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
not Infallible Their Adversaries have used the same liberty towards the Popes when ever they proved contrary to them and there is great probability that they do not think themselves oblig'd to maintain the Infallibility of the Pope except then only when it is of use to them to overthrow their Adversaries However the Pope was resolved to decide this difference by a Bull in case the Jesuits should refuse to submit themselves But his Death which hapned the Eighth of March 1605 delivered them from the fear they were in of being forced to retract their Doctrin or of being Condemned Paul V. who succeeded to Leo XI took the same matter in hand with design to decide it At this time it was that the Jesuits being in a greater apprehension than ever of seeing their Doctrin Condemned for Heretical and all their fine Projects for establishing of their Novel Opinions overthrown their General Aqua Viva thought fit to make a Show of changing them in some respect He made a Decree dated the Fourteenth of December whereby he ordered those of the Society for time to come to teach this Doctrin with some Modification by approaching in some Degree to the Grace of the Thomists But this having been cast in the Teeth of the Jesuits as a reproach tending to their shame and confusion Mutio Vitellexti the Successor of Aqua Viva in the Generalship declared that it had not been the intention of his Predecessor to retract their Dogmas and accordingly he restored the Opinions of the Society to their former State Thus we see that the Doctrin of the Jesuits changed three times in less than Thirty years For they departed from the Sentiments of S. Austin and S. Thomas to those of the Pelagians and from thence they returned again anew to those of S. Thomas from whence soon after they fell again to their discharged Vomit I mean to Molinism or Pelagianism They gave a remarkable instance in these their shiftings that they did indeed accommodate their Doctrin to the times Temporibus accommodatior according to their own expression And that at last the great Itch they had of signalizing their Society by novel and particular Opinions prevail'd against all manner of Reasons whatsoever They knew so well to manage the Spirit of Paul V. which they had sweetned towards them by dedicating to him a second Edition of Cassianius that notwithstanding the Doctrin of Molina the Jesuit had been pronounced Heretical by the Congregation de Auxilus as well as by himself and his Predecessors he forbore Publishing the Bull which he had prepared to thunder-strike it with and contented himself with the Publishing of a Decree by which he imposed silence on both Parties until it should please him to make the Decision The Jesuits in the mean time persisted in their new Dogmas and in process of Time had the good success to keep them standing in spite of their Adversaries I cannot deny but that the Church of Rome hath a great Interest on one hand to Found new Religious Orders as being a sort of People that promise total Subjection and inviolabe Faithfulness to her but on the other hand Time may make it appear that they will prove a great means of rending and dismembring her by their restless Ambition of distinguishing themselves by their Doctrins This is that which wanted little of being accomplisht in our days wherein we have seen a vast number of Augustinians and Thomists under the name of Jansenists in a fair way of rending themselves from the Church of Rome when by the instigation of the Jesuits they were going about to condemn the Dogmas of their Masters Yet was it not the Solidity and prevalency of the Jesuitical Arguments that made them triumph at last but indeed the only thing that procured them this advantage was the Temporal Power which at present they have acquired in all Places that follow the Communion of Rome It was observed that whilst the poor Jansenists good Souls were wholly employed in poring upon S. Austin to search out those Passages they stood in need of to maintain their Efficacious Grace these made it their chief business to manage the Spirit of the Pope and of the Court of Rome to secure themselves a Party in the Sorbonne and to engage the Bishops in France on their side by making use of the Royal Authority To make an end of giving you a just and full Idea of all their Divinity it shall suffice to acquaint you that the Faculty of Lovain in the Year 1677 did by their Deputies present to the Pope several Propositions relating to Morals drawn out of the Books of Jesuits Sixty five whereof were Condemned by a Decree of the Second of March 1678. This only consideration of the multiplicity of Errors that are found in their Books ought to be a sufficient Ground to the Papists for suspecting all the Divinity of these Reverend Fathers It is not without cause that the Modern Papists are accused of being the greatest Lyars in the World of having no human Faith of Violating all manner of Oaths of breaking their Words and of