the Church of Rome do make of these Principles is this that there are no Bones whatsoever no not the Bones of an Ass or Horse but they may make Relicks of them they need only break a piece of them and tell you that it is a Relick of one of the Eleven thousand Virgins that suffered Martyrdom at Collen or else one of the Soldiers of the Theban Legion who were all cut in pieces at the passage of the Alpes for refusing to Sacrifice to Mars the Traveller They may shew you the Rib of a sucking Pig and tell you it is a Relick of one of the little Innocents who were Massacred at our Saviours Birth or Lastly tell you that it is the bone of a Saint taken out of the Catacombes Besides all these they can give you many other Categories under which their Relicks are commonly ranked and Marshal'd and pray how can you contradict them as to what they alledge And as for them Good-men they salve their Consciences by the intention they have of procuring Honour to such a he or she Saint for whom they have the greatest Devotion or who suits best with their interest I was once in the Abby of the Trinity at Vandome in France when they exposed their Treasury of Relicks They shewed us amongst other things a Jaw-bone which the Monks told us was that of S. Magdalen and a very able Physician who was present at the same time was ready to maintain to their Faces and would forfeit his Head if he did not prove to them by the Texture scaling and largeness of the Bone that it never belong'd to a human Body but it was the piece of the Jaw-bone of some Beast or other But the Fathers were so far from desiring him to disabuse them in the case that they presently pop'd up another Relick to put him by his displeasing Discourse This Relick was that they call the Holy Tear which is so famous in that Country The Tradition they pretend to have concerning it runs thus that when our Saviour wept over Lazarus an Angel gathered up his Tears in a small Crystal Vial and that having preserved them a long time he gave them to S. Mary Magdalen who was then doing Penance at a place which is called la Sainte Baume near to Marseilles that in process of time this Relick was carried to Constantinople where it continued during the Reign of the Greek Emperour and being afterwards fallen together with all the Riches of that great City into the hands of the Turks a Turkish Emperour presented it to Godfrey Earl of Vandome who deposed it in this Abby It seems by this Tradition that it took many turns before it came thither and above all that which I consider is that it hath past through the hands of Infidels and Enemies to the Name of Christ But for all this the Roman Catholicks and above all the Monks of that Abby have not the least doubt or scruple concerning it but bestow upon it the Worship of Latria even the same they give to Jesus Christ himself Upon any extraordinary occasion of great Drought or raging Sickness they carry it solemnly through the City and that with greater Pomp than they do their Holy Sacrament These Fathers who are Reformed Benedictins told us That now for so many Hundred years that is to say since the time of our Saviour the said Tear had been preserved so fresh as a Tear that actually drops from the Eye We viewed this Crystal very attentively holding it up against the Light and afterwards took a review of it at the Light of a Wax-Taper but we could discover nothing of what they were pleased to tell us They have recourse to this Relick in all Maladies of the Eyes and upon this account it brings a vast Income to these Fathers Surely People had need to be Endowed with a great Stock of Simplicity and good Intention to adore things which even according to humane Tradition are so uncertain and doubtful We meet with a Story in the Life of S. Martin which makes it appear that this good Intention was not so generally in vogue in his time or at least that the Bishops did not favour it at the rate as those of the Romish Communion do at present There was a Devotion got up at some Leagues from Tours towards certain Relicks which made a great Noise The People ran from all parts thither out of Dovotion and they pretended that great Miracles were wrought upon the Place and all manner of Maladies healed S. Martin as saith the History of his Life writ by Ribadeneira the Jesuit went himself thither by way of Devotion and being at the Place he was seized as it were with a secret Instinct or Divine Inspiration that the Bones which they Worshiped in that Place were not the Bones of Saints S. Martin to be cleared in the Matter adjur'd the Bones to tell him whose they were whereupon adds the Story was heard a terrible Voice proceeding from the Shrine or Case wherein the Bones lay which said We are so far from being the Bones of Saints that we are the Bones of two miserable Criminals Murtherers and Robbers on the High-way who were executed at such a time publickly for our Crimes and yet of a long time have we been here