under the specious pretext that it was a great disturbance to their Solitude But the Lords and great Men of that Dutchy who by the Charter of that Foundation are to be Splendidly entertained there with all their Train and Equipage as often as they pass that way found themselves too much interessed in this their Petition and therefore have always opposed it with all the Vigor imaginable so that they are still forced to continue the same tho' sore against their Wills T is a thing but too wellâ— known in Italy and Avowed by all that their Clergy are extreamly wanting in this great Duty and distinguishing Christian Badge of Charity T is an Observation I have made my self that the Poor who are over and above perswaded of this Truth by their own experience do seldom or never beg any Alms of them As for the Regular Clergy the Benedictin told me that from the time of our parting he had presented himself to all the Monasteries of his Order he met with to obtain a Lodging with them but that scarce ever they had been willing to receive him the Common answer he had from them was that there was an Hospital in the City to which he had best address himself for Entertainment and that when he came thither they absolutely refused him entrance telling him there was a Monastery of his Order in the City and that it was more proper for him to seek a Lodging there Thus this poor Monk seeing himself sometimes rejected on all sides lamented his sad Condition occasioned by the scandalous uncharitableness of the Clergy and his own Brethren of the same Order He added that if it were in his power he would abolish all these Hospitals as well as all Pilgrimaging For said he as these Hospitals are most Scandalously Administred so neither can any thing be imagined more Abominable than the persons that take up their Lodging in them amongst a score of them 't is hard to find one that is come from his own Country with a design to visit the Holy places being for the most part of them a company of Vagabonds who make it their business every year to go the round of Italy They commonly pass the Summer in the Alpes and then begin their Journy in Autumn spend their Winter at Rome Naples or in Calabria and in the Spring begin their round a new in order to return to their Summer Quarters in the Mountains The way they take to Live is this They beg in the day-time go from one Farm to another leap Hedges Rob Orchards and steal Fowl they meet with on the High-way or in the back Courts of Country Houses or whatever else they meet with After this good days work they retire towards the Evening to some Neighbouring Village where they know there is an Hospital Many of them Travel up and down thus with their whole Families trailing their Wives and Children along with them These generally profess themselves to be new Converts that formerly they were either Jews or Protestants but having abjured their Errors they have thereby reduced themselves into so miserable a Condition for the Love of Jesus Christ To this purpose they shew you very fair and plausible Letters of Credence with fair great Seals annexed to them I have sometimes diverted my self with questioning this kind of People about the Principles of Judaism or
to my Natural inclination which prompts me to conceal the ill and to publish only the good Wherefore a little to refresh my wearied Pen and to comply with the desire I have to Honour the Memory of great men you 'l give me leave Sir I hope to give my self the Satisfaction of Relating to you an Action truly Vertuous and Memorable of S. John Gualbert This young Lord had a Brother whom he most tenderly loved who being engaged in a Duel was unhappily killed by his Rival Gualbert supposed it would be an Action worthy of his Honour and great Courage to endeavour to avenge the Death of his Brother To this purpose he engaged himself in pursuit of this Homicide who being fled he went in quest of him throughout all the Provinces of Italy It hapned at length that he met with him Disarmed in a way where he could not escape him The unhappy Wretch seeing him come towards him with his drawn Sword in his Hand cast himself Prostrate on the Ground Crying for Mercy but perceiving by his Thundering Voice and his inflamed looks that there was no Quarter to be hoped for laid his Arms a cross his Breast in expectation of the mortal Thrust Gualbert seeing him in this posture called to mind our Lord Jesus Christ hanging on the Cross who was so far from Avenging himself that he not only prayed for his Persecuters but died for them This thought having quite spoild his former design he alights from his Horse and instead of Running his Enemy through he freely forgave him kissed him and embraced him and tendered him ever after as his own Brother If the Italians and other Papists in stead of amusing themselves about the Superstitious worship of their Saints would once apply themselvee to imitate these lovely examples of their Vertues they would without doubt render themselves more acceptable to God neither would they be found so basely and abominably Avenging themselves as they do I return now to my Solitude of Valombrosa We arrived at this famous Abby where are some of the most Magnificent and Sumptuous Buildings that can be One of the Florentine Gentlemen that was with me had a Brother there who was the chief Person there next to the Abbot for whose sake we were very Civilly received The Monks here lead a very Commodious and Pleasant Life when they are