Centuria Librorum Absconditorum  

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"Of all the learned physicians or surgeons who have written upon the physical connection of the sexes, no one has treated the subject so thoroughly, or brought together so many curious, interesting and extraordinary details as Dr. Martin Schurig."--Centuria Librorum Absconditorum (1879) by Henry Spencer Ashbee

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Centuria Librorum Absconditorum (1879) is the second part of Notes on Curious and Uncommon Books (1877-1885) by Henry Spencer Ashbee.

Contents

Full text

To the Reader

This book for men alone is meant,
Book-worms, or bibliophiles anent,

Of solid mind, of serious bent,

On curious, hidden books intent,

On odd research and learning.

Should pastime all thy thoughts engage,
Or trifles of the present age,

Its words will not thy thirst assuage;
Close it at once; its lightest page
Will not repay thy turning.

From maids and inexperienced youths
Prithee conceal its bitter truths.

Quaeque ades exhortor, procul hinc matrona, recede
Quaeque ades hinc pariter, virgo pudice, fuge.

Panormiti Hermaphroditus.

Epigraphs

Voulant doncqucs (je vostre humble esclave) accroistre vos passetemps dadvantage, vous offre de présent un aultre livre de mesme billon, sinon qu'il est peu plus équitable et digne de foi que n'estoit l'aultre. Car ne croyez (si ne voulez errer à vostre escient) que j'en parle comme les Juifs de la loi. Je ne sub né en telle planète, et ne m'advint onques de mentir ou assurer chose qui ne fust véritable. J'en parle comme un gaillard onocrotale, voire, dis-je, crotenotaire dçs martyrs amans, et croquenotaire de amours : j'en parle comme sainct Jean de l'Apocalypse, quod vidimus testamur,

Rabelais. Pantagruel, Prologue.

>■■«<

Après le plaisir de posséder des livres, il n'y en a guère de plus doux que celui d'en parler, et de communiquer au public ces innocentes richesses de la pensée qu'on acquiert dans la culture des lettres.

Charles Nodier. Mélanges tirés d'une petite bibliothéque Préface.

There is not perhaps any man so good a judge of the difficulty of writing a book, as an actual author. He soon discovers how many qualifications are necessary, how much science is required, and which are the points of most' difficult access. He soon finds out his own deficiencies ; and, as regards his powers, that some difficulties may be insurmountable. That essay, which sometimes originates in study and amusement, gets insensibly into growth, and is perpetuated. For, having been undertaken in the spirit of an inquirer, it is frequently carried on in the capacity of a student. This student, however, soon assumes the master, and pro- nounces his decisions on critical subjects, as authoritatively as if all learning and languages were at his finders ends. ....

vi. EPIGRAPHS.

No man's industry is mis-spent, if he merely clear the obstruction from any path ; and the very attempt to shew what \s right, frequently exposes that which is wrong; so that the immediate blunders of one person rectify those of another ; and he ever must deserve well of society who attempts improvement.....

Bibliography is a dry occupation,—a caput mortuum,—it is a borrowed production, which brings very little grist to the mill ; and so difficult and tedious is the object, of laying before our eyes alt the real or reported copies or editions of the works enumerated, that almost every line of our reports may be suspected of falsehood. How are we to collect, how to produce, how to examine, the originals ? Many books are so scarce, so sequestered in private hands, or in the mansions of the great, that even thî keen eyes of lucriferous booksellers cannot find them. And if they cannot, who the deuce can ?

James Atkinson, Medical Bibliography, preface

 every man of our Saxon race endowed with full health and strength, there is committed, as if it were the price he pays for these blessings, the custody of a restless demon, for which he is doomed to find ceaseless excitement, either in honest work, or some less profitable or more mischievous occupation. Countless have been the projects devised by the wit of man to open up for this fiend fields of exertion great enough for the absorption of its tireless energies, and none of them is  hopeful than the great world of books, if the demon is docile enough to be coaxed into it. Then will its erratic restlessness be sobered by the immensity of the sphere of exertion, and the consciousness that, however vehemently and however long it may struggle, the resources set before it will not be exhausted when the life to which it is attached shall have faded away ; and hence, instead of dreading the languor of inaction, it will have to summon all its resources of promptness and activity to get ovar any considerable portion of the ground within the short space allotted to the life of man.

John Hill Burton. The Book-Hunter, p. 106.

I have no repugnances. Shaftesbury is not too genteel for me, nor Jonathan Wild too low. I can read anything which I call a book. There are things in that shape which I cannot allow for such.

In this catalogue of books which are  books—biblia a-biblia—I reckon Court Calendars, Directories, Pocket Books, Draught Boards, bound and lettered on the back, Scientific

EPIGRAPHS. VU.

Treatises, Almanacs, Statutes at Large : the works of Hume, Gibbon, Robertson, Beattie, Soame Jenyns, and generally, all those volumes which " no gentleman's library should be without :" the Histories of Flavius Josephus (that learned Jew), and Paley's Moral Philo- sophy. With these exceptions, I can read almost anything. I bless my stars for a taste so Catholic, so unexcluding.

Charles Lamb Last Essays of Elia.

Vous voyez que, pour être, comme vous aussi, un Amoureux du Livre (et j'ai fait mes preuves depuis cinquante ans), je ne suis ni exclusif, ni intolérant, et que je ne contrains pas les gens à n'aimer que certains livres, à ne lire que les bons ; je ne les invite pas même à détruire, à brûler les mauvais, car, en ma qualité d' Amoureux du Livre, en général, j'ai des préférences et des répugnances ; j'ai des passions et des illusions, ainsi que tous les amoureux, mais je pense que les plus mauvais livres ont leur raison d'être et leur utilité relative, comme les poisons parmi les végétaux, comme les bêtes féroces parmi les animaux, comme les démons parmi les puissances du monde invisible. Il est vrai qu'à mon âge l'amoureux se métamorphose en philosophe.

Paul Lacroix. Les amoureux du livre, Préface.

Omnes ! Omnes ! let others ignore what they may ; I make the poem of evil also—I commemorate that part also ; I am myself just as much evil as good, and my nation is—And I say

there is in fact no evil j (Or if there is, I say it is just as important to you, to the land, or to me, as anything else.)

Walt Whitman. Leaves of Grass .....î=3^»î«^'---------------------------------

For Books are not absolutely dead things, but doe contain-a potencie of life in them to be as active as that soule was whose progeny they are ; nay they do preserve as in a violi the purest efficacie and extraction of that living intellect that bred them......

VUL EPIGRAPHS.

For books are as meats and viands are, some of good, some of evill substance ; and yet God in that unapocryphall vision, said without exception, Rise Peter, kill and eat, leaving the choice to each mans discretion. Wholesome meats to a vitiated stomack differ little or nothing from unwholesome ; and best books to a naughty mind are not unappliable to occasions of evill. Bad meats will scarce breed good nourishment in the healthiest concoction ; but herein the difference is of bad books, that they to a discreet and judicious Reader serve in many respects to discover, to confute, to forewarn, and to illustrate......

Since therefore the knowledge and survay of vice is in this world so necessary to the constituting of human virtue, and the scanning of error to the confirmation of truth, how can we more safely, and with lesse danger scout into the regions of sin and falsity then by reading all manner of tractats, and hearing all manner of reason ? And this is the benefit which may be had of books promiscuously read.

Milton. Areopagitica.

L'Amour, la Galanterie & même le Libertinage ont de tous temps fait un article si considér- able dans la vie de la plupart des hommes, & surtout des gens du monde, que l'on ne connôi- troit qu'imparfaitement les mœurs d'une nation, si l'on négîigeoit un objet si important.

Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire du dix-huitième siècle, Avertissement.


Il y a des gens qui, si on leur donnait à disséquer un cadavre, ne verraient qu'une chose, c'est qu'il est nu. Ces esprits sont tellement sales qu'ils en sont bêtes, ou sont tellement bêtes qu'ils en sont sales. D'un livre, si mauvais qu'il soit (quelqu'un l'a dit, je crois que c*est tout le monde), on peut tirer quelque chose de bon.

Je suppose une chose immonde, un corps en putréfaction : l'homme de science ne reculera pas d'horreur ; la science est belle, car elle est utile. Je mets cette îmmondioe au creuset de l'analyse et de l'observation, et j'en sépare les principes différents. Faisons de la chimie intel- lectuelle j cherchons comment ces principes de purs sont devenus corrompus ; et cherchons comment on pourra les ramener à leur premier état. Les éléments que nous analysons sont remplis d'un venin corrosif pour les faibles cerveaux j cherchons à neutraliser ces mauvaises influences. On empêche bien la décomposition des cadavres, ne peut-on empêcher la décomposition des intelligences ? Si les faibles savaient, si nous savions tous qu'un vice a mauvais goût et fait du mal, avec quel bonheur nous le fuirions I II suffit de voir certaines ignominies telles qu'elles sont pour les avoir en haine.

Adèle Esquiros Les Marchands d'amour, p. 189,

EPIGRAPHS, IX.

Nota if any mo'lest mind shall (haply) take offence at some of his (Henri Estiene's) broad speechen, or shall thin ce thai they might haue bin better spared.· I shall desire hiin to consider that it is not so easie a matter to find modest words to expresse immodest things : as himself e sait h Chap, 34. § 2. (quoted on my title page) that he hath but laid forth the Hues of Popish Prelates, as Suetonius is said to haue written the Hues of the Emperours, Eadem libértate qua ipsi vixerunt : and that there is no reason that some should commit their villany with impunity ; and that no man may speake against it with modesty : or that writers should be counted baudy Bales (that is, knaues) for publishing it, they honest men who practise it. As for those wit' foundred and letter-stricken students, 1 mean those cloudy spirits that are so wedded to the Muses, that they become enemies to the Graces, and can relish no discourse except it be full fraught and farced with Ob. and Sol. Videtur quod sic : probatur quod non, &c. Let them (a Gods name) enioy their Dunses and Dorbels, their Banes and Bambres, their Royards and blind bayards : so they measure vs not by their owne meat wand (making their minds the modell for all men) but giue vs leaue to vse our liberty, and to imitate the practise of prudent Physitians, who apply the medicine to the malady, with particular respect of the patients temper ,· not giuing the same potion to a queasie and a Steele stomach. For euery plummet is not for euery sound, nor euery line for euery leuel. All meats are not for euery mans mouth : nor all liquors for euery mans liking. The ignorant multitude and profound Clarks are not to be perswaded with the same arguments. For popular perswanon the learned prise not : and deepe demonstration the simple pierce not. They must also remember what Saint Augustine saith, Vtile est plures libros a pluribus fieri, diuerso stylo, non diuersa fide, etiam de quæstionibus ijsdem, vt ad plurimos res ipsa perueniat, ad alios sic, ad alios autem sic. (De Trink, lib. ï. cap. 3). That is, It is good that many bookes should be written by many men, & that of the same argument, in a different style, but not of a different faith : that so the same truth may be conueyed to many : to some after this manner, to some after that.

A World of Wonders, The Epistle to the Reader.


Φ-----------------

Nous n'essayerons pas de préciser, après d'autres plumes éloquentes, ce que c'est qu'un livre ; mais ce que nous pensons devoir dire, c'est ce qu'un livre n'est pas.

Un livre ne pourra jamais entrer en concurrence avec ce soi-disant but utilitaire, que lui imposent des auteurs incorruptibles. Un livre ne sera jamais, du moins nous le croyons, une ventouse qu'on puisse appliquer aux sociétés malades pour les guérir. Ce n'est point non plus une boîte à pilules avec laquelle on peut administrer aux hommes îa morale par petite dose?, excepté pour ces étranges philanthropes qui rêvent actuellement de transformer l'art en un emplâtre pour les plaies humaines.

b

X. EPIGRAPHS.

Non, un livre n'est point conçu dans l'officine d'unepharmacie. Le cabinet ou la mansarde dans lesquels il vient au monde ne sont hantés que par des visions délicates qui assiègent le penseur. L'artiste inconnu ou le riche lettré qui l'enfantent en polissent la forme avec le même amour. Souvent c'est un pan de draperie moulée qui suffit à éveiller dans l'esprit l'image des beautés secrètes qu'elle a dû couvrir, et chaque philistin de flétrir cette aspiration vers la per- fection plastique, de convoitise brutale. Autant vaudrait faire le procès de Phidias parce qu'il a touché au marbre, ou celui de Péricles parce qu'il a disposé pour lui des fonds de la répub- lique,—la vraie, celle-là.

Mme. Marie Quivogne. ^{¿tOÍrt ' tt ', Introduction.

......; for that which chiefly makes Bawdry in so ill Repute, is because it has been

always believ'd an Incentive to such Desires, as Divines tell us, shou'd rather be curb'd than encourag'd, and apt to bring Thoughts into peoples Heads, which ought not, and perhaps otherwise never wou'd come there ; now if barefac'd Bawdry has this particular property, that it does not hint these forbidden Thoughts, nor stir those unlawful Desires, but on the contrary flattens and stifles 'em, 'tis much more innocent, and consequently fitter to be us'd, or at least to be pardon'd, than any other.

Robert Wolseley. Prefaceto WãXttttíxtitta.

But obscene Words too grosse to move Desire, Like heaps of Fuel do but choak the Fire. That Author's Name has underserved Praise, Who pal'd the Appetite he meant to raise.

Rochester.

Preliminary Remarks.

IjggJHE present volume is a sequel to the $> £№0  CrobftttOnirø which I had privately printed in HBffiM 1877, and might with propriety have formed a second volume of that work, had I not, for several reasons,1 preferred rather to alter the first part of the title,* and to let

1 The most weighty of which are: (1) That the words "Index Librorum Prohibitorum," having been employed to designate works of a very different kind from my own, are misleading, and do not convey a proper notion of my book. (2) The same title has been lately revived, both at Rome and at Paris, (see Lisi of authorities, post), which renders a confusion between the three works very probable.

1 The most difficult part of a book is undoubtedly its title-page, nor am I by any means satisfied with that which I have now adopted. Since title-pages were first introduced—in 1487, at Strassburg, in the Confessionale of Antoninus —authors have been constantly at a loss how to christen their mental offspring. Some have cudgelled their brains to invent a few words appropriately to desig- nate their books, others have been constrained to add a perfect table of contents to their title-pages. Some bave endeavoured to Latinise their titles, others to render them in Greek or other ancient language, while not a few have sought so to word their title-pages that the true nature of their volumes should be carefully concealed. " Logic has not succeeded as yet (observes Mr. J. H. Burton) in discovering the means of framing a title-page which shall be exhaustive, as it is termed, and constitute an infallible finger-post to the nature of a book. From the beginning of all literature, it may be said that man has

XU. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

each volume stand by itself, the more so as each volume is complete in itself.

The Centuria £ff»rorum gptøCOnUttOntm is carried out on the same plan as that proposed at p. lxxi of the Index Lihrorum Prohibitorum, with the exception only of two slight changes, which will, I trust, be deemed ameliorations: (i) I have abolished the alphabetical arrangement in the body of the book. That arrangement was arbitrary, and served really no practical use for reference, as I anticipated it would. This alteration has enabled me, without binding myself to any strict rule, or system of classification, to throw together books by the same

been continually struggling after this achievement, and struggling in vain ; and it is a humiliating fact, that the greatest adepts, abandoning the effort in despair, have taken refuge in some fortuitous word, which has served their pur- pose better than the best results of their logical analysis. The book which has been the supreme ruler of the intellect in this kind of work, stands forth as an illustrious example of failure." ) Staoftf&untcr, p. 112. Several authors have amused themselves by composing imaginary title-pages, others in noting those which bore very marked peculiarities. Some amusing specimens of book-titles will be found, inter alia, in Jtantagmtl, Chap. 7 ; Cunositttt# of Etterature, I. Disraeli, vol. 1, p. 321 ; dfantatørøl i3tbltOgrapï)iquesS, fotprí* mruttf fmagmatrøf, <£$$αί Sur   imagínate, Gustave Brunet i île Coltøttoniuur, Louis J ud ι ci s; 3italtrtal. Uit Btbïiopïjt'te, part 3 -, fåHtacdlannå 33tbïtograpïjtpré, No. 6. One of the most remarkable deceptions of modern times was the Catalogue d*une irès-ricke mais peu nom- breuse collection de Livres provenant de la bibliothèque de feu Air. le Comte J.—N.—A. De Fortsas, dont la vente se fera à Binche, le 10 août 1840, tøV., by which many of the most astute collectors of Europe were duped. To the Catalogue should be added JEtacumttttø et Jførttculianttcø feultonqutf sur ¿e Catalogue du comte de For isas ; tøV. A Mons. pp. 222.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. .

author, upon the same subject, or of a kindred nature. In every instance of reference I beg my readers to apply to the Index,3 which I have endeavoured to render more explicit, more detailed, and more exhaustive, than in my former volume. (2) For the words " Index Librorum Prohibitorum," which were constantly repeated as page-headings throughout the volume, I have substituted the title of the book noticed, or a few words indicative of the person or subject mentioned in each page. This will, I hope, be found materially to facili- tate reference.

Like its predecessor, this volume is miscellaneous in its contents. As, however, in the Index Librorum Prohibí tor um, a few items were predominant, among which I may more par- ticularly point out the complete works of Edward Sellon,(4)

3 The importance of a thorough, alphabetical index cannot be too warmly or too frequently urged. " So essential (writes Lord Campbell) did I consider an Index to be to every book, that I proposed to bring a Bill into parliament to deprive an author who publishes a book without an Index of the privilege of copyright j and, moreover, to subject him, for his offence, to a pecuniary penalty." Cfje  of ti)t €ï)îtî ¿ustíftá of (Ё, Preface to vol. 3.

4 I have before me a most interesting collection of documents, made by Sellon himself. It comprises (1) a copy of %i)t 2£UaUer, No. for January 21, 1865, in which is given an account of a paper On the Linga puja, or Phallic warship of India, read by Sellon to the Anthropological Society, January 17 ; (2) Some Remarks on the Sancti Puja or The IForship of the Female Powers, and A Reply to the Attack in the Ethnological Review for December, 1865, two MSS. in Sellon's own writing 5 (3) numerous autograph letters, generally very eulogistic, concerning the above mentioned paper, and his ^HttOtattOlta un ti)*  rørttmgå of tíje &útiJU0, from C. Carter Blake, sec, J. F. Col-

XIV. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

and of John Davenport,^) the €&$aj) Ott ()

lingwood, v. p. of the society, from Sir J. Emerson Tennent, Thomas Wright, Dr. James Hunt, Dr. Kinkel, Col. J. Dickson, Col. P. Bernard, &c.

  • I supplement my brief memoir of him with the notice of his death.

John Davenport breathed his last May 11, 1877, at No. 30, Huntley Street (then No. 15, Alfred Street), W.C. He died in the greatest penury, having been supported during the last months of his existence by donations from the Royal Literary Fund, and the bounty of private individuals.

6 Since writing my notice, I have had occasion to inspect, at the Record Office, the original indictment, in which enough of the poem is set forth to enable me to pronounce as genuine versions, the edition which heads my article (p. 198) and Hotten's reprint (p. 229) j although no decision as to the purity of the texts can be given until they shall have been compared with that of the edition printed at Wilkes's own press. In the indictment the work is described as : ** a certain malignant obscene and impious libel or composition intitled &tt Qrääav oit , and purporting to be inscribed to Miss Fanny Murray with a certain obscene frontispiece or sculpture prefixed to the said Libel and in the title page thereof representing the Genitals or private parts of a man in which said libel or composition were then and there contained (amongst other things) divers wicked obscene and scandalous matters (that is to say) in one part thereof to the tenor and effect following (to wit) Awake my Fanny, leave all meaner things, This morn shall prove what raptures swiving brings, &c.*' Several of the notes are similarly set forth, and the separate poems, The Universal Prayer and Feni Creator are specially mentioned. It may not be inappropriate to note here an edition in the Advocate's Library, Edinburgh, which I have not previously mentioned, and which is curious although a spurious one. It is a small 4X0 pamphlet of 17 pages in all j of which the title page, ornamented with a fleuron, reads as follows : This Day is Published, Price is. 6d. >   oil , in Three Epistles. Sold at a Pamphlet-Shop,the Corner of Lovafs-Court,m Pater-Noster-Row, and nowhere eise, *** If no dangerous Consequences resuit from this Publication, the 

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XV.

by the once notorious John Wilkes,(*) numerous books on

may expect the Fourth Epistle and the Notes, in a few Days. The first and last couplets of the poem are as follows :

" Awake ! my  ....... , leave all things beside,

"To low ambition, and to Scottish pride:

"Those only fixed, they, first or last, obey,

"The love of pleasure, and the love of sway." The version is then the same as that noticed at p. 220 of the ittbty 

Pro!)tbttørum, as No. 3, without the French translation.

1 To the numerous authorities concerning him there cited may still be added : itøig ; <t£bívfomç$ ì&tbitb, 1839$ &tbm  ? fnuixbtsi, October 15, 1875. But mentions are made of John Wilkes where one would little expect to find them—a proof, I take it, that he has influenced the minds of men more universally than is generally supposed. In Ci)i QføtOit of SuUgmitlt of Southey he figures as the "Lord of Misrule in his day," known "by the cast of his eye oblique," and Lord Byron, in his parody of that poem, introduces him as :

"A merry, cock-e)red, curious-looking sprite."

Perhaps I may be permitted to transcribe the following striking passage with which Lord Lytton concludes his tale, Saul CliflforK: "O John Wilkes ! Alderman of London, and Drawcansir of Liberty, your life was not an iota too perfect,—your patriotism might have been infinitely purer,—your morals would have admitted indefinite amendment: you are no great favourite with us or with the rest of the world ; but you said one excellent thing, for which we look on you with benevolence, nay, almost with re- spect. We scarcely know whether to smile at its wit, or to sigh at its wis- dom. Mark this truth, all ye gentlemen of England, who would make laws as the Romans made fasces—a bundle of rods with an axe in the middle \ mark it, and remember ! long may it live, allied with hope in ourselves, but with gratitude in our children j—long after the book which it now ' adorns * and

  • points * has gone to its dusty slumber j—long, long after the feverish hand

XVI. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Flagellation,(8) and upon Sodomy, (9) both in France and England; so, in the Centuria Lïbrorum A'bscondilorum, some authors and subjects occupy more space than others, such as the works of Schurigius, books connected with the Church of

which now writes it down can defend or enforce it no more :—' The very worst use to which you can put a man is to hang him ! * "

The lord-mayoralty of the "friend of liberty" was commemorated in a modest obelisk the existence and whereabouts of which are little known even to Londoners. It stands in the middle of Bridge Street, Blackfriars, at the junction of Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill, facing a similar monument to Robert Wait h m an of the " Emporium for Shawls," and is inscribed : " a.d.mdcclxxv. The Right Honorable John Wilkes. Lord Mayor.

In order more fully to illustrate this strange propensity, I reproduce two engravings, chosen from among several others of a similar nature, in vogue during the latter part of the last, and the beginning of the present century. The original of the first, which is without signature or title, is by H. F. Grave lot, and measures n by 9 inches ; a lithographic reproduction of this plate, in a reduced form, size, ex title, 9 by 8 i inches, was made by J.  Hotten, who, more suo, supplied it with a title and supposed artist's name, and issued it as Molly's first Correction, from the very rare original by Hogarth. The second : Lady Termagant Flay bum going to give her Step Son a taste of her Desert after Dinner, &c, which I have already mentioned at p. 375 of the hxbty  ïkûïjtÏHtûWm, is entirely different, and much bolder in treatment, and is by an artist of no mean talent, although I have been unable to discover his name -} the size of the original, not including the title, is 2i| by 16 inches. This second plate will be found inserted at the end of the Additions, facing some further notes on Flagellation.

9 No books specially devoted to this subject are comprised in the following pages, unless I mention Sodom noticed at p. 326, but I would call the atten- tion of my readers to the very remarkable notes which I have been able to add at p. 404, post.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XVÜ.

Rome, and the numerous erotic productions of the pencil and etching-needle of Thomas Rowlandson. Upon these I desire to make a few introductory observations.

Of all the learned physicians or surgeons who have written upon the physical connection of the sexes, no one has treated the subject so thoroughly, or brought together so many curious, interesting and extraordinary details as Dr. Martin Schurig. The lovers of the curiosities of literature will assuredly not be displeased at having these little known, and less read volumes brought more prominently before them.

Already in the thirteenth century, Albert Bollstoedt, bishop of Ratisbonne, better known as Albertus Magnus,(10) had, in spite of his clerical profession,^1) furnished much scabrous matter concerning the opposite sex in his work : Mt åPtttttø ¿WuítertmuO3) The learned bishop gives his reasons for having composed that treatise : " Quia malum non evitatur nisi cognitum : ideo necesse est volentibus abstinere, cognoscere immundiciem coïtus et multa alia quæ docentur in isto libro."

Later, during the same century, in his $Ugímttt J&HttttlU ttó,(13) Arnaldus de Villanova, in a chapter De ornatû

10 See that name in . %tetortqut de Bayle, &c.

11 " Shall a bishop, raised to the See of Ratisbone, (exclaims the erudite James Atkinson) and (still more monstrous) shall a canonized man, an '(in cœlum sublevatus/ undertake a natural history of the most natural secret, inter secretalia fceminea ? Is the natural and divine law at once to be expounded, inter Scyllam et Charybdim, of defaOance and human orgasm?" fiSUtiical %%$, Ρ· 7*.

13 !  , vol. ι, col. 138. * Ibid., vol, 5, col 1227.

Xviii. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

mulierum, furnished a receipt " ut desiderium et dulcedo (coïtus) augeatur." In another chapter he says : " In hoc meo Deo auxiliante, de egritudinibus quae proprie mulieribus acci dunt tractare intendo ;" and one can imagine the details which he gives when he adds : " et quia mulieres ut plurimum sunt Animalia Venenosa."(14) In the next century, one of the popes, John xxii, wrote a work upon the formation of the foetus.(IS)

All this may perhaps be placed to the account of the bar- barity of the age. Passing now to a much more recent date, we have, published at Rome, in 1642, the remarkable work by Dr. SiNiBALDUs, ØmtUtitbtOptXU ; (1) and about a century later the erudite Jean Astruc gave to the world his fflt

aïlcirbtó Wmtvttó, and Cratte beø áHalaotesí bes jfem--

ÎWS^O7) in which works he treats everything in the freest manner possible. (l8)

14 To which passage James Atkinson appends the following humourous criticism : " (Oh the rascal !) begging leave, (Deo auxiliante,) with God's blessing and his own endeavours, to abuse the dear creatures,—f Et de morsu Animalium Venenosorum, &c.' " He adds :ff Simple Villa Nova ! what occasion for any of his abominations j could he suppose they did not understand the rights of man. Why not leave the expedient to the genius and resources of the ladies 3 they all knew full well, that there is no steering the best rigged man of war in a storm, without command of the steerage ; and they never affect to strike fire out of a cheese paring." judical Mrøograpijji» pp. 76 and 78.

15 Biographie  (Michaud), vol. 20, p. 610 ; Carea» p. 75.

16 Fully noticed at p. 260 of the '  ikoi)ifottoram.

17 iStograppa , vol 1, p. 28; 33tograp|te Jlroteale, vol. 1, pp. 400 and 4015 3Síograp|ie fteá & jAeUtcaleiï.

18 In the IKetøtcal Stbltograpfø, (already cited) p. 133, there is an excellent notice upon Astruc and his works.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XIX.

One might imagine from these remarks that, as far as the medical art was concerned, the boldest enquiries and the most naked details concerning the union of the sexes and its conse- quences had been made known, but this would be a grave error. The particulars, observations, and anecdotes given by Schurig far surpass any thing in the works already mentioned, as will be seen in the analyses of the six works noticed in these pages (pp. ι to io), although to form any just notion of what they really contain the books themselves should be read ; and they will be found thoroughly interesting by those not con- nected with the profession.

It may to the general reader appear strange, and be deemed impossible by one who has not considered the subject, that books of an objectionable, immoral, or obscene nature should be found connected with any religion, the primary object of which is, or is believed to be, in every instance, the teaching, in some form or other, of purity and morality ; but a very super- ficial enquiry will suffice to show that whatever the tenets of the founder, or founders, every system of theology has, sooner or later, become alloyed with immoral doctrines, impure rites, or obscene practices and customs. None, I opine, have been more shamefully perverted and degraded than that originated by the lawgiver of Sinai, and modified by the carpenter's son of Bethlehem.(19) Around none assuredly has so voluminous

19 Concerning CJe Btfck itself, I do not propose to make any remarks ; although, as it is a prohibited book to the greater part of the Christian world, it would fairly come within the scope of the present essay. To those wishful

XX. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

and objectionable a literature sprung up.(ao) This cannot well

of having the turpitudes, blasphemies, and contradictions which undoubtedly defile its pages served up with a sauce of exquisite wit and banter, I would recom- mend He Cttatmr of Pigault-lebrun. I shall confine myself here to citing the sober words of Milton, who exclaims : " yea the Bible it selfe ; for that oftimes relates blasphemy not nicely, it describes the carnal! sense of wicked men not unelegantly, it brings in holiest men passionately murmuring against providence through all the arguments of Epicurus : in other great disputes it answers dubiously and darkly to the common reader : And ask a Talmudist what ails the modesty of his marginali Keri, that Moses and all the Prophets cannot persuade him to pronounce the textuall Chetiv. For these causes we all know the Bible it selfe put by the Papist into the first rank of prohibited books." ^reopagittca.

20 Let me say a word concerning the Jewish commentators, to whom allusion has been made in the foregoing note. Nothing can exceed the horrible- ness of their legends, or the filthiness of their comments upon the Old Testa- ment. Dr. Edward Vaughan Kenealy, whose erudition in Rabbinical literature is remarkable, has, in five ponderous volumes, treated the subject very exhaustively. I extract two passages : "The believers in the rabbis excused to themselves the frightful enormities of which we know they were guilty, (see Part I., pages 354, 432, 434, and Exodus xxii. 19, Leviticus xviii, 23, xx. 15, 16 ; and Deuteronomy xxvii. 21), by the example of their feigned progeni- tor, Adam, who as their Rabbis taught them, had carnal knowledge of every tame and wild beast on the earth, and was not satisfied until God made Eve for him. This fearful doctrine is declared by Bartolocci in his learned Bibliotheca Rab- binica, vol. L, page jj, and he cites for it Rabbi Eleazer and Rabbi Solomon J arch 1, two of the most noted doctors of the Jews : adding Ad idem omnia tendunt—all things prove it was so, in the opinion of the Hebrews." ) Book ûî fâob, Ãn Introduction to The Jpocalypse, p. 694. " I have already expressed my opinion as to the value of the Rabbinical writings. They are worse even than the legends of the monks. I hold them in the most utter contempt. But there are people who do not, and for whom they may have value. I cite here another instance of the utter'abominablness of Rabbinical

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XXI.

fail to be the case as long as humanity is as it is. Enlighten- ment and education are our best safeguards against vice and error ; and it is not difficult to understand how immoral teach- ing crept in, and lewd conduct was tolerated, during those dark ages when power almost absolute was in the hands of a bigoted, intolerant and uninstructed priest- hood. "Tout homme est homme, et les moines sur- tout." To make a complete bibliography of books connected with the Christian religion, or even with the Romish branch of it, would be a Herculean labour. To form one indeed of those against the priests(31) would be most interesting, although

literature; what I cite is a specimen of what it all is. Nimrod quotes, but without animadversion, the frightful rabbinical story about Noah given in Part III., 461 : Cham nactus opportunitatem cum Noa pater madidus jaceret, illius virilia comprehendens, taciteque sulmurmurans carmine magico, patri illusi t, et  sterilem, perinde atque castratum, effecit, neque deinceps Noa fœmellam ullam fœcundare potuit. iv. 377* This abomination was invented by the Jews for the purpose of showing, first, that Noah had no other children than S hem, Ham, and Japhet, and that they (the Jews) were descended from Shem, the best and holiest ; and secondly, that Cham, the father of the Asiatics and Africans, was one of the most accursed of wretches, whose posterity, and more particularly the Canaanites, it was lawful to subjugate, ravish, murder, and destroy ; just as it was right to exterminate the Moabites, who were the fruit of the fabulous incest of Lot. Thus there was a bloody and damnable and cruel motive at the bottom of these Rabbinical lies." Cttorî), vol. i, p. 198.

One of the most esteemed and comprehensive collections of poems against the priests is contained in a small 8vo. vol. of pp. 494, and 1 unnumbered, entitled : Farta Üoctori ¡Ptørbm'cfoi 'Ftrontm, De corrupto Ecclesiae statu, Peemata, Ante nûstram ætatem coscripta : ex quiòus multa historica quoq. utiliter, ec summa cum uolupiate cognosci possunt. Cum prœfatione Math i æ Flach Mlyricî. Basileœ, Per Lvdoüicum Lucium. Date, on the colophon only,

XXii. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

a giant undertaking. I do not propose to myself either of these tasks. I have endeavoured however in the following pages to bring together, as specimens only, a few works of different descriptions concerning the Church of Rome, which I have classified as follows : Books written by priests, or members of the Church of Rome (pp. 62 to 86); compiled from those of Popish writers (pp. 87 to in) ; by apostates from the faith (pp. 112 to 144) ; by those who had suffered clerical persecu- tion (pp. 145 to 156) ; by Protestants, or enemies of the Romish Church (pp. 157 to 212); containing authentic ac- counts of scandals committed by priests (pp. 213 to 259) ; made up of stories, more or less apocryphal, intended to bring the church into bad repute,(") and fictions, ridiculing the rites

M.D.Lvii. This vol., which is now rarely met with, comprises the effusions of three centuries, many of which are not to be found in any other collection. Among the most interesting items may be mentioned a poem and brief memoir of Walter Mapes, and a remarkable poem in centons by Lælio Capi lupi, de uita Monachorumr which contains some very free passages. In 1841 Thomas Wright published for the Camden Society the poems of Mapes, and again in 18^0, Gualteri Mapes De Nitgis Curialium Distinciiones qvinque, from an unique MS. in the Bodleian Library. Abrief notice of him is given at p. 323 of Cf>e Etteraturt of  Egmrg. Mathias, in his iJuráuítá of Xtterature» quotes him more than once, and calls him tf the jovial archdeacon of Oxford, the Anacreon of the eleventh century/' Concerning Lælio Capilupi, his poem is given by Wolf in his EecttûtlbmaftlemoiraMtøm ; and much infor- mation about him (and four other writers of the same name), together with extracts from their works, will be found in . O. Delepierre's Cablean ( la littérature tfu Centow» vol. 1, p. 170.

22 Abominable as these compilations frequently are, their comparative utility must not be overlooked. In speaking of the celibacy of the clergy, Sheγ

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XXui.

of the church and the conduct of its ministers, some written by- members of the church (pp. 260 to 291). A glance at either of these subdivisions will, I feel confident, suffice to prove the correctness of what I have advanced, viz., that books, improper, immoral, and even grossly obscene, will be found in abundance connected with the Christian religion, and with the Church of Rome in particular, many indeed written by members of that church, and furnished with the permission and approbation of the pope and his officers.(33) Should my readers however

remarks . " A wide spreading immorality was the inevitable result. Upon this point we may appeal to popular opinion, being one of the few points on which it may be trusted. Before the Reformation the clergy in this country were as much the subjects of ribald tales and jests for the looseness of their lives, as they were in all other Roman Catholic countries, and still are in those where· ever any freedom of speech can be indulged," Umïtcm QBttltåbt Biigtø cairn, p. 302.

83 But as these clerical writings, especially the treatises of the casuists, became known to the world at large, the Church of Rome was constrained to condemn what she had at first approved. After quoting the forcible invectives of Bossubt upon this subject, M. Libri continues: " Faut-il ajouter mainte- nant que le cardinal de Noailles, dans son instruction pastorale du 16 janvier, 1719, voyait dans le dangereux principe de la probabilité la source de tous les relâchements ! et qu'au xviie siècle, vingt évêques français ont proscrit ce prin- cipe, également condamné par les facultés de théologie de Paris, de Reims, de Nantes, de Poitiers, de Caen ¿ par les curés de Paris, et enfin par l'assemblée générale du clergé censurant, en 1700, cent vingt-sept propositions tirées, pour la plupart, des probabilités, qui, dit l'éditeur d'un ouvrage (Conférences ecclési- astiques sur plusieurs points importants de la morale chrétiennet Bruxelles\ I7S5> t. 1, p. 3 et 19) composé à la prière d'un ancien archevêque de Paris (le cardinal de Noailles), sembloient avoir puisé dans un cloaque toutes les ordures f  ils mettoiení dans leurs livres^ et dont les païens mêmenauroient osé salir leurs

XXIV. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

consider my selection partial, prejudiced, or unfair, I would request them to take up the writings of any of the most esteemed Romish authors, especially of the jesuits (**) and casuists,(a*) such as Angelus, St. Augustin, Azorius,

ouvrages. Tels sont, en un mot, les décisions de l'Eglise gallicane à l'égard de ce probabilisme que professent l'abbé Moullet et l'abbé Rousselot, et sans lequel, dit-on, la morale ne saurait être enseignée. Après Alexandre vu, Innocent xi et Benoît xiv ont condamné cette doctrine, repoussée également par les plus savants théologiens de tous les pays (parmi lesquels il suffira de citer les cardinaux d'Acuire, Sandoval, Bellarmin, Palavi ci ni, Noris, S frond rat, les pères Merenda, Fagnan, Gonzales, Conci na), et par le tribunal de l'inquisition, dans une décision du 15 janvier 1664," %útxt%  U CUrge, p. 106. I would direct the special attention of my readers to the able Note which should be added to the & ÏÏ'un J$tblwpï)tU, and which comprises an exhaustive list of objectionable Romish writers, and of the doctrines, pernicious or immoral, for which they were condemned.

84 In his Crattt &£♦  Secret fnbiolable  la Confesión, Lenglet du Fresno y has given a very complete and useful list of the Jesuitical writers up to the end of the 17th century. A list of authors of a later date will be found in the Cømprøtttum (see p. 87, post). It is however to the %tttxt&  that one must turn to get a clear notion of the Jesuitical teachings. Nothing can surpass the ridicule which Pascal has heaped upon the followers of Loyola. Little indeed can be added to what that great and witty has said.

35 The biting sarcasms which Montesôuieu directed against the casuists in his &ettre¿ , are too well known to-need citing. I find space how- ever for the following sketch of their origin by M. Libri : " C'est alors (au moyen âge) que des théologiens, que des canonistes, voulant donner des règles certaines de conduite, et trouvant apparemment la morale de l'Evangile insuffi- sante formèrent le projet insensé de faire l'enumerati on complète de toutes les actions humaines, de donner une solution de tous les cas possibles, et fondèrent cette science do casu isme, qui a pris dans la suite un si grand accroissement, et

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XXV.

BaUNY, BeNEDICTIS, BeNZI,(s6) BlLLUARD, BoNACINA, BOSSUS,

Busembaum, Cajetano, Charly, , Decius, De la Hogue, Dens, Diana, Dicastillo, Elbel, Escobar, Fa- gundez, FiLLiucius,(a?) Gambac, Gousset, Graff, Grégoire

contre laquelle se sont toujours élevés les hommes les plus pieux, les cœurs les plus purs. Ce n'est pas du vivant de ceux qu'on a si bien nommés les pré- dicateurs de la raison humaine que ces doctrines pouvaient prendre naissance ; c'est lorsque des moines discutaient gravement si le Fils de Dieu avait pu s'incarner dans une vache, c'est pendant qu'on célébrait la messe de Vâne dans la cathédrale de Sens, que la plupart des églises de France servaient de théâtre aux mystères et aux farces les moins propres à édifier les fidèles ; c'est lorsqu'enfin on composait et on lisait régulièrement à certaines heures dans les couvents ces contes dévots si remplis de descriptions licencieuses, qu'à'propos du sixième commandement on se prit à traiter avec un cynisme révoltant les cas les plus monstrueux que des cerveaux en délire aient jamais pu imaginer. La chaire sacrée suivit bientôt cet exemple déplorable, et les hommes qui font collection de ces sortes de livres recherchent beaucoup les sermons du père Maillard, qui, racontant à ses auditeurs les tentatives d'un certain président pour séduire suc- cesssivement plusieurs femmes mariées, reproduisait jusqu'au bruit du tic toc que faisait en frappant à la porte de ces femmes la personne que le lubrique magistrat avait chargée de ses intérêts. Voilà les véritables sources qu'il faut citer quand on veut connaître les ancêtres de l'abbé Rousselot." Eettrcá ¿ur U €kv$f p. 80.

36 " Le Père Benzi causa un grand scandale en déclarant que c'était une pecca- dille que de palper les seins d'une nonne. Les Dominicains l'ayant attaqué, il fut défendu par les Jésuites F ou re et Turani ; ce dernier essaya de prouver, que Thomas d'Aouin avait énoncé le même principe ; il n'y réussit point. A propos de cette opinion sur les tatti mammillari, on donna aux Jésuites le surnom de ' théologiens marnili aires.' " Efg BiauîUupar J.   er, vol. 2, p. 84.

97 Lisez ... le jésuite Filliutius, qui a discuté avec une extrême sagacité jusqu'à quel degré peuvent se porter les attouchements voluptueux, sans devenir criminels. Il décide, par exemple, qu'un mari a beaucoup moins à se plaindre

d

xxvi. preliminary remarks.

de Valentia, Gury,(í8) Henricus, Holzmann, Hurtado, Lacroix, Laymann, Gordon Lesmore, Liguori,(29) Maider,

lorsque sa femme s'abandonne à un étranger d'une manière contraire à la nature, que quand elle commet simplement avec lui un adultère, et fait le péché comme Dieu le commande ; parce que, dit Filliutius, de h. première façon on ne touche pas au vase légitime sur lequel seul Γ époux a des droits exclusifs ....  qu'un esprit de paix est un précieux don du ciel !" (ßrotöta Síbltotl, mdcccxxxiii,

Ρ· 59·

88 His works have lately passed through a new edition : Compendium Citología* íffloralúi P. Ioannis Petri Gury S. J. . Romae Ex Typo- graphia Poly gioita &c. mdccclxxvii. 8vo., 2 vols. Many of the most noteworthy points of his teaching will be found set forth in CJe l$e¿uítá, by Mr. W. C. Cartwright.

29 Saint LiGuoRi occupies an important position in the Church of Rome. His teaching maintains to the present day, and he founded a sect, which, at one time, had an influence second only to that of the Jesuits. His doctrines, together with those of saints Léonard de Port-Maurice, Charles Borroméb, Fbançois de Sales, Philippe de Néri, and François-Xavier, have been lately embodied by Mgr. Gau me in his fHartuel Ketf Confatøeursl. On the other hand the objectionable and immoral points of his teaching are ably summed up in the 20eeouberte¿ ' Bibliofile. The followers of Liguori, called Redemptorists, or Congregation of the Redeemer, appear to have adopted the subtlety and duplicity of the Jesuits without attaining the learning and wisdom for which that order is justly celebrated. In his JHofterø ateáutttám, Dr. Mrchelsen has given an admirable sketch of the Redemptorb- ists ; but I append the still more striking picture of Dr. F. Schuselka: "5>et  unb bem )1 ηαφ untetfcfyeiben (Ιφ We Aiguørtanet  ben eigentlichen Sefuiten nur , bag fte nød? . unb gefft$rK$et Wirten  biefe. 6te røfolgm We fcfylmmfien Jefuitif^en Qwät mit mtfflcfytøløfejiet $1 unb tamtyaud oføne bte miíbentben unb ijermitteinben Sonnen beò eigentítí^en $efuiti8mu$. íDa. ijl feine Spm Jener Sa^geleÇrfamttit, jener weit* mãnnif^en ^ein^eit unb ©efdjmeibigfett,   bie 3efuiten mancherlei

preliminary remarks. xxvü.

Marchantius, Moja,(3°) Molina, Moullet,(31) Navarrus, Palao, Pereira, Petrocorentis, Corneille de la Pierre,

nùfctidjee gefcfyaffen unb (ΐφ ber 3BeIt wentgfrenê leichter ertrãgttc^, ja ¿mretíen fogar angenehm gemacht . $>ie SHguortaner prebtgen bie uarfie, nacftejte «Dummheit unb öerfünben mit empörenber gotteølafterftcfyer ÍJreiftigfeit, baß eben nur in biefer $>ummr)ett, b. $. im ttöttigen aufgeben  ¿BermmfttÇâttgfeit, im Hinbeften Segen* bengíaufcen, in finbtf4)ejten fêeremonienfpieí, b. t). atfo im gänjlidjen 93er§icf/tett auf atte gottâÇnlicr/e SRenftíjítà^fett unb Stfmf^etnwrbe baê bieê* unb jenfeitige $eií ber 9)ìenfd?f)eit Hege. £>ie £iguorianer wollen im ,  unb öffentlichen heften jenen jeïotifct)en (Styniøtnud ttnebereinfüf)ren, ber im Mittelalter  ¿ foícr/er Staffen* unb ©ottfdjunbimg fcerfanf, ba§ g. S3, eine beutfc^e Qrürftih ©Ott einen rcoClgefättigen $>ienft ¿u leiften mahnte, wenn fie baâ ÏÖaffer tranf, in roelcfyem   bie ftüj? e gerøaføen !" Φ e  3 e fu i t e η f r i e g, p. 294.

30 "Les élucubrations que l'on rencontre dans les ouvrages de leur Ordre (the Jesuits) se refusent à toute transcription. Moja, entre autres, a dévoloppé, dans un livre condamné par la Sorbonne, le thème des excès sexuels avec un cynisme sans pareil : la faculté, à la fin de la censure, ajoute qu'épouvantée des ordures dont est rempli le livre, et tenant compte des exigences de la morale et des bienséances publiques, elle renonce à formuler toutes les sen- tences de la condammation. £eá Btänittä, par J. Huber, vol. 2, p. 83.

31 " En effet, s'agit-il d'une jeune personne poursuivie et en danger d'être violée'j le moraliste (Moullet), après l'avoir engagée à fuir et à crier, a soin de tenir un tamen en réserve, pour lui apprendre qué si par cette fuite ou par ces cris elle pouvait exposer sa vie ou sa réputation, elle n'est obligée ni de s'enfuir ni de crier avec la perspective de ces désagréments (cum tanto suo incorri' modo).....

" L'abbé Rousse lot nous avait enumeré les petites caresses mamillaires qu'on pouvait faire à une femme en toute sécurité de conscience ; la limite une fois franchie, M. Moullet nous apprend à diriger l'intention de manière à diminuer le nombre des péchés. f Celui (dit-il) qui touche ou embrasse lacivement une jeune personne sans avoir l'intention d'aller plus loin, commet plusieurs péchés, mais (vero) il n'en commet qu'un seul s'il se livre à ces actes comme moyens d'atteindre un autre but, quand même cet effet ne s'ensuivrait pas.' " %tttxtâ ¿tir le Cierge, p. 97.

XXviii. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

Pontius, Preinguez, Rodriguez, Roncaglia, Rousselot(3*), Emmanuel Sa, the universally known Thomas Sanchez,(33)

32 " II faudrait inviter ces austères censeurs à lire les pages oïl l'abbé Rousselot conseille aux confesseurs de demander aux jeunes personnes si elles ont l'habi- tude de livrer leur corps aux chiens ; il faudrait les engager à chercher dans ce livre (CompmfctUttt) comment, par des attamen judicieusement placés, on peut excuser et pallier les infamies les plus révoltantes. La valse et la galopade sont mortelles, suivant le professeur de Grenoble, qui permet cependant de pousser du pied le pied d'une femme, de lui serrer la main, de lui palper les jambes, la gorge, les épaules, et même d'éprouver quelque plaisir dans ces attouchements. Ceci rappelle tout à fait la célèbre doctrine des mamiUaires, contre lesquels le théologien Concina écrivit un traité dans le siècle dernier, doctrine qui fut sévèrement proscrite par le pape Benoît xiv. . . . Les doctrines exposées dans ce livre au sujet de l'avortement sont reprehensibles au dernier degré. Les distinctions que l'auteur établit entre le cas où le fœtus est animé et celui où il ne Test pas encore contiennent autant d'erreurs en physiologie qu'en morale. En comparant ce crime horrible à une action honteuse et funeste à la vérité, mais malheureusement trop fréquente, M. Rousselot ne pourrait que multiplier les avortements, s'il n'y avait pas dans le cœur des hommes d'autre morale que celle qu'il a prêchée." Hettreá îtur ïeCkrge, p. 87.

33 It was my intention to have noticed fully the three remarkable volumes Otøpbtattønbm  Maneto ¡^Matrimonii Sacramento, of Thomas Sanchez, especially as there are connected with them one or two bibliographical uncer- tainties which it would be interesting to clear up. However, the work is so generally well known, and mentioned by so many bibliographers, that I decided to pass it over. It may not however be superfluous to note here a few of the questions which the worthy jesuit discusses : " Utrùm liceat extra vas naturale semen emittere ?—De altera fœmînâ cogitare in eoïtu cum sua uxore ?—Seminare consultò, separatum ?—Congredi cum uxore, sine spe seminandi ?—Impotentiæ, tractibus et fflecebris opitulari ?—Se retrahere quando mulier seminavit ?—Virgam alibi intromittere, dùm in vase debito semen effundat?—Utrùm virgo Maria semen émisent in copulatìone cum Spiritu

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Xxix.

Schroeerus,(34) Soto, Sporer, Suarez,(3*) Sylvius, Taberna,

Sancto?" In the dfranc flrdjer bt la brage <£gltóe there is a remarkable criticism of Sanchez which has been deemed worthy of transcription in extenso in the Uút. fèktovíqiit de Baylb (vol. 13, p. 79). That criticism, although extremely violent, is in the main true, and as it applies with more or less exactness to all the authors above named I would recommend its perusal to my readers. In spite of the scabrous questions which he mooted, Sanchez appears to have led a most pure life, and we are told that : " C'est aux pieds du crucifix qu'il écrivait ses livres." That he studied "trente ans de sa vie ces questions assis sur un siège de marbre, ne mangeait jamais ni poivre, ni sel, ni vinaigre, et, quand il était à table pour dîner, tenait toujours ses pieds en l'air," &c. "Il y a plus de deux siècles que M. Le Gay, lieutenant civil de Paris, fit saisir tous les exemplaires de Sanchez qu'il put trouver, et défendit aux libraires d'en avoir, sous peine de la hart !" Vide fôíblú)tf)eca  jüoba, vol. 2, p. 3125 . bt ífrtograpljte Chrétienne et Sntt* Contienne, vol. 3, col. 974 ; (Bvotíkã ÎStblum, p. 32 j Eettreá ¿ur le Cierge, p. 90.

341 have not seen the work of Schroeerus, or Scho roeerus, but extract from the Catalogue bt Eeber, art. 95, the following notice of it : " h β. h ©utøertatto ttøeølogwa de sanctificatione seminis Mariæ Firginis in actu conceptionis Christi sine redemptionis pretto .... autkore Samuele Schoroeero. Lispiæ, ap, Braunium, 1709, in-4. Livre fort rare et non moins curieux. Le titre indique assez la nature et le caractère de singularité de l'ouvrage. On n'a jamais porté plus loin le scandale des interprétations et l'impertinence des recherches sur un pareil sujet. On prétend y prouver, par exemple, que:

  • Semen Mariæ Virginis ante Spiritus S. actionem superventus in vasis sper-

matids actu extitisse falsum est : ergo  in lumbis Adami,  in ovario Mariæ, multominùs Evæ fuit; sed Spiritus S. virtufe creatrice ex sanguine Mariæ semen illud procreavi!, siquidem ad generationis actum ipsa quoque actio sementi va pertinet.' Thomas Sanchez est un modèle de discrétion pudibonde, en comparaison du docteur Samuel Schroeerus."

35 " Su ares examine les différentes façons dont le Christ pouvait sortir du ventre de sa mère, il entre dans des discussions de la nature la plus dèli-

xxx. preliminary remarks.

Tamburini, Tanner, Thomas d'Aquin, Thomas de Malo, Jacques Tirin, Tolet, Trachala, Vasgiuez, Vega, Vigu- erius, Villalbos, Vivaldi, Wigandt, Zenardi, Zerola, and many others, not to mention the authors whose works are more particularly noticed in the following pages, and judge for themselves.(36)

Every reflecting mind must find it difficult to understand how, in the present nineteenth century, a system so false, prurient, and polluted, can still be believed in,(37) can find

cate et se demande entre autres si Marie est accouchée de Jésus avec ou sans délivre. Il se prononce pour le dernier cas. %tâ 3H¿uítr¿, vol. 2, p. 1 . The most striking doctrines of many of the writers above named will be found noted in Mr. Huber's excellent work.

36 In %& Støuitø remtø m , Collin de Plancy brings the leading Jesuits on the scene, and, in the form of dialogues among themselves, or with their adversaries, makes them argue their causes, and explain their own doc- trines. Many of the writers whom I have enumerated above figure in his curious and little known work,

37 It is certain that in every age there have been priests who have disbelieved the doctrines they taught j some indeed have been honest enough to avow their disbelief. A notable instance was Jean Meslier, curé d'Etrépigny en Champagne, who died in 1733. The most complete edition of his CtØtMUtlt is that of R.  Meijer, Amsterdam, 1864, 3 vols., 8vo., with an Etude bio- graphique by Rudolf Charles. But : " Avant Meslier, M. de Lavardin, évêque de Seez, avait di| et répété publiquement qu'il détestait sa religion j il protestait que jamais il n'avait consacré le pain et le vin en disant la messe, qu'il n'avait réellement administré aucun sacrement, ni ordonné aucun prêtre ¡ il riait, en mourant, des scrupules des prêtres qui avaient dit la messe tout de bon, après avoir été ordonnés pour rire j et en effet, ces pauvres gens ne savaient s'ils devaient se faire ordonner de nouveau j les enfans confirmés ne savaient s'ils devaient se faire réadministrer un sacrement qu'on ne peut recevoir qu'une

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XXXi.

devotees ready to lay down their lives in its support, and even make converts(38) of men of knowledge, experience, and bright parts. For, whether we consider the absurd miracles which are

fois ; les gens de qualité que sa grandeur avait unis, ne savaient s'ils vivaient ou non dans l'état de concubinage, et si leurs enfans étaient legitimes ou bâtards : c'était un bruit d'enfer." %t Cttateur, Introduction.

38 The secret lies perhaps in what I may term, somewhat paradoxically, the certainty of a chance. Scepticism leads only to doubt, and can offer nothing in lieu of what it rejects. The Reformed Christian Church demands what few men can fulfil—true belief, and a virtuous life. The Church of Rome, on the other hand, requires, in reality, neither faith nor works. The penitent is re- quired to observe, not very strictly, the outward rites and forms of his church, to support that church, or its ministers, as liberally as his means will permit, and to give his conscience over to his priest, or spiritual director, who under- takes all responsibility. A man then niay join the Romish Church, and remain at heart an unbeliever j he throws the weight of his actions, and even of his unbeiief, on his confessor, who accepts the burden, and he has thereby the chance of being saved. There are men who cannot tolerate uncertainty, and who must, sooner or later, in spite of their reason and common sense, adopt that system which offers a certainty, Milton might have had such a person in his mind when he wrote : " A wealthy man addicted to his pleasure and to his profits, finds Religion to be a traffick so entangl'd, and of so many piddling accounts, that of all mysteries he cannot skill to keep a stock going upon that trade. What shoulde he doe ? fain he would have the name to be religious, fain he would bear up with his neighbours in that. What does he therefore, but resolvs to give over toyling, and to find himself out som factor, to whose care and credit he may commit the whole managing of his religous affairs ; som Divine of note and estimation that must be. To him he adheres, resigns the whole ware-house of his religion, with all the locks and key es into his custody j and indeed makes the very person of that man his religion ; esteems his associating with him a sufficient evidence and commendatory of his own piety. So that a man may say his religion is now no more within himself, but

XXXii. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

even to-day being palmed off upon the credulous ;(39) the blunders, crimes and follies of the infallible popes ;(40) the vices

is becom a dividuall movable, and goes and comes neer him, according as that good man frequents the house. He entertains him, gives him gifts, feasts him, lodges him j his religion comes home at night, praies, is liberally supt, and sumptuously laid to sleep, rises, is saluted, and after the malmsey, or some well spic'd bruage, and better breakfasted then he whose morning appetite would have gladly fed on green figs between Bethany and Jerusalem, his Religion walks abroad at eight, and leavs his kind entertainer in the shop trading ail day without his religion." ^treopagttifa.

39 In )* Ctmtii of Nov. 20, 1876, we read : "The three children at Mar- pingen, in Prussian Rhineland, who last summer stated they had repeatedly seen the Holy Virgin in a wood close to their village, and whose glowing asseverations, backed by the clergy, attracted thousands of pilgrims to the sacred spot, have just been tried by Judge Comes, at St. Wendel. Upon the children confessing that they had been telling lies, they were sentenced to be placed in an educational establishment for culprits under 12 years of age."

40 The perusal of any one of the numerous histories of the Papacy, even by writers favourable to that institution, will suffice to show that among the Popes have existed rulers unequalled, by the secular sovereigns of other countries, for arrogance, cruelty, oppression and immorality. Such modern publications as  :Pape¿, Crimes, Meurtres, Empoisonnements, Parri- cides, Adultères, Incestes, &c, 1843-41 I0 volsj Utøtutrt & Sapeé &c. par Maurice Lachatre, 3 volsj &etf Crimea fceé fïiqpetf par Louis de la Vicomterie, 1857, may be consulted respecting the personal character and particular crimes of each pontiff. In the &etttonbm ¡fMemorauíltfcm et üeconöt* tarum Centenari xv, will be found a number of satirical pieces against the popes and their officers, frequently illustrated by curious wood cuts, among which may be particularly mentioned a set contrasting the life of Christ with that of a pope. Barely to enumerate those sovereign bishops of Rome whose lives have been especially scandalous would surpass the limits of a foot-note, and I will conclude with the pointed words of Voltaire, who alluding to

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XXXÜi.

and hypocrisy of many of the clergy, both regular(41) and

Alexander vi asks : Le Pape est-il infaillible quand il couche avec sa maî- tresse, ou avec sa propre fille, & qu'il apporte à souper une bouteille de vin empoisonné pour le Cardinal Cornetto ? Quand deux conciles s'anathéma- tisent l'un l'autre, comme il est arrivé vingt fois, quel est le concile infaillible ?" %M (Stuattonsí îje Zapata.

41 Happily the influence of the monks has disappeared for ever ; and their numbers diminish with the advance of civilisation. The time has passed when " seulement l'ombre du clocher d'une abbaye étoit féconde." The "vrai moine si onques en fut depuis que le monde moinant moina de moinerie " exists no longer. It is however the times only which have changed, not the men ; for in those unenlightened countries where he is tolerated or encouraged, the monk remains what he ever was, slothful, ignorant, and debauched. Books against the monks are simply legion, and no list for which I could find space here would afford any idea of them. From among the numerous illustrated satirical publications Î may perhaps select : 2)a8 tidige £euen ber .  føtø)e$ in bem loftet ρ <£mfra$.um bie ßat í)on A° i$ij  Satyrische Figuren ioorgefieít unb bajeífcfi all fresco gemalt, famt $ Versen ¿uferen voax. &c. in Stupf ve gebracht A° 177a* &c-> engraved title and 12 figures in outline, each with 4 lines, partly Latin, partly German, underneath j ftmfterøcment tie ta JÜorale Contienne Par les desordres du Monachisme. Enrichi de Figures. Premiere Partie. On les vend en Hollande, chez les Marchands Libraires Φ Imagers. Avec Privilege d'Innocent XL (©mátoottng* Ifcr Cfjrtøtelgfee Xefcen. &c., 50 weil engraved figures, and a folding frontispiece ; the text, pp. 111, ex title, is like the title-page, partly in French and partly in Dutch ;  áur FütíStotre naturelle * qutlqutä QBäpmst bt ;$íoúu¿, Décrits à la maniere de Linné. Ouvrage traduit du Latin et orné de Figures. Par M. Jean d'Antimoine, tøV. A Monachopolis, m.dcc.lxxxiv. Of this work translated by Broussonet from the Latin of Baron Ign. de Born, Ghiérard notes a second edition of 1790, to which may be added one with Latin and French en regard, and double title-page : ¡JfHimacJulugta Figuris Ligno Incisis illustrata Eridaniæ  pis PHlanthropicis 1782, jStanacotogú illustrée de

e

XXXiv. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

secular ;(43) the duplicity, lax teaching(43) infamous doc-

ßgures sur bois. Paris Paulin, Rue de Seine, 33 1844, 8vo., pp. 96. In £a Jloltce bt ipartø ÎBebotlee, vol. 1, p. 29a, there is a curious chapter, De la Police sur les Prêtres, in which are recorded the visits to different prostitutes in Paris of members of various monastic orders during the years 1760 to 1773.

43 Were such a course necessary, we could extract their condemnation from their own lips. Had crimes not been committed, or were they thought unlikely of commission by priests, the penitential codes, drawn up by the Church, would not exist. The Church, however, considered its members capable of the most heinous and filthy crimes which it is possible to imagine. Further, numerous churchmen have written against the vices of their co- religionists j and historians, full of zeal for the glory of Rome, have found it impossible to conceal sacerdotal depravity. A. Pelagius, writing in the 16th century, gives the following picture : " Hélas ! combien de religieux et de prêtres dans leurs retraites et leurs couvents, aussi bien que les laïques dans leurs villes, surtout en Italie, ont établi en quelque sorte publiquement une espèce de gymnase et de cours infâme, où ils s'exercent aux plus criminelles débauches ! Les jeunes garçons les plus distingués sont voués à ces lieux de prostitution. . . . Les prêtres vivent dans le plus grand dérèglement ; les fils de prêtres sont presque aussi nombreux que les fils de laïques ; les prêtres se lèvent d'ayec leurs concubines pour aller monter à l'autel, etc." The above passage is extracted from 2B*  Confesión et Ku Celtbat Üeö $retre¿, where pne or two others of a similar nature will be found. Μ. Β ou vet adds: "Et tels sont encore de nos jours les ecclésiastiques, à Rome, à Naples et dans les pays en général où domine le pouvoir sacerdotal.'" Have we not at present proceeding the Lambertini-Antonelli lawsuit, a clear proof that the great cardinal did not keep his vow of chastity ! The case, as far as it has gone, has already been put in the form of a volume, Roma, 1877, pp. 112.

43 " Advocate and antagonist will alike admit (writes Mr. W.  Cart- wright) that the system of lax opinion popularly charged against Jesuit divines rests on three cardinal propositions—of Probabili s m, of Mental Reser- vation, and of Justification of Means by the End." He offers the following

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XXXV.

trines,(44) and dishonest commercial dealings(4¿) of the jesuits ;

illustration : " Anna having been guilty of adultery, and being interrogated by her husband, who has formed a suspicion, answers, the first time, that she has not violated wedlock j the second time, having in the interval obtained absolu- tion, she replies, I am guiltless of such a crime. The third time, she absolutely denies the adultery, and says, I have not committed it, meaning within herself such particular adultery as I am bound to reveal, or, I have not committed an act of adultery that has to be revealed to you. Is Anna to be blamed Y Gu ry's reply, too long to give here, justifies each answer of the adulterous woman, supporting his ruling by a grave array of authorities, amongst which figure the Jesuit Suarez and St. Liguori." Cí)e acuità, pp. 149, 160.