worshiped as if we had been Gods S. Martin having received this Information immediately commanded the Bones to be cast out upon the Lay-stall Good GOD If all the false Relicks which at present are ador'd in the Church of Rome had Voices and could but speak as these did what strange Stories should we hear Some would say We are the Bones of Heathens or of Malefactors others of Horses Asses Dogs c. And yet I question very much whether after all this they would resolve to quit them They would say It 's like that these Voices were only the Illusions and Artifices of the Devil who is envious at the Glory that is bestowed on the Saints and that their Church being Infallible having propos'd these Relicks to Believers to be worshiped She can neither err in matter of Right or in Matter of Fact See here a true Portraicture of the Spirit of that Church as it is at present being so far changed I will not say from that of the Primitive times but even from that of the middle Ages as nothing more But we are to take notice of a distinction here which is this That if any Relick should chance to be introduc'd by any other way but that of the Church of Rome and come to the knowledge of the Popes they would never suffer it Father Mabillon gives us an Instance of it in his Voyage of Italy for he tells us That some Spaniards having Addrest themselves to Pope Urban the Eighth to obtain Indulgences upon the account of a Saint called S. Viar the Pope being surpriz'd at the Novelty and singularity of the Name would be informed upon what good ground the Holiness of this Saint was
Lodging before I came away I returned him my Thanks without accepting of his kindness Nevertheless they were so importunate with me on every side that I was forced to drink with them for in Germany they account it a great Crime for a Man to refuse a Health and on such occasions as these Men are forc'd to incommodate themselves how unwilling soever they may be Their Breakfast lasted much longer than their Meditation however at last they were fain to make an end of it at the Fathers Ringing of his Bell After which having impos'd Silence as well as he could he began a kind of Sermon wherein he discoursed of the great and many Spiritual advantages we receive by going on Pilgrimage and more especially by that of Maladurne Above all he insisted upon the Relation of a long track of Miracles that had been wrought in that place and which were very Divertizing Sermon being ended the Father Capucin put all that were in the Boat upon making a Confession of their Faith and he began with his Companion asking him aloud Do you hold in Heart and Mouth the Catholick Apostolick and Roman Faith The Brother answered I do so by the Grace of God The Brother put the same question to his Neighbour Do you hold with Heart and Mouth the Faith c. And he again made the same Answer and so the same Question and Answer run through the whole Boat from one to the other not excepting the Boat-men themselves They told me that the reason of their taking this Precaution was to find whether there were any Hereticks in the Boat and if they had found any they would have forc'd them to leave the Boat because they were apt to mock at their Sacred Mysteries and Holy Practices of Pilgrimaging This Confession being ended and all the Company having been found good Catholicks the Father received the Vows of a Troop of Pilgrims which were come from Hockum that Morning and joyn'd themselves to the rest of the Company in the Boat He made them all to kneel before him and made them say after him with a lowd and audible Voice these words I N. do vow to go to the holy Relick of Maladurne and during the whole Journy as well going as coming to be Obedient to the Reverend Father Blasius Director of the Pilgrimage This done the Father Blasius for that was the Capucin's Name gave them his Benediction and embraced them one after another and afterwards sent them to embrace the rest of their Companions I took notice that the Father exprest a great deal of Civility to these last come Pilgrims and plac'd them near to himself on his Right Hand Now it is tâ— be noted that Hockum whence these Men came is the place where the very best Rhenish Wine grows and whereof they had brought along with them a very plentiful Provision These therefore with a great deal of reason were placed at the Right and the Pilgrims of Bacrack who had possest that Place till then were fain to pass over to the Left The Father having Commanded the whole Company to kneel down pull'd out of his Sleeve a little Image or Figure of the Miracle of Maladurne and having himself first Kissed all the Heads represented on it he delivered it over from Hand to Hand that every one might do the same which done he enjoyned the saying of seven Paternosters in Honour to every one of the Heads Whilst all these Ceremonies Prayers and Adorations were performing the Boat Arrived at Hochst which is a small City belonging