assure him that they for their parts would not be wanting to pray for him as if the case had been their own Telling him that they knew not but God might make use of him to discover to the world matters of great Importance and if God should own him to be the Instrument to bless the Age with some remarkable Revelations it was nothing but what his former Methods did render usual to reveal that to Babes which he concealed from the wise and prudent promising him moreover that they would have a special eye upon and care over him and did expressely recommend the care of his person to the Cook They reinforced his overthrown Lamp recruited his Holy-water gave him new Candles and the better to strengthen his weak faith they placed some Reliques of incredible virtue and infinite value upon a little Table or Altar which he had in his Cell and in short shewed themselves very officious and serviceable in his behalf During those eight dayes wherein the Spirit promised to return the Sub-prior taught Jetzer the best way of Conjuring him on purpose that if he returned as if he had leave no doubt he would he might strictly Catechize him What he was Whence he came What was his business In what state he was In order to which they severely charged him to Discipline himself to Confess to Pray and Fast that he might be able to deal with a Spirit so unruly and procure the desired ease and rest for him Nay the whole Covent was solemnly exhorted to put up their Prayers for a poor Soul grievously tormented in Purgatory as was conceived that it might please him to deliver the Soul from its pains and their Covent from the present trouble and inquietude Upon the Eve of the Eighth day the Fathers and Friers Confessed themselves and having put on their Holy Garments every man fortified himself as well as he could in his Cell with consecrated Candles Holy-water and some precious Reliques that they might stand their ground against the assaults of this furious Spirit Only the Cook being nearest to danger by the special advice of the Fathers provided himself of the Holy Sacrament to keep the Spirit at Arms-end for he doubted much whether he should be able to close with him and come to handy-gripes The Sub-prior for the same Reason hung about Jetzer's neck a little Purse wherein was a small Cross made of the true Cross upon which Christ suffered and taught him how to exorcise the Spirit so as to make him fly with a vengeance and thred the Doors double Things being in this posture presently after Midnight the Spirit returns with a pack of infernal Beagles and breaking into Jetzer's Cell were so hardy as to fall upon his Person notwithstanding all his fortifications of Holy-Water Holy Candles and holy Reliques Jetzer raising up himself in his Bed falls a Conjuring the Spirit as he had been taught I conjure thee thou outragious Spirit in the Name of the blessed Trinity that is by the Father by the Son and by the Holy Ghost by the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ by the Blessed Virgin and all the Saints that thou tell me Whether thou art a good Spirit or no Who thou art and whether thou mayst be relieved or no These terrible words did so amate the Spirit that he recoyl'd to the other side of the Room four times he attempted to assayl Jetzer and as often was repuls'd but the Charm abating in its vigour upon the fifth Attack he came close up to his Bed and with a menacing voice thus accosted him Rascal If thou hast no need of me I have no need of thee and immediately down he kicks his Cruet of Holy-Water adding That he valued not these Baubles for they had none sincere and pure these eleven years the Church-warden always dashing it with common water and following on his discourse Conjure me these Dogs says he that haunt and torment me night and day without pity without ease or intermission though I am at Present out of Purgatory Jetzer presently falls to work with these Hell-hounds and belabour'd them so effectually that the whole pack of them quitted the tormented Soul giving thereby leave to him to open his wofull case in these words Frier John I am now by thy Intercession and that of thy holy Fathers permitted to speak Know therefore that I am a good Spirit I was formerly Prior of this Covent my Name was Henry Halbourg of Soleure Priest and Doctor of the Order but having unfaithfully managed my trust I was forced to fly to Paris after I had obtained my Absolution There I followed my Studies till one night going out with a Companion of mine we both met with a mischance that cost us our lives He because he had purloyned some Books out of the Library was doom'd to Hell and wretched I because I had quitted the Habit of my Order was sentenc'd to Purgatory where for this hundred and sixty years consult the Register and you 'l find it so long since to a Year I have endured a Martyrdome nothing short of Hell save the Eternity And now by the permission of God have got this liberty to seek some Relief in this Covent though still I am in unconceivable anguish and inexpressible Torments Hereupon the Spirit discovered its face all sliced and slasht the flesh and skin hung down in long Collops and Labels his Nose slit his Ears shred and the colour of his face was as if it had been newly Carbanadoed and laid upon a Gridiron Jetzer demands of him in virtue of his former Charm by what means he might be releas'd from this miserable condition The Spirit replyed That if every Priest in the Covent would sing three Masses for his Soul and if they would all in generall Discipline themselves every day of that ensuing week and if he in particular would receive the Discipline thrice till the blood ran down And if every Lay-Frier would say one Psalm five hundred Pater-nosters and as many Ave Maria's with seven Credo's And if he whilest the Priest was singing Mass would lye flat on the ground stretching his Arms in the form of the Cross and at every Pater-noster would kiss the ground in remembrance of the treacherous Kisses of Judas and lastly if the Fathers should precisely record all these passages in their Registers that he hoped he might obtain the Pardon of his sins and especially his grand neglect to Conform himself to the Rules of that holy Order And therefore would return after the Octaves to see what effect his miserable Case had had amongst them He added that the Friers had done very wisely to furnish themselves with the holy Sacrament and particularly that it was advisedly done of him to hang about his neck the Cross made of the wood of Christs Cross without which there 's not a man of them had escaped some dreadful mischief nor had he been able to have open'd his Case being under the custody of
quite tyred out with the delayes of the Bishops proceedings who began to cool in the prosecution through the suggestions of some Clergy-men who insinuated that a through discovery would reflect severely upon the Church They remanded Jetzer to Berne and sent for the most eminent Fathers of the Dominicans that were within their Call that they might seem not to have done just nothing with that mighty noyse which had raised all mens expectations The Bishop of Lausanne and the Deputy of Berne however judg'd it adviseable to transmitt a true Copy of the Cause and their proceedings thereupon to Rome to beg advice from the infallible Oracle how they might behave themselves in a matter of so great Importance In the beginning of the year 1509. Dr. Paul Hug with many other knowing Persons arrived at the Dominicans Covent in Berne who were not Ignorant of the Intrigue and were hugely concern'd in the Issue knowing that not only their whole Order but themselves in particular might suffer deeply in their Reputations if the secret were discover'd to the bottom They therefore formally took from Jetzer the Habit of his Order upon the Feast of the three Kings being the very day on which he enter'd into it Jetzer now appears before the Council in the Quality of a mere lay-Lay-person where he stands to his Confession made at Lausanne and discover'd further how he had several times snapt these holy Fathers ranting and rioting with their Whores in the Covent and for Confirmation of what he had said desired he and they might be deliver'd up to the Secular Power but the Fathers stoutly pleaded their own Innocence alleadging that he was not a competent witness against them having formerly asserted their Innocence in full Council and because they were able to prove him a notorious Lyer and there were many evident self-contradictions in his testimony and that he had been guilty of Sacrilege of most horrid Impostures and particularly that the appearance of the B. Virgin crowned with Stars was merely a forgery of his own head wherein they had no hand The Prior denyed the whole Plott The Receiver pleaded that it was false that ever Jetzer had wounded him in the thigh with his knife and brought in the Chirurgeon to testifie that it was an old Ulcer and all the Fathers begg'd their Honours to proceed advisedly in the case that Innocence might not suffer nor Wickedness escape due punishment In conclusion Jetzer was committed to the Marshalsea and the Fathers under suspicion remanded to their Covent Eight days after upon the Return of the Lecturer and Sub-prior from Rome where they had been during this troublous affair they were all brought again before the Council Jetzer as before justified his Confession and further open'd the counterfeit Vision of St. Cicily to which though the Fathers made a zealous defence the Knavery came out daily to the satisfaction of the people But upon the fifth of February Jetzer was by order of the Council brought to be examin'd upon the Rack where he again more particularly laid open the whole villanous design humbly praying that the Fathers might come under the same way of Examination hoping that the Principals should have the same Measure with him that was but an Accessory and indeed a poor blind Tool to serve their Malice protesting that the main Reason why he had been so hardly brought to discover the whole truth was a respect he had to the Credit of that Order and some checks of Conscience about his Oaths of Secresie which they had imposed upon him And that he believed that most of the Fryers in the Covent were perfectly Innocent except the aforesaid Fathers and some few others that were their Confederates and Accomplices in the Design This last discovery set the City in such a rage against the whole Covent that the Council feared lest they should Rise and pluck down the House about their Ears and tear in pieces those Religious Persons for prevention of which they placed a strong Guard upon all the Avenues both to secure the Fathers from the Rage of the Multitude at present and that they might not escape the Punishment due to their horrid Impieties for the future And being Resolved to come to some issue they sent to the Bishop of Lausanne that he would Favour them with his Presence As also to the Vniversity of Basil to send them some of the Ablest Divines and Civilians in their City to Advice with them And that they might be fully empowred to proceed to Judgment they dispatch'd Lewis Oubli with full Instructions and a Humble Supplication to his Holiness with a Narrative of the Case depending before them who upon the 13th of March lest Berne and upon the 25th of May got a Brief from the Pope Directed to the Bishops of Lausanne and Sion the Provincial of the Dominicans of the Province of Strasburgh as Judges upon the whole Matter and one the 21st of June he return'd to Berne The Lords of Berne immediately sent their Letters to these Judges intreating them to lose no time but to meet on the 26th day in the Cathedral Church where being Assembled the Apostolique Commission with all due Reverence was presented to them and the Records of all the proceedings with Jetzer The Papal Brief being read and Jetzer Examined punctually of all his Confession these Judges Commanded their Secretaries viz. Francis de Vermettis for the Bishop of Lausanne John de Proux for the Bishop of Sion exactly to Register the Confession with all its Circumstances that from thence they might have matter from which to draw a Lagal Process or Indictment against Jetzer and the four Fathers At this Examination besides the Chief Judges there were several Assistants Baptist de Aicarde a Native of Lausanne John Grand Official of Sion Michael de Sancto Cyriaco Peter Magnus all Doctors in Law and Chanons in Lausanne with other eminent and worthy Persons The Judges constituted Lewis Oubli afore-said and Conrade Vimman Procurators of the Faith Ordering them Legally to Summon Jetzer and the Fathers to appear before them their competent Judges After a tedious proceeding Jetzer still affirming and the Fathers denying the Villanies whereof they were accused upon the 7th of August the Bishops of Lausanne and Sion Decreed that the four Indicted Fathers should be put to the Rack and there Examined Criminally upon such Questions and Interrogatories as should be drawn up A Cellar on the back-side of the Marshalsey was chosen as the fittest place for the Execution and each of them being stript of the Habit of his Order were arrayed in a Frock of coarse Cloath and so waited for the Torture And so upon the 19th of the said Moneth of August at the instance of the Procurator of the Faith the Lecturer was first put into the Rack He Pleaded hard to be Excused as that he was as Innocent as when he came out of his Mothers Womb that he was a Doctor of Divinity and did protest that all