making less difficulty of forswearing themselves than the very Turks and Infidels They are beholding for the Progress they have made in these goodly Virtues to the Novel Doctrin of the Jesuits who have introduced their mental restrictions to save them from the odious charge of a Lye According to these Casuists if a Christian be asked Whether he believe in Jesus Christ he may answer no supposing that he means in his heart that he doth not believe in him as the Turks do who believe in him only as a Prophet If he be asked Whether he be a Protestant he may say upon occasion that he is one if his inward meaning be that he protests against the Errors of the Protestants I heard a Penegyrick pronounced at Milan by a Jesuit in honour of St. Charles Borromeo Cardinal and Archbishop of that City One of the Principal Points insisted on was the great Charity this Saint exprest towards two Famous Robbers on the High-way who were Pursued by some Officers of Justice they asked the Saint Whether he had seen these two Criminals passing that way No quoth he they did not pass this way You must know he had at that time his Finger in his Sleeve through which his meaning was that the Robbers had not passed and the Officers giving credit to his words ceased from pursuing them by which means they had the opportunity to make their escape O action truly holy and worthy of all praise Precious Fruit of the mental reservation of the Jesuits The World must also be informed that after three years Study spent upon this Excellent Divinity the Jesuits make choice of their Preachers and Missionaries without ever having had the time nay it may be so much as a thought to read the Scriptures or the Fathers and accordingly we may guess what these men are capable to perform The former viz. their Preachers
no whit less considerable is that of the Scotists John Duns a Scotch-man and who upon that account was Sirnamed Scotus was the Head of them He was of the Order of S. Francis and lived about the latter end of the Fourteenth Century He at first followed the Opinions of S. Thomas and taught them publickly But his Scholars having one day Reproached him That he said nothing but what Thomas had said before him Nihil dicis quod non dixerit Thomas he was touch'd to the quick with this Reproof and having a good opinion of his own Ability he told them That for time to come they should hear such things from him as Thomas never said From that time forwards he affected to contradict him in every thing Because Thomas for Example was for Efficacious Grace he invented another sort of Grace which came nearer to that of the Semi-Pelagians than to the Grace of S. Austin whom Thomas followed in this Point And in the Sacrament because Thomas would not have the Body of Christ to be there with its natural Quantity but only after a definitive manner Scotus asserted the contrary and said That his Body was there with its whole Quantity But because he durst not save himself by maintaining That the Body of Christ in the Sacrament had an extension of Place as being repugnant to Sense and Reason his Subtilty put him upon inventing another sort of Quantity which he determines to be an Extension of Parts in themselves Extensio partium in ordine ad se By which means he made the Generical Quantity of the Thomists to be only a Species of his This Distinction indeed was very subtil yea so subtil that probably Scotus did not understand it himself For how can it be conceived that a Body should be extended in it self without being so with respect to Place I have conversed with many Scotist Doctors who professed to hold this Opinion from their subtil Doctor yet had not Subtilty enough to explain it This same Scotus died being only 35 years of Age. I do not pretend here to run through all the Oppositions of his Doctrin to that of S. Thomas The only Reflexion I could wish might be made upon it is this That the Popes dare not declare themselves more in favour of the one than of the other for fear of incensing one of both these Parties who are become so powerful in the Church of Rome However it is evident that these Doctrins being diametrically opposit and contradictory one to the other in most of the Points it 's impossible they should be both true and consequently one of those great Parties must needs be in an Error The Romish High Priests who boast themselves to be Infallible ought as it seems to me for the Love alone which they owe to Truth to pronounce their Decisive Rules concerning this kind of Controversies but by Ill-hap these two Parties are too strong for them and they would be in danger by pulling down one of them to be themselves buried under the Ruins They rather chuse seeing both Parties do own the Papal Authority to let them both alone Luther and Calvin said nothing concerning Efficacious Grace and Free-Will but what the Disciples of S. Austin and the Thomists held and still hold to this day tho' under Terms that are somewhat differing but signifie the same thing Yet the Council of Trent