to the Elector of Mentz and where they make an Hours halt to Eat their Dinners There be very good Inns in this Place and many stept out of the Boat either to Dine there or to buy more Provisions but the greatest part remain'd in the Boat and Din'd there The Father Capucin was so very importunate with me that he oblig'd me to stay with him These kind of Boats are so large and long that always at one end of them they have a very large Kitchin where they Boil and Roste whatsoever the Company desires The Kitchin hapned to be very well furnisht that day and after that the Capucin had craved a Blessing we sat down to Dinner The heat and fumes of the Meat and Pottage had so extreamly heated the Boat that one could scarcely fetch ones Breath in it and caused a very unpleasant scent for these Boats are all covered with Boards like Houses and they can let in no Air to them but only by the sides and by a Board on the top of the Boat which they can lift up upon occasion I repented that I had been persuaded to stay and Dine there and that I had not stept out to take a little fresh Air as others did But yet to countervail this Displeasure I took delight to see the Germans Eat at the rate they did for notwithstanding the good Breakfast they had made they Eat with that Greediness as if they had seen no Meat in three days God be praised said the Capucin I see that Devotion procures a good Stomack He was a Man of a very good humour and who had always a Jest at command to divert the Company with but nevertheless he did one thing which did much displease me and was very unbecoming the Gravity which ought always to be inseparable from a long Beard and especially from one that is a Conductor and Director of Pilgrims Dinner being ended and the Capucin having given Thanks he granted one hour of Recreation to the Company This Recreation consists in speaking and acting all sort of Fooleries and above all in drinking Healths and eating relishing Bits and Incentives to Drink as Gammons of Bacon dried Tongues and other Salt-Meats The Father had for his part a good Gammon of Mentz before him and having plac'd on his right hand a great Bottle of Wine which the Pilgrims of Hockum had bestowed upon him and another great Bottle of Bacrack Wine on his left hand he plac'd them both on each side of his Gammon of Bacon and Laughing said with a loud Voice so that all the Company might hear him these Latin words taken out of the XXth Chapter of S. Matthew most filthily profaning them Grant that these two Bottles may sit the one on the Right hand and the other on the Left After this he got into the best Humor of the World and drunk to admiration I desired him to tell me why they were so cautelous to prevent that no Hereticks might lurk in the Boats amongst them The Reason is said he because they mock us yea some of them are not afraid to abuse us very insolently Once upon a time proceeded he five or six of these wicked Men play'd us a very ill Trick they had mix'd themselves amongst the Pilgrims to observe what we did We discover'd them at last when after having worship'd the Holy Image I sent it about for them to kiss One of them took it in his hand and
profess it I shall continue to entertain you therewith some longer time I was astonish'd to see that the Eremitick State which formerly was so Flourishing in Italy as may be seen by so many antient Foundations and Places which are still at this day call'd Hermitages tho' no Hermites live in them are now fallen into so great Decadence that scarcely are there some few of them to be found here and there In S. Bennet's time Italy was full of Hermitages and he himself profest an Hermetick Life before the Monastick At that time there were Men of Learning and Piety who retir'd into Hermitages to have the better opportunity by being separated from the World of applying themselves more entirely to Study and Contemplation whereas the present Hermites are no other but a company of miserable Wretches of the Sink of the common People who have neither Learning nor Parts and whereof the greater part lead a very disorderly and scandalous Life The reason whereof is because the Monks being in process of time become very Powerful have possest themselves of all the best Hermitages that were endow'd with standing Revenues and made Priories of them which they Incorporated with their Abbeys and the Mendicant Orders gleaning after them took Possession of well nigh all those which were near to Cities or great Burroughs and there built their Convents So that there are none remaining now but some in Solitary and far distant Places and a very few that are near to Cities The Hermites that are the Inhabitants of these latter Hermitages have enough to do to defend themselves against the Capucins and other Mandicants who endeavour to supplant or at least to decry them and bring them into Disrepute Those who live in solitary and far distant Places are much suspected because there