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
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
inform himself concerning them by an exact assiduous calm and compos'd Reading of the Scriptures and Fathers Here it is indeed that the Abbot my Fellow-Traveller had still more reason to exercise his Faith of the Will or to speak more plainly his blind Faith to induce to believe That these Men in spight of all their Ignorance and Negligence could pronounce nothing but Words of Life and Eternal Truth Nay what is more he believ'd that the more ignorant they were the more the Holy Ghost was pleased to speak by their Mouths For the Sy 〈…〉 he had formed in describing to me the great Ignorance of the Conductors of the Church of Rome was not so much to undervalue them as to exalt the profound Secrets of the Wisdom of God who formerly having made use of poor Fisher-men that had no acquired Parts or Learning wherewith to confound the Wise-men of the World in the Preaching of the Gospel did still continue to make use of these poor Ignorant Souls the Pope and his Cardinals to maintain the Truth of the same Gospel against the false Wisdom and seeming Doctrin of Hereticks The Zeal wherewith he urg'd this System of his seem'd to me to be somewhat extravagant for he proportionably extended the same to all Bishops Curats and Monks in a word to all the Clergy of Rome whom in a manner he dipt in the same Sawce treating them as so many Asses and Ignoramus's I told him That I had conversed with several Persons of Wit and Parts who according to the Principles of the Doctrin of the Church of Rome did Reason tolerably well and that some Indulgence ought to be allowed them in this Point because the Doctrin of Rome was exposed to abundance of Contrarieties which it was not an easie Task to reconcile As for Example That Accidents are separable from the Substance and exist without a Subject That one Body can at the same time be in several places and a vast number of such like Absurdities which they are fain to maintain in defence of their Mystery of Transubstantiation However notwithstanding all that I could say to him he persisted always in his Opinion and tho' he appear'd to me somewhat too rigorous yet I cannot say that he was altogether unjust in his Censure For if the manner and method of ordering ones Studies be the measure of the Knowledge one acquires I don't believe there is a Country in the World where their Studies are worse conducted than in Italy and where consequently there must needs be less Learning than there I suppose it will not be unpleasing to my Readers if I present them with a view of the Particulars thereof In the first place The Italians have too much Indulgence for their Children and the fear they have of putting them upon any thing that might be too laborious for them in their Tender years makes them have no thoughts of putting them to School till very late They ordinarily keep them two or three Years in the Inferior Schools where they only learn to Read and Write Italian and a Boy who at the Age of Twelve Years begins to Read and Write is already look'd upon as forward enough in his Studies Afterwards they change their Masters and are sent to a Latin School where they spend two or three years more only in learning the first Rudiments of Grammar and some Latin words to dispose them for the prosecuting of their Studies with the Jesuits These Fathers have almost engrost all the publick Colleges in all the Cities of Italy as making a most particular Profession of instructing Youth But in the mean time experience teacheth that God seldom accompanies their undertakings with his Blessing and that indeed they are the very Men notwithstanding all the Noise they make to the contrary who make Youth to lose their time For in the first place they chuse young Jesuits to be their Masters or Regents of their Scholars whose wit is not yet setled and who are not sufficiently grounded themselves in the Latin Tongue so that it is in a manner impossible they should be capable of instructing others But the design of the Society herein is that these young Jesuits may perfect themselves in their Latin by teaching others according to that Maxim Optimus modus Discendi est Docendi the best of Learning is that of Teaching This method is indeed for the profit of the Masters but is as disadvantageous to the Scholars whereas when those that teach others are already perfect in their Art and skill'd in all the ways and turnings of it this is a great advantage to the Scholars and a kind of loss of time for the Masters who learn nothing by teaching others but what they are already perfectly acquainted with That it is a very ill boding for the Scholars to see these young Jesuits take possession of the Masters Chairs who are not able to explain an Author themselves Another reason why the Scholars advance so little under the Conduct of the Jesuits is because these Fathers being too great Lovers of their pleasures give too much leave for Pastime to their Scholars They have two whole days leave to play in every Week viz. Tuesday and Thursday without reckoning the extraordinary days of Vacation for when-ever the Weather is fair and inviting to walk abroad it is a very hard Task to keep a Jesuit within Doors The young Regents address themselves to the Rector or Provincial