44 The remarkable article of Diderot, in the Dictionnaire Encyclopédique^ is worthy of especial attention. From it I extract the following paragraph : " Lisez l'ouvrage intitulé les Assertions, et publié cette année 1762, par arrêt du parlement de Paris, et frémissez des horreurs que les théologiens de cette société ont débitées depuis son origine, sur la simonie, le blasphème, le sacri- lège, la magie, l'irréligion, l'astrologie, Timpudicité, la fornication, la pédérastie, le parjure, la fausseté, le mensonge, la direction d'intention, le faux témoignage, la prévarication des juges, le vol, la compensation occulte, l'homicide, le suicide, la prostitution, et le régicide ; ramas d'opinions qui, comme dit M. le procureur- général du roi au parlement de Bretagne, dans son second compte rendu, page 73» attaque ouvertement les principes les plus sacrés, tend à détruire la loi naturelle, à rendre la foi humaine douteuse, à rompre tous les liens de la société civile, en autorisant l'infraction de ses lois, à étouffer tout sentiment d'humanité parmi les hommes, à anéantir l'autorité royale, à porter le trouble et la désolation dans les empires, par l'enseignement du régicide ; à renverser les fondements de la révélation, et à substituer au christianisme des superstitions de toute espèce." A handy little volume, giving in the concisest possible form the peculiar tenets of each of the most noted fathers, is the ÎStogt'apïjte DtttortfCLUt  JSÍ&viiUst, par M. Collin de Plancy. '

45 It is certain that, in their missions to the East, the jesuits thought more of enriching their society than of enforcing the doctrines of Christianity, that they,

XXXVI. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

the scandalous quaixels(46) which have taken place between the different orders, and the irregularities(4Ï) and licenciousness

in fact, became merchants rather than priests. This was notoriously the case in Japan, and the result of it, coupled with their arrogance and jealousy of other christian orders, was the total extinction of Christianity in that country. A long account of their doings in Japan will be found, inter alia, in the fêíét. btà Bt$UÍUa, par Adolphe Boucher. I wish however more particularly to remind my readers of their two great bankruptcies—at Seville in 1646, and that of the P. Lav alette, in 1753.

46 One cannot read the histories of the various orders without being struck by the animosity and jealousy existing between them, and which have fre- quently produced bloodshed. Numerous are the satirical books in the style of Ea Guerre ü^rapijtque, ou Histoire des Perils qua courus La Barbe des Capucins Par les violentes Attaques des Cordeliers. &c. A La Haye, Chez Pierre de Hondt. m.dcc.xl. Some interesting facts on the subject will be found in the <®uerelUá iUtteratrtg, ou Mémoires Pour servir à l'Histoire des Révolutions de la République des Lettres, &c. Paris, m.dcc.lxl

47 In a rare volume entitled : Crplkacton  la fSbïla tit la paneta Croatia.. En Çaragoça. 1592., 8vo., 344 fols, with 67 pages unnumbered,we read: "En la tercera (parte) la Composición, y la postre se declara el Motu propio de Pio V. en el qual se prohibe la entrada de las mugeres en lo interior de los monesterios de frayles." Passing now to our own country, in his notice of the order of Gilbertines, founded in 1148,1η England, Gabriel d'Emillianne says: "He (Gilbert, the founder) caused to be built for them, in a short time, thirteen Monasteries, in which were reckoned 700 Monks, and 1 ioq Women, who lived together, separated only by a Wall. . . . This Hermaphro- dite Order, made up of both Sexes, did very soon bring forth Fruits worth of it self ; these holy Virgins having got almost all of them big Bellies, which gave occasion to the following Verses.

" Harum sunt quædam steriles, quædam parientes,

" Firgmeoque lamen nomine cuneta tegunt. " Quæ (the abbess) pas toralis Iaculi dotai ur konore,

u lila cuidem melius fertUmsque parti·

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XXXvH.

which have at all times distinguished monastic institutions,^8)

" Vix etiam quævis sterilis reperi tur in Ulis, "Donee ejus cetas talia posse negat.

rfTho' some are Barren Does, yet others, " By Fryars help, prove teeming Mothers. " When all to such Lewdness run, "All's cover'd under Name of Nun. "Th' Abbess, in Honour as She' excells, " Her Belly too, more often swells. "If any She proves Barren still, "Age is in fault, and not her will.

" These Nuns to conceal from the World their infamous Practices, made away secretly their Children j and this was the Reason, why at the time of the Reformation, so many Bones of Young Children were found buried in their Cloisters, and thrown into places where they ease Nature." & Jfcï)ort fåtøtorg of JKonaáttcal <&vbtt¿, &c. p. 133.

48 Nothing will be found in the present volume concerning the Knights Templars, yet the crimes with which they were charged far surpass those of any other religious body. It has been asserted that nothing was proved against them j but the bare fact of its being thought possible that so holy and noble an order could be so far guilty, and that such terrible accusations could be brought against so powerful and wealthy a body, suffices to show into what a state of disrepute the religious orders had then fallen ; moreover, that the society was definitely abolished, in spite of the great opposition made against its destruc- tion, is sorely enough to prove that the authorities at Rome were not con- vinced of their innocence. Their wealth was doubtless a bait, but other orders were very wealthy and very licencious, and were not destroyed. Further, not in one country only were they called to account, but in every land where they had institutions. I shall confine myself to noting one or two of the crimes with which the Templars of England were charged, although they are not by far so idolatrous or so filthy as the turpitudes brought against those of foreign

XXXviii. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

both male and female ;(49) their useless asceticism, puerile

countries. {( That they sometimes pis'd and caus'd others to piss upon the Cross. That they ador'd a certain Cat that appear'd to them at that Assembly. That at the Reception of Brothers of the said Order, the Receiver sometimes and the. Person receiv'd, now and then Kis'd one another's Mouths, Navels, bare Bellies, and in the Anus, or the Back-Bone. That sometimes on the Members, or Yard. That they told the Brothers they receiv'd, that they might have carnal Copulation with one another. That it was lawful for them to do so. That they were to do this to one another, and to be passive." &c. |3flona£tuon Sïngltcanum, Dugdale, mdccxviii, p. 181.

49 In all ages convents of women have been more or less perverted ; nor could the nuns do otherwise than follow the lead, and obey the orders of the monks and priests to whom they were subject. Roman Catholic writers have not been able to deny this ; on the contrary, it is frequently to their reports that we are indebted for what we know of the interior of nunneries. u I shall confess (writes the partial author of 3£Ufít£tton¿ on Communities of  aníí  Inátttuttá, Taunton, 1815, p. 80) that from time to time, religious communities have degenerated from their primitive sanctity and fervour 5 I shall acknowledge that, through that infirmity inherent in all human establishments, which tend, after a certain lapse of time, to relaxation and decay, the most fervent convents have now and then wanted reformation." In his $¿>mpi)omanú, Dr. M. D. T. de Bienville has left us a harrowing picture of the inhumanity and cupidity of the sisters of a religious community at Tours. Instances, indeed, might be given ad inßnitum. " La lumiere, à la vérité, (writes Linguet) n'a point encore pénétré dans l'intérieur des cloîtres. Elle vient mourir contre les murailles de leur enceinte. L'habitude & le préjugé y sont continuellement en sentinelle. Ces deux ennemis de la raison y répandent plus de bandeaux, que leur rivale n'y peut introduire de rayons." Cs'gaí 3P!)ííoáoní)t{jwe eux te JMonacjfáme, Paris, m.dçc.lxxv» p. 174. A vast amount of curious matter has been collected by M. Paul Lacroix in his Recherches sur les Couvents au Seizième Siècle, which forms the introduction to ÏU Cûuimtt ïte 33aïano, Paris,  dccc xxix j and some startling facts connected

i

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. XXxix.

macerations, and their flagellations, at once absurd,^0) cruel and

with modern English nunneries will be found in a pamphlet entitled : (indføl) Contata, IVliat are they ? London, 1870.

s° The Jesuits have always been strict disciplinarians, and some curious information respecting their modus operandi will be found in íJtatOÚtá $t¿toríquttf ¿ur F^tMtamátne, ü Ita Corrérteme Üeá $ : &c. 1764. Nor have they at the present day given up their devotion to the rod. I append A. Steinmetz's experience of the aids to holy living at Hodder, "cet abus odieux," described by Boileau,

" Qui, sous couleur d'éteindre en nous la volupté, " Par l'austérité même & par la pénitence " Sait allumer le feu de la lubricité."

il During Lent (writes Steinmetz) we used them (flagellations) twice a week. The porter gave out ' Mortification!'—we understood him. After he had gone the round of the curtains with the ( Deo gratias—thanks be to God !* we made ready by uncovering our shoulders—each novice sitting in his bed— and seized the whip. The time the porter took for these preliminaries pre- supposed an equal alacrity in the other novices : we were always ready when he rang a small bell, and then, oh ! then, if the thing edifies you, gentle reader, be edified ; if it makes you laugh, laugh to your heart's content, at the sound of twenty whips cracking like a hailstorm on the twenty innocent backs in question. I think we were restricted to twelve strokes : they were given as rapidly as possible : all ended almost at the same instant. In the excitement, very similar to a shower-bath, we could not help tossing the whip into the desk ; and then, diving into the sheets, felt very comfortable indeed ! Perhaps, after the chorus of flagellation, you might hear a young novice giggling ,* ' it was quite natural,' he could not help it ! Why have I described this foolery in this merry vein ? Because it is a foolery, and the * holy fathers * must consider it as such: but more, I maintain it to be a most pernicious foolery, and conducive to anything rather than the end proposed. The reader must imagine my meaning.

Xl. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

indecent ;(*') the gross oppression and horrid cruelties of the

«--------- Manat

  • In venas animumque !

u.... If my own experience is worth anything, I tell the Jesuits that their ' discipline and chain ' totally defeat the alleged object of their use ; and appeal to the principles of physiology in proof of my opinion. In this matter, at least, we may say with perfect truth—nocet empia dolore volúpias  ) fïobmati, pp. 252 and 254.

51 " On lit dans les Chroniques de Fonte-Evrault, qu'une heure avant minuit

  • un son de cloche faisait sortir les religieuses de leurs cellules, malgré les froids

les plus âpres. Comme elles couchaient tout habillées, elles ne se faisaient guère attendre, et se glissaient pareilles à des ombres le long des corridors où sifflait la bise glaciale. On se rendait au chœur de la chapelle silencieuse et semi-obscure. Les reliques de l'autel étaient voilées et quelques lampes fumeuses luisaient dans les ténèbres des voûtes en arceaux. Au dehors, on n'entendait que des cris d'oiseaux de nuit, le frissonnement des cyprès du cimetière, le vent et la pluie : l'âme se trouvait merveilleusement disposée à la prière. Mais toutes ces épouses de Dieu arrivaient à pas lents en murmurant des psaumes, faisant sonner les grains d'un chapelet, ou bien resserrant les nœuds de corde tachés de sang de leur cilice, ce qui était le signe d'une grande ferveur.

" Le précepte de l'ïïvangiîe : f Veillez et priez * s'exécutait à voîx basse dans une morne méditation $ puis, tout à coup, l'abbesse levait sa discipline au ciel, et criait d'un air lugubre : * Çy commencent les pénitences  Elle ajoutait souvent : 1 Repliez la robe noire dessus la tête, et jetez bas la rohe de dessous.' Les lumières s'éteignaient et il se faisait dans la nef un brait sourd et mesuré qu'accompagnaient les encouragements de la supérieure, les cris, les soupirs arrachés à la souffrance. f Sus et vitement ! plus roide un petit ! rompez de coups les sept péchés mortels, sans excepter la luxure ï Le paradis vous vaudra au centuple ces peines du corps ! chaque coup fait issir une âme ou deux du purgatoire, selon qu'il est bien donné et bien reçu.'

  • ' La discipline ne cessait de retomber sur les chairs déchirées et saignantes

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. xH.

inquisition ;(*') the terrible system of auricular confession, and

qu'après que la fatigue mettait un terme à ces cruautés, et, souvent, un rayon de lune coloré par l'émail des vitraux et des rosaces diaprées, descendait mystérieusement sur de blanches victimes immolées de leurs propres mains, jusqu'à ce qu'elles allassent chercher dans leur cellule solitaire un sommeil sans charme, sans repos et sans rêve." The above description is extracted from %ti Wtätäha bz l'Œgltae, and I have reproduced it at length on account of its poetical force. In the convent of Fonte-Evrault the men were subject to the women, and received at times the discipline from the hands of their fair superiors, (see p, 128, post). Roeert d'Arbrissel, the founder of the community, was accustomed to sleep with his nuns in order to mortify the flesh. The inquisitor Pedro Guerrero was fond of administring castigation with his own hand ; this he did at the monastery of St. Lucia, and he " was (writes Gavin) so impudent, and barefaced a Nero, that commanding the poor Nuns to turn their Habits backwards and discover their Shoulders, he himself was the Executioner of this unparalleled Punishment."

52 Here is Llorente's estimate of the number of victims who were sacrificed during the reign of the first inquisitor, Thomas de Toröuemada, who died in 149S : " îl s'ensuit que Torquemada pendant les dix-huit années qu'a duré son ministère inquisitorial, a fait dix mille deux cent-vingt victimes qui ont péri dans les flammes, six mille huit-cent soixante qui on (sic) été brûlées en effigie, après leur mort ou en leur absence, et quatre vingt-dix-sept mule trois cent vingt- une qui ont subi la peine de l'infamie, de la confiscation des biens, de la prison perpétuelle et de l'exclusion des emplois publics et honorifiques. Le tableau général de ces barbares exécutions porte à cent-quatorze mille quatre cent une, le nombre de familles à jamais perdues. On ne comprend pas dans cet état les personnes qui par leurs liaisons avec les condamnés partageaient plus ou moins leur malheur, et gémissaient comme amis ou parens des rigueurs dont ils étaient les victimes." He makes similar calculations for the times during which the other inquisitors held sway, and he adds : ,f Calculer le nombre des victimes de  Inquisition, c'est établir matériellement une des causes les plus puissantes et les plus actives de la dépopulation de l'Espagne:" &c. \. Critique fce l'ftnçtufctttoit U'tøøpagne, Paris, 1818, vol. 1, pp. 272, 279, vol 4, p. 242.

ƒ

Xlii. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

the abuse which has been made of it ;(53) the coarse,

53 Confession is undoubtedly the greatest source of power which the Church of Rome posesses 5 but it is at the same time a main cause of its discredit- power, from the means it affords the clergy of learning the secrets of their believers 5 discredit, from the tendency it has to corrupt the confessor as well as the penitent. Socially and politically, confession has been tbe cause of a greater number of crimes than any of the other superstitions and aberrations of the human mind. Its abuse, for instance, in Spain, became so crying during the 16th century, that pope Pius iv sent a bull to the archbishop of Seville to investigate the matter. The number of women who had been seduced was however so great that the enquiry had to be stopped. Later, Gregory xv sought to renew and to give a wider scope to the same bull 5 and Clement viii and Paul v endeavoured to institute a law that penitents who had been perverted should denounce their clerical seducers. Without referring to the works noticed in the body of the present volume, I may perhaps enumerate a few of the less generally known books on the subject, pro et contra : J0t ¿freçttentte Contactante et Conrøttmtante ÍÊUttlttate, Jean de Launoy, Paris, 1662; í^tátoda Cutt&áátattte íEuncularte, Jacques Boileau, Paris, 16845 % i3tøcour$e toncmuhg flurítutar Contafóton, &c. Dr. J  χ Goodman, London, 1684 j  Contatøton to a latoful t9nest, &c Dr. Peter Manby, 1686 ; ) Certa esaminiti which Papists cite to prove their Doctrine of Auricu- lar Confession, Dr. Thomas Ly.nford, London, 1688 ; J§>acetUotal Statomi ; or, the Necessity of Confession, Penance, and Absolution, R. Lawrence, London, 1713 ; Cratté fètetorígut et Itagmattcrue  Secret IfnbtalabX* bt la Contatfton, &c. Par M. Lenglet du F re s no y, i 715 ; * la Contai ¿ton ft ìfu Célibat fcfá ïîrêtrtsi, . Par Francisée Bouvet, Paris, 18455 filatoti'* bt la Con* tatäion sous ses Rapports religieux, moraux et politiques, &c. Par le Comte C. P. de Lasteyrie du Saillant, Pagnerre, 18465 Catéenteme  ûtm ¿¡Hanfø, (By Le P. Féline, Oaen, 1782). In addition to the above books, especially devoted to the subject, descriptions of the confessional and of the evils attending it will be found in various works, both of history and fiction, among others, in %t Ißutn la ¿Jfemm* et la dfaiutile, Michelet5  , Michelet et Guinet, Paris, 18435  Contazione *

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. xHÜ.

scurrilous, abusive and licentious discourses of the old

«Prêtre, Paris, 1870 5 Eeá Hgotèreá fc'unt (ëbêcfté, par le Chanoine X. Mouls, Bruxelles, 1872 j Et  iíu Curé, by XXX 3 &c. The most remark- able picture however with which I am acquainted is that which P. L. Courier has drawn in his Réponse aux Anonymes ; it is at once so graphic, so pointed, so truthful, so much to the purpose, that I must find space for it at length : ·

" Confesser une femme ! imaginez ce que c'est. Tout au fond de l'église, une espèce d'armoire, de guérite, est dressée contre le mur exprès, où ce prêtre, non Mingrat, mais quelque homme de bien, je le veux, sage, pieux, comme j'en ai connu, homme pourtant et jeune (ils le sont presque tous), attend le soir après vêpres sa jeune pénitente qu'il aime · elle le sait : l'amour ne se cache point à la personne aimée. Vous m'arrêterez là : son caractère de prêtre, son éducation, son vœu ... je vous réponds qu'il n'y a vœu qui tienne ; que tout curé de village sortant du séminaire, sain, robuste et dispos, aime sans aucun doute une de ses paroissiennes. Cela ne peut être autrement 5 et, si vous con- testez, je vous dirai bien plus, c'est qu'il les aime toutes, celles du moins de son âge ; mais il en préfère une, qui lui semble, sinon plus belle que les autres, plus modeste et plus sage, et qu'il épouserait ; il en ferait une femme vertueuse, pieuse, n'était le pape. Il la voit chaque jour, la rencontre à l'église ou ailleurs, et, devant elle assis aux veillées de l'hiver, il s'abreuve, imprudent, du poison de ses yeux.

" Or, je vous prie, celle-là, lorsqu'il l'entend venir le lendemain, approcher de ce confessionnal, qu'il reconnaît ses pas et qu'il peut dire : ' C'est elle,' que se passe-t- il dans l'âme du pauvre confesseur ? Honnêteté, devoir, sage résolu- tions, ici servent de peu, sans une grâce du Ciel toute particulière. Je le suppose un saint : ne pouvant fuir, il gémit apparemment, soupire, se recommande à Dieu j mais, si ce n'est qu'un homme, il frémit, il désire, et déjà malgré lui, sans le savoir peut-être, il espère. Elle arrive, se met à ses genoux, à genoux devant lui, dont le cœur saute et palpite ! Vous êtes jeune, Monsieur, ou vous l'avez été: que vous semble, entre nous, d'une telle situation? Seuls la plupart du temps, et n'ayant pour témoins que ces murs, que ces voûtes, ils causent -} de quoi ? hélas ! de tout ce qui n'est pas innocent. Ils parient, on

xHv. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

preachers ;(*4) the immorality caused by the unnatural law of

plutôt murmurent à voix basse, et leurs bouches s'approchent, leur souffle se confond. Cela dure une heure ou plus, et se renouvelle souvent.

" Ne pensez pas que j'invente. Cette scène a lieu telle que je vous la dépeins, et dans toute la France, chaque jour, se renouvelle par quarante mille jeunes filles qu'ils aiment parce qu'ils sont hommes, confessent de la sorte, entretiennent tête à tête, visitent parce qu'ils sont prêtres, et n'épousent point parce que le pape s'y oppose. Le pape leur pardonne tout, excepté le mariage, voulant plutôt un prêtre adultère, impudique, débauché, assassin, comme Mingrat, que marié.....

" Réfléchissez maintenant, Monsieur, et voyez s'il était possible de réunir jamais en une même personne deux choses plus contraires que l'emploi de con- fesseur et le vœu de chasteté j quel doit être le sort de ces pauvres jeunes gens entre la défense de posséder ce que nature les force d'aimer, et l'obligation de converser intimement, confidemment, avec ces objets de leur amour 5 si enfin ce n'est pas assez de cette monstrueuse combinaison pour rendre les uns forcenés, les autres je ne dis pas coupables, car les vrais coupables sont ceux qui, étant magistrats, souffrent que de jeunes hommes confessent de jeunes filles, mais criminels, et tous extrêmement malheureux. Je sais là-dessus leur secret."

The Library of the London Institution possesses a remarkable collection of tracts relating to " The Confessional/' in 6 vols., 8vo, described in the Cata* logue, vol. 1, p. ao.

54 A most curious, racy and amusing volume might be formed exclusively of extracts from the discourses of the Romish preachers. It is indeed impossible, without reading their sermons, to conceive the licence which they allowed themselves. Rabelais is unceasing in his ridicule of them 5 H. C. Agrippa follows his example ; and Erasmus has heaped upon them some of his bitterest sarcasms. " lis remplissoient leurs discours (writes Li ν guet) de familiarités révoltantes* d'obscénités odieuses & de déclamations ridicules." M. A. Me ray however remarks : " Pour se faire comprendre de contemporains grossièrement sensuels, ils étaient souvent obligés de leur parler l'argot du vice très-bien admis d'ailleurs dans les meilleures sociétés, et dont les cours des rois, celles

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. xlv.

clerical celibacy ;(ss) the barefaced and iniquitous sale of indul-

même des princes spirituels usaient jadis sans trop se género' To choose one example where so many are at hand is difficult ; however let us take the ex- jesuit, André Valladier, who, in Ea J^atnte 53i)ilo¿opi)te líe røme; ou Sermons de VAvent, Paris, 1613, tells a tale of a young girl " devenue enceinte sans accointance charnelle ·" describes in the crudest and most extravagant language the secret charms of Marie de Mé di c i s, dividing her body into "trois étages j" discusses "les mystères des nouements d'aiguillettes et des generations diaboliques j" eulogises the organs of generation, and explains "les trois choses qui concourent pour donner puissance " to those organs 3 finally, he gives the most familiar details concerning "l'accouchement de la Vierge." Consult, < 1^1 ¿ur te ', p. 157 î &**  lhe* rfjeurá, pp. 157, 172 j iketttcatortaita, pp. 128, 297. See also, ¿èermoná jFacétteujc ou 3&tUttltIe¿, et Anecdotes Curieuses sur les Prédicateurs; %t f3tblm$)tle dTantaíotáte ;  ïa Ciarlatanerie Heg Cabana, par Menken ; 2>aê , Stuttgart, 1845.

53 "Le vœu de chasteté (exclaims Μ. Paul Lacroix) est un blasphème contre la nature -, l'Evangile répète en divers endroits que l'esprit est faible et la chair fragile j d'où vient cependant que toutes les religions ont eu des apôtres du célibat et des vœux de chasteté ? On a prétendu que les moines, pour amortir les désirs de la chair, avaient recours à des simples refrigerane j mais ils les employaient donc bien rarement, puisqu'ils produisaient si peu d'effets." Recherche sur les Couvents au seizième siècle. Although the Church of Rome enforces celibacy on her priests, incontinency is looked upon as but a slight irregularity j indeed some of the casuists, among whom are Sanchez and Escobar, consider priests justified in keeping concubines. In spite of this, there have doubtless been priests who have endeavoured, perhaps even a very few who have succeeded in preserving their chastity. " J'ai connu à Livourne (writes P. L. Courier) le chanoine Fortini, qui peut-être vit encore, un des savants hommes d'Italie, et des plus honnêtes du monde. Lié avec lui d'abord par nos études communes, puis par une mutuelle affection, je le voyais souvent, et ne sais comme un jour je vins à lui demander s'il avait observé son vœu de

Xlvi. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

gences ;(56) the foolish belief, and still worse trading in relics

chasteté. Il me l'assura, et je pense qu'il disait vrai en cela comme en toute autre chose. * Mais, ajouta-t-il, pour passer par les mêmes épreuves, je ne voudrais pas revenir à l'âge de vingt ans.' Il en avait soixante et dix. ' J'ai souffert, Dieu le sait, et m'en tiendra compte, j'espère; mais je ne recommen- cerais pas.' Voilà ce qu'il me dit, et je notai ce discours si bien dans ma mémoire que je me rappelle ses propres mots." Réponse aux Anonymes. Of the evils of enforced celibacy there can be no doubt. Nature will never allow her laws to be perverted with impunity; and several medical men have explained the kind of erotic fury with which priests and nuns are not unfrequently possessed. In Ea %tli%imåt of Diderot, and ) fiutiti of M. G. Lewis, this question has been touched upon—in the former, the unsatisfied desires of the woman urge her to tribadism and insanity; in the latter, the passions of the man, long reined up, become at last uncontrol- able. An admirable little work on the subject is §U JUartag* tíeá Srttrøf par A. S. Morin, 1874.

56 " Ce trafic déjà ancien (writes M. F. Bouvet) ne fit que se développer jusqu'au xvie siècle. Les papes Victor ii, Boniface ix et Léon χ lui donnèrent surtout une grande activité. Le jubilé avait été renouvelé; toute l'Europe faisait le voyage de Rome et y portait son argent. Des prêtres se tenaient de chaque côté de l'autel de Saint-Paul, et, un râteau à la main, recueillaient le prix des pardons, après que d'autres avaient administré l'abso- lution. Telle était l'impudence des chefs de l'Eglise, que leurs nonces voy- ageaient dans les diverses contrées de la chrétienté pour vendre les indul- gences. Quant ils arrivaient dans une ville, disent les historiens, ils suspen- daient aux fenêtres de leurs logements un drapeau avec les armoiries du Vatican et les clefs de l'Eglise. Ils dressaient dans la cathédrale, à côté du maître-autel, des tables couvertes de tapis magnifiques, pour recevoir l'argent de ceux qui venaient racheter leurs fautes. Ils annonçaient au peuple le pouvoir absolu dont ils étaient investis par le pape de délivrer du purgatoire les âmes des trépassés et d'accorder la rémission complète de tous les péchés et de tous les crimes à ceux qui viendraient les racheter. Le domi«

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 

and other holy or consecrated articles ;(") the opposition to all scientific progress, and the constant efforts made by the church to keep the people in darkness and ignorance ;(á8) the super-

nicain Tetzel et ses compagnons ne faisaient pas difficulté de dire : ' Aussitôt que l'argent sonne dans nos coffres, les âmes renfermées dans le purgatoire s'échappent et montent au ciel. L'efficacité des indulgences est si grande qu'elle peut effacer les crimes les plus énormes, même le viol de la Vierge Marie, s'il était possible/ " The system of indulgences being framed to gain money, it is evident that those who could not pay could not be pardoned, and this indeed is stated in the plainest words : *' Et nota diligenter quod hujus- modi gratiæ et dispensationes non conceduntur paupeiibus, quia non sunt, ideò non possunt consolari." Such iniquity could not fail to shock many of the staunchest supporters of the Vatican, Olivier Maillard sends these " hulialores " "ad omnes dy abólos" but adds : "Je ne veux pourtant pas révo- quer en doute la clef de saint Pierre, mais je dis, et in hoc omnes doctores conveniunt, indulgen tice tantum valent quantum sonant. . . * An creditis quod unus usuari us plenus viciis qui habebit mille miìlia peccata, dando sex albos trunco, en mettant six blancs dans un tronc, ait rémission des ses péchés ? Certè durum est mihi credere et durius predicare !" See  ïa Conftééioti et Ku Cèïtbat tbt$ íPrétreá, p. 2313 Hc¿ Etbreg iPmijntré, p. 54. Consult also Cartó  -Partie* ; Cf) e 'Fenat inöulgtnitó aitò ^aröoitó of  Cíjttrrí) ûi &ome, &c. By the Rev. Joseph Menbham, London

MDCCCXXXIX. &C.

57 The industrious Collin de Plancy compiled a very useful work upon this subject ; Btcttomiatr* critique btë fteitçueé et  $magc£ *, Paris, 1821, 3 vols. ; but I would call the attention of my readers to a more modern publication : il'&r&nal bt la IBcimtton &c. par Paul Parfait, Paris, 1876, in which will be found a complete price-current of the wares sold, whole- sale and retail, at the present day, by the Church of Rome. There is an amusing chapter on Relics in Disraeli's Curútâítíeá of litteratur*, vol. 1, p. 267.

58 Listen to the testimony of one writer only, a Roman Catholic, Llórente : "Pannile grand nombre de maux que l'Inquisition a fait éprouvera l'Espagne,

Xlviii, PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

stition of many of the greatest Roman Catholic writers, their belief, even to the present day, in magic, in exorcisms, in the commerce of demons with the human race, &x. ;(59) the ob- scenity of many of their visions^60) the indecency even in their church ornaments ;(61) we are lost in astonishment at

l'obstacle qu'elle met aux progrès des sciences, de la littérature et des arts n'est pas un des moins déplorables. Les partisans du Saint-Office n'ont jamais voulu en convenir : c'est cependant une vérité bien démontrée. ... Ce que je viens de dire, prouve qu'il ne peut se former de savant en Espagne qu'autant que ceux qui voudront y cultiver les sciences, se mettront au-dessus des lois pro- hibitives du Saint-Office. Mais ou sont les hommes assez courageux pour s'exposer à ce danger ? On voit que depuis que l'Inquisition est établie il n'y a presque pas eu d'homme célèbre par son savoir, qu'elle n'ait poursuivi comme hérétique. Il est honteux de le dire j mais les faits qui le prouvent sont incon- testables, et notre histoire nationale peut en convaincre facilement íes plus incrédules." fèfótofre critique Ue Vhiqniiition, vol. 2, pp. 417, 420.

59 Consult, inter alm, fëtetQÎït ÌSH ¿fantome* et Ííeá Bémoná . Par Mme Gabrielle de Ρ*****. Paris, 1ÌÌ195 île Stable peint par lui-même, afe. Par Collin de Plancy, Paris, 1825 ; $3¿&E¡ertatüm síur lesi Jirlatéficeá et  Corriera &c. Lille, 1862. Even to the present day the form of exorcism is preserved in the ritual of the church.

60 Some curious specimens will be found in M. O. Delepierre's remark- able little volume : W^êixítt Essai Philosophique et Historique sur les Légendes de la Fie Future, Londres, 1876.

61 The edifying history of Lot and his daughters, for instance, is represented, in six bas-reliefs, on the embrasure of the central door of the cathedral at Lyons¡ for a full description, see ï'ftntermëtttat're, x. col. 362. "J'ai vu à Anvers, (affirms Pigault-Lebrun) il n'y a pas quarante ans» un tableau qui représentait le sacrifice d'Abraham. Le peintre avait armé le patriarche d'un fusil, avec lequel il tenait son fils en joue. Un ange, du haut du ciel, pissait dans le bassinet, et faisait rater l'arme. Ce peintre-là méritait de peindre toute la Bible ; il était aussi plaisant qu'elle."  Citatetit, chap. 3.

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. xlix.

the depths to which human credulity can sink.(62) The very- existence of such an institution must be looked upon as the true miracle.

Nos prêtres ne sont point ce qu'un vain peuple pense ; Notre crédulité fait toute leur science. ()

Although England has never possessed many artists who have devoted their pencils to the illustration of amorous or erotic subjects, nor among those few such eminent masters as some other European countries can boast ; yet Thomas Row- landson stands out as a great exception to this rule. I do not propose to enter here into the consideration of such of his works as are before the general public ; that task is being per- formed by other hands, but Î shall confine myself entirely to that class of his productions which enters into the frame of the

62 "When I reflect (writes Dr. Beggi) that a thousand years ago it was exactly the same as it had been from the year 370, and when I see that from the fifteenth century we have not improved in anything except hypocrisy, I ask all conscientious persons what use it is for society, and for the moral and political welfare of states, to keep up such a lot of parasitic, libidinous, envious, vain, rapacious, and miserable gluttons, who seem to be on earth only to per- petuate the list of human miseries, and to suck the blood of the people whom they constantly toss about for the opportunity of better and easier spoliating their victims ? Some people say that they are a necessary evil, and you must not say or do anything against them, but at the same time they coincide with me that the wrongs and injuries that they inflict upon society are infinitely greater than the little good or assistance that they give to the people in compen- sation for what they get out of them." } incubi of & aitò Vtníte, &c. London, 1864, p. 167.

63 Voltaire, Oedipe} act iv, scene 1.

g

1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

present work, many specimens of which will be found described in the following pages (pp. 346 to 398).

Perhaps no artist, Foreign or English, has so thoroughly suc- ceeded in combining the humorous with the obscene. We must not seek in his productions the minute detail and careful exe- cution of many of the French artists of the last century, for his is of an entirely different school. Endowed with more facility of execution than patience or industry, he threw off with ease and rapidity the creations of his fruitful imagination without caring to elaborate them and supplement every trifling detail. His is a school of broad, rapid, startling effect, rather than one of painstaking, pre-raphaelite minuteness. Rowlandson's drawing is not invariably true : his animals are frequently faulty, and his figures not always correct. This arises from carelessness, hurry, or an endeavour to give a special effect to a difficult posture, not from want of skill. Rowlandson had studied the human figure carefully, had inspired himself from the antique, had reproduced some works of the great Italian masters, and many of his early nudities are perfect in outline. Like all true geniuses however, he soon threw off the trammels of classic art, and opened out a field peculiarly and unmistakably his own. He is never conventional, never stilted, or theatrical. He loved a small foot and an elegant figure as well as Binet, for instance, but he never fell into the preposterous, lanky, un- womanly figures in which that artist, and some others of his school, have indulged. Rowlandson's women have u points " more in accordance with the notions of the great Flemish painters. To faces of a truly English type of beauty he adds bodies of more than English proportions. He combines Law-

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. .

rence and Rubens. One thing is especially remarkable, and worthy of grateful recognition in Rowlandson. In spite of an obscenity which is frequently outrée, and by the moderation of which the attractiveness and amorous or luxurious effect of the design might frequently be heightened, he nevertheless never oversteps the bounds of what is manly and natural. He is never crapulous, never anti-physical (if I may be permitted the expression) ; and I know no single specimen of all his numerous productions in which filthy, revolting, or unnatural actions are portrayed. This praise is greater than it may at first sight appear to be if we consider the impossible postures and combinations which some foreign artists have affected, or the depths of groveling crapulousness to which they have descended.

A word on bibliography. I have been censured(64) by some of my friends for having admitted into my former volume many worthless books, bad in point of art, rubbish in fact. I plead guilty to the accusation, and beg to remind my readers that in so doing I acted in conformity with the programme which I had sketched out. I do not retract what I have ad- vanced, I go even further. What we want are not biblio- graphies of good and standard works, such as " no gentleman's library should be without," but of rare, forgotten, insignifi- cant, deceitful, or even trivial and pernicious books. A good book, like a great man, will penetrate, sooner or later, will

64 '* I! est de l'essence d'un bon Livre d'avoir des Censeurs ; & la plus grande disgrace qui puisse arriver à un Ecrit qu'on met au jour, ce n'est pas que beau- coup de gens en disent du mal, c'est que personne n'en dise rien." Boileau, Epîtres, Preface.

Hi. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

eventually make its mark, and obtain its proper place. Worth- less books on the other hand are stumbling blocks to the student ; they exist, and are constantly obtruding themselves in his path ; he must consequently be grateful to the bibliographer who shall have taken the trouble to wade through this literary garbage, shall have estimated it at its real value, and shall give a terse but reliable account of it. How often does it happen that a young student, or even an experienced collector, sees a book catalogued which, from its title, seems to be what he ought to consult, or which should enter his collection, but when, with difficulty and expense, he shall have procured the work in question, it turns out to be quite different from what he expected. How numerous are the bibliographies which repeat, one after another, the titles of standard, well known books with which every advanced student, every intelligent collector, will be acquainted. I know however of no single work which, confining itself to the worthless and deceitful, points out what should be avoided. This is the real desideratum.

Books are collected by two sorts of persons—those who read, and those who do not read.(6s) The former will, from their

6s Book-collectors may be subdivided ad infinitum. There are those who seek works of a certain epoch, in a particular language, on a special subject, by a favourite author, or a remarkable publisher or printer. Others will accept only books which are especially rare, editiones principes, or other particular editions, reprints containing peculiar errors, illustrated editions, extra tall copies, or specimens of fine binding. The former may possibly appertain to those who read, "literary ghouls, feeding in the charnel-house of decayed literature,'* the latter most probably to those who do not read. Book-collectors are so

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. HÜ.

own experience, know what books they require ; for the habit of reading is not sudden, but gradual, must be acquired when young, and cannot be taken to at will, in later life, or when one shall have the means, or have taken a caprice for collecting.

numerous, and anecdotes about them so plentiful, that a list of their names, apart from any information about them, would be impossible here. I shall restrict myself to a brief note upon one or two less generally known specialists, or originals. We have Magliabechi of Florence,the "Glutton of Literature ;" Dr. Douglas of London, who collected only editions of Horace, or books having reference to his favourite poet; Fitzpatrick Smart, too erratic in his taste to be placed in any special category ; " Inch-rule " Brewer, who bought books exclusively by measurement; C. F. Kofoed of Brussels, who devoted all his attention to illustration. The book-collector, it must be owned, is a most inoffensive individual, and I know of but two instances of crime resulting from the mania: I allude to those of brother Vincente of the convent of Pöblet, Aragon, and afterwards bookseller at Barcelona, who committed incen- diarism, and murdered twelve persons in order to gain possession of the volumes he loved so well; and of Tini us, a Saxon pastor, who, in 1812 and 1813, killed and robbed successively a merchant and an old woman in order to procure the money he needed to pay for books he had bought. In his pleasant article : Les Catalogues de Livres et les Bibliophiles Contemporains, which serves as preface to Fontaine's Catalogue for 1877, M. Paul Lacroix has given an interesting sketch of the chief living French bibliophiles, ranking them according to military grades. Concerning those of the generation immediately preceding our own, information, not to be met with elsewhere, will be found scattered through the 7 vols, of %% Ì8tbttopÌ)tle dfraïuaté. M. Octave Uzanne has lately portrayed, in his Les Caprices d'un bibliophile, "le Cabinet d'un Eroto-Bibliomane", of which the original is perhaps not difficult to trace, although the picture is highly coloured. Consult ^olt'ttial anu 3t terarü &iucfcotC£i by Dr. William King, 1819, p. 70;  33ooïu£|unter, pp. 18 and 23 ; Cat   &c. de M.  F. Kofoed; %z  par Jules Janin, p. 120 ; I/liitermftitaire, χ, 678 ;  of , p. 84.

UV. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

The true bibliophile will then have been a student,(66) a reader in his youth, and must, from his very reading, have obtained a better acquaintance with the works he wants in his particular branch, or even with their various editions, than any of the bibliographies I have alluded to can, as a rule, inform him of. To the latter, all bibliographies are alike useless, for they will probably pay more attention to quality of paper, size of type, beauty of illustrations, or even height of the volumes, or style of binding, than to the intrinsic merits of the work, or correct- ness of the edition, and are äs likely to be guided by their upholsterer, as by their bookseller.(6l)

I regret that in this volume I have not reached the goal for which I am striving. I have not been able strictly to carry out my intention of registering and branding exclusively worthless books.(68) We are all prone to pass over, to shun, and leave

66 Such an one, let us hope, as is described in the following words of Dr. William Mathews : " The best books are useless, if the book-worm is not a living creature. The mulberry leaf must pass through the silkworm's stomach before it can become silk, and the leaves which are to clothe our mental naked- ness must be chewed and digested by a living intellect. The mind of the wise reader will react upon its acquisitions, and will grow rich, not by hoarding borrowed treasures, but by turning everything into gold." inoltra fotti) | atifc JSfloítô, p. 139.

67 I have been told an anecdote of a gentleman, who, h  ving gained a com- petency in commerce, took to book-collecting. A friend, knowing that the old gentleman was no reader, and curious to learn what use he made of his newly acquired treasures, asked the son what his parent did with his books. " Oh," re- plied the youth ingenuously, " my father dusts them every Sunday morning with a silk handkerchief."

68 When I say " worthless books " I must be understood to speak compara-

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. lv.

unnoticed the insignificant and trivial, and to dwell upon the good and great. This has been my case ; I have been attracted by masterpieces, and have neglected the unartistic ; conse- quently in this volume less rubbish will be found than in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

As bibliography is, after all, but a reproduction of what already exists—a pouring out from one vessel into another— care should be taken that this " decanting " be not useless or superfluous. A good bibliography is a great boon, a bad one the very reverse. Every purposeless bibliographical compila- tion is but an additional hindrance to the seeker of knowledge, for he will feel in duty bound to consult it in the hope of learning something from its pages. Unless a bibliographer has something new or ignored to communicate, errors to point out,

tively, for I hold with Pliny the younger that : " Nullus est liber tam malus, qui non ex aliqua parte prosit." " It is difficult, almost impossible, (observes Mr. J. H. Burton) to find the book from which something either valuable or amusing may not be found, if the proper alembic be applied. I know books that are curious, and really amusing, from their excessive badness. If you want to find precisely how a thing ought not to be said, you take one of them down, and make it perform the service of the intoxicated Spartan slave. There are some volumes in which, at a chance opening, you are certain to find a mere platitude delivered in the most superb and amazing climax of big words, and others in which you have a like happy facility in finding every proposition stated with its stem forward, as sailors say, or in some other grotesque mis- management of composition. There are no better farces on or off the stage than when two or three congenial spirits ransack books of this kind, and compete with each other in taking fun out of them." Cije $>oob%mtfr, p. 141.

Ivi. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

or some decided improvement in form or arrangement to pro- pose, he had better leave old materials as they are, and not put errors and uncertainties into another shape. No book is easier to make than a slipshod, incorrect bibliography, none perhaps so difficult, or which demands so much care, attention, research, and patient drudgery,(69) as one at the same time profound, comprehensive, concise, and easy of consultation. ('°)

69 The following instance of literary drudgery is so remarkable that, although not strictly to the point, I give it place : " In 1786 the Rev. William Davy, an obscure curate in Devonshire, began writing a ' System of Divinity/ as he termed it, in twenty-six volumes, which, being unable to find a publisher, he resolved to print with his own hands. With a few old types and a press made by himself, he began the work of typography, printing only a page at a time. For twelve long years he pursued his extraordinary labours, and at last, in 1807, brought them to a close. As each volume of the twenty-six octavo volumes of his work contained about 300 pages, he must have imposed and distributed his types, and put his press into operation 13,000 times, or considerably more than three times a day, omitting Sundays, during the long period of his task,—an amount of toil without remuneration which almost staggers belief. Only fourteen copies were printed, which he bound with his own hands, and a few of which he deposited in the public libraries of London. He died at an advanced age in 1826, hoping to the last for a favourable verdict from posterity, though even the existence of his magnum opus,—magnum in size only,—is prob- ably not known to ten men in Great Britain." fêourá ímtf) fita atuí &, . 238.

70 "De tous les livres difficiles à faire, (writes Jules Janin) il est convenu qiïun livre de bibliographie est, plus que tous les autres, rempli de périls de toutes sortes. Chaque partie du discours appartient à quelque savant qui n'a jamais appris que cela, lisant peu, mais lisant en conscience (multum non multa) ¡ si bien quà chaque instant, à chaque page, à tout propos, vous rencontrez un censeur nouveau, frais émoulu, qui vous démontre, inévitablement, quici même, à cette

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. lvü.

Perhaps one of the most useful bibliographical labours would be the construction of a combined alphabetical index rerum of works the titles of which do not fully indicate their contents, or of such as embrace a variety of topics. When we see a book upon a special subject, the history of a particular country, or the life of a certain individual, we know that in such work we shall find information upon that subject, country, or person ; but what else does it contain ? Further, what a mine of infor- mation lies ignored, or only partially explored, in travels, reviews, memoirs, diaries, correspondences, and a host of other works of a miscellaneous character which it is unnecessary here to enumerate. In these days of prolific publication, the student has in truth not the time to wade through these numerous and frequently voluminous works, and an united alphabetical table of contents would be invaluable.(")

Bibliographers, with a few honourable exceptions, have hitherto been content to confine themselves to the outsides (if I may so express it) of the books which they have described, and have rarely penetrated further than the title page or the

placet à iel nom propre, irrévocablement, vous vous êtes trompé. Les plus grands esprits du monde ont rencontré cet obstacle imprévu.'* %t Et'bre, p. xxv. 71 There is a prospect of this want being, if in part only, supplied by the Index Society, lately founded in London. To the able little pamphlet by the Hon. Sec.j the first publication of the Society, I would refer my readers for confirmation of what I have advanced above, and for a fairly exhaustive treat- ment of the subject he has taken in hand : rø|)at «Tan ErtKejr ? A Few Notes on Indexes and Indexers. % Henry , Wheatley, F.S.A. tøV. London : mdccclxxviii. 8vo., pp. 96.

h

lviii. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

colophon. A record of the title, date, size, and pagination of a book is of course useful as far as it goes, particularly to the collector or amateur, but the student requires to be informed of much more than this ; he wants to get at the contents, and this with as little loss of time as possible ; he must have an estimate of what is in the book, so that he may be able at once to decide whether he has to read it, or to leave it alone, and pass on to something else. What imports it to him whether the book is in 12mo. or folio, on good or bad paper, &c. ? It is the nature of the matter which is all important to him— whether he has found in it a stone to be added to his temple of knowledge, or only another useless brick which does not fit into his structure.(12)

There is one thing which cannot be too earnestly impressed upon every bibliographer; it is that he should avoid fine writing, or an endeavour to be brilliant, amusing, or witty.(73)

78 I should be happy if the following words, which J. Techener wrote con- cerning one of France's most distinguished bibliographers, could be found applicable to myself: "Aux yeux de M. Nodier la bibliographie n'était pas seulement la science du titre exact d'un livre, de sa date précise, de son format et de sa reliure ; chacun des bijoux qu'il avait jugé dignes de figurer dans ses rayons était un trésor nouveau et devenait pour lui l'occasion de reflections délicates, originales et philosophiques ; il aimait à promener son admirable télescope sur tous ces petits mondes ; il découvrait souvent, dans la plus mince plaquette, une peinture de mœurs, un souvenir littéraire, un précieux éclaircisse- ment historique." Preface to ütóm'jjttOH rationnée ' jolít Colleítwm *

73 It is surprising that the French, lovers of bibliography, and able biblio- graphers as they undoubtedly are, find it so difficult to avoid this error. Even

PRELIMINARY REMARKS. 1ÌX.

As it is not good for a theatrical manager to be an actor, a critic an artist, or a librarian a reader, (74) &c, so it is undesir- able that a bibliographer should be a une writer. He must content himself with being the humble servant of his authors, and the faithful guide of his readers. What may be readily granted to authors in other fields of literature must be denied to him. They may be allowed to display their knowledge and

the editors of the Supplément (1878) to the classical jtørnul UU %ibxam complain of having to resign themselves to this stern necessity. " Ce public difficile (writes M. P. Deschamps, at p. xi of the Avertissement) nous repro- chera sans aucun doute de ne pas observer rigoureusement, en toutes circon- stances, cette loi de la sécheresse noble, qui semble être une règle d'État pour les bibliographes, particulièrement pour ceux de l'ancienne école. Mais la biblio- graphie est-elle fatalement vouée à cette austérité ? L' écrivain doit-il se voiler éternellement la face avec le masque tragique, absolument comme s'il était condamné à déclamer à perpétuité le récit de Théramène ? Mais alors rentrons tout de suite dans la forme aride des répertoires anglais et allemands, et nos catalogues gagneront en dignité et en correction glaciale ce qu'ils perdront en intérêt et en mouvement."

74 "The learned author of the life of Isaac Casaubon, Mr. Mark Patti son, says * the librarian who reads is lost ;' and this is to a great extent true. It was certainly true in the case of Casaubon, who, in his love for the contents of the books placed under his charge, forgot his duties as a librarian. The licence which a librarian may be allowed to take while in the discharge of his duties was well indicated by the amiable Cary, the translator of Dante, who used to describe himself and his colleagues, while engaged in their task of cataloguing the books of the British Museum Library, as sheep travelling along a road and stopping occasionally to nibble a little grass by the wayside." Mr. John Winter Jones, Inaugural .address at the Conference of Librarians held in London, October, 1877. See €f>e Htbrarø journal, vol. a, p. 106.

lx. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

bright parts without showing the means by which they attained their skill and learning. He must be satisfied not to shine, and he is most useful, best performs his duty, and most surely reaches his goal, by discovering every step by which he has risen to the position he occupies, every path through which he has passed in the acquisition of such erudition as he may possess. He is not the host, but the servant, not the enter- tainer, but only the attendant whose duty it is to usher the guests into the presence of those who have to entertain them.

Note.—A few words may not be out of place here, may even be thought necessary, to account for the irregularity, incompleteness, or even, as some may deem it, the capriciousness with which the foregoing epigraphs and notes have been selected. John Selden has said: "In quoting of Books, quote such Authors as are usually read, others you may read for your own satisfaction, but not name them. ... To quote a modern Dutch Man where I may use a Classic Author, is as if I were to justify my Reputation, and I neglect all Persons of Note and Quality that know me, and bring the Testimonial of the Scullion in the Kitchen." ^. Selden was right from his point of view, but I have nevertheless proceeded on a different principle. As the works noticed in the body of this volume are, more or less, of an obscure character, so, in order to make my notes correspond, I have sought to illustrate my remarks with selections from obscure authors rather than from those patent to the world at large. Of course where an appropriate passage was not to be found in a minor writer I have taken it from one better known. Every one of my readers will be conversant with the works of such authors as Rabelais, Milton, Voltaire, Diderot ; but some few will possibly be less well acquainted with the productions of Robert Wolseley, James Atkinson, Dr. F. Schuselka, Dr. F. .  eg g i, Dr. E. H. Michelsen, Α. Steinmetz, or Mme. Marie Qui vogne, and may not be displeased with the present introduction. As the intention of this compilation is suggestive, not exhaus- tive, is to deal with disdained or overlooked authors, my object will be readily understood, and my modus operandi, I trust, pardoned.

CENTURIA LIBRORUM ABSCONDITORUM.

tegjÉpStorfflfttOIdgía Historico-Medica, h. e. Seminis Humani §|§&| Consideratio Physico-Medico-Legalis, qva Ejus Natura et Usus, insimulqve Opus Generadoras et Varia de Coitualiaqve hue pertinentia, v.g. De Castratione, Herniotomia, Phimosi, Circumcisione, Recutitione, & Infibulatione, item De Hermaphroditis & Sexum mu- tantibus, Raris & selectis Observationibus, an nexo índice locupletissimo, traduntur, à D. Martino ScHURiGio, Physico Dresdensi. Francofurti ad Mcenum, Sumptibus Johannis , mdccxx.

4to. ; pp. 721, preceded by 8 pages of title and preface, and followed by 66 pages of indices and errata ; title printed in red and black. Renauldin* notes an edition of 1721, which I have not seen.

  • Olografie UnibttteUt (Michaud), vol. 38, p. 475. Second editions of

two other of Schurig's works are also there given, but they are not noted in any other biographical work which I have been able to consult, nor have I ever met with them, and 1 am consequently inclined to doubt their existence. No authorities are given in Michaud's S logrante. 

2 SPERMATOLOGIA.

Although chiefly occupied with the consideration of the

act of generation, this volume, as its title indicates, embraces

many other subjects. Like all other 'works by the same

author it abounds in curious and instructive anecdotes. I

add a few of the subjects which have struck me as being

the most noteworthy:

Various names of the penis (p. 89) ; " De Coitu," a very remarkable chapter (p. 222) ; The size of the xnose indi- cative of that of the yard (p. 320) ; " Castrati Spadones & Evnuchi quomodo différant " (p. 374) ; " Castrati coire pos- sunt" (p. 390); "An Penis magnus Coitum impediat " (p. 496) ; Remedy against long yards (p. 502) ; " De Herma- phroditis & Sexum mutantibus," a most interesting chapter (p. 561) ; " Clitoris magna" (p. 576) ; Writers who affirm that Adam was a hermaphrodite (p. 684) ; Exampies of women changed into men (p. 690).

I may here remark, once and for all, that this volume, like all those which I am about to notice by Schurig, is most thoroughly done. Authorities are carefully and fully given ; and citations are reproduced in the language and words of their authors. Each volume is furnished with a Syllabus Autorum and an Index Rerum, alphabetically arranged, so that every item of the contents can be easily got at, and verified. It is this thoroughness, peculiar to erudite Ger- mans, which renders their books so valuable to the student, although by the reader for mere amusement they may be thought troublesome and unattractive.

MULIEBRIA. 3

jfñüUthviu Historico-Medica, hoc est Partium Genitalium Muliebrium Consideratio Physico-Medico-Forensis, qua Pudendi Muliebris Partes tam externæ, quam internæ, scilicet Uterus cum Ipsi Annexis Ovariis et Tubis Fallop- ianis, nee non Varia de Clitoride et Tribadismo, de Hymene et Nymphotomia seu Feminarum Circumcisione et Castratione selectis et curiosis observationibus tra- duntur. A D. Martino Schurigio, Physico Dresdens!. Dresdæ & Lipsiæ, apud Christophori Hekelii . Filium, m.dcc.xxix.

4to. ; pp. 384, preceded by 8 pages of title and preface, and followed by 36 pages of indices, unnumbered.

A very curious collection of entertaining anecdotes could be formed from this volume. I confine myself to the indi- cation of a few of the most remarkable passages :

" De Pudendi muliebris denominationibus " (p. a) ; Hair on the private parts so luxuriant that it was cut off and sold (p. a6) ; External signs of the size of the pudenda of both sexes (p. 49) ; " Vulva monstrosa" (p. ¡1); " De Vaticinio per vulvam" (p. 56); "De clitoride magna" (ρ, 83); "Tribades" (p. go); Sodomy committed in three ways (p. 105); "An mulieres viro s in eant " (p. 107); "Differentia inter clitoridem & caudam" (p. in); " Circumcisio feminarum." Women were circumcised under Maqueda, queen of the Sabæ (p. 142) ; " Dæmonum cum mulieribus concubitum vanum esse mereque imaginarium" (p. 171); "Usus vaginae" (p. 207); "An orificium (uteri) in coitu aperiatur" (p. 223); c*Testiculi muliebres a virilibus différant (p. 307); Extra ordinary example of female lubricity (p. 335).

4 PARTHENOLOGIA.

ÇartftntOlOgta Historico-Medica, hoc est, Virginitatis Con- siderado, qua ad eam pertinentes Pubertas & Menstruatio, cum ipsarum maturitate, item Varia de Insolitis Men- sium Viis atque Dubiis Virginitatis Signis, nee non De Partium Genitalium Muliebrium, pro Virginitatis Custodia, olim instituta Consutione et Infibulatione variis atque selectis observationibus cum Indice Locupletissimo tra- duntur a D. Martino Schurigio, Physico Dresdensi. Dresdæ & Lipsiæ, apud Christophori Hekelii . Fiiium, mdccxxix.

4to. ; pp.  84, preceded by 4 pages of title and preface, and followed by 36 pages of indices, unnumbered. Here are a few of the passages which have struck me as the most re- markable in this curious volume :

Sale by auction of virgins among the Babylonians (p. 25) ; " De Menstrui sanguinis usu " (p. 223) ; " De statua uxoris Lothi" (p. 265); " De Notis Virginitatis ex Miraculis (p. 274); Chastity put to the proof by a hot iron and boiling water (p. 276) ; Conception without insertion of the penis (p. 301) ; Various modes of infibulation of girls (p. 369) ; Andramytes, King of the Lydori, was the inventor of castration of women, and Semiramis of that of men (p. 374) ; " Virgo a serpente amata" (p. 382), Numerous historical and scientific anecdotes are scattered through the volume.

GYNÆCOLOGIA. 5

<6]pn$C0l03fø Historico-Medica hoc est Congressus Muliebris Consideratio Physico-Medico-Forensis qua utriusque sexus Salacitas et Castitas deinde Coitus Ipse Ejusque Voluptas et varia circa hunc actum occurrentia nec non Coitus ob Atresiam seu Vaginæ Uterinæ Im perforati onem et alias Causas Impeditus et Denegatus, Item Nefandus et So- domiticus raris observationibus et aliquot casibus medico- forensibus exhibentur a D, Martino Schurigio, Physico Dresdensi. Dresdæ & Lipsiæ, In Officina Libraria Hekeliana, m.dcc.xxx.

4to. ; pp. 418, with 4 of title and preface, and 18 of syllabus and index, unnumbered.

This is one of the most remarkable, if not the most remark- able, of Schurig's works. It is impossible, without overstep- ping the limits of a bibliographical compilation like the present, to give an adequate notion of the vast gathering of facts and anecdotes embraced within its pages. The difficulty lies in the selection. Here are a few of the most curious points :

Description of the lasci vio usn ess of women (p. i); Extra- ordinary aphrodisiacal properties of the root of an Indian plant (p. 12); " Furoris uterini exempla" (p. 14); Notices of Messalina, Julia, Cleopatra and Semiramis (p. 27); cc Lascivæ uxores maritis cornua imponentes," with signification of the term α cornuti," and anecdotes (p. 31); "Salaces cum brutis coeuntes (p. 39) ; " Salacium p.uellarum instrumenta " (p. 40) ; " Viroram salacitas," with numerous examples (p. 40) ;

6 GYNÆCOLOGIA.

"An mares, an feminæ saladores?" (p. 46); "Conjugium sine coitu (p. ¡6) ; " An sine coitu fiat conceptio ? (p. 64) ; " An dentur conceptiones hermaphroditicæ?" (p. 6¡): "Voluptas in coitu " (p. 69) ; " Utrum mas an femina majorem voluptatem sentiat?" (p. 72); "Quatuor bestiales conçumbendi modos" (p. 85) ; " Dolor in coitu," and difficulties of deflowering vir- gins (p. 95) ; Two curious anecdotes of newly married couples (p. 101) ; " Cohæsio in coitu" (p. 107) ; "In coitu morientes" (p. 124) ; Copulation prevented by the excessive size of the clitoris (p. 157) ; Example of a girl being pregnant without losing her virginity (p. 162) ; Another similar example: "femina permisit colem maris ad vulvae oriflcivm vix pertingere, ille vero tenti- gine flagrans semen ad vulvae orificium invitus ejecit & gravida facta virgo est sine concubitu : &c. ambo asseverarunt, penem in vulvam nequáquam penetrasse." (pp. 172 and 207) ; Instances of lubidinous men, and of such who have performed the act a great number of times consecutively, one " eandem decern ad minimum, sæpe duodecim, quindecim, imo ali- quando viginti coitibus exercens." (p. 225) ; Various ways in which the act of sodomy is committed by different peoples (p. 369); "Coitus feminarum cum feminis. Frictrices" (p. 377) ; Bestiality with various animals of both sexes, with mer- men and maids, with demons, and with statues (p. 380) ; " Coitus per os " (p. 379) ; Corpse profanation (p. 388).

I cannot close my notice on this very remarkable volume without reproducing in full two pieces which appear to me exceptionally curious. In treating of the size of the male human member, Schurig gives the following letter taken from a MS. :

P. P.

Ew. Hoch-Freyherrl Gnaden Exceli, und Grosz-Achtb. Herri, sey meinunter thænigst Gehorsame in tieffester D emuík und and œchii-

GYNÆCOLOGIA. 7

gen Gebet zu Gott anvor. Dero heutiges Tages gegebener Abschied zwi-

[Here read the page which I have facsimiled in the exact size of the original» and conclude with :]

len an mir nicht vollbringen, vielweniger eine Mœgligkeit erzwingen kœnnen. Dergleichen grosse und dicke er eine weisse Rübe ge- schcehlel,mich damit weiter, als mich G Ott erschaffen,eræffhen wollen. Darzu so hat auch sein Stieff-Vater und andere Freunde ihn angefrischt, wo er an mir nicht seinen Bey schlaff gemessen kœnte, solte er mich im Holtze an einem Baum binden, todt schiessen, auff und darvon gehen, wohin er wolte. Dahero gelanget &c. Datum den 14. Jun. 1681.

From the long chapter: "De stupratone in somno," in which several curious instances are adduced of virgins being deflowered and rendered pregnant during sleep, and without their knowledge or consent, I extract the following, which will serve at the same time as a specimen of the macaronic style frequently used by the learned Germans of the time, and to whom Schurig made no exception. The questions are put to the Faculty of Medicine of Leipzig :

i.) An dormiens in sella virgo inscia deflorari possit ?

a.) An citra immissionem semims per solam hujus spirituascentiam con- cipere queat ? expetiebat, quod ipsius Facultatis verbis ita sonat :

Als uns dieselben ein Schreiben und Acta contra D. R. H. Barbier-Gesellen,  puncto angegebener Schwængerung an Â. . S* zugeschickt, und unser Gut- achten über die zwey Fragen umstœndlich zu erœffnen verhngei : 1 )  es auch mœglich, dasz eine Virgo hey natürlichem Schlaff, sitzende a uff einem grossem Polster-Stuhl, dessen Sessel eine Elle lang und breit, und ohngefehr vom Auszuge eine kalbe Elle hoch von der Erden, ohne Accommodation, Bewegung und Empßmdlichkeit, und zwar ihrem Forgeben nach, mit Gewalt von dem Impraegnatore halb stehendt halb kniend erkannt werden kœnnen ? 2.) Ob nicht,

8 GYNÆCOLOGIA.

als H, Imprægnatam auf dem Faulbette fleischlich erkannt, ob gleich das Semen ins Hembde gegangen, per spiritum dessen, und also noch vor letzterm Congressi! die Conception und Fcecundation geschehen kœnnen ? So geben wir nach collegiáiischer Verlesung und reifflicher Überlegung aller in Actis befindlichen Umstænden hierauff zur Antwort ; und zwar auf die erste Frage, dasz, ob schon nicht so leicht zu vermuthen stehet, dasz eine annoch wahrhqfftige Jungfrau ohne alle Empfindligheit und Einwilligung stuprire* werden mœge, dennoch in dem Casu, da dergleichen junge Person, so von der Arbeit ermüdet, sich im ersten Schlaf befindet, auf einem in Actis besthriebenen Lehn-Stuhl sitzend, oder fol. io. des Stupratoris Forgeben nach, rückwerts angelehnet, dannenhero Ge- nitalia ziemlich vor-und Überwerts gewendet, und die Füsse auf dem unterm Stuhle befindlichen Auszug, von sich gestrecket, solches nicht vor gantz unmœg- lich zu achten sey, und also sie ohne sonderbahre Empfndlichkeit oder vollkom- mene Wissenschqfft, das ist, cum actu reflexo & -cognitione eorum, quæ ipsi contingunt, auch ohne Bewegung und Accommodation, und dannenhero inscia & invita, fleischlich erkannt und geschwœngert werden kœnne. Welches bey . . S. vielleicht umb so viel eher geschehen, da Stuprator, seiner Aussage nach, fol. 18. selbige schon etliche Wochen zuvor einsten im Bette wircklich und vollkommen, i. e. cum penis omnímoda in genitalia ejus intrusione, wiewohl ohne seminis immissione, flaschlich erkennet und \\oY\ret, auch dahin gestellet wird, ob er wie damahls, also auch auf dem Stuhl sein Membrum der S. so tieffin den Leib gebracht habe, weil er, ob er bey diesem Actu besage f. 19. dieses Werck vollkommen voll- bracht, (indem er betruncken gewesen,) selbst nicht wissen will; dergleichen unvollkommener Congressus dennoch, und da Méntula vaginæ uteri orificio nur einiger massen applicire/, dieses sub illius afírictione titillire¿, und ihm semen virile aspergi re/ wird, wie unterschiedener Autorum Observationes medicæ erweisen, zu Sckvvængerung einer Weibes-Person untervveilen sufficient und zulænglich befunden vuerde. Ob aber und wie weit dergleichen stupratio somno oppressæ, und solches inscie atque invite admittentis pro violento zu achten, geben wir denen Herren JCtis zu decidirei anheim. So viel aber die andere Frage betrifft, weil H. Act. fol. 41. b. selbst gestehet, dasz, da er impræg- natam auf dem Faulbettgen fleischlich erkannt, er das Semen ins Hembde gelassen, und also weder afrrictio noch aspersi  seminis ad genitalia muliebria vorgegangen, hat in demselben Congressu keine Conception und Fcecundation erfolgen kœnnen, Leipzig den 12. Aug. 1669. vid. Joh. Frid. Zittrnann. Medicin. Forens. Cent. FL Cas. 77. pag. 1642. seqq. it. Mich. Bernh. Valentin! /. a. p. 31. seqq.