that are quoted in confirmation of the Christian Doctrine are equally to be suspected and rejected 7. Lastly Observe we hence how unmovably constant the Papists have been to their main Design who though they produce Miracle against Miracle Revelation against Revelation the Franciscans striving to out-vie the Dominicans and these again to out-do those yet all agree in Calculating their spurious Miracles and Apparitions for the abetting some of their Superstitions and Heresies Worshipping of the Virgin Mary Saints and Angels the Doctrine of Purgatory and the Mass above all which because they cannot be Justified from Heaven must be Justified as they can and rather than left Naked to shift for themselves shall be warranted from Hell But the Reader will find these with many other particulars through this ensuing Narrative wherein the Translator has kept so Superstitiously to the Text of his Author that he fears nothing more than to be Condemned for spoiling the Language whilst he has bound himself up to a rigid and Exact Rehearsal of the Truth The Contents of this History THe Quarrel between the Dominicans and the Franciscans about the Immaculate Conception Page 1. The Dominicans meet at Wimpten where they propound and agree to the Counterfeiting of certain Miracles Apparitions c. for the supporting of their Doctrine ibid. John Jetzer a Taylor comes to Berne is admitted into the Covent of the Dominicans he is judged by the Fathers a fit subject to practise upon p. 2. Jetzer is haunted with a Spirit in the shape of a Prior persecuted and tormented with Devils in the shape of Monks which ceases during the time he is in the Infirmary ibid. The Fathers meet in close Consult to advise how to carry on their Design the Sub-prior promises them a trial of his Skill how well he can Act the part of a Ghost p. 3. He appears to Jetzer followed with mad Dogs Jetzer makes use of Holy Water and Reliques to resist the Devil ibid. He appears a second time with great Terrour throws down his Holy Water yet promises to come again within eight days if he could get leave p. 4. The Fathers teach him how to conjure the Spirit they hang about his Neck a small Cross made of the wood of the true Crose of Christ to fortifie him against the Assaults of the Devil ibid. The Spirit confesses himself to be a Soul tormented in Purgatory that he had been once Prior of the same Covent he tells him by what means he might be deliver'd p. 5. The whole Covent Fast Pray receive the Discipline the Spirit appears again giving further directions for his final release ibid. The Spirit appears the last time in a Glorious shape give the Covent thanks with some hints that the V. Mary would appear also p. 6. St. Barbe appears to him to give Notice of the appoach of the Virgin p. 7. The Virgin her self appears declares her displeasure against the Doctrine of the Franciscans about the Immaculate Conception Shee gives him some drops of the true Blood of Christ shed on the Cross ibid. Shee peirces his right hand through with a dagger telling him it was the first of the five Wounds of Christ and that in due time she would honour him with the rest p. 8 These Miracles are divulged and the Fathers shew great Veneration to this great Saint Jetzer The Lecturer in a Sermon magnifies these Miracles as Vnparallel'd p. 9. The Virgin appears a second time opens and condemns the Doctrine of the Franciscans and justifies that of the Dominicans condemns the Council of Basil and tells how she got the blood of Christ for the Covents of Cologne and Berne ibid. The Prior of Ulm is acquainted with the Intrigue he Advises to Caution the Prior of Berne undertakes to Act the Virgin Appears to Jetzer in the presence of two Citizens p. 10. The Prior of Basil comes to Berne he furnishes the Confederates with properties and rare Engines to carry on the Design ibid. They bring the Sacrament into Jetzer's Cell and lay it with a Treatise of the Cordeliers upon the table The Virgin appears worships the Hoste tears in pieces the Treatise as containing Heretical Doctrine p. 11. The Virgin appears again Jetzer desires her to say the Lords Prayer Ave Maria and the Creed which she does after an odd fashion ibid. For a final proof that this was really the Virgin Mary Jetzer spits in her Face three times which she approves and commends as done to try the Spirits ibid. Dandanlus a Jew but a pretended Convert colours wafers of so exact a dye that they represent Flesh and Blood these are laid on Jetzer's Table p. 12. The Virgin appears again shuffles a red Wafer in the room of a white one Jetzer leaps out of bed catches hold on the Virgins hands and finds her to be the Lecturer he stormes and rages ibid. The Confederates are put to their shifts how to reconcile Jetzer many Artifices are used by his Confessor and the Prior of Basil but all in vain p. 13. To satisfie him in the Truth of the red colour'd Hoste they make an experiment to colour a white wafer with a Chickens blood Dandalus runs away The Prior of Basil of Berne and the Lecturer go to Pforcheim and in the Interim the Sub-prior appears in the shape of the V. Mary p. 14. The Sub-prior prepares Jetzer Ceremoniously to receive the other four wounds of Christ appears like the Virgin peirces his other hand his side both his feet with the same dagger p. 15. The Sub-prior Conjures up a Devil who instructs him to make a potion that should work strangely upon Jetzer and forces him to Act all the parts of the Passion of Christ he renounces God the Mass and gives himself to the Devil Body and Soul by a Deed under his hand written with his own blood ibid. Jetzer receives the Potion is in a stranges Extasie Acts all the parts of Christs passion before witnesses one of them at the horrid sight falls into a swoon p. 16. Jetzer continuing incredulous in the matter of the red coloured Hoste the Fathers resolve to poyson him p. 17. They provide him a mess of broth he suspects refuses throws it secretly out of the window where some young wolves lick it up and are poyson'd but they endeavour to heal and salve all again ibid. The Virgin appears again to dress Jetzer's wounds Jetzer knows the hand falls into a rage and spoils the sport ibid. The Fathers contrive how to make the Virgins Image weep tears of blood he is brought after midnight into the Chappel A young Frier is placed behind the Image to counterfeit the voices of Christ and Mary p. 18. The Virgin complains of the worlds Vnbelief about her Revelations and Apparitions her Son in her Arms comforts her and promises to take the matter into his own hands ibid. Jetzer is convinced of the truth of this last Revelation Company is called in to see the Virgin weep tears of blood p.
this Chapter one Dr. Warner Prior of Basil invited to a Collation in his Chamber the most eminent Fathers of their Order in that Assembly There was Peter Palmer Prior of Wimpten Vlrich Koli Prior of Vlm Wigandus Wert Prior of Stutgard with the Prior and Divinity Reader of Berne with many others to whom he sadly complained how by the Policies and Artifices of the Cordeliers their Order was declined in its Reputation their Doctrine scandalized to the apparent prejudice of their Honour and that therefore it was incumbent upon them to repair their own Credits and give some check to the proceedings of their Adversaries In the Issue of this debate they could find no better expedient to answer these ends than a neat Contrivance of some Apparitions and thereupon some Revelations which being well seconded by specious Miracles might advance their Doctrine all over Christendome and thereby abate the imperiousness of the Franciscans which without such timely Rebuke would grow intolerable This Proposal was well relisht by all the grave Fathers but when they came to Advise upon a convenient place where they might put the Project in execution with Secresie and Security it was Resolved upon that the City of Berne was the most Agreeable because the People were very simple and so more capable to receive those Impressions and besides great Bigotts and would therefore if occasion served maintain and justifie them with their Swords in their hands being no less stout and valiant than superstitious And a while after the Rising of this Chapter these Fathers now in Cabal for the more effectual execution of the said Resolution privately met together at Basil where they rigg'd out the Vessel in which they embarqued and ventured and afterwards wreckt their Honours and Lives This very year there offer'd it self to these Confederate Fathers a smiling opportunity for the accomplishing their design by the Arrival of one John Jetzer at Berne A poor young man he was the Son of a mean Peasant of the same Name born at Zurzach who having served a year with Mr. Erhard a Tailour of Lucerne and returning to his native Town in order to his travelling to Constance one of his Kinsmen there press'd him hard to go to Berne wherein he was seconded by Mr. Nicholas Herteâ—stein a Taylor of the same City who invited him to come and work with him upon his Trade which without much difficulty he was perswaded to doe But having had from his youth a violent though groundless inclination to Admit himself in some Religious House he entreated the Fathers of the Dominican Order at Berne to Receive him into their Covent At his first Instance he was Rejected but when he gave them privately to understand that he intended not to come empty handed the Prior sent to him one John a Novice in that Priory and easily admitted him where at his first Reception he wrought upon his Trade sawed and cleft out Wood carryed Stones and did other odd Chairs from the Feast of St. Bartholomew to the Festival of the Three Kings which makes up about twenty weeks And then at the earnest sult of this Jetzer he was honour'd with the Habit of the Order having first made his way by presenting the Prior with fifty Florens of Gold nine Ells of Damask a Sword richly hatch'd with Silver a piece of Crimson Velvet and an embroydered Surplice which things he pickt up honestly or otherwise I know not by working upon his Trade whence he might have learnt that the Silver Key will open the strongest Gates of the strictest Monastery Jetzer is now become a Religious person and at his first entrance is lodged in the Strangers Chamber where both before and after his Reception into the Order he was strangely terrified with hideous noyses and sometimes with dreadfull Apparitions of Ghosts and Hobgoblins so that once he was drawn out of and thrust under his bed But his greatest vexation was from the Appearance of a Spirit in the shape of a Prior who was unmercifully persecuted by other Spirits in the shape of Monks His face was as black as Soot his hands of the same Complexion his voice hoarse and broken and complain'd most miserably of the torture which for his Sins he was forced to endure He drove before him two or three black Dogs which as he said were Devils but that he did not much regard their furious barking because he had fortified himself against them with the omnipotent Sign of the Cross This persecution meeting with a fresh-water Souldier had so harrass'd him that he had soon quitted both the Cloyster and the Order if he had not been over-perswaded by the Reasonings of the afore-mention'd John who was both his Name-sake and fellow-craftsman and a Novice though a crafty Knave in the same Covent Not long after he was seized with a Pestilential Feaver and after his Recovery would gladly have admitted himself amongst the Carthusian Monks of Thorberg but that was not allowed because he had already profest himself of the Order of St. Dominick And the holy Fathers by this time had cut out other work for our poor Taylor who must go through-stitch with it e're he departed One thing is observable that all the time he lodg'd in the Infirmary he had a perfect Truce from all these Persecutions whether it were that these Spirits do not love to come within the sound of the dismal groans of the Sick or dying or that it was not judg'd Adviseable by the chief Engineers to venture these young and raw Apparitions amongst the many prying eyes that might there have looked a little more narrowly into the matter whereas they might presume more confidently upon Jetzer a fellow of an huge thick skull I shall leave it to the Determination of the Reader but so it was All the time of his Sickness he was as fully at rest as if he had sued out his Quietus est or a Supersedeas de non molestando but no sooner had he reassum'd his former Lodging but he was tormented more frequently and more cruelly than before This evil Treatment compell'd him to sue hard for a change of his Appartment fancying that by the shifting of his quarters he should shake off these importunate and unwelcome Visitants And his request was as easily granted not so much because more safe for him but as more commodious for the managing their projects A new Cell thefore is assign'd him in the great Cross Walk of the Cloyster between that of the House-keeper and that of Frier Oswald the Cook He had no sooner taken possession of his new Lodging but his old Tormenters gave him new Trouble and therefore he renews his Complaints to the holy Fathers with bitter tears that they would take him into their special Care and holy Protection Towards the end of February the Fathers had a meeting one night after Supper in their common Chamber where were present Hantz-watter of Marpach the Prior Dr. Stephen Boltzhorst of Oftenbourg Lecturer