condemned the former thereby endeavouring to aggravate and to render odious by the Citation of a great number of Errors persons that had lifted up themselves against the Holy See Thomas and Scotus are not only different in Opinions but we find also that their Followers are at great Variance amongst themselves There are no less than three or four sorts of Thomists who every one of them pretend to have Reason on their side in the Explications they put upon S. Thomas and the Scotists do as much by their Scotus What I have here related concerning those two Authors and their Adherents and what before I mention'd concerning the Molinists or Jesuits and the Augustinians agrees generally to all those who profess to follow them in whatsoever Country they may be But to apply this more particularly to the Italians I shall tell you that they differ in nothing from others on those Points save only in this That they do not trouble themselves to search to the bottom of them except some particular occasion and where their own Glory or that of their Order is concerned engage them to it They are too great lovers of their Repose and Pleasures to concern themselves with Theological Notions And they are the Monks that have invented that way of Disputing which I have mention'd where I speak of their Universities They must shew them the Arms they intend to fight them with and point them to the Parts they design to make their Thrust at that they may be spared for their own defence There hapned once upon this account a great Disorder at Bononia whilst I was there A Dominican Father who was a French Man had been desired to oppose in the Grand Convent of the Dominicans at Bononia where he was arriv'd some days before from Foreign Countries He being not over-well acquainted with their Customs after that he had chosen the Theses he would dispute against and communicated his Arguments a desire took him to change his Medium which did so extreamly confound the poor Defendant who was not prepar'd for it and whose Stock was not sufficient to remedy such an unlook'd for Accident that he Answered quite wrong and set all the Company a Laughing resembling herein a certain person I have heard of Who being sent to take his Orders without understanding a word of Latin and had only got by Heart so many Answers in order as the Bishop who was no Conjurer was commonly used to ask Questions but being confounded in Marshalling his Answers was at last reduc'd to say That he had the Devil in his Sleeve instead of his Letters Patents which he suppos'd the Bishop had by his Question demanded of him The same thing hapned to this poor Dominican who defended the Theses but soon after all the Storm fell upon the French-men The Scholars who were all of them young Religious were so extreamly enrag'd at this Affront which they pretended to have been offer'd to their Colleague that they had no patience to stay till the Dispute was ended but run away from the place like so many Mad-men to the Chamber of this poor Stranger and having broke down the Door they tore to pieces several Turbans of Silk and other Curiosities he had brought with him from Constantinople After this having watched him at the Door of the Hall where the Disputation had been held One of them as he came forth gave him a great Box on the Ear telling him He had best learn another time to put his Arguments in Form and Figure See here in the mean time the Inconveniences to which the Italians expose
the Censer under the Bell filling it with Sacred Fumes and repeating all this while Prayers and Invocations that it might be filled with the Dew of the Holy Spirit Tu hoc Tintinnabulum Spiritus Sancti rore perfunde ut ante sonitum illius semper fugiat Bonorum Inimicus Do thou all besprinkle this Bell with the Dew of thy Holy Spirit that at the sound of it the Enemy of all good may always take his Flight The Office was carried on with a great number of Psalms which they repeated the Musick all the while performing wonders and then the Bishop for to shut up the whole Ceremony arrayed the Bell with the white Robe of a Proselyte or Convert and with a loud Voice read the Gospel of Mary and Martha I supposed at that time that the reason of their reading this Gospel was because the Bell was called Mary but I have seen since in the Roman Ritual that the same Gospel is read at the Consecration of all Bells whatsoever their Names be This is that I am astonisht at because that Gospel hath no reference at all to the Ceremony The whole Solemnity being thus ended the Bishop gave his Benediction and the Priests received great Presents from the God-Father and God-Mother The Doctrin of the Church of Rome concerning Bells may be reduced to the following Points The First is that they have Merit and pray God for the Living and the Dead Secondly That they do produce by a Divine Virtue conferr'd upon them Devotion in the Hearts of Believers Thirdly That they drive away Storms and Tempests and in the Fourth place drive away Devils Before that I