have been frequently found amongst them some that were the greatest Villains imaginable who Murther'd all those that came to Visit their Hermitages and Robb'd upon the High-way This is the reason why Honest Men do not care to make their Retreat in any of those Places Wherefore commonly they are none but poor Men that make themselves Hermites in hopes that in favour of that Habit they may find a Subsistence from the Liberality of some of the good Country Folks if they can but once get the knack of dexterously Playing the Hypocrites I shall here relate to you a deceit that I my self discover'd of two French Hermites who lived on one of the Hermitages which are on the Mountain call'd S. Sylvester about a days Journy from Rome but by another Name Mount Soracte I was gon from Rome with an intent to take a View of the Country which they call la Sabine which is not above three or four days Journy from thence being Famous for having once been the abode of the ancient Sabini who signaliz'd themselves by so many brave Exploits against the Romans I took up my Lodging the first Night in a Village which is near to the Mount S. Sylvester and the next Morning the curiosity took me to endeavour to get up to it They told me there was but one only Path-way to get up to it which was on the other side of the Mountain so that I had a great way to go about to get thither Wherefore viewing well the Top of the Mountain it appear'd to me that I might very well save my self the trouble of going that great way about in mounting by a certain passage which seem'd to me as if it had been a troden Path and the Stones that were above it appear'd to me like Steps by which one might get up to the Top. Wherefore without any further consideration I put my self forward to make an assault upon this high Mountain I scarcely was got up the one half of this way but I found I was extreamly mistaken in my account and that those Stones which had appear'd to me so little and by which it seem'd I might easily gain the Top of the Mountain were indeed no other than great Rocks heap'd upon one another which made the Top of the Mountain in accessible However I continu'd still to ascend rather for my Recreation and to see how far I could get than in any hopes of compassing my first design the execution whereof did then seem to me impossible I mounted I clambred I crept into the Clefts of the Rocks and by the help of certain Roots of Trees I raised my self up to some great Rocks whence I perceiv'd that I was come near to the Top. This added new Spirits to me and so much the more Courage because I saw there would be more danger in attempting to get down again to the place from whence I was mounted than to get up to the very Top. Accordingly I prosecuted my intent and being come up higher I was extreamly astonish'd to find amongst the Stones great Pieces of brown Bread and in very great quantity some of them being Mouldy and quite Rotten and others yet very fresh At last after some new and last Efforts which I would not now begin again I found my self all on a suddain in a very fine Garden which was Enclos'd on all sides with very high Walls except only on that side where it was thought in accessible This was the Garden belonging to one of the Hermitages and I descri'd in it two Hermits who were taking their Recreation in a Bower shaded with pleasant Green-Trees These Hermits were sorely affrighted at me and taking me for some Ghost betook themselves to their Heels and being got into their Hermitage they Barricado'd it against me I was quite spent with the extream pains I had taken out of Breath and in a great Sweat so I went to rest my self in the Bower they had left to see whether I could retrieve my Spirits again I found here the remains of a great Pasty and of a large Bottle of Wine and upon a Bench on the other side of me a Fan and a Coiff The Hermites at last being recover'd a little of their Fright ventur'd again into the Garden and came to accost me They were astonish'd to hear that I had made a shift to get up by the Rocks I soon discover'd them to be French Men and they told me that it was about two years since they had begun to live in that Hermitage I spoke to them concerning the Pieces of brown Bread that I had found and I took notice that this brought a fresh Colour into their Faces and forasmuch as they perceiv'd that I had taken notice of the Gloves Coif and Fan that were left in the Bower one of them took the Word and told me Sir as you are a French Man we hope that you will have the goodness not to do us any Prejudice We will hide nothing from you but sincerely Confess that it is we that have thrown away these bits of Bread in the place where you met with them for we never had the design of being good Hermites we have