those evil Spirits had it not been for the power of those sacred Reliques the virtue whereof drove away the Fiends And now that he might civilly take his leave he desired Jetzer to shake him by the hand that he might by that Essay feel how scorching the Fire of Purgatory was Jetzer unadvisedly gave him his hand and at the first touch received such a scalding Impression of fire that the nail of his middle finger was parcht up and he felt an inexpressible pain in his whole hand This done the Spirit withdrew but not without such formidable noyse as awakened all Jetzers former apprehensions and left him a fit Object for the Consolatory Addresses of the Neighbouring Friers who immediately came in unto him Early in the morning came the Fathers and were very inquisitive to know the particulars of the last nights proceedings Jetzer did not fail to give them a punctual account of all that pass'd which they entertain'd with great amazement shaking their heads beating their breasts and lifting up their eyes and hands to heaven and throughout the Narrative demean'd themselves with Countenances which testified great astonishment mixed with some hope and comfort They then gravely ask him whether he would submit to the Discipline which was enjoyned them in order to the release of this distressed Soul out of Purgatory He answered he would chearfully undergo it provided always that the rest of the Covent would bear their parts This Answer was right pleasing to the Fathers who concluded Jetzer to be fully satisfied in the Apparition and Revelation in that he so chearfully submitted to the imposed Satisfaction since the burden was sure to fall the heaviest on his shoulders All the Religious of the Covent are forthwith summon'd the Case open'd and the Question propounded whether they would contribute to the Release of the Soul of a venerable Prior sometimes of that Covent which at present was fearfully tormented in Purgatory The matter was well received the Service performed and the Soul in due order released For upon the expiration of the eight dayes the Prior returns in a more calm and temperate humour and tells Jetzer that if they would yet further sing four Vigils for his Soul that then he should be compleatly deliver'd and translated into Paradise and that after other eight dayes he would return to pay his acknowledgments to the holy Fathers and give those testimonies of his gratitude which were due in particular to himself This affair hitherto being blessed with wonderful success the prudent Fathers met in close counsel to advise how to manage and improve it for their main end for indeed the greatest thing they had done was the least part of what they intended All hitherto was but a prolusion in order to some Nobler Acquist They had well heated Jetzers brain raised his Imagination prepared his expectation but the point they were to make was to overthrow the Franciscan Tenet of the Immaculate Conception To make way for which they appoint in the first place the Lecturer to be Jetzer's Father Confessor That he being a subtle insinuating Knave might let in some light to Jetzer's ignorant Noddle about that Controversie His Confessor then instructs him how he might Catechise the Spirit when he should next appear about some momentous points of Divinity and as if he only stumbled on 't by accident he read him a learned Lecture upon this doubty controversie The eighth night after the Prior himself appears to Jetzer representing the Soul delivered from the pains of Purgatory His Countenance was young and beautifull his Complexion fresh clear and ruddy he was accoutred in Sacerdotal Vestments and stood as mild and meek as a Lamb before Jetzers bed whom he accosted to this effect My dearly beloved brother John Observe my words Thou and thy brethren had no sooner undergone the enjoyned Penance in my Name and on my behalf but I was admitted to sing Masse in the Quire of the blessed Angels who attended on me but being desirous to Consecrate Mass as well as Sing it this being not the Priviledge of seperate Spirits I was carried by them up to the seventh Quire of Heaven with such a transport of joy with such ravishing surprisings of Soul as was infinitely above my desires and is now beyond my expressions for being translated from incredible torments to a satisfaction as incredible so that I dare not wish that my former pains had been one moment shorter or one grain lighter Exhort thy holy Fathers to continue stedfast in their holy Order let them not decline a hairs breadth to the right hand or to the left as that which is best pleasing to God and the blessed Virgin Let them not regard the slanders that are cast upon them the Persecutions raised against them for their vindicating the Doctrine of the Conception of the blessed Virgin by the Artifices and subtle practises of the Cordeliers for their Errors wherein some of them are now eternally damn'd in Hell and others are tormented in Purgatory Jetzer being a little illuminated in this point by his Confessor and having such a happy opportunity which he might never recover should he let it slip made bold to Ask this glorified Spirit a humble Question Who they were that had incurred eternal damnation for their Erroneous opinion about the Conception of the V. Mary And how and by what means the true Doctrine might be manifested and spread over all the World The Spirit to this tender point made a ready Answer 〈◊〉 dear Brother John There is a great number of all sorts of Orders who for transgressing the 〈◊〉 prescribed them by their Founders are now under unspeakable Torments And amongst others divers of the two Orders of St. Dominick and St. Francis are some in Hell some in Purgatory for their unchristian quarrels touching the Conception of the blessed Virgin Mary As for Scotus he is eternally damned who so sliffly maintained that she was born without Original Sin There are others too who though they were Orthodox and sound in that point yet are in Purgatory nay some few of ours are in Hell for their bitter malice envy and insupportable pride But that the Truth of the Conception of our Lady may be manifested beyond all exception and cleared up against all contradiction prepare thy self Dear Brother by sincere Confession and fervent Prayer to entertain St. Barbe and in due time the blessed Virgin her self who will appear to thee upon the Eve of the Annunciation to instruct thee in many points of grand importance and to enlighten thy mind in those coelestial mysteries wherein thou desirest satisfaction As for me I had only a bare permission to leave the glory of Heaven for a season to return thee those thanks which I owe for so great Merits I am now going to St. John 's Chappel to sing Mass for thee and thy holy Brethren whether the Angels will descend to serve me that in their Company I may return to the Heavens Give my
thanks to all the Religious in this Covent for what they have contributed to my Deliverance assuring thy self and them that I shall be always ready prest to do them any service at the Throne of Divine grace Thus far matters succeeded well to and beyond expectation but Success is a great flatterer and teaches men to transgress all bounds of Modesty For the Fathers not content either with what they had atchieved or this poor wretch endured were resolv'd to push hard for a more Authentick proof of their Opinion and to make Jetzer a second St. Francis which they hoped to accomplish by the Appearances of St. Barbe and the V. Mary for which they had sufficiently prepared him by the former Revelation Having therefore taken a particular account from his own Mouth of what passed between him and the former Ghost they gave him ample Instructions how he should demean himself in the following Visions They enjoyned him to be Earnest in humble Prayer and all acts of Piety they exhort him to be of a good Courage and told him withall that for their better inspection over him and whatever accident might happen to him they had made a Hole in the Wall that divided his Chamber from the Receiver's which was very true but upon another design namely that the Novices in the Neighbouring Cells who understood not the Intrigue might not chance to smell some knavery nor discover this mystery of Iniquity That very evening before this designed apparition his Father Confessor brought to his dear Son Jetzer a Ticket which he laid upon his Table with this Instruction that when the Virgin should appear he should humbly tender it to her hands saying If thou beest really and indeed the Virgin Mary take this Ticket and carry it before the Hoste which is upon the great Altar of the Church Now this Ticket you must know contained divers sophistical Questions as whether St. Bernard Anselme Alexander of Hales Bonaventure and St. Thomas had taught the truth in this point or no Whether St. Katherine of Sienne St. Lucie of Ferrara both of the Order of the Dominicans had really and indeed received the Five wounds of our Lord and whether they had publisht the true Doctrine of her Conception And lastly what we ought to judge concerning the Council of Basil All things being now ready between Ten and Eleven at Night enters the Lecturer in the shape of a very fair young Lady cloathed as white as Innocence it self her flaxen hair dishevelled and playing upon her shoulders in this Equipage she finds Jetzer and thus with courteous words salutes him Frier John the Friend of God! I am St. Barbe for whom thou hast always had a singular Devotion since the day I drew thee out of the Rhine when thou thoughtest thou shouldest have been drowned I am a Martyr of Jesus Christ and servant of the V. Mary who will condescend to visit thee to illuminate thee in many secrets whereof that blessed Spirit which late appeared to thee and who now enjoys eternal happiness gave thee some hints See here is a Ticket I know well what thou art enjoyn'd to do with it I will goe and carry it to the blessed Virgin and they shall find it in that very place which thy Father Confessor desir'd And with that word she withdrew and entring the Quire of the Church laid it before the Hoste upon the great Altar having first put to it a Seal of five drops of Blood which was his own and the Sub-prior's contrivance Hereupon the Candles and Lamps in the Walk of the Covent and those in the Church were all lighted and the Bells in Jetzers and the Receivers Cell rung in a miraculous manner of their own accord which was the common trick in all the former Apparitions since the deliverance of the poor Prior's Soul out of Purgatory This feat being so neatly carried the Lecturer retreats to his Cell where he strips himself of his borrowed properties The Sub-prior runs in all haste to Jetzer whom he found wholly transported between fear and joy and Asks him what discourse he had with St. Barbe who gave him no other Answere but desir'd him he might speak with his Father Confessor To whom he rehearsed all the particular occurrences of their enterview A needless labour to acquaint him with what he knew as well as himself His Confessor gave him no other Return but some serious exhortations but presently he taking the Sub-prior Frier Osweld the Cook and Jetzer along with him went into the Church to find out the foremention'd Ticket which they found in the assigned place with the precious Seal of five drops upon it whereupon they return magnifying and exalting all that had happen'd to Jetzer as a thing wholly miraculous charging him at their departure to wait for the Apparition of the blessed Virgin with Devotion About one a Clock at night the Lecturer personating the Virgin Mary with one St. Barbe to wait on her made another Visit to Jetzer and for the greater credit of the Cause she was introduced by two Angels who supported her by both her feet aloft in the Aire all in Mourning habit as to the form but yet pure white to keep Decorum for so we must suppose the Saints above do mourn Her Vail trail'd decently on the ground and the upper part did so Muffle the best part of her face and half her Arms that they hoped the whole of the Knavery would be hidden also And thus accoutred she addresses her self to poor Jetzer Frier John be not afraid I am Mary sent to thee by my Son Jesus to assure thee of the Truth of whatsoever that good Spirit told thee concerning this my Appearance Know therefore that my Son can no longer endure that the Honour to be Conceived without Original Sin which is his sole Prerogative should upon my account be sacrilegiously ravisht from him Nor can I own this gross error of the Cordeliers as an honour to my self which tends so visibly to the reproach of my Son Nay I am thereby highly provoked and that thy holy Fathers may be assured that they are in the right in this weighty point and that they may have undoubted proofs that I was conceived in Original Sin by my Mother St. Ann in common with the rest of Mankind Behold here I have placed with the Ticket which St. Barbe delivered lately to me two Seals made of the shreds of Cotton which I scrap'd from that pure fine linnen with which my Son was wrapt when he lay in the Manger upon each of which is form'd a little Cross of that very blood which he shed when he hung upon the Tree which Blood I gather'd up my self and have carefully kept it to this hour in memory of his Passion Vpon the greater of these two Seals thou seest here are three drops of this precious blood upon the lesser there are five drops of the same blood although mingled as thou wilt easily believe with my own