run over these four Points I le tell you a Story that hapned at Bononia and is of sufficient Antiquity tho' the memory thereof be still preserved fresh and entire They had been Baptizing a Bell in the Church of S. Proculo which is an Abby of Benedictines and after all the Ceremonies Benedictions and Prayers that the Bell might do good to all and hurt to no body the first time of the Ringing of it it fell upon the poor Sacristan or Sexton that Rung it and who had taken more care and pains for the Solemn Baptizing of it than to get it well hung and fastned and broke his Neck together with it self into a thousand pieces The Name of the Sacristan was Proculus and this ingenious Distick was made to Celebrate the Memory of this Accident which at this day is found Engraved upon a Stone of a Foot Square near to the Church Door where the thing hapned Si procul à Proculo Proculi Campana fuisset I am procul à Proculo Proculus ipse foret The agreeableness of this Verse cannot be rendred in English because of the Adverb Procul which in our Language is not the same and therefore will not comport with the allusion but the Sense of it as well as it can be rendred is this If the Bell of S. Proculus had been far from Proculus Proculus would at present be far from Proculus that is he would not as yet have been Buried in that place I proceed now to the four Prerogatives that are attributed to Bells by those of the Church of Rome The first seems to me to smell too rank of Interest to be so easily swallowed I shall not take up my time to prove to you that an insensible and material thing is incapable of either Merit or Prayer my design having never been to prove what I set down by Theological Arguments but only to alledge matters of Fact If indeed they Rung their Bells for nought the Doctrin of Rome might insinuate it self with more appearance of Truth But a Man must pay so dear to be partaker of their Merit and Prayers that it mars the Plot and I know not why the Priests and Monks should not scruple this Simonio There are little midling and great Bells and the Mony to be paid for the Ringing of them encreases proportionably to the bigness of the Bells There is all the reason in the World indeed that the Persons that Ring them should be paid but why the Priests should over and above this receive a considerable Sum of Mony I see not Is it not evident that this is some of the Fruit and Revenue of their novel Doctrin It seems they would fain introduce amongst us a new Gospel according to which scarcely any but the Rich should be saved forasmuch as none but they are in a Condition to pay well for the Graces of God which these Men tell us they have at their disposal When a Poor Man dies in Italy they bury him without ever Ringing a Bell or saying any Mass for him except any one out of Charity will be at the Charges of it for him They say the Spanish Priests do as to this particular outvy the Italians in Covetousness and Persons who have been in Spain have assur'd me That when a Poor Man dies they expose his Body in the most frequented Street and Thorough-fare of the City to the end that the People who go and come may cast in some Pieces of Mony for their Interment The Priests come ever and anon to see whether the whole Sum be gathered and if they should find so much as one Penny wanting they would leave the Body there to stink and infect the place without ever offering to touch it See here to what a strange height of Shame and Infamy Popery hath reduc'd things I mean by Popery all that new Mess of Doctrins which only tends to fill the Purse The second Point of Doctrin which is this That the Sound of Bells increaseth the Devotion of the Faithful is built on the same Foundation as the former viz. Covetousness and base Avarice or rather downright Rapin and Robbery The more Bells that are Rung at a Christning and the longer time they are Rung the greater portion of Grace doth the Infant receive The more Bells and the longer they are rung at a Marriage the greater share do the Married Couple obtain of the Grace of Conjugal Love The more Bells are rung at a Burial and the longer they are rung the greater Refreshment and Ventilation doth the Soul of the Departed receive in the Flames of Purgatory and the sooner is delivered from them The more Bells are rung on a Holy-day and the longer time the Ringing is continued the more the Persons that come to Church are made partakers of Heavenly Graces and Blessings But withal it is to be noted that all these mores cannot be obtained without more Mony Proceed we to the Third Point which is this That Bells by the Grace which is infused into them at their Baptismal-Consecration have the vertue of dissipating Thunder of laying High Winds driving away Tempests and calming of Storms There is never a thing in Nature which produceth any effect never so little beyond what is common but the Papists will needs make a Miracle of it The Sound of Bells by striking