way express without telling him whether they belong'd to the Soul or Body And this good Man who took all in the best sense and who also attributed in part this their Conversion to his own good Prayers for them went to the Bishop of Bresse and made his Report to him telling him That his Nuns were all of them become Saints to that degree as to suffer Exstasies and Ravishments The great Opinion the World had conceived of their Sanctity still increased more and more when the greatest part of these Nuns undertook to observe a Six Months Retirement in the Inner part of their Monastery making a Vow That during all that time they would never come to the Grate This was to hide their Big-bellies and Child-bearing In a word they had many Children and this infamous Commerce lasted many years The World has been since astonished to consider how it was possible to be concealed for so long a time without making a Noise in the World for there were above a Score of Youths that were of the Gang. However as Wickedness always drags its own Chain this also was discover'd at last by the Cook-Maid This Sister finding her self abandoned and neglected because she was very Ugly and moreover finding her self overcharg'd with Work by reason of the Cawdles and Broths and a thousand other extraordinary things which she was oblig'd to make for those that were in Child-Bed Besides whenever the young Galants came at Night they always brought some dainty Bit or other along with them which she must Dress for the rest One of the Nuns on a time having very indiscreetly jeared her for the bigness of her Nose she was so extreamly nettled at it that in Revenge she by way of Raillery reproach'd her with her Big-Belly From these stinging Jests they proceeded to high Words and in fine the Cook-Maid was basely abus'd by them The next Morning she sends a Letter to the Vicar-General of Bresse wherein she informed him That she had a Matter of great consequence to disclose to him provided care were taken to secure her Life from the Revenge of the other Nuns The Grand-Vicar was so possest with the high Esteem he had conceiv'd for these Recluses who of late had undertaken the Reforming of themselves with so much Edification that having heard what the Cook-Maid had to say he immediately called her a Visionary But she persisting to maintain what she had discovered to him and offering to make it appear that three of the Nuns were actually with Child and that two of them had been lately brought to Bed the Grand-Vicar at last resolv'd to perform a Visitation of the Convent Many of the Nuns perceiving that there was something extraordinary in this Proceeding endeavoured to make escape out of the Monastery but they were all stopt in their flight and brought back to their Convent where they found very pretty Children Males and Females in the Cells of these Nuns who call'd them their Mothers The Bishop having been inform'd of it drew up an Indictment and sent it in all diligence to the Tribunal of Venice which is established to take cognizance of Matters relating to Nuns for Bresse is a Venetian City depending upon the Republick both in Temporals and Spirituals This Tribunal is very severe and never fails of punishing things with the extreamest vigour In the mean time all the Young Men who knew themselves guilty had time to save themselves some in Swisserland others in the Country of the Grissons and others in Germany as having by good-luck nothing but the Alpes to pass Some days after a Sentence was pronounc'd and publish'd against them as severe as ever had been seen Their Goods were confiscated their Houses razed to the ground and their Heads set at a price I was troubled to find amongst this number one of my Scholars the Son of a Procurator of S. Mark but some time after I had the satisfaction to understand That he was come freely of his own accord to put himself in Prison in order to his Justification which he did to so good purpose that he was acquitted There were many Persons in Italy especially amongst the Priests and Nuns who condemned this so severe and so publick Proceeding of the Republick which had made the matter to be much more Nois'd abroad than otherwise it would have been They said it would have been much better to have supprest it wholly as they do at Rome and in all the other Governments of Italy because the Hereticks on the other side of the Hills and more especially Geneva are never wanting when such Matters as these happen to make the best Advantage of it or to make use of their Phrase to Butter their Cabbage with it As for the Nuns they contented themselves with setting a strict Guard upon them for some time and with stopping up the Conveyance they had made under their Walls For above a year together the Gentlemen of Bresse durst not pass along the Streets near to their Monastery for fear of incurring a sinister Suspicion See here the common End of the Amorous Intriegues of Nuns and tho' indeed they do not always make so much Noise it is because those who ought to take cognizance of them pretend to have more Prudence than the Tribunal of Venice made use of on