tears which I shed when I received my dear Son from the Cross The little Crosses denote the Certainty of what I now reveal to thee The three drops of blood denote those three hours during which I continued under Original Sin after my Conception the other five signifie those five sorrows wherewith my very Soul was then pierced and are the infallible marks of my special good will These things are not shewed thee for thy own merits sake but for the merits of those thy Holy Fathers in the Covent which are partakers of eternal blessedness And for this unspeakable favour which is vouchsaf'd thee let it be thy Care to fear God and own his signal Condescensions Keep this Revelation secret and lay it up in thy heart declare it to none besides thy Father Confessor and the three Fathers his Associates that they may take Order that the greater of the two Crosses with the five drops thereto annexed may be honourably set in a Locket and with Letters testimonial from this Covent and that of Noremberg and also the attestation of this City of Berne may be transmitted to Rome and presented to the hands of Pope Julius by the Provincial of your Order in his proper person attended by one of your Fathers and all this precisely upon Good-Friday And charge his Holiness privately with himself to consider of this grand affair in these words Our blessed Lady who appeared unto Jetzer hath sent this inestimable present to Pope Julius the Lieutenant generall of her Son all over the World That his Holiness was called of God to the Soveraign Chaire for this special reason that he might determine definitively concerning the Conception of the B. Virgin in Original sin And that therefore he ought to confirm and establish this point of Faith by Feasts Indulgences and Processions and thereby render it famous That he ought to condemn the Adversaries of this Doctrine to disannull their Festivals and all Pardon 's annexed to them to expunge their infamous Scotus out of the Calender of Saints as a person eternally damned And that he should not listen to the suggestions nor be seduced by the Artifices of their Enemies Which things if he the said Julius should exactly perform he should then merit a more glorious Crown of Immortality and Blessedness otherwise he should with accursed Scotus unavoidably incur the vengeance of God As for the other Seal with the five drops of Blood on it let be laid up as an inestimable Relique in this Covent There being upon the face of the earth no more of the true blood of Jesus Christ save what is in the New Cloyster at Cologne and that at Marseilles which last indeed Mary Magdalene gather'd devoutly with the earth and all on which it dropt from the Cross But assure thy Father Confessor that in all this there 's not a word contrary to his Ticket and by the whole procedure of the affair he may perceive and shall be more fully clearly inform'd by thy self She began at last to discourse with him of many other trivial matters as that the Robe which she now wore was the same wherein Christ appear'd to her after his Resurrection That St. John was locally in Heaven and not in any earthly Paradise as some fancied and that she her self was there too both in Body and Soul Jetzer having with amazement hearkned to this Oration replyed as he was instructed O blessed Virgin There 's not one in a thousand will believe a word of all this to be true Hereupon she commands him to stretch out his right hand And now says she in pursuance of the Command of my Son thou shalt receive a Seal so Authentique and unquestionable that never a Saint before thee received the like Hereupon she gripes his hand and clapping it suddenly to the Bed-post thrust it quite through with a three-edged Dagger adding immediately Behold the most dreadful of my Sons sufferings which thou oughtest to take patiently in testimony of the truth of those things which by thee shall be accomplisht spend thy time well speak little be humble and obedient to thy Superiours Confess thy self and Receive the Sacrament every Sunday fast every Friday following for six weeks with Bread and Water and if I find that thou art affectionately devoted to my Service I will honour thee with the four other wounds which are yet behind as soon as I have miraculously healed that which I have already given thee Only what has already passed between us let it be declar'd this day in open and full Council The young Martyr who never expected such treatment cryed out most horribly upon the wound given O blessed Mary you hurt me grievously she mildly return'd Rejoyce and be exceeding glad that my Son hath accounted thee worthy to be conformed to his sufferings yet a little while and I will come again to instruct thee more at large in this matter Peace be with thee Hereupon she sprinkled him with Holy water and immediately withdrew with her waiting Gentlewoman St. Barbe personated by the Sub-prior and her two wooden Angels This Scene of Roguery so happily acted The Sup-prior runs to Jetzer's Cell which was now as dark as pitch our Lady having for the convenience of retirement put out the Candles and akt him very soberly what ail'd him to cry out so hideously He answer'd he was very well and ailed nothing The Sub-prior presently lights a Candle and spying some blood upon the ground starts back astonisht and asks him what was the matter Jetzer having told him the Naked truth which he knew without his telling he presently falls down upon his knees and catching his wounded hand with a seeming transport of zeal cryes out O blessed hand that has been honour'd with a Mark so precious by our blessed Lady And at once anoints the wound with a proper unguent to prevent the inflamation and to heal the wound he dresses and binds it up with the Cotton Lint which our Lady had brought with her on purpose telling him that there would come one of the Fathers to bind up his wound and whilst he was thus officiously doing his Devoyre to this young Saint and Martyr in came the other Fathers and courteously saluted Jetzer The Sub-prior whilest he was playing the Chirurgeon casts his eye as at unawares upon the Table or little Altar before mentioned and there he spies the shreds of Cloath with the Seals Crosses and drops of Blood He asks Jetzer In the Name of God what are these Hereupon Jetzer begs their patient attendance and directing his Speech to his Confessor opens to them the whole Mystery They all express an extraordinary Ravishment of Soul and that they might the more extoll these Divine Miracles they called in some other of the Friers forthwith every one retires and arrays himself in his Sacerdotal habiliments the Sub-prior with a Consecrated Lamp in his hand and in this Equipage they come from the Vestry and fall down before Jetzer's Table
Magdalene toucht Christ the marks of it appear'd in his forehead ever after with abundance of such impertinent stuffe wherewith the doating Friers used to fill up their Sermons Upon Easter-Eve the Lecturer being returned from his Journey two of their Friends amongst the Burgesses of the City namely Mr. Martyn a Goldsmith and Mr. Luke a Glasier had a strange itching humour to see and hear the V. Mary which communicating to the Fathers and they ashamed to deny and yet afraid to grant yet importunity at last prevail'd and they were desir'd to wait the Virgins leisure At last when they had almost quite worn out their patience to the stumps as they sate with two of the Fathers big or rather bursting with expectation out comes the Novice Megerlin who for that time acted the Virgin in all his Accoutrements his first feat of activity was to put out the Lamps and then applying himself to Jetzer Commanded that the Fathers should drive on the point of the Conception with more vigour and zeal and when he or she had besprinkled them with Holy Water and after a strange fashion lighted the Lamps again that were in the cross walk of the Covent using the benefit of their surprize disappear'd without the least suspicion given to their superstitious noddles Now these credulous fools were fob'd off with a very short interlude lest too long a Vision might have produced some accident that might possibly have rub'd up some jealousie in their dull brains of Imposture and Forgery Eight dayes after Easter the four Fathers which were the main Wheels in the Engine being in close Consult the Prior of Basil made them a Visit to see the sport and that he might contribute his Mite to this blessed design he brought with him not only a fine robe of a whitish grey for a property but curious Vizards and Masks and some cunningly contrived Engines to accommodate the Puppet-play and some small Wafers which the Sub-prior could varnish and paint over with admirable artifice They waited for an opportunity wherein they might give the Spectators a trial of their skill during the time that the Prior of Basil sojourn'd with them Now for a preparation to their designed Comedy they brought the Sacrament in its Pixe and placed it on the Table together with a Treatise made by Bernardin de Bustis the Cordelier as also another Tract written by the said Prior of Basil in confutation of the said Treatise of Bernardin and advised Jetzer if ever the V. Mary should appear again he should speak thus to her If thou beest verily the mother of Jesus Christ worship thy Son here before thee carry him unto his place and tear in pieces that Treatise which is erroneous about thy Conception That night the Lecturer appeared in the shape of the Virgin and kneeling devoutly before the Sacrament worshipt it saying withall Yes yes this is my Son and then takes the Treatise of Bernardin de Bustis tears it all in pieces with indignation and then turning to Jetzer Doubt not of the Truth of my Revelations which I have now so Authentically sealed and attested And presently she carries the Sacrament away with her and conveighs it to its own place in the Chappel In the Morning the Fathers gave him a Visit to whom he gave a particular account what had passed seeming to question the truth of these apparitions for his Confessor had put this Crotchet in his head that from thence he might take an occasion to set on foot a new game To whom the Prior of Basil answer'd Brother John An evil Spirit could never worship and carry away the holy Sacrament Why replyed the Lecturer cunningly did not the Devil carry our Saviour to the top of an high Mountain The issue of this dispute was they all agreed that Jetzer should conjure the Spirit upon its next appearance by the Power of God the Father God the Son and God the H. Ghost to tell him directly whether it were a Good or an Evil Spirit And if it should answer that it was a Good Spirit that then he should command it by virtue of the aforesaid Charm to say One Pater Noster one Ave Mary and the Creed which without question would be impossible for any evil Spirit to doe Matters being thus laid the next night comes the V. Mary with great state and pomp usher'd in with Wax-candles which she brought lighted with her from Heaven and placed them very devoutly upon his Table then drawing near to Jetzer he began to Conjure her in the manner and form aforesaid To this she readily Answers Yes yes I am a good Spirit I am Mary and Jesus is my Son whom I worshipt visibly before thee the last night and then carried him away to the Altar If thou beest a good Spirit replyed Jetzer let me hear thee say distinctly thy Pater Noster Ave Maria and the Creed Hereupon she falls down devoutly upon her knees and repeats the Lords Prayers till she came to those words And forgive us our trespasses then turning to Jetzer Mark brother John says she had I not been conceived in Original Sin I had small cause to say forgive us our Trespasses but rather forgive them their trespasses This said she went on with the rest Then she begins her Ave but after an odd fashion Hail Mary I am full of Grace and Jesus Christ my own Son is with me Blessed am I amongst women and blessed is the fruit of my Womb Then she falls to her Creed And when she had repeated those words The third day be rose again from the dead she added And appeared unto me first and not to Luke and Cleophas and so finisht the remainder And when she had in short said Dear brother John do not fancy that any evil spirit thus durst appear to thee 't is I the Blessed Virgin she comforted him with Holy-Water and taking up her Candles she went and placed them before the Image of our Lady which stood in the Walk of the Cloyster The Fathers presently found them and told the Friers that the Virgin Mary had brought those Wax-candles with her from Heaven which were of such a strange nature that no power on earth could light them the Virgin her self must come down from Heaven to do it or it must never be done Several of the Burgesses of the Town were show'd these holy Reliques and their celebrated Properties and when one or two had made a trial in vain the third man it seems unhappily lighted them which put the Prior into a great chafe yet he had an Excuse ready saying That when we begin to undervalue the great favours of God it 's just with him to take away their virtue and so seem'd to come off pretty handsomly But Jetzer at the instruction of his Confessor who to make him more settled in his Faith taught him how to raise scruples not being fully satisfied in the point was resolved upon an Experiment to try the Virgins Patience