SYLLEPSILOGIA. Ç

^pHepötlOJpa Historico-Medica hoc est Conceptionis Mu- liebris Consideratio Physico-Medico-Forensis qua Ejus- dem Locus, Organa, Materia, Modus in Atretis scu Imperforatis, item Signa et Impedimenta, deinde Didy- motokia seu Gemeliatio Superfoetatio et Embryotokia et denique Varia de Graviditate Vera, Falsa, Occulta et Diuturna nee non De Gravidarum Privilegiis Animique Pathematis et Impressione Raris et Curiosis Observationi- bus traduntur a D. Martino Schurigio, Physico Dresdensi. Dresdæ & Lipsiæ, Snmtibus (sic) . Christoph. Hekelii Fil. mdccxxxi.

4to. ; pp. 656, preceded by 4 pages of title and preface, and followed by 20 pages of indices, unnumbered.

The title conveys but a faint notion, even to one of the profession, of the amusing and curious information with which the volume abounds. Here are a few of the most note- worthy items:

Instance of a woman with child during twenty-five years (p. 95); Examples of conception by old women (p. 116); "Conceptio sine penis intromissione" (p. 131); Births of several children at a time (p. 201); Remarkable instances of superfetation (p. 278); "De gravidarum coitu" (p. 533); Imagination in women (p. 561). The ninth chapter of section V. is full of extraordinary cases.

IO EMBRIOLOGIA.

(ØmbrpolOfffa Historico-Medica hoc est Infantis Hvmani Consideratio Physico-Medico-Forensis, qva Ejvsdem in Vtero Nvtritio, Formatio, Sangvinis Circvlatio, Vitalitas sev Animano, Respiratio, Vagitvs et Morbi, deinde Ipsivs ex Vtero Egressvs praematvrvs et serotinvs, imprimis partvs legitimvs et circa evndem occvrrentia, verbi gratia Partvs Difficilis, Post Matris Mortem, nvmerosvs et mvltiplex, tam pvellarvm, qvam vetvlarvm, item per insólitas vias, et plane insolitvs. porro Varia Sympto- mata, e.g. Vteri Proiapsvs ejvsqve Inversio et Resectio, deniqve Partvs Caesarevs et Svpposititivs cvm Pverpe- rarvm Tortvra raris observationibvs exhibentvr a D. Martino Schvrigio, Physico Dresdensi. Dresdae & Lipsìae Apvd Christoph. Hekelii B. Filivm,

MDCC XXX II.

4to. ; pp. 920, with 35 unnumbered of title, preface, index and errata.

Every thing that can possibly be said upon gestation,

labour and childbirth, interwoven with curious anecdotes,

is given in this work, which is thoroughly interesting to one

unacquainted with the art of surgery. Here are a few only

of the curious items which the volume contains :

Abortions produced by various causes (p. 339) ; Time at which conception can take place, with many strange instances of juvenile fecundity (p. 590) ; If any fruit can result from

schurig's various works. li

the connection of a man with an animal, or of an animal with a woman (p. 689). In his consideration of the " partus suppositus " (p. 892) the author adduces a vast number of historical examples.

In addition to the works* noticed above, Schurig wrote :

fifc&rtatfo   léna, 1688. 4to.f

JHatøtøgia Historico-Medica, h.e. Salivæ Humanæ Con- siderado PhysicQ-Medico-Forensis, &c. Dresdæ, Sump- tibus Hæred. Miethii. 1723.

4to.; pp. 406, with 41 pages of title, preface, indices and errata; title in red and black.

Cf)pIoIrjgta Historico-Medica h.e. Chyli Humani, sive Succi Hominis Nutritii, Considerado <kc. Dresdæ, Sumptibus Joh. Christoph. Zimmermann!, & Joh. Nicolai

GeRLACHíI. Anno MDCCXXV.

4to. ; pp. 911, with 8 pages of title and preface, and 48 pages of indices, unnumbered ; title in red and black. Con- tains a curious dissertation " De Stercoris humani et Bru- torum Usu Medico."

Most of Schurig's books will be found in the libraries of the British Museum and College of Surgeons, although neither institution possesses a complete set.

par De ζ ει meris, vol. 4, p. Ϊ29.

12 SCHÜRIG's VARIOUS WORKS.

^aematOlXigta Historico-Medica, hoc est Sangvinis Con- sideratio Physico-Medico-Cvriosa, &c. Dresdae et Lip- siae apud Fridericvm Hekel, mdccxliv. 4to. ; pp. 408, with 4 pages of title and preface, and 18

pages of indices, unnumbered.

Xít&OlOgÍE Historico-Medica, hoc est Calcvli Hvmani Con- siderado Physico-Medico-Cvriosa, &c. Dresdae et Lipsiae apvd Fridericvm Hekel, mdccxliv. 4to. ; pp. 850, with 4 pages of title and preface, and 32

pages of indices, unnumbered.

* ^Antrafen ©eftwbljeii,* obet dm nutzet Tractât vom ©^ &. ; 3ìebfì anímenme Manuali,  Medíeis unb Chirurgis ¿ Sanbe unb SBaffer ¿um beflen in 9hebetlänbtfd>er ©£ gefdjríeben fcon Abraham Leon- hard Vrolingh, Chirurgo ¿ 2BejbZaerdam, &c. ine «§ &[ überfe^et Son Martino Schurigen, Μ.Ό. &c. 3)tefben, 1702. Small 8vo. ; pp. 378, with 46 pages unnumbered; title in

red and black.

* aufrtcijttsjc Stitgett iittb $ûfptt*%Mii Jac. Guille-

meau auâ ben jjtan^öf· . 1706. 8vo.f

In the Mil. +  la ¿Slfttttttt par J. E. Dezeimeris,

  • Not " Atattî^eit,' ' as is generally given by the bibliographers,

t 2røgemetmø ©aro£äif($eo ^, Theil 4, p. 70.

NOTICE ON DR. M. SCHURIG. I3

we read that Schurig has translated from Dutch into German the öFjramm r&trugtrum of Verbrugge. I have not met with this book, nor do I find it mentioned by any other bibliographer, and I am inclined to believe that the work of Frolingh, above mentioned, is intended.

These works, having no special interest for the present compilation, may be dismissed with the bare notice of their titles.

No bibliographical work with which I am acquainted contains a complete list of Schurig's works ; the most ample are those in the 3ffigememeê (§[ 93*£ of Georgi, and in the \ * %t  MtbUÍ№> par J. E. Dezeimeris, although neither of these is perfect.

Of the life of Martin Schurig little is' known. He took his diploma at Erfurt in 1688, and went from there to Dresden, where he became physician, and died in 1733.* Schurig has not received handsome treatment at the hands of the French biographers, who, one and all, accuse him of want of taste, and deficiency in judgment and criticism. It is a great question whether his censors had ever read his works. In the following animadversion, Eloy, while he alludes to the macaronic style in which Schurig generally indulges (a real charm to many readers),*^ ingenuously

  • Biograpjie JKmbmfclte (Michaud), vol. 38, p. 475.

t How flat, stale and unprofitable would be that most captivating of books, Burton's fføatomg of fEelancjolg, were every quotation translated and levelled down into one language !

14 NOTICE ON DR. M. SCHURIG.

implies his own inability fully to grasp his author. In speaking of his works he observes :

On les liroit avec plus de plaisir & de fruit, s'il ne les avoit pas défigurés par une quantité de citations & de longs passages d'Auteurs qui ont écrit en Allemand, en italien & en Hollandois. Comme tout le monde n'entend pas ces Langues, le mélange qu'il en fait avec le Latin, rend la lecture de ces Ouvrages extrêmement rebutante.*

I am more inclined to endorse the opinion of Dezeimeris :

II a écrit sur divers points de la médecine et de la chirurgie, mais princi- palement sur tout ce qui se rattache à la génération et aux accouchements, une série de vastes monographies, dans lesquelles il a rassemblé une masse con- sidérable d'observations, puisées de toutes parts, et où il rappelle à peu près tout ce qui avait été fait avant lui. Quoiqu' il n'ait pas toujours mis dans son œuvre toute la critique qu'on pourrait désirer, on ne peut contester néanmoins à ces recueils une veritable utilité.f

Since Schurig's day medical science has made vast progress,

and many of his theories and notions have consequently

been long since exploded ; but his vast erudition cannot be

too much admired, nor can the value be underrated of the

numberless pertinent facts which he has amassed, and for

which he invariably gives his authorities.

  • Ute. fêtât. ìtt la fetaerne, vol. 4, p. 231. The same passage is reproduced

in the Î3 to graphie í$tàfúaU. t . Ht£¡t. tit ïa , vol, 4, ρ· 129·

№ Sív^t Centbrg of ^ranbalouô, JHaKrjnant

^¡ ípriflSfó, Made and admitted into Benefices by the Prelates, in whose hands the Ordina- tion pf Ministers and government of the Church hath been. Or, A Narration of the Causes for which the Parliament hath Ordered the Sequestration of the Benefices of severall Ministers complained of before them, for vitiousnesse of Life, errors in Doc- trine, contrary to the Articles of our Religion, and for practising and pressing superstitious Innovations against Law, and for Malignancy against the Parliament. It is Ordered this seventeenth day of November, 1643. by the Committee of the House of Commons in Par- liament concerning Printing, that this Booke Intitled, \The First Century of Scandalous, Malignant Priests, &c!j be printed by George Miller. John White. London, Printed by George Miller, dwelling in the Black-Friers, m.dc.xliii.

Square 8vo.; pp. 8 unnumbered of title and "Epistle to the Reader," and 51 numbered; in all 59 pages.

This remarkable volume, scarce as it is curious, was pub-

î6 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

lished by order of the Parliament, in the second year of the great rebellion, whilst King Charles I. was holding court at Oxford. It contains the names, residences, &c, in full, of ioo "scandalous and lewde ministers," together with minute details of the misdemeanours on account of which the Par- liament had sequestrated their benefices.

In his Epistle to the Reader John Whtte, who signs himself "him that desireth to spend himselfe and be spent in the service of the King and Kingdome," sets forth under six heads the objects and advantages of the book :

First, To open thine eyes and clearely convince and satisfie thee, that the Parliament had good, and very great cause from hence, among many other things, to declare and resolve, that the present Church Govemement by Arch- bishops, Bishops, their Chancellours, Commissaries, Deanes, Arch-deacons, and other Ecclesiasticall Officers, depending upon the Hierarchie, is evill and justly Offensive and burdensome to the Kingdome, a great Impediment to Reformation and growth of Religion, and very prejudiciall to the State and Governement of this Kingdome, and therefore to be taken away, &c.....

And in this Booke, thou shalt have an Assay of the Gall and Worme-wood of the Episcopali Governement, taken out of London the Metropolis, and of the Counties adjacent, that when thou seest what Vermine crawles upon, and devoures the principali and vitali parts, thou maist reflect with a mournefull heart upon the more miserable condition of Wales, and of the North, the more remote parts of this Kingdome, where upon scrutiny will be easily found, many for one as vile and abhominable as these. And if thou wouldest have the people perish for want of vision or impoysoned with the destructive Errours of Popery and Arminianisme, and the Land yet more defiled with cursing, swearing, drunkennesse, whoredome, sodomie, then put thy shoulders still to the support of the said Church-Governement and Governours, but if thou be better minded (as in Charitie I hope thou art) then joy ne heart and

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 17

hand with the Parliament, to purge out such Popish dreggs, and together with them, pray for and endeavour a through Reformation, according to the Word of God.

Secondly, Thou maist by perusall of this booke clearly see what manner of persons those Cleargie-men be, that favour the present course of his Majestie against his Parliament and people, and dislike and maligne the wayes of the Parliament, they will appeare unto thee to be such as cannot endure the purity, power and strictnesse of the true Religion, that hate Reforma- tion, &c......

Thirdly, Thou maiest hereby discerne one principali ground and cause of the generall ignorance and debauchery of the Gentry and people of this Kingdome. Like Priest, like people : They cause the people to erre by their lyes and by their lightnesse : &c. ....

Fourthly, Behold with admiration, and acknowledge with love and thanke- fulnesse the transcendent mercie of the Lord, to his poore people among us, that whereas he hath infinite just cause to destroy these Priests and people together, cloath them with desolation, and doe unto them after their waies, and judge them according to their desert. He is graciously pleased to stirre up a spirit of zeale and judgement in the Parliament to deliver the people from the mouthes of these Shepheards, that feed not the flocke, but kill them that are fed, eate the fat, and cloath themselves with the wool ; &c.....

Fifthly, Behold with comfort and assured expectation ofj good from Heaven, that as the Lord hath manifested his gracious purpose to reforme his Church in this Land, and set up the Kingdome of Christ among us, in the purity of Doctrine and Discipline, and hath for that purpose called this Parliament, fixed it, set it upon that worke, and maintained it therein, and in all these hath manifested his immediate hand and finger, &c.....

Sixthly, Whereas in severall Proclamations, Declarations and Pamphlets set forth in his Majesties name, and otherwise sent us from Oxford, the parliament hath been exceedingly reproached and condemned (as in truth 

18 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

they have been for all the good they have done for the Kingdome) for Sequestring the Livings of Reverend Divines (as they stile them) thou mayest by a serious perusall of this Booke, cleerely see what Divines the Authours and publishers of the said Pamphlets doe so reverence and esteeme ; And from thence observe of what spirit these men are that side with, honour, pleade for, and receive unto them such Priests of Baal, of Bacchus, of Priapus ; Doth not their affection unto, and high esteeme of such uncleane beasts, abundantly evince, that they serve and prostitute themselves unto the same dung-hill idols and filthy lusts, and that they are all of the same Father? And note further, that these Libellers not only speake evill of Dignities, but also of those things that they know not, they Censure the Supreme Court of Judicature, themselves being Delinquents, deserving the severest judgement, and that without hearing them, or informing themselves of what they have done, notwithstanding all their acts and proceedings lie fairely of record in their Journall bookes; obvious to every man that desires to understand the same. And that the Parliament may appeare just in their doings, and the mouth of iniquity may be stopped, this Narrative of the crimes, and mis- demeanours of those sons of the earth are here published, that all the world may see, that the tongues of these that speake evill of the Parliament, are set on fire of Hell, and lift up against Heaven, and that they hide themselves under falsehood, #nd make lies their refuge. ....

I know well that all we say or doe in this particular will be reproached by some, but good services must not therefore be deserted because reproached. When the fat Abbies were taken downe in Henry the eights time, the Friers cried out that holy Church was destroyed, yet when the draughts and ponds were searched, so many bones and skulls were found, which assured men of practises distant enough from holinesse.....

When malice hath spoken its worst and done its utmost, then shalt thou cleerely understand what I daily see and certainely know, that the great services and paines of the Parliament have no other scope but divine glory, the Churches reformation, and the Kingdomes safety. Consider sadly and seriously of these things, and the Lord give thee and me understanding of these times, to know what Israeli ought to doe in the same ¿ and let us without feare of the hand of violence, or foote of pride, set hand and heart, and shoulder and all, to the perfect cleansing of the hoose of the Lord, and

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 1

advancing his Sion to a perfection of beauty, and setting up his Christ upon his Throne, to rule over us in all things according to his own mind, and then expect with fulnesse of assurance, that he will speedily make all his enemies his foot-stoole, and ease himselfe and us of all his adversaries.

An alphabetical list of the ministers, whose benefices were sequestered, and of the offences brought against them, may be interesting, and useful.

1.—(90).* Allen. "The Benefice of Peter Allen, Vicar of the Parish Church of Tolsbury in the county of Essex, is sequestred, for that he hath lived incontinently a long time with severall women, that is to say with Mary Tim, who went from his house with child by him, Frances Smith, by whom he also had a bastard. And with Ann Cooper whom he hath kept for the space of 7 yeers last past, and yet keepeth in his house, who miscarried of a child begotten by him. And while the Railes were standing about the Communion Table, he refused to administer the Sacrament to such as would not come to them. And hath beene very negligent of his Cure, absenting himselfe without any care taken for supply thereof a month together, whereby the bodies of the dead have beene left un buried severall daies, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament."

2.—(72). Alsop, Samuel, Vicar of Acton in Suffolk, "for that he hath attempted the chastity of divers married women, &c, and hath set up in his chancell the Jesuits Badge in gold, in divers places thereof, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament, Sec."

  • The following Nos. 1 (90), 7 (48), 8 (2), 29 (3), 50 (59), 92 (61),

93(100), 94(1), 96(64), 99(36) I reproduce verbatim and in extenso ; the other notices Í have condensed, taking care however to give in every case the substance of the alleged misconduct, and as far as possible in the exact words

  • >i the original. The numbers in parenthesises indicate the order in which the

notices occur in the book.

20 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

3.—(45). Alston, Edward, Parson of Pentioe in Essex, " for that he hath attempted the chastity of some women, and hath used very unchast demeanours towards other women, snatching a handkerchiefe from one, and thrusting it into his breeches, and forcing her hand after it, and putting his yard into her hand, pulling up the coates of another, and thrusting his hand into the placket of another, &c. 5 and hath expressed great Malignancy against the Parliament -, &c. And did reade in his Church Declarations set out in his Majesties name, but refused to reade any Declarations of Parliament. And having appointed a Communion, and all things were ready for it, and the Parishioners prepared, he turned his backe and went away, refusing to deliver it, because the Surplice was not there. And falsly affirmed, That the Parlia- ment gathered great summes of money to enrich their owne purses"

4.—(93). Amnes, Iohn, Parson of Charleton in Kent, "a common drunkard, hath kept a common Ale-house, and is a prophaner of the Sabbath day, by common frequenting of Ale-houses thereon, and is a practiser of the late Innovations, and would never preach himselfe, nor suffer others to preach on the Sabbath-dayes in the after-noon, and hath attempted the chastity of divers women, and used unchast behaviour towards them.1'

5.—(21). Andrewes, Nicholas, Rector of Guilford, and Vicar of Godai- mine in Surrey, " negligent in preaching, enveighing in his Sermons against long Sermons : And in delivering the Bread in the Sacrament, he elevateth it, lookes upon it, and bowes low unto it, &c. ; frequenteth Tavernes, and con- sumes his time in sitting and tipling there : And hath refused to publish the Order of Parliament, concerning the removall of superstitious and Idolatrous pictures and Images, &c."

6—(70). Anherst, Ieoffrey, rector of Horsemauden, Kent, "refused to administer the Sacrament to those that would not come up to the railes, &c. ; is a common swearer and haunter of Ale-houses, &c. ; hath expressed great malignity against the Parliament."

7.— (48). Ashburnham, Edward, Vicar of Tunbridge, Kent, "is a common

Ale-house haunter and Taverne haunter, and very often drunke, even upon the

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 21

Lords-days, and hath driven divers of his Parishioners with their families from their dwellings, by pursuing them for not comming up to the Railes to receive the Sacrament, and seldome preacheth upon the publike Fast-days, and made a publiek speech for the incouraging of the late Insurrection and Rebellion at Tunbridge, and to contribute to the maintenance thereof."

8.—(2). Aymes, Iohn, Curate of Lowis, Kent, " a common drunkard and swearer : and hath affirmed the Parliament to be a Round-headed Parliament, and that their heads should le all shortly chopt off, and wished, that the King might grind them in pieces like a Potters vessell, and for above 15. weekes hath altogether deserted his Cure."

9.—(83). Batly, Thomasì Rector of Brasteed, Kent, for "false Doctrine. And hath laboured by his preaching and otherwise to draw his people to auricular confession, averring that he had power to absolve them, &c. That he turned the communion-Table Altar-wise, railed it in, used frequent bowing before it, &c. And hath expressed great malignity against the Parliament.*'

10.—(49). Bloxam, Nicholas, Parson of great Waldingfield, Sussex, "a common drunkard and inticer of others to that beastly vice, a common swearer by great and bloudy oaths $ and hath bin very carelesse and negligent of his Cure, &c, hath carried himself very lasciviously towards severall women, and is greatly suspected of Incontinency."

11.—(19). Bradshaw, Iames, Vicar of Chalfont, S. Peters, Bucks, "not only a practiser and maintainer of all the late innovations, but hath also preached in his sermons, That the Commissaries Courts were the suburbs of Heaven, and the Commissaries and Officers of that Court, the very supremacies, next to Arch-Angels, &c ; and that to preach twice on the Lords day is a damnable sinne, &c."

12.—(30). Brewster, Edward, Rector of Lawshall, Suffolk, "hath refused to administer the Sacrament of the Lords Supper to such of his Parishioners as would not kneele at the railes, &c, compelled them to doe penance, &c, is a common Ale-house haunter, &c, hath spoken very disgracefully of the Earle of -kssex, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament, &c."

22 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

J3·—(86). Buck, Tames, Vicar of Stradbrocke, Suffolke, "hath preached openly, That the Pope is the head of the Church, &c. ; " a believer in Transmu- tation, Auricular Confession, Adoration of the Virgin, and other Popish doctrines.

34.—(6). Cherry, Edward, Rector of Much-holland, Essex, General Popish practices, " hath published a very scandalous Libell against the Earle of Essex, Earle of Warwick, and Earle of Holland, &c. ; and is reputed to have betaken himself e to the Army raised against the Parliament."

15.—(92). Clapham, Paul, Vicar of Farnham, Surry, and Parson of Martin Worthy, South-hampton, "hath lived in adultery with severall women, and hath had divers bastards, &c. And hath called the Parliament and their adherents, Rebels and Traitours, &c, and betaken himselfe to the Army of Cavaleers about January last."

16.—(36). Clarke, Alexander, Vicar of Bredfield, Suffolk, "hath used very frequent bowing to the Altar, &c, refused to let the Church-wardens levell the ground where the Altar stood, &c, hath enveighed in his Sermons against praying by the Spirit, &c, hath read the Booke of Sports on the Lords- day, and incouraged his Parishoners to observe the same, &c, hath publikely sported himselfe with his Parishioners on the Lords dayes at Barly- breake, and hath taught to the people, that he hath absolute power to forgive sinnes, &c, hath endeavoured to draw his Parishioners to the Forces raised against the Parliament, &c.j And hath affirmed, that the Earie of Strafford did die wrongfully, &c, and hath spoken reproachfully of the Earle of Pem- brooke, &c."

17.—(54). Clarke, John, Rector of S. Ethelburrough, within Bishops- gate, London, u hath endeavoured to corrupt his auditory with the leaven of Popish doctrine, &c, is a common haunter of Tavernes and Ale-houses, and useth to sit tipling there till he be drunke, and hath exprest great malignity against the power and proceedings of Parliament, &c."

j8.—(//). Clay, Matthew, Vicar of Chelsworth, Suffolk, "hath very

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 2$

litttle resided upon his Parsonage-house, but letteth one live in it that turneth it to an Ale-house, m which there is very much disorder, even upon the Lords dayes, &c, is a common swearer, a haunter of Ale-houses and Tavernes, and hath been oft very drunk, &c. ; and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament, &c."

19.—(20). Cotesford, Robert D.D., Rector of Hadleigh, and Munkes Ely, Suffolke, a practiser of Popish doctrines, has deserted his cure, " hath been often drunke, consuming his time in tipling and drinking, sometimes from morning to night, and hath oft attempted the chastity of his maid-servant, &c. ; hath refused to reade the Declarations of Parliament, and especially that of the 22th. of October, 1643, concerning his Majesties Commissions granted to Papists to raise forces, &c."

20.—(57). Dale, Curthbert, Rector of Kettleburrough, Suffolk, " a constant observer of the late illegal Innovations in the Worship of God, &c, is a common swearer and curser, &c, hath read the Book of sports on the Lords day, &c. And seeing a stranger in the Church put on his hat in sermon time, he openly then called him, sawcy unmannerly Clowne, and bid the Church-wardens take notice of him, and the next Lords daye tooke occasion in his Sermon againe to speake of him being then absent, and to call him Lobb, sawcy Goose, Idiot, a Wigeon, a Cuckoe, saying, he was a scabbed Skeepe, a stragler, and none of kis ßock, and is a common Ale-house and Taverne haunter, and hath been often drunke, and frequently in his Pulpit, upbraideth his Parishioners, calling them Knaves, DeuUlsj Raskalls, Rogues, and Villaines, &c, and in one of his Sermons affirmed, That he -hoped the late Lord Cooke was in Hell, for maintaining Prohibitions, and hath been very negligent of his Cure, &c, leaving the same to very scandalous Curates, &c, and hath expressed great Malignancy against the Parliament."

21.—(63). Darnell, Thomas, Vicar of Thorpe, Essex, "an usuali pro* phaner of the Lords day, by sports and playes, and by making cleane his Cow- house and out-houses, and other like servile workes, and read the Book of sports on the Lords day in the Church, with approbation thereof, and is a common swearer and curser, and a notorious drunkard and Ale-house haunter,

 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

even upon Fast-dayes, and is a common Gamester at unlawful! games, and hath been convicted of incontinency and adultery before Doctor Warren and others, Justices of peace, &c ; and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament/'

22.-—(28). Dausew, Peter, Vicar of Camberwell, Surry, "a common drunkard, and drunke at the times of officiating at Burials and Baptizings 5 and hath by his debaushed conversation, disabled himseife from preaching, and hath not preached for these 12. yeares and upwards, &c. 3 and hath extorted undue and unreasonable fees from his Parishioners, and after the administring of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, expended the money given to the poore in Sack, and dranke it in the Church ; And in delivering the Sacrament to one Mistris Wilson, one of his Parishioners, cast the Bread upon the ground, saying to her, take it there if thou wilt have itt and is a common curser and swearer, and hath read in his Church his Majesties Declaration against the Parliament, concerning Levies, &c."

23,—(79). Daves, I o se ph, Curate and Hospitier, of St. Thomas Hospitall in Southwarke, tf a common drunkard, &c ; and a common swearer, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament, &c."

24.—(8:). Dawes, Humphrey, Vicar of Mount-Nezing, Essex, "hath discouraged his parishioners from assisting the present defensive War, &c¿ hath read the Book of Sports, and incouraged his parishioners to prophane the Sabbath and hath been often drunke, and came so drunke to Church on the Lords day, as he bad his people sing a Chapter in the Hebrewes for a Psalme, not knowing what he did."

25.—(42). Denn, í  ν, Vicar of Dartford, Kent, "commonly dranke, and on Sabbath dayes, useth to sit till twelve of the clock at night, sending for bottles of Wine, and clubbing, and in a Sermon, described a drunkard to he only such an one as lies in the Cart-way, foaming at mouthy and not able to remove from the Cart-wheels, and refuseth to preach on the Lords dayes, &c„, and hath expressed great malignity against the Parliament, &c."

26.—(84). Duxon, Richard* D.D. Parson of St. Clement-Danes^London,

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 2¡

irregularity in the management of his Church, &c. ;" and hath betaken himselfe to the Army of cavaleers, and was seene in Oxon since in a coloured hat and coat."

27.—(52). Evans, William, Parson of Sandcroft, Suffolk, " a notorious drunkard, and hath altogether neglected the publike Fast, even since the Order of Parliament for the better observation thereof, and spent the same dayes, or greater part of them in Ale-houses, &c, and in his Pulpit delivered, That those that did give or lend to the Parliament, were accursed, &c."

28.—(18). Fairefax, William, D.D. Rector of S. Peters, in Cornhill, London, and Vicar of East-Ham, Middlesex, " hath refused to deliver the Sacrament to such of his Parishioners as refused to come up to the railes, &c. ; useth to prophane the Sabbath-day, by playing at Cards> and hath been often drunke in Ale-houses and other places, and usually seeketh and haunteth the company of women, notoriously suspected of incontinency, and intrudes himselfe into their company, and into the company of other women, walking alone in the streetes in the darke and twi-light, and tempteth them to unclean- nesse, leading them into darke places, and into Tavernes, fit for such workes of darknesse, and hath expressed great malignity against the Parliament, &c."

29*—()· Forbench, Charles, Parson of Heny, Essex, "a common swearer, oftentimes breaking forth into fearfull Oathes and Imprecations, and very carelesse of his pastorall function, and wholy neglecteth the observing of the monethly Fast, setting his men to plow, himselfe also working on those dayes in the fields, and hath affirmed, that the Earle of Strafford was wo traitour, and that he was put to death wrongfully by the Parliament."

30.—(11). Fothersby, Francis, Vicar of S. Clements, Sandwich, and Parson of Lingsteede, Kent, '*a common drunkard, and common swearer and curser, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament, &c."

3t.—(62). Geary, Thomas, Vicar of Beddingfield, Suffolke, ftoften drunke even to vomit, and hath been and is a common swearer of bloody oathes, and curser in a fearfull manner, as God damne me, the Devili damne E

26 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

me, refused to preach for many Sabbath dayes together, and said, he thought preaching would doe his Parishioners no good, and useth in his Sermons to raile upon his Parishioners, calling them, sowded Piggs, Bursten Rammes^ and Speckled Frogs, and one of the chief e women of the Parish, greatly grieved at such miscarriages, and going out of the Church, the said Geary openly in his Pulpit thereupon said, that if there were out one Whore in the Parish, she would kick and-fling, and never keepe her seate, and affirmed, that he had absolute power to forgive sinnes, &c, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament."

32.—(58). Goade, Thomas, of East-Hatley, County of Cambridge, " for that he was for his scandalous life and misdemeanours, deprived of his Benefice at Guningson in the County of Nottingham, about 20. yeares since, and hath not since reformed his life, but is still a common frequenter of Ale-houses, and very often drunke, and oft on the Lords day j And on Newyeares-day was twelve-moneth, the Sacrament of the Lords Supper being to be admin- istered in his Church, he came from an Ale-house where he had been all night, and was so drunke, that he fell downe twice or thrice in the presence of the Parishioners, who expected him at the Church-doore ; &c. And hath oft sate so long drinking, that he hath bepist himselfe, and sometimes the roome where he sate, and is an outragious common swearer and curser, and in his Tipling useth to say, Now Devili, doe thy worst, and caused his servants to goe to their earthly laboures upon the Fast-day es, and rinding his neighbours Hoggs trespassing, wished the plague of God in Hell might take her and her Hoggs, and hath been a great practiser and presser of the late illegal! Innova- tions in the Worship of God ; And because his Parishioners would not come up to the railes to receive, caused the Parish-Clarke to carry away the Bread and Wine, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament."

33·—(88). Goffe, Richard, Vicar of East-Greensteed, Sussex, " a common haunter of Tavernes and Ale-houses, a common swearer of bloudy oathes, and singer of baudy songs and often drunke, and keepeth company with Papists and scandalous persons, and hath confessed, That he chiefly studied Popish An ¿hours, and highly commended Qoeene Maries time, and disparaged Queene Elizabeths, as an enemy to learning, and hoped to see the time againe that

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 27

there should be no Bible in mens houses." A preacher of the doctrine of transsubstantiation, &c, and an enemy of the Parliament.

34.—(8). Gordon, Iohn, Rector of Ockley, Sussex, "a common haunter of Ale-houses and Tavernes, sitting and tipling there, night after night, and hath spent the whole Sabbath there, so that no Service nor Sermon was in his Church by reason thereof, &c, and hath published in his Church, all those to lie Traitours that lent to the Parliament, &c."

35.—-(13). Gorsuch, Iohn, D.D. Rector of Walkerne, Hertford, " often drunke; and oft sitteth gaming whole nights together, and is seldome in the Pulpit, preaching scarce once a quarter ; refused to administer the Sacrament to such as would not come up to the railes, &c. ; and hath published a wicked Libell against the Parliament, &c."

36.—(71). GouLTiE, Miles, Vicar of Walton, Suffolk, "practiser of the late illegal Innovations &c, and hath been often drunke, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament."

37-—(34)· Graunt, William, Vicar of Iselworth, Middlesex, u hath called the singing Psalmes, Hopkins ligges, And affirmed, That he had rather heare a pair of Organs ten to one than the singing of them." Has read the Declarations of the King and refused to read those of the Parliament, &c, "often drunke, and that many times in one weeke, &c."

38.—{35). Hancocks, Henry, Vicar or Fornax-Pelham, Hertford, "hath preached, That it is as lawfull for a woman if she dislike her Husband, to leave him, and take another, as for one to goe out of his Parish to heare another Minister ; &c. 5" has in sermons slandered the Puritans, &C.5 £' is a common tipier and haunter of Ale-houses, and a profane swearer of bloudy oathes."

39·—(96). Hannington, Henry, Vicar of Hougham, Kent, aa common and notorious drunkard, and oft, lying .dead-drunke in high-wayes, and hath continued so for the space of twenty yeares and upwards, and useth. to sing in

28 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

his cupps in the Ale-house baudy songs, which he calleth Cathedraîl Songs, &c."í administered the Sacrament when drunke ¿"And when he read the Book of Sports on the Lords day, there was Beere laid into his Barne, and dancing and drinking there that day, and to give them the more time for it, he dismissed the Congregation with a few prayers, and left off preaching in the after-noone j" a promoter of late innovations, &c. ; " and when young people and servants have come to him to pay their offerings and be examined of their fitnesse to receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, his manner alwayes was, to aske them, How many Piggs their Fathers and Masters had, and how many Fowle they kept, and how many Lambes, and when they had fully in- ,

formed him thereof, admitted them to the Sacrament without any further examination."

40.—(31). Hart, Richard, Rector of Hargrave, Suffolk, u a common Ale-house haunter, and upholder of private Ale-houses, and commonly sitteth drinking in them divers days together, and lately continued drinking and tipi ing there, from Tewesday till Sunday-morning, and that morning being come home, durst not come to Church, his face was so battered and beaten, &c. And upon Whit-sunday last, though he had administered the Communion in the fore-noone after Evening prayer read, he drew a man and his wife to a private Ale house, and there kept them drinking till night, and after led them to his owne house, and there made the man so drunke, as he fell asleepe, and then enticed the mans wife up into his Chamber, where they were all night suspitiously together, and drinking and taking tobacco, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament, &c."

41.—(98). Heard, Thomas, Vicar of Wesfc-Tukely, Essex, "a common drunkard and companion of drunkards, and hath been so drunke, that he hath tumbled into ditches and mire, and hath been oft drunke since he* was com- plained of in Parliament, and in one of his drunken fitts, called for a fire to be made, and vowed he would burne his Wife and children in it, and refused to deliver the Sacrament to his Parishioners for not kneeling at the ledge of the railes, &c. · and when the former Parliament brake up, said boastingly, That he hoped then to live to see all Puritans fanged,"

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 29

42.—(65). Heny, Thomas, Vicar of Arundell, Sussex, a drunkard, and swearer, seldom preaching himself except for special reward ; " and hath caused scandalous persons to be placed for schoolmasters in the said Towne to corrupt the youth, and hath expressed great malignancie against the Parliament."

43.—(16). HiLiARD, Robert, Vicar of Ewell, Surry, "he said, The Parlia- ment is a Parliament for the Devili, and the Devils Courts and that the Petitions of the Parliament to the King, are like the Petitions of Jeroboam to Rehoboam, commands not Petitions, &c. ; is often drunke, and is a common curser and swearer, &c."

44.—(78). Horsmanden, Daniel, DD. Parson of Vlcomb, Kent, "very often exceeding drunke, and hath expressed great malignity against the Parliament, &c."

45.—(67). Hugget, Anthony, Parson of Cliffe, Sussex, "hath sued divers of his Parishioners for going to other Churches to heare Sermons, when he preached not, and forced two of them to doe pennance for it, &c. ; and instead of a Sermon on the Lords day, did reade to his people the late new Canons, and is greatly suspected of Incontinency, and hath had the French- pox, and was cured thereof by one M. Abell for 10. pound promised him. And the said Huggets wife, asking him for a peece of gold, which he tooke from her, and gave to a light woman, in furie he spurned her on the belly, when shee was quicke with child, so that she was forced presently to take her chamber, and was delivered of a dead child, notwithstanding wch he vowed he would never have more children by her : And hath wholy deserted his Cure for above 6 months from the time of the said sequestration, and hath been seene in the Army of Cavaleers raised against the Parliament.'*

46. (91). Hurt, Iohn, Vicar of Horndon, Essex, "a common drunkard and gamester, a common swearer and curser, and hath beene convicted before the Justice of peace for six oathes at a time, and then sware by God, he did not sweare, and hath a very evill report of uncleannesse and abuse of women, and hath spoken basely of the Parliament, &c."

 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

47.—(32). Ienkinson, Edward, Parson of Panfield, Essex, " did set the Communion Table Altar-wise, and railed it in, &d$ And he is an encourager of prophaning the Lords-day, sending then for Cudgels for his people to play withall; and being present himself at the Cudgel! playing: And hath expressed great malignancie against the Parliament."

48.—(23). Ieofperis, —, D.D. Vicar of Feversham and Ticehurst, Kent, preached in favour of the King and against the Parliament, " and hath deserted his said Cure, for the space of hälfe a yeare now last past."

49.—(26). Kidd, loHN, Curate of Egerton, Kent, irregularity in times of his preaching, bowing to the Communion-Table, &c.; and, in administering the Sacrament, he " asaulted one of the Communicants, and pulled him by the haire of the head, and thrust him out of the Church and Congregation without any just cause, &c."

50.—(59). King, Nicholas, Vicar of Friston and Snape, Suffolk, " is a common Ale-house haunter, and companion of scandalous persons, and men of evill fame, and oft drunke, and attempted the chastity of Elizabeth Scotchmer, who going to his house to pay him some moneyes, he inticed her to lye with him, and did strive a long time with her to abuse her by force, and would have corrupted her thereunto with moneyes, but she protesting unto him she would not sell her soule to the Devili for money, he replied to her, She was a fooie> for God did forgive the greatest sinners, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament.'1

51.—(44). King, Thomas, Vicar of Chesillmagna, Essex, a drunkard and Sabbath breaker, refused to deliver the Sacrament to such of his Parishioners as would not come up to the rails, set up the Table Altar-wise, £iand used bowing and cringing to it, &c."

52.—(74), Kybert, Henry, Parson of S. Katherine-Coleman, London, t( got into the said parish indirectly, by meanes of a false Certificate, &c. 3 And the said Kybert is a common frequenter of Tavernes and Ale-houses, and commonly frequents the company of a married woman of very ill fame, and

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 3!

hath been seen to imbrace and kisse her very lasciviously, and hath been in a very suspicious manner in private with her, and hath not been ashamed in Divine-service, publikely to expresse unseemely gestures and behaviours towards her in the Church j &c, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament, and hath deserted his said Cure, for more than f oure Moneths last past before the said sequestration."

S3·—(66). Laud, Erasmus, Rector of Little-Tey, Essex, a drunkard, and swearer, " and sitting drinking late on a Satur-day night, was demanded, who should preach on the next day, he answered, Let the devili preach, give me another cup of sacke, and hath used frequent superstitious cringing to the Altar, and seldome preacheth to his Parishioners, not above once in five or six weekes before the Parliament, and divers times through his neglect, his Church- doores have beene shut up all day on the Lords-dayes and Fast-dayes, and at those times set his servants to worke, and did work himself with them."

54.—(10). Leigh, Philip, Vicar of Redburne, Hertford, a drunkard, "swearer and quarreller, and hath expressed much malignancy against the Parliament."

SS·—(51)· Lowes, Nicholas, Vicar of Much-Bently, Essex, a drunkard, " even on the Lords dayes, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament."

56.—(50). Man, Iohn, Curate of Stroode near Rochester, Kent, a drunk- ard, swearer, and a "quarreller and fighter, and said, That he scorned the Parliament, and that the Parliament-men were not Gentlemen of quality, &c."

57·—(4°)* Manby, Iohn, D.D. Rector of Cottenham, Cambridge, a practiser of Popish rites, " and a common swearer and curser, Woundes and Bloud, and Pox and Plague, and such like horrid oathes and curses doe com- monly proceed out of his mouth, and did bragge, that he hath out-sworne a great swearer, and is a frequent Gamester, even upon the Lordes dayes, &c. 5" read in his church the King's proclamations, but refused to read those of the

3^ SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

Parliament, " or to contribute to the Parliament; or associate for the publike defence."

58.—(85). Marten, Edward, DD. Parson of Houghton-Conquest, Bed- ford, and of Dunnington, Cambridge, a practiser of Popish rites, and " illegali Innovations, and he forced divers women that came to be churched to come up to the Altar, and there to ducke and kneele unto it &c. ; And that having great yearely revenues, did notwithstanding upon the Sabbath-day steale wheate· sheaves out of the field in harvest, and laid them to his tithe shock, and hath not preached since he was parson of Houghton-Conquest in five yeares, not above five Sermons there, &c. ; And hath openly preached that the Parliament goeth about in a factious way, to erect a new Religion," and confessed that he lent money to the King.

59.—(75). Mattock, Walter, Parson of Storrington, Sussex, a practiser of illegal Innovations, a swearer and gamester, a drunkard, has deserted his cure, has "countenanced the reading of the Book of Sports in his Church to prophane the Lords day, and hath sent his Armes to assist the illegal! Com- mission of Array, 4 to oppose the Forces of the Parliament, &c."

60.—(24). MouNTFORD, Iames, Rector of Tewing, Hertford, a practiser of Popish rites, " and hath published in his Church the Booke of Sports on the Lords day, &c. ; And hath preached, That if the King should set up flat Idolatry, we ought to submit, and not to take up Armes, as some doe now ; and enveighed against the Parliament, for endeavouring to take away Epis- copacy, &c."

61.—(29). ntford, IoHN, D.D. Rector of Austie, Hertford, a practiser of Popish rites, " and hath endeavoured to leaven his people to the doctrines of Armimanisme, &c."

62.—(41). Muffet, William, Vicar of Edmonton, Middlesex, " a com- mon swearer, curser and blasphemer, and is a common fighter and quarreller, not sparing his Majesties Officers, and is commonly dranke, and scarcely

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. fâ

sober at all, bat when he wanteth money to consume in drinke, and in his drunkennesse, goeth up and downe the said Towne, breaking glasse windowes, which hath cost him twenty shillings at a time to repaire, and is a common drinker of healths, and forcer of others to doe the same, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament."

63.—(55) Nicholson, Richard, Parson of Stapleford Tawny, Essex, a drunkard and swearer, " and had three wicked and scandalous Libells against the Parliament found in his Study, and did sing one of them in an Ale-house."

64.-—(80). Osbalston, Henry, D.D., Parson of Much-Parudon, Essex, " in his absence, supplied his said Cure by scandalous and insufficient Curates, and hath in his Sermons preached against frequent preaching, &c, and said to one of his parishioners, that he could not abide him, because he stanke of two Sermons a day ; and hath read in his said Church, the Booke of Sports on the Lords-day, and encouraged men to Foot-ball and other like sports on that day j And being demanded to contribute to the association of the Counties for the publike defence, said he would first have his throate cut before he would"

65.—(25). Peckam, Iohn, Rector of Hosteede parva, Sussex, " very negligent in his Cure, &c. ; and is a common drunkard, and notorious adulterer and uncleane person, having drawne divers women to commit uncleannesse with him, and hath bragged, that he could lie with women, and never get them with child, and hath used sordid and beastly carriages towards women, to intice them to satisfie his lust, not to be named among the Heathen, and hath expressed great malignity against the Parliament and proceedings thereof, and hath affirmed publikely, that a man might live in murther, adultery and other grosse sinnes from day to day, and yet be a true penitent person."

66.—(33), Plumm, Ioseph, Parson of Black Novelty, alias Notly, Essex, a drunkard, " useth superstitious bowing at the Name Jesus, &c. ; hath absented himself from his said Cure, for the space of eighteene weekes last past, and is reported to have betaken himself e to the army of the Cavaleers, &c."

6y.—(69). Rannew, Iohn, Parson of Kettlebaston, Suffolke, "much given F

34 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

to tipling and drinking j hath preached, That Originali sinne is washed away in baptisme : And read the booke of Sports on the Lords day, &c. ; a zealous practiser of the late illegali Innovations, and hath wholy deserted his Cure for hälfe a year and upwards."

68.—(47). Reynolds, Iohn, Parson of Haughton, and Witton, Hunting- ton, " a common Ale-house haunter and tipier therein, and swearer, and in- stead of preaching did reade the Booke of Canons, condemned in Parliament, to his people, &c. And hath altogether left his said Cure for foure months last past."

69.—(27). Roberts, Griffith, Vicar of Ridge, Hertford, "a practiser of the late Innovations, hath openly declared the Earle of Essex, and all his followers, and Armies of the Parliament to be Traitours, &c. 5 and that the said Roberts is a common drunkard and tipler in Ale-houses, and drinker of healths, quarrelling with them that will not pledge him therein."

70.—(99). Scrivener, Samuel, Parson of Westhropp, Suffolk, "did frequently bow towards the communi on-Table, affirming, That there was an inherent holinesse in that place, and hath committed adultery with Margaret the Wife of George Woods, often drunke, and hath preached against this present defensive war of the Parliament and Kingdome."

71.—(73)· Senior, Robert, Vicar of Feering, Essex, "commonly drunke, &c. j marries any manner of persons even without licence, and of the monethly Fast said, he wondred who a pox devised it, and sware by his Maker, that he would preach no more on it, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament, &c."

72.—(94). Shepard, Robert, of Hepworth, Suffolk, "a common drunk- ard, and frequenter of Tavernes and Ale-houses, lying and continuing drunke in the said houses divers nights, sometimes twice or thrice a weeke, and is greatly suspected of incontinency, having had divers maid-servants depart from his house great with child, none living in the house with them but himselfe, and some of them have returned againe to live with him, and within a short

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 35

time have been with-child againej And hath been a great practiser of the Altar-worship, &c. ; And in his Catechising and preaching, calls his parish- ioners, Black-mouthed hell-hounds, Limmes of the Devili, Fire-brands of Hell, Plow joggers, Bawling doggs, IVeaverly lacks, and Church-Robbers, affirming, that if he could terme them worse he would; And hath endeavoured to perswade poore men to forsweare themselves for him, and hath affirmed, That the Par- liament were but a company of factious spirits.'"

73-—(*5)· Snell, Robert, Vicar of Maching, Essex, an upholder of Popish rites, " and hath expressed great Malignancy against the Parliament."

74.—(17). Soane, Ioseph, Vicar of Aldenham, Hertford, a gamester, a drunkard, and a " quarreller, and hath called the Parliament Souldiers, under the Command of his Excellency the Earle of Essex, Parliament doggs."

75·—(97)· Sowthen, Samuel, Vicar of Malendine, Essex, "often drunke even upon the Lords day, and is a common provoker of others to drinke excessively, rejoicing when he had made them drunke ; and is a common swearer and curser," a practiser of Popish rites and late Innovations -, "and hath frequently enveighed against painfull Preachers and their hearers, com- paring them to Pedlers and Ballad-singers, that have most company, when rich Merchants have but few, &c. ; hath expressed great malignity against the Parliament, and is vehemently suspected of living incontinently, and in adultery with Katherine Hayward, &c."

76.—(53). Suuire, Iohn, Vicar of Shorditch, Middlesex, "hath publikely m his Sermons affirmed, the Papists to be the Kings best Subjects, for their Loyalty, &c."

77· (89). Staple, Thomas, Vicar of Mundon, Essex, a drunkard and frequenter of « debaushed and malignant persons : And upon the first of June in this instant yeare, 1643. being the next day after the Fast, invited to his house a riotous company, to keepe a day of profanenesse by drinking of healths round about a joyn'd-stoole, singing of prophane songs with hollowing and roaring, and at the same time enforced such as came to him upon other occasions, to

 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

drinke healths about the stoole with him, untili they were drunke." Has neglected his cure, refused to attend sick persons, and preached heretical doctrine.

78.—(68). Sydall, Iohn, Vicar of Kensworth, Hertford, a drunkard, a practiser of Popish rites, "hath neglected his Cure, and expressed great malignancy against the Parliament."

79.—(43). Tanton, Richa-rd, Parson of Ardingly, Sussex, "a common drunkard, and in his Sermons hath wished, That every Knee might rot that would not bow at the name Iesus, &c. ; and hath stirred up his Parishioners to joyne with the Kings forces, &c."

80.—(82). Taylor, Richard, Parson of Buntingford, Westmill, and Aspeden, Hertford, " hath not only used frequent bowing to the Communion- Table set Altar-wise, but affirmed, That there. was a more peculiar presence of God there then in the Church, &c. ; and urged some of the parish to make auricular confession to him, affirming that he could forgive them, &c. 3 hath affirmed the fourth Commandment, to be meerely ceremoniall, and accordingly useth to hire servants, ride journeyes, buy wood, and send his Hopps to market on the Lords day, and upon the dissolution of a late Parliament, he said, If he were as the King, he would never have Parliament more, while he lived : And affirmed, that the last Parliament was the weakest that ever sate, &c. ; and charged this Parliament with doing great wrong in committing and executing the Earle of Strafford, and would neither preach on the Sabbath daies in the after-noone, nor suffer others to preach, &c."

81. (7). Thrall, Thomas, Vicar S. Mary Mount-thaw, London, "hath neither Preached nor Catechized on the Lords day in the after-noone, &c, and hath been often drunke, and not only read the Booke for Sports on the Sabbath in his Church, but hath stirred up his Parishioners thereunto, and countenanced them with his presence at Cudgells and the like other sports on that day, and said, that the House of Commons in Parliament was an unjust Court ; and doth ordinarily sweare and curse, and useth superstitious bowing and cringing to the Communion Table."

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 37

82.—(14). Thurman, Edward, Rector of Hallingbury, Essex, "a Common drunkard, &c. ; and hath affirmed, that he would drive away all the Puritans out of his Parish, and enforced his Parishioners to come to the railes, and hath wholy deserted his said Cure for the space of hälfe a year e now last past."

83.—(60). Turner, Edward, Parson of S. Lawrence, Essex, "a common swearer, and common Ale-house haunter, and strong to beare strong drinke, &c. ; a common practiser and presser of the late illegali innovations, and hath deserted his Cure for the space of a yeare now last past,"

84.—(12). Tutivall, Daniel, Preacher of Suttons Hospitall, Middlesex, commonly called Charter-house, " often drunke, and that on the Lords day, and hath taught in his Sermons to the said House, that Aloses and Aaron being before them (meaning two Pictures set up in the Chappell) and the Organs behind them (newly also set up there) they were a happy people, and what greater comfort could mortali men have ? &c. ; and procured scandalous and Malignant Ministers to preach there to corrupt his people."

85·—(37). Tutsham, Zachary, Vicar of Dallington, Sussex, "a common drunkard, and hath solicited the chastity of one Alice Thorpe, and is a common quarreller, and did way-lay one Edmund Gore about mid-night, and fell upon him, and beate him, and hath greatly neglected his Cure, &c. ; and hath spoken very disgracefully of the Earle of Essex, and expressed great malignity against the Parliament."

86.—(87). Vau g h an, Thomas, Curate of Chatham, Kent, ifa grate prac- tiser of the late illegali superstitious Innovations &c, very negligent of his Cure, &c. And is a common frequenter of tavernes, sitting a tipling there, and hath been often drunke, and drew one to the taverne that had vowed not to drink wine, and mingled wine and beere and drew him to drinke it, and then clapt him on the shoulder and bad him make vowes no more, for he had now broken it, &c. ; And said upon the dissolution of the late Parliament, that the Members of that Parliament were a company of logger headed fellowes."

38 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

87.—(22). Vdall, Ephraim, Rector of S. Austins, London, "hath affirmed, That the great reformers of the Church now were Hypocrites ; and hath made, framed and published a Booke, intituled Jloli me tangere, without Licence, Charging the Parliament with Sacriledge, in endeavouring to abolish Episcopacy, &c. ; and otherwise expressed great Malignancy against the Parliament."

88.—(76). Vincent, Clement, Rector of Danbnry, Essex, " a practiser of the late illegali Innovations, and doth not only encourage sports and playing on the Sabbath-day before his own doore, but hath also been a practiser himselfe thereof, &c. ; suffered on the Fast-day, Foot-ball playing in his own ground, himselfe being a spectator thereof, and is a common drunkard, and common swearer and curser, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament."

89.—(5). Vty, Emanuel, D.D., Rector of Chigwell, Essex, affirmed, that there hath heene no true Religion in England these forty yearest and that he loved the Pope with all his heart, &c. j and hath denied the Kings Supremacy, and exalted the Power of Bishops above the Authority of the Prince, affirming them to be the head of the Church 5 and blasphemously broached, That the Command of the Arch-bishop of Canterbury was to be equally obeyed with the Word of God, and hath declaimed against the Authority of Parliament, and affirmed, that Parliament-men are Mechanicks and illiterate, and have nothing to doe to intermeddle in matters of Religion."

90.—(9). Washington, Lawrence, Rector of Purleigh, Essex, " a common frequenter of Ale-houses, not only himselfe sitting daily tipling there, but also incouraging others in that beastly vice, and hath been oft drunke, and hath said, That the Parliament have more Papists belonging to them in their ¿irmies, then the King had about him or in his Armyf &c. ¡ And hath published them to be Traitours, that lend to or assist the Parliament."

91.—(46), Webb, Christopher, Vicar of Sabridgworth, Hertford, "»a common drunkard, negligent of his Cure, &c. ; and hath expressed much

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 39

malignity against the Parliament, affirming among other things, That he hoped in God he should see the Confusion of the Parliament"

92.—(61). Wells, Iohn, Parson of Shimplyn, Suffolk, " for that he is a common Ale-house haunter and common drunkard, and in his drunkennessse hath layne abroad in the fields, lost his hat, fallen into ditches, and so bemired himselfe, that he hath been faine to be washed, and hath attempted the chastity of divers women, and sould his Calves for kisses with them, and having lokt himselfe up in a chamber in an Inne with a lewd woman, after a long time the doore was broken open upon him, upon his refusal! to unlock it, and he found in a very suspitious manner upon a bed with her, after which he conveyed her secretly away, and sent guifts unto her ; And hath affirmed, That the Land was governed by wicked men, and that the Papists were the Kings best subjects, and is a common swearer of very great Oathes."

93.—(ïoo). Westrop, Ambrose, Vicar of Much-Totham, Essex, "for that he doth commonly prophane the ordinance of preaching, by venting in the Pulpit, matters concerning the secrets of Women, to stir up his auditory to laughter j And hath taught in his Sermons, That a man that useth carnali copulation with his wife the night before the administration of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, unlesse his wife require him so to doe, ought not to come to the Sacrament of the Lords Supper ; and that a woman that hath Monethly sick- nesse, ought not to come to the Sacrament ; That a Woman is worse then a Sow, in two respects ; First, Because a Sowes skinne is good to make a Cart-saddle, and her Bristles good for a Sow ter. Secondly, Because a Sow will runne away if a man cry but Hoy, but a woman will not turne head, though beaten downe with a Leaver ; and that all the difference between e a Woman and a Sow, is in the nape of the neck, where a Woman can bend upwards, but the Sow cannot, und that a woman is respected by a man, onelyfor his uncleane lust, and that she that is nursed with Sowes milke, will learne to wallow ; and divers modest women absenting from Church, because of such uncivill passages, he affirmed, That all that were then absent from Church were whores: And having been a sutor to a Widdow whom he called Black Besse, who rejected him and married another, he observed in his Sermon out of one of the Psalm es, That David prayed to God, not to Saint or Angeli, nor yet to black Besse, who was

40 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

then in the Church before him ; and that Jacob to deceive his brother of the blessing, made Lie upon lie, hut when Esau came home and perceived it, he flung away with a pox, and speaking against such as pleased him not in paying the tithes, in the Pulpit he turned toward his brother in-law then in the Church, and said. You brother Block-head will pay no tithe-Bushes neither, And being angry with one whose name was Kent, he said thus in the Pulpit, they say the Devili is in Harwich, lut I am sure he is in Kent ; And speaking of the Parable of those that made excuses for not coming to the marriage, he observed, That the married man had no excuse, but said in plaine termes, he could not come, Nay said he, the married man cannot come, but must goe to Hell in his whore : And at another time told a story in the Pulpit of two severall women, that in their husbands absence had familiars, and said, that when it was night they went up into the chamber together with a candle, and put out the candle and there is sport, heavenly sport, such sport as never was in little Heaven ; and when their husbands come home, they must enquire the way by Home-row, and that Rahab was a whore, and kept an Ale-house at Jericó, and that so are all Ale-wives whores and their husbands Cuckouids ; And being a sutor to one Mistris Ellen Pratt a Widdow, he did write upon a peece of paper these words, Bonny Nell, I love thee well, and did pin it on his cloake, and ware it up and downe a Market-Towne, which woman refusing him, he did for five or six weekes after, utter little or nothing else in the Pulpit, but invectives against Women 5 And being sutor to another woman, who failed to come to dinner upon invitation to his house, he immediately roade to her house, and desiring to speake with her, she coming to the doore, without speaking to her, he pulled off her head-geere and rode away with it, and many other like passages fall from him in his preaching, and were proved against him."

94.—(1). Wilson, Iohn, Vicar of Arlington, Sussex, rifor that he in a most beastly manner, divers times attempted to commit buggery with Nathaniel Browne, Samuel Andrewes, and Robert Williams his Parishioners, and by perswasions and violence, laboured to draw them to that abhominable sinne, that (as he shamed not to professe) they might make up his number eighteene ; and hath professed, that he made choice to commit that act with man-kind rather then with women, to avoide the shame and danger that oft ensueth in begetting Bastards ; and hath also attempted to commit

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 4I

Buggery with a Mare, and at Baptizing of a Bastard child, blasphemously said, openly in the Church, That our Saviour as he was in the flesh, was a Bastard ; and usually preacheth, That Baptisme utterly taketh away originali sinne, arid that the sinnes committed after Baptisme, are only by imitation, and not by naturall corruption ; and hath in his Sermons, much commended Images in Churches, as good for edification, and that men should pray with Beades, and hath openly said, that the Parliament were Rebels, and endeavoured to starve the King, and that whatsoever the King commands, we are all bound to obey, whether it be good or evill ; and hath openly affirmed, that Buggery is no sinne, and is a usuali frequenter of Ale-houses, and a great drinker."

95.—(4). Withers, Stephen, Parson of Kelvedon, Essex, "for that he hath sollicited oftentimes the Wife of Philip Glascomb to commit adultery with him, and divers other women, affirming it to be no sinne to lie with them. And hath practised Altar-worship, &c., and in his Church read the Booke for prophanation of the Sabbath by sports, &c, and hath expressed great malignity against the Parliament."

96.—(64). Wood, Iohn, Vicar of Marden, Kent, "did reade the Booke of sports upon the Lords day in his Parish Church, and did preach for the maintenance thereof, and is notoriously infamous for sundry adul- teries, a common Ale-house haunter, oft drunke, a common gamester and quarreller in gaming, a great swearer, and was punished at a quarter Sessions for adultery, committed with the Wife of one Prior of the said Parish, and having contracted one Margaret Parkes his servant to Thomas Maplesden, his own Wife happening to die, afterwards tooke to Wife the said Margaret, against the will of the said Thomas Maplesden ; And on the Fast-dayes, useth to sit drinking and tipling two or three honres together in an Ale-house, in the company of other mens wives, by him seduced thereunto, and hath said, Thai the Parliament hath no power to doe any thing in the Kings absence, no more then a man without a head, and hath otherwise expressed great malignity against the Parliament."

97·—(39)* Woodcock, Iohn, Vicar of Elham, Kent, a drunkard and " com- mon swearer, by Wounds, Bhud, and other like execrable Oathes, &c. j hath

42 SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS.

deserted his Cure ever since the first of August last, and hath expressed great Malignity against the Parliament and the proceedings thereof."

98.—(95). Woolhouse, IoHN, Vicar of West-Mersea, Essex, "a common and excessive tipier and drinker both at home and abroad, &c. ; a common dicer and gamester for money, inticing his tipling companions thereunto, and is a common curser and swearer, and hath tempted women to incontinency, and hath expressed great malignancy against the Parliament."

99.—(56). Wright, Francis, Vicar of Witham, Essex, " for that he hath tempted divers women, both his servants and Parishioners, to uncleannesse, and is a common haunter of Ale-houses and Tavernes, and a common drunkard -and prophaner of the Worship of God, by publike performing of the same in his drunkennesse, and a common swearer, and common user of corrupt communication, and hath not officiated in the said Cure for the space of twelve Moneths last past before the sequestration."

100.—(38). Wright, Nicholas, Doctor in Divinity, Rector of Thoydon- Garnon, Essex, " he hath not preached above twice or thrice a yeare to his Parishioners, &c. ; And hath procured the Communion-Table to be set Altar- wise, with stepps to it, and railes about it, and constantly bowed towards it, &c. ; and read the Booke for Sports* on the Lords day, &c. ; and hath deserted

  • A note may not be out of place here concerning the Book of Sports so

frequently mentioned in the above notices- King James I, " in his returne from Scotland, comming through Lancashire, found that his Subiects were debarred from Lawful Recreations vpon Sundayes after Euening Prayers ended, and vpon Holy dayes," he therefore published in 1618, )1 %& PUtíátteô 29tctaratton to  âNbúctíí, conxerømg laiofitïï apporta to be bäßf which was reissued by Charles I. in 1633. In this pamphlet,, of 17 pages ex title, it is declared : " That after the end of Diuine Seruice, Our good people be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from any lawful recreation,

SCANDALOUS, MALIGNANT PRIESTS. 43

his said Cure ever since Palme-Sunday last, and betaken himself e to the Anny of the Cavaleeres, and is in actuall War against the Parliament and Kingdome. And hath brought and continued long under him for his Curate, a drunken, lewd and scandalous person, that hath been indited and found guilty at the Sessions for a common drunkard."

The crimes of these ioo ministers are painfully monotonous, the same, or almost the same, offences being imputed in nearly every instance—popish practices, neglect of cure, drunkenness, blasphemy, sabbath-breaking, swearing, some- times incontinency, and in a few cases more heinous crimes. One offence, however, predominates : it is hatred against the parliament ; and it would seem that for this misde- meanour chiefly the priests in question were prosecuted. The picture here afforded of England's spiritual teachers

Such as dauncing, either men or women, Archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or any other such harmelesse Recreation, nor from hauing of May-Games, Whitson Ales, and Morris-dances, and the setting vp of May-poles & other sports therewith vsed, so as the same be had in due & conuenient time, without impediment or neglect of Diuine Seruice : And that women shall haue baue to carry rashes to the Church for the decoring of it, according to their old custome. But withall We doe here account still as prohibited all vnlawfull games to bee vsed vpon Sundayes onely, as Beare and Bullbaitings, Interludes, and at all times in the meaner sort of people by Law prohibited, Bowling." These wholesome sports, from which the people were debarred chiefly by "Püritanes and precise people," were calculated, the King sup- posed, to prevent "filthy tiplings and discontented speeches in their Ale- houses." A revival of King James's enactment would surely not be amiss in the present day.

44 CRIMES OF THE CLERGY.

during the great revolution is certainly not a bright one, and we may reasonably suppose that the ioo "scandalous, malignant priests " here enumerated were not the only ones who then existed; doubtless, some equally culpable were to be found on the side of the parliament, but whose politi- cal proclivities screened them from punishment.

Cí)e Crítmô OÍ tfyt Clerffl?, <>r the Pillars of Priest-Craft Shaken; with An Appendix, entitled the JbJCOtirge 0Î irrfmrt; And an Account of the Enormous Rewards received by the Clergy, to induce them to do their Duty to God and Man.

To the Bench of Bishops I dedicate this Book.

W. Benbow. London : Beñbow, Printer and Publisher, Byron's Head, Castle-Street, Leicester-Square. 1823

Large 8vo. (counts 4) ; pp. bastard title and title page, Address and Contents x, The Crimes 240, The Scourge, with full title page and new paging, xvi and 60 ; an etching, in the manner of Rowlandson, as frontispiece, subscribed "Pluralist Benbow Publisher." The work appears to have been issued in numbers, each sheet of The Crimes concluding with Ben- bow's name and address, the last sheet however of The Scourge terminates with : " Printed by R. Macdonald, 30, Great

CRIMES OF THE CLERGY. 45

Sutton Street, Clerkenwell." The volume complete sold for 7s. 6d. in boards.*

The Crimes of the Clergy is a very remarkable work, and if the scandalous memoirs placed on record in it are not in- variably accurate they are certainly true in the main, and the book has consequently a proportionate historical value, although it is without any literary merit. The publisher says : "Pure and undefiled religion is an object of our admiration, and to save religion by an exposure of those who try tö ruin it by their unhallowed ways, is the chief object of this work." (p. 6).