this occasion There be two sorts of Superiors of Nuns in Italy for some of them are immediately subject to Bishops and others to some Generals of Orders of the same Rule that they profess Those that are under the Conduct of Bishops are somewhat better Govern'd but they who are under the inspection of Monks do for the most wholly give the Reins to their Passions and lead a most infamous Life tho' with less Noise The Monks will scarcely ever suffer any Seculars to frequent the Grates of those whom they Govern that they may keep the Affections of these Maidens entirely to themselves If any disorder chance to happen all is kept very secret because this would turn as much to their Dishonour as to the disgrace of the Nuns There are a Thousand Stories abroad in the World of the Loves of Monks and Nuns and I find no difficulty to give credit to them since the Information I my self have had thereof during my abode in Italy from Persons whom I can belive but am resolv'd to pass them by in silence for fear of offending Chast Ears 'T is a Prodigious thing to see how Nuns have multipli'd themselves in Italy and the vast quantity of Convents they have as well in every City as in the Country There are almost as many different Orders of them as there are of Monks Amongst the rest there are also She Jesuits which commonly are call'd Ursulines who more particularly undertake to Instruct Young Girls In Italy they are oblig'd to be Cloister'd tho' in Switzerland and in France they are not under that engagement I was surpriz'd to see that the Italians who are accus'd of being become
all in that which you take not a jot more than if you should eat the Bread and drink your Wine separately so that you may for time to come safely do it without any scruple In a word this Father resolved a vast number of Difficulties that had been propounded to him and which for the most part were of the same Stamp with those I have given you a taste of Because we are speaking of the Observation of Lent at Milan you may take notice that Lent begins there four days later than in all the other parts of Italy by a Priviledge they pretend to hold from S. Ambrose Now for these four days a vast quantity of People from all Parts of Italy repair thither to enjoy this Priviledge and I have known Persons that came above one hundred Leagues which shews that there is a strange Avidity in the Papists to eat Flesh at the time it is forbid them Now these days are no sooner ended but all this Crowd makes as much haste to get away from thence as before they made haste to get thither the reason is because afterwards the Quadragesimal Abstinence is observed with much more rigour and exactness at Milan than in any other part of Italy excepting only those that have Licences which as I have mentioned before are always in great Numbers If any one be found that transgresseth the Rules of the Lent Fast they are sent immediately to the Inquisition and proceeded against as Hereticks The Spaniards will allow of no slackning of this Point in those Countries that are subject to them In the time when Burgundy was under Spain they observed the Fasts of the Church much more rigorously than they do now since it is under the Dominion of France An Officer of the great Chapter of Mentz gave me the Relation of a troublesome Accident tho' the passages of it be very pleasant which hapned to him and three of the great Canons of Mentz with relation to Fasting They had taken a view of the greatest part of France and they returned to their own Country through Burgundy in time of Lent As they were Travelling from Dola to Besançon this Officer hapned to kill a great Hen in the Fields and the Gentlemen Canons having Congratulated his good Luck resolved to eat it at the first Inn they should come at Being Arriv'd about Dinner-time at the first Village they met with they ordered a great Fire to be made in their Chamber and the Officer commanded them to bring up a Kettle without saying what he intended to do with it Their Hostess brought them one but being seiz'd with a curiosity to know what use they would put it to she spi'd them so well that she found they were Boyling a Hen. Whereupon she presently ran out of Doors and told her Neighbours who came all running away in Throngs no otherwise than if the House had been on Fire The Hostess led them the way to the Chamber of these Gentlemen and in a furious Transport demanded her Kettle again they desired her to have Patience a little telling her that what they had put into it was almost Boyled but the Woman in a great rage snatch'd the Kettle from off the Fire and the Officer forc'd it from her again to have his Hen. In the mean time the Neighbours all came up at the Noise and belching forth the most execrable Oaths which were far worse than the breaking of the Fast threatned the Gentlemen to kill them immediately if they did not render themselves Prisoners These Grand Canons who were all of them