more Odious It is not my design to rob this Gentleman of the Honour of such a Rencounter But I must needs intreat the Reader to remember what I have before Remark'd in several places of those Letters that the Stories I tell are no extraordinary Events but things that happen frequently and ordinarily in those Countries where Popery reigns in its full liberty And therefore that it ought not to be inferr'd that because such an Adventure hapned to this Gentleman therefore it did not also happen to the Monk of whom I there speak This I am sure that the Monk boasted of it to me as he was going to say Mass and if occasion were I could tell above VII or VIII Stories more of the like nature but that I fear I should tire out my Reader with so many Relations to the same purpose THE CONTENTS OF THE OBSERVATIONS ON THE First Days Journy IT is Discours'd of Italian Learning and first Of the Ignorance of the Popes Cardinals Bishops Abbots Priests and Monks of the Church of Rome in Matters of Religion Pag. 2 Vain Distinction of Faith of Understanding and of Faith of the Will and to what Trick it serveth in the Church of Rome 6 How Studies are conducted in Italy 13 Studies how ordered and spoiled by the Jesuits 14 With what Impudence the Jesuits boast themselves to Teach Youth gratis 18 Studies how managed in the Italian Universities 20 Four Reasons why a man cannot become truly Learned there 21 Their pitiful Method of Argumenting and Defending Theses 25 Story of an Ass that took his Doctors Degree at Padua 26 Encomiums given by some Travellers to Learned Men of Italy are to be understood with restriction and that for two Reasons 29 Art of being esteemed Learned at a cheap Rate practised by most of the Italians and in what it doth consist 30 Hebrew and Greek not encouraged in Italy 32 Method for Studies in Convents and Religious Houses 34 First of the Jesuits 35 They make in their Colleges a Trial of Spirits and what Qualities are required for to be receiv'd a Jesuist 36 37 How ridiculous in their Latin 38 They change their Philosophy and Divinity according to the Times 41 They follow Molina's Doctrin no better than that of the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians 43 Mental Restrictions introduc'd by the Jesuits to cover Lies 49 Their pitiful Arguments against Protestants 51 Manner of Studies of some Religious Orders amongst the Papists 53 Of Thomists and Scotists 54 What sort of a Man was Thomas Aquinas Head of that Party call'd Thomists How much abstracted and hypocondriacal he was 58 He is oblig'd to pretend Crucifix-Speeches to confirm his Doctrin concerning Transubstantiation 57 What sort of a Man was John Duns Scotus Head of the Scotists He affects to contradict Thomas Aquinas in every thing 61 The Popes dare not declare more for one of these two Parties Thomists and Scotists than for the other 62 A Dominican Fryer disappointed in a Publick Dispute gives his Answers all wrong 64 Monks in Italy learn to Dance to Fence and to Ride the Great Horse and why 66 Studies of Secular Priests in Italy 68 Why Learning is generally so much discourag'd in those Countries 70 Second Day BAptism of Bells Description of that Superstitious Ceremony 72 The Belief of Papists concerning them 78 Pleasant Story of the Bell of S. Proculo at Bononia 77 Infamous Covetousness of Priests in Ringing their Bells and the use they make of the false Doctrin they spread about them 80 Wonderful virtue of a Little Bell of the Capucins at Venice 81 The Devil takes possession of a Bell and Rings it himself ib. Blessing of Beasts in the Church of Rome with Holy-Water 85 Exorcism of Rats Caterpillars and Flies c. 86 How vain and ineffectual they are by several Examples 88 The Chapel of S. Thomas Aquinas at Fossa Nova The Abuse which is made of several Bones there 91 Of the Catacombes and of the Bones found there 92 Ill use made of those Bones by the Popes 94 Jaw-Bone of a Beast made use of for a Relick at Vandosme in France 96 Worship of Latria given to the Holy-Tear at Vandosme and the Falshood of this Relick 97 Frightful History of two Famous Highway-Men adored as Saints in S. Martin's time 98 What kind of a Saint S. Vicar was 100 Mendicant Fryers chief Distributers of false Relicks 101 They pay their Hosts with them 102 Of the Agnus Dei 105 Of S. Margarets Girdle for Big-bellied Women ibid. A Priest burneth a Crucifix for fear it should be Profaned 110 Sad Accidents which do happen to the Holy Host with some Examples of my own Experience 111 Frightful sight at Maladurne in Germany hapned in the Sacrament 115 Description of a ridiculous and merry Pilgrimage thither 117 No Hereticks admitted there 124 Some Protestants were ill Treated by the Pilgrims of Maladurne 125 Continuation of the Holy Exercises of these Pilgrims 127 Third Day SAd Spectacle of a Nun who had made her Escape from a Convent 135 Of the Nuns of Italy 137 Of the young Gentlewomen-Boarders in Religious Houses 138 How enticed to become Nuns 139 Some are very cruelly and unnaturally forc'd to become Nuns 140 Ceremonies which do precede the taking the Religious Habit. 