and are so importunate with them for leave to take their Recreation that it is not possible to deny them And besides all this the Holy-days are so frequent in Italy that sometimes you meet with three or four in one Week Moreover every year in Autumn they have two Months of vacancy so that all this being well considered and laid together we shall find but a small proportion of time left for Study The Youth as every where else are very well pleas'd with it tho' sooner or later they are made sensible of the bad effects of it for ignorant they come to the Jesuits and ignorant they leave them and having lost the most precious part of their time they for the most part continue Ignorants all the rest of their Lives Neither is this all that there are only a few days allotted for Study but also very few hours in those few days for the Morning School only lasts two hours and the Afternoon an hour and an half Some Jesuits have endeavoured to maintain to me that it was not possible in Italy to study for a longer time together But as to that I answered them that I had continued my Lectures four hours together in the Morning and three in the Afternoon when I taught at Milan in the Abby of Great St. Victor and that my Scholars who were all of them Italians became at length accustom'd to it Thus I made it appear that they had no lawful excuse for their carelesness and neglect and that it was only their love of pleasure and
themselves They are the Monks also who have introduced Feasts at the end of their Disputes and the sumptuous Adorning of the Hall where they are celebrated and in these Particulars indeed it is they surpass all others It may generally be said of the Italians That they are never excellent in those Studies that require a constant and serious Application as on the contrary there be very few can equal them in all others which of themselves do afford Diversion and Pleasure The greatest part of Monks in the Convents apply themselves to learn to Sing or Play upon Instruments Some addict themselves to Poetry in order to make Compositions and Sonnets in Praise of their Saints which they expose on Festivals in their Churches and they are wonderful good at it In the Abby of S. Michael in the Wood where I Taught at Bononia the Abbot sent for a Dancing and a Fencing-Master to teach his Religious I thought this very strange for Monks and one day I took the freedom to declare my Thoughts of it to the Abbot The Prelat Answered me That there was no hurt in all this and that they did it for a good End For said he in the first place we sometimes act some little Tragedies and Comedies in the Vestry or in the Church to which we Invite our Kindred of both Sexes and our Friends to be merry together Now you know very well that in the Interludes there is alway expected something of Boufonry and sometimes a little Ball or a French-Dance are very agreeable to the Ladies and indeed if a man cannot Dance well he exposeth himself to Laughter and our Colleagues become the less esteemed who being all of them Children of Persons of Quality ought not upon that very account to be ignorant of this kind of genteel Exercises The Abbot in giving me this account took notice of some sort of Indignation on my Brow when he told me that they made use of the Church to act their Farces and Comedies in and therefore would needs excuse himself on that Point by telling me That they were in a manner forc'd to serve themselves of that place because the Ladies were not suffer'd to enter the Convent so that they had no other place where to bestow them as if forsooth it were a case of absolute and insuperable necessity for the Ladies to be present or for them to act such kind of Follies Sometimes also they are guilty of most horrible Profanations by building their Theatre upon the High-Altar where their Holy Sacrament is lodg'd The Abbot further endeavouring to satisfie me past over to another Reason which appear'd somewhat more witty My Religious said he have all of them as you know great Pensions and we cannot hinder them from spending their Mony as they please themselves Now I should be very loath that they should employ it as so many others do in keeping their Whores This is that which makes me cast about continually by what means I may most dexterously get it out of their hands without offending them by making them expend it upon other uses 'T is in this view that I exhort them to learn all manner of Exercises as to Dance to Ride the Great Horse and to handle their Arms. They pay their Masters themselves and by this means their Purses are drained The Abbot suppos'd he had found a very plausible pretext for allowing his Monks this liberty tho' in the mean time others in the City openly flouted at it as finding good reason to be against the Religious spending their time in Exercises so little becoming Monastick Gravity It is to be observed that all these young Religious were then engaged in a course of Studies but it was not possible to keep them intent upon them and scarcely with all the pains taking in the World was it possible to bring them to any thing so strangly were they taken up with their vain Exercises See here in what manner the Italian Youth spend their time in the Cloisters and without doubt at this rate they cannot but stand in need of having the Arguments of their Opponents