The Scourge of Ireland consists of tabulated statistical mat- ter concerning the church of that country, and has no special interest for the present work.

I add an alphabetical synopsis of the persons mentioned in The Crimes of the Clergy with the offences, &c, laid to their charge :

Anderson, Parson, murder, about 1802. (p. 101).

Anson, The Hon. Parson, swindling, adultery, (p. 95).

Atherton, Bishop of Waterford, seduction and sodomy, executed at Dublin, December 5, 1640. (p. 25).

Barrington, Shute, Bishop of Durham, general debauchery, (p. 81).

Barton, Parson of Yallahs, Jamaica, fornication with Betsy Christian, &c. (p. an).

  • The volume has been described in ¡fiotta mb <®*, 5th S., vii., 74.

46 CRIMES OP THE CLERGY.

Bate man, Rector of Farthingstone, Cumberland, exciting to murder, &c. (pp. 147, 188).

Bates, Rev. Robert, of Whalton Northumberland, " odious and indecent practices." (p. 225).

Bee vor, Augustus, Rector of Berghapton, Norfolk, pugilism, (p. 84).

Blacow, Curate of St. Mark's, Liverpool, slander of a married woman and of Queen Caroline, (p. 201).

Blake, of Twickenham, Methodist Parson, adultery, (p. 220).

Browne, Vicar of Little Clacton, convicted of defrauding Sir Colin Camp- bell of £6,000. (p. 75).

Buckner, Bishop of Chichester, "gallantry at the siege of Valenciennes." (p. 224).

Bull, Miss Farly, gobetween, employed by Rev. Mr. Cooper, (p. 66).

Burgess, Thomas, F.R.S., Minor Prebend of St. Paul's, &c, pugilism, drunkenness, whoring, &c. (p. 192).

Byrne, James, convicted of falsely charging the Bishop of Clogher with an unnatural crime, (p. 42).

Cadogan, Lady, adultery with the Rev. Mr. Cooper, (p. 6$).

Campbell, Rev. Mr., violent conduct, (p. no).

Capel, William, Hon., Rector of Watford, Hertfordshire, irreligion, horse- dealing, whoring, (p. 28).

Chandler, Rev. Robert, pugilism, adultery, &c. (p. 47).

Childe, John, Tithe Proctor, sodomy, hanged in 1640. (p. 25).

Chisholm, Parson of Hammersmith, seduction, adultery, (pp. 62,109, 183).

Church, John, Minister at Dover Street, London, hypocrisy, drunkenness, sodomy, (p. T9).

Clarke, Adam, hypocritical methodist preacher, (p. 158).

Cooper, alias Stewart, Rector of Ewhurst in Essex, sodomy, perverting the minds of his pupils by showing them the plates of Fanny HUL (p. 118).

Cooper, Rev. Mr., son of Sir Grey Cooper, adultery with Lady Cadogan, tried in 1794. (p. 65).

Courtney, Lord, sodomy, escaped to France, (p. 230).

Cox, Tom, brothel keeper in Co ν ent Garden, friend of Rev. R. Chandler. (p. 48).

Creswell, Rev., Parson of Nottingham, brutality, sleeping in church, drunkenness, blasphemy, (p. 232).

Croft, Herbert, author of Love and Madness, (p. 54).

CRIMES OP THE CLERGY. 47

Cundall, Jonas, Methodist parson of No. 5, Low Street, St. Peter's, Leeds, cruelty to a boy. (p. i6i).

Curtis, Rector of St. Martin's, Birmingham, intemperance, robbing the poor. (p. 196).

Davison, Parson, drunkenness, adultery, general depravity, (p. 150).

Day, Thomas, methodist preacher, condemned for bigamy at Bristol.

(p. 154).

De Brook, Lord. (p. 170).

DoxFORD, John, itinerant preacher, extortion, adultery, (p. 31).

Dudley, Sir Henry Bate, Bart., Dean of Ely, known as Parson Bate, novel writer, &c. (p. 45).

Dyer, John, Curate of St. George's, Southwark, pilfering the church offer- ings, (p. 14).

Ethelston, Rev. Mr., furious conduct at Manchester, (p. 23).

Evans, Rev. W. ., of Conbridge, South Wales, attempt to defraud his creditors, (p. 174).

Eyre, Parson, tried at Aylesbury for violating a girl 11 years of age, ac- quitted, (p. 112).

Fenwicr, John, Vicar of Byall, Northumberland, rape, swindling, sodomy, fled to Naples in 1797. (p. 8).

Fletcher, Rector of Berkhampstead, adultery, seduction, forgery, murder. (p. 214).

Freer, Parson, of Mulberry Gardens, afterwards of Uxbridge, and of Cum- berland Street, swindling, (p. 231).

Füllerton, Rector of St. Ann's, Jamaica, habitual drunkenness and forni- cation, (p. 211).

Gordon, Rev. John, tried at Oxford for aiding his brother Lockhart to commit a rape upon Mrs. Antonia Lee. (p. 57).

Govett, Vicar of Staines, oppression, (p. 164).

Griffiths, Parson of Manchester, blasphemy and habitual drunkenness. (p. 121).

Gurney, Rev. Dr., perjury, (p. 22).

Hackman, Parson of Gosport, shooting Miss Re ay. (p. 54).

Hendrie, Parson of Lynn, Norfolk, betting and sleeping in church, attempt to murder, (p. 16).

48 CRIMES OP THE CLERGY.

Heppel, T, travelled and preached, during 1793 and 1794, in the northern counties, as Miss Jane Davison, and seduced and robbed several girls, trans- ported for stealing dead bodies at York. (p. 35).

Hodgson, Rev. Septimus, Chaplain to the Orphan Asylum. Westminster Road, violated an orphan 13 years old. (p. 27).

Hogarth, Henry, Curate of Perath, novelist and poet, adultery, attempted murder, robbery, drunkenness, (p. 67).

Holland, John, alias Dr. Saunders, Methodist preacher, robbery, rape, sodomy, (p. 124).

Horridge, George, Parson of Newton, near Manchester, condemned to two years' imprisonment for violating a child 11 years old. (p. 77).

Huntington, William, Minister of Providence Chapel, Gray's-Inn-Lane, hypocrisy, imposture, &c. (pp. 176, 197, 227).

Jephson, Rev. Thomas, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, attempted sodomy, fled from the country to escape punishment, (p. 239).

Jocelyn, Percy, Bishop of Clogher, sodomy with a soldier, Movelly, in July, 1822. (p. 41).

Latton, Vicar of Woodham, &c, a verse writer, and contributor to the magazines, drunkenness, adultery, riotous conduct, (p. 52).

Laud, Bishop, persecution of Rev. Dr. Leighton. (p. 85).

Leicester, Earl of, sodomy, fled the country, (p. 230).

Lindsey, Bishop of Kildare, covetousness. (p. 116).

Littlehales, Rev. V. P., Prebendary of Southwell Cathedral, attempted, sodomy with a footman in 1812, fled to America, (p. 238).

Milles, Richard, Prebend of Exeter, &c, charged with an unnatural offence, and fled from the country, (pp. 40, 138).

More, Kitty, prostitute, mistress of Parson Davison, (p. 151).

Morgan, Parson, cruelty to slaves in Jamaica, (p. 211).

Mouncey, Major, (pp. 148, 188).

Murray, Lord Charles, Dean of Boeking, Essex, sabbath-breaking, and general irreligion, (p. 37).

Nicholl, Vicar of a parish in Northumberland, indecent preaching, &c. (p. 168).

Orenshaw, Methodist preacher, seduction and robbery, (p. 46).

Parkins, W., sheriff, (pp. 148, 188).

CRIMES OP THE CLERGY. 49

Peat, Sir Robert, D.D., King's Chaplain, general dissipation, (pp. 106, 127).

Percy, Hugh, Archdeacon, neglect of duty, &c. (p. 106).

Purdy, J., Curate of St. Botolph, Bishopsgate, drunkenness, blasphemy. (p. 99).

Pusey, Philip, (p, 170).

Radford, Parson of Ebenezer Chapel, robbery, (p. 230).

Ratcliffe, alias Big Ben, Minor Canon of Canterbury, &c, adultery, drunkenness, &c. (p. 100).

Rigsbye, Parson of Nottingham, cruelty to his wife, adultery, (p. 235).

Rivers, Rev. Sir Henry, neglect of duty. (p. 89).

RoBsoN, Rector of St. Mary's, Whitechapel, drunkenness, seduction, whoring, (p. 71).

Roe, Parson of Newbury, adultery with widow Greenway. (pp. 14a, 162).

Rogers, Parson of Langadock, burnt in effigy, for which he brought an action, at Shrewsbury, v. Lloyd, Lewis, and Williams, and recovered £10. (p. 178).

Rowland, Rev. T., seduction and perjury, by which Mary Drury was condemned to death, (p. 144).

Saddler, Jonathan, Methodist Parson, hypocrisy, seduction, procuring abortion, (p. 216).

Sande lands, Rector of Five Fields Chapel, Chelsea, drunkenness, impos- ture, swindling, whoring, "nameless offence," fled to France, (p. 223).

Saunders, Dr., Vicar of St Ann's, Blackfriars, neglect of duty. (p. 132).

Saunders, Dr., Methodist preacher, &c. See Holland.

Sawyer, Capt., condemned for " indecent familiarities with Mankind." (p. 13).

Sawyer, Rev. H·, sodomy and debt. (p. 13).

Se comb, Rev. Francis, levity of conduct, (p. 38).

Sneyd, Curate of Hanbury, adultery with Mrs. Cecil, tried at Guildhall, June 26, 1790. (p ss).

South wo od, Rey. W., fraud, (p. 174).

Sydney, Rector of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, &c, natural son of the Marquis of Granby» drunkenness, neglect of duty, cruelty to his wife, &c. (p. 181).

H

¿ CRIMES OF THE CLERGY.

Tomline, Prettyman, Bishop of Winchester, &c., author of The Life of William Pitt, avarice, &c. (p. 153).

Vause, Curate of Christchurch and Garston, Liverpool, adultery, whoring, blasphemy, &c. (p. 171).

Vialls, Rev. Mr., injustice, gluttony, (p. 39).

Walker, Parson of Chichester, sodomy, fled to America, (p. 229).

Ward, Barnard, Parson of Springfield, &c, drunkenness, adultery, swear- ing, (p. 193).

Webb, Minor Canon of St. Paul's, &c, neglect of duty, &c. (p. 140).

Wesley, John. Tirade against, (p. 157).

Wilberforce. Tirade against, (pp. 135, 170).

Wildbore, Vicar of Tilton, drunkenness, singing obscene and blasphemous songs, ridiculing religion, cheating his creditors, (p. 227).

Wright, Rev. Mr. (of Boughton under Blean in Kent), singing the Athanasian Creed "to a fox-hnnting tune " during divine service, (p. 234).

Wylde. Parson of Nottingham, called " The Amorous High Priest," tried for cruelty and oppression, (p. 206).

Besides the memoirs above noted, The Crimes of the Clergy contains three articles : The Battle of the Students at Cambridge, The Pluralist, and Reverend Conspirators against Freedom.

It may be readily supposed that such a publication would get its author into trouble. W. Benbow was prosecuted by what he is pleased to term " the Society for Spreading Vice.' ' His incarceration however did not daunt him, and he continued to write from prison, where, he says, he is α surrounded by guilty and infamous parsons. On my right is a gambling parson, on my left a drunkard ; behind me an adulterer, and before me victims of beastly sensuality and vices I dread to think of, and dare not name." A second article is signed W. B. King's Bench Prison, May 7, 1821.

**11^ fte&tbibUØ, Being a Narrative Of the late  Tryal of Mr. James Mitchel A Conventicle- ( Preacher, Who was Executed on iSth of January last, for an attempt which he made on the Sacred Person of the Archbishop of St. Andrews. To which is Annexed, An Account of the Tryal of that most wicked Pharisee, Major Thomas Weir, who was Executed for Adultery, Incest and Bestiality. In which Are many Observable Passages, especially re- lating to the present Affairs of Church and State. In a Letter from a Scottish to an English Gentleman. London, Printed by Henry Hills, 1678.

Small 4to. ; pp. 78 in all. This small and curious volume contains many particulars both useful and interest- ing to a student of the controversies of the Scotch church. With such matters, as well as with the trial of Mitchel, which is here given in detail, together with many curious documents connected with it, we are not now concerned. I shall confine myself to the sketch given of the infamous career of Major Thomas Weir.

¡2 TRIAL OF MAJOR THOMAS WEIR.

He was born, and bred in the Western parts of this Kingdom (Scotland).

.....There he was early prepossessed with the principles of Schism, and

Rebellion, which he shew'd upon all occasions, particularly in the beginning of the late Rebellion, wherein he was a forward stickler, and by his extraordi- nary zeal for the Cause, raised himself to a greater command in some Troop, or Company, than Men of bis mean Original use to arrive unto here. About the year 1649. he had the great trust of the Guards of this City committed unto him under the quality of Major, and from that time, to the day of his Infamous Death, was always called by the Name of Major Weir. He behav'd himself in this Office with great cruelty, and insolence towards the Loyal party, being very active in discovering and apprehending the Cavaliers, and bringing them to be arraign'd, and try'd for their Lives. He used to insult and triumph over them in their miseries, and persecute them with all manner of Sarcasms and Reproaches, when they were led out like Victims to publiek Execution ; as many yet alive can testifie to the World. In particular, the barbarous Villian treated the Heroick Marquess of Mont rosse, with all imaginable insolence, and inhumanity, when he lay in Prison, making his very calamities an Argument, that God, as well as Man, had forsaken him, and calling him Dog, Atheist, Traytor, Apostate, Excommunicate Wretch, and many more such intolerable Names. This cruel manner after which he used to outrage the poor Royalists, pass'd among the people for extraordinary zeal j and made them consider him as a singular Worthy whom God had raised up to support the Cause. He studyed the Art of Dissimulation, and Hypocrisie, always affecting a formal gravity, and demureness in his looks, and deportment ; and employing a vast and tenacious memory, which God had given him, in getting without Book such words, and phrases of the Holy Scriptures, as might serve best in all companies to make him pass for an Holy and gifted Man. He had acquir'd a particular gracefulness in whining and sighing, above any of the sacred Clan, and had learn'd to deliver himself upon all serious occasions in a far more ravishing accent than any of their Ministers could attain unto. By these and other Hypocritical Arts he had got such a name for sanctity, and devotion, that happy was the Man with whom he would converse, and blessed was the Family in which he would vouchsafe to pray.....

After this manner, and in this mighty reputation he lived till the Year 1670. which was the 70th. year of his Age. When like the Tyrant Tiberius,

TRIAL OF MAJOR THOMAS WEIR. ¡$

after so many Murthers, and sorts of unnatural Lusts, he was no longer able to endure the remorse of his awakened conscience, but to ease the inquietudes of his guilty mind, was forced to accuse himself ; which he first of all did among those of his own party, and desired them to bring him to publiek Justice to expiate for his abominable crimes. But they considering what a confounding scandal, and dishonour the Hypocrisie of such an eminent Pro- fessor would reflect upon the whole Sect, did with all possible care and industry strive to conceal the Major's condition, which they did for several months ; till one of their own Ministers, whom they esteem'd more forward than wise, revealed the secret to the Lord Abb otshall, then Provost of Edinburgh, who judging humane Nature nncapable of such horrid crimes, as the Minister told him the Major had confessed, concluded he was fallen into a phrenzy, or high degree of melancholy, and therefore courteously sent some Physicians of his own perswasion and acquaintance to visit him, and Physic him for his dis- tempered Brain. But the Physicians returning to the Provost, assured him, that the Major was in good health, and that he was free from Hypocondriack Distempers, and had as sound intellectuals as ever he had had, and that they believed his Distemper was only an exulcerated Conscience, which could not be eas'd till he was brought to condign punishment, as with cryings, and roarings he desir'd to be. Afterwards the Provost for his further satisfaction sent some Conventicle-Ministers, to enquire into his condition, and make a report thereof ; who finding it impossible to disguise the matter, which now was Town-talk, told his Lordship that the Major was not affected with melancholy ; but that the terrours of God which were upon his Soul, urg'd him to confess, and accuse himself. The Provost thereupon began to con- clude, that he had good grounds to take publiek notice of this affair ; and therefore without further enquiry sent the guards of the City to seize upon the Major, and his Sister, who was involv'd in his confessions, and carry them both to the publiek Goal. There they were visited by Persons of all Sorts and Qualities, Clergy-men, Lay-men, Physicians, Lawyers, Conforming, and Non- conforming Ministers, who all flocked thither to see this Monster, and discourse with him about his horrible crimes.

They had not been long in Prison before they were brought to Tryal, which was on the ninth day of April, in the aforesaid year, 1670. They were try'd before that Learned Civilian Mr. William Murray, and Mr. John

54 TRIAL OP MAJOR THOMAS WEIR.

Prestoune Advocates, who were made Judges by Commission for that time. They were pursued by his Majesty's last Advocate, Sir John Nisbett, and the Jury by which they were try'd, was Gideon Shaw, Stationer; James Penderer, Vintner j James Thomson, Felt-maker -, Robert Brown, Sta- tionery James Brown, Felt-maker ; Robert Johnston, Skinner; John Clighorn, Merchant; with many more sufficient Citizens of Edinburgh; most of which, together with the greater part of the Witnesses hereafter men- tioned, are yet alive.

The Court being set, the Majors Libel was read, the sum of which was conta in'd in these four particulars.

Primo, That he entised and attempted to defile his German Sister, Jane Weir, when she was but ten years old, or thereabout, and that he lay with her when she was sixteen years old, while they both dwelt in Family with their Father ; and afterwards had frequent carnal dealing with her in the House of ticket-Shaw in her younger years ; and lastly, that after she was 40. years old, he iiv'd in a state of Incest with her, in his house at Edinburgh, where they dwelt together many years.

Secundo, That he committed Incest with Margaret Bourdon, daughter to Mein, his Deceased Wife.

Tertiò, That he committed frequent Adulteries, during the Life of his said Wife, both with married, and unmarried Women, and particularly with Bessy Weems, his Servant Maid, whom he kept in his House for the space of twenty years, during which time he lay with her as familiarily as if she had been his Wife.

Quarte, That to his Fornications, Adulteries, and Incests, he proceeded to add the unnatural Sin of Beastiality in lying with Mares, and Cows ; par- ticularly in polluting himself with a Mare, upon which he rode into the West Country, near New Mills. All which crimes particulariza in manner afore- , said, he acknowledged judicially at the Bar......

They then proceeded to swear the Witnesses, . . . . *

Master John Sinclair, a Conventicle-Minister depon'd, that the day before his Tryal he freely confessed unto him, that he was guilty of Adultery, Incest, and Bestiality, and that his Sister had often been taken out of Bed from him : whereupon asking him if he had ever seen the Devil, he answered, that he had felt him in the dark. But as to his conversation with the Devil, the Deponent

TRIAL OF MAJOR THOMAS WEIR. 55

might have declared more ; for he had confessed to him and many others, par- ticularly to the Lord Bishop of Galloway, then Minister of Edinburgh, that he had lain with the Devil in the shape of a beautiful Woman.

Margaret Weir, Wife to Alexander Weir, Bookseller in Edinburgh, testify'd, that when she was of the age of 27. years, or thereabouts, she found the Major her Brother, and her Sister Jane, lying together in the Barn at Wicket-S haw, and that they were both naked in the bed together, and that she was above him, and that the Bed did shake, and that she heard some scanda- lous Language between them in particular, that her Sister said, she was confi- dent she should prove with Child. Furthermore, she Deponed ' that Catherine Cooper a Servant of the Majors, told her, that he had layn with Margaret Bourdon his Wives Daughter, so that she would stay no longer in the House.

Anne Wife to James Simpsom, Book-binder in Edinburgh, declared, That on Monday preceding, and that day in the morning, that he confessed to* her he had committed Incest with his Sister. Jane, and Margaret Bourdon his Wives Daughter ; as likewise bestiality with a Mare in the West Country, and that he had carnally conversed with his Maid-servant Bessy We ems for two and twenty years.

Mr. Archibald Nisbett, Writer to the Signet, declared, That in the year 51 or 52. it was reported in the Country, that the Pannel had committed Bestiality with a Mare near New Mills, and that he heard it reported the same day, in which it was said he did the Fact. Mr. John Alexander of Leith deponed the same, and said he was then but half a mile from the place. After these depositions, the Major being examined about his act of Bestiality j declared, That a Gentleman having given him a Mare, he rode upon her into the West Country to see some Friends, and dealt carnally with her near New Mills, and that a Woman saw him in the Act, and complained of him to Mr. John Nave the Minister of New Mills ; at whose instance he was brought back to the place by some Soldiers, but was there dismissed for want of further probation. And further being asked about the time, he answered, That to the best of his remembrance it was when the Lords, Gentlemen, and Heritors were taken by the English at Elliot. .....

The Process being thus ended, the Jury did unanimously find the Major guilty of Incest with his Sister, and Bestiality with a Mare, and a Cow, and

56 TRIAL OF MAJOR THOMAS WEIR.

found him guilty of Adultery, and Fornication by a plurality of Votes. They also unanimously brought in Jane guilty of Incest with her Brother j where- upon the Deputed Judges Sentenced him to be strangled at a Stake betwixt Edinburgh and Leith, on Monday following, the 11th of April, and his Body to be burnt to Ashes ; and condemned her to be hanged on the Tuesday follow- ing in the Grass~market of Edinburgh,

Thus far have I given you a juridical Account of the detestable crimes of this Hypocritical Monstrous Manj I now proceed to acquaint you with other particulars, no less surprizing than the former ; which upon strict enquiry I have reason to believe to be as true, as those that are judicially prov'd.

When they were seized, she desired the Guards to keep him from laying hold on a certain Staff, which, she said, if he chanc'd to get into his hand, he would certainly drive them all out of doors, notwithstanding all the resistance they could make. This Magical Staff was all of one piece, with a crooked head of Thorn-wood, she said he received it of the Devil, and did many wonderful things with it ; particularly that he used to lean upon it in his Hypocritical prayers, and after they were committed, she still desired it might be kept from him j because if he were once Master of it again, he would certainly grow obdurate, and retract the Confessions which he had so publickly made. Apollonius Thyaneus had such a Magical Staff as this, which I believe was a Sacramental Symbol which the Devil gave to the Major, and the Court had some such apprehensions of it, for it was ordered by the Judges to be burnt with his Body.

She also confessed in Prison, that she and her Brother had made a Compact with the Devilj and that on the 7th of Septemb. 1648. they were both Transported from Edinburgh to Musselborough, and back again, in a Coach and Six Horses, which seemed all of fire, and that the Devil then told the Major of the defeat of our Army at Presión in England ; which he confidently reported in most of its circumstances several days before the news had arrived here. This Prediction did much increase the high opinion the People began to have of him, and served him to make them believe, that like Afoses, he had been with God in the Mount, and had a Spirit of Prophecy, as well as of Prayer. Bat as for her self, she said, she never received any other benefit by her Commerce with the Devil, than a constant supply of an extraordinary

TRIAL OP MAJOR THOMAS WEIR. 57

quantity of yarn, which she was sure (she said) to find ready for her upon the Spindle, what ever business she had been about.

Besides the Bestialities which the Major judicially acknowledged he had committed with the Mare, and Cow, he confessed he had done the same Abominations with three Species more ; and the Woman that delated him for the Fact near New Mills, was by order of the Magistrates of Lanerk whipped through the Town by the hand of the Common Hangman, as a slanderer of such an eminent Holy man.

The Fornications, and Adulteries which this αΚογ^νόμ^νοχ (as Buggerers are called by the Council of Ancyra) (Can. 16) Committed with the most Sanctimonious, and Zealous Women of the Sect, are too numerous to be related here. He had got himself the Priviledge, under a pretence of Praying and Exhortation, to go to their Houses, and into their Bed-chambers when he pleased ; and it was his practise to visit married Women at such times especi- ally as their Husbands were from home : One especially, who lived in the Street called the West-bow in Edinburgh^ he had several times sollicited in her Husbands absence to gratifie his unclean desires ; till at last wearied out with his importunity, she told him how much she abhorred his design, and charged him never to come more to her House. Upon this he forbore to visit her for some time, till one night, when she was undressed and ready to step into Bed, the Major suddenly appears standing by her, at which she was so extreemly frig;hted, that she fell into a swoun ; she had no sooner recovered, but the Major endeavoured to comfort, and assure her, and confirm her against that strange surprize ; and renewing his addresses, he Tempted her with many Arguments, and filthy Speeches, and Gesticulations, telling her he had taken that marvelous way of appearing in private with her, on purpose to secure her Reputation j that he would go out of her House in a manner as invisible as he came in. But she by this time having recovered her usuai courage and strength, pushed him off with violence, and cry'd out for help to her Maid, upon which he immediately disappeared. The Windows, and Doors were all close shut ; and I make little doubt, but his Coachman to the fiery Coach conveighed him in and out through the Chimney, or perhaps by the Door, which the cursed Familiar might open and shut again, as well as the Angel of the Lord did unlock, and lock the Prison Door, wherein the Apostles were put.

I

58 TRIAL OF MAJOR THOMAS WEIR.

All the while he was in Prison, he lay under violent apprehension of the heavy Wrath of God, which put him into that which is properly called Despair j a Despair which made him hate God, and desist from Duty to him, and with which the Damned Souls in Hell are reasonably supposed to be con- stantly affected. In this sence he was desperate, and therefore would admit neither Churchy nor Conventicle-ministers to pray for him, or discourse with him about the infinite mercy of God, and the possibility of the forgiveness of his Sins. Much less could he endure to be exhorted to repent, or be brought to entertain any thoughts of Repentance, telling all the World, that he had sinned himself beyond all possibility of Repentance, and Pardon; that he was already damn'd, that he was sure his Condemnation to Eternal burnings was already pronounced in Heaven, and that the united Prayers of all the Saints in Heaven, and Earth would be vain, and insignificant, if they were offered to God in his behalf. So that when some charitable Ministers of the City, by name the present Bishop of Galloway, and present Dean of Edinburgh, were resolved to Pray before him for his Repentance, and Pardon, against his consent, he was with much difficulty withheld from interrupting of them in their devotions, and the posture he put himself in when they began to pray, was to lye upon his Bed in a most stupid manner, with his Mouth wide open ; and when Prayers were ended, being ask'd if he had heard them and attended to them, he told them, They were very troublesome, and cruel to him, and that he neither heard their devotion, nor cared for it, nor could be the better for all the Prayers that Men or Angels could offer up to Heaven upon his account.

It was his Interest to believe there was no God j and therefore to ease the torments of his mind, he attempted now and then to comfort, and flatter up himself into this absurd belief. For he was sometimes observ'd to speak very doubtfully about his existence ; in particular to say, that if it were not for the terrors which he found tormenting him within, he should scarce believe there was a God......

I have been told by very credible Persons, that the Body of this unclean Beast gave manifest tokens of its impurity, as soon as it began to be heated by the Flames, &c.

I have been induced to quote thus at length, because no paraphrase of mine could have conveyed so forcibly as the

TRIAL OP MAJOR THOMAS WEIR. 59

words of the author do a notion of the career of this " most prodigious sinner that ever was extant of humane race," and also for the sake of the light thrown upon the feelings with which his crimes and atheism were then regarded. Between Mitchel and Weir there was an " intimate Famili- arity," and I cannot refrain from yet transcribing the follow- ing curious and rabid satire To the Memory of Mr. James Mitchel, in which they are associated, and which shows the rancour then raging between the sects :

O-y-es O-y-es Covenanters

Filthy, Cruel, lying Ranters

Come here, and see your murdering Martyr

Sent to Hell i' th' Hangmans Garter 5

Your sealing Witnesses we hear

Are Mr. James Mitchel, and Major Weir :

One with his hand, but had no pith,

Th' other your Wives know well wherewith,

Which makes them sigh, and sighing say,

Welsh can but Preach, but Weir could pray.

It's this that all Religion shames,

To give Hells Vices Heavenly names.

Then Devils, then cast off your Masks,

Murder, and Whoredom are your Tasks,

Which you to all the World proclame,

Boasting, and glorying in your shame,

And say your Covenant doth allow

This, Maugre your Baptismal vow,*

  • You see the Poet upbraids their_ Baptismal Vow with the Covenant ; not,

as I conceive, upon the common account, as another Poet may do, but because

6ο TRIAL OP MAJOR THOMAS WEIR.

And that the holy Oath doth bind you To leave such holy Seed behind you. For at, and after your long prayers, You lye together pairs by pairs, And every private Meeting-place, is a Bawdy-house of Grace j You shew it is your loving Natures, To be sweet fellow-feeling Creatures. But to prophane your Holy Order With incest, Buggery, and Murder, Is plainly to proclame you Devils, And horrid Crimes to be no evils. Mas James Mitchel lay four year In Giffald's house with Major Weir, And from his Ghostly Father learns To lye with Women, and get no Barns, The Mystery of the Tribe, a Trick Makes all the Women mad Fanatiek, And now they both in Hell are met, Where for your Company they wait. Then fill your measure, and post on To your deserv'd Damnation. Go Whore, and Bugger, Kill and Pray, Till every Dog shall have his day j Or go together to Hell in Troops, Else strive for new Grass-market-loops.* He that Whores best, and Murders most,

'tis the frequent practise of our Whig-preachers to Baptize the Children of their Disciples into the Solemn League and Covenant, as well as into the Covenant of Grace. Same work, p. 59.

  • Halters. It will have been observed that Jane Weir was condemned to

be hanged in the Grass-market.

TRIAL OP MAJOR THOMAS WEIR» 61

Of him the Sect shall always boast. And put him, as they've put Mas James Among their Saints, and Martyrs Names.

Major Weir occupied a house in the Bow, Edinburgh, " on the right hand coming up from the Grass Market," " a wood- cut of it is given in ' Chambers' $ÍÍ№V CraUtttOUÖ Of (¡¡5iïtnbUfffÖ> τ^33ι" where it is shown as within a courtyard, approached from the Bow by a narrow covered entrance, still standing, and which forms the subject of a vignette in ζ Mr. Wilsons ¿Irøøriafø Ot (ßÜixämtSb in the Olden Time, Edinburgh, 1848.'*" After Weir's execution, his house was looked upon as haunted, and for one hundred and thirty years no one ventured to inhabit it. "Modern improvements in the neighbourhood of the West Bow, Edinburgh, 'near the castle ' have swept away all vestiges of the c haunted ' and dark abode of this notorious individual, and the site is covered by a building belonging to the Secession Church."*

Weir is mentioned at p. 332, Vol. 2, of Chambers'

Bømeøttc annate of Ocotlana, and in Scott's ietterà Dit

¡BentlWÛÎOgg atto røitCfttraft (p. 329), a frontispiece to the latter work also represents the Major's house.

  • røiitftrrfslg of  dcottufø îSorfcer, 1810, Vol. 2, p. 48, Note; and

putrii attìi Quertø, 5 s., II., p. 273.

^oANNis Caspari Sættler fix åfrtfUlXn MtlulO#\ praeCíptum, In Conjugum Obligationes, et Quædam Matrimonium Spectantia, Prælectiones. Ex ejusdem Theologiâ mor ali universa excerpsit, notis et novis quæsitis amplificavit ae denuò typis mandari curavit P. J. Rousselot, SS. Theoiogiæ in Seminario Gratianopolitano Professor. In Gratiam Neo-confes- sariorum et Discipulorum. Gratianopoli, Prostat apud Augustum Carus, bibliopolam et editorem, Via Vulgo Brochen, No. 16. 1840.

8vo. (counts 4); pp. 192 in all; small circular fleuron on title page. On the verso of the bastard title is printed : " Cet ouvrage, comme propriété, est placé sous la garantie des lois. Tous les exemplaires non revêtus de ma signature seront réputés contrefaits." Signed with the pen, " Carus Auguste."

There is a later issue, size, pagination, and title page identical, with omission of the fleuron, addition of " Editio altera/' and alteration of No. 16 into No. 8, and the date into 1844.

J. C. SÆTTLER IN SEXTUM DECALOGI PRÆCEPTUM. 6$

As indicated on the title page, this volume forms part of the greater work by the same author, published at Gre- noble in 5 vols, 8vo., or rather it forms a supplement to that work.*

Few, if any of the Romish casuists have gone deeper into matters connected with the sexes, or have given more scabrous details than Sættier. I extract from the table of contents a few only of the impure questions considered in this remarkable volume :

Quid de incestu Confessarli cum pœnitente, parochi cum parochianâ. Quid sit locus sacer $ qænam seminis effusio locum polluât, aut non polluât, licet sit sacrilega. An et in quo casu liceat copulam abrumpere. An liceat semen conceptum ejicere. Quandònam pollutio censeatur voluntaria in sua causa, et quando  quomodò sit culpabilis. An et qualia peccata sint pollutiones nocturnæ. An sacram communionem impedire debeant i° Muli- erum menstrua. 2° Pollutio seu voluntaria seu involuntaria. 30 Actus conjugalis. An et quando interrogandum circa bestialitatem. Quid de concubitu cum muliere mortuâ. Quid de modis coeundi innaturali- bus. Quid et quale peccatum sit ¿enocinium. An quid teneantur parentes qui prolem in xenodocbio exposuerunt. Quid sit impedimentum im- potentiæ. Quae conjugibus incumbat obligatio petendi et reddendi debitum. Quomodò cônjuges ulteriùs adhùc peccare possint in usu matri- monii. Quid sit dicendum de obscenis tactibus, aspectibus, osculis inter cônjuges. An peccet conjugatus, qui in absentia compartis seipsum im- pudicè tangitj vel delectatur de copula habita vel habendâ. An peccent soluti, ipsique adeò sponsi qui de copula habendâ, vel vidui qui de copula habita delectantur. Quid agere debeat Confessarius erga uxorem cujus maritus onanista est. Quid sit abortus et an liceat eura procurare.

  • %a littérature dfratuatøe, vol. 6, p. 388.

64 J. C. SÆTTLER IN SEXTÜM DECALOGI PRÆCEPTUM.

An baptizari possit fetus, in quo nullum signum vitæ advertitur. An, si fetus in lucem edi nequeat, liceat faceré operationem, ut vocant, cæsaream. In matre mortuâ. In matre adhuc viva. An mulier sit ad subeundam opera- tionem cæsaream adigenda. An baptizari possint ac debeant monstra. Dis- ciplina ecclesiæ circa Clericos sollicitantes aut turpiter viventes.

To show how each of the above points is treated in detail, how each abomination is probed to the quick, would be undoubtedly interesting, but would exceed the limits of a simple bibliographical compilation. I cannot, however, refuse space for the enumeration of one or two of the subtle obscenities which Sættier and his commentator, Rousselot, consider necessary for the enlightenment of their priests and confessors :

Jam vero, cum puellæ sint capaces seminationis ante pubertatis annos, et etiam in sexto ætatis anno, citius possunt irreparabiliter amittere virginita- tem, quam masculi impúberes. Si mulier vi aut metu copulam ab adolescente extorserit, hæc extorsio etiam est stuprum, &c. Liceret tarnen in fornicationis actu copulam abrumpere, ex odio et displicentiâ peccati, quamvis quasi neces- sario tunc semen efïunderetur extra vas. Inter Doctores disputatur, an qui in vase præpostero cognovit virginem, virginitatis circumstantiam declarare debeat. Expedit ... à muiieribus et etiam à puellis, quærere utrùm cum bestia aliquid inhonesto egerint, ν.g., best i am in lectura intromittendo seque ab eâ lambente tangi procurando. Ipsa mulier interrogetur num semen, completa copula, ejicere conata sit ? Puella libere stuprum passa, non est de virginitate interroganda. Inveniuntur et puellæ, sed non ita raro, quæ quamvis non nubiles, jam à [decennio, imo à septennio voluptatem carnalem venereosqve motus sibi per tactus, situm corporis, femorum compressi onem, tibi arum extensionem procurant. Probabiliùs etiam excusantur, qui moderata friction© praritum molestissimum extinguendi causa sese tan gunt, ... 1 nee obstat,

J. C. SÆTTLER IN SEXTUM DECALOGI PRÆCEPTUM. 6¡

quòd forte possit exindè suboriri pollutio, &c. Puellæ quæ turgentes sibi addunt mammas . . . peccant venialiter, &c.

The conduct of the wedded pair is most minutely defined. Time when copulation maybe permitted: "licite dum mulier lactat infantem—si mulier fìuxu sanguinis innaturali veluti morbo quasi continuo laboret, quando habet fluxum men- struum, aut in puerpera post partum continuatur fluxus sanguinis, multi existimant actum conjugalem tali tempore exercitum esse culpam venialem—tempore quo mulier gravida est, actus conjugalis est graviter illicit us, si exerceatur cum probabili abortus periculo;" place: "in loco profano et secreto —graviter peccant ilium exercentes in loco sacro, in loco publico et coram aliis etiam infantibus," &c. ; frequency : " ter quaterve in eâdem nocte;" posture: "ut jaceant cônjuges, et vir muliebri incumbat—graviter peccant cônjuges, si stantes rem habeant, vel mulier viro incumbat, aut vir à tergo accédât," &c. ; manner : " graviter peccant in vase non naturali consum- mantes, vel inchoantes etiam cum intentione eum consummandi in vase naturali, vir seminationem ante copulam inchoando, vel hâc habita se retrahendo, antequàm seminaverit," &c. ; are ail specified. In fact, every contingency which could present itself to the most vivid of perverted imaginations is considered in every possible detail.

Many of the questions above cited are due to Sættler's

commentator, Rousselot, and as each is initialed in the volume

itself, I have not-thought it necessary to make any distinction

in reproducing them. The fourth chapter is De Ahortu et

Embryologia Sacra, the most curious items of which are

included in my extracts.

66 MOECHIÀLOGIE.

i$Oeri)taIötj;U ou Traité des Péchés contre Les Sixième et Neuvième Commandements du Decalogue, et de toutes les Questions Matrimoniales qui s'y rattachent, directe- ment et indirectement; suivi d'un Abrégé Pratique D'Embryologie Sacrée. Ouvrage mis à la hauteur des sciences physiologiques, naturelles, médicales et de la législation moderne. Il est exclusivement destiné au clergé. Par P.- J.- C- Debreyne, Docteur en Médecine de la Faculté de Paris, Professeur particulier de Médecine pratique, Prêtre et Religieux de la Grande-Trappe (Orne.) Ecce, hoc ut investigavimus, ita est ; quod auditum, mente pertrcta (sic).

Job, 5, 27.

Deuxième Édition. Bruxelles. Imprimerie—Librairie de H. Goemaere, Rue de la Montagne, 52. 1853

Large i2mo. (counts 6) ; pp. viii and 404 ex titles. There are two other editions, of 1846 and 1865.* The work bears the sanction of the vicar general, and although " exclusive- ment destiné au clergé," could be purchased but a short time since of any bookseller at Brussels for 3 francs.

Moechialogie is a treatise for the use of priests in the con- fessional ; in it every crime which can possibly be embraced under the 6th and 9th commandments is considered in all its bearings. The author explains his purpose as follows:

  • Cat. Ornerai  la librairie fåtautniåt, vol. a, p. 31.

MOECHIALOGIE. 6η

Le but de ce travail est de prendre l'homme seulement par son côté charnel et animal} de le considérer dans cet état de servitude et d'abjection où l'enchaîne inexorablement l'empire tyrannique de ses sens ; de le contempler enfin avec un sentiment de douloureuse compassion dans l'état de dégradation morale où l'ont réduit de brutales et d'avilissantes passions.

Nous suivrons donc l'humanité dans la route fangeuse du vice honteux de la chair ; nous marcherons dans cette voie sombre et méphitique de la mort, en portant toujours devant nous le flambeau des sciences physiologiques et médicales.

Being a physician as well as a theologian, Dr. Debreyne is able to handle his subject with as much success physically as morally; and no writer with whose works I am acquainted, not even Sanchez, has amassed more filthy details, manipulated them more thoroughly, or argued upon them with more morbid and pertinacious subtlety than the author of Moechialogie. Father Chiniquy * writes : "I do not know that the world has ever seen anything comparable to the filthy and infamous details of that book."

The latter part of the volume is occupied by a Traite pratique a"Embryologie sacrée ou théologique,^f that is, the

  • Cïjt $, ti)î , anu tf)e Cottfotøtoitat, to be noticed more fully

presently.

t Few of the Romish casuits have omitted to notice, more or less fully, this strange and scabrous subject. The most thorough treatise which I have met with is by Francesco Emmanuele Cangiamila : (Öhttbtp logia â>acra overo deli uffizio de' sacerdoti, ?nedici e superiori circa l'eterna salute dei bambini racchiusi neir utero,  Milano, 1751, which he afterwards rendered into Latin as : éatra íímbrpologta sive de officio sacerdotum &c. It is replete with

68 MOECHIALOGIE.

proper treatment of the fœtus, or still born infant, with regard to baptism. But Dr. Debreyne extends his researches and instructions much further; and considers, inter alia, the various causes of abortion, the conduct to be observed towards a woman who dies during pregnancy, the cesarean operation performed upon a woman either dead or alive, the obstacles to parturition, the baptism of monsters, &c.

The volume we are considering forms a sequel to an earlier work by the same author : OÊÖöai £№ la Coitogli ffîOVUÎt, considérée dans ses rapports avec la Physiologie et la Médecine» In this work the same subjects are treated as in Moechialogie, but not so minutely, or with so many nauseous details.

Pierre-Jean-Corneille Debreyne was born at Quoedy- pre, November 7, 1786. After studying medicine at Paris he took his diploma in 1814, and became doctor to the convent of La Trappe, near Mortagne. In 1840 he joined the order. He is the author pf numerous medico-theological works.*

remarkable instances of child birth, of which the most difficult and perverse are not unfrequently attributed to sorcery, and is interesting to one not specially interested in either theology or medicine. The work has been further translated into Portuguese : embriología Sagraba &c.» Lisboa, 1791-92, 2 vols., 8vo., into French, and into modern Greek. Consult gamici itu Htfcratre, vol. 6, art. 7402, Ea $wmt Hitterat«, vol. 2, p. 41, SHojjraplju , (Michaud), vol. 6, p. 543.

  • * ïfiK Cotttemporauwi, 1870, p. 493.

LLAVE DB ORO. 69

? bt , ó Série de Reflexiones que, para abrir el corazón cerrado de los probres pecadores, ofrece á los confesores nuevos el Excmo. é limo. Sr. D. An- tonio María Claret, Arzobispo de Cuba, seguida del íSppíiratUO et Praxis Formæ pro Doctrina Sacra in Concione Proponenda, Auctore R. P. Richardo Arsdekin, Societatis Jesu. Con aprobación del Ordi- nario. Librería Religiosa Imprenta de Pablo Riera, calle del Robador, n°- 24 y 26. i860.

Small 8vo. ; pp. Llave 143, apparatus 288, in all. On the verso of the title page we read : " Varios Prelados de España han concedido 2,400 dias de indulgencia para todas las pub- licaciones de la Librería Religiosa."

It is a painful task to wade through the crass superstition and nauseous puerility with which the Llave de Oro abounds— a book for the propagation of which 2,400 days of indul- gence are offered.

Archbishop Claret invents miraculous stories to be told to adult sinners, generally too childish and foolish to be worthy of any special notice. Here is a passage however which must be given as it stands: "Algunos autores dicen que Nuestro Señor Jesucristo tiene tanto horror á ese delito (sodomy), que la noche que nació en Belén mató á todos los sodomitas." (p. 91). No authorities are given.

70 LLAVE DE ORO.

Here are the archbishop's experiences respecting young girls. They are, he says, " mas faciles en cometer impurezas que los niños, mientras son pequenitas ; pero cuando son mayores va enteramente al revés, pues mas son los mozos y hombres lascivos que las muchachas y mujeres. La razón de esto à mi ver es la misma naturaleza de la mujer ; pues que cuando pequeña luego se ve inclinada á formar muñecas, etc., y estas cosas le sirven de juguete en su infancia. Si se reúne con otras niñas ó niños, juegan á veces á padres y madres, que dicen, y quizás á parir, etc., etc.4 (p. 139).

The following are the points upon which confessors are

to question their youthful female penitents. I leave them in

the language in which they are given :

1. " Pollutionem facientes, aspicientes et tangentes seipsas (1). Palma manus, tangendo leviter super vas (2). Digito tangendo se leviter intra vas in clitori, etc. (3). Mitt endo digitum intra vaginam (4). Mittendo fustam, etc., intra vas (5). Applicans se contra vas in mensa, pariete, etc., sedens in sedia applicando se contra ipsam sediam. Sedens in terra applicando se contra ipsum pedem suum. Aliquando jungens crura et opprimens ipsum vas, movendo leniter seipsam, etc." Todas estas maneras son de una misma especie, ni hay necesidad que expliquen si fue de esta manera ó de otra, porque á mas de no ser de ninguna necesidad? como se ha dicho, se exponen á que por vergüenza no digan la verdad, y quedar después con el remordimiento de haber hecho mala confesión por esta causa.

2. Tangendo se turpiter cum unaT vel cum aliquîbus puellis. Faciendo sodomitico cum puellis j aliquando cum sororibus maxime in eodem lecto per noctem, jam applicans vas unius cum pede, crura, etc., .alterius, et sic se polluendo."

3. " Tangendo se mutuò cum puero in 'pudendis. Aliquando copulans se, quamquam imperfecte."

4. " Bestialitas (1) applicans vas suum cum aliqua bestia (2), aliquando mittens ostrum pulii vel galiinae intra vas. Aliquando ponens salivam aut

LES MYSTÈRES DU CONFESSIONNAL. *]l

panem in vas et cogens canem ut lambat. Aliquando cogens canem et mittendo pudenda canis in vas suum." (p. 140).

" Horreur, abomination ! (exclaims M. Maurice Lachatre) Après avoir pris connaissance des monstruosités décrites par le docte archevêque, les lecteurs pourront comprendre mieux que par les raisonnements, les dangers du Confessionnal."

That part of the Llave de Oro which has reference to the sixth commandment has been done into French, and anno- tated by M. Lachatre, as, Cl£ W®X> and added to his i2mo. edition of the ¿Namttl i*£0 £&* The passages given above in the original Latin are there trans- lated.

The Apparatus has no special interest for the present work.

3t*S¡ fflv#tìvt& ÒVi ConfeOÔtOnnal par Monseigneur Bouvier Evêque du Mans.

Illustrated title page, on the verso of which we read :

ou Les Diaconales Dissertation sur le Sixième Commandement & Supplement au Traite du Mariage &c. {#{ ïtt &tftttm ©etalogt Prœceptum & Supplementum ad Tractatum De Matrimonio Auctor e J,- . Bouvier, Episcopo Cenomanensi; there is a second title page: Ïe0 ilpsiterøi &c. par Le Curé Χ*** Imprimeur-Editeur ; E,- J. Carli er, Rue de Γ Escalier, 14, Bruxelles Ö?c·

  • See next article.

72 LES MYSTÈRES DU CONFESSIONNAL.

4*0. ; pp. 157 and 1 page unnumbered of Table; double columns ; price 3 fres. There are numerous illustrations on the page which have no special reference to the text.

This work, by M. Maurice Lachatre, is a translation, with annotations, of the work of Bishop Bouvier, of which the title is given above.

The Manuel des Confesseurs (M. Lachatre informs us) "en est à sa 20me édition, dans le texte latin ; Deux Cent Mille Exemplaires sont actuellement répandus dans le clergé et en tous pays.

" C'est pour la première fois que ce livre est traduit en français. La traduction a été faite sur la dixième édition, la dernière qui ait été revue et corrigée par Fauteur avant sa mort.

" On a publié depuis le décès de Monseigneur Bouvier, dix autres éditions sur lesquelles certains changements ont été opérés. Notre traduction est placée en regard du texte latin dans une spéciale édition," (that which heads this notice).

The contents of the volume are as follows : Prologue ; The work of M. Bouvier ; Abrégé d'Embryologie ; Origine de la Confession ; Le Confessionnal ordinaire et le Confessionnal particu- lièrement secret ; Le Confessionnal, fléau de Γ enfance &c. ; Con- fesseurs et Congréganistes devant la Justice, Outrages aux Mœurs &c. ; Abbesses Confesseuses ; L'Aumônier du Couvent ; Caté- chisme à Image des Jésuites ; Guide des Ames ; Le Sceau de la Confession ; Les Drames du Confessionnal, La Signora Wirginie de Ley va ;# Le Confessionnal, fléau du prêtre chaste; Le

  • The history of Virginie de Leyva is one of the most terrible and

dramatic on record, and presents a vivid picture of the laxity of convent life, the venality of the priests, and the general depravity which pervaded Italy during the 17th century. M. Philarète Chasles, basing his labour upon

MANUEL DES CONFESSEURS. 73

Syllabus^ Doctrine religieuse enseignée dans le Confessionnal; Encyclique ; Derniers Conseils.

Another edition was published in 1876:  ÏÏ£S> COttftÖÖfUrÖ ou Les Diaconales Dissertation sur le Sixième Commandement et Supplément au Traité du Mariage par Mgr. Bouvœr, Evêque du Mans Librairie du Progrès Louis Lincé, Libraire-Éditeur 67, Rue Crapaurue, 67 Servier s f Belgique).* Large i2mo. (counts 6); pp. 396 in ail; a second illus- trated title page, with Imprimerie E.-J, Carlier, A Brux- elles &c. ; the outer wrapper gives the title more in detail, and the price 2 fres. ; there are a few illustrations which have no reference to the text. From this edition the Latin text has been omitted, but it contains in addition, with full title page: Clf 3B'(SH% ou Série tf Exhortations destinées à ouvrir le cœur fermé des pauvres pécheurs offerte aux nouveaux confesseurs par Le très excellent et très illustre seigneur don Antonio Maria Claret, &c. This is an annotated

that of Dandolo, has worked the proceedings instituted against the Signora di Monza into a pleasant and attractive tale : Qftrgtllte bt Sigba ou intérieur d'un Couvent de Femmes en Italie au commencement du dix-septième siècle d'après les documents originaux &c. Paris 1861. A portrait of the heroine, printed by Dblatre, should be added to the volume

  • For this edition it was intended to make an illustrated wrapper represent-

ing a cathedral, &c, and a frontispiece with a confessional, &c. The designs for both exist, but were never engraved. The former is by M. Poteau, the latter by F. L. See fntifjr & $ïroï)ibitörum, London, 1877, p. 17a.

L

74 MANUEL DES CONFESSEURS.

translation of that part of the ïlabe it ©0* which

relates to the sixth commandment.

The Dissertado in Sextum Decalagi Prceceptum^ which was

intended by its author exclusively for the use of priests, is

one of the most esteemed works of the Romish Church.

The number of editions through which it has passed has been

already shown. It is to a great extent a resume of the various

opinions of former casuists, which bishop Bouvier confronts

and passes his opinion upon. This it is which makes the

book specially valuable to the young priest. The author

treats most exhaustively the subject of the relation of the

sexes, from the first regards and thoughts of the young

engaged couple to the kinds of embraces which may be

permitted between married people, from the times when the

act should be granted or denied to the performance of the

cesarían operation and the christening of the stillborn, or even

unborn fœtus.

Here are a few of the most curious subjects discussed : Masturbation before the statue of the Virgin ; If a doctor sins by spending while handling the private parts of a woman in the pursuit of his calling ; Commerce with a demon under the form of a man, a woman, or an animal ; Corpse-profanation ;

  • Noticed at p. 69, ante.

f In the ¡JHoubtlï* 2&{* Generate (vol. 7, col. 147) two editions are given, viz.: " Cenomani» 1827,1 vol. in-X2/* and " 12 edit., Paris, 1850." Lorenz notes another edition, " 1861, in-12." Cat. ornerai, vol. 1, p. $$$.

MANUEL DES CONFESSEURS. J$

The German walse is strictly forbidden ; Absolution is not to be granted to actors or actresses, even when on the point of death, unless they promise to renounce their calling ; Impo- tence, either on the part of the man or woman, is frequently caused by the malice of the devil ; Whether copulation may be performed when the woman is with child, or during the time of menstruation ; The cesarían operation is most minutely described, and every circumstance connected with it fully discussed.

M. Lachatre does not perhaps speak too strongly when he exclaims :

Quel code d'immoralités! Quel recueil de turpitudes dans cette élucubra- tion episcopale !

Quelle boue infecte remuée dans tous les sens, et comme à plaisir, par un vieux ribaud, un satyre mitré ! Rien n'est oublié dans cette œuvre, depuis l'origine d'une pensée sensuelle jusqu'à l'action la plus dégradante ; depuis un simple désir jusqu'au plus mauvais acte de bestialité, accompli avec l'animal le plus vil, ou sur une femme déjà morte, ou avec un démon de l'un ou de l'autre sexe ayant pris une forme sensible.

Les abominations étalées dans ce livre, dépassent les obscénités des soupers de la régence sous le duc d'Orléans, les turpitudes du Parc aux Cerfs de Louis XV, et sont de nature à faire rougir les plus éhontées messalines, à faire bouillir le sang du plus austère des anachorètes. (i2mo. edit. p. 9).

Nous devons également faire mention (adds M, Lachatre) d'un chapitre curieux qui a été ajouté au Manuel des Confesseurs, dans la 14e édition, par le successeur de Mgr Bouvier au siège du Mans, lequel chapitre ne se trouve pas dans notre traduction qui est faite sur le texte de la iome édition. Le nouvel évêque du Mans tenait à honneur de compléter l'œuvre de son devancier et de remplir une lacune importante qu'il y avait découverte. En effet, Mgr Bouvier avait omis de parler de certains engins de lubricité qui sont en usage dans les bordels, dans certains lieux encore plus infâmes, et dans les couvents de femmes. Le prélat a donc réparé l'omission volontaire ou involontaire de l'auteur du Manuel des Confesseurs. Les jeunes diacres; les séminaristes, les confesseurs ont alors reçu le complément de leur éducation religieuse. On

  • j6 MANUEL DES CONFESSEURS.

leur explique que le condom—est une sorte de fourreau en baudruche dont on couvre le membre viril—pour pratiquer le coït ononasticè ou condomisticè, pour éviter de procréer des enfants, ou pour introduire le membre dans l'anus, ou pour se préserver des maladies contagieuses vénériennes. Le prélat vise encore dans ce chapitre, les instruments de lubricité de pays de Sodome et de Gomorhe, en usage dans les lupanars et particulièrement dans les couvents de femmes, objets étranges qui servent aux débauches contre nature et qui tiennent lieu du sexe absent. Schoking (sic) ! honte ! abomination !

Ce curieux chapitre a été reproduit en latin dans le savant ouvrage Γ Examen du Christianisme, par Morin, imprimé à Genève.

.... Coeunt ononasticè vel condomisticè id est intendo nejario instrumento quod vulgo dicitur condom. Manuel des Conftsseurs, 14me édition, p. 137. Ceux qui coïtent à la manière d'Onan ou avec le membre viril enfermé dans un fourreau de baudruche, c'est-à-dire en se servant d'un instrument défendu qu'on appelle condom.

Quels enseignements ! quelle éducation pour les séminaristes, les diacres, les confesseurs jeunes et vieux ! (i2mo. edit. p. 275).

Such a publication as the Manuel des Confesseurs could not fail to arouse the anger and resentment of the powerful Catholic party in Belgium. M. Lachatre was prosecuted and condemned, and many copies of his work destroyed.

Jean-Baptiste Bouvier was born January 17, 1783, "au hameau de la Crote, commune de Saint-Charles4a«Forét (Mayenne)," and died at Rome, December 29, 1854.* He became bishop of Mans (Sarthe) in 1834.

M. A. Rispal has given a brief analysis of the bishop's labours, which he says: "jouissent d'une grande autorité."^

  • E'lntcrmctttatrt, vol. 10, col. 190.

t Jtaufoelle æiøgraitøit Omerale, vol. 7, col, 147.

DE LA DÉMONIALITÉ. JJ

28* tø Bf mentalité et des Animaux Incubes et Succubes où Ton prouve qu'il existe sur terre des créatures rai- sonnables autres que l'homme, ayant comme lui un corps et une âme, naissant et mourant comme lui, rachetées par N.-S. Jésus-Christ et capables de salut ou de dam- nation. Par le R. P. Louis Marie Sinistrare d'Ameno de l'Ordre des Mineurs Réformés de l'étroite Observance de Saint-François (17e siècle) Ouvrage Inédit publié d'après le Manuscrit original et traduit du Latin par Isidore Liseux.

Mt ffiamiûmalttate et Incubis et Succubis Auctore A. R. P. Ludovico Maria Sinistrari de Ameno Ripariæ S. Julii, Diœcesis Novariensis, Ordinis Minorum Strictioris Observan tiæ S. Francisci Reformatorum. Opus ducentis abbine annis conscriptum, et nunc primum e MS. Codice nuper reperto in lucem editum Paris Isidore Liseux, 5, Rue Scribe 1875

8vo. (counts 4) ; pp. xvi and 224 in all ; title page in red and black, with publisher's fleuron ; issue 598 copies num- bered; the original text and the translation are en regard throughout the volume; published at fres. 10.

This is a very curious and carefully done book, both as regards the author and the translator-editor. The title suffi- ciently explains its object, and the propositions set forth are argued out with logical closeness. Although the author under-

78 DE LA DUMONIALITÉ.

takes to prove both by authority and from his own experience that Incubi and Succubi exist and perform the act of copula- tion,* yet he handles the subject as a tenet fully recognised by the church. He even enumerates several great men who owe their existence to such commerce, among whom we find Romulus and Remus, Servius Tullius, Plato, Alexander the great, Seleucus King of Syria, Scipio the African, Augustus Cæsar, Aristomenes. " Ajoutous encore (he con- cludes) l'Anglais Merlin ou Melchin, né d'un Incube et d'une fille de Charles le Grand ; et enfin, comme l'écrit Cocleus, cité par Maluenda, ce damné Hérésiarque, qui a nom Martin Luther." (p. $i).^r It is affirmed that Incubi are:

doués de sens, et conséquemment qu'ils ont un corps ; conséquemment aussi, qu'ils sont des animaux parfaits. Il y a plus : portes et fenêtres closes, ils entrent partout à leur fantaisie ; donc leur corps est subtil \ enfin ils con- naissent et annoncent l'avenir, ils composent et ils divisent, toutes opérations qui sont le propre d'une âme raisonnable : donc ils sont doués d'une âme raisonnable, et ce sont bien, en réalité, des animaux raisonnables, (p. lib- ici se place une observation ; lorsque ces Incubes s'unissent charnellement aux femmes dans leur corps propre et naturel, sans métamorphose ni artifice,

  • Several anecdotes are given in the Slútíotmatre Ihtferttaï, the 3iwttoirøatr*

líe la droite et bt U , f&úrtoíre btu ¿fantom«» et » 19¿mone, Ea Bovcùvtt Curto St'tíá  l'fòùftotre tfesî Croyances! ^Populaire*; au jlflogui $føe. Consult jföaUmä áfôaíefuanutt J. Sprengeri, ïta üStmonomame btä torciera» par J. Bodin, &c.

f I have cited the translation rather ê than the original, in order that my readers may judge how ably M. Liseux has performed his task.

DE LA DÈMONIALITÉ. 79

les femmes ne les voient pas, ou, si elles les voient, c'est comme une ombre presque incertaine et à peine sensible : *"**. Quand, au contraire, les galants veulent se rendre visibles à leurs maîtresses, atque ipsis delectationem in congressu carnali qfferre, alors ils revêtent une enveloppe visible, et leur corps devient palpable. Par quel art, ceci est leur secret. Notre philosophie à courte vue est impuistante à le découvrir, (p. 197).

It was held formerly that Incubi borrowed their seed from some man, but Sinistrari is of opinion that they really do emit semen of their own. They do not restrict themselves to women, but have connection with animals as well.

The author has of course an equal faith in evil spirits, sorcerers and witches of the ordinary kind, with which how ever these curious beings must not be confounded. The former can be got rid of by holy incantations, whereas Incubi are deaf to the voice of the priest.

Enfin, chose prodigieuse et presque incompréhensible, ces Incubes, qu'on appelle en Italien Folletti, en Espagnol Duendes, en Français Follets, n'obéis- sent pas aux exorcistes, n'ont aucune peur des exorcismes, aucune vénération pour les objets sacrés, à l'approche desquels ils ne manifestent pas la moindre frayeur : bien différents en cela des Démons qui tourmentent les possédés ; car, si obstinés que soient ces malins Esprits, si rétifs qu'ils se montrent à l'injonction de l'exorciste qui leur commande de déloger du corps du possédé, il suffit pourtant de prononcer le très-saint nom de Jésus ou de Marie ou quelques versets des Saintes Ecritures, d'imposer des Reliques, principalement le Bois de la Sainte Croix, ou d'approcher les Saintes Images, pour qu'aussitôt on les entende rugir à la bouche du possédé, et qu'on les voie grincer des dents, s'agiter, frémir, montrer, en un mot, tous les signes de la crainte et de l'horreur. Mais ces coquins de Follets, rien de tout cela n'a d'effet sur eux : s'ils dis- continuent leurs vexations, ce n'est qu'après longtemps et quand ils le veulent bien. De ceci je suis témoin oculaire, &c. (p. 31).

8ο DE LA DÉMONIALITÉ.

Copulation between a demon and a witch is naturally graver than bestiality, and is indeed "le plus grand de tous les péchés." The question is reasoned out with casuistic minuteness :

Quant au commerce avec l'incube, où ne se rencontre aucun élément, si faible soit-il, d'offense contre la Religion, il est difficile de voir pourquoi ce délit serait plus grave que la Bestialité et la Sodomie. * * * L'Incube, du chef de son esprit raisonnable et immortel, est l'égal à l'homme ; du chef de son corps plus noble et plus subtil, il est plus parfait et plus digne que l'homme. Conséquemment, l'homme qui s'unit à l'Incube n'avilit pas sa nature, il la dignifìe plutôt ; &c. (p. 201).

The volume terminates with a brief Notice Biographique, from which I extract the following particulars :—

Sinistrar 1 was born at Ameno, 26 February, 1622, and died, March 6, 1701. He studied at Pavia, where in 1647 he entered the order of the Franciscans. He was a man of great talents and attianments. At Rome he occupied the post of " Consulteur au Tribunal suprême de la Sainte Inquisition," was during two years vicar-general of the archbishop of Avignon, and afterwards theologian attached to the archbishop of Milan. In 1688 he was requested to compile the statutes of his order, which he did in his  ttfttlUialfai áMÚtOrUm fflUÖtratau His collected works were published at Rome in 3 vols., folio, 1753-1754,* of which however De Dœmonialitate does not form part.

  • Consult also ftfttp  ikdjtbttonim, Romae, mdccclxxvi,

p· 303-

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 81

illustrations on tbt incarnation anö immaculate Com

CCpttOn Of tfte Virgin  and the Miraculous and Mysterious Birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ, by Dr Edmund Skiers, M.D., Of the Faculty of Paris, London and Edinburgh, Author of a Treatise, on the Croup,—a Sketch on Stomacal affections, Diarrhoea, Dysentery, Sporadic and Asiatic Cholera, etc., etc. Paris, Printed by E. Brière and Co, Rue Sainte- Anne, 55. 1854

8vo. ; pp. 16 in all. This is one of the most curious pamphlets which I have ever met with. Whether the author is in earnest, or whether his intention is to mystify his readers, my knowledge of medicine or theology is not sufficient to enable me to determine. I once saw a small volume written to show that the world was flat, and Archbishop Whately wrote a book the object of which was to prove that Napoleon I. never lived. The work before me may perhaps be classed in the same category with such productions. Dr. Skiers, however, appears to be serious, and undertakes to show that there is nothing supernatural or difficult to believe in the immaculate conception, but that it may be accounted for by the fœtal kyst theory. If it be allowed for one of the greatest casuists* to enquire whether the virgin spent

  • Thomas Sanchez. £9* & aneto jÄatrtmonit Sacramento.