Lords of great Quality in vain call'd up for their Foot-Boys drest in their rich Liveries and put off their Riding Coats which covered their rich Silk Habits and shewed them their Golden Crosses and the fair Medals hanging about their Necks These Villanous Peasants in spite of all they could shew or alledge made them get on Horse-back and having bound them with Cords in a most ignominious manner they Conducted them with a strange Hue and Cry carrying the Par-boil'd Hen ty'd to the top of a Staff before them till they came to the City of Besançon which was about Eight Leagues from the Village insulting over them with a thousand Affronts all along the Way as if they had been Hereticks As soon as they were come into the City a vast Throng of People came from all Parts to see them flinging Dirt and Stones at them and crying aloud Burn them alive Burn them alive They brought them in this Posture straight to the Archbishop who being immediately inform'd who they were brought them into one of the Dining-Rooms of his Palace and had very much ado to appease the Rabble After that he had signified to them the Humour of the People of that Country and the extream Danger to which they had expos'd themselves he exprest to them the sensible Regret he had for the Affront they had received and shewed them a thousand Civilities in Token of the Respect he bore to the Canons of the most Noble Chapter that was in the whole Empire And the next day very early in the Morning he let them escape by a back Door for fear of their being Torn to pieces by the Rabble See here what an Extravagant Zeal for Superstitious Observances is capable to produce neither Civility nor Virtue nor Reason being able to gave Check to the furious Effects thereof Jesus Christ certainly never left us any such Spirit or any such Religion It wanted but very little of our falling into the same Trouble by the Imprudence of my Companion the Evening we Arriv'd in the Suburbs of Naples and had they put us into the Inquisition it would have been much worse with us I do not in the least disapprove of Fasts but on the contrary think them to be both commendable and useful for a Christian to Exercise them especially when accompanied with Prayers and Alms-giving for the humbling of our Souls and the subduing and subjecting our Bodies to the Spirit that is for the Mortifying our Brutal Passions which commonly owe their force and vigour to a healthy pamper'd State of the Body and too great Repletion and to give the Spirit a greater liberty and agility in the practice of Virtue Nay what is more I could wish with all my Heart that Christians would exercise themselves by times alltogether in this good Practice to the End of Encouraging one another by their good Examples and by their Union in so good a Work to draw down upon themselves the Heavenly Blessing But I cannot by any means approve the going about to force People to this Duty by the Confiscation of all their Goods by Tortures and Fire and by a most pitiless and cruel Inquisition I don't believe that God ever gave such Power to Men over one another as to proceed to such barbarous and inhuman Constraints and those who pretend to such a Power ought not to be called Pastors but Robbers and Murtherers who are
got into the Sheepfold only to rob destroy and kill The next Morning betimes we Entred the City of Naples where I made a Stay of Three Weeks I went to Visit the Great Hospital for the Sick which without doubt is very well Administred neither is the Direction of it in the Hands of Monks and Priests but the Nobility of Naples have the whole ordering of it I was extreamly edified to see a Score of Gentlemen Knights Earls and Marquesses who served there in their Turns by Weeks and who themselves carried Broth and Meat to the Sick having their great Rapiers by their Sides after the Spanish Mode with a Neatness and Chearfulness capable of alleviating the Maladies of these poor Patients The Apartment for Women was up Stairs who were served in the same manner by Noble Matrons I have Visited many other Hospitals in Italy appointed for Sick-People which were Governed by Fryers whom they call Brothers of Charity but never met with any thing that might be compared with that of Naples These Monks are commonly very peevish and cross and frequently Abuse the Sick with Words and Stroaks after having taken to their own share the best part of the Charities that are sent to the poor Sick I could not keep my self upon a time from saying to one of these Monks who had Beaten one of the poor Sick That that Action of his struck me with Horrour To Excuse himself he told me That I did not know that Sick Person so well as he did and that he was one of those who notwithstanding that they are perfectly Cured do yet complain continually only that they may remain still in the Hospital and that to make them weary of it they were forced to Abuse them in this manner They had none of all these base and