and thereby to gain if possible and unquestionable demonstration of the reality of her appearance The next time therefore she appeared He very confidently spits three times in her face and that it might be more effectual he added In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Thinking wisely that the Devil being a passionate Spirit he would never endure such a high affront But the Virgin answer'd him with singular mildness Dear brother It becomes us to try the Spirits whether they be of God and therefore thou hast not sinned by this thy act Now though Jetzer was abundantly satisfied in this matter fully believing that this was indeed the V. Mary yet they had cunningly put it into his head to know the true difference between good and evil Spirits The four Engineers therefore with the Prior of Basil to put all things for ever out of question and that Jetzer might arrive at a plerophory in the case had provided them of a Wafer so artificially died of a flesh colour by one Lazarus Dandalus a crafty young knave of their own Order that might have imposed upon a more discerning person than such a Blockhead as Jetzer This Dandalus you must understand was originally a Jew but at last was baptized and enter'd into the Order of the Dominicans under which Mask he practised his Villanies more securely till the Civil Magistrate in the end at Lipsick burnt him for his Rogueries At present he was a proper tool for these holy Fathers The Prior of Basil for his share in the Plott had sent to his Covent for some Wafers made twice as thick as the ordinary ones which this Dandalus coloured so artificially that the Fathers promised themselves rare success in their designed enterprize And now they address themselves once again to Jetzer telling him that for a final determination of the reality of these matters they would bring the holy Sacrament and place it in his Cell upon the Table counselling him that if ever the Blessed Virgin should appear again which they resolved she should he should more effectually conjure her by the power of the blessed Trinity by the Passion by the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ to tell him in plain terms whether she were really the very Mother of God whether her Revelations were of indubitable Truth And if she answered affirmatively that then he should reply If thou art the Mother of God shew me which is thy Son and carry him hence to his place The project thus contrived upon Wednesday the 14 of April they brought the Sacrament into his Cell and placed it decently and reverently upon the Table and on each side thereof placed a Wax-candle in the very Candlesticks which were consecrated for and used at the Mass but that night all was quiet no Mary appear'd But the night after being the 15 of April the Prior and the Father Confessor entertain'd Jetzer with many flattering discourses mixing Instructions and Directions for his Behaviour in all future occurrences whilest the Sub-prior and the Receiver were fitting their Tools Properties and Engines for the Show All things being ready their Pulleys Wheels Screws Wires and Devices for the management of their Puppets orderly placed in the Receiver's Chamber to give life and motion to the Opera that was to be acted in Jetzers these Fathers conduct Jetzer to his Chamber and having worshipt the Hoste sprinkled him with Holy-Water drawn his Curtains close about him they civilly bad him Good Night and departed Not much after Ten a Clock the Lecturer in the Habit of the Virgin comes in and having put out the Candles on each side of the Sacrament and the Lamp which stood in a corner of the Chamber which was usually the Prologue to the Play and the first feat of activity shew'd by the Virgin she marches up and down the room with great state and majesty and without speaking one word good or bad she draws the Curtains and giving him a dash or two of her Holy-water she withdraws but not long after returns with a little bag in her hand and putting out a Candle which remain'd yet lighted in the room there appeared in the place five other Candles miraculously lighted at a clap that is one on each side the Sacrament the Lamp and two others in the hands of two Angels which under the Rose were the Prior and Sub-prior Jetzer now lying with his eyes wide open to make observations saw to his astonishment the Virgin hanging in the Aire between the two Angels directly over the Hoste and presently he falls a conjuring her as he had been instructed Art thou the Virgin Mary then let me see thy Son and carry him hence and set him in his proper place Hereupon she with much Devotion kisses the Hoste and opening the Pixe takes out the two consecrated Wafers the one white and the other red Jetzer knew nothing all this while of the red Wafer The red one she kept secretly in her hand and holding up the white one Behold said she brother John my dear Son my own flesh and blood born of my body and that thou mayst now be assured that both I and all men descended from Adam by ordinary generation are born in Original Sin excepting only my beloved Son whose sole Priviledge it is and that thou mayst know that thy holy Fathers ought to preach and maintain this grand Article yea and advertise the Pope himself of it Behold I say this Hoste yea this my Son shall in the twinkling of an eye be transubstanstiated into the reall and true-body of Christ and become visible Flesh And with that she dropt the red Hoste which she had kept close in her hand upon the Table Jetzer at this was so surprized that forgetting the Commands of the Fathers not to stir out of his place whatever he saw or heard by a strange Providence hastily puts on his Morning-gown and starting out of his Bed runs directly to our Lady They that managed the Engines standing in the Receivers Chamber that is Megerlin and the Cook seeing this action through the hole in the wall whisper'd one to the other See! see by the blood of God this young Rascal is got out of bed The Angels in the mean time aware of the danger had put out their Candles and Mary endeavouring to do as much by those two that stood upon the Table Jetzer being very nimble seized one of them and with his other hand at the same time laid fast hold upon her hand so that she was forced to drop the other white Host upon the Pixe Jetzer at this having discovered something of the knavery fell a weeping storming and raging most furiously crying out O ye Rogues and panderly Rascals and all the ugly Names he could think on are ye not ashamed thus to prophane the holy Sacrament and blaspheme the Name of God! to Abuse our Lady only to gull a sorry wretched young man And immediately opening the door
done his best it would rise no higher than a pallid whitterish colour whereupon they all avow with most dreadfull Oaths and Curses that the aforesaid Hoste could be no other than the very Body and Blood of our Lord which the B. Virgin had brought with her from Heaven and that he was now bound in Conscience to believe it and to hold for reall all the aforesaid Apparitions and to own the Fathers for persons of honour and integrity Whilest this pleasant Comoedy through the ill management of some of the chief Actors had like to have had a tragical end the wicked Varlet Dandalus show'd 'em a fair pair of heels and honestly ran away The Prior of Basil with one of his Friers Bernard Sangar prudently retired to their own Covent under pretence of fitting themselves for their Journey to Pforcheim waiting till the Fathers of Berne should call on them that so in one Company they might meet at the Chapter The Prior and the Lecturer being just upon their departure they committed the grand affair in hand during their absence to the Sub-prior and the Receiver and April the 20th set forwards The Sub-prior for a Specimen of his Art after his Midnight Mass came in the shape of the V. Mary to give Jetzer a short Visit and a short one it was for when she had saluted him and through the hole in the wall wisht a good journey to the good Fathers that were now upon the road she disappeared rejoycing that she had come off so handsomly The Fathers being now arrived at Pforcheim with the Prior of Basil related to their most intimate Confidents namely to their Provincial to the Prior of Cologne and Dr. Servatius Frankel the Priors of Heidelberg Stutgard and Pforcheim what progress they had made in the Design with their good and evil success therein craving their advice and what was to be done further And in full Chapter the matter was reported to those Venerable Fathers as a most holy and miraculous Providence of God yet could they not so colour the business but that the greater part of that Assembly perceiv'd there was some sleight of hand in the thing Much debate there was about it some advised that the whole of it should be supprest and never brought to light least coming to be scanned by curious eyes and prying heads the forgery should appear to the world others on the contrary advised only to let it rest for the present and wait what might further fall out and that from the issue of things they might proceed as they found occasion In fine it was agreed that the affair should be committed to those Fathers who should have suffrage in the Chapter generall not long after to be held at Lyons to enquire more amply into the Intrigue as they pass'd by Berne and from the circumstances which they should find to make a full report to the General Consult and from thence to take due measures in their proceedings But the Sub-prior all this while at Berne stoutly pursued the project according to the Instructions left him by the Prior at his Departure And on the sixth of May reminded Jetzer of that Promise the Virgin had made him of honouring him with the other four wounds which he yet wanted to accomplish his happiness though the poor fellow thought he had ene enough and too much of the former The Sub-prior in order to this with much address and devotion washed his feet that they might be clean and so meet for so great a favour received his Confession gave him punctual Instructions how to behave himself in the sequel and for his Supper gave him a Mess of broth which composed him to a sweet sleep and when he was well in bed bestow'd on him good store of Holy-water and for the present bad him good night Not much after Midnight he returned disguised like the Virgin and thus salutes him Behold I am the V. Mary thy Protector who have hitherto preserved thee from all cheats and frauds Thy holy Fathers are perfectly innocent whose only design was to prove thee that hereby my real Apparitions and Revelations might be rendred more conspicuous and glorious and so they shall in the issue appear if thou behavest thy self tractable to my good pleasure I am now sent to thee by my dear Son who prizes thee as a special friend of God to honour thee with the four remaining wounds of his Passion to convince this Incredulous Age that he is really in Heaven and to give Faith and Credit to those wonderful Signs and Miracles which in thy sight have already been performed Receive therefore with an obedient and zealous heart these wounds in honour of my Son and for the confirmation of the Truth Jetzer was loath to undergoe any further penance of this nature had no great Ambition to be a Martyr and therefore answer'd Alas sweet and dear Virgin why dost thou thus trouble thy self with me She replyed Come come no more of this reluctancy against the Divine pleasure Well says Jetzer seeing it must be so Thy will be done The Virgin with great expedition and dexterity pierces his other hand both his feet and his side with the aforementioned Dagger which so conquer'd his Resolution and Devotion that he could not contain himself at every wound from crying out bitterly Alas alas pretious Mary the Mother of God why dost thou thus torment thy poor servant Jetzer in the midst of his Dolours observed that the Virgin did not pierce his feet quite through as she had done his hands and being desirous to know the Reason she answer'd O dear brother 't is because thou mightest not tread upon such tremendous and sacred marks In conclusion she exhorted him to all due obedience to God and her self who had accounted him worthy to partake of the sufferings of the Son of God she charged him moreover to exercise patience to be much in the acts of piety to be conscientious in obeying his Superiours and to be fruitfull in good works to fast pray and receive the Sacrament often And when she had blessed him with holy Water she departed leaving him this sweet consolation that she would revisit him in a few dayes And presently all the Candles were miraculously lighted and the Bells rung of their own accord to the great astonishment of all the other Friers This was a happy advance towards the retrieving of the Design which was almost grown desperate and now flusht with hope the Sub-prior the Receiver and Master-Cook came in and askt him what ayled him to cry out so grievously and so often upon Mary He answer'd Be content at present and perhaps to morrow you may know more But the Cooke who had the charge and care of his Bed making as if he had accidentally taken up the Rug suddenly espying his wound told the rest of his companions who after their first amazement cast themselves down upon their knees and with profound groans and sighs kissed his pierced hand