M

82 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OP THE VIRGIN MARY.

during copulation with the Holy Ghost, " utrum virgo Maria semen emiserit in copulatone cum Spiritu Sancto," surely a medical man of the same faith may be permitted to take a step further back and enquire into the virgin Mary's con- ception. Here are the doctor's own words :

  • ' The stumbling block " to the Faith, and to convincing teaching, lie at the

very origin of our Christian religion ; here, with every sense of deep humility and strict feeling, I will allow myself to enter familiarly into explanation.

To arrive at the unknown we must interrogate intimately the well known. What is strenuously our object here, is it not to inquire into the <( Immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary?" Conception! we take the term "in extenso,'* its evident sense implies, beside the power of imagination, " to conceive," <lto admit into the womb;" conception again, might be u extra uterine;"* conception might also be a pregnancy of a double nature "in ovo," ab ovo " from the very origin of the germ, the developement of which is the product of a fœtal kyst -, a fœtal kyst, is an abscess, borne by the indi- vidual, and independently of the will of the bearer, and is not known to, nor conceived by the bearer ; a fœtal kyst is an abscess containing an embryo, a foetus in it ;—this fœtal kyst might happen to, and be borne by, either a male or a

  • This question has occupied the attention of several writers. One of the

most curious disputes will be found noticed at p. 261 of the ItttJer Ettomm $rof)ÜHtOtum> London, mdccclxvii. In his witty and erudite little volume upon the <c Fille de Tureoing/* the Abbé Valmont writes : " Mais vous qui voulez absolument des explications, voudriez-vous bien m'expliquer comment ce Louis Roossel de Vlasloo, auprès Dixmude, accoucha d'un enfant par la cuisse. Ne vous moquez pas de moi, s'il vous plaît. C'est un grave Théo- logien, qui  dit, et qui a fait sur cela seul un traité fort singulier ¿ c'est le R. P. Loth, Dominician, Resolutiones Theohg. tract» 15." JSfc&ftatton #ur lesi áíKaítoetf, &c, Lille, 1862, p. 82.

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OP THE VIRGIN MARY. 83

female ;—it may be hidden internally in the body,—or it appears externally as a tumour, or it may appear externally as a monstruosity, having appending the limbs of a fœtus, attached to the body of the person born so, without any envelope—but the continuous skin ;—and this foetal external appendix might have, or might not have movement given to it, by any excitement on its skin ; the phenomenon of this foetal kystal appendix might be, with the body of this grafted foetus, more or less perfect ; this graft too, might nearly equal the size of its parent ;—and again this monstruosity might be equal in size, and have a life, even to that of a separate alimentary system for taking food;—and again in addition to which, a separate and complete and perfect locomotive existence, to be, and feel, as if separate bodies, save in their bond of union ; the two indi- viduals being only separate in head and limbs.—It is therefore well known, that fœtal kysts and mons truosi ties are as common in animals, as incidental to the human species ; we have only to examine the exhibitions at fairs to find living specimens of some curious cases, whilst museums of comparative and human anatomy have shelves full of the most curious varieties, obtained some from post mortem examination, others abortive products, and others after having been lorn alive and have lived for some moments, or minutes, hours, days, months, or years.—These fœtal graftings, from a double conception, human as animal, are therefore consistent in nature, and the published, depicted, and preserved varieties in the various museum collections are great and startling for the senses to contemplate ; the chain of causes being occult, the strained imagi- nation can only depict vaguely, to conceive the effect, origin, and wonderful secret combinations of nature ; therefore, the links of organic matter connect- ing insensibly the transition of the animal to the vegetable, the terrestrial animal to the aquatic, the terrestrial to the aerial, the terrestrial to the terres- trial, not even taking the extremes, that is, from the elephant to the mouse, or the man from the monkey, etc., without entering into the minuter wonders and greater intricacies of the insect, or the marvellous microscopic creation, or the organic vegetable, to the inorganic mineral combination, in the which, our blindness shews the wisdom of God, and the limit to man's.

Resuming then, with regard to the animal, as the human species, from what is known, as to extra uterine fœtation, gestation, it cannot be difficult to imagine a fœtal kystfí sine concuUtu " that is a germ (C) finding its way into the cavity of the uterus of a fœtus (M), at what period God only can know,

84 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY.

but its presence there will be that of its forming a kyst, and finding a natural nidus ; the imagination can 1- helped when we consider that a fœtal kyst, " sine concuHtu " does find its way into the cavity of other muscular organs, therein, to form its nidus, and from finding in primis, a more or less vital force of organic life in that part, the kyst would receive an impulse, a motor, for developement to ad vanee more or less the growth of its parts, partially, or the whole of the fœtal formation 5 so, on the contrary, in secundo, where the graft of the fœtal kyst does not find that natural congenial organic vital vascular nidus, a check, or an arrest of growth, from want of ample nutrition from that part would, as a natural consequence, blight, derange its developement, so as either to disease or kill it, so that none, or little, of an organic trace of a fœtal formation might be found remaining, except those parts the most resisting and imperishable, consisting and constituting the hones, the teeth, \h$ hair of the fœtus, the which would give a data of its existence ; also, the external growth of the fœtal kyst, its vascular, and its membranous parts, would depend on the nature of the tissue it is grafted into, as well as its means for furnishing nutriment for active, or passive circulation, expansion and developement of parts held and inclosed in it.

Then, allowing to picture to the imagination a double conception or impreg- nation (A) to have taken place " a priori '* that is " ah origine " in the maternal uterus (A) of Anne? the mother of the Virgin Mary ; from the knowledge already of the fœtal kyst, the imagination here, might vividly depict that a birth might he given to a fœtus (M) which might contain " a posteriori " in its body, a tumour ! and that tumour a foetal kyst (C) and this fœtal kyst (), with its vital and tenaceous embryo germ egg (C) might be found imbedded, grafted in the cavity of a muscle endowed with a mucous membranous lining of a very vascular character, and that muscular cavity with its mucous mem- branous vascular lining a uterus; and why not this, as well as any other muscular cavity ?—as this nidification by chance attractions, might, all in all, through God's will, be ordained from the commencement of the " ab originale nature of the double conception (A), when, the two germ eggs (M C) detached oí of owe conception "primo;" combining to form "secundo" the two germ eggs (MC) united, at the same time having, each, an innate separate force of vivifaction ; both, having also, as is well known, whether the conception is single or double, its own separate and proper protecting amniotic albumenous

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 85

membrane, and this too, whether the "ovum " germ egg is impregnated in the uterus, near or at a distance, that is, in the Fallopian tube near to the ovarium or egg reservoir ; the presumption being that the two germ eggs (M C) are preserved j the outer coating of the amniotic membrane forming the high vascular membrane of the chorion, the grafting of this chorion of the one germ egg (C), taking place on the highly vascular chorion of the other germ egg (M) j from this immediate contact of the two impregnated germ eggs (M C), from their intimate contiguity, and grafting, the one (M) might at last entirely envelope the other (C) j from (M) having a greater inherent vital organic activity and force of developement ; so that the germ egg (M) most forward in developement will become the enveloping maternal and absorbing one, from its greatest vital activity ; the other germ egg (C) impressed on, will become the imbedded, the enveloped germ ; and, not losing its vitality it has only a check given to its vital power of growth, but not destroying its vitality j because, this germ egg (C) finding in this graft a " nidus " a nestling place, at this stage of "its life in (M), of a similar nature of resource of tissue to that of its own, though, depassing it in power, with rapidity of progress, as to change, and formation into organic vitality, offering (C) at the same time maternal resources for its perfect rest, and nidification, and growth, though comparatively, with an abeyance, and suspense, from the germ egg (M), being itself drawn on for accommodation and nutriment, but the life of both germ eggs (M) and (C) will be maintained by the superior absorption of nutriment of the germ egg (M) the one most fully advanced, so that the metamorphoses of both germ eggs might progress, and harmonize together from this one source, with the envelop- ing embryo maternal ger?n (M), now rapidly increasing over the enveloped germ (C), whilst this latter embryo germ (C) is impelled by an imperceptible nascent force of change, insensibly to yield, and to fall inducted into the channel of a cavity, a " nidus " of an intestinal formation of the embryo germ (M) where, by after maturing nature, from the attraction and congregation of molecules, by the early and rapid embryotic changes, evolutions, and meta- morphoses taking place, it happens, normally, to form, and to become, the rudiment of that organ in the embryo (M) which, by nature,is destined, ultimately, to be an important organ, the very natural foetal uterus ;—hence fortuitously, accidently, through the will of God!—the included, nucleated, enveloped, w α priori" separate and distinct germ egg (C) of the " ab origine " double con·'

86 IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OP THE VIRGIN MARY.

 Hon (A) finds itself abducted, attracted to be imbedded and nidified, nestled, with its original preservative amniotic albumenous membrane, to be preserved, nourished "a posteriori/' and protected, to develope in a deeply seated vital uterine organ of the germ egg (M) its companion " ab origine " ovum, egg, of the double " a priori" or "ab origine " conception (A). In the which vital foetal uterine organ (M) the natural agencies and accomodations, and sympathies of which, is that constituting all, and exclusively, and professedly, the only normal nidus for an embryo egg, viz the Uterus ! where, its vascular fibrous and expansive functions are all for the reception, protection, warmth, accommoda- tion and preservation ; the supply of nutriment being most ample and special for, and in accordance with the need, on the rapid growth ana full development of the foetal germ " in utero."

The fœtal germ (C) however intricately, wonderfully and miraculously intro- duced into the foetal womb of the germ (M) and there incarnated to be im- bedded after the tf a priori " and " ab origine '* germ fecundation and double conception (A) is beyond demonstration, but not beyond credence, and the force of imagination, for as a truth it is most possible, and can be illustrated from what we see, in other things marvellous in nature, subject to the creative will of God ; and if we question this, we question and deny that power, which pervades all things, and which presides with soothing and watchful care over us, even when, poor mortals, we look up in distress to God and cry aloud to Him, for help.

Thus a miraculous uterine graft of a foetal kys f (), " sine concubitu " can be well imagined as conceived ; and it would not stagger and surprise a feeling, if such another miraculous uterine graft (C), should again occur, to be accidentally detected, and demonstrated, as a possibility, to offer astonishment to the world ; not that another Christ should be born, but a birth from a virgin uterine conception "sine concubitu," to strengthen the faith in God, the belief in Jesus Christ, and the almighty wonders in creation.

From the above extract my readers will be able to judge for themselves in how far Dr. Skiers has succeeded in proving his point, and will probably agree with me that his pamphlet is at any rate fit to be placed among the curiosities of literature.

 €OÒt $ 3e6UtteÖ d'après plus de 300 ouvrages des casuistes-jésuites. Complément indispensable aux Œuvres de MM. Michelet et Quinet. 9e édition, populaire augmentée d'une préface et de notes. Paris Edmond Albert, Editeur. Rue du Hasard-Richelieu, № 3. 1846

ïamo. (counts 6) ; pp. 109. First published in 1845.* This little volume, as its title indicates, contains extracts from various Roman Catholic writers, sanctioning crimes of every description, In his preface the author, Georges Dairnvæll, informs us that : " La censure s'est vertueuse- ment indignée et la cour de Rome a mis notre livre à l'index. Nous ne sommes cependant que copiste et nous défions nos adversaires de nous prouver la moindre altération de texte. Si ce livre n'avait contenu que des calomnies, huit éditions n'auraient pas été vendues en six mois." The extracts are in French, except a few relating to unnatural crimes, which are left in the original Latin.

  • ütcttoimaíre  , vol, ι, col. 625.

88 FRAMMENTO INEDITO.

¿frammento fimìrtto di Pi ETRo Giordani.

8vo. ; pp. 29; printed privately, in 1862, by R. Clay, Bread Street Hill, London ; a second half title bears, ïl |fc(CatO

imponible 1838.

This pamphlet is an answer to the Caöl' & (written as the author observes in u latino diabolico ") and more par- ticularly to an article therein (Tavola 2a, Articolo 6°) : Con- cubitus cum dœmone : qui guamvis non sit ejusdem speciei cum homine, tamen assumit formam hominis, sive viri sive mulieris.— " il peccato impossible " in fact. Giordani adduces several instances of men and women, who having refused to comply with the monks' wishes, were punished as sorcerers and witches. A wider field is then taken, and the church at large and par- ticularly the confessional are severely criticised. The subject is treated seriously, and the pamphlet is ably written.

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED

the Confessional Unmasked

€bt Confesional &, or the Curiosities of Romish Devotion.

This is the name by which the tract I am about to notice is generally known, and that which forms the half title of most of the various editions issued by the " Protestant Evan- gelical and Electoral Union." The wording on the outer wrappers differs however materially. I note three different

Editions at present before me : Cfte ! tomaöfceïl :

showing the Depravity of the Romish Priesthood, the Iniquity of the Confessional and the Questions put to Females in Confession, &c, buff wrapper, 8vo., pp. iv and 76 ; the half title reads €jrtrart0, etc., published about 1871 ; CÏ)rtótmU Ctøtittrønp

agamöt ppal Wiitbtbmää ty rønmaofemg tbt Confer

ÔtOnal; &α, 8vo., pp. 98, buff wrapper; %\)t áMoralttj) Of 3Ü0nttól) JBfÜOttOlt, or the Confessional Unmasked: &c, 8vo., pp. 116 and 8 unnumbered, begins with A Report of the Trial of Mr. George Mackey, At the Winchester Quarter Sessions, 18th and igth October, 1870, green wrapper.

The tract was not originally published by the " Protestant Evangelical Union," but had been issued four times at least before that society took it in hand. The " Union " has published three (if not more) pamphlets concerning it :

€bt ^tètorg of "€ Confessional rønmaofert," 8vo., pp. 40; Cöe áttjure ano Condemnation of "> Con* ottonai," 8vo., pp. 32; "Cbe Confessional *"

A Military as well as a Moral Plea for abolishing the Confes- sional. By Lieut-Col. H. J. Brockman, 8vo., pp. 15. From the former work I gather the chief part of "the particulars given in this notice :

The ßrsi publication of the Pamphlet is surrounded with somewhat of obscurity. The compilers, translators, and publishers appear to have been anxious to inform the public upon questions of such deep importance as those we have noticed j but they thought it prudent to remain unknown,

N

CO THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED.

However, David Br y ce, publisher, Paternoster Row, who died suddenly, May i, 1875, was the reputed translator.* The " Union " continues :

We have before us a copy of the Second Edition, published in Dublin, 1836. The title page is as follows :—

' Cinologi). Extracts from Peter Dens on the Nature of Confession and the Obligation of the Seal. " If hat soever ye have spoken in darkness shall he heard in the light ; arid that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall he proclaimed upon the housetops." Second Edition. Dublin: O'Neill, Printer, 1836.

The Pamphlet consists of Extracts, taken exclusively from Dens' Theology, with a few comments by the Compiler. It does not appear to have been published in the ordinary way of trade, or with any motive less worthy than that of admonishing innocent men of the hordes of Romish marauders—con- spirators against the morality and liberty of the people, which the Government of the country had patronized and let loose upon Society.

In subsequent editions of the Pamphlet now under consideration, several extracts were taken from Liguori and other u guides and masters " used in the " Royal College " for the education of Romish Priests. The Pamphlet was then entitled " Maynooth and its Teaching." It was published in London in the ordinary way of trade. The following is the title-page of the Pamphlet when it came into the possession of "The Protestant Electoral Union :*'—

ÍKagítOOtí) anu iU Ceacïjtng. The Confessional Unmasked: showing the Depravity of the Priesthood, the Immorality of the Confessional, and the Questions put to Females in Confession, etc., etc. Being Extracts from the theological works used in Maynooth College, and sanctioned by the " Sacred Congregation of Rites." With Notes, By C. B.

  • See  9 June 3,1875, No· ai  ρ· 497·

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED. 91

    • For 'tis a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret."

(Eph. v. 12.)

(Act III., Scene i.—A Confessional),

Prior. Within this chair I sit, and hold the keys That open realms no conqueror can subdue, And where the monarchs of the earth must fain Solicit to be subjects.

Alar. O, holy father ! my soul is burdened with a crime.

Prioh. My son, the Church awaits thy sin.

Alar. It is a sin most black and terrible ; Prepare thine ear for what must make it tremble.

Prior. Thou dost speak to power above all passion, not toman.

Alarcos, by the Author of" Vivian Grey.'*

London: W. Strange, 3, Amen Corner. Paternoster Row.

The way in which the Pamphlet came to be the property of (( The Pro- testant Electoral Union " was as follows :—

An ex-Sheriff of London, and a member of the Protestant Electoral Union, went, in 1865, to the House of Commons to hear a debate on some Protestant question. The House on that occasion resembled a " Bear-Garden," and the Protestant speakers could not obtain a hearing. This patriot thought that the misconduct of the House arose from its ignorance of what Popery was, and he resolved to inform them of its true character by bringing under their notice its teachings and practices, as declared by Romanists themselves. He entered into arrangements with " The Christian Book Society " for printing an edition of the Pamphlet, which he called

"Cije Ueprabtt£ of tfje  Catíjoíú iPrteótïjooU and the Immorality of the Confessional."

With reference to this edition we ought to say that some of the most disgusting enquiries and instructions by the Priest were omitted. A copy of the Pamphlet was sent to each member of both Houses of Parliament, and the copies remaining were presented to the Society.

The Pamphlet sold by Mr. Strange, Paternoster Row, was printed from stereo plates, which he expressed a readiness to sell ; and as the Com- mittee of the "Protestant Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union" had found the pamphlet to be a most formidable weapon of defence against the priestly assailants of the purity and liberty of this Protestant Kingdom, they purchased the plates with the pamphlets Mr. Strange had in stock. For some time the Committee printed from these plates. They changed the

92 THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED.

caver, however, giving the opinions of several eminent men as to the evils of the Confessional.

The Committee would at once have made several changes in the pam- phlet, such as they afterwards did make in the New Edition, but their funds were so limited that for years the Treasurer never received ten pounds that was not appropriated to defray some very necessary expense already incurred.

The first internal change made was the expurgation of a song, " The Fryar and the Nun/' p. 37, showing "The Progress of the Confessional."

This was replaced by two descriptions of a " Confessing Priest," one of which was by Mr. Hogan.

We come now to a point which invests The Confessional Unmasked with an interest which its literary merits would not entitle it to. I mean the legal proceedings to which it has given rise, and which now form a precedent in English law. The first prosecution took place at Wolverhampton in 1867. when, after some lectures by William Murphy, the " Watch Committee" obtained a warrant under Lord Campbell's Act to search the premises of H. Scott, where the objectionable pamphlet was being sold. A seizure of " a quantity of books " was made at Scott's house on the 18th March, upon which the magistrates delivered the following decision :

" We consider that the book produced before us is an obscene book within the meaning of the Act, and calculated to contaminate the public morals, and of such a character that the publication of it becomes a misdemeanour. The sale and distribution have been sufficiently proved before us, and we hereby order the books to be destroyed."

The case was taken to the Quarter Sessions, and the verdict of the Magis-

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED. 93

trates was quashed by the Recorder, he giving authority for his judgment. The Popish party appealed from the verdict of the Recorder to the Queen's Bench. That court said it did not believe the evidence put forth by the book, and and added new matter to the case submitted to it for judgment j and upon the ground of the matter added, and for other reasons, reversed the decision of the Recorder ! ! {The Queen v. Hicklin, April, 1868).

This judgment is very ably dealt with in a Pamphlet, " Printed for private circulation," and generally considered to be by Mr. Powell, the Recorder of Wolverhampton.

The Committee, desirous of keeping within the Law, even when so grossly perverted, remodelled the entire work, and entitled it The Morality of Romish Devotion ; or, The Confessional Unmasked, omitting much of the lewd in- quisitiveness of the Priests contained in the former work, but enough to show the nature and tendency of the Confessional, and to justify Protestants in seeking its utter destruction* This new work was brought under judgment in the followay way :—

Mr. George Mac key having been invited to Lymington, Hants, hired the Town Hall, for a course of five lectures, and after having delivered three of these lectures, during the week ending August 27, 1870, he was prevented by the Mayor and police from giving the last two lectures of the course advertised. He was then summoned before the Mayor, James  orb in. Mr. Mackey was confined as a Felon in Winchester Jail for fifteen months ! For a full report of his trial, or Condemnation rather, see pamphlet entitled The Lord's Prisoner, published by The Protestant Evangelical Mission, price 6d.

The Committee feeling assured that Mr. Mackey was prosecuted out of malice, and that he was unjustly condemned by an unsworn jury, to which he objected, printed a Report oí the first trial at Winchester. This included the pamphlet with the sale of which he was charged, and which was taken as read in Court. This Report was seized by the Police, under a warrant signed by Sir Thomas Henry, in the Offices of the Protestant Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union, on January 26th, 1871. Mr. Steele, the Secretary of the Society, who was indicted for publishing the work, gives his reasons in full for doing so in the Monthly Record of the Society for March and November, 1871. The case of Mr. Steele was heard in the Court of Common Pleas,

94 THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED.

Westminster, before Chief Justice Bovill, April 29, and 30, 187. A full report of the trial is given in the Monthly Record for June, 1872.

In this Case, Steele v. Brannan, Justices Keating, Brett, and Groves were on the bench with the Chief Justice, Mr. Samuel Kydd was for the appellant, and the Attorney General for the respondent. Judgment was given without reserve against Mr. Steele. In delivering judgment Chief Justice Bovill said : " I entirely agree in the decision of the Queen's Bench in the case of the  v. Hicklin, and I think the present case falls quite within that deci- sion." Justice Keating was of opinion that : <£ these extracts, if correctly reported, do contain obscenity to an extent from which the mind of every right-minded man will absolutely revolt."

The Confessional Unmasked, it will have been observed, is chiefly composed of extracts from the works of Dens, to which were afterwards added specimens of the teaching of LiGUORi. Às the works of neither of these writers are other- where noticed in the present volume, I propose to extract a few passages from the pamphlet before me, adding the translation and observations there given.

ON JUST CAUSES FOR PERMITTING MOTIONS OF SENSUALITY.

Hujusmodi justæ causae sunt auditio Just causes of this sort are, the confession urn, lectio casmim consci- hearing of confessions, the reading of entiæ pro Confessarlo, servitium ne- cases of conscience drawn up for a

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED. 95

cessarium vel utile præstitum infirmo. Confessor, necessary or useful attend- ance on an invalid.

Justa causa faceré potest ut opus The effect of a just cause is such, aliquod, ex quo motus oriuntur, non that anything from which motions tantum licite inchoetur sed etiam arise may be not only lawfully begun, licite continuetur : et ita Conf essari us but also lawfully continued : and so ex auditione confessionis eos perei pi- the Confessor receiving those motions ens, non ideo ab auditione abstinere from the hearing of confessions, debet, sed justam habet perseverando ought not on that account to abstain rationem, modo tarnen ipsi motus illi from hearing them, but has a just semper displiceant, nee inde oriatur cause for persevering, providing, how · proximum periculum consensus.— ever, that they always displease him, Dens, tom. 1, pp. 299, 300. and there arise not therefrom the

proximate danger of consent.—Dens, v. 1, pp. 299, 300.

Thus it appears to be a matter of course, that hearing confessions is a just cause for entertaining sensual motions. Dens explains u sensual motions " to be, ft sharp tingling sensations of sensual delight shooting through the body, and exciting to corporeal pleasures."

Now, if a lady appears modest, the Confessor is instructed that " that modesty of hers must be overcome, or else he is authorized to deny her abso- lution." " Pudorem ilium superandum esse, et nolenti denegandam esse absolutionem."-—De ia Hogue de pæn., p. 68.

Attendance upon invalids is also a just cause for sensual motions.- After reading this, who would marry a woman who frequents the confessional ? Think of allowing a wife or daughter to go alone to confession to such corrupt sensualists, or of permitting such loathsome Priests to enter their sick cham- ber, especially when they are recovering !

ON REFUSING OR DENYING MARRIAGE DUTY.

In omni peccato carnali circumstan- In every carnal sin let the circum-

tia conjugii sit exprimenda* in con- 'tance of marriage be expressed in

fessione. confession.

An aliquando interrogandi suntco% Are the married to be at any time

CO THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED.

jugati in confessione circa negationem asked in confession about denying the

debiti ? marriage duty ?

R. Affirmative : presertim mulieres, Answer, Yes : particularly the

quæ ex ignorantia vel præ pudore pec- WOMEN, who, through ignorance or

catum istud quandoque reticent : ve- modesty, are sometimes silent on that

rum non abrupto, sed prudenter est sin j but the question is not to be put

interrogatio instituenda : v. g. an cum abruptly, but to be framed prudently :

marito rixatæ sint, quæ hujusmodi for instance, whether they have quar-

rixarum causa ; num propter talem relied with their husbands—what was

occasionem maritis debitum negarint : the cause of these quarrels—whether

quod si deliquisse fateantur, caste in- they did upon such occasion deny

terrogari debent, an nihil secutum their husbands the marriage duty ;

fuerit continentiæ coniugali contrari- but if they acknowledge they have

urn, v. g. pollutio, &c.—Dens, v. 7, transgressed, they ought to be asked

p. 149. chastely whether anything followed

contrary to conjugal continence, namely, pollution,* &c.—Dens, v. 7, p. 149.

Hinc uxor se accusans in confes- Hence let the wife, accusing herself

sione quod negaverit debitum interro- in confession of having denied the

getur, an maritus ex pieno rigore juris marriage duty, be asked whether the

  • The following is a tolerably minute description, considering that the

author was sworn to celibacy from early youth :—

Notat ur, quod pollutio in mulieribus It is remarked that women may be

quandoque possit perfici, ita ut semen sometimes guilty of imperfect pollu- earum non effluat extra membrana tion, even without a flow of their genitalej indicium istius allegat Bil- semen to the outside of the genital luart, si scillicet sentiat seminis reso- member (the passage) of which Bil- lutionem cum magno voluptatis sensu, luart alleges a proof :—If, for instance, qua completa passio sat ia tur.—Dens, the woman feels a loosening of the tom. 4, ρ, 380. semen, with a great sense of pleasure,

which being completed, her passion is Satiated.—Dens, v. 4, p. 380.

THE CONFESSÏONAL UNMASKED. 97

sui id petiverit : idque colligetur ex eo, husband demanded it with the full quod petiverit instanter, quod graviter rigour of his right ; and that shall be fuerit offensus, quod aversionis vel inferred from his having demanded it alia mala sint secuta, de quibus etiam instantly, from his having been grie- se accusare debet, quia fuit eorum vously offended, or from aversion or causa : contra si confiteatur rixas vel any other evils having followed, of aversiones adversus maritum interro- which she ought also to accuse her- gari potest ; an debitum negaverit ?— self, because she was the cause of Dens, torn. 7, p. 150. them. On the other hand, if she

confess that there exist quarrels and aversions between her and her hus- band, she may be asked whether she has denied the marriage duty.—Dens, v. 7, p. 150. In this manner the Confessor not only ferrets out the most secret acts of the married, but also ascertains, whenever he chooses, what is the peculiar mettle of the husband and disposition of the wife. Indeed, under direction of these Priests, in case the husband is inclined to heresy, the wife is obliged to refuse


as long as the husband is contumacious. But if she has "longings," she

is solicited to go to the Priest. We have two cases in point before our mind while we write.—See Western Daily Mercury, Aug. 31, 1866.

ON THE CARNAL SINS WHICH MAN AND WIFE COMMIT WITH ONE ANOTHER.

Certum est, cônjuges inter se pee- It is certain that man and wife

care posse, etiam graviter contra vir- may sin grievously against the virtue

tutem castitatis, sive continentiæ, of chastity, or continence, with re-

ratione quarundam circumstantiarum : gard to certain circumstances relating

in particular! autem definire, quæ sunt to the use of their bodies 5 but tb

mortales, quae solum veniales, perob- define particularly what are mortal,

scürum est, nee eadem omnium sen- what only venial, is a matter of very

tentiaj ut vel ideo solicite persuaden- great difficulty; nor are all writers of

dum sit conjugatis, ut recordentur se one opinion on the subject ; so that,

esse filios Sanctorum, quos decet in even on that account the married 

98 THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED.

sanctitate conjugali filios procreare, ought to recollect that they are the Quidam auctores circumstantias circa children of the saints, and should actum conjugalem præcipue observan- therefore beget children in conjugal das, exprimunt his versibus :— sanctity. The circumstances which

" Sit modus, et finis, sine damno, are chiefly to be observed in the con- solve, cohære. jugal act, some authors express in the Sit locus et tempus, tactus, nee following words :—■ spernito votum." [These investigations conducted by Ergo debet servari modus, sive situs, priests with married men and women qui dupli citer invertitur, imo. ut non are much too filthy for translation, servetur debitum vas, sed copula ha- It is sufficient to say that we are told, beatur in vase præpostero, vel quo- in another part of the same volume, cumque alio non naturali : qúod sem- that the wicked wretch who invades per mortale est spectans ad sodomiam his father's bed, and commits incest minorem, seu imperfectam, idque with his step-mother, is not so guilty tenendum contra quosdam laxistas, in the eyes of the Church as the man sive copula ibi consummetur, sive who circulates the Bible. The latter tantum incohetur consummanda in lt is excommunicated with an excom- vase naturali. munication reserved to the Supreme

Pontiff j whilst the offence of the

former does not constitute even a

reserved case. — " Incestus privigni

cum noverca non reservatur. (Vol.

6 p. 287.) Nothing is so " atrocious "

as Protestantism—neither incest nor

sodomy. What say our Judges and

Magistrates to this ?]

Modus sive situs invertitur, ut ser- Manner or posture is inverted,

vetur debitum vas ad copulam a natura though the connection takes place in

ordì natu m", v. g. si fiat accedendo a the vessel appointed by nature for

præpostero, a latere, stando, sedendo, that purpose ; for instance, if it be

vel si vir sit succubus. Modus is done from behind, or when the parties

mortalis est, si inde suboriatur pericu- are on their sides, or standing, or

lum pollutionis respectu alterius, sive sitting, or when the husband lies

quando periculum est, ne semen per- underneath. This method of doing

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED. 99

datur, prout sæpe accidit, dum actus it is a mortal sin, if there should there- exercetur stando, sedendo, aut viro from arise to either party a^ danger of succumbentej si absit et sufficienter pollution, or of losing the seed, a præcaveatur istud periculum, ex com- thing which often happens* when muni sententiâ id non est mortale : the act is performed standing, or sit- est autem veniale ex gravioribus, cum ting, or the husband lying under- sit inversi  ordinis naturae ; estque neathj but if that danger be suffi- generatim modus ille sine causa tali- ciently guarded against, it is not, in ter coeundi graviter a Confessariis the common opinion of Divines, a reprehendendus : si tarnen ob justam mortal sin ; yet it is one of the rationem situm naturalem cônjuges weightier sort of venial sins, since it immutent, secludaturque dictum peri- is an inversion of the order of nature ; culum, nullum est peccatum, ut die- and in general, that method of thus turn est in numero 48. coming to coition must, when with-

out sufficient cause, be severely cen- sured by the Confessors. If, however, man and wife, for some just reason, change the natural posture, and if the aforesaid danger (of losing the seed) be avoided, there will be no sin, as has been said in number 48. Minuitur periculum perdendi se- The danger of losing the seed is

men, si verum sit,quod dicunt Sanchez, lessened, if that be true, which is said Billuart, et Preinguez, scilicet qtuod in by Sanchez and others, to wit, that matrice sit naturalis vis attractiva the womb has a natural power of seminis, ut in stomacho respectu cibi, attraction with respect to the seed, as

the stomach has with respect tò meat.

Debet finis esse legitimus ; de quo The "end" ought to be legi-

et quomodo ratione finis peccari pos- tímate j concerning which, and

sit, dictum est Num. 51 et sequent!« in what manner the parties may

bus. commit sin with regard to the end,

  • Often happens ! How do these purient "Divines " know ?

100 THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED.

we have treated in No. ^i, and those following it. Per particulam "sine damno " im- The words "without loss" import portatur cavendum esse damnum turn that care must be taken that no in- prolis conceptæ et concipiendæ, tum jury be done to an offspring already ipsorum congredientium, de quibus conceived, or about to be conceived, egimus Num. 47. or to the parties themselves meeting

in the act of coition, concerning which we have treated in No. 47. Verbum " solve " importât obliga- The word " pay " imports the ne-

tionem solvendi sive reddendi debitum cessity of paying the debt when legi- legitime petitum, de qua obligatione timately asked, concerning which we diximus Num. 46 et sequentibus. have treated in No. 46, and those fol-

lowing it. Per verbum "cohære" intelligitur By the word "cohere'.' is under-

cohærentia usque ad perfectam copu- stood the necessity of coherence (or lam, seu seminationem perfectam, ita sticking close) till the act of copula- ut per se mortale sit, inchoatam, copu- tion is perfected, or until the parties lam abrumpere.—Dens, torn. 7, pp. spend completely ; so that it is of it- 166-7. self a mortal sin abruptly to break off

when copulation has been once be- gun.—Dens, vol. 7, p. 166-7.

Our bachelor Saint now expatiates upon various delicate matters.

VI. Si fìat modo indebito, verbi If it (copulation) takes place in an

gratia—1. Si non servetur vas naturale : improper manner ·} as, for example,—

quod multi docent esse veram sodo- ist, if the natural vessel be not kept,

miam, alii esse grave peccatum contra which many teach to be real sodomy 5

naturam. Vide 6 præceptum.—2. others that it is a real sin against na-

Si sine justa causa situs sit innatura- ture. See 6th com. 2ndly, if with-

lis, præposterus, etc. quod aliqui dicunt out just cause the position be un-

esse mortale, alii, secluso perieulo effu- natural, from behind, &c, which some

sionis seminis, veniale tantum, etsi maintain to be mortal sin ; others,

grave, et graviter increpandum, Dian. danger of spilling seed being avoided,

pte. 3, t. 4, res. 204. 3. Si alter con- that it is only a venial sin, although

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED. ΙΟΙ

jugum ex morositate, vel alia ratione grievous and severely to be repre- seminationem cohibeat quod quídam hended. Dian, &c. 3. If one of the generatim dicunt esse mortale, quia married parties, either from sulkiness finis actus conjugalis, scilicet genera- or other reason, refrain from spend- ilo, impeditur ; quidam tarnen, ut ing, which some generally maintain to Præpositi et Sanchez dicunt in femina be mortal sin, because the end of the nullum esse. Vid. Bonac. p. 6, n. 15 conjugal act, viz., generation, is im- et p. j.—£,¿ff# t. 6, η. 915. peded ; some, however, with Sanchez,

say it is no sin in the female.—Lig. vol. 6, n. 915.

Quæritur I. An peccet mortaliter It is asked, ist, does a man sin

vir inchoando copulam in vase præ- mortally by commencing the act of

postero, ut postea in vase debito, earn copulation in the hinder vessel, that

consummet. Negant Navarr. 1. 5. he may afterwards finish it in the

Consil, de Pœnit. cons. 7,  Angel, proper vessel ? This is denied by

Zerola, Graff. Zenard et Gambac. Navarr., &c, provided there be no

apud Dian, p. 2, tract 17, r. 3f, modo danger of pollution5 because other-

absit periculum pollutionis j quia alias, wise, as they say, all touches, even

ut aiunt, omnes tactus etiam venerei venereal, are not grievously illicit

non sunt graviter illiciti inter conju- among married persons. But it is

gatos. Sed comm. et verius affirmant commonly and more truly affirmed

Sanchez, 1. 1, d. 17, num. 5, Pont by Sanchez, &c. The reason is, be-

lib. io, e. il. η. £, Pal. ρ 4 § . . 6. cause the very act of copulation after

Bonac. p. 11, n. 12. Spor. n. 497. this manner (even without spending)

Ratio, quia ipse hujosmodi coitus (etsi is real sodomy, although not consum-

absque seminatione) est vera sodomia, mated, just as copulation itself in the

quamvis non consummata, sicut ipsa natural vessel of a strange woman is

copula in vase naturali mulieris alienæ real fornication, though there may be

est vera fornicado, licet non adsit no spending.—Lig, vol 6, n. 916. semi natio. An autem sit mortale viro

perfricare virilia circa vas prœpos- [This loathsome nastiness we leave

terumuxoris? Negant Sanchez num. in Latin for the special edification of

5, et Boss. n. 175, cum Fill et Perez, those learned and virtuous personages,

quia tangere os vasis præposteri non who do not believe that such filthy

est ordinatum ad copulam sodomiti- talk can take place, and who, in ig-

102 THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED.

cam. Sed veri us pari ter affirmant norance, we trust, persecute us for

Pontius loco citato, Pal. n. 6. Atque endeavouring to warn Society against

Tambur, η. 32. (qui testatur ex ali- the baneful influence of such lewd

quibus codicibus sententiam Thomæ conversation between lustful priests,

Sanch. esse deletam ; imo Moyas and the wives and daughters of honest

asserii ipsum Sanchez se retractasse men. Lord Chief Justice Cockbum

in editione Antuerpiensi anno 1614.) declared in the open court he did not

Ratio est, qui saltern talis tactus non believe in such things. A strange

potest moraliter fieri sine affectu sodo- foregone conclusion for an English

mitico. Lig. tom. 6, η. ο 16. judge. " J don't believe the accused

did the deed," rather suits the courts of Spain or Portugal.] Quærit. II. An et quomodo pec- [This also we leave in the Latin of cent cônjuges coeundo situ innaturali. " Holy Church." It is a repetition of Situs naturalis est, ut mulier sit suc- the same nasty talk between the priest cuba, et vir incubus ; hic enim modus and the first Lady in the land, whose aptior est effusioni seminis virilis, et husband or parents will allow a young reception! in vas feminenm ad prolem wifeless confessor such access to her. procre andam. Situs autem innatural is In England, these things are talked of est, si coitus aliter fiat, nempe sedendo, in ladies' chambers, and if the hus- stand , de latere, vel præpostere more band know the priest is there, by his pecudum, vel si vir sit succubus, et shoes being left against the door, it is mulier incuba. Coitum hunc, præter presumed bad manners for him to in- situm naturalem, alii apud Sanchez, trude. Once let Roman Catholics 1. 9, d. 16, num. 2 generice damnant submit to this indignity, and they are de mortali ¡ alii vero dicunt esse mor- completely at the mercy of their priest tale últimos duos modos, dicentes ab ever afterwards.] his ipsam naturam abhorrere. Sed communiter dicunt alii omnes istos modos non excederé culpam veni- alem. Ratio, quia ex unâ parte, licet adsit aliqua inordina ti , ipsa tarnen

non est tanta, ut per tingat ad mortale, Note.—in the early editions of

cum solum versetur circa accîdentalia The Confessional Unmasked, notably in

copulæ ¡ ex alia parte, mutatio situs that first mentioned at p. 19 ante, the

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED. IO3

generationem non impedit, cam semen foregoing passages are fully translated, viri non recipiatur in matricem muli- I have thought it more interesting to eris per infusionem, seu descensum, reproduce instead the editorial re- sed per attractionem, dum matrix ex marks which occur in the later issues,  naturaliter virile semen attrahit. Ita. S. Anton, 3 ρ, tit 2, . . § 3. in fine, cum Alb. M. Nav. c. ιό, η, 42. Pont. 1. io, cu, num. ι. Petrocor, t. 4, ρ, 445* ν· Tertius casus, Saiam. . 15. η. 73· Boss. c. 7» η· 68. Hol. n. 458. Sporer, η. 493. Rone. p. 184, q. 4, &c.—Lig, t. 6, η. 917.

TOUCHES, LOOKS, AND FILTHY WORDS.

We now give a few extracts on the above subjects, which the ingenuity of very fiends could not surpass. Yet it is for this nasty teaching that Maynooth College receives a Parliamentary Grant of ¿"30,000 a year. We hope the days of that iniquitous grant are numbered.

Quaeres an, et quando líceant tac- You will ask, whether, and at

tus, aspectus, et verba turpia inter what times, touches, looks, and lewd

cônjuges. words are permitted among married

persons.

R. Tales actus per se iis iicent : Ans. Such acts are in themselves

quia cui licitus est finis, etiam Iicent lawful to them, because, to whom the

media j et cui licet consummatie, end is lawful, the means are also law-

etiam licet inchoatio. Unde licite ful ; and to whom the consummation

talibus naturam excitant ad copulam, is lawful, so also is the beginning :

Quod si vero separatim, et sine ordine consequently, they lawfully excite

ad copulam, v. g. voluptatis causa nature to copulation by such acts.

tantum fiant ; sunt venialia peccata, But, if these acts are performed sepa-

eo quod ratione status, quia illos actus rately and without order to copula-

cohonestat, habeant jus ad illos : nisi tion, as, for example, for the purpose

tamen, ut sæpe contingit, sint con- of pleasure alone, they are venial sins,

104 THE CONFESSIONAL ÜNMASKED.

juncti cum periculo pollationis j aut because, in respect of the state which cônjuges habeant votum castitatis, renders those acts honourable, they tunc enim sunt mortalia, ut dictum have a right to them ; unless, however, supra 1, 3. t. 4. c. 2. d, 4. Dian. p. 3. as often happens, they are joined with t. 4. r. 204, et 216.—Lig. t. 6, η. 932. danger of pollution, or the married

parties have a vow of chastity, for in that case they are mortal sins, as has been said above.—Lig. vol. 6, n. 932.

Unde Resolves. Whence it will be resolved.

I.—Conjux venialiter tantum pec- I.—A husband commits only venial

cat—1. Tangendo seipsum ex volup- sin—ist. By touching himself from

tate, et tactum non ita expresse refer* pleasure, and by _ not referring the

endo ad copulam, ut contra Vasquez touch so expressly to copulation, as

et alios probabiliter docet Sanch. 1. 9. Sanchez more probably teaches, in'op-

d. 44. 2. Oblectando se veneree sine position to Vasquez and others.

periculo pollutionis de actu conjugali 2ndly, In pleasing himself venereaily

cogitato, dum abest compars, vel without danger of pollution, in think-

actus exerceri non potest. Fill. Lay«  ing of the conjugal act, whilst the

mann. Tann. Maider cum Dian. p. 3. partner is absent, or the act itself can-

t. 4. res. 224. contra Nav. Azor. etc. not be exercised.

II.—1. Peccat graviter vidua, quæ II.—ist. A widow sins grievously

se veneree oblectat de copula olim when she derives venereal pleasure

habita ; quia est illi illicita per statura, from amorous reminiscences, because

2. Bigamus, qui in actu conjugali, such is unlawful to her, in conse-

cum secundo exercito, représentât quence of her state. 2ndly. Also a

sibi priorem, et de ea carnaliter delec- person married a second time, who,

tatur, quia est permixtio cum aliena, during the conjugal act, had with the

Laym. I. 1. t. 9. n. 3. second wife, represents to himself the

first, and derives carnal pleasure there- by, because it ís permixtuie with another woman.

Quærit ÏI. quid, si cônjuges ex his It is asked—JL, If married persons.

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED. IO5

turpibus actibus praevideant pollutio- from these filthy acts, foresee pollution

nem secuturam in se vel in altero, about to follow, either in themselves

Plures adsunt sententiæ. Prima sen- or their companion ? There exist

tentia, quam tenent Sanch. lib. 9. d. many opinions. The first opinion,

45. ex n. 34. Fill, tract. 3. c. 9. n. which is maintained by Sanchez, ex-

356. Viva q. 7. art. 4. η 4. Escob. empts that from all sin, even in the

1. 26. n. 207. Elb. η. 393. cum He- person demanding, if pollution be not

rinex, et Spor. η. 500. id excusat ab intended, and there be no danger of

omni culpa etiam in petente, si pollu- consenting to it, and provided the

tio non intendatur, nee adsit periculum touches be not so lewd that they ought

consensus in earn, et modo tactus non to be considered as begun pollution

sit adeo turpis, ut judicetur inchoata (such as would be to move the fin-

pollutio (prout esset digitum morose ger morosely within the female vessel);

admovere intra vas femineum) -, ac and besides there might be some grave

præterea adsit aliqua gravis causa cause of applying such touches, viz.,

talem tactum adhibendi, nempe ad se for the purpose of preparing one's self

præparandum ad copulam, vel ad for copulation, or for promoting mu-

fovendum mutuum amorem. Ratio, tual love. The reason is, because in

quia tunc justa illa causa tales actus that case the just cause renders such

cohonestat, qui alioquin non sunt acts honourable, which are not other-

illiciti inter cônjuges ; et si pollutio wise unlawful among married persons,

obvenit, hoc erit per accidens. Dici- and if pollution ensues, this will be

tur si adsit gravis causa j nam, si non by accident. It is said, if there be

adsit, prædicti actus non excusantur grape cause for it ; if there be not, the

a mortali. Secunda sententia, quam fore-mentioned acts are not excused

tenent Pal. p. 4. § 2. n. 2. Boss. cap. from mortal sin. The second opinion,

7. n. 213. et Salm. cap. 15. num. 86. maintained by Pal. &c, distinguishes

cum Soto, Caject. Dec. Hurt. Aversa, and affirms, that unchaste toyings are

et communi ut assero at, distinguit et a mortal sin, if pollution is foreseen

dicit esse mortalia tactus impudicos, to proceed from them, because since

si prævideatur pollutio ex eis proven- these proximately lead to pollution,

tura ; quia, cum hi proxime influant and are not of themselves instituted

ad pollutionem, et non sint per se to promote conjugal affection, they

instituti ad fovendom affectum con- are considered voluntary in effect j

jugalem, censentur voluntariï in causa : otherwise if they are chaste, such as

Ρ

I06 THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED.

secus, si sint pudici, ut oscula et am- kisses and embraces, because such

plexus, quia actus isti per se inter acts are of themselves lawful among

cônjuges sunt liciti, cum per se apti married parties, since they are natur-

sint ad fovendum conjugalem amorem. ally calculated to cherish conjugal

Tertia sententia, quam tenet Diana, love. The third opinion, maintained

p. 6, tr. 7. r. 6ζ. cum Præpos. et by Dian. &c, affirms that touches,

Vili, dicit tactus tam impudicos quam both the unchaste and the chaste, are

pudicos esse mortalia, si prævideatur mortal sin, if danger of pollution be

periculum pollutionis. Ratio, quia foreseen. The reason is, because

ideo tactus licent inter cônjuges, in touches are therefore lawful among

quantum quæruntur intra limites ma- married people, in so far as they are

trimonii, in quantum nihil sequitur sought within the limits of matri-

repuguans fini et institutioni seminis : mony, or in so far as nothing follows

cum au tern prævidetur seminis dis- repugnant to the end and the institu-

persio, licet non intendatur, quales- tion of seed ; but when the dispersion

cumque tactus sunt illiciti. of seed is foreseen, although not in- tended, touches of whatsoever nature are unlawful.

An autem sit semper mortale, si But is it always a mortal sin, if the

vir immittat pudenda in os uxori s ? husband introduces his — into the

mouth of his wife ì

Negant Sanch. lib. 9. 17. n. 5. et It is denied by Sanchez and others,

Boss. cap. 7. n. 175. et 193. cum provided there be no danger of pollu-

Fill. ac Perez, modo absit periculum tion. But it is more truly affirmed by

pollutionis. Sed verius affirmant Spor. de Matrim. and others, both be-

Spor. de Matrim. η. 498. Ta mb. lib. cause in this case, owing to the

7» c. 3. § 5. n. $3. et Diana p. 6. tract heat of the mouth, there is proxi-

7. r. 7. cum Fagund. turn quia in hoc mate danger of pollution, and be-

actu ob calorem oris adest proximum cause this appears of itself a new

periculum pollutionis, tum quia hæc species of luxury, repugnant to na-

per se videtur nova species luxuriæ ture (called by some, irrumafwm),

contra naturam (dicta ab aliquibus for as often as another vessel than the

irrumaiio) : semper enim ac quæritur natural vessel ordained for copulation,

a viro aliud vas, præter vas naturale is sought by the man, it seems a new

ad copulam institutum, videtur nova species of luxury. However, Spor.

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED. IO7

species luxuriæ. Excipit tamen and others make an exception, if that Sporer i.e. cum. Fill, et Marchant, be done casually j and in truth, San- si id obiter fiat j et hoc revera sentire chez seems to be of this opinion, videtur etiam Sanch. dum excusat whilst he excuses that act from mortal actum ilium a mortali., si cesset omne sin, should all danger of pollution periculum pollutionis. Excipit etiam cease. Pal., also, makes an excep- Pal. p. 4. § 2. num. 6. si vir hoc tion, "if the husband does this to faeeret, ut se excìtet ad copulam na- excite himself for natural copulation." turalem. Sed ex prædictis neutrum But, from what has been said before, admittendum puto. Eodem autem I think neither ought to be admitted, modo Sanchez loc. cit. η. 32 in fin. In the same manner, Sanchez con- damnât virum de mortali, qui in actu demns a man of mortal sin, who, in copulæ immiteret digitum in vas præ- the act of copulation, introduces his posterum uxoris, quia (ut ait) in hoc finger into the hinder vessel of the actu adest affectus ad sodomiam. wife, because (he says) in this act Ego autem censeo posse quidem re- there is a disposition to sodomy, periri talem effectum in actu j sed per But I am of opinion that such effect per se loquendo hunc effectum non may be found in the act 5 but, speak- agnosco in tali actu insitum. Ceter- ing of itself, I do not acknow- um, graviter semper increpandos dico ledge this effect natural in the act. cônjuges hujusmodi fcedum actum ex- But I say that husbands practising a ercentes.—Lig. tom. 6. η. 93$. foul act of this nature, ought always

to be severely rebuked.—Lig. vol. 6,

0· 935- Quær. IV. An sit mortalis delecta- It is asked, Does morose gratifica- do morosa in cônjuge de copula habita tion in a married party, respecting vel habenda, quae tamen non possit copulation had or to be had which yet haben de præsenti. Adsunt tres sen- cannot be had for the present, amount tentiæ. Prima sententia affirmât ; et to mortai sin ?—There are three hanc tenent Pont. lib. 10, c. i6, n. 21, opinions. The first opinion affirms Wigandt. tr. 4, n. 59, Sylv. ac Vega, itj and this is maintained by Pont. Rodriq. et Die. apud Salrn. c. ij, n. &c, who call it probable mortal sin. 88. qui probabilem vocant. Ratio, The reason is, because such gratifica- quia talis delectatio est quasi inchoata tion is, as it were, begun pollution, pollatio, quae, cum eo tempore non for since it cannot be had at that

I08 THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED.

possit haberi modo debito, omnino fit time in a lawful manner, it is alto-

illicita. Secunda vero sententia com- gether illicit. But the second opinion,

munior negat $ eamque tenent Pont, more common, denies this j and this

p. 4, q. 8, n. 12. Spor. η. 505. Croix opinion is maintained by Pont, &c.

n. SSb cum Suar, et Sanchez, 1. 9, d. This opinion says that such gratifica-

44. n. 3, cum S. Anton. Palud Cajet, tion is not a mortal sin, if there be no

Viguer. et communi, ut asserit, utque danger of pollution, but it is only a

fatetur etiam Pontius, item Conick., venial sin. It is venial, because it

&c, qui etiam probabilem putant. wants the due end, since it cannot be

Hæc sententia dicit talem delectatio- ordained for present copulation. But

nem non esse mortalem, si absit peri- it is not mortal sin, since gratification

culum pollutionis, sed tantum venia- derives its good or bad qualities from

lem. Est venialis, quia ipsa caret the object; and since copulation is

debito fine, cum non possit ordinari lawful for married persons, its gratifi-

ad copulam præsentem. Non est cation cannot be grievously unlawful

autem mortalis, quia delectatio sumit to them. And this is expressly fa-

suam bonitatem vel malitiam ab ob- voured by what St. Thomas says,—

jecto j et cum copula sit licita con- " As carnal intercourse is not a mortal

jugatis, non potest esse eis graviter sin to a married person, the consent

illicita illius delectatio. Et huic ex- to gratification cannot be a greater sin

presse fa vet id quod ait D. Thom. de than the consent to the act.'* And

Malo, q. 15, art. 2, ad. 17,ubi: Sicut this is admitted by Spor. although the

caraalis commixtio non est peccatum venereal gratification arising from the

mortale Conjugàto, non potest esse moving of the passions be bad.

gravius peccatum consensus in delec- Lastly, the third opinion, maintained

tationem, quam consenus in actum, by Salm. distinguishes and says, that

Idque admittit Spor. etiamsi habeatur if the gratification be without moving

delectatio venerea orta ex commotiohe of the passions, it will not be mortal

spirituum. Tertia demum sententia, —otherwise, if accompanied by the

quam tenent Salm. d.  15, n. 90, moving and titillation of the parts,

distinguit et dicit, quod, si delectatio I will proffer my own opinion : If the

sit absque commotione spirituum non gratification be had not only with the

erit mortalis $ secus, si cum comino- moving of the passions, but also with

tione et titillatione partium. Ego titillation, or venereal pleasure, I am

meum judicium proferam. Si delec- of opinion that that cannot be excused

THE CONFESSIONAL UNMASKED. IOÇ

tatio habeatur non solum cum com- from mortal sin, because such gratifi-

motione spirituum, sed etiam cum cation is proximately allied to danger

titillatione seu voluptate venerea, of pollution. I think that the contrary

sentio cum Cone. p. 408, n. 10, should be said, if it be not attended

(contra Sporer ut supra) earn non with that voluptuous titillation, because

posse excusan a mortali, quia talis then danger of pollution is not proxi-

delectatio est proxime conjuncta cum mately annexed to the gratification,

periculo pollutionis. Secus vero puto although it may be attended with the

dicendum, si absit illa voluptuosa moving of the passions ; and so, in

titillatio, quia tunc non est delecta- truth, think Sanchez, &c, since there

tioni proxime adnexum perieulùm poi- he does not excuse the gratification

lutionis, etiamsi adsit commotio spiri- with venereal pleasure, but only, as

tuum 5 et sic reverá sentit Sanchez, 1. he says, with the excitement and

. . 4, cum Vasque, cum ibi non moving of the parts without danger

excuset delèctationem cum voluptate of pollution. But since such moving

venerea, sed tantum, ut ait, cum com- is nearly allied to that voluptuous

motione et alteratione partium absque titillation, therefore married couples

pollutionis periculo. At quia talis are to be especially exhorted to abstain

commotio propinqua est illi titilìationi from morose gratification of this na-

voluptuosæ, ideo maxime hortandi ture. It is also to be observed that this

sunt cônjuges, ut abstineant ab huj us- is altogether illicit in a husband, who

modi delectatione morosa. Item ad- is bound by a vow of chastity, as is

vertendum earn esse omnio illicitam commonly said by Sanchez and others,

in cônjuge, qui esset obstrictus voto —Lig, v. , . 937. castitatis, ut dicunt communiter San- chez, d. d. 44, n. 26, et Boss. . 7, . 20I, cum Vasq. Fill, el al i is.—Lig. t. , . 937·

Petrus Dens was bora at Boom near Antwerp, September

1 a, 1690, and died 1.5 February, 1775, at Mechlin, in the

cathedral and college of which city he held office. His life

appears to have been chaste, laborious, and uneventful.*

  • fetologia Canta* Cørø|tltttt*, vol. 7, p. 1582.

NOTICE OP PETRUS DENS.

Petrus Dens

Although generally left unnoticed by both biographers and bibliographers, his works, concerning which there has been much controversy, are authoritative, and have been used as the ground work for the text books of Maynooth College. The most complete edition is : C&eOlOgta JMoraltó et itøg* tttötitö Reverendi et Eruditissimi Domini Petri Dens, &c. Editto Nova, et Absolutíssima, &c. Dublini : Ex Typ. RiCHARDi Coyne, &c. mdcccxxxii. i2mo. (counts 6), 8 vols. There is also an edition of Mechlin, 1828, 7 vols.

Alphonsus Maria di Liguori was born at Naples, Sep- tember 26, 1696, and died at Nocera-de'-Pagani, August 1, 1787. Educated for the bar, he practised that calling for some time at Naples, but quitted it for the church, and was ordained August 31, 1722. He founded a society of missionaries, and became a bishop. In 1816 he was canon- ized. His life was one of great purity.* His numerous works will be found noticed by the leading biographers.-f- In his iïlannri beö COltfeSiöeursi, Mgr Gaume has embodied Liguori's Pratique des Confesseurs, and added a brief but eulogistic sketch of his career. On the other hand, M. Fred. Busch, basing his observations upon the Compendium tkeo- hgiæ moralis, &c. ex B. Liguori  excerpsit J. P. Moullet,

  • 33tograpf)te tønføerøtib, (Michaud), vol. 24, p. 533.

t. &a ¿frante littéraire, vol. 5, p. 3085 JEmraelfcu , vol. 3, col. 1078.

NOTICE OP A. M. DI LIGUORI. Ill

&c. Friburgi &c. 1834, has, in his Bfroubttttö ' &* Uopfrfø* pointed out many of the immoral and obscene points in Liguori's teaching. M. Busch submits to the judgment of his readers : " si des livres importés de l'étranger et renfermant une confusion perpétuelle de toutes les notions du bien et du mal, du juste et de l'injuste, enseignant des principles subversifs, infâmes, peuvent s'appeler des Traités de morale ; si des livres, encore plus coupables que ceux que nos anciens parlements faisaient brûler par la main du bourreau, doivent continuer à corrompre l'élite de notre jeunesse, et si les hommes qui cherchent à les propager ou à les soutenir, méritent le nom de chrétiens."

I cannot conclude this notice with more appropriate words than the following of M. Libri :* " A quoi bon tous ces cas, toutes ces distinctions subtiles, sinon à former des demi-hon- nêtes gens ? Sont-ils donc si rares aujourd'hui ? Pourquoi examiner si curieusement les excès de la dépravation ? Croit- on que les jeunes gens auxquels on enseigne ces choses seront tous à l'abri de la tentation, et ne sait-on pas que pour certaines matières la meilleure manière d'éviter,, c'est d'ignorer ? "

  • Eettre* ¿ur h Clwgi, p. 102.

HaAaSterÆeg tO )|>* Containing I. A Discovery of the most Secret Practices of the Secular, and Regular Romish Priests in their Auricular Confession.

II. A true Copy of the Pope's yearly Bull of Indul- gencies and Pardon of Sins, to all those that serve in the War against the Enemies of the Romish Religion. The Explanation of the Bull, with some Remarks upon it.

III. An Account of their Masses, privilege Altars, Transubstantiation, and Purgatory, and of the Means, the Priests make use of, to delude the People.

IV. Of Inquisitors, and their Practices in several Instances.

V. Of their Prayers, Adoration of Images, and Relicks. Written by D. Antonio Gavin, bom and educated in Spain, some Years secular Priest in the Church of Rome, and since 1715, Minister of the Church of England. Dublin: Printed by George Grierson, at the Two Bibies, in Essex-Street 1724.

8vo. (counts 4) ; pp. xxiii of title, dedication and preface, vii names of subscribers, and 366. This is the original edition, not generally mentioned by the bibliographers.

A MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. 113

The work was reissued in 3 vols, i2mo. : The Second Edition, carefully corrected from the Errors of the First, with large Additions. London : Printed for J. Stephens, &c. : vol. 1. 17^5, In Five Parts, title and contents virtually the same as the first edition which heads this notice, pp. xii of Preface, 259, with 4 unnumbered of Proposals For printing by Subscription, and Dedication to the Princess of Wales ; vol. 2. 1726, In Two Parts, contains : I. The Lives and Transactions of several Bishops of Rome, their Doctrine and Authority, II. The Lives and abominable In- trigues of several Priests and Fryers of the Church of Rome. pp. 8 unnumbered of Dedication to Lord Carteret, and To the Reader, 4 of Summary of the Bishops of Rome contained in this Treatise, and 297, with a list of books sold by J. Stephens, and errata ; Vol. 3, mdccxxvi, contains : I. The Damages which the Mass causeth, &c. II. A Cata- logue of Miracles wrought by the Consecrated Wafer. III. The Miracles of many living Persons. IV. The Revelations of three Nuns. V. The Life of the good Primate^ and Metro- politan of Aragon, &c. omitted in the Second Volume, pp. viii of title, Dedication to the Archbishop of Armagh, and To the Reader, and 244.

The Dublin edition, or the first volume only of the London edition, has been published in an abridged form η America.*

  • Together with another work as follows : %%z ¡flÍMtfterícíí of {taper»

α

114 A MASTER-KEY TO POPERY.

The work has been translated into French by Fr.-Mich. Janiçon as: ^a&fc*partOUt bt PlffltSfe VÙÏÏlUÎnt, ou histoire des tromperies des prêtres et des moines en Espagne, traduit de Γ anglais. Londres, 1726. in-12, 3 vols.-f· From the French it has been rendered into Dutch : £}tetOrte ban bt

äSrtmgerpen irer Criesforø, m Monnikm ín Apanfttu

Door Antony Gavin, Voorheenen Wereltlyke Priester van de Roomsche Kerk te Saragosse, en izedert het Jaar 1715. Pre- dikant van de Engelsche Kerk. Uyt het Frans vertaalt door

8*, in the Unparalleled Sufferings of John Coustos, at the Inquisition of Lisbon. To which is added, The Origin of the Inquisition, and its Establish- ment in Various Countries ; and the fflis&Ux $ to üoperg. By Anthony Gavin. One of the Roman Catholic Priests of Saragossa. The whole con- cluded with a Chronological Sketch of the Lives of the Popes. Hartford: Printed for the Publisher. W, S. Marsh .... Printer. 1820. 12mo. (counts 6) 5 pp. 300 in all ; 5 engravings to illustrate the sufferings of Cous tos, representing his arrest, and the tortures he underwent in the inquisition. The narrative of Coustos gives a harrowing, and apparently a truthful picture of the cruelties of the inquisition, but possesses no special feature of interest which might warrant its being more fully noticed in the present work. The original edition is of London, 1746, 8vo., with portrait. See Lowndes's ^IfognipÍKr'íS íEamial, and Affibone's Cdt .

f. .  %îbxt&  mi feu, vol. 2, p. 219 ; Ea ¿ftana Hitterat«, vol. 4, 204. Brunet gives 1728, the date probably of one of the vols., the 3 vols, not being all issued in the same year, see ßlanuei  %ibxmtf vol. 2, col. 1510. Quérard has erroneously confounded the work of Gavin with that of Emiliane, see &a ¿ftämt %9 vol. 3, p. 294, and ¡Partite! tru Itforatrt, vol. 2, col. 968.

A MSSTER-KEY TO POPERY. II5

J. Schoolhouder. Te Amsterdam, By Abraham Strander, Boekverkoper in de Beur straat. 1732.* Small 8vo. ; 3 vols; title pages in red and black, with fleurons, but all three different; pp. vol. 1, 30 unnumbered and 418, vol. 2, 24 unnumbered and 454, vol. 3, 16 unnumbered and 454, in all ; 23 (?) well executed engravings, 4 each in the first and second, and 3 (?) in the third volume.

The Master-Key to Popery is in every respect a remark- able work, and thoroughly entertaining to one not specially interested in the subject. It is full of anecdotes and curious information concerning the church of Rome, for the most part from personal knowledge, and is on this account the more valuable. Many details are given about the Inquisi- tion, and a few trials are narrated. The prisons of that institution at Aragon were, in 1706, thrown open by De Legal during the occupation of the country by the French, under the Duke of Orleans,-^ when " the Wickednesses of

  • The dates of the respective vols, in the set before me (the only one i

have seen) are : vol. 1, 1732, vol. 2, 1734, vol. 3, 1728 j but they must belong to different edits., and the first vol. at least was no doubt originally issued in 1726, the translator's dedication in that vol. being dated Sept. 30, 1726, and that in the second vol., May 28, 1727.

f See note of Prosper Marchand in his Sic. flføtodqut, vol. 2, p. 279, cit. 48.