weary of living in this Desert they make an enterchange with the Monks of Florence and thereby enjoy the pleasing variety of living one part of the year in the Country and the other in the City They have cut down for a quarter of a League round their Monastery all the great Fir-Trees that Shadowed it to give themselves more Air and to make the place more Healthy The next Morning we were led to the Hermitage of S. John Gualbert which is at about half a Leagues distance upon the Point of a little Rock which lifts up it self in the midst of the Valley being very craggy on every side In getting up to it we went round the Rock as by a winding Stairs for the space of about a quarter of an hour at the end of which we found our selves at the Top of the Rock where the Hermitage is which consists of a very neat Chappel curiously Guilt and Painted all over and a very hansome Set of Lodgings well Wainscoted and Painted all within with a Garden of a moderate size so that the whole is a meer Jewel There is no Monument left here of the ancient Cell of this Saint all the Buildings being new and Modern There is always a Father Hermit that dwells here with a Converse Brother to serve him Whenever the Hermit dies the Abbots of the Congregation of Valombrosa at their general Chapter make choice of a Monk of exemplary Life and a Lover of Solitude to reside there The great Abby is to furnish him with all necessaries of Life He has a very fine Library full of choice Books when he has a mind to Study and indeed the Hermit that was then in Possession of the place was a man of competent Learning and appeard to me a very honest man He made us a very fine discourse about the contempt of the World and the advantages of Retirement and Solitude Thô indeed there was no great need of it for we were already without all that so Charmed with the Beauty of this Hermitage that in case there had been more of the same cut Nature rather than Grace would easily â—ave persuaded us to become Hermits in order to enjoy an easy and pleasent Life without either care or trouble The Monks of Valombrosa have extreamly relaxed the strictness of their first Institution They are Clothed in Black and profess the Rule of S. Bennet thô indeed they observe but little of it The next day we set out very betimes in â—he Morning towards Mount Alverne This is â—â—e place where the Seraphick Father S. Francis â—â—under of all the Religious Orders that live under 〈◊〉 is Rule retir'd himself to spend his Life in Contemplation and where as they tell us he received the Impression of the sacred Wounds This days Journy was exceeding troublesome to us We went up from Valombrosa by the direction of a Guide we took along with us to the very Top of the Appennin and continued our way upon the same till we came to the Foot of Alverne This Mountain is discovered at a great distance and some maintain it to be the highest of all the Alpennin It hath nothing that is pleasing or delightful about it neither is any thing to be seen here besides bare Rocks without either Trees or Verdure It is so high that it seldom or never Rains there which was the reason we found no Snow here We got up to it with a great deal of trouble and difficulty by a very narrow way betwen extream high Precipices and we could not gain the Top of it till it was in a manner quite dark night Here we found a large Convent of Religious of the Order of S. Francis called by the Italians Soccolanti because of the Wooden-Socks they wear instead of Shoes The first thing we did was to enquire where we might Lodge for that night the Fathers told us there was an Inn close by for the Entertainment of Strangers Formerly these Religious exercised Hospitality towards all sorts of Persons that out of Devotion came to Alverne as the Fathers of Camaldule do to this day to those who come to visit the Holy Desert whereof I have spoken before but at present they are weary of this piece of service and do employ the Fund destinated to that purpose to their own advantage By bad hap for us there was no body in the Inn the Innkeeper with all his Family being gon to a Wedding a days Journy from the place so that we were obliged to return to the Convent and entreat the Fathers to afford us some shelter amongst them for that night since there was no
the Image with a pomp and magnificence altogether extraordinary at which time there was a great Concourse of the Nobility and Gentry of the City and Country The Confluence was so extraordinary that they were forced to set a Guard at the Doors of the Church who suffer'd none to enter but persons of Appearance and Quality I heard an Old Gentleman who with a great Sense of Devotion blessed God with a Loud Voice That he had vouchsafed him the happiness of having seen the same Miraculous Image Two and twenty times uncover'd during his Life time I was somewhat surpriz'd at this Expression of his for had it been true That the Image as was said had not been uncover'd more than once in Forty years it must have follow'd that at that rate this Gentleman must be more Aged than Methusalem But I was inform'd afterwards That there seldom passed a Year wherein upon some emergency or other of publick Need requiring it the said Image was not uncover'd This gave me a full Notion of the Cunning of these Priests who to procure the Vogue and Devotion of the People for some of their Images do Veil them withal declaring them to be Miraculous and so trascendently Holy that it is not lawful to expose