with all imaginable Industry he applyed himself to it Hereupon he calls all the Fathers before him gravely reproves them for entring into these dangerous Intrigues for though he could have applauded successful Knavery yet was he unwilling to bear the shame or punishment of what would more than probably in time come to light the Fathers had one Excuse but it was an approved one that they had a Pious and Holy intention in all they did and hoped that their zeals to the Truth and the credit of their Order would Atone as great a failing as that came to The Provincial smiled and not willing to discourage a Pious Design whilst there was any hopes of a fair Issue he went again to Jetzer and gravely exhorted him to continue constant in his Obedience to his Superiours to believe that they were Persons of severe Integrity and having as he thought somewhat sweetned his surly Humour left him to himself The next day the Prior of Basil resolv'd to have a bout with him and when he had made his Approaches with all the Art and Subtilty imaginable he found Jetzer as cross-grain'd and awkward in his Faith of the Apparitions as ever especially in the matter of the coloured Hoste so that in conclusion some of the Fathers best Friends and such as were of the most discerning Heads advised them to make sure work to dispatch this peevish Fellow with a Dose of Poyson presuming he would tell no tales in the other World And that they might the more securely do it they agreed to give him the afore-mentioned Potion mixed with something that would do the feat that so when he came to Act the Passion again the simple Spectators might believe that in his Extasie his Soul Departed and was transported to Heaven by the Angels As soon as the Fathers Strangers were gone the Sub-Prior who was hardned in his Roguery to his own Ruine fell to work again and cook'd him a Mess of Broath well seasoned with Spiders and other Poysons telling Jetzer that the Fathers would come and Dine with him and had sent him a Mess of wholsom Broth to stay his Stomack because it might perhaps be somewhat late ere Dinner was ready he falls to crumb his Pottage and as dull a Blockhead as he was yet observed that so far as the Bread was wet with the Broth it turned of a greenish colour and that there were some yellow Seeds mingled with it a confused suspicion began to dawn in his Brain that there might be mischief intended so that for all that the Sub-Prior and he that waited on him could do for their Lives he would not be perswaded to taste a spoonful This vext them and saying little went out to give their confederates an Account how ill-favouredly the Project had succeeded Jetzer as soon as they were gone throws his Broth out of a side-window which lookt into a little Yard where the Fathers for their Pleasure kept young Wolves these greedy creatures made no scruple of the Mess but hastily lapt it up who in a while turn'd up their Heels and gave Jetzer an ocular demonstration what kindness the Sub-Prior had for him At their return he gave them a round rattle and spared none of his course Eloquence to tell them their own all which the Sub-Prior would have evaded by telling him that he was an ungrateful Rascal a wicked Varlet to Reproach them with what they abhorred from their Souls and that it was no wonder if it killed the Wolves seeing some things were rank Poyson to Beasts which were wholsom Food to Man as he endeavoured to prove by some Instances and he being no great Philosopher had his Mouth stopped but his Mind not at all satisfied Towards the end of June the Provincial with his Colleagues return'd from Lyons having dispatcht no business because the Italians of their Order durst not hazard themselves in France for fear of the Wars which then were hot in that Countrey and therefore their General Chapter was Adjourn'd to Padua whither the Germans Delegated Dr. Munken and Dr. Paul in the Name of the rest As soon as these Fathers came to Berne Jetzer made a heavy complaint to them how his Life had been attempted whereupon the Provincial promis'd to Examine the matter and to do him Justice in it Upon the Meeting of all the Fathers they all pleaded for themselves what they had before done to Jetzer so that the business fell and came to nothing and Jetzer must go seek his Amends where he could get them But to give him some Satisfaction Dr. Amman of Strasburgh gave him a Gold Ring to wear on his Finger which he protested was out of meer Honour and Reverence to that Holiness which he saw so eminently appear in him But at his Departure the crafty Doctor told Jetzer that that Ring was a Relique so Sacred and Precious that it ought not to be exposed to the danger of being lost and therefore with Jetzer's good leave he would keep the Ring for him as safe if he had it in 's own possession bidding him not doubt but that the Virtue of this Consecrated Ring would reach him at a far greater distance than that was Whilst these Strangers Sojourn'd at Berne the four desperate Accomplices in the Design resolving to push forward the Project to the utmost agreed to give them another proof of their Art and accordingly after Midnight Mass The Sub-Prior in the shape of the Virgin Mary and the Lecturer Personating St. Cicily entred his Cell The V. Mary first began O blessed Brother John my Son Jesus has sent me once again unto thee charging thee to press thy Holy Fathers to pursue his Command and mine St. Cicily took her turn and said I am Saint Cicily the Handmaid of the ever blessed Virgin in whose train I have oftentimes appeared to St. Dominick the Patriarch of your Holy Order be Faithful and Obedient And as she proceeded in her Oration Mary very Officiously address'd her self to examine Jetzer's Wounds whether they were perfectly cured and as ill-luck would have it he knew the Officious hand so that not able to suppress his resentments he stamps and rages frets and fumes unmeasurably crying out What ye Rogues and Rascals will ye never leave Persecuting a miserable wretch The Sub-Prior was surprized but had an Answer ready Dear brother this was onely to prove thy sagacity in these matters compose thy Passions and do not disturb the Covent with these out-crys and so saying they disappeared The Provincial before his Departure suspecting the Issue Advised these daring undertakers to proceed no further therein but to let it die of it self and upon his Report thereof to the General of their Order and four other of their most Eminent Divines they gave their Judgment That this Affair could not be of God but was undertaken and managed by the Inspiration of the Devil however they were over the Shooes and would be over the Boots too and therefore without any
regard to the Displeasure and Just Indignation of God resolv'd to make a shaft or a bolt of it And knowing that if they should let the matter die it would come out at last to their shame before the World they resolv'd either to gain their design'd point in confirming their Doctrine by the credit of these Apparitions and feigned Miracles or if Jetzer were unmanageable they would rid their Hands and the World of him by Poyson In the City of Berne there was one Mr. William Diesbach an Ancient Advocate of that Town a Person of Judgment and Prudence and one that had a particular Respect to these Fathers being Honorary Patron to their Sodality his Advice they craved how they should behave themselves in this Important Affair Alleadging that our Blessed Lady complained of their remissness as often almost as she appear'd which was very frequently that they did not divulge her Commands to the Higher Powers they pray his Advice therefore whether it were not expedient to satisfie her by offering to the Council an Authentick Narrative of what has passed He being a discerning Person Counselled them not to precipitate matters but leave them to be ripened by time which would sufficiently divulge them to the World if at least Providence judg'd it expedient They Answer That the Virgin was very urgent and importunate with them and declared she would expect their demurres no longer so that they began to fear she should break out upon them with some marks of her Displeasure for their Negligence Diesbach rejoyns with a countenance between jest and earnest That if the Virgin was in such Post-haste she must take her own course which Repartee had they not been blinded might have assured them that he was no such credulous Fool as they might imagine An unbyassed Judgment might easily conclude that nothing but Judicial blindness and hardness of Heart could have been enough to strengthen the zeal of these Fathers to pursue their Project after such disappointments discouragements and disasters as they had met withall But on they went whither their own Folly led them One Night after a plentiful Collation which they had given the Friers to make them sleep more soundly the Lecturer Sub-Prior and the Receiver secretly conveyed themselves into our Ladies Chappel the Prior himself stood Sentinel for fear of surprize where with rare Artifice they taught the Image of our Lady to weep tears of Blood for which purpose they had reserved a Liquor tinctured by the afore-said Lazarus Dandalus and that so Naturally that one Mr. John Pries a Famous Painter of Fribourg could not discern the Imposture though it was put to him and by this means it became a common Fame that our Lady had shed these Bloody tears The Sub-Prior to avoid all suspicion Artificially Poyson'd one of those red-coloured Hostes whereof the Reader has sometimes before been told and the Plot was thus laid that when Jetzer could be next perswaded to Act the Passion they would immediately before give him the Sacrament which would do his Work for him effectually and then the Sub-Prior engaged by an Act of his own to convey his Body into the Quire of the Church before the great Altar where they would Worship him to cover and colour their Murder and give it out that he was an eminent Saint who dyed in the very Act of the Passion and that his Holy Soul was transported from his Body into Heaven by the Angels And then they would Bury him with all the Solemnity imaginable due to so great Merits They had provided also a Young but a crafty Novice whom they placed behind the Curtains drawn before the Image of our Lady which stood behind the Altar and this Young Knave was to Act two Parts one while to plead on the behalf of the Virgin and then to Answer in the Person of Christ her Son The Reverend Fathers having thus prepared their Matters upon Fryday being the Feast of St. Eloy Patron of the Black-smiths about three a clock in the Morning the Prior came all in haste to Jetzer's Chamber and awakening him tells him with seeming transport that he should come and see an astonishing Miracle for they could not judge other than that the Image of our Blessed Lady did plentifully weep tears of Blood Jetzer gets him out of his Bed and was glad to see Miracles wrought any where rather than upon himself and with others of the Fathers whom they met running to the Chappel to see this Miracle Jetzer made one and entring the Chappel they fall down before this wonder-working Image Look Look says one that had his Eyes a little more open than the rest here 's real drops of blood upon our Lady's cheeks and others that stand ready to fall in the corners of her eyes The Reader must have a good Imagination to give himself the contentment to see the postures of these Hypocrites at that word One beats his Breast Another stands in an amazed posture as if he had less Life in him than the Image and intended to petrifie A third lifts up Eyes Hands Voice to Heaven but all lay with infinite Devotion at her Feet Humbly recommending themselves to her Gracious Protection deprecating her displeasure begging the Pardon of their sins and beseeching her to let her poor Suppliants know what secret guilt there might be upon them which might cause such grief in her that was the Author of all their comfort Upon this the Novice that lay incognito behind the Curtain began to sob sigh and groan most piteously so that her Son which she held in her Arms for so must you conceive could not but condole with her and ask her My most dearly beloved Mother whence come these sad complaints My dear Son replyed she with a voice interrupted with frequent sobbings have I not cause to weep when this deluded World will needs Honour me to your apparent prejudice and against all Reason make it an Article of their Faith That I was born without sin which is your sole Prerogative being both their Saviour and mine Satisfie your self Mother replyed her Son and dry up those tears I will now take this cause into my own hands and determine the point so as to put it for ever out of dispute Then turning his speech to Jetzer he continued his discourse Brother John my special friend seeing thy holy Fathers apprehensive of danger are afraid to reveal and divulge my Apparitions and Miracles which I have vouchsafed their Covent for confirming this grand Truth I will now in my own person decide the Controverversie that the City of Berne if it will escape those terrible Judgements which hang over their heads may engage in this quarrel and lend their power and authority to support and vindicate my Revelations But go thy ways into the Chappel of St. John and there repose thy self a while then return and present thy self before this holy Image with the marks of thy five Wounds exposed to open view where thou