Il6 A MASTER-KEY TO POPERY.

the Inquisitors were detected, for four hundred Prisoners got Liberty that Day, and among them sixty young Women were found very well drest, who were in all human Appear- ance, the number of the three Inquisitors Seraglio, as some of them did own afterwards." One of these women passed into France with the officer who had taken charge of her, and Gavin, meeting her afterwards at Rotchfort, learned from her lips the tale of her seduction by one of the inquisitors, and the account of the internal arrangements of the estab- lishment. The narrative is a remarkable one, but too lengthy to be given here. The seraglio of the holy fathers varied in numbers, from fifty to seventy girls. "We lose every Year six or eight, but we do not know where they are sent ; but at the same Time we get new ones. All our continual Torment is to think, and with great Reason, that when the holy Fathers are tir'd of one, they put her to Death; for they never will run the Hazard of being discover'd in these Misdemeanours, by sending out of the House any of our Companions." (Vol. i, p. 204). After reading such facts, the orgies and cruelties in consecrated places introduced into his fictions by the Marquis de Sade appear no longer in- credible.

In accordance with my system I will add a few extracts. In the first the evil consequences of the Confessional, against which Gavin does not cease to inveigh, are exemplified :

A MASTER-KEY TO POPERY. II7

To the Discovery of the mortal Sins the Father Confessor doth very much help the Penitent; for he sometimes out of pure Zeal, but most commonly out of Curiosity, asks'em many Questions to know whether they do remember all their Sins, or not ? By these and the like Questions, the Confessors do more mischief than good, especially to the ignorant People and Young Women ; for perhaps they do not know what simple Fornication is ? What Voluntary or Involuntary Pollution ? What impure Desire ? What Sinful Motion of our Hearts ? What Relapse, Reincidence, or Reiteration of Sins ? and the like ; and then by the Confessor's indiscreet Questions, the Penitents do learn things of which they never had dreamed before ; and when they come to that Tribunal with a sincere ignorant Heart, to receive Advice and Instruc- tion, they go home with Light, Knowledge, and an Idea of Sins unknown to them before.......

I saw in the City of Lisbon in Portugal a Girl of ten Years of Age coming from Church, ask her Mother what defiouring was ? For the Father Con- fessor had ask*d her whether she was defloured or not ? And the Mother more discreet than the Confessor, told the Girl, that the meaning was, whether she took Delight in smelling Flowers or not ? and so she stopped the Child's Curiosity. (Vol. 1, p. 5).

Here is a remarkable picture of the state of morality in a Spanish town, produced chiefly by the dissolute conduct and teaching of its minister :

The Magistrates of the Town came to desire me to go and preach on the 15th of August, which was the Virgins Assumption Day, and it was the principal Festival of that Town : There was but the Parish-Priest in it, the People were glad to have a Stranger to confess their Sins to, being ashamed to discover them to their Parish-Priest ·, so I had that Morning Business enough for four Hours in the Confessionary 5 but it was a surprizing Thing to me, to observe that almost all the Women came to me, and the Men to the Vicar of the Parish 5 if I say that I did confess 60 Women, I shall not lie, tho' I do not remember positively the certain Number. This I remember,

Il8 A MASTER-KEY TO POPERY.

that among them very few were free from the Sin with their Priest : He was a dull, dark-temper'd Man, and so strong and lusty, that he used to beat his Parishioners sadly, especially those whose Wives he had a Fancy for.

Some Women that were not married, and their Familiarity with the Vicar came to light, confessed that by his Help, it was destroyed before-hand with a certain Herb that he gave them, whose Name I could not learn. His own Niece ,was one of the Number, and tho' she lived with him as his House- keeper, she could not hinder him from other Diversions, and was obliged to call those whom he had a Fancy for. To colour his wicked Deeds, he used to preach some Sundays against the Ignorance of his Parishioners, especially concerning the Catechism, and shewing a great Zeal for the Good of their Souls, he used to send in the Afternoon for some of his Parishioners to teach them the Catechism, that is, to some of the youngest Women, that were more ignorant than the old Ones.

I remember one Case that a young Woman did confess, viz. That the Vicar having sent for her to his own House to chatechise her, and having declared to her his Design, she refused the Accomplishment of it ; and that he flying in a Passion, went and open'd a Silver Cup, took out of it a white Wafer, and told her, By this consecrated Host, which is the real Body of Jesus Christ, I excommunicate you, and will send your Soul to Hell this very Night, if you do not obey my Commands, and keep it secret while you live.  wicked Man ! and  poor ignorant Woman ! She out of Ignorance believed every Thing, and thought the Wafer to be consecrated, and the Priest's Fulmi- nation of divine Efficacy : So falling on her Knees, she promised to do what- ever Thing he would desire, rather than to incur so frightful an Excorrmni- cation : And I believe by this very Means he brought many of his Flock into the same Course of Life. (vol. 2, p. 211).

The following account of the morality and teaching of a priest will speak for itself:

The principal Crimes al led ged against him were printed and dispersed

among the Clergy, and tho' this Thing happen'd long before I was put in

Orders, one of these Papers came to my Hands j and to the best of my Memory,

NOTICE OP ANTONIO GAVIN. 11

First, it was alledged against him, That in the very Act of Confession he used to teach his spiritual Daughters the Maids, That it was not forbidden by the ten Commandments to covet them, &c. for their ninth Commandment says only, Thou s halt not covet thy Neighbour's Wife, leaving out the rest of the Com« mandment ; and that only Adultery was forbidden by the Law of God. By which Doctrine he had ruin'd many and many Maids : Secondly, That he used to teach to the married Women, That there was no Sin without Intention; and, That it was lawful for them, Carnali copula cum effusione seminis extra vassa. Quod tactus impudici ad polutionem, were very necessary to stop the Course of impure Thoughts : And that by this Doctrine he brought many ignorant Women to practice it, not only with him but with many others also : Thirdly, That in actu Confessionis habuit tactus impudicos cum penitente, cum reciproca effusione seminis: Fourthly, That he made the Women with Child believe, that if they had the Stola tied round ventrem per ipsum solum, they would have safe Deliverance ; and that he had made use of many Stola's for that Purpose, and to serve his Ends and Turns by that abominable Means, (vol. 2, p. 220).

The history of a "Musician-Priest," an eunuch, and cathedral chorister, related in vol. 2, p. 213, is very curious, but too long to admit of insertion. Knowing that no com- promising results could follow from a liaison with such a man, the highest ladies in the city sought his services; and he further got access to the monasteries, and distributed his favours among the nuns.

Antonio Gavin was born at Saragossa about 1680, and after having studied at Huesca, was ordained a priest.*

  • IHograpfiie rømfcerJellc (Michaud), vol. i6, p. 65.

I20 NOTICE OP ANTONIO GAVIN.

Little more is known concerning him than what he has told us in his own book. Disgusted by the abuses and immoralities of the church of Rome, he determined to quit its fold.

After I left my country, (he writes) I went to France drest in an Officer's Cloaths, and so I was known by some at Paris, under the Name of the Spanish Officer. My Design was to come to England, but the Treaty of Utrecht being not concluded, I could not attempt to come from Calais to Dover without a Pass. I was perfectly a Stranger in Paris, and without any Acquaintance, only one French Priest, who had studied in Spain, and could speak Spanish perfectly well, which was a great Satisfaction to me, for at that time I could not speak French. The Priest (to whom I made some Presents,) was Interpreter of the Spanish Letters to the King's Confessor Father le Teller, to whom he inrtoduc'd me -} I spoke to him in Latin} and told him I had got a great Fortune by the Death of an Uncle in London, and that I should be very much oblig'd to his Reverence, if by his Influence, I could obtain a Pass. The Priest had told him that I was a Captain, which the Father did believe ; and my Brother having been a Captain, (tho' at that time he was dead) it was an easy Thing to pass for him : The first Visit was favourable to me, for the Father Confessor did promise me to get me a Pass, and bad me call for it two or three Days after, which I did ; but I found the Reverend very inquisitive, asking me several Questions in Divinity : But I answer'd to all, that I had study'd only a little Latin : He then told me, there was no Possibility of obtaining a Pass for England, and that if I had committed any irregular Thing in the Army, he would give me a Letter for the King of Spain, to obtain my Pardon, and make my Peace with him again, (vol. τ, p. 161).

The wily jesuit Letellier was not to be so easily deceived, and Gavin at once made his way back to St. Sebastian, where he waited in secrecy until he was able to embark on a merchant vessel for Lisbon, and thence to London. Arrived

NOTICE OF F-M. JANIÇON. 121

in England his troubles were at an end. He had been pre- sented to Earl Stanhope already in Saragossa, and his lord- ship received him "most civilly," gave him a "certificate" to the bishop of London, who received his recantation, and in 1715 ordained him a minister of the Church of England.* Gavin's first sermon had some success ; it was dedicated " to my Lord Stanhope, and was printed by Mr. William Bowyer, and was sold afterward, by Mr. Denoyer, a French bookseller, at Erasmus's Head in the Strand." After preaching two years and eight months in London, Gavin was appointed chaplain to the Preston man of war. He then passed over to Ireland, had the " Curacy of Goman almost eleven months," served some time at Cork, and preached in the " Parish Church of Shandong His book, it will have been remarked, was first published at Dublin. Gavin appears to have died in Ireland, somewhat forgotten, for I have been unable to discover any record of the date of his death.

François-Michel Janiçon, Gavin's translator, was born at Paris, December 24, 1674, and died at The Hague, on the 19th or 2ist of August, 1730. Having studied at Dublin he was master of the English language, and well qualified for the

  • See the title of his book, p. 112 ante.

122 FRAUDS OP ROMISH MONKS AND PRIESTS.

task he undertook. The Master-Key to Popery was not the only work which he rendered from English into French.*

€bt jfrautø οι  áMm&ô anö flrføtø* Set forth

in Eight Letters. Vol i. The Fifth Edition. Lately Written By a Gentleman, in his Journey into Italy. And pubiish'd for the Benefit of the Publiek. London, Printed for R. Wilkin, D. Midwinter, A. Bet- tesworth, B. Motte, and J. Lacy, mdccxxv.

12m.; pp. 360, preceded by 12 pages of title, dedication, epistle, and contents, unnumbered. The second volume has

for tide:  øit a Sounteg to &aple&

Wherein The Frauds of Romish Monks and Priests are further discover'd. By the author of a late Book, EntituTd, The Frauds of Romish Monks and Priests. The Fourth Edition. London, Printed for R. Wilkin, D. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth, B. Motte, and J. Lacy. mdccxxv. pp. vii, 252, with 14 unnumbered pages of epistle and contents, ex title. The title pages of both volumes are enclosed in double lines. The work was first published in 1691, and has passed through several editions.-}*

  • * Βίο arante atúrale, vol. 26, col. 329; Bio grafite ^

(Michaud), vol. 20, . 546. t Btbltûffrajî|tr,tf ¡!, vol. 2, p. 737,

FRAUDS OF ROMISH MONKS AND PRIESTS. 123

It has been translated into French as : &* Ötó ttOm* perttó  prÊtreô et Öeö lUOmeö, où Fon découvre les artifices dønt ils se servent, pour tenir les peuples dans Terreur. Rotterdam, 1693. 2 vols, in 1 ; small 8vo.* Another edi- tion, Rotterdam, 1710-1712.-}- And again: &$ et JfbUt* fterteö Öeö Çrêtreô et beö ¿Hoitttö par Gabriel D'Emi- liane. Nouvelle Edition revue, corrigée, et augmentée dune introduction historique, de notes et de commentaires par Un Catholique du xix*»* Siècle. Leipzig, 1845. Leopold Mi- chelsen. Paris, Jules Renouard et Comp. Rue de Tour- non, 6. 8vo.; pp. 364 ex title, with ι unnumbered page of Table.

The work of Emillian ne is not so forcible or pungent as that of Gavin, which I have just noticed. It is however well worthy of attention. As Gavin censures the clerical vices of Spain, so Emillianne lashes those of Italy. The two works may not inappropriately be placed side by side. Here are a few extracts. The first concerns that greatest of all instruments of clerical influence, the confessional :

Indeed Auricular and Secret Confession, is the most commodious way the

  • PÎaïtuel if  %ibvaivt, vol. 2, col. 968. Quérard has erroneously con-

founded the translation of Emillianne's book with that of Gavin. See ante^ p. 114» note.

t toltot$eçut  Romatuf, p. 265;  íSrítamtíca, vol. ι, col. $6.

124 FRAUDS OP ROMISH MONKS AND PRIESTS.

Priests have to lodge their Game j 'Tis there they put Women to the Question, and by this means accustoming them (by little and little) from their Youth up to speak with confidence of their secret Sins, they make them at length lose that Natural Shamefacedness, which otherwise they would be sensible of, in making the least mention of such filthiness. Being therefore by this means inform'd of their Inclinations and Weak-side, if they find them to be of an Amorous Complection, it is an easie thing for them to speak for themselves, and to insinuate their own Passion. It is notoriously evident, that commonly none but Women go to Confession ; for as for Men, they seldom use it more then once a year, and that towards Easter. The Reason whereof having been once ask'd in my Presence, a Person of very good Sense return'd this Answer, That the Reason why none hut Women were seen to confess, was, because Men were Confessors ; but% that if Women were once possest of the Chair of Confession» we should soon find the contrary, and that none but Men would appear before them. The Reason is because Women for the most part take pleasure in their Confessing, being well assured, that their Confessors will put such Questions to them, as cannot much displease them; and knowing, that how openly soever they may declare their Sins, the Seal of Confession will always put them out of danger of running any Risque thereby: Yet, there are not wanting a vast Number of those, who relying upon the Secrecy of this Tribunal, and encouraged by the Exhortations of their Priests, of hiding nothing from them, no not so much as their impure Thoughts, make no difficulty ingenuously to declare, that they love them ; that they can neither Day nor Night rid their Spirit from running out after them ¡ and their Amorous Temptations are so violent, that except God be pleased to restrain them, or to take some compassion on them, it will make them infallibly go Mad and Distracted. (Vol. i, p. 332).

In the following citation we have the author's personal ex- perience of the state of morality of the Romish clergy in his time :

I could furnish you here with an infinite number of curious Stories, con- cerning the Amours and Intriegües of Monas and Priests^ if I were not ner-

FRAUDS OF ROMISH MONKS AND PRIESTS. 11$

suaded, that it is the Duty of every honest Man, not to speak, but with great Moderation of a Vice, whereof the Discovery is equally dangerous, to him that makes it, and to those to whom it is made. And therefore shall only tell you, that I may cut short here, That I never in my life con vers'd with any one Monk or Priest of the Church of Rome, for so long a time as was sufficient to penetrate a little into their Manner and Course of Life ; but that I found at last, that they had secret Commerce with Women, or, which is worse, and what I would not willingly name, viz. That they were addicted to the abomi- nable Sin of Sodomy. And yet many of those were meer Saints to outward appearance, all their Discourse was of the Blessed Virgin, and of Purgatory ; and the only Reason why I desir'd their friendship, was because at first I took them to be very good and honest Men ; but some time after I found to my great Regret, that I had been deceived by my too favourable Opinion of them. (vol. i, p. 349).

The animadversions which I am about to extract concerning the depravity of the nuns are very striking, and were there not abundant evidence from other sources that such dissolute practices have existed, one would be inclined to accuse Emil- lianne of Exaggeration :

The Reverend Dr. Burnet, now Lord Bishop of Salisbury, did not exaggerate the matter, when he saith, That He had seen some of them that were not over modest. They make no difficulty in representing in their Plays, Fenus's and Lucretia's wholly to the Life ; they Sing profane Songs and altogether unworthy and unbecoming Persons consecrated to Godj they act Dances and Postures that are extream Lascivious, and all that they speak in them, is commonly conceiv'd in Terms admitting a double signification, whereof one sense is always either impious or wanton. They commonly have very excellent Voices, and understand Musick perfectly well ; but if there be any impure or lascivious Air, that is that which pleaseth them best, and which they make choice of, to entertain the Company with. That which is the most

I2Ó FRAUDS OF ROMISH MONKS AND PRIESTS.

enormous thing of all, is, that not only in these their Comedies, but also (O unheard of Profanation !) in their Divine Offices for Sundays and festivals, they intermix these filthy Songs, which they blasphemously pretend to be made in imitation of the Song of Solomon. All the Debauched Youths of the City, about this time, flock'd to the Church of the Cœlestines at Milan, where these Nuns equally tickled their Ears and Fancies by the sweetness and las- civiousness of their Songs. The Scandal grew at last to that Excess, that the Cardinal sent his Orders to have their Church shut up, and absolutely forbad them to sing Musick any more.

Tis the Custom in the World, for Men to Court Women ; but in these Religious Orders, on the contrary, the Nuns Court the Menj they write Amorous Notes to them j they send, to entreat them to come and see them ; and there are few Nuns, who have not two or three, to whom they are more particularly linked in Affection ; and they are so well skill'd in disposing their Times, that they never meet together in the Parlour. They are very Jealous of them, and should they once understand, that any one of their Lovers had discours'd with any other Nun, besides themselves, they would immediately quit them, and would find a time to be revenged on them. I take them to be very unhappy in this, That they desire so strongly, what is so difficult for them to enjoy. Some amongst them do so far enfiarne their Imaginations about their Amours, that they run Distracted j and others are so immoveably determin'd to what they long for, that they actually apply themselves to the inventing of Means, that may bring them to the possession of what they desire : Of these, some give themselves to the Devil j and to this purpose they tell a Story, That upon a time, a Nun being resolved to give her self to the Devil, He plainly told her, He would not have her, because she was more Devil than himself. 'Tis for this Reason that we are told so many Stories of Nuns» that are Possessed. Others endeavour for Mony to corrupt the Turn- Keys and Maid-Servants, that have the Care of the Outward-Gates, to admit their Gallants at ÅTight by the Tower. Some have pluck'd away whole Grates from the Parlours j others have broke through the Walls, or have made Passages underground} and it happens frequently enough, that by their Cunning, they get the Keys of the Great Gate of the Monastery from under the Lady Abbess's Pillow ; or that they are so happy to

FRAUDS OF ROMISH MONKS AND PRIESTS. 12J

meet with one key or other, that can unlock it. There is also another Little Gate in the Vestries, by which the Priests enter, to go and carry the Holy Sacrament and Extream Unction to those that are Sick, and by which they convey the Ornaments of the Altar : Now, to get the possession of this Door, they need only to gain her who is over the Vestry. But the most sure way to obtain their desires, is, when a whole Community of Females agree together, to take their Pleasures. Of this there hapned (sic) a most infamous Instance, about seven or eight Years since, amongst the Nuns of Bresse, which made a great deal of Noise in Italy.

These Religious finding themselves quite weary of keeping their Vow of Chastity y agreed amongst themselves to admit their Lovers into the Monastery, and having all bound themselves in an Oath of Secrecy, they wrought hard, to make a Passage Under ground, under the Walls of their Enclosure, and which was to the end in the House of a young Gentleman, who was one of the Plot. Their Undertaking had so good success, that the Nuns enjoyed the Gallants as often as they pleased. In the mean time, there was observed a great change in these Recluses; they became more modest in the Parlour, and more assiduous in the Quire than ever they had been before. Their Confes- sor, who was a very Aged Man, being incapable of taking part in their Amours, was not thought fit to be admitted to the Secret. They informed him in their Confessions and secret Conferences, that they felt from time to time such Ravishments and Internal Joys, as they could no way express j without telling him, whether they belong'd to the Soul or Body. And this good Man, who took all in the best sense, and who also attributed in part this their Conversion, to his own good Prayers for them, went to the Bishop of Bresse, and made his Report to him; telling him, That his Nuns were all of them become Saints to that degree, as to suffer Ecstasies and Ravishments. The great Opinion the World had conceived of their Sanctity still increased more and more, when the greatest part of these Nuns undertook to observe a Six Months Retirement in the Inner part of their Monastery ; making a Vow, That during all that time they would never come to the Grate : This was to hide their Big- bellies and Child bearing, (vol. 2, p. 131).

I cannot, in concluding my extracts, refrain from citing

128 FRAUDS OP ROMISH MONKS A'ND PRIESTS.

one passage from the observations made by Emillianne during a visit paid by him to the monastery of Fontevrault :

I had a great desire to go and see the Monks Dine in the Common Refectory : but they told me I must stay till next Sunday, for that it was not permitted to be there any other Day of the Week, because of the Trials they made of the Novices. My uncle informed me what these Trials were, vi%, to make some of them to carry a piece of Wood, or Gag in their Mouths j others were commanded, to go and kiss the Monks Shoes j others, to continue upon their Knees, with their Arms across ; others again, to eat their Meals on the Ground, without either Table-Cloth or Napkin, and an hundred other such like Fooleries. The highest Trial of all, is the Discipline, and they observe a Nasty manner in the giving of it} for whereas in all other Religious Orders, they ordinarily give it on their Shoulders, at Fontevrault they always give it beneath. It was not long since, that two Novices went to complain to the Abbess, That the Prior handled them with too great Severity ; but the Abbess having made them come into her Chamber, gave 'em as much more, to make 'em forbear their Complaints to another. 'Tis in these Fooleries they make Vertue to consist, and they never teach their Religious, what it is to be Vertuous indeed, viz, to mortifie, as they ought, their Appetites, and to be meek and lowly of heart. This is that which makes these young Men when they are past their Novitiate, and have run through the Course of their Studies, to have their Passions as head-strong as ever, and to lead a scandalous Life with the Nuns, whose Directors they are. (vol. 2, p. 146).

I know of but one other work by the same author, which, as it is upon the same subject, and almost serial with the two volumes above noticed, may be placed by their side :

 Abort ^ nî iHottasítteal #röer&, ih which the

Primitive Institution of Monks, Their Tempers, Habits, Ruies, and The Condition they are in at Present, are Treated of.

AURICULAR CONFESSION AND NUNNERIES. 120,

By Gabriel d'Emillianne. London, Printed by S. Roy- croft, for W. Bentley, in Russel-street, Covent-Garden. 1693. 8vo. ; pp. 312, with 38 unnumbered pages of title, preface and contents. The information given in this volume is superficial and incomplete ; the book cannot be recom- mended as a work of reference,

'1 CmtfeÖÖtmt  $tumem& By William Hogan, Esq., barrister-at-law ; Who was for Twenty- five Years a Confessing Priest. Fifteenth Thousand.

" Hear the just laws, the judgment of the skies ! He that hates truth shall be the dupe of lies ; And he that will be cheated to the last, Delusions, strong as hell, shall bind him fast."—Cowper.

London: Protestant Evangelical Mission & Electoral Union, 5, Racquet Court, Fleet Street, E.C. May be had of all Booksellers.

8vo, ; pp. 136 in all; price one shilling.

This is a violent and badly written tirade against the church of Rome and her priests, made by a seceder from the faith, in a style suitable to the uneducated classes of America, where it was first published. The volume is put together without order or arrangement, and the author displays ig- norance of the literature of his subject.

Mr. Hogan informs us that he was ordained a priest in s

I3O AURICULAR CONFESSION AND NUNNERIES.

Ireland; that he went over to America, where he visited many important towns ; officiated at St. Mary's Church, Philadelphia ; and was finally excommunicated by the Romish bishop of that city.

He has written another book against his former church, about which and himself he speaks in the following arrogant terms :

With a clear and full view of my duty, I have recently written a work entitled (( A Synopsis of Popery as it was, and as it ¿j." It has been well received ; it awakened Americans to a proper sense of their duty. Until then Jhey saw not, they felt not, they dreamed not of the dangers which threatened their religion and their civil rights, from the stealthy movements of the Church of Rome, and her priests and bishops in this country. Americans have now a steady and watchful eye upon them. This was necessary, and so far I have done my duty. The Popish presses, which until then, had lulled Americans into fatal repose by their misrepresentations, have been, in a measure, silenced. No one, before me, dared to encounter their scurrilous abuse. I resolved to silence them; and I have done so. (Introduction).

The bulk of Auricular Confession consists of what has been frequently said before, and in better words than those of Mr. Hogan. He frequently speaks of Eugène Sue's Wan- dering Jew in a manner which would lead to the supposition that he considered it a real history rather than a fiction. I make room nevertheless for one or two of Mr. Hogan's personal experiences. Some eighteen months after his ordi- nation, and while yet in Ireland, he was sent for by a beautiful

AURICULAR CONFESSION AND NUNNERIES, I3I

young lady, with whom he was friendìy in former days, but who had since taken the veil :

c' I have sent for you, my friend (she said) to see you once more before my death. I have insulted my God, and disgraced my family; I am in the family way, and I must die." After a good deal of conversation, which it is needless to repeat, I discovered from her confession the parent of this pregnancy, and that the Mother Abbess of the convent advised her to take medicine which would effect abortion ; but that she knew from the lay sister who delivered me the note, and who was a confidential servant in the convent, that the medicine which the mother abbess would give her should contain Poison, and that the procuring abortion was a mere pretext. I gave her such advice as I could in the capacity of a Romish priest. I advised her to send for the bishop and consult him. " I cannot do it," she said, " my destroyer is my confessor." I was silent. I had no more to say. I was bound by oath to be true to him. The sentiment of the noble Pagan, a sentiment sanctioned by inspiration, " Fiat jus titia, mat cœlum "—Let justice be done even if the heavens were to fail—occurred to my mind in vain, it fled from me as smoke before the wind. I was one of the priests of the infallible church, and what was honor, what was honesty to me, where the honour of the infallible church was con- cerned ? They were of no account ; not worthy the consideration of a Romish Priest for a second. I retired, leaving my friend to her fate } but promising, at her request, to return in a fortnight.

According to promise, I did return in a fortnight; but the foul deed was done. She was no more. The cold clay contained in its dread embrace all that now remained of that being which but a few months before, lived and moved in all the beauty and symmetry of proportion ; and that soul once pure and spotless as the dew-drop of heaven, ere its contact with the impurities of earth, which a fond mother confided to the care of Jesuit nuns, had been driven in its guilt and pollution into the presence of a just but merciful God. All, all the work of Jesuits and Nuns Ï (p. 13)»

Speaking of the nuns, Mx, Hogan says :

These ladies, when properly disciplined by J esuits and priests, become the

I32 AURICULAR CONFESSION AND NUNNERIES.

best teachers. But before they are allowed to teach, there is no art, no craft, no species of cunning, no refinement in private personal indulgencies, or no modes or means of seduction, in which they are not thoroughly initiated ; and I may say with safety, and from my own personal knowledge through the con- fessional, that there is scarcely one of them who has not leen herself debauched by her confessor. The reader will understand that every nun has a confessor j and here I may as well add, for the truth must be told at once, that every con- fessor has a concubine, and there are very few of them who have not several ! ! Let any American mother imagine her young daughter among these semi- reverend crones, called nuns, and she will have no difficulty in seeing the possibility of her immediate ruin. (p. 17).

Here is the author's testimony as to the state of priestly morality in America, and the pernicious effects of the con- fessional :

The Roman Catholics of Albany had, during about two years previous to my arrival among them, three Irish priests alternately with them, occasionally preaching, but always hearing confessions. I know the names of these men : one of them is dead, the other two living, and now in full communion in the Romish Church, still saying mass and hearing confessions. As soon as I got settled in Albany, I had of course to attend to the duty of Auricular Cortfession» and in less than two months found that those three priests, during the time they were there, were the fathers of between sixty and one hundred children, besides having debauched many who had left the place previous to their con- finement. Many of these children were by married women, who were among the most zealous supporters of these vagabond priests, and whose brothers and relatives were ready to wade, if necessary, knee deep in blood for the holy, immaculate, infalliblej Church of Rome. (p. 29).

The iniquity of Romish priests in the confessional can scarcely be imagined· There is nothing else like it j it is a thing by itself : there is a chasm between itself and other crimes, which human depravity cannot pass. Could I state them all, as I have known them, my readers would feel themselves most

AURICULAR CONFESSION AND NUNNERIES. I33

insulted : an ocean and a sea of wonders, and waters of grief and sadness for fallen humanity, would ebb and flow around them. Just fancy an innocent female on her knees before an artful, unbelieving priest ! But why is she there ? Why does not instinct warn her off ? Why does not conscious inno- cence tell her to fly from him ? &c. (p. 43).

Married women who have no children, and never had any, are taught by Romish priests that, in case they have no children, The Church has the power of giving them fecundity, and thus enabling them to " comply with the great object of their creation," viz., to " increase and multiply." The holy church, in her wisdom, or rather in her craft and deep knowledge of human nature, knows full well that married ladies, especially those who have pro- perty, are often unhappy because they have no children ; and the priests looking upon this as a fine opportunity not only to indulge their own passions, but to make money, tell such women in the confessional that they have the power specially delegated to them from Almighty God, of giving them those children for which they are so anxious. Í well recollect an instance of this Romish infatuation—this worse than hellish belief. It proved a source of much trouble to myself in after life, and I believe I may partly trace to it the very origin of my difficulties with the Popish priests in this country, (p. 48).

The instance above mentioned is as follows : A lady, unblessed with children, applied io Mr. Hogan, then a priest, for the aid of the church in her difficulty. Mr. Hogan told her that the church had no power in such matters. The lady was not satisfied, and addressed herself to a Franciscan friar, who helped her to a family, and de- nounced Mr. Hogan as a heretic.

I have given this volume more space than its intrinsic merits warrant ; but it must serve as a specimen—and a very fair one—of the numerous similar tracts issued by the same

134 AURICULAR CONFESSION AND NUNNERIES.

society.* One or two more of their most important publi- cations will be found noticed in this work ; but they are generally of too trivial and insignificant a nature to justify a special notice.

It may not be unworthy the consideration of the promoters of this society, whether, according to their own standard of morality, they are not falling into the very error which they condemn in their adversaries, and by publishing, and spread- ing broad-cast books which contain abominations and inde- cencies, they are not themselves practising the Jesuitical doctrine of the end justifying the means, or doing evil that good may come.

One of their publications at least has been pronounced by the law courts an outrage to morality.-j~

  • I extract from the society's catalogue the titles of a few of the most

curious, which may perhaps be found not altogether uninteresting to the collectors of anti-Romish literature ; especially as many of them are now out of print : better to tije røomen of €nglanii on tïje Confesional,—% anu 9xitit*TransubstantiaHon,—frtóï) ikieøtsi ano* tí)e Confesional,—Cf)* Con- fesional—  foe $ it ?,—Confesión—røfjat tá it ?,— goutta Jîflonitor fa Caieckìsmfor Schooisj,—Contienisi ano" tje Confesional, % Hev. H. Seymour,—etater ^'å Utøcloaureø of fleti fiali Conoent,—Cfje Con* lesionai mugí be &, % Dr. Armstrong,—<£UaSnä for t|e Castration of 3ftamúif)'f)rte¿t¿,—Conbent tørucatton aab Jlttnnerü Vietimi,—fletter to t|e gown§  of Cnglanrj, % C. G.,—-Bomtótíc 1$ ano*  atóte«, —Plea for Inspection or ¿urørtsion of jlttmtertof,—№, ,  jTamíliejEf, % Michelet, &c.

t Ctøe Confesional- rønmaøltto', p. 88, ante.

DISCIPLINE, EDUCATION AND THEOLOGY OF MAYNOOTH. I$¡

a ântrmut ani* acrurate arrotini of tbt opstem of fi& oplme, ©ìmratton, ani Cöeologp, auopteb anîï pur* ôueb in toe $ College of ¿tøapnootifb By

Eugene Francis O'Beirne, late Student of Maynooth College. Hereford : W. H. Vale ; London : Simpkin and Marshall ; Dublin : Carson, 92, Grafton Street. 1840.

Large 8vo. (counts 4) ; pp. vi, 214, and 1 unnumbered page of Contents ; printed by " Gooch, Printer, Hereford."

This is a severe, but not intemperate censure on the doctrines taught at the Irish College of Maynooth. Ex- tracts are given from the Maynooth class-books in the original Latin, accompanied, when not too gross, with literal trans- lations. The object of the work is to show the pernicious and immoral doctrines there taught, and the vile interrogatories which it is held necessary for confessors to put to their penitents, both male and female. As these questions are identical with those propounded by the various casuists fully recognised by the Romish Church, which have already been copiously treated in this work, it is superfluous to dilate further upon them here. Quotations are also given from books, pamphlets, &c, by modern reformed Romish priests, such as Rev. L. J. Nolan, Rev. David O'Croly, Rev. Blanco White, &c, all bearing upon the iniquity of the confessional, and the immorality of the priesthood.

I36 DISCIPLINE, EDUCATION AND THEOLOGY OP MAYNOOTH.

The author bears testimony as follows to the evil effects of the Romish teaching upon the youth of both sexes:

The Maynooth system of education, by making the students acquainted and familiar with all kinds of vice, awfully increases the depravity of the un- happy young men themselves j who become so hardened in iniquity as to be in after life, the corrupters of the young and comparatively innocent 5 by insinuating the poison of their own filthy imaginations, into the hearts of the inexperienced, and thus effect their destruction under the pretence of pro- moting their salvation. What in the grossest heathenism can come near the extracts I have just made from the Maynooth class-books. It is almost impossible to write on the subject of those abominable class-books, whose very atrocity is the greatest barrier to their exposure, without offending delicacy, (p. 120).

The great work of corrupting the heart by teaching a knowledge of sin as yet unthought of, commences almost from childhood. Females are inured from infancy to an examination gradually suited to their age and circum- stances} young girls are prepared for the inquisitorial investigation which awaits them as wives,, and have thoughts suggested to their innocent minds which perhaps they otherwise would have never known, (p. 84).

The Maynooth Theologians, by inculcating that modesty must be laid aside by females at confession, as rendering them unworthy of absolution, endeavour to overcome the strongest barrier of female virtue—female modesty. When that Heaven-stationed centinel (sic) but slumbers on his post, or ceases to unfurl his crimson banner on her cheek, it requires but small pains to scale the walls and take the Citadel. I would ask any man to image himself in the situation of a Popish Confessor with a beautiful and lovely woman kneeling by his chair ; interrogating her on the different headings of the Maynooth class-books—on her * thoughts," " cogi tati oni bus " on her u illicites motus " on her " desideria," and on other still more disgusting headings, and honestly say what would likely be the effect on his mind. To sit unmoved in such a situation would be more than human. Can it by possibility tend to the advancement either of piety, or virtue, to compel young girls to throw open to the gaze of unmarried Confessors, their innermost thoughts, emotions, and

THE PRIEST, THE WOMAN, AND THE CONFESSIONAL. I37

passions—thoughts, emotions, and passions which they would conceal even from their husbands, if married, and from their mothers, if not—emotions and passions which form part of their nature, and were given them for wise pur- poses by Him who undertsood his own great designs. It is impossible for females to come into the close intercourse of the Confessional with men who have been schooled in such abominations without deriving a moral pollution from the contact, The questions which confessors are directed by the May- nooth class-books to put to their female penitents, are in themselves most indelicate and offensive : under any circumstances, the proposal of them, even by one of their own sex, would wound the sensitiveness of female modesty. What then must such interrogatories be from a coarse vulgar Irish priest ? Is there no danger in exposing young and innocent females to such a prurient system of interrogatories ? Is there no danger in exposing the priests them- selves, who are but men—men who neither dine on ambrosia or quaff nectar —mere men—carnal men, with the passions incidental to humanity ? Is there, I again ask, no danger in exposing them to such trying temptations ? " Perish the theology that inverts the sacred Scriptures, and with infernal passions tills the heart of man." (p. 76).

€ prfeöt, €bt røoman, nnb  Conføfttonal« By

Père Chiniquy. London: W. T. Gibson, i2, Hay- market. 1874. [AU rights reserved.]

8vo. ; pp. iv and 192 in all ; price 2s. 6d. in cloth ; contains 7 chapters. There is another and more ample edition published in

Canada: Ctøe $)rtøt,.töe røørøatt, aito tfre CoitfesísítoitaL

By Father Chiniquy. Montreal: F. E. Grafton, Book- seller, Corner Craig St and Fietoria Square, 1875. 8vo. ;

I38 THE PRIEST, THE WOMAN, AND THE CONFESSIONAL.

pp. viii. and 184 in all ; price one dollar in cloth ; contains a preface and 11 chapters.

This is a very noteworthy work. iVlthough its literary merit is not great, it is written with so much earnestness, and in such a spirit of conviction, that it is most impressive. "After 25 years' experience in the confessional," Father Chiniquy was so thoroughly convinced of its evils, and of the errors of the Romish church in general, that he determined to quit it, and wrote the present book. In it he shows that the doctrine of compulsory confession is a comparatively modern innovation, having been first introduced by the council of Lateran in 1215 ; and he passes in review the various fathers and casuists who wrote before that date, none of whom speak of confession as being either necessary or desirable. In this dogma, and in it alone, he discovers the cause of the decay of the great Roman Catholic countries, and the secret of the defeat (in 1870) of France by Germany. The communication of filthy ideas which confession implies he considers to be as dangerous to the priest as to the penitent. In the strongest terms he depicts the terrible struggle which every pure minded woman must undergo in communicating her secret thoughts and actions to a priest, and the repugnance which she must feel in having to listen to his suggestions and questionings. This is naturally more acute for a refined and educated woman than for one of a lower order ; but the

THE PRIEST, THE WOMAN, AND THE CONFESSIONAL. I39

barrier of female modesty once broken down, what was at first shocking soon becomes a pleasant necessity. The author illustrates his assertions by confessions, of both priests and penitents, several of which are so remarkable that a few extract will certainly be found acceptable :

When curate of Beanport, I was called by the Rev. Mr, Proulx, curate of St. Antoine, to preach a retreat (a revival) with the Rev, Mr. Aubry, to his parishioners, and eight or ten other priests were also invited to come and help us to hear the confessions.

The very first day after preaching and passing five or six hours in the con- fessional, the hospitable  arate gave us a supper..... In his usual gentle- manly and cheerful manner, he said :—u You are all old enough in the confessional to know the miseries of poor human nature. Without any more preliminaries I will come to the subject, it is no more a secret in this place that one of the priests who has preceded me has been very unfortunate, weak, and guilty with the greatest part of the married women whom he has con- fessed. Not more than one in ten have escaped him. I would not mention this fact had 1 got it only from the confessional, but i know it well from other sources, and I can speak it freely without breaking the secret seal of the confessional. &c."

When, very early the next morning, I had begun to hear the confessions, one of those unfortunate victims of the confessor's depravity came to me, and in the midst of many tears and sobs, she told me with great details what Ï repeat here in a few lines : —

" I was onîy nine years old when my first confessor began to do very criminai things with me when I was at his feet, confessing my sins. At first I was ashamed and much disgusted j but soon after I became so depraved that I was looking eagerly for every opportunity of meeting him either in his own house, or in the church, in the vestry, and many times in his own garden when it was dark at night. The priest did not remain very long ; he was removed, to my great regret, to another place, where he died. He was succeeded by another one, who seemed at first to be a very holy man. I

140 THE PRIEST, THE WOMAN, AND THE CONFESSIONAL.

made to him a general confession with, it seems to me, a sincere desire to give up for ever that sinful life, but I fear that my confessions became» a cause of sin to that good priest ; for not long after my confession was finished, he declared to me in the confessional his love, with such passionate words that he soon brought me down again into my former criminal habits with him. This lasted six years, when my parents removed to this place. I was very glad of it, for I hoped that, being far away from him, I should not be any more a cause of sin to him, and that I might begin a better life. But the fourth time that I went to confess to my new confessor, he invited me to go to his room, where we did things so horrible together that I do not know how to confess them. It was two days before my marriage, and the only child I have had is the fruit of that sinful hour. After my marriage I continued the same criminal life with my confessor. He was the friend of my husband ; we had many opportunities of meeting each other, not only when I was going to confess, but when my husband was absent and my child was at school. It was evident to me that several other women were as miserable and criminal as I was myself. This sinful intercourse with my confessor went on till God Almighty stopped it with a real thunderbolt. My dear only daughter had gone to confess and receive the holy communion. As she had come back from church much later than I expected, I inquired the reason which had kept her so long. She then threw herself into my arms, and with convulsive cries said : ' Dear mother, do not ask me any more to go to confess ... Oh ! if you could know what my confessor has asked me when I was at his feet ! and if you could know what he has done with me, and he has forced me to do with him when he had me alone in his parlour !"

  • u My poor child could not speak any longer, she fainted in my arms.

t( But as soon as she recovered, without losing a minute, I dressed myself, and, full of an inexpressible rage, I directed my steps towards the parsonage. But before leaving my house, I had concealed under my shawl a sharp butcher's knife to stab and kill the villain who had destroyed my dearly beloved child. Fortunately for that priest, God changed my mind before I entered his room— my words to him were few and sharp.

" ' You are a monster !' I said to him. * Not satisfied to have destroyed me, you want to destroy my own dear child, which is yours also ! Shame upon you ! I had come with this knife to put an end to your infamies, but so

THE PRIEST, THE WOMAN, AND THE CONFESSIONAL. I41

short a punishment would be too mild a one for such a monster. I want you to live, that you may bear upon your head the curse of thè too unsus- pecting and unguarded friends whom you have so cruelly deceived and betrayed ; I want you to live with the consciousness that you are known by me and many others, as one of the most infamous monsters who have ever denied this world. But know that if you are not away from this place before the end of this week, I will reveal everything to my husband, and you may be sure that he will not let you live twenty-four hours longer, for he sincerely thinks that your daughter is his, and he will be the avenger of her honour ! I go to denounce you this very day to the bishop, that he may take you away from this parish, which you have so shamelessly polluted.'

" The priest threw himself at my feet, and, with tears, asked my pardon, imploring me not to denounce him to the bishop, promising that he would change his life and begin to live as a good priest. But I remained inexorable. I went to the bishop, made my deposition, and warned his lordship of the sad consequences which would follow, if he kept that curate any longer in this place, as he seemed inclined to do. But before the eight days had expired, he was put at the head of another parish, not very far away from here."

The reader will, perhaps, like to know what has become of this priest.

He has remained at the head of that most beautiful parish of ------, as

curate, where I know it, he continued to destroy his penitents, till a few years before he died, with the reputation of a good priest, an amiable man, and a holy confessor !" (pp. 99 to j 04).*

There is, at p. 8, another female confession, that of a young lady whom the author calls Mary, quite as terrible, as touch- ing, and even more dramatic than the above, but it is too long to allow me to reproduce it. Let us now pass to the

  • The page references are to the Montreal edition.

14a THE PRIEST, THE WOMAN, AND THE CONFESSIONAL.

confession of a priest, of him indeed who had seduced Mary. From beginning to end it is most astounding and full of interest, but it is also of too great a length to be quoted in full; I must confine myself to Father Chiniquy's resumé of what had been confided to him :

I do not want to give many particulars of the life of that priest. I will only mention two things. First : It was then that I understood why poor young Mary was absolutely unwilling to mention the iniquities which she had done with him. They were simply surpassingly horrible—unmentionable. No human tongue can express them—few human ears would consent to hear them.

The second thing that I am bound in conscience to reveal is almost incredible, but it is nevertheless true. The number of married and unmarried females he had heard in the confessional was about 1500, of which he said he had destroyed or scandalized at least 1000 by his questioning them on most depraving things, for the simple pleasure of gratifying his own corrupted heart, without letting them know anything of his sinful thoughts and criminal desires towards them. But he confessed that he had destroyed the purity of ninety-five of those penitents, who had consented to sin with him.

And would to God that this priest had been the only one whom I have known to be lost through the auricular confession ! But, alas Î how few are those who have escaped the snares of the tempter compared with those who have perished ! I have heard the confessions of more than 200 priests, and, to say the truth, as God knows it, I must declare that only twenty-one had not to weep over the secret or public sins committed through the irresistibly corrupting influences of auricular confession !

I am sixty years old ; in a short time I shall be in my grave. I shall have to give an account of what I say to-day. Well, it is in the presence of my great Judge, with my tomb before my eyes, that I declare to the world that very few—yes, very few,—priests escape from falling into the pit of the most horrible moral depravity the world has ever known, through the confession of females, (p. 32).

THE PRIEST, THE WOMAN, AND THE CONFESSIONAL. I43

The concluding chapter of the Montreal edition contains

" Some of the matters on which the priest of Rome must

question his penitents," extracted from the leading casuists ;

but they are generally so obscene that they are left in the

original Latin.

Concerning himself Father Chiniquy writes : " In the year 1819, my parents had sent me from Murray Bay (La Mai Baie) where they lived, to an excellent school, at St. Thomas (kept by Mr. John Jones). I was then, about ten years old." (p. 120). In the New York Daily Witness of Feb- ruary, 1874, we read: "that Father Chiniquy was one of the ablest and most influential priests of the Church of Rome in Canada ; that the parish to which he ministered was the popu- lous and beautifully situated parish of Beauport, half-way between the city of Quebec and the falls of Montmorency; that he converted the entire parish to temperance principles, and was invited to other parishes all over Lower Canada, to labour in the temperance cause ; that, being the most eloquent man in Lower Canada, and thoroughly in earnest, his labours were followed by effects similar to those of Father Matthew in Ireland ; that he was as popular among Protestants as Catho- lics ; that his growing influence and popularity excited alarm and jealousy among priests and dignitaries of the Church ; that he added abuse of the Swiss missionaries, then commenc- ing their evangelical labours in Canada, to his temperance dis- courses, which made him lose favour with Protestants ; that he led out a colony of French Canadians to Illinois who settled on a fine tract of land he had secured in Kankakee County, which he called St. Ann ; that there he rebelled against the tyranny of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Chicago, and by studying the Scriptures found that the Church of Rome was in

144 LE PRETRE, LA FEMME, ET LE CONFESSIONNAL.

error ; that his large congregation stood by him in his opposi- tion to the Bishop, and finally left the Church of Rome with him ; that he has since been an earnest preacher of Divine truth, as understood by Protestants, and has been instrumental in training quite a number of French-Canadian young men for the ministry."

Father Chiniquy's book was a great success ; the London

edition sold rapidly, and that of Montreal had in 1876 reached

its third edition. The author has also published it in French

as:

it pr&re, £a fftmmt tt it Contøøfomtal» Par Le

Père Chiniquy. Montréal. Librairie Évangélique, 413 Rue Craig. W. Drysdale & Cie., 232 Rue St. Jacques. Bureau de L'Aurore, 625 Rue Craig. 1875. [Tous droits réservés.] 8vo. ; pp. iv and 327. This French version contains a preface, and a Notification à sa Grandeur, Mgr. Bourget, Evêque de Montréal against the evils of the confessional, signed by 48 ladies, which is not given in either of the editions in English.

fò"jja&* autôentíc ¿Hemofø mb a>uffmngö of Dr.

Bl fg William Stahl, A German Physician, Con- taining his Travels, Observations, and interesting Narrative during four Years Imprisonment at Goa, for paying his Addresses to Donna Maria, a Portu- guese Lady, for whom an unholy Father had conceived an unlawful Passion. The whole exhibiting a View of the Maxims and Criminal Jurisprudence of that Country. Written by Himself At his Inlargement in 1789. The Second Edition. London : Printed for J. Barker, Russell-Court, Drury-Lane ; and J. Parsons, Pater- noster-Row. 1792.

i2mo. ; pp. 178 in all

Although this volume scarcely comes within the scope of the present work, there being in it no word which could offend the chastest ears, yet as its narrative hinges upon the " unlawful Passion of an unholy Father," and as it is without doubt a genuine and trustworthy exposure of the cunning, intolerance and wickedness of the Roman Catholic priests, and of the cruelties committed by them in the inquisition 

I46 BUFFERINGS OF STAHL AND DELLON.

at Goa, I have thought fit to give it place here. Further, it is written in so clear and unaffected a manner that Dr. Stahl has rendered his memoirs most interesting and im- pressive. The book appears to have been written in English and first published in England, the author being "sensible of the danger to which the publication of my adventures would have made me liable in Germany." He speaks on more than one occasion with eulogy of England and the freedom of her institutions. The book cannot be too strongly recommended to all who would obtain a truthful notion of the iniquities of the inquisition about which so many apochry- phal works have been written.

A persecution similar to that of Dr. Stahl was perpetrated a century earlier by the inquisition of Goa upon a young French physician,  Dellon, who, in his iUIuttOtt %t í'UnqutóítíOn bt 0QU>* has left us a temperate and read- able account of his sufferings. The origin and result of both persecutions were the same—jealousy of a priest, and banish-

  • There are three editions, all in 121110. : Ley de, Goasbeek, 1687 j Paris,

Daniel Horthemels, m.dc.lxxxviii j Amsterdam, Mortier, 1697 j it also forms vol. 2 of the TFoijagetf bt M. Dellon. The work was condemned by the authorities at Rome, May 29, 1690. See .  Oubrageø ftumgincø, vol 4, col. 210. The edition which I have used is that of Paris ; it has an engraved vignette on the title page» and is embellished with 3 illustrations on the page» and 6 engravings, of which three are folding ¡ pp. 251» with 29 pages unnumbered.

SUFFERINGS OF STAHL AND DELLON. I47

ment from the country after imprisonment and unjust oppres- sion. The circumstances however which immediately brought about the arrest of both gentlemen are so strikingly identical, that I quote a few passages from the narrative of each :

Dr. Sta-hl writes: Dr. Dellon writes:

The most favourite of all my ac- Certain Prêtre noir Secretaire du quaintances v/ere Donna Maria Ga- Saint Office demeuroit devant le logis briela Nunez, the relict of Don Manoel de cette dame (whom Dr. Dellon had Diego Nunez, late a colonel in the visited), il avoit pour elle une passion service of Portugal . . . Donna Maria aussi forte que celle du Gouverneur, loved him to distraction, and the grief & l'avoit sollicitée de satisfaire à ses of beholding herself a widow at such infames désirs jusques dans les Tri- an age, must surely have broken her bunaux de la pénitence, ainsi que je heart, but for the eloquent and mov-  scû de cette même Dame. ing representations of Father Fran- Ce Prêtre m'observant devint aussi cisco, her confessor. This cunning jaloux que le Gouverneur, & quoiqu'il monk, from motives rather profane eut été jusqu'alors de mes amis, & que than spiritual, used all his holy en- je luy eusse rendu même des services deavours to give Donna Maria a bet- assez importans, il ne laissa pas de se ter relish for life. But the feelings of joindre à Manoel Furtado (de Mendoça, this lady were apparently too refined the governor) pour m'opprimer, to suffer herself to be seduced by a Ces deux Rivaux ainsi unis, pressé- smutty Dominican ; she even gave rent si vigoureusement le Commis- him once to understand that if he did. saire, que sur les avis qu'il envoya à not reform his ways, as a spiritual leur sollicitation à Goa, il reçut ordre director, and purge himself from the des Inquisiteurs de m'arrêter, ce qui impurity of worldly desires, she would fut exécuté le soir du 24. Aoust 1673, be under the necessity to look out for &c. (p. 54). a better guide to steer her soul to heaven, (p. 16).

Every body knows that physicians Je me trouvay chez un Gentil- and priests frequently meet in the homme Portugais dans le temps qu'on

I48 SUFFERINGS OF STAHL AND DELLON.

discharge of their respective duties ; alloit saigner son fils malade, je vis

I was one morning sent for to the que ce jeune homme avoit dans son

house of Don Pedro Saraiva to pre- lit une image de la sainte Vierge, faite

scribe for his son, who was afflicted d'yvoire ; & comme'il aymoit fort cette

with a dangerous disorder. Upon image, il la baisoit souvent & luy

my arrival at this nobleman's, I found adressoit la parole ; cette manière

father Francisco sitting by my patient's d'honorer les images est fort ordinaire

bedside. The young man was hold- chez les Portugais, & elle me faisoit

ing an ivory image of the Virgin in quelque peine ·, parce qu'en effet les

his hand, which he kissed several Hérétiques l'interprétant en mal, cela

times. As the nature of his disorder les empesche autant qu' aucune autre

required him to be bled, I sent for a chose de revenir à l'Eglise j Je dis

surgeon, who came immediately, and donc à ce jeune homme que s'il n'y

was preparing to act according to prenoit garde son sang jailliroit contre

my directions ; but observing that the l'image, & m'ayant répondu qu'il ne

young man would not cease licking se pouvoit résoudre à la quitter, je luy

and hugging the image of the Virgin, représentay que cela embarasseroit

to the great hindrance of the surgeon, l'opération ; alors il me reprocha que

I advised him to lay it aside lest it les François étoient des Hérétiques,

should be stained with his blood, or & qu'ils n'adoroîent pas les Images j

become troublesome in the operation, à quoy je répondis que je croyois

Ï had no sooner uttered these words qu'on devoit les honorer, & que si

than father Francisco left the room Ton pouvoit se servir du mot d'adorer,

with an air of indignation, and making ce ne pouvoit être qu'à l'égard de

the sign of the cross, as if he had been celles de nôtre Seigneur Jesus Christ,

in the clutches of the devil. In spite encore falloit-il que cette adoration

of the solemn gravity, inseparable fut rapportée à Jesus-Christ répré-

from a good professor of the healing senté dans ces Images ; & sur cela je

art, this strange behaviour of the citay le Concile de Trente, session 25.

monk tickled so much my sense of (p, ). ridicule, that I could not help laugh- ing most heartily, in which my honest friend the surgeon imitated my ex- ample to such a degree as made all the house shake with the roar of our voice, (p. 22).

DISCLOSURES OP MARIA MONK. 1,49

gibful MtótìOÌÌXVti by Maria Monk, of the Hotel Dieu Nunnery of Montreal ; with An Appendix ; and A Sup- plement giving more particulars of the nunnery and grounds. Illustrated by a plan of the nunnery, &c. Second Edition, Revised, by The Rev. J. J. Slocum, of New York. London: James S. Hodson, 112, Fleet Street. 1837.

i2mo. (counts 6); pp. 385; with a folding plan of the nunnery. To this volume should be added : COttffrm&tfott Of ¿ ¿¥tøn&'a MtólUtóUVtU concerning the Hotel Dieu Nunnery of Montreal; preceded by $ £1 tO tt)t ÇríflSító* 3500ÍÍ* By the Rev. J. J. Slocum, of New York. To which is added fflXVtbtV fif&IOØUrøi by Maria Monk, and An Account of her Visit to Nuns Island. Second Edition. London: James S. Hodson, 112, Fleet Street. 1837. i2mo. (counts 6); pp. 194; with portrait of the heroine and her child, engraved by W. L. Orms  γ. These two volumes, in spite of their being castrated, comprise the most ample account with which I am ac- quainted of the Maria Monk scandal, although the later edition of New York, 1855,* may possibly contain additional matter. Other editions are: New-Yorå : Published by Howe

  • Allibone's Crt't. Ï3ic. vol. 2} pp. 1338, 2120.

I¿0 DISCLOSURES OP MARIA MONK.

& Bates, &c. 1836. i2mo. (counts 6), pp. 231, &c, origi- nal edition; New-York : Published for Maria Monk, by HoisiNGTON & Trow, &c. 1836. i2mo. (counts 6), pp. 376, stereotyped, with folding plan of the nunnery, contents the same as the first volume which heads this notice, probably ante-dated, as it contains Reception of the first editions, the earliest of which appeared in 1836 only; London: Richard Groombridge. 1836. Ι2Π10. (counts 6), pp. 221 ; and Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson, &c. small 8vo. pp. 184, with frontispiece, and engraved title page, the printed title page and colophon bear " London : Published for the Booksellers," no date ; these last two editions contain the original narrative only, as in the first issue of 1836; London: Published by HouLSTON & Stoneman, &c. mdcccli. large 8vo., pp. 176, &c, with portrait, copied from that above mentioned, but signed W. P. Clubb, contains, besides the original narrative, Further Confirmations, Notes, &c.

Besides the above mentioned editions, which have passed through my hands, there are numerous other issues, among which one by the " Protestant Evangelical Mission." " Im- mense editions of the work were sold in rapid succession, and gained, to an astonishing degree, belief among ail classes of readers."*

  • <®uarttrl¡) £$rfctian dptrtator, vol. 9, p. 263,

DISCLOSURES OP MARIA MONK. I5I

In a literary point of view the Disclosures of Maria Monk possess no worth whatever, the authoress being, as she herself states, a person of imperfect education. The sole value of the work lies in the truth of the revelations it contains, and this is doubtful, for although the crudity of the composition militates in favour of its genuineness, yet some of the details, particularly those in chapter xi, are very incredible. On the other hand, it is scarcely conceivable that an illiterate woman like Maria Monk could have imagined or invented the minute details with which the volume abounds, and which, in spite of the numerous discussions it occasioned, have never, as far as I know, been absolutely and conclusively disproved,

Maria Monk affirms that she made her escape from the Hotel Dieu Nunnery in order to save the life of the infant with which she was pregnant by Father Phelan, priest of the Parish Church of Montreal, knowing that, were she delivered in the nunnery, her child would have been put to death.

The enormities with which she charges the priests and nuns will be best estimated by a few extracts from her book.

On her taking the black veil and the " three customary oaths," the superior informed her : " that one of my great duties was, to obey the priests in all things; and this Ï soon learnt, to my utter astonishment and horror, was to live in the practice of criminal intercourse with them." Some short time after this :

I52 DISCLOSURES OP MARIA MONK.

Nothing important occurred until late in the afternoon, when, as I was sitting in the community-room, Father Dufrèsne called me out, saying he wished to speak with me. I feared what was his intention j but J dared not disobey. In a private apartment, he treated me in a brutal manner j and from two other priests, I afterward received similar usage that evening. Father Dufrèsne afterward appeared again, and I was compelled to remain in company with him until morning.

They (the priests in general) are considered as having an equal right to enter the Black Nunnery whenever they please j and then, according to our oaths, they have complete control over the nuns. To name all the works of shame of which they are guilty in that retreat, would require much time and space, neither would it be necessary to the accomplishment of my object, which is, the publication of but some of their criminality to the world, and the development, in general terms, of scenes thus far carried on in secret within the walls of that Convent, where I was so long an inmate.

The Superior of the Seminary would sometimes come and inform us, that he had received orders from the Pope, to request that those nuns who possessed the greatest devotion and faith, should be requested to perform some particular deeds, which he named or described in our presence, but of which no decent or moral person could ever endure to speak. I cannot repeat what would injure any ear, not debased to the lowest possible degree. I am bound by a regard to truth, however, to confess, that deluded women were found among us, who would comply with those requests.

The priests are liable, by their dissolute habits, to occasional attacks of disease, which render it necessary, or at least prudent, to submit to medical treatment.

In the Black Nunnery they find private accommodations, for they are free to enter one of the private hospitals whenever they please ; which is a room set apart on purpose for the accommodation of the priests, and is called a retreat-room. But an excuse is necessary to blind the public, and this they find in the pretence they make of being in a " Holy Retreat." Many such cases have I known j and I can mention the names of priests who have been confined in this Holy Retreat. They are very carefully attended by the Superior and old nuns, and their diet mostly consists of vegetable soups, &c·, with but little meat, and. that fresh, I have seen an instrument of surgery

DISCLOSURES OP MARIA MONK. l¡¡

laying upon the table in that holy room, which is used only for particular purposes.

Father Tabeau, a Roman priest, was on one of his holy retreats about the time when I left the nunnery. There are sometimes a number confined there at the same time. The victims of these priests frequently share the same fate.

it will be recollected, that I was informed immediately after receiving the veil, that infants were occasionally murdered in the Convent. I was one day in the nuns' private sick-room, when I had an opportunity, unsought for, of witnessing deeds of such a nature. It was, perhaps, á month after the death of St. Frances.* Two little twin babes, the children of St. Catherine, were brought to a priest, who was in the room, for baptism. I was present while the ceremony was performed, with the Superior, and several of the old nuns, whose names I never knew, they being called Ma tante, Aunt.

The priests took turns in attending to confession and catechism in the Convent, usually three months at a time, though sometimes longer periods. The priest then on duty was Father Larkin. He is a good looking European, and has a brother who is a Professor in the College. He first put oil upon the heads of the infants, as is the custom before baptism. When he had bap- tized the children, they were taken, one after another, by one of the old nuns in the presence of us all. She pressed her hands upon the mouth and nose of the first so tight that it could not breathe, and in a few minutes, when the hand was removed, it was dead. She then took the other, and treated it in the same way. No sound was heard, and both the children were corpses. The greatest indifference was shown by all present during this operation j for all, as I well knew, were long accustomed to such scenes. The little bodies were then taken into the cellar, thrown into the pit I have mentioned, and covered with a quantity of Hrae.f

  • The murder of this nun is told in chapt. xi, but it appears to me, as

before stated, one of the least probable incidents in the book.

f The following corroborative testimony of an ex-Roman Catholic Priest may not be out of place here : " it is not generally known to Americans, that

V

154 DISCLOSURES OP MARIA MONK.

As before remarked, Maria Monk's Disclosures called forth much bitter controversy, particularly in America and Canada ; and although her narrative was discredited by such respectable members of the Protestant Church as the Rev. W. F. Curry, the Rev. G. W. Perkins, he, it was nevertheless believed by a vast number of people. I do not propose to investigate these discussions, nor in any way to pass judgment upon them, it being no part of a bibliographer's duty to enter into such disputes, but simply to lay before his readers the materials which may enable them to decide for themselves. In a London periodical·* we read :

the crime of procuring abortion—a crime which our law pronounces to be felony—is a common every-day crime in Popish nunneries. It is not known to Americans—but let it henceforward be known to them—that strangling and putting to death infants, is common in nunneries throughout this country. Jt is not known that this is done systematically and methodically, according to Popish instructions. The modus operandi is this. The infallible church teaches that without baptism even infants cannot go to heaven. The holy Church, not caring much how the aforesaid infants may come into this world, but anxious that they should go from it according to the ritual of the church, insists that the infant shall be baptized, This being done, and its soul being thus fitted for heaven, the mother abbess gently takes between her holy fingers the nostrils of the infant, and in the name of the infallible church, consigns it to the care of the Almighty j and I beg here to state, from my own knowledge through the confessional, that the father is, in nearly all cases, the individual who baptizes it $ thus literally verifying what Erasmus has said in sheer irony,—' Patres vocantur et sœpe sunt.* " Ruricttlar CoitfaMtOIl, p. 39. See ante, p. 129.

  • Etterarg 6a|*tte, year 1851, p. 723.

DISCLOSURES OF MARIA MONK. 155

It is stated by Father Newman in his " Lectures on Catholicism " that since the first appearance of 'fMaria Monk's Disclosures" in 1836, from 200,000 to 250,000 copies have been put in circulation in Great Britain and America. He treats the whole thing as a mere "blasphemous fiction," but the great length at which he deals with the subject, occupying the chief part of one of his lectures, shows the importance attached by him to the publica- tion. . . . The book was quoted in the debates in the House of Lords last session, and ought to be known by all who seek arguments for monastic establishments being under some public surveillance.

The bitterest, and at the same time the most able refutation of Maria Monk's assertions, which I have met with, is in The Quarterly Christian Spectator of Newhaven, already re- ferred to. The writer is of opinion that : " Her tales will soon take their place among obscene works, read only for the provocation of the baser passions." He begins his article with the following invective :

If the natural history of " Gullibility ** is ever written, the imposture of Maria Monk must hold a prominent place in its pages. That a miserable and well-known prostitute in the city of Montreal, shonld invent a tale of monstrous and self-evident absurdities, and by means thereof gain immense sums of money to herself, and almost universal credit to her story ; that she who is, on her own confession, a murderer, a fornicator, and a liar, of the most depraved character, should gain credit among well-informed and intelli- gent men, and should be received and caressed in good society, in the city of New York ; that all who venture to doubt, or even examine the truth of her story, should be denounced as the panders of popery, and aids to the devil j all this is most wonderful, and deserves to be recorded among the phenomena of the age.

The two following works against Maria Monk's Disclosures may be taken note of here :

I56 AWFUL EXPOSURE----A REFUTATION.

Støftll (ßfPUÜViVt of The Atrocious Plot formed by Certain Individuals against the Clergy and Nuns of Lower Canada, through the intervention of Maria Monk. With an Authen- tic Narrative of her Life, from her Birth to the Present Moment, and an Account of her Impositions, etc.

Auri sacra fames quid non mortalité pectora cogis ! ! (sic).