141 Ceremonies of their taking the Habit. 142 Nuns have great Pensions from their Parents 144 To what use they employ these Monies ibid. Convents of Nuns are Discharges of Families 145 How Nuns do employ their time 146 They are the best Confectioners and Pastry-Cooks in Italy ibid. A Spirit of Impudence Effrontery and Impiety reigns in the Cloisters of Nuns 147 The Bishops do prohibit to go and speak with Nuns 148 Copy of a Licence for celebrating Mass in Convents of Nuns 150 Nuns great Contrivers and Carriers on of Intriegues 154 Subtil Intriegue of a Nun at Milan ibid. Story of a Gentleman poysond by a Nun. 156 Reasons why Nuns are of so Devilish a Spirit 158 A Dominican Nun very barbarously Treated at Milan for having endeavoured to prove her Profession void 159 Wantonness of Nuns in their Dresses 165 They are very partial in their Humors ibid. Their Impiety and Lasciviousness in their Songs even at Church 167 Nuns Court the Men and run mad for them 168 How Devilish in their Amorous Contrivances ibid. Infamous Instance of it amongst the Nuns of Bresse in Italy 169 Nuns are under two sorts of Government 173 Of the Nuns of Fontevrault in France 175 Institution of this Order The Nuns command the Men. 176 Description of the Abby of Fontevrault 177 The Jesuits were once in great Authority at Fontevrault but afterwards were very ignominiously droven out as they deserv'd 181 Shameful Trials which these Nuns make of the Monks that live under their Obedience 185 They have all publick Exercises of Learning of their Monks performed in their presence 186 What were the Religious Communities of the Primitive Church 189 Monks in France ashamed of their Names ibid. Excesses
and had been Secretary to several Cardinals And forasmuch as I had already conceived a sufficient aversion for the Romish Religion the Corruption whereof I had a fair occasion to discover during my long abode in Italy I was very desirous to understand the Sentiments of a Person of so great Age and Experience Wherefore after having discoursed him about indifferent Matters I insensibly put him upon the Point of the Capacity and Learning of the Clergy of Rome He sufficiently satisfied me on that Subject and in the Account he gave me he observed something of a Method For in the first place he spoke to me of the Head of that Church viz. the POPE and from him passed to the Principal Members thereof which are the CARDINALS the ARCHBISHOPS and ABBOTS and concluded his Discourse with the Common PRIESTS and MONKS As for the first of these I mean the Pope he told me That it was a lamentable thing to see in what gross Ignorance many Popes lived of the most important Truths of the Christian Religion and that he himself had been fain to inform Pope Innocent the Xth of the true sense of this Passage of the Creed Qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto who was conceived by the Holy Ghost for he instead of understanding them of the Temporal Conception in the Mystery of the Incarnation did attribute them to the Eternal Generation of the Word and according to his Apprehension these Words Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary afforded this meaning Jesus Christ who was Conceived from all Eternity by the Holy Spirit was Born in time of the Virgin Mary So that if this Pope should have undertaken to have determin'd the Sense of them according to his Notion he would have given us a fine Instance of his Infallibility His Successor wish'd the same Abbot to Explain to him the Nature of Original Sin and how the Blessed Virgin came to be exempt from it Now it is worth our Observation that they were just these very Popes the most Ignorant that of a long time had appeared in the Church of Rome who undertook to decide the most important Controversie which ever was determin'd in the Church since the Council of Trent the Propugnators of the Efficacious Grace of S. Austin being of one side and the Defenders of Sufficient Grace on the other I mean the Dispute was maintain'd between the Augustinians or Jansenists and the Jesuits otherwise call'd Molinists The former of these two Popes had at the first no great mind to determine any thing concerning those Points For he declared one day to Luke of Holstein his Library-Keeper That the Solicitations he had from France to pronounce his decision concerning the Propositions of Jansenius drawn from S. Austin gave him a great deal of Trouble because the Question was concerning Points that he did not understand neither had he ever studied them Luke of Holstein answer'd him That his Holiness would do well not to begin at the Age he was of to trouble himself about the understanding and much less about the deciding of them because they were very perplex and intricate of themselves and that they had not only been the occasion of great Disputes amongst the Christians but also amongst the greatest Philosophers of Ancient Times by reason of the difficulty they found to reconcile the Liberty of Mans Will with the Decrees