all in Arms to confute the Opponent which they managed with that bitterness and rage as gave occasion to some not otherwise suspitious to look more narrowly and impartially into the business The whole City was divided in their Judgements and great heats and animosities there were amongst them A certain Canon Henry Volfli an honest and well-meaning man in the Integrity of his heart maintained that if the testimony of our eyes could not be believed in this Cause it would call in Question the truth of the bodily Presence of Christ in the Mass but one Lewis Oubly on the other side asserted with no less vehemence That it was all but a pious fraud a grand cheat and that they ought to extort the truth of all from Jetzer by the Rack and extreme torture The prudent Senate of Bearne awaken'd with the clamours of these quarrelling parties and not knowing to what height it might grow judged it Adviseable to issue out a Commission to their Advocate Derlach to examine Jetzer whether the Virgin had really wept Blood and what was that severe Judgement she had threatned their City Derlach armed with Authority in pursuance of his powers comes to the Covent but the wary Fathers fearing least Jetzer might bolt out more of the Secret upon his Examination than was for their Interest to be known humbly entreated the Advocate to adjourn the Execution of his Commission for a few days pretending that in truth the poor Fryer was so spent with his late Extasies that he was not capable to give him a satisfactory aecount The Advocate being their real Friend condescended the Fathers now having gained some respite cast about how to prepare Jetzer to subserve their designs whereupon the Sunday following very early the Lecturer hides himself behind a large picture which hung near the Image of our Lady in her Chappel and the other three Fathers introduce Jetzer to learn whether it might not please the Virgin to declare her self more absolutely and fully upon this point whilest therefore they were all in Prayers with great Devotion before the Image the Lecturer in the Name of our Lady thus spoke to Jetzer Brother John my dear Friend The Lords of the Council of this City will certainly send their Commissioner to ask thee why I wept and lamented so heavily of late and what are those calamities which I threatned to them and their City and for what cause I thus menaced them Thus therefore shalt thou answer them That my main design is to confirm the truth of all my Apparitions and Revelations to thy self That what I have said touching my Conception ought first to be reported to his Holiness that he may make such Decree thereupon as is agreeable to the Truth That the Laity ought not to make a judgement of those things which were above their Capacity That my Image did weep for as for my Person that is above the reach of sorrow because of the unbelief both of this City and of some of the Fathers of this Covent of such gracious and evident Apparitions and Miracles That the Senate had formerly by a sacrilegious Decree banished the Teutonick Order and plac'd Secular Canons in their room that they had also rased and destroyed many Cloysters and Churches that they had taken an Oath to entertain no more foreign Pensions wherein nevertheless they had incurred the guilt and pains of Perjury and therefore the full Vials of Divine Wrath were ready to be poured out upon their City and Territories had not my Intercession with my Son diverted or suspended the execution of that dreadful Sentence which said she I have hitherto done in hopes of their Repentance and Reformation out of my true Love to thee my dear Friend and this Holy House The Lecturer all this while was in little ease behind the Picture and turning himself to shift his side for some ease he unhappily moved the Frame of the Picture as if it were just a falling Jetzer suddenly cryed out Shall I stop it The Fathers as readily Answered By no means It would doubtless take care of it self But when it totter'd the second time Jetzer verily thinking it would have fallen upon his Head could not contain himself but puts a hand to support it and thrusting it a little to set it even and fixt he unluckily spyed the Lecturer lying behind it Vexation Madness and whatever Passion might transport a Man entred him at the same time he catches fast hold on him and by his Cowl drags him backwards upon the Altar calling them all the Names he could invent Dissemblers Rogues Villains Rascals that could find themselves nothing to do but abuse a poor Innocent Fellow The Fathers being again thus entrapped yet lost not their Confidence but flying to their former Excuse added that fearing lest he should not Obey the Instructions formerly given him they had used the Name of the Virgin for his own Advantage to engage him to do his Duty which he had otherwise been sufficiently bound to and that therefore he ought to give such Answers to the Interrogatories of the Council as his former Revelations from the Virgin should enjoyn him Jetzer seem'd at present contented and in this dubious state of Affairs they waited the second coming of Derlach the States Commissioner Not long after this came Dr. Fricker a Member of the Council with Chancellour Schaller empowred with the same Commission which was formerly directed to the Advocate Derlach and when they Examined Jetzer upon the Questions he pleaded his great inability and desired the Lecturer might relate the whole Story as in his Name but the Commissioners not satisfied therewith would have him Personally to make Answer to whatever they should propose to him The Fathers did not at all like these proceedings that their Covent should be Visited by the Secular Magistrate and therefore began to Huff and Hector at a strange rate so that the Commissioners went away excusing the Matter to the Council as well as they could imputing all to the Ignorance of Jetzer rather than to any Practise and Imposture of the Reverend Fathers Dr. Fricker himself being one hugely affectionate to them and one whose Interest served them mightily in the Progress of this Affair From this time Jetzer discovered great dissatisfaction of Mind no Arguments could ever after induce him to believe the truth of these Visions and Revelations nor would he ever be perswaded to undergo the Passion any more though he was Ambitious enough of the Honour of an Enthusiast But the Fathers who had now gone too far to make an Honourable and safe Retreat set a good face on the Matter and resolving to become the Aggressors presented themselves to the Council humbly entreating to Honour them either in their Persons or by their Delegates to see those Miracles which the Divine Grace had favoured their Cloyster withall and to give them their Advice thereupon as the case should require The Council immediately Deputed some of their Number to
whom were joyned the Provost of the Chapter the Dean the Sacristan and some others of considerable Quality All these the next Sunday at their Arrival in the Covent were conductded into the Chappel where the Prior shewed them the Famous red coloured Hoste the two Wax Candles which the Blessed Virgin brought with her from Heaven the Silver Box in which were enclosed the little Crosses and the drops of the Blood of Christ with them for the truth of which he pawn'd Soul and Salvation All this was carried with that Pompous Decency that became a Matter so Sacred and August and in fine the Holy Reliques were shewed to the People who out of Curiosity had crowded in such multitudes to see the Glorious sight that they were forced to shut the Doors lest their rudeness should have Prophaned the Sacred Mysteries After all the Fathers repeated to the Deputies whatever had happened to this eminent Saint Jetzer adding moreover that they had an express Command not to Reveal the Reasons of these things to any but the Pope himself in testimony whereof they referr'd themselves to the Attestation of Jetzer A little while after upon the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul the Patron of their Church the Prior with the whole Covent went in Procession carrying in Pomp the red coloured Hoste allotting it several stations to expose it to the view of the People with the fore-mentioned Box and the Holy Candles which they made the People believe could not be lighted by any but the B. Virgin her self which drew an infinite throng of People after it both of the City and Countrey the Emperours Embassador who then resided in the City and the Agents of the other Cantons not scorning to attend this Religious Cavalcade And in a fair way they were to have impoposed upon the World had not the Providence of God timely interposed to Discover the Imposture which had else laid the Foundation for much Idolatry and Superstition in the following Ages This Affair became the Subject of Mens Discourses and was entertain'd with such diversity of Sentiments that the State of Berne thought it adviseable to dispatch an Express to the Provincial of the Dominicans desiring him to make a narrow scrutiny into it that there might ensue no scandal to the World and that he would be pleased to give them his thoughts how they might demean themselves in the business The Provincial Solemnly sends the two Doctors Wetter and Hug sufficiently Instructed in their Errand who coming to Berne acquaint the four Fathers of the Covent what the Chapter General of their Order held at Padua had determined about it They advised them by little and little to let it die and the thing would be but nine days Wonder the noise would cease and all things in a while would return to their old peaceable posture But the Fathers tell Jetzer quite another story assuring him that the whole procedure was owned by God and all good Men that it would clear it self in due time and having wrought it self through all Difficulties and broken through the Clouds of Envy shine at last with greater Lustre For all this Jetzer grumbled to himself and though Ambitious enough to be reputed a Saint and one of the first Magnitude yet was not boyled up to that height as to believe such palpable Forgeries Dr. Hug makes him a private Visit hereupon and chides him very severely for his Obstinacy saying that he had no Reason to think much less to speak so slovenly of his Reverend and Holy Superiours Men of tryed Integrity and strict Consciences whom no Temptation could be great enough to seduce to the least evil Still Jetzer was stubborn and for all his threats could not forbear to say that whatever it cost him he must declare to all the World that he saw nothing but Imposture and Knavery Hug was inraged at this Answer and having accidentally a bunch of Keys in his hand laid Jetzer full drive over the Face that the Blood ran about his Ears and he cryed out Murder Murder These Visitors who on the part of the Provincial had the Affair in hand hearing that the Council of Berne were resolv'd to Invite the Bishop of Lausanne to come and take a more particular Examination of the Matter by common consent agreed to supervise the Statutes of their Covent from thence the better to understand their Priviledge in reference to the Civil Magistrate the Secular Clergy and their Authority over their own Members and reading some clauses to Jetzer containing their Power to Imprison and otherwise to punish the disobedient Friers on purpose to affright him into better manners they perswaded him either to accept a Higher degree in their own Order or to remove to some other far distant Cloyster both which with great Resolution he peremptorily refused They seeing his Audacious stubbornness send for a Mass-book and opening it before him made him lay his Right hand upon a Crucifix and to Swear by the Power of God and the Severity of his Vengeance according to a form in Latin which they proposed to him that he would never speak otherwise of the Conception of the Virgin than had been taught him nor ever directly or indirectly reveal any thing or matter that might any ways prejudice his Superiours and that he should avow before all the World that whatever Apparitions Revelations Miracles had past amongst them were of indubitable verity They charged him moreover not to withdraw from the Covent to shew himself Obedient and tractable to the Fathers and not to regard the prate of the World which they said lay drench'd in Wickedness and was more ready to give credence to the Devil than to God himself And now they thought they had made him their own and halter'd up his Conscience that it should not flinch from their Party and Interest Not long after this trusting to the hanck they had got over Jetzer's Conscience by this Solemn Oath the Prior in a fair white Surplice with a Rose embroyder'd on it representing St. Bernard came to try Jetzer's Faith or Patience and thus began Frier John the Friend of God! That thou mayst be fully convinced that the Cordeliers in the point of the Conception are Heretical and as much as in them lyeth offer a high affront both to the Blessed Virgin and her Son Jesus see here this beautiful Rose which was given me by the Virgins own hand in Testimony of the Truth of the Dominican Doctrine And I am now sent from Heaven to settle thy Faith lest by Reason of the many false and flying Reports thou shouldst be stagger'd in the belief of the reality of her Appearing to thee I must charge thee also to Obey thy Superiours and have express Command to comfort strengthen and settle thee in that Obedience thou owest to them that thou mayst also strengthen their hands in those Sufferings which for their Couragious asserting the Truth they may undergo from this unbelieving Age. This St. Bernard