New«York: Printed for Jones & Co. of Montreal. 1836. 12 mo. (counts 6) ; pp. 131.

21 JUftltatÚUt of the Fabulous History of the arch-impostor Maria Monk. Being the Result of a Minute and Searching Inquiry by William L. Stone, Esq., of New York. To which are added Other Interesting Testimonies, &c.

"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour."

London: Thomas Richardson and Son, 26, Paternoster- Row ; 9, Capei St. ; Dublin ; and Derby.

Small 8vo. ; pp. 60; printed at Derby. First published in the New York Commercial Advertiser.

^^35( pour probóte* Ou Traité de la Con- mfi« formité des Merveilles Anciennes avec les Modernes. Par Henri Estiene. Nouvelle Edition : faite sur la premiere : augmentée de tout ce que les postérieures ont de curieux, et de Remarques : par Mr. Le Duchat. Avec une Table Alphabétique des Matières. Tome Premier. A La Haye, Chez Henri Scheurleer, m.dcc.xxxv.

8vo. ; 2 vols., the first vol. being divided into 2 parts, although the paging is continuous ; pp., vol. 1, xlviii and 624, vol. 2, 434 with 4 unnumbered pages of Table des Chapitres, ex titles ; there is besides a Table des Matières of 48 unnumbered pages, generally added, for the sake of con- venience, to the first part of the second vol.; titles printed in red and black, and adorned with a vignette representing Mercury flying, with the motto " Erudit et Ditat " ; three engraved frontispieces.

This edition, in spite of the hyper-eulogistic manner in which the editor speaks of it in his Avertissement, is the most convenient in form, the best printed, and notwithstanding

I58 APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE.

a notable omission which I shall presently mention, the -most complete.* The work was first published by Henri Es tiene at Geneva, in 1566, as follows:

I'tntcoVbttion ab Crate be la Conformité beo mer* uet'Itø arøieimeg abet leo mouerueö* Ov, Traite Preparata

à l'Apologie pour Hérodote. L'argument est pris de Γ Apologie pour Hérodote, composee en Latin par Henri Estiene, & est ici continue'par luymesme.

Tant d'actes merueilleux en cest œuure lirez Que de nul autre après esmerueilié serez. Et pourrez vous Sçauans du plaisir ici prendre, Vous non Sçauans pourrez en riant j apprendre.

L'An m.d.lxvIj au mois de Nouembre.

8vo. ; pp. 572, preceded by 28, including title, unnumbered ; Estiene's olive tree on the title page. This editto princeps exists in two states : the first as the author originally issued it, the second slightly castratedf by him. A. A. Renouard^ supposes that these emasculations were made by order of the magistrates of Geneva, but Henri Estiene himself, in his íãbertt£0emeitt, accounts for them as follows :

Fay regret toutesfois que ie n'ay esté encore plus bref & ρΓ retenu en quel- ques contes de lubricité, & que ie me suis laissé porter si auant au fil du propos.

  • E a dfranc* Etîteratre, vol. 3, p. 38 ;    roituammíá au feu,

vol. ι, p. 130. t 33ibltograpikal Mit*, Ebert, vol. ι, ρ. 528. X   rampamene btâ tøtftterait, p. 127.

APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE. IJO,

Mais i'ay depuis changé la plus grand' part de tels passages par le conseil de quelques mies bons seigneurs & amis, en rimprimãt les f ueilles ou telles choses se trouuoyent.

These alterations occur at signature S, pp. 273 to 288, and it seems that H. Estiene had the whole sheet reprinted, and substituted for that in which the objectionable matter occurred before many copies of the first edition were sold, Renouard gives an account of this substitution after a personal verifica- cation, and I think his statement may be accepted without hesitation.

This work of Henri Estiene caused much sensation at the time of its production, and was in great demand ; it was reprinted no less than 12 or 13 times during the lifetime of its author. I do not propose to recapitulate here the numerous editions which have already been noticed with more or less exactitude by previous bibliographers, among whom I would point out specially A. A. Renouard and A. H. de Sallengre,* the latter specifying 12 different issues, but shall confine myself to the indication of a few peculiarities in some editions already mentioned, and to the description of one or two editions which I have not found noticed in any bibliography that I have been able to consult.

  • ¡fHtmoírtó fct littérature, vol. i, p. 38.
  • 6o APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE.

ι. L'An M.DLXvi au mois de Novembre. I have seen and compared two editions (besides the original) bearing this impress. The one has the olive tree, but with a different motto, the other has a rock on the title page. In other respects they are absolutely identical, and contain two Tables apparently made from those drawn up by the author, to be mentioned more particularly anon.

2. A Lyon Par Benoist Rigaud. .. 8vo. ; pp. 593, preceded by 32 pages including title, and followed by 31 pages, unnumbered ; a triangular fleuron on title page ; contains two Tables apparently correct and made from those by the author. This is No. 11 in Sallengre's list.

3. En Anvers. Par. Henrich VVandellin. m.d.lxvii. 8vo. ; pp. 508, preceded by 30 pages of title, Henri Estiene av lectevr and a vn sien ami, and Table des Chapitres, and followed by 34 pages of Table des Matières, unnumbered ; there is a blank leaf after the Table des chapitres making up the sheet ; no fleuron on the title page, but a blank space is left as if one had been intended ; type small and rather indistinct ; in the table des matières the lines as well as the pages are indicated, but no line indications are given in the body of the book. This I take to be a reprint of the edition mentioned by Sal- lengre as No. 4. It contains the errors complained of by H. Sstiene, to be more fully noticed presently.

4. En Anvers. Par Henrich VVandellin. m.d.lxvih. 8vo. ; pp. 508, preceded by 31 and followed by 31 pages

APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE. l6l

unnumbered ; a blank page (not leaf) after the Table des Chapitres. The body of the volume appears to be identical with the edition last noted, but the Tables are altered and made upon those composed by H. Estiene.

5. De ÎJmprimerie de Guillaume des Marescs. 1572. 8vo. ; pp. 655, preceded by 30, and followed by 48 pages, un- numbered ; small geometrical fleuron on title page ; type small, but clear ; contains, besides a few additions, two short poems,* not in other editions ; there are two Tables, which, although they are not disfigured by the blunders which H. Estiene points out, do not correspond with those given by him. This edition, although esteemed by several bibliographers,^ was not, I think, prepared under the author's supervision. Neither the two poems nor the Tables can be attributed to him.

6. A Strasbovrg, Par Pierre Estiart. m.d.lxvii. 8vo. ; pp. 654, preceded by 32, and followed by 42 pages, unnumbered ; no fleuron on the title page, but three small stars above the verses; type small, but clear. This is a spurious edition, the Table des matières containing the blunders pointed out by H. Estiene ; it has, as far as I know, not been noticed by any previous bibliographer.

So violent a satire as L* Introduction av Traite de la conformile

  • ¿{latraci tat £tbratre, vol. 2, col. 1077.

t SHftltoQrçue taá , . 264. w

\ APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE.

des merueilles anciennes auec les modernes could not be given to the world without calling down upon its author the invec- tives and criticisms of several classes, and particularly of the priests against whom the most biting passages of the book are directed.* In the year following that in which his work was first printed, H. Estiene thought it necessary to issue a defence of himself and his book in a pamphlet of 48 un- numbered pages :

%btVti$Ötmtilt de Henri Estiene, povr son Hure intitulé L'Introdvction au traité de la conformité des merueilles anciennes auec les modernes, Ou Traite preparatif à l'Apologie pour Hérodote. Touchant ceux qui sans prendre garde à l'argument, en iuget h parlent à la volee : pareillement touchât ceux qui Font corrõpu & falsifié depuis l'impressio faicte par luy mesme. Avec deux tables sur iceluy.

H. Estiene av Lecteur.

Puisquvn autre imprimeur a corrompu mon Hure,

Ou estant ignorant, ou estant fol, ou y ure,

Ne  est aki lecteur si tu ne Fentens bien :

Car moi qui suis  auteur ie η y enten plus rien,

The fleuron of the olive tree, as in the original edition, adorns the title page. This publication had escaped the notice of the bibliographers, and even of Le Duchat, who edited the

  • It has been formally condemned by the Church of Rome, see $

Etbrontm fîroïjtbttomnt, Romae, mdccclxxvi, p. 311.

APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE. l6'¿

most recent and complete edition, until Mr. R. S. Türner of London pointed it out to J. C. Brunet. In i860 Mr. Turner had it very beautifully reprinted in facsimile by Whittingham and WiLKiNs of London to the extent of 50 copies for private distribution only. In this Avertissement H. Estiene com- plains, not so much of the adverse criticism which had been heaped upon his book, and for which he was of course pre- pared, as of the injury done to him and the world at large by the clandestine and incorrect reprint, above noted. He writes :

Je vien maintenãt à celuy qui n*a pas diet du mal de mon Hure, mais luy a faictMu mal : voire tel mal qui pour l'auenir peut doner à plusieurs personnes

nouuelles occasions d'en mesdire.....Depuis enuiron vn mois a estée

publiée vn' impression de mon Hure susdict, intitulé L'introduction au traité, &c. en la premiere page duquel on a mis les noms de la ville & de l'imprimeur, mais supposez: car il-y-a, En Anuers par Henrich Wandellin : cõbien qu'il ait esté imprimé à Lyon par vn que ie ne nommeray point, mais pour vn qui a nom Claude Rauot, qui y-a faict deux tables, l'vne des chapitres, l'autre des matières. Or ce que i'ay a vous dire touchât ceste impression, & dot i'ay à vous supplier humblemët, c'est q vous n'estimiez point lire mon Hure quand vous la lirez, & par consequent que ne vous preniez point à moy des difficultez que vous trouuerez en y lisant. Que di-ie difficultez ? voire enigmes, & plus qu' enigmes, si ce n'est que vous puissiez mieux entendre ce Hure, q moymesme q en suis l'auteur. Outre ce q en plusieurs endroits on me fait parler vn barragouin qui n'approcha iamais à soixãte lieues pres de mô pays. Mais le pis est en la table des matières (car en la table des chapitres il n'y-a q quelques fautes des plus legeres de ladicte impression, comme Vraysemblable & incroy- able, pour Vraysemblable & croyable, & Premieremet au Heu de Particuliere- met) laquelle me veut faire croire que i'ay diet des choses ausquelles ie n'ay iamais pensé, voire aucuns mots dont ie n'ouy iamais parler, ni peut-estre

164 APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE.

homme qui soit auiourdhuy en l'Europe, excepté celuy qui l'y a mis. Comme pour exemple en la premiere page en ceste belle table, Allenianus estant sur l'eschauffaut dit le raesrae. Qui fut le premier passage sur lequel ie iettay ma veue en regardant ce beau chef d'oeuvre : & alors bien esbahi ie pensay en moymesme si iamais i'auois eu en mes papiers vn homme porta ce nom : mais en fin ie trouuay que le langage Rauotique appeloit Allenianus ce que le language François appelle Allemand.

H. Estiene points out several other errors, but the extract I have made will suffice to enable my readers to discriminate between the genuine and spurious versions of his book. He adds two correct Tables, which he had not given in his first, nor indeed in any subsequent edition of his Introduction edited by himself.*

  • This Avertissement is interesting in more than one respect. In it we

find the curious and seldom used word brouillamini, the date of earliest authority for the use of which, as given by Litt ré, is 1664. H. Estiene's passage is as follows : "Ce qu'il ne fait cependant sans mesler du sien, sans obscurcir ce qui est clair au Hure, sãs mettre force qui pro quo, bref sans'bie mettre du brouillamini à mô poure Hure." We also find the correct etymology of the word huguenot, which, as Littré had evidently not seen the Avertissement K is perhaps worth noting. After running through the various doubtful deriva- tions, H. Estiene adds : " 11-y-a encores vn' opinio qui est la moins diuulguee, & 'qui »toutesfois est la vraye : c'est que ce mot Huguenot est pris du roy Huguon, qui vaut autant à dire à Tours qu' à Paris le Moine bourré. Et celuy qui de Huguon deriua Huguenot, fut vn moine, qui en vn presche qu'il faisoit là, reprochant aux Luthériens (ainsi qu'on les appeloit lors) qu'ils ne faisoyent l'exercice de leur religion que de nuict, dit qu'il les falloit doresenauant appeler Huguenots, comme parens du roy Huguon, en ce qu'ils n'alloyent que de nuict non plus que luy."

APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE. 165

We have an English translation of L'Introduction as

follows :

%  Of  Or An Introduction to a Treatise touching the Conformitie of ancient and modern wonders : Or A Preparative Treatise to the Apologie for Hero- dotvs. The Argument whereof is taken from the Apologie for Herodotvs written in Latine by Herrie Stephen, and con- tinued here by the Author himselfe. Translated out of the best corrected French copie, London, Imprinted for John Norton. 1607.

Folio (counts 6) ; pp. 358, with 18 pages of title, dedication

and epistle, and ι page of Faults escaped, unnumbered ; on

the title page is a quotation in Greek from Plutarch, and an

oval fleuron with an anchor and motto " Anchora Spei."

The dedication to William Earle of Pembroke, and Philip

Earle of Montgomerie, is signed R. C* The same book

  • Concerning the writer designated by the initials R. C, Mr. Jas. Cross-

ley makes the following suggestions : " Would he be Richard Carew of Anthony, the topographer, to whom the translation of Huartes's Examination of Wits, 1594, 4to., is assigned, with a doubt expressed whether it was not the work of his father, Thomas Carew, in Wood's Athenœ, vol. ii. p. 284, Bliss's edition ? There is this argument in favour of' the supposition, that the trans- lator of Stephens, in his ' Epistle Dedicatorie,' refers to Sir Philip Sidney as one whom he can never name too often or sufficiently honour, and in the notice of Richard Carew of Anthony contained in Wood, it will be seen that ' at fourteen years of age he disputed extempore with the matchless Philip Sidney (while he was a young man, I suppose), in the presence of the Earls of Leicester, Warwick, and other nobility, at what time they were lodged in Ch. Ch. to receive entertainment from the Muses.' " ßoteö aitò fattiti, 5th S. viii. p. 247.

l66 APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE.

exists with another title page : Edenbvrgh, Imprinted by Andrew Hart and Richard Lawson. 1608. Arms of Scotland on the title page. I have compared the two volumes, and find no other difference. The author's name is given Henry Stephen, not Stephens as noted by Beloe,* who classes this Edinburgh edition " among English books of rarity."

In spite of its literary merit, and its undoubted historical value, and although the English rendering is esteemed, the Apologie pour Hérodote (I will now employ the title by which the work is more generally known) has never taken that hold with us, even among men of letters, to which it is certainly entitled. This must be my excuse for treating, in a com- pilation devoted chiefly to obscurer books, a work which has been so universally noticed by previous bibliographers. Per- haps its title has to a certain extent tended towards this neglect, for neither that of the original nor of the translation gives any proper indication of the remarkable, curious and diverting matter which the work in reality embraces. The style too of Henri Estiene has been pronounced stiff and tedious,*}- and is no doubt held to be so by many of the present genera-

  • &!tecfcute¿ of Etterature, vol. 6» pp. 231 and 241 ; &fbltograj>$er'¿

fHaimál, vol. 5, p. »507. t ¡flltemofet*  littérature, vol. 1, p. 44.

APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE. 167

tion accustomed to the chosen words and polished periods of modern French writers. By them, unfortunately, matter is frequently sacrificed to form, and the reader, after having perused several pages of the most perfect composition, is fain to pause, if the spell which the writer's artful diction has cast upon him will allow him to do so, and enquire " what is the matter," what it is in reality that he is reading about.

This is not the case with H. Estiene's Apologie. Every word, every sentence, every chapter, has a meaning, purpose and stuff in it. No superfluous word is there, no empty phrase added in order to balance a period. Every line is terse, pithy, to the point. A few repetitions there are, which may be ac- counted for and excused by the fact of the book having been written with too great rapidity. A little patience only is re- quired for an English reader to accustom himself to Estiene's manner, when he will find his attention riveted to a book, from the perusal of which, or of any part of it, he cannot rise without having derived both instruction and amusement.

Many writers have handled the Apologie pour Hérodote, and their opinions, as is only natural, differ as to its merits and those of its author. I do not purpose to reproduce these divers opinions, but the mention of a few of the most estimable may not be irrelevant: Bayle mentions H. Estiene several times in his dictionary, and although he con- siders that he has failed in rehabilitating Herodotus, and although be points out a few omissions, &c, he evidently

l68 APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE.

looks on Estiene's work with respect.* Viollbt le Duc, invariably just, temperate and exact, pronounces it: "le recueil le plus complet des turpitudes de toute espèce attri- buées à tort ou à raison au clergé, à la noblesse, à la robe, aux femmes de son temps." And he adds a word in praise of Estiene's style which he considers " pur, correct, abondant."-^ M. S. De Sacy4 M. D. Nisard,^" M. Philarète Chasles|| may be mentioned among the numerous modern writers who have noticed H. Estiene at greater or less length.

The Marquis de Paulmy has devoted 20 pages to the Apologie, and has reproduced from its pages many of the most curious and amusing anecdotes with which it abounds. § The most carefully done, and compietesi account, however, with which I am acquainted is that of Sallengre, who after noting the various editions,** gives an ample history and criti- cism of the book, and numerous extracts. His notice should be referred to before the work itself is perused.

It would be superfluous, after the able notices above men- tioned, to offer here any analysis or account of my own. I will merely mention that H. Estiene borrows largely from the

  • Sfcttoimafre» vol. 1, p. 273, vol. 6, p. 246, vol. 9, p. 497.

t Catalogue, 1847, P· l5$- t Tfartftfti ILítátãim, vol. i, p. 28.

5f ütelangetf tf fciötotre, série ι, p. 250. I) étttøea  ït ôfí|íìmt á&íècle» ρ. 188. § JAelangtá tim ' ©raitut btblíotfjequf. ** See p. 159I ante.

APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE. 169

celebrated preachers, Menot, Maillard and Barelete,* and will proceed, in accordance with my usual plan, to give a few specimens of the book itself. As the Apologie is mainly directed against the priests, and as the present volume is composed in great part of notices on books relating more or less to priestcraft, I shall confine myself chiefly to passages touching on the vices and follies of churchmen.

In speaking of oaths uttered by priests Estiene relates :

Toutefois le plus horrible que j'ai iamais ouy, ni duquel i'ai iamais ouy parler, fut à Romme, de la bouche d'vn prestre qui auoit esté mis en cholere par vne putain : lequel pour ceste heure ne sortira de ma bouche. Or pour retourner à Bareleté, il en raconte vn plaisant d'vn bon compagnon Italien, lequel auoit accoustumé de dire, Vienne la caquesangue à l'asnesse qui porta Iesus Christ en Ierusalem. le di plaisant, si aucun blaspheme doit estre trouué plaisant : mais ce propos est plustost gaudisserie que blaspheme : & toutesfois s'il est dit en intention de blasphemer, il y a bien à disputer : ne plus ne moins que quand ceux de ceste mesme nation disent Per la potta de telle ou de telle, & le disent en cholere, au lieu qu'ils ont accoustumé de dire Per la potta de la virgine Maria : ou bien par exclamation, Potta de la virgine Maria : ou sans adiouster Maria, comme s'entendant assez. Ne plus ne moins aussi que quand nous disons en cholere Vertubieu, & quand les Alemans en leurs mauldissons (pour lesquels nous les appelons dastipoteurs, (z) faute de les bien entendre) desguisent le mot Gott. Mais pour conclusion de ce propos i'auroîs grande enuie, (n'estoit la promesse que i'ay faicte ci-dessus) dereciter ce

  • Extracts from the discourses of these preachers will also be found in

Peignot's ¡Pretttcatonarta, in Disraeli's Curtoát'tteá of Etfcrature (vol. r, p. a8i), in l'8rt bt róetopíer la rate, and in %tû * UmïjturJ.

(ζ) Dastipoteurs) De I'Alemand das tick pots, imprécation usitée à Strasbourg, en Alsace.

X

170 APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE.

que i'ay leu es sermons de ce mesme prescheur nommé Barelete, touchant vn certain Euesque, qui auoit si bien accoustumé de i urer & blasphemer, que ce prescheur estant allé l'admonester de ceste mauuaise maniere de faire, & luy ayant diet, Reuerend pere, plusieurs m'ont aduerti que vous ne sçauriez dire vn mot sans iurer & sans nommer le diable : incontinent le prélat, pour bien monstrer que cela estoit faulx, Au nom du diable, (dit-il) & qui est-ce qui a rapporté cela de moy ? Par le corps de Christ cela n'est pas vray. Alors luy respondit ce perscheur, Reuerend pere je vous en pren maintenant vous mesme à tesmoin. (vol. 1, p. 76).*

The seventh chapter of vol. i., Des vices repris es gens d'église par les susdits prescheur s, is so remarkable, and so full of curious matter that I am constrained to reproduce it in

extenso :

Pour tenir la promesse faicte n'agueres, il faut donner ce chapitre à messieurs Jes ecclésiastiques : & pour guarder l'ordre tel que dessus, il nous faut com- mencer par leur paillardise, mais ce ne sera sans parler tout d'vn train de leurs larrecins, par le moyen desquels ils souloyent (comme encores auiourd'huy) entretenir leurs dissolutions. Escoutons donc premièrement Oli uier Maillard, comme aussi parcideuant nous luy auons tousiours faict cest honneur de donner audience à luy premier. Fueil. 327. col. 1. Auez-vous point ici de ces grands personnages ausqueîs leurs femmes font porter les cornes ? 11 est grand nombre de telles gens : & pourtant on peut bien dire que la chanson du coquu est venue iusques à la cour du Pape. Mais pour ne venir si tost aux prélats, escoutons vn peu quelle meschanceté des simples prestres il descouure. Jls escoutent (dit-il) les confessions des femmes : & puis congnoissans celles qui se meslent du mestier, ils courent après. Ce qui me fait souuenir de ce que i'ay leu en quelque lieu, touchant certains prestres, qui vouloyent mettre ceste

  • The extracts are taken fro in the edition of Le Dtichat which heads my

notice.

APOLOGIE POUR HEROBOTE. I7I

coustume que ceux & celles qui viendroyent se confesser à eux, leur monstre- royent les parties du corps par lesquelles ils auoyent commis les péchez dont ils se confessoyent. le reuien à Maillard, lequel ha ordinairement ces mots en la bouche, sacerdotes concubinari]', oufornicarij : aussi, religiosi concubinari/. Il parle aussi de ceux, qui les ont en leurs chambres à pain & à pot : comme au Fueil. 61. col. 3. Sunt ne Me sacerdotes tenentes concubinas à pain & à pot ? Au lieu dequoy Menot dit A pot & à cueillier. le retourne aux prélats ; ausquels parlant Maillard, dit, Fueil. 22. col. 4.  gros goddons damnez infames, escrits au Hure du diable, larrons & sacrileges (comme dit S. Bernard) pensez-vous que les fondateurs de vos benefices vous les ayent donnez pour ne faire autre chose que paillarder & iouer au glie ? Et au Fueil. 107. col. 1. Et vous messieurs les ecclésiastiques auec vos benefices, qui en nourrissez des cheuaux, des chiens, des paillardes. Il adiouste encores histriones. Item en la page 84. col. 2. Demandez à S. Estienne s'il a eu paradis pour auoir mené telle vie que vous menez, faisans grand' chère, estans tousiours parmi les festins & banquets : en donnant les biens de l'église & du crucefix aux paillardes : nourrissans des chiens & des oiseaux de proye du bien des poures. 11 vous vauldroit mieux estre morts aux ventres de vos meres que mener tel train. Or adiouste-ii ici pareillement histrionibus après meretricibus. Et chacun peut sçavoir que signifie en Latin ce mot : mais pource que (comme il est aisé à veoir) tant ce prescheur que les deux autres font du Latin ce que bon leur semble, vsans des mots à tors & à trauers : je me doute qu'il ait voulu signifier moriones par histriones : ce qui est vraysemblable, si nous reguardons à la façon d'auiourd' huy. II dit aussi en quelque lieu que les p'relats en leurs banquets ne parlent que de paillardise. C'est luy-mesme (si i'ay bonne memoire) qui dit qu'au lieu que les prélats 4du temps passé donnoyent de l'argent pour marier les ieunes filles qui estoyent destituées de moyens, ceux de son temps leur font gangner leur mariage auprès d'eux à la sueur de leur corps. Oyons maintenant parler le gentil Menot, qui laue la teste à ces galans aussi bien que nul autre, & d'aussi bonne grace. Fueillet 144. col. 2. l'en dis autant de ancilas sacerdotum, quibus non licet dare hoc sacramentum eucharisties : quod certe non sunt de grege Dei, sed diaboli. Et au Fueil. 83. col. 3. Estßlia seductat quæfuit per annum inclusa cum sacerdote cum poto £9* cocklearì, à pot & cueillier : kodie venit, tøV. Il dit aussi en quelque endroit que quand les gensdarmes entroyent es villages, la premiere chose qu'ils

I72 APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE.

cerchoyent, c'estoit la putain du curé, ou vicaire. Mais au regard des prélats, (à ce qu'on peut iuger parce qu'en dit ceprescheur) on eust bien faict d'aduertir depuis vn des bouts de la ville iusques à l'autre, Guardez bien vostre deuant madame, ou madamoiselle. Car outre celles qu'ils entretenoyent en leurs maisons, ils auoyent leurs chalandes par tous les endroits de la ville : mais ils prenoyent plaisir à faire les conseilliez cornus, sur tous. Et le bon estoit qu'il faloit tousiours que les grosses maisons eussent vn prélat pour compere : de sorte que souuent il aduenoit que le mari prioit pour compere celuy qui estoit ia pere, sans qu'il en sçeust rien. Mais il appelle en son Latin, Faceré placitum domini episcopi, Paillarder auec vn euesque: comme Pueillet 18.  domina quœ facitis placitum domini episcopi. Et au Fueill. 110. col. 2. Si vous demandez comment cest enfant de dix ans a eu ce benefice, on vous respondra que sa mere estoit fort priuee de l'euesque, & pour les congnoissances dédit ei. Il nous monstre aussi la ruse de laquelle vsoyent ces messieurs pour iouir de celles qu'ils pretendoyent : (si autre occasion ne se presentoit) c'est qu'ils les inuitoyent à quelque festin parmi vne autre grande compagnie de dames, entre lesquelles il y en auoit beaucoup d'honnestes & qui auoyent bon bruit. Et pour conclusion, il monstre que de son temps les prélats auoyent les filles, les femmes mariées, les veufues à leur commandement. Or nous auons tantost ouy comment Maillard les appeloit (après S. Bernard) larrons & sacrileges : oyons maintenant ce que dit Menot de leurs larrecins & leurs simonies : com- bien que pour le jourd'huy on ne face que rire de telles choses. Premièrement donc au Fueill. 70. col. 1.  domini ecclesiastici qui rod'itis ossa mortuorum, & Ulitis sanguinem crucifixi, audite. Et au Fueil. 5. col. 3. ΝΌη est cauda prœ- ¡atoriim, qui hodie post se ducunt canes, Of mangones indutos ad modum armigero- rum, sicut Suytenses : qui nullo modo curant de grege siùi credito. Et bien peu après, Quid dicetis domini ecclesiastici et prœlati, qui comedias tona kuius pauperis qui pendei in cruce} ducendo vestras vanitates? Item an Feuill. 132. col. 1. O si non videren tur magni luæus, les grandes bragues, simoniœ, magnœ vsurœ patentes, notoriœ luxurtœ, quœ sunt in ecclesia, populus non essei scanda- lizatus,  vos imitaretur.  qualis rumor: dico secundum puram veritatem :  quel esclandre : i'en di à la pure & reale vérité : Mille prœlati sunt causa quod pauper & simplex populus peccai & q  œr it infer η um : que le p ou re 8c simple peuple peche, & se damne ad omnes diabolos. Et au Fueil. 118. col. 1. il donne à tous les diables le mesnage des prélats, en ce sens qu'on a accous-·

APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE. 173

tumé de les louer d'estre bons mesnagers. Nunc (dit-il) si aliquem torum vis laudare, hoc modo laudes, Est bonus paterjamiliœ : c'est vn bon mesnager : bene aliter jacit quàm suus prcedecessor. Ad omnes diabolos taie menagium, Menagium pro animabus est magis necessarium & principale. Et quand il parle de leur election, au Fueil. 93. col. 1. Videmus quod hodie intrant ecclesiam vt houes stabulum cornibus eleuatis: ut multi qui intrant non per spiritum sanctum, sed vi armorum tø* strepitu armigerorum Öf militum : à force d'armes, par la poincte de l'espee. Item au Fueill. 110. col. 1. Sed vndeprouenit hoc? quia certè spiritus sanctus est hodie expulsus de condito, synagoga & capitulis episco- porum, & electionibus prœlatorum. Qmö, ut videtur, hodie puero decern annorum datur parochia in qua sunt quingenti ignés : & pro custodia assignatur quan· doque vn gentilhomme de cour, vnus nobilis curice : qui post deum nil odit nisi ecclesiam. Heu Deus seit quomodo hodie dantur beneficia ecclesiastica. Si quœritis quomodo puer iste habuit beneficium : sciunt responsionem, Mater sua erat familiaris episcopo, sa mere estoit fort priuee de l'euesque :, & pour les congnoissances dédit ei. Nam hodie ver'ficatur Ö? completur prophetia Esaiœ &. Populum meum exactores sui spoliauerunt, & mulleres dominates sunt eorum. Fidemus hodie super mulas, habentes duas abbatias, duos episcopatus, (Gallici, deux crosses, deux mitres) Of adhuc non sunt'contenti. Item en vn autre lieu, Entre vous mes dames (dit-il) qui faites à monsieur l'Euesque le plaisir que vous sçauez, & puis dites,  , il fera du bien à mon fils : ce sera des mieux pourueus en l'église. Item au Fueillet. 111. col. 2. Quòd hodie non dantur beneficia, non, non : sed venãuntur. Non est meum dare vobis. Antiquitus dice· bantur Prœbendœ, à Præbeo prœbes : sed hodie dici debent Emendœ, ab Emo émis : quod non est meum dare vobis. Et ceste allusion me fait souuenir d'vne autre qui est au Fueil. 100. col. 4. Secundo erit prior, abbas, commendatarius, tø* potius comedatarius, qui omnia comedit. Outreplus il les taxe souuent de simonie (à laquelle pourroyent bien aussi estre rapportées aucunes des choses susdictes) comme au Fueil. 94. col. 1. Nònne reputaûs simoniam quindo pro episcùpatu valente nouem militafacitis fasciculum plurium beneficioruma seen- dentium vsqrte ad summam nouem miiliumj tø* datis hoc pro recompensa ? Ad omnes diabolos talis recompensa. Pareillement au Fueill. 8. col. 3. Sic isti protonotarij qui habent illas dispensas ad tria, immò ad quindecim beneficia, & sunt simoniaci tø* sacrilegi : iff non cessant arripere bénéficiât incoinpatibilia : idem est es. Si vacet episcopatus, pro eo hahendo dabitur vnus grossus fasciculus

174 APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE.

aliorum beneficiorum. Primo accumulaluntur archidiácono,tus, ahhatiœ, duo prioraius, quatuor aut quinqué prcebendœ, & dabuntur hœc omnia pro recompen- satane. Et au Fueill. ioo. col. 2. Die de abusibus qui fiunt quando isti qui habent beneficia, dant illa fratri vxoris, vt Uta portionem hœreditatum fratris habeat. l'adiousteray ici ce qu'il dit an Fueillet »24. col. 3. touchant les moines aussi estans ordinairement en la poursuite de quelques proces au palais de Paris : de sorte que quasi des quatre qu'on rencontre, Γνη est moine: & si on leur demande qu'ils font là, un clericus respondra, Nostre chapitre est bandé contre le doyen, contre l'euesque, contre les autres officiers : & ie vay après les queues de messieurs pour ceste affaire. Et toy maistre moine que fais tu ici ? le plaide vne abbaye de huict cents liures de rente pour mon maistre. El toy moine blanc ? le plaide vne petite priore pour moy. Et Yous mendians, qui n'auez terre, ni sillon, que battez-vous ici le paue ? Le roys nous a octroyé du sel, du bois, & autres choses : mais ses officiers les nous dénient. Ou bien, Vn tel curé par son auarice & enuie nous veult empescher la sepulture & la dernière volonté d'vn qui est mort ces iours passez : tellement qu'il nous est force d'en venir à la cour.

II. Barelete ne s'attache pas si souuent à ces deux vices des ecclésiastiques que les autres : mais en un endroit il fait vn conte fort plaisant dVn docteur Vénitien, lequel ayant esté surpris sur le faict auec une escïaue, par la mais- tresse d'icelle, & par ce prescheur Barelete (que la maistresse auoit enuoyé quérir pour voir le passe-temps : car il preschoit lors à Venise) estant repris du peché qu'il commettoit auec grand scandale, ne donna autre response sinon qu'il estoit si amoureux de ceste esclaue qu'il doutoit s'il estoit homme ou beste. Ce prescheur crie aussi contre les nonnains qui font des bastards : de quoy les deux autres ne parlent point, que ie sçache. Mais Pontanus nous raconte nommeement des monastères de nonnains à Valence en Espagne, qu'il n'y auoit point de difference entr'iceux & les bordeaux. Et a-fin qu'on ne tienne suspect ce que ie di, voici ses propres mots, en son traité. De im- manitate, chap. 17. Falentiœ in Hispânia citeriore ædes quœdam sacrœ Vestaliúmque monasteria ita quidem patent amatoribus vt instar lupanariorum sint. Mais il adio uste bien d'auantage, c'est que les nonnains (parlant en general) ou font mourir leur frui et estant encore en leur corps, par le moyen de quelques bruuages : ou bien estrangîent leur enfant si tost qu'il est sorti, & puis le vont enseuelir en quelque retrai  t.

APOLOGIE POUR HERODOTE. 175

Although the extract which follows does not relate to the vices of the priests, the crimes it discloses are so remarkable that I venture to give it place :

Quant aux incestes, il est certain qu'il s'en trouuera aussi plus d'exemples d'Italie que d'autres pays, non seulement de nostre temps, mais aussi de ce temps-la qu'ont esté les susdicts prescheurs. Et ce qui rend ceci vraysem- blable, est le malheureux prouerbe qui est la vsité touchant les peres qui ont des filles prestes à marier. Mais i'ay pris guarde encores à vne autre chose, c'est qu'il se trouue plus d'incestes commis (soit en vn lieu, soit en l'autre) par grands seigneurs, ou pour le moins par personnes de marque, que par autres. Sur quoy il mesouuient de ce que Pont anus raconte de Sigismond Mattest a seigneur de la Romagniole, qu'il eut vn enfant de sa prqpre fille. Bien est-il vray que les autres prodigieuses vilanies de cest homme (si homme doit estre appelé) descrites au lieu mesme par celuy que ie vien de nommer, guardent qu'on ne s'esmerueille beaucoup de tel inceste. Car il recite qu'il voulut abuser aussi de son propre fils nommé Robert : & l'eust faict si le fils n'eust tiré la dague sur luy pour eschapper. Aussi que voulant iouir d'vne honneste dame Allemande qui passoit par ses terres pour aller à Rpmme, quand il veit qu'il n*en pouuoit venir à bout, il luy couppa la gorge, & puis en iouit.* Et que trouuera-on maintenant en Hérodote, qui soit ie ne di pas incroyable, mais seulement difficile à croire ? (vol. ι, ρ. 11 ?).

  • Already in another place I have spoken at some length of corpse pro-

fanation. Strange as it may seem, this most unnatural of crimes has afforded food to more than one writer of fiction. The fourth tale in ft Conbito . SfargfrøføltO has for argument: Cecchio da Rapalta s'invaghisce di Emilia, dalla quale trascuralo veggendosi, ¿e toglie la vita : indi con la morta si giace, ed alla disperazione ridotto, e la giustizia temendo, se stesso uccide. The subject of M. Kératy's remarkable, but most tedious and long drawn-out novel, %H ÜmtterJ tø& fteommmotr, is identical with the case which I have reproduced at p. 413 of the  Eifcrorum iProïïtbttorum.

Jj6 NOTICE OF HENRI ESTIENE.

Henri Estiene-, or Estienne, second of the name, known as Henricus Stephanus, and sometimes styled le Grand Henri, was the son of the celebrated printer Robert Estiene. He was born at Paris in 1528, and died at Lyons, in March, 1598. At an early age his genius displayed itself, and through the solicitude of his excellent father, the care of able teachers, and by his own industry, he soon acquired a thorough know- ledge of Greek and Latin, and of the literature of the ancients. By the aid of the numerous journies which he made, he rendered himself master of the leading modern languages of Europe, as well as of some of those of the East. His eru- dition indeed was as vast as his general knowledge. For details of his useful and laborious career, as well as for the numerous works published, written, or edited by him, consult  ïe rittlprtmme ïieô (BSttimtt (already mentioned), and the excellent notice in the ^OUÍtfto Mo^tUfibít ΘίϊάΐαΙ*.

Before parting with Henri Estiene it may not be inappropri- ate to note the connection which existed between him and our own Sir Philip Sidney, who " highly esteemed " him, and " kindly entertained him in his trauaile." This has been pointed out by Estiene's translator in The Epistle dedicatorie to 21

røorlii øf WStovtoms*

LE CABINET DV ROY DE FRANCE. I77

it Cabinet Öb &0p bt ffmtlt, dans leqvel il y a trois Perles précieuses d'inestimable valeur : Par le moyen desquelles sa Maiesté s'en va le premier Monarque du monde, h ses suiets du tout soulagez, m.d.lxxxi.

Small 8vo. ; pp. 647 with 26 unnumbered ; divided into 3 books, each book having a full title page, but the paging runs through. There are two other editions, both in 8vo., of 1582, and Londres 1624. De Bure* says that the second edition is "sans ancuns changemens, de sorte que l'on fait autant de cas d'une édition que de l'autre ; elles sont d'ailleurs également rares." Bauer qualifies the first edition as " per- rarus."-^ " Ce livre a été supprimé par ordre de la cour, parce qu'il révèle plusieurs secrets relatifs au roi et à l'état."^ Its authorship has, by many bibliographers, been attributed to Nicolas Froumenteau, but it is now generally admitted to- be from the pen of Nicolas Barnaud,^" of Crest, in Dau- phiné, whose initials, N. D. C, are introduced in the heading of the dedication to King Henry HI. of France.

  • 33ibltograj»|te fttøtracttbt, art. 5248.

t 2Kbltat$eca, Sup., Vol. 2, p. 95.

X .  №  m Un, vol. ι, ρ. 152.

% . & (©ubragetf fínortgmeíí, vol. i, col. 470. Some writers have sup- posed Barnaud and Froumenteau to be one and the same person, see  ίο? grappe  (Michaud), vol. 15, p. 245.

y

178 LE CABINET DV ROY DE PRANCE.

Le Cabinet dv Roi de France is a most bitter and violent satire against the abuses prevalent in France during the reign of Henry III. The three books into which the work is divided are devoted respectively to the Clergy, the Nobles, and the People, " les trois perles ;" the most savage abuse however, which runs more or less throughout the entire work, is directed against the Church. It would not be safe to place implicit reliance* upon the revelations given, but, if not strictly true, they have undoubtedly a fair basis of truth, and are at any rate curious and noteworthy. The author under- takes to prove in actual figures, put in the form of tables at the end of each chapter, the number of " Sodomites, Bar- dadles, Paillardes mariées, Filles putains, Bastards, Maquerelles, Maquereaux, Non nains ou Religieuses putains," supported by the members of each grade of the Church. A few extracts will serve to show the spirit in which the work is conceived :

De taxer tous les Cardinaux & Archeuesques du peché de Sodomie, ia à Dieu ne plaise, car il y a des Prélats, Princes du sang, qui aimeroyent mieux mourir, que d'y auoir pensé,  si ie le sauois véritablement, ie les tirerois hors ligne, aussi bië que ie fais leurs paillardes, bastards, maquereaux & maquerelles, encore qu'à la vérité ie soye tres-humble & tres-affect i oné seruiteur du moindre de leurs maisons : mais quand il est question de dire vérité, & faire sur ce vne preuue, quel besoin est-il de la palier ? de leur donner à chacun six putains, c'est bien peu, ie le veux bien toutesfoïs, pouraeu que les femmes adulteres n'y soient comprises, mais par qui prouuer ce nombre de six ? Par

  • Catalogue "Ut ïeber, vol. a, art. 4015.

LE CABINET DV ROY DE PRANCE. 179

les Cardinaux mesmes : ils ne sont pas si hõteux qu'ils n'en puissent confesser d'auantage. Le plus ancien de leur College en a abusé pour vne année plus de trente. 11 y a Cardinal qui ne fait que venir, par maniere de dire, & qui est des plus ieunes, lequel ne fait autre chose que seruir d' estalo à rechange, les trois premiers mois qu'il prit le chapeau rouge, qui sont les iours de sa plus grade continence, encore Cardinaliza-il deux femmes mariées, & trois ieunes Damoiselles, comment prouuer cela ? par luy mesme : màis, dira quelqu'vn, estimez-vous qu'vn Prince & Prélat vueille ainsi mal parler de sa Prelature Ì c'est bien à propos, il n'y a profession auiourd'huy plus conuenable à vn Cardinal, que d' esuertuer, & se bien faire valoir en la Poligamie. Qui est celuy si téméraire qui osast entreprendre d'attaquer sa brayette d'incapacité, pour obtenir ses benefices ? vn tel homme seroit bien de son pays (comme l'on dit en cõmun prouerbe) mais au cõtraire, vn haut-de chausse bië poligamie, est le premier & principal signe ou degré pour paruenir en quelque dignité, (p. 67).

An plus grand & plus profond bourdeau de France, les vilains & sales propos lascifs ne s'y tiennent, comme on fait en la maison d'vn cardinal, i'appelle sur ce à tesmoins tous ceux qui les fréquentent, là dedans de iour & de nuict vous ne voyez autre chose, qu'amener de chair fraîche, ainsi appellët-ils les poures filles & femmes qu'ils desbauchent, & après qu'ils soiët preuenus de vérole, ou bouche-chancreuse. (p. 71).

Si on demande pourquoy on ne baille autant de putains aux Euesques qu'aux Cardinaux, la response est facile : Car entre les Euesques la sobriété de paillar- dise y est plus manifeste, entant que par hypocrisie ou autrement les vns vueillent paroistre plus chastes que les autres. Dauantage entre si grand nombre d'Euesques, se treuuent trop plus de Sodomites qu'entre les Cardinaux, aussi la raison y est toute apparente, y ayant, comme il y a, trop plus d'Eues- ques que de Cardinaux. D'obiecter qu'il est impossible qu'vn Euesque puisse auoir tant de putains, à cause qu'vn bon  se contente bien d'vne seule femme, cela est bien vray : mais le Célibat a cela de peculier que si tost qu'il est enfrâint, il se desborde à toutes restes. Ainsi s'il y a six mil personnes au moindre Diocese, pour déposer de la vérité de ceste preuue, c'est à dire, qu'il y en a plus de cinq cens mil en France dignes d'en porter tesmoignage. (p. 77).

The author does not restrict himself to abusing the male members of the church; at p. 108 we read the following con- cerning the nuns :

18o LE CABINET DV ROY DE FRANCE.

De mettre aussi en ligne de compte tous ceux qui leur font emplir le ventre, il n'est pas necessaire : car nostre intention n'est que de representer icy ceux qui viuent aux despens du Crucifix. Bien est vray que ces bonnes Dames ont vn grand nombre de seruiteurs & valets domestiques : le nombre d'iceux est de quatre mil, & ont plus de quatre mil paillardes, sans les prebendes qu'ils pren- nent des bonnes Dames, selon que le temps & les occasions de leur Religion le leur permettent, qu'on reduit à la moitié.

Par tous les nombres & preuues dessusdites, nous entendons comprendre les nourrisses des bastards, encore que le nombre en soit merueilleusement grand, & les eussions volontiers particularisées : mais quoy, les Bordeaux de telles canailles sont desia remplis de tant de bouches, que cela offusqueroit aucune- ment la clairté que nous pretendons de donner sur l'admirable & estrange despense que l'Eglise supporte pour leur nourriture : aussi qu'en la generation & production de tant de bastards, faut bien presumer, que toutes les meres qui les font, ne les nourrissent pas : comme pour exemple, pensez qu'il feroit beau voir si les Nonnains auoyent pendu à leurs mammelles tant d'enfans qu'ils produisent chacun an. Cela ne se pourroit faire, sans donner l'alarme bië chaude aux poures superstitieux, & autres acariastres, qui se sont endormis sur la saincteté du Cœlibat} par la tolerance duquel leurs maisons ont esté contaminées des plus vilaines paillardises & incestes, que la terre porta onques, & eux mesmes pour toute recompense, sont demeurez coupauds: leurs enfans masles, s'ils ont esté promeus aux degrez de Clericature, ont esté bougres, Sodomites, ou paillards, & leurs filles, si elles ont esté religieuses, putains & paillardes, que si quelques vnes en ont esté exëptes, elles sont bruslees en leur concupiscences. Les peres & meres qui viuent encore auiourd'huy, peuuení voir par cest estât, l'honorable estât & vocation en laquelle ils ont mis leurs poures fils & filles. Peres & meres qui succéderez après, contemplez icy, à leur exemple, ou & comment vous deuez colloquer les vostres, que la defiance de pouuoir nourrir & esleuer vos enfans ne soit cause de la totale perdition d'iceux : vous voyez comme il en prend icy à ces poures Religieuses, qui pour l'an de cest estât ont mis en ce monde si grand nombre de bastards. Parquoy cy

Nonnains & Religieuses. xiMivC.

Bastards ou bastardes. m M.

Maquerelles. ni M.

Valets & seruiteurs. iiM.

Leurs Paillardes.  M.

Leurs Bastards. vu .

NOTICE OF NICOLAS BARNAUD. l8l

Nicolas Barnaud, of Crest in Dauphiné, lived during the latter half of the i6th century, although the date of his birth or death is unknown. He travelled in France, Spain, Ger- many and Switzerland in search of the philosopher's stone; and wrote numerous works chiefly on astrology, a list of which, together with an interesting article upon him will be found in Prosper Marchanda BtCttOMÙ*♦*

Wít bt Jbrípton bt , Évêque de Pistoie et Prato, et réformateur du Catholicisme, en Toscane, sous le règne de Leopold ; composée sur les manuscrits autographes de ce prélat et d'autres personages célèbres du siècle dernier, et suivie de pièces justificatives, tirées des archives de M. Le Commandeur Lapo de Ricci, à Florence : Par De Potter, Auteur de L'Esprit de l'Église. Bruxelles H. Tarlier, Libraire Éditeur, Rue de la Montagne, № 306.  dccc xxv.

8vo.; 3 vols.; pp. vol. 1, xiv and 516, vol. 2, 495, vol. 3, 451 ; fleuron with monogram H. T. on title pages; portrait of Ricci, and 3 facsimiles.

The life of Scipion de Ricci finds place in this catalogue on account of the astounding revelations which it contains of the

  • See also Clement's 33tbUotf>eque Curteuft, vol. 2, p. 438 ¡ Jloubelle 33to*

grappe Ønuralt, vol.4, col. 526, vol. 18, col. 952.

182 VIE DE SCIPION DE RICCI.

incredulity and libertinism of the monks and nuns of Tuscany, extracted by De Potter from original documents in the Ricci archives, and given by him in the exact Italian words. As may be readily supposed, the publication- of such exposures caused great umbrage at Rome, and instructions were at once dispatched to the Belgian clergy to procure and destroy every obtainable copy of the work, by which the first edition has become exceedingly scarce.* De Potter, who was in Italy at the time, considered his liberty in peril, and quitted the country with all speed. The first edition having been so quickly disposed of, a second was proposed, but through the influence of the church it was considerably modified; the text, it is true, was amplified, but objectionable sentences were cut out, and most of the original Italian passages entirely omitted .-f· This edition is entitled : WÚ tt aïlemotreö  &(0 * * &. Paris Imprimerie de J. Tastu, &c. 1826, 4 vols., 8vo., with portrait.

  • The work was definitely condemned Nov. 26, 1826. The life of Ricci in

Italian, published by Angenore Gelli, at Florence, in 1865, has also been prohibited by the Church of Rome. See   iProïjibttorum, Romae, mdccclxxvi» pp. 256, 275. De Potter's book was also forbidden in France. See Catalogue Uè üufarcïjc, art. 558.

t " La 2e édition est plus complète que la 1« seulement le texte italien, au bas des pages, manque. Voila ce qui m'a permis de réduire les 3 vol. in 8° en 4 vol. in 180." M.S. Letter of De Potter, dated Bruxelles, May 5, 1851.

VIE DE SCIPION DE RICCI. 183

Scipion de Ricci was consecrated bishop of Pistoja and Prato the 24th June, 1780. He found the religious orders of his diocese steeped in ignorance and immorality, but in spite of the opposition he encountered from all quarters, especially from Rome, he set about reforming these abuses. " Mi venivano intanto (he writes) per ogni parte nuovi ris- contri deir abuso che si faceva dai frati domenicani della loro autorità sulle monache, della indecente libertà con cui si trattenevano con esse, parlandosi della moglie del provinciale, delF amica del confessore, con quella franchezza, che forse non si userebbe tra persone affatto mondane." Every shop in Prato resounded with the infamies of the priests who openly kept mistresses. " Ogni vil femminuccia solita di praticare i parlatorj delle monache, e di prestare dei segreti servigj, avea qualche aneddoto da raccontare." Plays were acted in the nunneries, and a lady declared that she had seen La vedova scaltra of Goldoni much better rendered by the nuns of St. Clement than at any theatre. The monks lived in sloth and ignorance, neglecting the libraries of the convents, and fre- quently not even knowing where the books were kept. At the convent of the " paolotti " of Pistoja, " ricercando io (says Ricci) delia libreria, mi disse apertamente uno di essi, che se cercavo dei vaso destinato a tal' uso, me lo avrebbe additato, ma che s'io cercavo dei libri che si conservassero a conimi* uso e vantaggio, egli non sapeva additarmi che il calendario nella sagrestia, e il lunario in cucina.**

184 VIE DE SCIPION DE RICCI.

But the vilest hot bed of the whole diocese was the Domican Convent of St. Catherine at Prato, the inmates of which Ricci caused to be thoroughly interrogated, and two of the most depraved sisters Caterina Irene Buonamici and Clodesinde Spighi he had removed to Florence. Their confessions are re- markable, and the most salient points must be given in their own words. But it is a particularity worthy of notice that throughout the whole examination they avoid inculpating their, spiritual directors, and constantly maintain that the perverse doctrines which they professed, and the turpitudes which they practised came to them by intuition and were riot inculcated by the monks. This nevertheless there is every reason to doubt.

Si le lecteur est curieux de savoir (writes De Potter) comment les confes- seurs dominicains préparoient peu à peu la séduction des religieuses, des novices et des demoiselles qui étoient placées comme pensionnaires dans les couvents qu'ils dirigeoient, en ne cessant de présenter à leur imagination des images obscènes ou lascives, il peut lire les quatre pièces suivantes, dont l'intérêt ne saur oit être contesté, et dont les originaux se trouvent dans les ¡archives Ricci. Cela fera, sans doute, faire de sérieuses réflexions à tous ceux dont la femme, la sœur, les filles sont soumises à l'immorale et pernicieuse pratique de la confession auriculaire.

A " pensionnaire " of the convent of St. George at Prato deposed, in 1781» as follows :

Essendosi accusata di avere avuto un pensiero di sapere come poteva nascere una creatura, il P. Game brani domenicano, attuai confessore ordinario di S.

VIE DE SCIPION DE RICCI. 185

Caterina della suddetta città di Prato, in cui ritrovavasi in qualità d'educanda, gli rispose che s'allargano le ginocchia ed esce la creatura ;

Avendo altra volta domandato al suddetto P. Gamberani cosa voleva dire fornicare, gli rispose : Se aveva mai veduto quelli che infornano il pane, che mettono e levano, et che ne tirasse lei la consequenza j

Avere esso P. confessore domandato più volte all' infrascritta del come se la passava, riguardo agi' incomodi che soffrono le donne ogni mese, per proveder- gli medicine per promuovergli, come infatti glieni providde j

Avere ella portato al suddetto saluti per altre, ed averli riportati e ricevuti ancora ella stessa per mezzo di altre, e tutto ciò nell atto della confessione ed in confessionario ;

Di più, fuori di confessione, avergli fatto de' toccamenti di mano con pres- sioni più volte, quando ha avuto luogo di trattarla dentro il monastero, e di avere ancora con essa tenuto altri discorsi, de' quali l'infrascritta non intese il significato, benché sospettasse che fossero di materie disoneste.

A sister in the convent of St. Vincent at Prato (ι781) made the following statement :

Che in atto di confessione avendo richiesto al P. Quaretti domenicano, con- fessore come priore, di fare qualche mortificazione e segnatamente la disciplina, glie la proibì mettendola in ridicolo con termini aventi relazione alle parti disoneste j

Che dopo la confessione essendosi trattenuta in confessionario a domandargli se stava bene e se aveva riposato, gli rispose con termini indicanti di avere dormito affatto nudo e scoperto;

Di avere fatto con esso nell' istesso confessionario, sebbene fuori di con- fessione, discorsi affetuosi per più volte, ma con termini proprj ed onesti j

Finalmente di avere ricevuto dal suddetto in varie occasioni alcuni scherzi positivamente improprj ed atti disonesti, e di avere sentito alcuni termini e parole non troppo proprie.

Another sister of the same convent affirmed (1782) :

Come essendosi trattenuta nel confessionario col P. Quaretti, domenicano, Ζ

l86 VIE DE SCIPION DE RICCI.

attuale confessore ordinario, in circostanza ancora di non essersi confessata né di volersi confessare, ebbe occasione di sentire da esso alcune proposizioni troppo avvanzate e disoneste, riguardanti i moti delle parti immodeste, e fuori ancora del confessionario gli furono dal suddetto replicate in occasione di discorsi familiari j

Che nel medesimo confessionario dal P. Vi retti, pure domenicano ed attuale confessore ordinario, senti discorsi molto affettuosi, sebbene con termini onesti, quali però gli diedero motivo di sospettare male, per avere dopo sentito dall' istesso alcune espressioni non troppo decenti e disoneste.

The fourth deposition (178a) is from another sister of the same convent ; she stated :

Che essendosi più volte trattenuta in confessionario, sebbene senza intenzi- one di confessarsi, col P. Andrea Tommaso Potentini, confessore ordinario come priore, sentì dal medesimo discorsi affettuosi, che furono immediatamente seguiti da toccamenti di mano.

But to return to the interrogation of the sisters Buonamici and Spighi. They unhesitatingly denied the immortality of the soul, the existence of a future state, the divinity of Christ ; they ridiculed the sacraments, and even made the most filthy and sacrilegious use of the consecrated wafer : " le stesse due religiose Buonamici e Spighi, per colmo di loro scelleratezza, abbiano abusato della sacra ostia, con essersela cavata di bocca nel!' atto della comunione, e di poi quella applicata alle parti pudende (this with the idea of having carnal connexion with Christ), ed averla infine gettata nel necessario."

Buonamici seems to have been a woman of strong intellect ;

VIE DE SCIPION DE RICCI. 187

she had seduced Spighi, and, indeed, several other sisters ; on being asked :

Se oltre le accennate quattro religiose, abbia insegnato ad altre la sua dot" trina ? R. Di non avere insegnato ad altre che ad una secolare, che era piccola, di sette anni in circa, esercitare il voto della castità, con dirle che quando si toccava le vergogne (toccarsi qui, accennando le parte pudende), doveva invO' care lo Spirito Santo, con dire : Spirito Santo, amore, venite nel mio cuore.

I. All' altre religiose, cosa le insegnò fare per indurle al suo partito ?—R. Dicevo che era bene il farle, e che erano obbligate a farle, per adempire il voto della castità.

I. Che cosa dovevano fare per adempire il voto della castità ?—R. Toccarsi le vergogne, unirsi con gl' uomini, specialmente coi ministri della chiesa, e unirsi tra di loro, acciò vi sia carità fraterna.

I. Lei ha fatto queste impurità co' ministri ?—R. Nò, signore.

I. Ha fatto queste impurità con religiose ?—R. Si.

I. Che impurità ha commesse con le religiose ?-—R. Toccamenti vicen- devoli, colle mani, e colla persona.

Sister Spighi was in no way inferior in iniquity to her teacher, and indeed in her answers, she surpassed her in im- modesty and barefacedness. She boldly declared that the only paradise was in this life, and that it consisted in fruition with God. Thus she explained her doctrine :

I. In che consiste la fruizione di Dio ?—R. Neil' unirsi a Dio.

I. Come si fa l'unione con Dio ?—R. Mediante l'uomo, nel quale ci neon- osco Iddio.

I. Quest' unione con Dio mediante l'uomo come si fa ?—R. Vuole che le ne dia un segno ? (allora si è alzata da sedere, ed ha alzato la tonaca alla presenza della madre priora e madre sindaca, ed io inorridito l'ho sgridata, e si è rimessa a sedere e ha detto) Queste sono opere corrispondenti alla legge di Dio.

188 VIE DE SCIPION DE RICCI.

I. Da chi ha imparata questa pessima dottrina e quest' opere ?—R. L'ho imparate nel libro della verità.

I. Quale è questo libro della verità ?—R. Iddio medesimo è la verità, le ho imparate da lui.............

I. Se abbia almeno discorso di queste cose impure, con preti, con secolari,  frati, per passare il tempo ?—R. Ci ho discorso certo.

I. Con chi ha discorso ?—R. Con una persona ecclesiastica j era un prete.

I. Chi era questo prete ?—R. Mi pare che ci chiamasse Giovanni Bottello.

I. Se questo Bottello, oltre i discorsi impuri, abbia fatto cetti disonesti ?— R. Certo.

I. Che atti ha fatto ?—R. Toccai le sue parti vergognose.

I. Per quanto tempo ha durato ?—R. Queste cose saranno occorse quattro  cinque volte, in quattro  cinque mesi.

I. In che luogo seguivano questi toccamenti ?—R. Alle grate, mai alla porta.

I. Che abbia avute altre amicizie )—R. Qua dentro, ebbi qualche cosa. I. Cosa ebbe ?—R. Di questi disonesti toccamenti. I. Con chi seguirono ?—R. Con uno qui di servizio,

I. Chi era quest* uno ?—R. Con un Marini, per mome Giuseppe, mi pare. I. Che toccamenti seguirono ì—R. Toccamenti, vicendevoli alle vergogne, alle parti disoneste, e fu cinque anni sono, circa.

Sister Spighi further confessed having had similar intercourse with two confessors, fathers Orlandi and Gamberani :

I. Furono i confessori che fecero a lei discorsi, e azioni indecenti ì—R. Nò j io sono stata che li ho fatti a loro.

I. Che discorsi, e che azioni furono ?—R. Di alzarmi i panni, come ho fatto dianzi, e di richiederli loro.

I. Dove fu questo ?—R. Alla grata della sagrestia.

I. Quante volte seguì questo ì—R. L'atto d'alzarsi i pesanni due volte al padre Orlandi, e una volta al secondo ¡ d'averli richiesti molte volte, tanto l'uno, quanto l'altro,, ma più il secondo, che il primo.

I. Aderirono Ì confessori alle richieste ?—R. Signor, nò.

I. Aderirono alle azioni disonestie ΗNò, signore.

VIE DE SCIPION DE RICCI. 189

Self pollution and tribadism were also among her practices :

I. Fa mai orazione ?—R. Io la f o quella che intendo io.

I. Qual' è quella orazione che intende lei?—R. D'unirmi a Dio con la volunta e coli' azione, per quanto viene da me.

J. Con che azioni intende d'unirsi con Dio ?—R. Con fare dei toccamenti disonesti.

I. Li fa spesso ?—R. Sì, più volte al giorno.

I. Li fa da se,  con altri ?—R. Ora li f o da me, perchè non posso con altri.

I. Perii passato, con chi li faceva?—R. Con quella monaca Sr Caterina Irene.*

It must be owned that these turpitudes surpass in enormity anything which the most depraved or perverted brain could imagine. Fact is indeed stranger than fiction. The passages omitted from the second edition have been issued in a separate form : Œjrtratt  la bit fte Cripton bt »tøf, ou Supplement contenant tous les retranchements exigés par la police française dans la contrefaçon faite à Paris. Bruxelles, ιδαό.φ

Father Chiniquy^ speaks of the abominations in Ricci's memoirs as : " the deluge of corruption flowing from the confessional, even among the most perfect of Rome's fol-

  • The whole of the above extracts are contained in the first vol. of the

original 3 vol. edition, f ÍStMmjrrapljíc fceá <©ubrasstá rtlattfcî à Tumour, &c, vol. 6, p. 412. X ( Príeát, tfje  anïf tje Confwííítonal, Montreal edition, p. 96.

Seep. 137, ante.

IÇO ΥΙΕ DE SCIPION DE RICCI.

lowers, the monks and the nuns. The priests have never dared to deny a single iota of those terrible revelations.*

  • On the contrary, the defenders of the Church of Rome have been con-

strained to admit that monastic disorders have been of constant occurrence. One of Rome's latest and most fervent apologists, M. Paul Féval, writes : " Rome était alors (1539) en défiance légitime contre certains ordres religieux dont la décadence avait fourni tant de prétextes à la rébellion et dont les mem- bres apostats désertaient l'armée de la foi pour grossir effrontément le bataillon de l'hérésie. Le mal était si grand dans les cloîtres et la chute si profonde que le cardinal Guiddiccioni avait ouvert l'avis de supprimer tous les ordres à l'exception de quatre." %\, . 65. That the baneful influence exercised by the priests over the benighted nuns is as powerful as it was of yore, and that the improper intercourse between them is not altogether a thing of the past we have proof in the following testimony of Mme. Enrichetta Caracciolo : " La passion des religieuses pour les prêtres et pour les moines est incroyable. Ce qui leur fait surtout aimer leur prison, c'est la liberté illimitée dont elles jouissent de voir ceux qu'elles affectionnent et de leur écrire. Cette liberté les attache tellement au couvent, qu'elles sont malheur- euses lorsque, pour cause de maladie grave, ou avant de prendre le voile, elles doivent passer quelque temps au sein de leur famille, auprès de leur père, de leur mère et de leurs frères. Car il n'est pas probable que les parents permettent à une jeune personne de passer plusieurs heures de la journée dans de mystérieux entretiens avec un prêtre ou un moine et d'entretenir avec lui une correspondance continuelle." 0Î%$tm$ tteä.Coubmtä fce flapïftf, p. 113. Before passing from the subject of monastic depravity in Italy, I would call the attention of my readers to the long train of amorous adventures, accompanied by jealousy, treachery and murder, which, two centuries before Ricci's time, took place in the convent of Santo-Archangelo, at Naples, crimes which led to the final abolition of that institution, and to the judicial murder of its principal inmates. It forms a history equally terrible, but even more important than that of Virginie de Ley va, already mentioned (p. 72, ante), more personages, and of higher rank, being implicated. The volume, which is worthy of a place beside De Potter's life of Ricci, is intitled : %t Cowbrøt ite 33aïatlf), chronique du seizième siècle, extraite des archives de Naples> tø*c. Paris,  dc  xxtx.

FACTUM POUR LES RELIGIEUSES DE S. CATHERINE. ICI

partum pour les ftdtgteuseø be *♦ Catherine Les-

Provins, contre les Peres Cordeliers. A. Doregnal, Chez Dierick Braessem. clo ld  lxxix,

i2mo. ; pp. 210 (the last page being printed in error 120) with 3 unnumbered pages of Table ; fleuron of a basket of fruit on title page ; well printed in a clear fine type.

The original edition was published in 1668, in 4to., without place or date.* There is another edition, i2mo., "suivi de la Toilette de Tarchevêque de Sens, ou Réponse au Factum. Doregnal." Leber "f- takes the word Doregnal to be an anagram for L'unge (Tor, the publisher's sign. The work was published in France, and not by the Elzeviers.^

The Factum is attributed to Alexandre Varet, grand vicaire de Sens ; and the Toilette to Jean Burluguay.