communicated to them before they come to Dispute against them on publick Occasions I should scarce ever make an end should I go about to relate all the ridiculous Occupations that divert them from their Studies I shall shut up this Treatise of Studies with those of some Secular Priests who never having had the means or inclination to go and study at the Universities are forced or willing to content themselves with that which they have learnt with the Jesuits The shortest way they have to arrive at their end which is to be Ordained Priests is to get by Heart a little Book called Examen Ordinandorum the Examen of those who are to be Ordained which contains the ordinary Questions that are put to those that desire to enter into Orders The most part of them learn this like Parots without understanding the sense of it being assured that no other things shall be asked them For Ignorance hath so far prevailed in the Church of Rome that none at these Examinations are put to it to shew their Scholarship And these Men being once Ordain'd would rather be Hang'd so to say than ever after look in a Latin Book except the Missal and their Breviary and yet it is a rare thing to find any that are able to explain them They abandon the Trade of Preaching to the Monks as I have already declared in my LETTERS and for their part they content themselves to say their Masses to gad to Baptisms and Burials It is remarkable and a thing known to all Italy that Bishopricks and good Benefices Ecclesiastical Employments and Offices are not bestowed upon Men of Learning but upon those who have most Friends who can best please and flatter or who being Rich are in a condition to make the best advances The case is very different in England where the Bishops and other Dignitaries are only chosen from amongst the Doctors and where their Merit is chiefly considered This is the true Reason why the Ecclesiasticks of Rome do so little care or endeavour to get Learning as being well assured that it will stand them in no stead at all yea that their Enemies or Competitors might take occasion from thence to render them suspected The Abbot with whom I Travelled the First Days Journy to Veletre inform'd me of nothing but what I knew before by the description he gave me of the way of conferring Bishopricks and Benefices which commonly fell to the share of the most Ignorant I only asked him what might be the Reason of this great Disorder To which he Answer'd That he did not know or rather durst not tell it me And for my part neither durst I tell him my Thoughts about it in that Country But now that by the Grace of God I may freely speak my Mind I shall declare that the greatest Secret of all this is the Resolution which the
by the Priests of the Church of Rome but because I fear keeping you too long upon one and the same Subject I shall chuse rather to diversifie it by some other Relation I shall take my Subject from a Remark I made at the Abby of Fossa Nova whither I Journyed from Veletre after having seen the Baptizing of the Bell which I have already described This Abby is not far from Terracine and it was here that S. Thomas Aquinas died on his Way to the Council of Lions The Curiosity I had to see the Place where he was Buried made me alight and the Monks of that Abby who are Bernardines shew'd me a great deal of Civility They led me to a Little Chapel under-ground where they told me that S. Thomas was laid after his Death I desired them to shew me his Relicks but they told me They could not answer my Request because his Body had never been taken up out of the Ground and that the Altar of the Chapel was built upon his Tomb. But for all this fair Story I knew very well that Pope Urban the Fifth had bestowed his Body upon the Religious of S. Dominicus who had translated it to their Convent at Tholouse and what I enquir'd concerning it of these Monks was only to discover their Honesty in the case I told them also That I had seen a Capucin at Rome who had shewed me a considerable piece of S. Thomas his Arm which he said the Fathers of Fossa Nova had bestowed upon him I gave them a description of this Capucin from Head to Foot which made them at last call to mind one that was a German who after he had Fudled himself in their Monastery had with so much Importunity requested of them some Relick of S. Thomas telling them He was resolved not to leave their Monastery till they had given him one that at length they were fain to shew him a great heap of Dead-mens Bones which was in a Corner of the Chapel amongst which he had chosen the Relick which he had shewed me They told me That they themselves question'd whether there might not be some Relicks of that Saint amongst all their Bones because the Earth of the Chapel had been stirred several times and tho' it was precisely believ'd that the Body of S. Thomas did rest under the Altar yet they were not absolutely sure of it This is the Reason said they why many Persons have made no difficulty to take some of these Bones in the Conceit that they might probably be some of his or at least in hopes that the Presence of the Body of the Saint near whom they had the Honour to Rest might have communicated to them some Heavenly Vertue To speak the truth these are the very Reasonings which the Gentlemen of Rome I mean the Pope and Cardinals make use of