Divine Presence to bear them up under all Difficulties and Oppositions This Eloquent Oration somewhat amated the poor Man and the more because he look'd for no such Glorious Appearance till recollecting himself he suspected the old Artifice and therefore with down-right scolding he Saluted her Lady-ship and treated her very rudely for all her fine Accoutrements Thou Mary said he the Devil as soon and without more words drawing his Knife which for a piece of extempory Service he always wore about him made at her with might and main But Mary who had heard of Jetzer's Rancounter with St. Cicily thought it not Prudence to come to fifty-cuffs and popping out the Candle mounted up the Organ-stairs and scaped a scowring Jetzer crys out The Virgin is too nimble for me but I shall be even with her one time or other Frier Jost Hack Answered O Profane wretch how hast thou disturb'd the Vision which after-ages will Curse thee for At this comes his Father Confessor What has the Virgin says he really now at last appeared The Virgin Replyed Jetzer with scorn no I am confident it was the Devil Come says the Prior leave off this squabble let 's return to our Devotions they obeyed and then he takes the Sacrament and with their Church-Musick marches in form of a Procession with great Gravity and Pomp the Father Confessor takes him gently by the Hand not permitting any to exchange a word with him lest his awakened Passion should blaze abroad the Cheat to all within reach of his Clamour whispering to him that without all controversie this was a most real Vision To which Jetzer return'd that he could see nothing in it but a continuaton of their former Villanies and Rogueries The Confessor for that sawcy Language and his notorious unbelief imposed this Penance on him that he should come before the High Altar and there stripping himself stark naked to his Navel should receive a competent number of Lashes with the Iron Chain to all which the poor slave with Patience perforce submitted There were present two Canons Dubi and Volfli who freely upon this occasion offer'd themselves to the same Discipline and would have rejoyced to have undergone it twice over as they said to have had the honour of Jetzer's Revelations and the Fathers hoped to make good use of their simplicity they being forward to testifie the truth of this last Vision which they readily did under their Hands and Seals Dubi protested he never saw such a glorious person in his life nor ever expected to see the like on this side Heaven and Volfli avowed that the glory of her presence so dazled his eyes that he could not perfectly see her face and that he could not refrain tears of transporting joy especially when he saw the Holy Frier so readily submit to that severe discipline The conclusion was the Fathers warned Jetzer to hold all these Revelations for the greatest Certainties and to make conscience of his Oath that he disturb'd not the affair during their Absence in their Voyage to Rome And now the Lecturer and Sub-prior leave Berne September the 24 th designing to wait on their General first to report to him the whole matter that with his Approbation they might more confidently and authentically appear before his Holiness but finding him deceased they had recourse to Cajetane the Vicar Generall who shortly after was elected Generall and not long after that was made Cardinall to him they open the whole business with all its circumstances in Ample manner from first to last but he being a Person of great understanding deputed the Procurator of their Order to examine the Affair and when he heard the Report commanded them to proceed no further in it only he promis'd them that he would procure from the Pope a Brief whereby they and their Order should be Indempnified provided they would desist and make no more words of it This Brief in a while was procured and dispatcht to the Priors of Berne and Interlacken with a recommendatory Letter to maintain the Innocence of the Order with which they return'd home in January in the year 1508. but the chief Magistrates being highly provoked by their attempted Journey they suppressed the Brief and durst not at all own it During their absence various rumours and discourses pass'd in the City some offering to lay any wager that they would procure a Confirmation of these Miracles and Apparitions Others were as confident that the Fathers were run away and that their pretended journey was but a handsome way of escaping the punishment due to their horrid Impieties but all agreed that it was an eternal dishonour to their City That they had been imposed upon to worship a sorry Taylours Boy for a Saint and a red-coloured Hoste for a God and by degrees the town-talk went so high and the dissatisfacton of the People was so great that the Council was obliged to summon the Prior and Jetzer personally to appear before them upon the first day of October They appeared but nothing could be got out of them but only this they referred themselves to the blessed Virgin for an Answer to all Interrogatories that were put to them The Council was at a loss and knew not how to deal with such refractory fellows and therefore they remitted the Prior to his Covent bidding him mind his business and for Jetzer they threatned to send him to his Competent Judge there to be further and fully examin'd about the whole Intrigue Accordingly the next day Jetzer was sent to Lausanne with Letters to the Bishop earnestly desiring him to commit him to close Durance and to examine him with all strictness requisite to sift out the bottom Upon the 8th of October Jetzer appeared before the Bishop assisted by several Doctors of Law and Canons Francis de Tabrieu Lewis de Piere Baptist Hicard Vicar Guidon de prez Michael de Sancto Cyriaco William de Mondragon and other Secular Officers The Bishop examined him strictly of all the Circumstances of the affair but Jetzer set a good face upon the matter taking his Oath by laying his hand upon the Gospels that all contained in the Narrative of the Prior was exactly true only as to the Conception of the Virgin Mary he desired to be excused On the fifteenth of the same Month he confirm'd again with the greatest vehemence the truth of his former Confession that the V. Mary had appeared to him and that all these Revelations and Miracles were true in manner aforesaid and that he would take his death upon it and being ask'd whether the blessed Virgin had ever appear'd to him since his coming to Lausanne he answer'd Yes both upon Sunday and Wednesday last and that amongst other things she had told him That during all her Sojourn upon Earth she never had a good day free from Tribulations and Afflictions but she thank'd God being now in Heaven with her Son she was fill'd with unspeakable satisfaction to which Glory he
shalt abide immovably till some of the Lords of the Council of this City shall be sent for in whose presence thou shalt receive the blessed Sacrament and suffer my Passion The Fathers feigned themselves extremely ravisht at this extraordinary Revelation And now dear Brother said they to Jetzer embracing him you would not believe the former Revelations what say you now to Christ himself Alas alas replyed he poor wretched sinner I am convinced I am convinced Then they shewed him how all the Candles in the Chappel at one clap were lighted and presently conveyed him to St. Johns Oratory And during his short Recess the Novice who had so well acted these two parts slipt away without notice and then they bring him back into our Ladies Chappel and place him upon his knees upon the High Altar just before the Image of our Lady laying his head in her Lap and enjoyning him to abide in that posture without stirring hand or foot till such an hour Then they open his Wound and the Receiver tyes his hands in an elevated posture with a Taffata Scarf which was upon the Image that the simple Spectators might believe the Virgin her self had honour'd him with that mark of her favour This done they all quit the Chappel and lock the doors after them one of his Shooes they left before the High Altar another upon the steps that lead up to the Quire the Fillets that bound up his Wounds they scattered up and down the Chappel It was high time for some of the Fathers to goe and call in company one of them runs in great haste to their fast friend Advocate Diesbach another to Advocate Derlach and humbly entreated these Lords to come immediately to their Church The Receiver call'd in Rudolph Huber and Leonard Hupach two of their special friends and members of the Council of State them they conduct to the Gallery that overlooks the Quire and with wonderful astonishment relate to them how they had found Frier John Jetzer laid before the High Altar his Arms placed in the figure of the Cross when presently he vanisht away and they knew not what was become of him till after some search they found him here in this posture you now see him in our Ladies Chappel How he came hither God knows we know not but there you see he is the doors are all fast lockt and the Prior has the Keys who as yet knows neither more nor less of this matter so that in all probability the Angels have brought him hither out of the Church into this Chappel where he has lyen in this posture without the least motion that we can discern ever since we found him And further say they it seems to us that our Ladies Image has wept Blood and therefore they had sent for their Honours that they might see with their own eyes these Wonders not knowing what work God had to do amongst them These grave Senators testified their astonishment by their looks and now the Prior comes with his Keyes which at first forsooth he could not find having forgot where he laid them last night and opening the doors they enter trembling and whilest they were saying their private Orisons the Receiver rounds Jetzer in the ear that he must now receive the blessed Sacrament then desiring the Lords to draw nigh and see Jetzer receive the the Sacrament and undergoe the Passion of Christ they all stood expecting the Issue The Receiver presently offers him the red-colour'd Hoste but Jetzer who had enough of that before gently refused it softly answering That it was a thing too holy for such a vile wretch as he to admit into his profane Mouth and Lips and that it might not breed a quarrel in the midst of the Tragedy they give him an ordinary one which he took and eat The Sub-prior then gives him a spoonfull or two of his Potion upon pretence to the Spectators that he needed some Cordial to revive his exhausted spirits and then they all began to thunder out in the Quire the Regina Coelorum at which Jetzer began his tricks first he jumps up on his feet stretching out his arms crossing his leggs one over the other lyes down all along as if he had been stone-dead and went through all the particulars of the counterfeit Passion as before Whilest these things were a doing a great number of the City taking the Alarm had gather'd at the doors of the Chappel whom the Fathers upon that solemn occasion admitted to see these rare Miracles who with wonderment beheld the Tragedy till at last Jetzer coming to himself was conducted with great Pomp to his Cell there to retire and repose himself after his great pains and exercise The Fathers though they came off in this Scene of Roguery pretty well yet were not a little troubled that they had missed their main end in dispatching Jetzer by the red-coloured Hoste Nevertheless they made the best of a bad matter and gained one great point that by the help of some poor superstitious Bigotts and old doting Women they had dispersed the fame of these Miracles That our Lady in the Covent of the Dominicans had wept tears of Blood That her Image had spoken terrible things against the City and that without Repentance and their peace made with her they must expect nothing less than sudden total and inevitable destruction This pass'd current amongst the vulgar but yet there wanted not some who being not so easily susceptible of these Impressions gave not over-much credit to them Amongst the rest there was one John Boursier a poor Curate who in the croud had viewed our Ladies tears this fellow having made a Ring in the throng of the People openly declares that he had viewed these tears with the best eyes he had and that he found them a mere piece of Imposture that they were nothing but red enamelled Drops with excellent Art laid on her cheeks and eyes This Harangue drew the rage of the Church-men upon him and the clamour of the superstitious Rabble nay some of the Lords of the Council chid him for his rashness and he out of fear of being cited before the Ecclesiastical Court excused himself in the fairest manner he could but the Prior told him that if he had caught him upon the Altar so curiously prying into the Secrets of the Image he would have fetcht him down with a vengeance and combed his head with a Bunch of Keys that he should have scratch'd his Pate all the days of his life and that he wondred how a Rascal that every night lay with his Whore durst be so bold as to approach the blessed Virgin Not long after the Lecturer brought in this whole affair by the head and shoulders into his Sermon where he magnified the Miracle and declaimed against the Impudences of this Curate And all the Fathers were so passionately concern'd to obtrude this Fiction for a real Miracle that they could not bear the least contradiction but they were