and Fore-knowledge of God whereupon some of them embraced one Opinion Others another as was done still to this day and would so continue as long as there should be Men in the World Whence he inferr'd That forasmuch as it was impossible for him to pronounce a decision that might satisfie both Parties it would be better for him not to meddle with it at all but to leave things in the state he found them till they should drop of themselves as they would without doubt whenever the one or other Party or both of them together should be weary of the Disputing and forcing their Opinions upon their Antagonists 'T is said The Pope was extreamly pleased with this Advice In the mean time it was observ'd that by his frequent Assisting at many Congregations which were held on this Subject he at last took a great deal of pleasure to hear these different Doctrins discust notwithstanding the great Repugnance he had for them at the first and he attributed this change in himself to an extraordinary assistance of the Holy Spirit On a time the Lady Olympia his Sister asked him What Matters were treated of in those Congregations that were so very pleasing to his Holiness The Pope Answer'd That they were certain Subtilties which she did not understand but that probably she might come to comprehend them in case she were present there whilst one of the Consulters Discoursed who explain'd those Points with the greatest clearness and perspicuity In a word All these Consultations were held on purpose to give his Holiness a true Notion of these Points in question But it seems to me that persons who pretend to Infallibility ought to be in possession of the Key of Knowledge or at least do their utmost endeavour to obtain it For can any thing be imagin'd more ridiculous than that a Pope to whom Application is made by the whole Church for the ratification of the Doctrins of Faith should be fain to treat with others and to demand time and opportunity to inform himself by consulting his Doctors and afterwards hear him tell you That the very same Point of Doctrin which a while ago he was ignorant of is an infallible Truth and which he alone hath the Authority to determin I entreated the Abbot to tell me in good earnest Whether he himself who had been witness of so much Weakness and Ignorance in those who are seated in S. Peter's Chair could receive all their Decisions for Infallible To which he Answer'd That he rather believ'd them such by a Faith of his Will than by a Faith of Understanding I requested him to explain this distinction which seem'd to me to be somewhat obsure and in which I saw that he plac'd something of Mystery He told me That the Faith of Understanding carried along with it some kind of Evidence that its Motives were so agreeable with the Principles of Reason or had so close a dependance upon Matters revealed that they could not be resisted without acting contrary to good sense and that by this Intellectual Faith we believe there is a God and that this God must be feared and worshipped That he will reward those that are Good and punish the Wicked That Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the World foretold by the Prophets c. But as for the Faith of the Will continued he that is altogether obscure we find nothing in it to satisfie our Reason and we believe it only because we will believe it 'T is by this Faith said he that I believe the Infallibility of the Pope and a vast number
Heads of the Romish Church have taken to keep the People committed to their Charge as much as they can in a profound Ignorance The Doctrin of that Church is so extreamly corrupt the Contradictions it contains are so great and many the Decrees of the New Councils and Popes and the Doctrins of their different Religious Orders are so inconsistent and irreconcilable one with the other the use or rather the commerce and Trade that is made there of Holy things or such as are pretended to be so is so base and infamous the Morals they profess are so low wicked and unworthy that there is no other way left to keep that Church standing but by abasing the Spirits of Men by Ignorance or rather by wholly blinding of them to make them fall into the Abyss of Error Now the best Expedient in order to this is to make clear work with whatsoever might encourage the Studies of Learning and to set over the People Ignorant Bishops and Pastors from which God preserve all Protestant Churches and more especially that of England OBSERVATIONS ON A JOURNY TO NAPLES The Second Days Journy BEing Come to Veletre the Abbot took up his Lodging with one of his Friends and I betook my self to an Inn near the Piazza My Host asked me if I had not a mind to see the Ceremony which was to be Celebrated the next day at the Dome so they call the Cathedral Churches in Italy he told me there was a great Bell to be Baptized whereof a great Lord was to be the God-Father and a Lady of Quality the God-Mother and that there would be a great apperance of the Nobility who had been Invited to the Solemnity