every day with reference to the Holy Bodies which they fetch out of the Catacombes and which they send so boldly and so frequently to places of their Communion to be Worshiped there These Catacombes in the Sense they take them in are Subterranean Places where Believers assembled themselves in the times of Persecution and where they Buried the Corps of their Martyrs but they also indifferently Buried there the Bodies of all Christians so that as these places served them for Temples or places to meet in so they served them also for Church-yards to bury their Dead The Popes having in these last Ages taken into mature Consideration the great gain they reaped from the Bones of their Saints had recourse to these places as to inexhaustible Mines and indifferently seized all the Bones they met with there Yea their Avarice lasht out to that degree that either not knowing or not being able to distinguish the true Catacombes they have gone to search for dead Bodies in the Common Sewers or Subterranean Vaults which were the Sinks to carry off the filth of the City and where in ancient times they were used to fling the Bodies of Malefactors after their Execution True it is that amongst them were sometimes found the Bodies of Martyrs which escaped the knowledge of Christians The Popes not having the power to distinguish the one from the other and to spare themselves a trouble which besides would have been pure labour lost by the Power of God himself which they profess themselves to have metamorphos'd them all dictum factum into Saints The Heathens had also Caves and Vaults where they caused themselves to be Interr'd with their whole Families and the greatest part of all these Bones are now upon the Altars of the Papists under the name of Saints taken up out of the Catacombes And forasmuch as the Popes are ignorant of their Names they baptize them anew and give them a Name as best pleaseth them which is the cause why there be found so many Saints of the same Name This is also the true cause of so many Contests and Trials between the Priests and the Monks who all pretend in good time to be the sole Possessors of the Primitive Saint of this or the other Name These Trials are to be determined at Rome by means of Mony which still inflames the Popes with a greater Zeal to send as many as they can of these Saints into all parts which one day or other will not fail to furnish them with matter for Trials so gainful to them yea we may affirm that there be almost as many Trials at Rome about Relicks as about Beneficial matters Now the Doctrin which serves to quiet the Consciences of the Romanists from the checks that might torment them for having exposed and still daily exposing such abominable Filthinesses upon their Altars is this that they believe that what S. Paul saith that the unbelieving Wife is sanctified by the believing Husband ought also to be understood of their Relicks forasmuch as all the Bones which are found in one Vault are sanctified by their Neighbourhood with those of one Saint Or at least if this won't do they betake themselves to their last shift which is this That a good intention is an abundant excuse for all these petty irregularities in those who continue in the bosom of the Church of Rome so that it is enough according to them to have a right intention of honouring such a Saint or she Saint and to receive with Reverence and Obedience the Instruments proposed to them for to honour them They have propounded such like Arguments to the Protestants of France to persuade them to go to Mass Why do you fear say they to adore the Host as long as you direct your intention to Jesus Christ who in it is worshiped For by this means it will be Jesus Christ whom you shall adore and not the Bread supposing it to be so Only be obedient to the Church of Rome and your good intention shall save you And they have discoursed them at the same rate about Relicks Now the use that the Priests and Monks of
themselves to excess I went once to ask leave to speak with a Nun of the Monastery of S. Thomas at Vicenza She made me stay for her an Hour and an half in the Parlour and came at last so Curl'd and Painted that she e'en frighted me She excus'd her self for having made me stay so long because forsooth she durst not present her self before me disorderly This Nun gave me a plain and downright description of all that past in her Monastery the Antipathies the Jealousies the Amorous Intriegues and the Parties that reign'd amongst them They were at that time in a great Division amongst themselves some being of the Emperor's Faction others of the French Kings They who were of the Emperor's Side could not endure to hear the others speak well of his Enemy There hapned one day as she told me a very furious Battle between them upon this account A Nun at Dinner-time drunk a Health to the French King The Imperialists not being able to brook it they came to Words and from Words to Blows They flung the Dishes and Plates and whatsoever else came next to hand at one anothers Heads she shewed me her Veil which was yet all stained with a Sawce out of a Dish they had flung at her This vexed her more than all the rest for the Italian Women but more especially the Nuns are exceeding neat and cleanly She endeavour'd her Revenge in flinging a Chasing-dish full of hot Coals in the Face of