unworthy Considerations in this Great Hospital of Naples on the contrary they took Methods quite opposite to those now mention'd to incline those that were recovered to leave the Hospital Whilst they are Sick they are kept strictly to the Rules the Physicians Appoint concerning them who direct the quantity and quality of their Meat and Drink which they execute with a punctuality that is to admiration Afterwards when the Physicians declare that they are wholly Cured they continue them there still for Three Weeks and they are Treated Morning and Evening with all sorts of delicate Viands boyl'd and roasted and serv'd with the choicest Fruits and best Wine in such a quantity as may most contribute to the strengthning and nourishing of them without doing them any prejudice At the end of the Three Weeks those that want Cloaths have them bestow'd upon them and a piece of Mony besides and so are sent away By this means there is never a Poor Patient in the Hospital but wisheth that this Three Weeks time were come for him too to be so Nobly Entertain'd And by this means they are put to no trouble to discharge their Hospital of those who are Recovered The Great Hospital of Milan and some others of Italy are almost Administred after the same manner I could wish the Italians would be advised not to trust their Charities to Priests and Monks so much as they do who for the most part have the most pityless and inhuman Hearts that can be For indeed this is a Curse which God pours forth upon them for being the Authors of so many Idolatrous Practices and Profanations they are guilty of to give them a Heart as herd and unrelenting as that of Pharaoh They would do much better to take the pains of distributing their Alms themselves because we find that in those Places where they do so things are managed in so noble and generous a manner Having taken a View of the Hospital of Naples I spent some part of my time to go and see the Fair Churches of that great and stately City which indeed are such that nothing can be seen more Rich Magnificent or Beautiful There is scarely the least Parish Church which is not all Gilt and Painted from the top to the bottom All the Altars and Chapels are built of Precious Stones and there is never a Church but hath Silver-Candlesticks Basons and Lamps in great numbers without counting the Shrines and Cases for their Relicks and their Crosses that for the most part are of pure Gold Which made a Vice-Roy of Naples say That if all the Churches of that City were made into One and that all their Riches made up but One Treasury it would by far surpass in Beauty and Riches the very Temple of Solomon and that by this means there might be seen at this Day to the Honour of the Neapolitans something more glorious than was that which in past Ages had been the Admiration of all the World For my part I do truly believe that in making this Imaginary Union of the Churches of Naples it would by far surpass in sumptuousness the same Union we might conceive of all the Churches of Rome Yet must we not conclude from hence that therefore the Neapolitans are the better Men God having made it appear two or three years ago that he cares little for these Material Temples by permitting the most part of all those fair and sumptuous Churches to be overthrown by a dreadful Earthquake It would be much better in my Opinion to take away all the superfluous Ornaments of Churches and to turn them into a Stock for the Entertainment of the Poor of the Parish who are the Temples of the Holy Ghost than to study Night and Day to embelish Pillars and Dead-Walls This without doubt would be much more pleasing to God than all the fair and stately Fabricks that could be built It is sufficient that the Places where we Meet to worship God be decently Adorn'd without any thing of superfluous Costliness and convenient for the Faithful that Assemble there but it is the holding forth of a false Notion of Religion to go about to persuade Christians as the Popish-Priests endeavour to do That the more lustrous and dazelling their Churches are with Gold Silver and Precious Stones the more abundantly the Holy Ghost pours forth of his Graces and Blessings on them One of the fairest and most sumptuous Churches of Naples was that of the Jesuits save only that the Length of it was not answerable to the Breadth of it and yet all Rich and Beautiful as it was we see the late Earthquake took no pity of it but in a manner totally overthrew it This probably will give an occasion to the Fathers to build another more proportionable and probably also more Rich and more Magnificent All manner of Monks and Religious live generally very richly and plentifully at Naples and all of them have many Monasteries and Convents there of their own Order but none of them all are more Rich and Powerful than the Jesuits they are they that have all the Nobility at command who do nothing without them 'T is by their means Men get into