from all Parts I had before this seen Bells Baptized in France but because I knew that the Italians surpass all other Nations in the Magnificence of their Ceremonies and that they commonly season them with a double proportion of Superstition I resolv'd with my self to see it Baptized and with that design I staid all the next day at Veletre I went to the Church in the Morning to take a view of the Preparatives that had taken up a whole Weeks time which I found to be great and Sumptuous indeed The Bell was placed at the Lower end of the Body of the Church hanging upon two Gudgeons covered with rich Hangings of Velvet of a Violet Colour and the Bell it self was accoutred with a kind of Robe of the same Stuff There were two Theaters Built on each side of it for the Musicians and an Amphitheater for the Ladies who were to be present at the Ceremony The Pillars and Walls of the Church were richly adorned with curious sheets of Silk and Pictures Near to the Bell was Erected an Altar very neatly set forth and upon it lay a white Satin Robe which was to be put upon the Bell as soon as it should be Baptized with a great and fair Garland of choice Flowers There was also upon the Altar a Roman Ritual a Censer and a Vessel with Holy Water and round about the Altar rich Velvet Elbow-Chairs for the Priests who were to perform the Ceremony Just over-against it a Throne was seen most Magnificently Hung for the God-Father and God-Mother of the Bell. About Ten of the Clock the Company came and having taken their several Places the Priests began their Function He who officiated was a Bishop in partibus whom the Bishop of Veletre being at that time very Sick had deputed for this purpose and his Chair was placed upon the Steps of the high Altar He struck up the first Psalm which was continued by the Musick These Psalms by the way which may be seen in the Roman Ritual have as much reference to the Baptizing of a Bell as to the Baptizing of the Moon the Prophet David very probably having never had the least notion of the Baptism of Bells After that the Psalms were ended the Bishop began the Blessing of Holy Water to Sanctifie it in the first place to the end that afterwards it might Sanctifie the Bell also This Benediction is very long and no less Ridiculous which being Finished the Bishop and Priests dipt Spunges in it with which they rub'd over the Bell from the top to the bottom within and without being in this regard certainly much better Baptized than Children are upon whose Heads only they pour or sprinkle a little of it They repeated in the mean time abundance of Prayers which speak of nothing else but Heavenly Blessings that are to Purifie Sanctifie and Consecrate the Bell Ut hoc Tintinnabulum say they coelesti Benedictione perfundere purificare sanctificare consecrare digneris That thou wouldest be pleased to Rinse Purifie Sanctifie and Consecrate this Bell with thy Heavenly Benediction The Bell being thus well washt they dried it with clean Napkins and the Bishop having taken the Viol of Holy Oils which are those they bless on Holy Thursday for the whole year following he therewith anointed the Cross of Metal which is on the top of the Bell in order to make the Devils flee at the Sound or Ringing of it Ut hoc audientes Tintinnabulum tremiscant fugiant ante Crucis in eo depictum vexillun That hearing this Bell they may tremble and flee before the Banner of the Cross designed upon it He afterwards made seven other Crosses with the said Oil upon the outside of the Bell and four on the inside This done he made the God-Father and God-Mother draw near and demanded of them in Italian Whether they were the Persons that Presented this Bell to be Consecrated Who having answered that they did he then asked them Whether the Metal of the Bell and the Workmanship of it had been paid for to the Artificers To which they answered Yea. They make this demand because it hath sometime hapned that for want of Payment the Workmen have seiz'd and fetch'd away their Bells the very same day or the day after it hath been Baptized and have melted them down to be employed to Profane uses The third Question he asked of them was Whether they believed all that the Catholick Apostolick Roman Church believes concerning the Holiness and Virtue of Bells The answer to which was affirmative also In the Last place he demanded of them what Name they desired should be put upon the Bell To which the Lady answered Mary Then the Bishop took two great silk Ribbands which had been fastned to the Gudgeons of the Bell and gave each of them one in their Hands and pronounced with a Loud Intelligible Voice the words of Consecration which are these Consecretur Sanctificetur Signum istud in nomine Patris Filii Spiritus Sancti Amen Let this Sign be Consecrated and Sanctified in the name of the Father Son amd Holy Ghost Amen Then turning himself to the People he said The Name of this Bell is Mary Afterwards he takes the Censer and Censeth it on the out-side round about and afterwards put