them to publick and common View more than once in several Years time except it be upon some extraordinary emergent Necessity And yet as soon as they see that their Device has taken that the Devotion of the People is kindled and that their Profits are sure they have not the patience themselves to stay out the time of their own prefixing before they discover these their Lucriferous Mysteries but they lay hold of the opportunity of the first Drought or Wet Season and declare That Necessity having no Law the Fruits of the Earth being in great danger they are forc'd to uncover the Image sooner than they had design'd And thus an Image or Statue which according to the first Institution was not to be expos'd more than once in Forty years is set forth almost every Year Which proceeding of theirs is so far from being suspected by the deluded Laity that it gains them a great deal of Reputation and the Esteem of very good and honest Men full of Compassion and extreamly desirous to obviate and prevent as far as in them lies all publick Calamities The Monks and Priests do both of them perfectly well agree and harmonize in this Point for they have all of them some hidden Idol or other in their Churches which they uncover at certain Intervals of Time each in their due order without interfering or clashing one with another playing Hodie mihi cras tibi In those Monasteries where the Abbots Priors and Guardians are Triennial they have taken up the Custom of vouchsafing this Favour to the Publick at their first Arrival in the Monastery and this commonly either by exposing the Holy Sacrament for Three days together or by uncovering some miraculous Image or other Neither doth the Idol lose a whit of Credit and Repute for all this because it is look'd upon as an extraordinary Occasion and ceaseth not to pass in the Minds of the People for a Mystery not to be expos'd but once in such an Interval of Years This was the Rare Show I was entertain'd with at Sienna which at present is one of the most Superstitious Cities that is in all Italy and is commonly called by way of Prerogative and Excellence Sienna the Devout This City also is very famous for the Purity of her Language the best Italian without contradiction being spoken here After that I had Visited all the Places of Devotion that are in it I prosecuted my Journy and passing a Second time through Tuscany and Florence after two great days Journy I came to Bononia which is a very fine City Formerly this place was a Commonwealth but at present the Popes have reduc'd it to their Obedience and have a Legat there who Commands in their Name On the great Gate of the Legates Palace which is a very Ancient Structure is a Statue of Stone representing a Woman with a Tiara or Triple Papal Crown upon her Head They of Bononia say This Figure represents RELIGION but it seems with more probability to be a Statue of Pope Joan For that it is not the former appears from hence because the principal Marks with which the Papists set forth Religion are wanting in this Statue viz. a Cross in the one Hand and a Chalice with the Host in the other Two days after my Arrival at Bononia I went to take a View of the Fair and Renowned Abby of S. Michael in Bosco situate on a pleasant Hill about two Musquet-shot from the City It seems to have been plac'd on that Eminence to be seen and admir'd by all Italy Above all other places this is peculiarly Famous for the curious Paintings that embelish it Carache Guido Rhenus and many other Famous Painters seeming to have deposited in this Building the whole Curiosity and Perfection of their Art to make it the more Recommendable to Posterity The Religious that dwell here are Olivetan-Monks they profess the Rule of S. Bennet and are habited in White As I was taking a View of the Painting of the Grotto's or of the first Cloister which is built with right Angles the Abbot taking a Walk after Dinner with some of his Religious by an extraordinary piece of Civility drew near to me and took the pains himself to explain to me the Pictures which represent some very considerable Particularities of the Life of their Legislator S. Bennet After which he conducted me to their Library which is all curiously painted and furnished with very good and fairly Bound-Books and certainly is one of the neatest I have seen in Italy Where being entred into Discourse concerning some of those Books the Abbot made a proffer to me of staying in the said Abby and Teaching Humanity and Rhetorick to his Religious telling me That if I thought good to accept of it I should be Entertain'd at his own Table and enjoy a very Competent Allowance Tho' at this time I had no design of staying in Italy and that I was now actually engag'd in my Journy for France yet this occasion so favourably presenting it self and meeting with a strong Inclination in me to acquire a further perfection in the Italian Tongue after Two or Three days respit I had desir'd of the Abbot to consider of it I accepted of his Offers He appointed me a very good Salary and assign'd me Twelve of his young Monks for my Pupils They were almost all of them either Earls or Marquisses for these Fathers Receive none into their Society but persons of the Highest Quality I continued Two whole Years in this Employment during which time I received a Thousand marks of Kindness and Civility from my young Religious Scholars besides the continual Experience I had of the Bounty and Generosity of the Noble Prelat You cannot doubt Sir