the Party that had thus Affronted her And she continued to demand of me Whether there might not be means found to signifie her Bravery to the French King and that she doubted not but that if he were informed of the Zeal she had for his Glory he would send for her to Paris and make her an Abbess there These poor Maidens are very apt to intoxicate themselves with a thousand such like Fancies When they are weary of Quarrelling and beating one another then they betake themselves to Jesting and Fooling and compose Comedies and Farces to make one another Laugh The Reverend Dr. Burnet now Lord Bishop of Salisbury did not exaggerate the matter when he saith That He had seen some of them that were not over modest They make no difficulty of representing in their Plays Venus's and Lucretia's wholly to the Life they Sing profane Songs and altogether unworthy and unbecoming Persons consecrated to God they act Dances and Postures that are extream Lascivious and all that they speak in them is commonly conceiv'd in Terms admitting a double signification whereof one sense is always either impious or wanton They commonly have very excellent Voices and understand Musick perfectly well but if there be any impure or lascivious Air that is that which pleaseth them best and which they make choice of to entertain the Company with That which is the most enormous thing of all is that not only in these their Comedies but also O unheard of Profanation in their Divine Offices for Sundays and Festivals they intermix these filthy Songs which they blasphemously pretend to be made in imitation of the Song of Solomon All the Debauched Youth of the City about this time flock'd to the Church of the Coelestines at Milan where these Nuns equally tickled their Ears and Fancies by the sweetness and lasciviousness of their Songs The Scandal grew at last to that Excess that the Cardinal sent his Orders to have their Church shut up and absolutely forbad them to sing Musick any more 'T is the Custom in the World for Men to Court Women but in these Religious Orders on the contrary the Nuns Court the Men they write Amorous Notes to them they send to entreat them to come and see them and there are few Nuns that have not two or three to whom they are more particularly linked in Affection and they are so well skill'd in disposing their Timos that they never meet together in the Parlour They are very Jealous of them and should they once understand that any one of their Lovers had discours'd with any other Nun besides themselves they would immediately quit them and would find a time to be revenged on them I take them to be very unhappy in this That they desire so strongly what is so difficult for them to enjoy Some amongst them do so far enflame their Imaginations about their Amours that they run Distracted and others are so immoveably determind to what they long for that they actually apply themselves to the inventing of Means that may bring them to the possession of what they desire Of these some give themselves to the Devil and to this purpose they tell a Story That upon a time a Nun being resolved to give her self to the Devil He plainly told her He would not have her because she was more Devil than himself 'T is for this Reason that we are told so many Stories of Nuns that are Possessed Others endeavour for Mony to corrupt the Turn Keys and Maid-Servants that have the Care of the Outward-Gates to admit their Gallants at Night by the Tower Some have pluck'd away whole Grates from the Parlours others have broke through the Walls or have made Passages undergroâ—â—d and it happens frequently enough th 〈…〉 their Cunning they get the Keys of the Great Gate of the Monastery from under the Lady Abbesses Pillow or that they are so happy to meet with one Key or other that can unlock it There is also another Little Gate in the Vestries by which the Priests enter to go and carry the Holy Sacrament and Extream Unction to those that are Sick and by which they convey the Ornaments of the Altar Now to get the possession of this Door they need only to gain her who is over the Vestry But the most sure way to obtain their desires is when a whole Community of Females agree together to take their Pleasures Of this there hapned a most infamous Instance about seven or eight Years since amongst the Nuns of Bresse which made a great deal of Noise in Italy These Religious finding themselves quite weary of keeping their Vow of Chastity agreed amongst themselves to admit their Lovers into the Monastery and having all bound themselves in an Oath of Secrecy they wrought hard to make a Passage Under-ground under the Walls of their Enclosure and which was to end in the House of a young Gentleman who was one of the Plot. Their Undertaking had so good success that the Nuns enjoy'd the Galants as often as they pleased In the mean time there was observed a great change in these Recluses they became more modest in the Parlour and more assiduous in the Quire than ever the 〈…〉 had been before Their Confessor who was a very Aged Man being incapable of taking part in their Amours was not thought fit to be admitted to the Secret They informed him in their Confessions and secret Conferences that they felt from time to time such Ravishments and Internal Joys as they could no
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