The Factum has been rendered into English as :

€bt $Umm Complaint £ffamöt tôt jfrparø* Being

The Charge given in to the Court of France, by the Nunns of St. Katherine near Provins, against the Fathers Cordeliers their Confessours. Several times Printed in French ; And Now Faithfully done into English. London, Printed by E. H. for Robert Pawlett, at the Bible in Chancery-Lane near Fleet-street, 1676.

  • Utr· * Sfcumgmtf, vol. a, col. 420. t Catalogue, art. 796.

1 filmait*  l'Imprimerie  <№ebter, p. 450.

igi THE NUNNS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE FRYARS.

Small 8vo. ; pp. 40 unnumbered of title, Epistle Dedi- catori/, addressed to Bell almo, and signed Lælio, The Trans- lator to the Reader, and Chapter-Act, then 186, and 6 unnum- bered of Contents and Catalogue of Books, irf all 232 pp. ; title enclosed in double lines; the colophon bears: "Jan. 5. 167J. Imprimatur, Geo. Hooper. Ex Æd. Lambethan." There is a frontispiece.* Gay-f- notices this edition, but mis- spells the sixth word of the title, giving it as " Fryards."

The book was reprinted at the cost of Sir Thomas Phillips, in small 8vo. (counts 4) ; divided into 2 parts, the second part beginning with section xii, p. 105, of the original ; pp. 119, not including the title page to the second part. The title pages, although printed from that of the original edition, differ in the following respects: they are not sur- rounded with lines ; an apostrophe is added afrer the word " Nunns," and the punctuation is slightly altered ; the words " in France " are added after " Provins," and in the impress " and " is substituted for " for ; " Part 2." is added on the title page of the second part. On the verso of the title pages we read: ·'Cheltenham : Reprinted by Alfred Harper, Free Press Office, 1865." (« 1866" on that of part 2). The whole of the matter in the original is reproduced, with ex-

  • $Hbltograp$K'¿ ¡flEfattual, Vol. 3, p. 171a.

t 2Hbttográjp|)í*  *B\xbxu$tä relatif* à 1'» $«♦, vol. $, p. 274.

THE NUNNS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE FRYARS. 193

ception of The Contents ; there are various inaccuracies, e.g., the last word in the original reads "Pastour," and in the reprint, Pastours." This edition is announced among the publications of "The Protestant Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union."

Unable longer to bear the tyranny and license of the Cordeliers* to whom they were subject, the Nuns of St. Catherine, in 1667, placed themselves under the immediate protection of the Archbishop of Sens. The misdemeanours which they laid to the charge of their oppressors were numer- ous:—systematic pervertion of the minds of the pensioners, novices, and nuns in the course of education and spiritual teaching ; sending to the nuns presents, love letters, improper books, &c. ; profanity in their sermons ; drunkenness in the confessional, and revealing the confessions of their penitents ; secret entries into the nunnery, and riotous and licentious conduct there ; marriages with the nuns ; wasting the revenue of the convent; general tyranny and injustice towards the sisters. Some of the accusations are very curious, and worth citing more at length.-f·

  • To those who would go more fully into the doctrines held by this order,

and the " bourdes & blasphemes de ceux qui ont osé comparer Sainct François à Tesus Christ," I would recommend the perusal of ' Któ Corbellerà. &c. Amsierdam, . d .  . χ χ χ ι ν. a vols., 12mo., with the charming engrav« ings designed by B. Pi cart.

t In this instance I extract from the translation in preference to the original, AA

194 THE NUNNS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE FRYARS.

i. Education of Pensioners, Novices and Nuns :

Their (the Cordeliers) first care has been to inspire the young Virgins, who were sent to pension in this House, with a spirit of Wantonness and Libertinism, and to incline them from their tenderest infancy, to love to be Caressed and

Courted......The Confessours spent their time in caressing the Pensioners

that were sent them to be instructed for the Holy Communion, and entertaining them with all kind of ridiculous stories. When upon occasion they went to the Fathers Convent, they used all kind of unseemly privacies with them, to take away from them that Modesty that is natural to their Sex/and so early enough

to dispose them to be afterwards the more complaisant to them......The

Cordeliers made it their business to divert the Mistresses of the Novices, from informing them of the obligations of a Religious Life, which they conceal'd from them with a great deal of care, that whilst they put them upon some trifling ordinary Observances, they might not lose any thing, of that spirit of Wantonness and Vanity, which they have endeavoured to inspire into them before the time of their Noviciate......

One may Judg (sic) by what has been said about the manner of the Cordeliers instructing the Novices, what measures they took with the young Professed Nuns. In effect, it were strange if they should not have taken all kind of liberty before them, since now they feared not, That Modesty would make these Maids leave the House to avoid the snares that were laid for their Chastity. A young Professed Nun, who had taken very strong resolutions (by the assistance of Gods Grace, and the Instructions of a Divine that was a friend of her Family) never to entertain any communication with the Cordeliers, upon occasion found her self engaged to see one of them, and to entertain him. And because she stood very cautiously upon her guard ·, this Cordelier gave her an hundred re- proachful taunts. He told her, that such a kind of reserved life was fit enough indeed for meer Innocents ; but that it was pity, that she should affect such prtciseness : That she. was too well made both in body and mind to hide her self from the world : That when she came to be a little more advanced in years,

as the English version is less generally known than the French, and an idea may hereby be formed of how badly the translator has performed his task.

THE NÜNNS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE FRYARS. I95

she would run into despair for not having improved her parts, or had the pleasure of being Loved ; and to this he added all that might make impression upon the inclinations of a young Virgin,

2. Books allowed, &c. :

They brought them Romances and Plays to read, and all other books that might choak the sentiments of Piety in them, and make them easily susceptible of the Affections which they endeavoured to cherish in them. Their Passion besotted them so far, as to make them give the Nuns, The Maxims of Love, The School of Maids, The Catechism of Love,* which are most abominable pieces, and which one may say, were suggested by the Devil of Impurity. Nay they have even given them books of Magick, and full of an infinite number of infamous and diabolical secrets : And one of them was so beastly, as to give a Nun a Character to write nasty things withal.f

  • The titles given in the original are : les Maximes d'amour, Γ Ecole des filles,

le Catéchisme d'amour.

f It appears that the Italian convents of the present day are not much in advance of those of France two centuries ago. I transcribe the following from theffltg&tm ìit& Coubetltøtø Jlapfø, p. 117 : "Une pensionnaire aussi belle et candide que noble de naissance me confia, (writes Mme. Enrichetta Caracciolo) sous le sceau du secret, avoir reçu, dans le confessional et des mains de son confesseur, un livre qu'elle disait très-interéssant et relatif à l'état religieux. Je lui exprimai le désir d'en connaître le titre ; voulant me montrer le livre même, elle prit la précaution de fermer le verrou de sa porte. C'était la Religieuse de Diderot, livre, comme chacun sait, plein de peintures révoltantes et plus que dangereux dans les mains d'une jeune fille innocente. Comprenant, à la conversation de la pauvre enfant, de quoi il était question dans cet ouvrage, je lui conseillai de n'en point achever la lecture et de le rendre immédiatement. Mais quelle fut ma surprise de lui entendre dire que ce n'était pas la première fois qu'elle lisait des livres semblables ! Grâce au même confesseur, elle avait déjà dévoré, même quatre fois, un autre livre scandaleux: la Chronique du couvent de Saint-jirchange à Baj ano, (vide note to p. 190, ante) livre alors

igÔ THE NUNNS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE FRYARS.

To these Books they added Instructions, which were not less impudent. They have been heard at the Grate an infinite number of times to sing Lascivious songs, and one could scarce go thither when they were there, without hearing some sottish thing or other. Once in a pretty round company, upon a refusal made by a Nun to put her fingers through to one that desired her, he fell to abuse her, and told her that she must know, that all from the middle upwards was so wholly at the disposal of that particular Friend, that he was not to be refused, neither the sight, nor the handling of them. Our Mothers Governesses have assured me, and many others of our Ladies, that the Cordeliers gave them this for a lecture that 'twas to be well practised, That the Bosome, the Mouth, and the Hand, must be their particular Friends.

3. Marriages and Entertainments :

They carried their Sacriledge yet higher, by profaning the Sacraments and the most Holy Ceremonies of the Church. They had taken care so to contrive it, that there should not be one Nun in the House, that from her Novice-ship, that is, in an age, and at a time when she durst not oppose them, had not some Cordelier for her particular friend, and with whom also she was made to con- tract a very intimate Alliance. This was done with all possible solemnity : and as for the future they were to call themselves Husband and Wife, according to an Order long since established by them in the Nunnery. When they would make any new intimates, they observed the same formalities, which were used in common Marriages.* The new Lovers addressed themselves to the

prohibé par la police bourbonienne. Moi-même je reçus d'un moine insolent une lettre par laquelle il me déclarait qu'après m'avoir vue un instant il avait

conçu ¿a douce espérance de devenir mon confesseur......Un prêtre,—qui

cependant jouissait auprès de tous de la réputation la plus intacte,—me disait, chaque fois qu'il me voyait traverser le parloir :—< Hé, ma chère, écoute ! viens ici Y Le mot chère dans la bouche d'un prêtre me soulevait le cœur et me faisait frémir."

  • Upon this point Antonio Gavin bears similar testimony concerning the

nunneries of Spain : w So every one is waiting for the Devoto, that is, a Gallant,

THE NUNNS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE PRYAR8. 197

kindred and friends of those, that they desired to encline to them. They gave pledges of their Affection, made demands and conventions : They assigned days to draw up the Articles, to make the Contracts, and at last the Marriages, where there was jollity and feasting, and a thousand impertinencies uttered. . . / . . These Solemnities, which were almost continuali, never passed without all the frolickest humours that these Fathers could put themselves in. They eat together at the Grate, They drank together in the same glass with hollow reeds : They drank healths on their knees, and broke the glasses after they had drank them off : They made use of little Artifices to lift up the Sisters Neck- cloths : They reproached them, that they were but meer geese in comparison of the Ladies of the N. Cordeliers, in whose Nunnery ten or twelve Cordeliers did constantly lodge. And after that cited the debauches, that were practised in other Houses of their Order, to excite them to imitate them.

From these Entertaines (sic) they proceeded to discourses, that were yet more licentious & impudent : They danced their parts to tunes that were sung to them : They threw off the Cordeliers habit, and dressed themselves in Suits of Satin, and trimming of coloured Ribbon : sometimes the Cordeliers gave the Nuns their habits, and the Nuns theirs to the Cordeliers : some of the Nuns at the Friers entreaty disguised themselves like seculars, and appeared before them at the Grate, with their Necks naked, and set thick with patches, as well as their faces. Others of them disguised themselves like Comedians, and acted Plays*

or Spiritual Husband, as they call him. When it is dark Evening, they send away the Devotos, and the Doors are locked up 3 so they go to their own Cham- ber to write a Billet, or Letter to the Spiritual Husband, which they send in the Morning to them, and get an Answer $ and tho' they see one another, almost every Day, for all that, they must write to one another every Morning : And these Letters of Love, they call the Recreation of the Spirit for the time, the Devotos are absent from 'em. Every Day they must give one another an Account of whatever thing they have done since the last Visit ; and indeed there are warmer expressions of Love, and Jealousie between the Nun, and the Devoto, than between real Wife and Husband." % *$ to ftapetg· (see p. , ante).

  • One of the convents in which dramatic entertainments were carried to the

I98 THE NÜNNS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE FRYARS.

before them : And others were to be seen with necklaces of Amber, yellow Tjffizny Hoods, with their hair curled upon their foreheads, and with neck-cloths, and vails of silk. In this condition they played for kisses at cards, and other idle games, tillav* a clock in the morning. They brake the very Grates to doe things with more ease, and they spent whole days and nights in these kind of entertainments.

4. Entries into the convent, and debaucheries there com- mitted :

But the Cordeliers were not satisfied with seeing the nuns at the grate, they made secret and nocturnal entries into the Garden and Monastery by the help of false keys, or ladders of cord, and in baskets, &c. They committed insolencies at the Nuns Funerals. It was ordinary for the Cordeliers before and after these kind of Ceremonies to run after those they fancied, to take them in their Arms, to kiss them, to carry them from one place to another, to play the fool with them, to go into private Nuns Chambers, to feast it there, and hefrolick, to stay whole hours there, a Father and a Nun alone by themselves, and a little pensioner set as sentinel in foolery to keep the door.*

Nothing was ever able to put a stop to these insolencies, and they have scarce ever gone in to confess the sick, or to administer the Sacraments without com- mitting new ones. There has been some of them, who after they had heard the Confession of one sick Nun, were upon a bed with others, and after they had spoken some devout words aloud to them, laid themselves down again to kiss them, and would have put tkeir hands into their bosoms......There has

greatest state of perfection—shall I say license—was that of Gandersheim, while under the direction of the celebrated Hroswitha. A pleasant sketch of this abbess and of her doings will be found in . 'Ftátateá He Pégïtft.

  • " Et quoy qu'il en soit, (writes Henri Estiene) que les monastères des

nonnains ayent commencé desia du temps des prescheurs susdicts (vide p, 169, ante) à estre des bordeaux, il appert assez par ce que nous auons tantost ouy de Pontanus." Sípoloffí« pour fterottote» vol. 1, p. 121.

THE NUNNS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE FRYARS. 199

been some of them, who after they had sate up a night with one that was dangerously ill, made themselves be carried into the Dormitory, to go into the Nuns Chambers to see, as they said, their Loves in their beds before them.

In fine, there has been of them, that, at the very foot of the Altar did violence to a Novice upon the holy day of Good Fry day it self who had been ordered to go out into the Church to take down the Reposier, according to the custom of this Monaster}· : she was kissed by force, and her neck-cloth was torn off, and she was of ten-times very rudely handled (Plusieurs attouchemens).

It is fit now to conclude the representation, that was undertaken to be given of these horrible disorders. That which remains is too abominable, and our tongue is too chast to he able to express it. Not, but that a just regret and in- dignation has made the greatest part of these Religious Sisters, find terms to declare such things in their Depositions, as to use their own words, passe all Imagination, and the bare mentioning of which makes them blush. But 'tis enough that they have been once wrote, that they are. under the hands of the Judges of the Court, and that Time has not been able to blot them out of the memory of those, who have seen them themselves in the time of their youth, or by eye-witnesses have been acquainted with the names of those Nuns, whom the Fathers have engaged in the last Act of Incontinency (Dans le dernier Desordre), with the number of Children, that they have had, the horrid contrivances (Les Artifices criminels), that they have made use of to hinder these crimes from making a noise abroad, and other abominable circumstances of most horrible cor- ruptions (Des plus horribles corruptions), which made one of the Ancientest among them, who had her self been overtaken in these dreadful debaucheries, say. That she stood in admiration how this House could still subsist, and how it came not to be swallowed up, as those miserable Cities, of which the Holy Scriptures speak.

5. Drunkenness, revealing confessions :

One called N. when Confessour, being come into the Monastery to give the last Sacrament to a Nun, was so full of Wine, that he put on the Priests Gar- ments the wrong side outward, and the Mother Infirmiere was fain to guide his hand to apply the Holy Oyle.

Another called N. Confessour too of our House came once into the Confession-

200 THE NUNNS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE PRYARS.

Ckayr so overcharged with Wine, that befell asleep, and the Nun, that was con- fessing to him after she had began a part of her Confession twice, and often endeavoured to wake him, was at last forced to withdraw.....

One called Father N. who was here about eighteen years ago, has revealed the Confessions of all the Nuns of our Community, and has given them in writing to many Cordeliers to favour their design upon those whom they had a mind to seduce, beginning these Sacrilegious writings by some passage of Holy Scripture, that was agreeable to the humour of the several respective persons. I have seen and read this paper, A Cordelier having intrusted me with this secret—I made my complaint of it to Father N. at that time Provincial the first time, who confessed to me that he had seen that writing......

Another called Father N. was continually thus distempered (drunk). A Canon of Provins called M.N. came often to sup with him, to make him drink, that he might afterwards have the pleasure of making him reveal our Confes- sions. I know it for a certainty, that he did so 5 And when he took his turn to go and divert himself with the  they carried him to his bed at eleven a clock at night upon a Hand-barrow, which was known but to two other Nuns sister N. and N. and me.*

Several specimens are given of the love-letters which these reverend confessors wrote to their penitents ; they turn gener- ally upon trifling matters suitable to the comprehension of ignorant girls, are generally interspersed with petty conceits, and abound, one and all, in protestations of affection and the most amorous expressions.

  • Corroboration of all the above crimes, with scarcely an exception, will be

found in the Vit ìtt Jktníüíl  , already noticed at p. i8r, ante.

LES IMMORALITÉS DES PRÊTRES CATHOLTaUES. 201

£eø immoralité*  Çrêtre* Cat&oltqueö par Emile

Alexis. Prix Deux Francs. En Vente chez les Prin- cipaux Libraires. 1868.

Large 120. (counts 6) ; pp. 259, followed by 2 unnumbered leaves of Table, &c. ; printed and published at Brussels. As the sale was not so rapid as the publisher anticipated, the self-same volume was shortly afterwards again offered with a

more highly spiced title : Crimes!, attentato et ïmmoralttfo' bu Cierge Catbàltque * Par E. Xilesa &c.

Rome. Imprimerie Particulière de Sa Sainteté. 1870. This is not a badly written, nor altogether an intemperate book, although it seems to have had its origin in personal motives. It is not directed against religion in general, nor even against priestcraft as a whole, but only against that part of the body whose conduct has been proved to be immoral. The author relies upon facts only, and proposes u de ne s'attacher qu' à des faits d'une incontestable véracité, à des faits qui défient toute contradiction ou malveillante interprétation ;" &c. (p. v). He adds : " Aussi tout le cours de cet ouvrage n'est qu'un composé de faits très-curieux, sur la manière dont le clergé entend les préceptes dictés par le Très-Haut. On y verra la morale la plus dépravée, l'hypocrisie la plus outrée, le dévergondage le plus ignoble, enfin tous les vices imaginables et l'on devra se dire avec nous qu'une religion si mal enseignée, et dirigée par

BB

202 LES IMMORALITÉS DES PRÊTRES CATHOLIGtUES,

de pareils ministres ne peut subsister plus longtemps, au grand détriment de la société." (p. 22).

Much of the volume consists of extracts from other authors, not a few of them Roman Catholics. The chapters of the greatest interest are those in which the author has brought together a quantity of cuttings from modern journals, &c, generally Belgian, containing crimes of every description committed by priests. It is to be regretted that names and dates are not always given. One of the most remarkable pieces in the volume is a translation of part of a sermon by Clement op Alexandria, De la procréation des enfants. As this is the only translation with which I am acquainted, and as the discourse is in itself extremely curious, I give it in extenso :

C'est aux seules personnes qué le mariage unit à juger de l'opportunité de son action. Le but de cet institution est d'avoir des enfants ; sa fin, que ces enfants soient bons : de même que le laboureur sème dans le but de se nourrir, et que la récolte est la fin de son travail. Mais le laboureur qui cultive une terre vivante est bien au-dessus de celui qui cultive une terre morte : l'un travaille seulement pour se nourrir un court espace de temps, l'autre pour entretenir et perpétuer l'univers j celui-là sème pour lui, celui-ci pour Dieu. Car c'est Dieu qui a dit : Croissez et multipliez ; " commandement d'après lequel il faut sous-entendre que l'homme devient l'image de Dieu, en tant qu'il coopère à la génération de l'homme. Toute terre n'est pas propre à recevoir la semence, ni tout laboureur à ensemencer celle même qui est propre à la recevoir. 11 ne faut ni semer sur la pierre, ni outrager la semence, qui est le principe de la génération, et la substance par laquelle la nature se conserve et se perpétue dans les voies que Dieu lui a tracées. S'écarter de ces voies, et transmettre ignominieusement la semence dans des vaisseaux qui ne lui sont pas naturellement destinés, c'est le comble de l'impiété et du crime. Voyez

A SERMON BY CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. 203

sous quelle figure le sage Moïse defend l'ensemencement d'un sol infertile ι " Vous ne mangerez, dit-il, ni de la chair du lièvre, ni de celle de l'hyène.*' Dieu ne veut point que l'homme ait rien de commun avec la nature impure de ces animaux, ni qu'il égale leur lubricité, qui est si ardente, qu'elle les excite sans cesse à la satisfaire avec une sorte de fureur stupide. La femelle du lièvre a, dit-on, autant de matrices qu'elle a vécu d'années ; ainsi, en nous défendant l'usage de la chair de cet animal, il nous défend l'amour des garçons. On dit de l'hyène qu'elle change annuellement de sexe, et de mâle devient femelle j de là vient que la défense de sa chair équivaut à celle de l'adultère. Pour moi, je suis convaincu que le sage Moïse a eu en vue, par ces défenses, de nous interdire toute ressemblance avec ces animauxj mais je ne crois point àia vérité de ces changements contre nature, dont je me suis servi seulement comme d'une image symbolique.

La nature ne peut jamais être violentée à ce point. Ce qu'elle a fait, la passion ne peut le défaire. On corrompt l'usage des choses, on n'en détruit point l'essence. Platon, dans le Phèdre, condamnant l'amour des garçons, appelle brutes ceux qui s'y livrent, parcequ'ils s'accouplent à l'exemple de ces animaux, et ensemencent un sol stérile. " C'est pourquoi, dit l'Apôtre, Dieu les a livrés aux passions de l'ignominie j car les femmes, parmi eux, ont changé l'usage qui est selon la nature en un autre qui est contre la nature, ont été embrasés de désirs les uns pour les autres, l'homme commettant avec l'homme des crimes infâmes, et recevant ainsi par eux-mêmes, la peine qui était due à leur égarement.

La nature n'a pas permis que dans les animaux, même les plus lubriques, le conduit qui sert à l'éjection des excréments pût servir de passage à la semence j l'urine descend dans la vessie, l'aliment dans le ventre, les larmes dans les yeux, le sang coule dans les veines, les oreilles s'emplissent d'une sorte de boue, les narines servent de conduit à la morve, et le canal intestinal est encore un passage commun aux excréments. Il est donc défendu à l'homme, Cela est clair et manifeste, de s'accoupler avec l'homme. Rien ne lui est permis, ni de ces ensemencements stériles ni de ces accouplements contre la nature et dans une situation qui lui est contraire, ni de ces unions monstrueuses tenant de l'homme et de la femme, et n'étant ni l'un ni l'autre ; car la nature avertit l'homme, par la constitution même de son corps, qu'elle  fait pour transmettre la semence et non pas pour la recevoir. Lorsque le

204 A SERMON BY CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA.

prophète Jérémie, ou plutôt le Saint-Esprit parlant par sa bouche, dit que la maison de Dieu est devenue semblable à la caverne de l'hyène, cette énergique allégorie veut nous faire entendre que nous devons détester le culte des idoles, qui sont des dieux morts, à qui Ton offre une nourriture morte, et que la maison du Dieu vivant serait profanée par leur présence. Ainsi Moïse a défendu l'usage de la chair de lièvre parce que cet animal, toujours en chaleur, s'accouple en toute saison et qu'il saillit naturellement sa femelle par derrière et dans une position qui paraît honteuse. La femelle conçoit tous les mois et reçoit le mâle pendant même qu'elle est pleine. Après qu'elle a mis bas, elle s'accouple indifféremment avec tous les lièvres, ne se contentant pas d'un seul mâle, et elle conçoit incontinent, quoiqu'elle allaite encore ses petits. Elle a deux conduits dans sa matrice, parce qu'un seul ne lui saurait suffire pour contenir tout ce qu'elle reçoit. Lorsque l'un de ces conduits est plein, l'autre cherche à se remplir par une inclination naturelle à tout ce qui est vide j de sorte qu'elle désire le mâle et conçoit encore, toute pleine qu'elle est. Le sage Moïse, sous cette figure allégorique, nous défend la violence des désirs, la forni- cation, l'adultère, l'impudicité. Ailleurs, parlant naturellement et sans figure, il nous dit : " Tu ne commettras point de fornication et d'adultère, tu ne t'appro- cheras point d'un homme comme d'une femme." 11 faut observer exactement ces ordres fondés sur la raison, et ne jamais rien nous permettre de contraire aux lois et aux commandements de Dieu. Platon, qui avait lu sans doute ce passage du texte sacré : '* Ils sont devenus comme des chevaux qui courent et qui hennissent après les cavales," compare les hommes qui s'abandonnent à cette insolente lubricité, et cette lubricité elle-même, à un cheval indompté, furieux et sans frein. Les anges qui entrèrent dans Sodome nous apprendront de quel genre de supplice elle est punie. Ceux qui voulurent les outrager furent dévorés avec leur ville par le feu du ciel, pour nous apprendre, par ce prodige, que le feu est le supplice des impudiques. Les châtiments infligés aux anciens pécheurs sont écrits, comme je l'ai déjà dit, pour notre instruction, afin qu'évitant les mêmes vices, nous évitions les mêmes peines.

11 faut regarder chaque garçon comme notre fils, et les femmes d "autrui comme nos propres filles. La lubricité et la gourmandise sont des passions violentes auxquelles il est difficile, mais honorable de commander. Si, comme l'avouent les stoïques, la raison ne permet pas au sage de remuer même un doigt seulement, au hasard et sans motif, combien plus les véritables sages, qui

A SERMON BY CLEMENT OP ALEXANDRIA. $

sont les chrétiens, ne doivent-ils pas s'efforcer de commander à ces parties du corps, que la nature a destinées à la génération^ On les a, je pense, appelées honteuses à cause qu'il s'en faut servir avec plus de pudeur que de toutes les autres.

Par dessus tout, il est défendu d'user des hommes commes (sic) des femmes. C'est à ce crime que Moïse fait allusion, lors qu'il dit : " qu'on ne doit point semer sur la pierre et sur les cailloux, parce que le grain n'y saurait germer et prendre racine." Ailleurs encore, obéissant au Verbe, qui parle par sa bouche, il dit ouvertement : " tu ne coucheras point avec un homme comme avec une femme, car c'est une abomination." Platon qui avait fondé sa loi sur divers passages de l'Ecriture, défend d'avoir commerce avec une autre femme que la sienne. N'approchez point de la femme de votre prochain de peur de vous souiller par ses approches. Fuyez tout commerce adultère, et par conséquent stérile. Ne semez point où vous ne voulez point récolter. N'approchez d'aucune autre femme que de la vôtre, qui peut seule légitimer vos plaisirs, par l'intention d'avoir des enfants. Respectez cette participation de l'homme à la puissance créatrice de Dieu, et n'outragez point la semence, qui en est l'instru- ment, en la répandant contre ce but.

Mais l'Ecriture a soin de nous rappeler que ces vices ne demeurent point impunis. C'est encore pour cela que le sage dit: "Eloigne de tes serviteurs les espérances vaines et honteuses ; éloigne de moi les cupidités j ne permets point que l'amour de la table et des femmes s'empare de moi."

Loin de nous donc les hommes corrompus, leurs maléfices et leur (sic) pièges ! Loin de nous les parasites, les fornicateurs, les courtisanes ou tout autre monstre semblable de volupté ! Ce n'est pas seulement la besace de Crates, mais notre viile encore, qui leur est fermée. Occupons-nous toute notre vie à semer autour de nous de bonnes œuvres. En un mot, il faut, ou connaître les femmes par le mariage, ou ne les pas connaître du tout. Ceux qui marchent sur les traces du saint apôtre ne doivent pas même connaître les noms et les mots ¡qui servent à exprimer des choses obscènes et impudiques: "Qu'on n'entende pas même parler parmi vous de fornication, ni de quelque impureté que ce soit, ni d'avarice comme il convient à des saints."

L'Ecriture sainte nous dit que la femme débauchée est semblable à un sanglier, et que celle qui est au pouvoir d'un mari est un instrument de mort pour ceux qui rapprochent j elle compare l'amour des courtisanes à un amour

20 A SERMON BY CLEMENT OP ALEXANDRIA.

de bouc et de sanglier ; elle dit que commettre clandestinement l'adultère, c'est chercher la mort $ elle maudit la maison et la ville où se commettent ces in- famies. La poésie même profane tonne hautement contre ces vices : "  ville impure et corrompue, dit-elle, ville souillée d'impudicité et de luxure !" Elle n'a point assez de termes d'admiration pour ceux qui, se conservant purs au milieu de tant de désordres, n'ont jamais honteusement désiré les plaisirs du lit d'autrui ni enfermé des hommes dans leurs infâmes embrassements.

Plusieurs pensent que les plaisirs contre-nature sont les seuls qui soient des péchés; d'autres, moins endurcis, avouent que toutes les impudicités sont effectivement des péchés j mais leurs passions les emportent, et les ténèbres servent de voile à leurs vices. Ils déshonorent la sainteté du mariage, et font eux-mêmes de leur femme une impudique courtisane j sourds à ces divines paroles : " L'homme qui sort de son lit, méprisant son âme, et disant : Qui me voit ? Les ténèbres m'environnent et les murailles me couvrent, et nul ne m'aperçoit J qui craindrai-je ! le Très-Haut ne se souviendra pas de mes péchés." Malheureux ! qui ne craint que les regards des hommes et s'imagine follement pouvoir échapper à ceux de Dieu ! II ignore ce passage de l'Ecriture : " Et cet homme n'a pas su que les yeux du Seigneur, plus lumineux que le soleil, pénètrent toutes les voies des mortels, et la profondeur des abîmes, et l'intime des cœurs et les lieux les plus cachés." Le Pédagogue les menace encore par la bouche d'Isaïe, leur disant : '* Malheur à vous, qui voulez cacher vos projets dans la profondeur de vos cœurs ! vous marchez dans les ténèbres et vous dites : qui nous voit ?" En effet, quelqu'un d'entre eux évitera peut- être la lumière sensible du monde j mais comment pourraient-ils éviter cette lumière intellectuelle qui pénètre tout ! Est-il possible, demande Heraclite, d'échapper aux rayons d'un astre qui ne se couche jamais ì N'espérons donc pas de lui échapper dans les ténèbres, car la lumière habite en nous, et les ténèbres ne Vont point comprise. Une pensée honnête et chaste est comme Un flambeau dans la nuit. Les pensées des hommes vertueux sont, dans le langage de l'Ecriture, des lampes qui ne s'endorment point. S'efforcer de cacher ses actions, c'est pécher, cela est hors de doute ; celui qui pèche fait aussitôt injure, non point tant à son prochain, s'il corrompt sa femme, qu'à lui-même, pour l'avoir corrompue. Devenu plus vil et plus méchant, il est aussi plus méprisé.

Platon, philosophe païen, appelle, dans le Philèbe, impies et ennemis de Dien

HORREURS, MASSACRES ET CRIMES DES PAPES. 207

ceux qui, en s'abandonnant au vice corrompent, autant qu'il est en leur pouvoir de le faire, le Dieu qui habite en eux j c'est-à-dire leur raison. Ceux donc qui sont sanctifiés et immortels en Dieu ne doivent plus jamais vivre mortelle- ment.

Rappelez-vous que vingt-quatre mille hommes furent punis pour avoir été impudiques, et réfléchissez que leur châtiment a été écrit pour votre instruc- tion. Ecoutez ces avertissements frappants et si souvent répétés du saint Pédagogue : a Ne va pas à la suite de tes désirs, et détourne-toi de ta volonté. Le vin et les femmes font tomber les sages et accusent les hommes sensés. Celui qui se livre aux prostituées sera dans la honte : la pourriture et les vers hériteront de lui, et il sera élevé comme un grand exemple, et son âme sera retranchée du livre de vie." Ne se lassant pas de nous instruire, il s'écrie ailleurs : " Celui qui hait la volupté se tresse une couronne qui ne se flétrira point."

M. Emile Alexis concludes his work by expressing his opinion that the only way to keep the priests chaste is to castrate them.*

From the same pen we have: ftømurø, aïlaööamö et Ctítnesí Otó Captó par Emile Alexis. Prix ¡ centimes. En Fente chez ¿es Principaux Libraires de la Capitale, de la Province et de l'Etranger, 1868. Small 8vo. ; pp. 191. A chronological epitome of papal enormities, and useful and remarkable cheap hand-book of the subject.

  • See next page.

208 CASTRATION OP POPISH PRIESTS,

&eaøonø  oïïtt'b jTor a iato to enart 'tot Caø*

trattoti Of iOptStø CalíÔtaotító, As the best way to prevent th (sic) Growth of Popery in England. London, Printed, and are to be sold by A. Baldwin in War- wicklane, 1700.

4to. (counts 2) ; pp. 26. This is not a badly written nor by any means an intemperate pamphlet. In proof of the wickedness of the priests the author remarks :

The vast heaps of Childrens Bones that were found in draw-wells, and other places about them, were speaking, tho not living Monuments of the horrid Impurity, as well as barbarous Cruelty of those pretended Religious Com- munities. To insist any more upon this, were to accuse the Age of inexcus- able Ignorance in History, and therefore we shall conclude this Introduction with an Observation from Fox's Acts and Monuments, That before the Reformation the Priests alone were computed to have 100000 Whores in this Kingdom ; which must be understood of what the Dialect of those times called Lemmans, from the French L'amante, that is, in the modern Phrase, kept Misses ; besides their promiscuous Whoredoms with the Women, they confessed, &c.

He holds that the celibacy of the priests was ordained by the Romish Church in order that they might have a firmer hold upon the women, and he adduces the following arguments in support of his assertion :

So as Catiline, when Rome was Heathen, thought it necessary to debauch the women, and then to carry on his Conspiracy against the Government by their

CASTRATION OF POPISH PRIESTS. 209

Interest, because of the influence leud Women had upon the loose Rabble, and that they could either murder their Husbands, or bring them over to his Party. Rome since it became Antichristian, hath injoin'd Celibacy upon her Clergy, that they might be rendered the more apt to debauch Women, and to make use of their Interest in order to deprive the Civil Magistrates of their Right, and to usurp the Temporal, as well as the Spiritual Sword.

1. Because they know that Nature having inclín'd all Men to propagate their Species, their Priests so and so circumstantiated, as beforementioned, could not possibly refrain from the Act, tho they were not allow'd to do it in a regular way : and therefore so many Women as they debauch, which they knew by their Circumstances and Opportunity must needs be innumerable, so many Proselytes they were sure of.

2. Because they knew that their Clergy being pamper* d and restrain'd from the use of the Marriage-Bed, must needs be more inclinable to Venery than other Men, and consequently more pleasing Companions to insatiable Women, and therefore the better fitted for the practice oí creeping into Houses, and leading captive silly Women, laden with divers Lusts, as the Apostle expresses it.

3. Because they knew that their Clergy by this means having an Opportunity of bringing to their Lure a buxom Wife, who perhaps has a sickly, weak, or absent Husband, a Green-sickness Daughter, or a wanton Maid ¿ they would by the same Means become masters in a manner to all that belong'd to the Family, have the command of their Purses, know all their Secrets and improve all to the advantage of the See of Rome, which indulged them thus with a Mahomet's Paradise.

4. By restraining their Clergy from Marriage, they knew it would make them the more impetuous to satisfy their desires ; and that they might have the better Opportunity of doing it, they are injoin'd by their Directory in confessing Women to examine them most as to the Sins of the Flesh, which they tell 'em they must discover on pain of Damnation. This being a ready Method to inflame them mutually, attended with Secrecy, and the Priests pretended Power of giving a Pardon, they knew it could not miss of the design'd Efïect ; they knew also that so many of those silly Women as they captivated, so many Champions and Advocates for their Religion they should have in Families,

 

210 CASTRATION OP POPISH PRIESTS.

Courts, or elsewhere ; for they might assure themselves that such Women would not easily part with a Religion that did so much gratify their depraved Appetites, by allowing them as many Men, tho not Husbands, as they have Priests or Confessors. And therefore many of the wise Popish Laicks have been of Opinion themselves, that no Man ought to confess a Wife but her Husband, and that a Daughter ought to be confess'd by none but her Father.

5. Another, and that none of the least Reasons why they forbid Marriage to their Ecclesiasticks, is, That if they had Wives or Families, they could not so easily be sent on Missions, and encompass Sea and Land to make Proselytes. They would not be so ready, nor so fit to engage in Assassinations, Conspiracies, and Rebellions against Princes and States, at the Commands of their Superior : Nor could they by their Whoredoms so much propagate the Interest of the great Harlot ; for, then their Wives would be so many checks and spies upon them.

From all which it seems reasonable to infer, that the best way to rid this Kingdom of Popish Priests, and to prevent the growth of Popery, is to make a Law, that all of them who shall be discover'd in England, except such as are thought fit to be allowed to Foreign Ambassadors, shall be Guelded, as they are in Sweden ; where since the same was Enacted into a Law, and practis'd upon a few of them, that Kingdom hath never been infested with Popish Clergy, or Plots, nor their Women reproach'd with want of Chastity.

To the crimes with which the priests are charged is added, in conclusion, the following curious accustion t

They not only corrupt the Morals of People themselves by such Practices and Principles as above mention'd, but bring over and encourage others to do it ; particularly those Italians, &c. who sell and print Areiins Postures ;* and in

  • A few years before the above mentioned work was issued, Aretins Postures

CASTRATION OP POPISH PRIESTS. 211

order to debauch the Minds of Women, and to make them guilty of unnatural Crims, (sic) invent and sell'em such things as Modesty forbids to name.

A few years ago this pamphlet* was reprinted by the €C Pro- testant Evangelical Mission and Electoral Union "in a tract of 32 pp. to which was added an Appendix containing the three following pieces: 1. An account, extracted from The Times of May 16, i860, of the trial, at Turin, in that year,

were actually engraved and struck off at Oxford, though probably not a single impression is at present extant. In a letter from Humphrey Prideaux to John Ellis, dated Oxford, 24 Jan. 167J, we read: "The presse hath often furnished me with something to tell you. You little thinke it hath been imployed about printeing Aretine postures. I assure you we were like to have had an edition of them from thence were it not that last night the whole worke was mard. The gentlemen of All Souls had got them engraved, and had imployed our presse to print them of. The time that was chosen for the worke was the eveneing after 4, Mr. Dean after that time never useing to come to the theator ; but last night, beeing imployed the other part of the day, he went not thither till the work was begun. How he tooke to find his presse workeing at such an imployment I leave it to you to immagin. The prints and plates he hath seased, and threatens the owners of them with expulsion j and I thinke they would deserve it were they of any other colledge then All Souls, but there I will allow them to be vertuous that are bawdy only in pictures." On the 31st of Jan. of the same year, he adds : "It was not all Aretine our gentlemen were printeing here, but some of his more famous cuts for the private use of themselfes and their friends. However, about 60 of them had gon abroad before the businesse was discovered; but Mr. Dean (John Fell, Dean of Christ Church) hath made them call them in again and commit them to the fire/' fletter* of ?1|{£ ¡PrCtøaur, pp. 30 and 32.

  • There is a copy in the British Museum, Press Mark 70s. e. ia.

212 CASE OP PATHER GURLINO, &C.

of the Carmelite priest, Gurlino, who was condemned to 7 years solitary confinement for having debauched a vast number of maidens. No less than 33 girls gave evidence against him, and he " was, it appears, in the habit of accom- panying his oral temptations with the appliances and means of obscene books and lascivious prints, to heighten and accelerate their effect. Don Gurlino was at last detected by the very means which he had employed. The relations of a young creature, one of his latest victims, found in her possession an obscene print, and insisted on her telling them from whom she had procured it. The girl refused for some time, but, yielding to their menaces, stammered forth the name of her confessor. She added, that not she alone, but likewise several of her young friends, had received from Don Gurlino immoral books and prints, and, debauched by his arts, had yielded up their honour to their Spiritual Guide? 2. A Pastoral Address by the Bishop of London. Published A.D. 1751· 3. Facts connected with the Arrest of William Murphy* at  Lancashire  July 14, 1868.

  • See also p. 9a, ante. Murphy was bom at Castletown-Conyers, Co.

Limerick, August 1, 1834; and was " murdered " at Whitehaven, 187a. A short memoir of him will be found in  £Kotlt$lg üecortt, beginning in the No. for January, 1878.

SljíÔtOrie \ &♦ Cornelio 6№ríaeitfett vã Dordrecht,  Minrebroeder binnen die Stadt van Brugghe. Inde welcke warachtelick verhaelt wert, de Dis- cipline eñ secrete penitencie of geesselinghe, die by ghebruycte met zyn Deuotarigen : de welcke veroorsaect hebbe zeer veel wonderlicke a&tVïïltWXtït, die hy te Brugge gepredict heeft, teghen am Magistraet aloaer, eñ teghen die vier Lede des Lants vã Vlaenderë : Item tegen het vergaderen vande Generale staten, eñ tegen die tsamen gheconfederierde Edel lieden: met noch veel andere gruwelicke blasphemien teghen Godt ende de na- tuere: Dock veel bloetdorsrighe Sermoenë tegë de Caluinisten, Lutherianë eñ Doopers vol leelicke leugenen eñ abominabile woordë. Inhoudende ooc twee vermaen brieuen van Stephanus Lindius, anden seluen B. Cornells in Latine gesonden, ende nu ouergheset in Nederlants : met noch sommighe Pasquillien ende Re- fereynen tusschen de Sermoenen begrepen. Ghedruct int Jaer 1569.

8vo. ; pp. 271, preceded by 8 unnumbered pages of Vóór-

214 HISTORIE VAN . CORNELIS ADRIAENSEN.

reden which begins on the verso of the title page, and fol- lowed by 2 unnumbered pages of Menden Christelicken Leser. This editto princeps, which is said to be of extreme rarity,* was probably printed at Bruges by Pieter de Clerk ; it contains Histoire van B, Cornells, and of the Discipline der Deuotarighen, pp. ι to 25, Hoe de Discipline gheopenbaert wert, &c, pp. 26 to 35, Sermons of B. Cornells, first part only, intermixed with letters of Stephanus Lindius, pp. 36 to 271. The volume is well printed in clear Gothic type ;'the pages are numbered on one side only ; the title page is enclosed in a fancy frame. This first edition may be com- pleted by a second volume, dated 1578, and bearing the in- dication " nu eerstmael in druck uytgegeven." Other editions are:

1. Delfìy Chrétien de Neuter, 1576. Contains the first part, or volume, only/f*

2. Buy ten Noirdwitz, 1578. Two parts. This edition was printed by the Flemish protestant refugees at Norwich in England, and is much esteemed.^

3. Amsterdam by Cornelis Claesz, 1607. 2 vols. The

  • There is a perfect copy in the British Museum, press mark 4887. a; and

another in the possession of a gentleman at Brussels which wants the first

SS PP· f The library of Ghent possesses a copy. X The copy in the library of Ghent wants the title page of the first vol.

HISTORIE VAN . CORNELIS ADRIAENSEN. 21 $

second volume bears : " Tweeden boeck herdruckt by Albert Bouwmeester, 1608." The illustration on the title page of the first part is curious, and, as it represents the whipping scene, I reproduce it.

4. Gedruckt 't jaer 1628. 2 vols. The colophon of the second volume, in the copy before me, bears : " Tot Deventer By Coenraet Thomassen Boeckdrucker. 1639." PP· 3^4 and 494, including titles ; there are no printed title pages, but each part is furnished with a well engraved title page which I reproduce.

5. Gedruckt 4 Jaer 164.0. 2 vols.

6. Na de Copie van Brugge, ΰ Amsterdam, By Abraham Boekholt, Boekverkooper op de Beurssluys. 1698.* 2 vols. ; pp. 384 and 494 in all; each volume has a printed and an engraved title page, the printed ones have each a small fleuron, the engraved ones I reproduce.

7. JYa de Copie van Brugge. £ Amsterdam, By Samuel Schoonwald en Christiaan Petzold, i714. 2 vols. ; pp. 384 and 494 in all ; a printed and an engraved title page to each volume, the printed ones have small fleurons, the engraved ones are copied from those of the edition of 1698, and turned.

Vol. 2 of the above mentioned editions contains the second book, or part, of Adriaensen's sermons, interspersed with his

  • There is a copy in the British Museum, press mark 3833. a.a.

αΐ6 HISTORIE VAN . CORNELIS ADRIAENSEN.

disputations with Jacob Rore and Herman Vleckwijck, and preceded by a short preface by Justus van Vredendael.* The Historie van B. Cornells Adriaensen comprises the fol- lowing items: i. The origin and commencement of his system of flagellation in the town of Bruges, a. The means he employed to obtain the perfect passive obedience of his penitents, and to induce them to strip themselves quite naked to receive his correction. 3. How the public and the magis- trates were informed of his secret doings. 4. Interrogated by the magistrates, he is convicted of scandalous conduct, and the bishop orders him to retire to a convent at Ypres, in 1563. 5. After the expiration of three years, Cornells returns to Bruges, in spite of the prohibition of his superiors, and preaches in the church of the " Saint Sauveur " against the magistrates. 6. Then follows an analysis of Adriaensen's sermons against the Calvinists, and in censure of the want of zeal on the part of the magistrates to punish those heretics. It should be remembered that throughout the entire quarrel between Brother Cornelis and the magistrates of Bruges, as

  • I have myself examined the edition which heads the notice, and those in-

dicated as Nos. 3,4, ,  ; the others have been communicated to me by a book- seller of Brussels, well known for his perfect acquaintance with Flemish bibliography. I am indebted to the same gentleman for other information in my article.

HISTORIE VAN . CORNELIS ADRIAENSEN. 217

well as in the depositions of the female penitents who com- posed the secret whipping society, there is not a single accusa- tion against Adriaensen of any graver misdemeanour than that of forcing the women to strip themselves stark naked before him to receive castigation.

The Sermons comprised in the two volumes we are con- sidering, are written in common Flemish ; and although they are frequently very violent, and contain many coarse expres- sions, they are not nearly so licentious as those of Maillard, Menot, Barelete, and other preachers of the time, nor are they, like many of those discourses, interlarded with Latin. It is however a question whether the sermons printed under the name of Brother Cornells were in reality composed by him. M. Borluut de N00RTDONCK, a very respectable authority, says : " Les auteurs des sermons obscènes, imprimés sous le nom de Corneille Adriaensen de Dort, sont Hubert Goltzius et surtout Jean de Casteele ou Castelius, curé de Saint- Jacques â Bruges, caché sous le pseudonyme de Stephanus Lindi us."* The work before us has been pronounced by a modern writer,*^ who has handled his subject with great

  • Catalogue, art. »982.

t Th. J. I. Arnold, art. Broeder Cornells Adriaensx. een pleidooi, in Se διΛίφ røarairtlt, No. for Aug. 5, 1877. In Ha Ôa$ette, of Brussels, No. for Sept. 15, 1877, there appeared an article against Adriaensen, and in reply to the above ; the same article was reproduced a few days later in 3La dHaitìft t E&frale, of Gand. DI>

218 HISTORIE VAN . CORNELIS ADRIAENSEN.

thoroughness: "een letterkundig produkt, van het hoogste gewicht voor de geschiedenis der onlusten in de Nederlanden, en vooral te Brugge, gedurende die jaren, maar geschreven in een vorm, die men niet kan aanduiden zonder het gebruik van een of ander onwelluidend woord ; waaran desniettemin vele uitgaven bestaan, en waarover we ons voorstellen later meer bepaaldelijk te spreken."

Adriaensen, it seems then, was not so licentious a preacher, or so monstrous a libertine, as he is generally believed to have been. It has been seen that the accusations brought against him were confined to the simple fact of his having flagellated his female penitents while in a state of nudity, nothing more, a practice indeed which has received the sanction of the Church of Rome; and that the sermons attributed to him, if they were really composed by him, are not so immoral or obscene as they are held to be. Various writers* of import- ance, his contemporaries and those who followed shortly after him, have spoken of Brother Cornells with respect and admiration. The authors who have attacked him with the great- est violence are P. Marnix-J- and Emanuel van Meteren, ;[ but they even adduce no specific act of libertinism, nothing

  • See note at p. 221 post. t 33* 33ijm&ørl, chapt. on confession.

Χ  * ;Pauø43ité. I have cited the passage in full at p. 416 of the fritter fWbrontm iproïïibitoritm» but must now retract the opinion I there expressed concerning the reliability of Van Meteren's narrative.

HISTORIE VAN . CORNELIS ADRIAENSEN. 210,

more than the indecent flagellation, before mentioned. Their assertions have nevertheless received credit at the hands of such writers as P. Bayle,* Prosper Marchand,^ G. Peignot,;}; the Abbé Boileau,^" Delolme,|| G. Frusta,^ and by the biographers generally.** Some of these have even added scandalous details not advanced by their authority, Van Meteren. P. Marchand calls him "un Moine abso- lument abimé dans la débauche la plus crasse & la plus infame," and adds that Adriaensen "abusoit encore le plus criminellement du monde de la Confession, en faisant dépouiller nues comme la main, en fouettant, mais fort légèrement sans doute, & en dédommageant ensuite d'autre façon, celles de ses pénitentes, qui et oient assez sottes, ou assez libertines, pour se prêter si criminellement à la lubricité effrénée de ce Moine impudique." The Abbé Boileau says : " qu'il ne se con- tenait pas de les battre avec des cordes, où il y avait de gros nceux ; mais outre cela il leur frapoit doucement les cuisses & les fesses toutes nues avec des Verges d'Osier, ou de Bouleau." It seems however that the time has arrived for Adriaensen's

  • IBtcttormatrc, vol. 7, p. 455. t jSútíonaíre, vol. 1, p. 137, note a.

X íUtaftícatoríana, p. in. *ff Histoire ìJe$ ¿¡Flagellante, p. 198.

¡I &tøtorw of tï)t ¿flagellante § ©er №gettattttèmu8.

    • îStograppe ί&ηίο traille (Michaud), vol. ι, p. 192; ßoubelle Biographie,

vol. ι, col. 299 j Dúttoimatre contenant lea 81 Visitortque¿ tte Tumour, vol. ι, p. 92 j Btograpljùsdj MooriJrøbotlt öer Ueüerlan&w» vol. ι, ρ. 89.

220 HISTORIE VAN . CORNELIS ADRIAENSEN.

rehabilitation, and several modern writers have cast doubt upon Van Meteren's assertions, and the scandalous charges brought against Brother Cornells. M. Octave Delepierre* considers those charges (<invraisemblables," and states: " D'abord quant à cet ordre prétendu des dévotaires ou des filles de discipline dont, au dire de ses ennemis, il fut le fondateur, on n'en trouve pas les moindres traces dans les anciens documents que j'ai parcourus. On peut donc douter que cette institution ait réellement existée et surtout que l'on ait trouvé des filles et des femmes assez folles pour vouloir s'y agréger." From which remark I understand M. Delepierre to mean, and this is my own opinion, that there never existed an Order, or organised Society of Devotair es or Filles de Dis- cipline. It is true, continues the writer, that Adriaen- sen obliged the women who came to confess, to make an oath of secrecy, but this was personal to each woman, and not as an oath of association. A proof of this is that in the numerous records, or procès-verbaux of the Magis- trates of Bruges, who were violently excited against the preacher, mention is made of great number of cases of whip- ping, but not a word of an organised association, or Order of any kind among the devotees, which would greatly have

  • Øimatca  U & *€ pour  tl Irá Statigiittc* ito

U dftøntftre tøcrftimtale, vol. 3, p. 323.

HISTORIE VAN . CORNELIS ADRIAENSEN. 221

aggravated the case the magistrates were called upon to examine and punish.

To Mr. Th. J. I. Arnold however we are indebted for the most exhaustive and carefully compiled pleading in favour of Adriaensen. In his article, already cited,* and which is worthy of attentive study, Mr. Arnold reviews and carefully weighs the testimony and opinions of each writer}- who has spoken of the famous preacher, whom

  • Vide p. 217, ante.

t I add a list of the authors consulted by Mr. Arnold. They are given by him in chronological order, and in true bibliographical form, and will, with the writers referred to in the text, make a pretty exhaustive gathering of authorities upon Brother Cornells.

Karel van Mander. 1548-1606. Schilderboeck, &c, Haarlem, 1604, fol. 248 verso.

Wouter van Gouthoeven. 1577-1628. d'Oude Qhronycke ende His- torien van HoUandt, Sec, Dordrecht, 1622, biz. 222.

Frangi seus Sweertius. 1567-1629. Athenae Belgicae, Antverpen, 1628, p. 180.

Valerius Andreas. 1588-1656. Biblmtheca Belgica, &c. Ed. rénovât. et tertiâ parte aucl. Lovan. 1643. p. 142.

Marcus Suerius Boxhorn. 1602-1653. Toneel der steden van HoUandt, ouergeset, verbet, ende vermeerd. d. G. Baerdeloos. Ley den, 1634. biz. 90.

Pieter Cornelisz. Hooft. 1581-1679. Nederlandsche Historien. 13e boek.

Matt us Balen Jansz. 161 o-? Beschryvinge der Stad Dordrecht, Dordrecht, 1677. biz. 204.

Girard Brandt. i 626-1685. Geschiedenis der Reformatie tø*c, Amster- dam, 1671. Ι. 508.

Antonius Matthaeus. 1635-17io. Andreas Alciatus, Tractatus contra

20,2 HISTORIE VAN . CORNELÍS ADRIAENSEN.

he himself holds to be " een man die, naar mijne overtuiging, den smaad niet verdient, waaraan hij nu sedert drie eeuwen blootstaat."

There is then no foundation for the accusations of liber- tinism which have been heaped upon Adriaensen's memory. A fanatic he undoubtedly was ; but there is nothing to prove that he was not thoroughly sincere, or that sensuality had any part in the strange doctrines he held, or in the immodest practices to which he induced his penitents to submit. We may not inapropriately describe him, in the lines of Father Louis de Sanlecque, as :

vitam monasticam.  accedit Sylloge Epistolarum &c. Quae primus omnium in lucem protulit adjecti» passim notis. Anton. Matthæus. Hag. Com. 1740, pp. 317-320.

Hugo Frans van Heussen (1654-1719) en Hugo van Run. Oudheden en Gestichten van Zuid-Holland &c. Leiden, 1719. biz. 108.

David van Hoogstraten. 1658-1724. Historisch, Geographisch, Genea- logisch eil Oordeelkundig Woordenboek, Amsterdam &c. 1733. I. 123.

Francois Halma en Matthaeus Brouërius van Nidek. 1653-1722 and 167 7-1743. Tooneel der Vereen. Nederlanden & . Leeuw. 1725« . 24-26.

Joannes Franciscus Foppens. 1689-1761. Bibliotheca Belgica. Bruxelles, 1739. vol. χ, pp. 101, 192.

Η. GL Janssen. De Kerkhervorming te Brugge, ¡sfc. Rotterdam, 1856. I. 106.

Η. Μ. C. van O0STERZEE. De Navorscher, 14e jaarg. (Nienwe serie 4e jaarg.) Amsterdam, 1864. blz. 77.

This list of authorities will be found continued in the Additions, post.

HISTORIE VAN . CORNEOS ADRIAENSEN. 223

Ce Confesseur zélé, qui, pour les moindres fautes, La discipline en main, fustigeoit ses Dévotes.*

It seems to me that one of the great causes of unmerited accusations of obscenity against Adriaensen, is to be found in his violent speeches against the Calvinists and heretics, violence which provoked in return the hatred of the opposite party. Van Metteren, who was a fervent Protestant, made out the bad case of the monk in colours as black as he could, and the writers who followed him, repeated his accusations without taking the trouble of verifying facts, often even adding ima- ginary details, as already shown.

The history of that period proves that in religious contro- versy between Roman Catholics and Protestants, no calumny was too bitter to try to bring their adversaries to the stake if possible,

Tantum Relligio potuit snadere malorum.—(Lucretius).

The sermons of Adriaensen, from beginning to end, are much more political invectives against the princes, and the too lenient magistrates, in punishing the Protestants, than religious exhortations.

His portrait, painted " d'après nature " by Hubert Goltzius, was sold with the books of M. Flandrin of Bruges/f·

Prom the pen of Brother Cornells we have two other works :

  • Satire contre les Directeurs.

t Cat. if* * tø* Jioortöoiicfe. vol. 2, p. 51.

224 HISTORIE VAN . CORNELIS ADRIAENSEN.

* Sieben ^acratnmten, wtgheleyt ende openbaerlyck te Brugghe ghepreect (Te Brugghe by Jan van den Baerre ghesworen boecvercooper, m.d.lvi. 8vo. "Gedruckt tot Antwerpen by Gilles van Diest.)*

ÎB* J^pt*Jjl)*I der thien gheboden huutgheleyt by . Cornells van Dordrecht. Antwerpen, 1554.^

Finally reference is made to Adriaensen in the two fol- lowing works :

lit ïrft UShmbQOVbÍQbt bOttkm zyn veel schoone ende lieflycke brieven van eenen genaemt Jacob de Keirsmaller. . . . Noch is hier achter bygheset een disputatie tuychen Jacob Keirsmaller en Br. Cornelis. Ghedruct int Jaer ons Heeren m.d.lxxxiiii. There are two other editions, an earlier one of 1577; * Haarlem, Vincent Casteleyn, 1622.

Mt ®** bart brorter Cornelio Storiarne** Aan den

Koninglij ken Prqfessoor Philip ρ us Verheyen tot Leuven. 4to., 4 sheets, printed about 1710. It is a satire in burlesque verses.

  • There is a copy in the library of Gand.

t Noted in the Cat. ban Iramt,

Note. Three hundred years of progress and enlightenment have not sufficed to unloose the priestly hold upon the female mind in Belgium. Dr. Michelsen thus truthfully sketches the present state of that liberal and at the same time priest-ridden country : " Moreover» the influence of the Jesuits on the female sex, is nowhere so great and pernicious as in Belgium. It may appear rather strange, that the Belgian women, who are somewhat devoid of imaginative powers and deep feelings—qualities by which elsewhere the Jesuits usually

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADiIrE. 225

aerimi amerai $ & contenues au Procez Du Pere Jean-Baptiste Girard, Jésuite, Recteur du Séminaire Royal de la Marine de Toulon, & de Demoiselle Catherine Cadiere. Tome I. A Chinon, De L'Impri- merie de François Rabelais, Rue du grand Bracque- mart, au Moine qui trompe, l'Année Pantagrueline.

The above title I do not find mentioned by any previous bibliographer; it forms the title page to the first volume of a

make their way to female hearts—should nevertheless appear so enthusiastically partial to the members of the order. That partiality is, however, easily ex- plained. Most people, and particularly women, generally entertain the deepest respect for those who are superior to them in intellectual endowments, and still more so, if the little they do know has been exclusively derived from the in- struction imparted to them by these superior minds. In Belgium, the Loyolites are not only confessors-—aye, exceedingly mild confessors—but also the confi- dants of all family troubles and secrets. Woe to the man with whom the Jesuits are displeased) he may say farewell for ever to domestic peace and comfort. Neither is their dominion less powerful over the daughters of the unhappy mothers. They allure the young girls, under prospects of rich mar- riages, into all sorts of pious societies, which stand under the patronage of some favourite Jesuit saints. Their influence is, in short, so unlimited over the female sex in Belgium, that the husbands never dare to oppose the private conferences held between their wives and the paters. The conferences consist, in the woman retiring for a few days to the convent, where she practises pious exercises in the presence of the fathers, who provide her besides with devout rules for her con- duct at home. Into these retreats, only married women are admitted, a class of the fair sex whose intercourse is particularly courted by the disciples of Ignatius.  scandalous reports arise from the overzeal, i.e., too much liberty taken with 

22Ó PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIERE.

copy of the work now before me, in $ vols., 8vo., of which the impress of the other volumes is : Sur Τ Imprimé A Aix, Chez Joseph David, Imprimeur du Roi & de la Fille. m. d ce. xxxi. As the smali fleuron which figures on the title pages of all 5 volumes is identical, as well as the type in which they are printed, it would seem to have emanated from the same press. The copy in question contains 5 folding engravings, well designed and finely executed, signed, Vanlo pinxit, N. de Larmessin sculp.

Other editions are: "S. L. (Aix, J. David), 1731, 2 vol. in-fol., avec 32 grav. color.";* "La Haye. 1731. 2 vol. Fol. avec gravures obscènes ;"-J- A La Haye, Chez Swart. m. Dec. xxxi. 8vo., 8 vols. ; on the title page of the first volume is the figure of a sphere, and on those of the other

the fair sex by the priest in such conferences, or in the confessional, the superiors have a ready means of silencing these reports by suddenly removing the sinner from the place, and sending hirn as a missionary to some part of America. This circumstance accounts for the increasing number of such missionaries within the last fifteen years in America." iStotfertt akáutttám, p. 143. Although Dr. Michelsen's book relates more particularly to the Jesuits, yet the above passage may, I think, be read as applicable to clerical influence in general. At p. 135, he writes : a As late as 1826, (I will add even to the present day, see p. 202 of this volume) instances of popular ignorance, bigotry, and cruelty occurred in Belgium, of which there is hardly a parallel to be found in any other country in the civilised world.'*

'* latfcliogranljte ttc* <§ubragtó vúãtíU à F&mour, vol. 6, p. 198} Cat. %tbtr, vol. 1, art. 672.

t ÍS^tograpÍjíe $1% vol. f, col. 632.

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÈRE. 227

volumes various small fleurons. As this latter edition of

Swart is more complete than that of J. David, it may not be

uninteresting to give a brief summary of the pieces which it

contains :

Vol. 1. I. Justification de Damoiselle Catherine Cadiere, contenant un Récit fidele de tout ce qui s'est passé entre cette Damoiselle & le Pere Jean-Baptiste Girard, &c. II. Memoire instructif pour Cadiere, &c. contre Girard, &c. III. Premiers Actes & Contrat Protestatifs de la Ca- diere, signifiés au Pere Girard, & à M. le Procureur General. IV. Recueil des premieres Requêtes de la Cadiere, du Pere Estienne-Thomas Cadiere, Jacobin, & du Pere Nicolas, Prieur des Carmes Déchaussés de Toulon. V. Memoire instructif pour Cadiere, &c. contre Girard, &c. Ledit Memoire appelle des Objets. VI. Memoire de Girard, &c. ; avec la Réponse de la Cadiere.—Vol. 2. I. Me- moire instructif pour Girard, &x. contre Cadiere ; &c. IL Recueil des Lettres du Pere Girard & de la Cadiere, &c. Et le Memoire du Carême.—Vol. 3. I. Réponse au Memoire instructif du Pere Girard ; Pour Cadiere, &c, IL Memoire instructif, pour Messire Francois Cadiere, Prêtre, &c.— Vol. 4. L Reflections sur la Récrimination en prétendu Com- plot imputé au Pere Estienne-Thomas Cadiere, &c. par Girard, &c. IL Observations sur le Memoire Manuscrit distribué par le Pere Girard dans le cours de la Plaidoirie de M. Γ Avocat General, ayant pour titre, Memoire sur l'Appel comme d'abus émis par ¿a Cadiere, &c. Avec la Réponse poul- ie Pere Estienne-Thomas Cadiere. III. Observations sur les Réponses personnelles du Pere Girard & de la Cadiere, aux Interrogatoires qui leur ont été faits ; &c.—Vol. 5. I. Memoire instructif pour le Pere Nicolas &c. IL Précis des Charges, pour Cadiere, &c. Contre Girard. III. Analyse des Témoins

228 PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIERE«

produits par le Promoteur en l'Ofricialité de Toulon, pour Cadiere ; &c.—Vol. 6. I. Resultat des Memoires de Cadiere & Adherans, Contre Girard. II. Requêtes incidentes de la Cadiere & du Pere Estienne-Thomas Cadiere, &c. III. Lettre d'un Magistrat desinteresse, &c. IV. Reflections sur les Memoires du Pere Girard, &c. V. Copie de la Lettre de Mademoiselle Agnès, Pensionnaire au Couvent dOllioules, adressée à Monsieur l'Avocat Chaudon, du premier Juillet 1731. VI. Acte Protestatif & Interpellatif, fait par la Cadiere, à la Dame Superieure du second Monastère de la Visitation de la Ville d'Aix, avec les Réponses, &c. VIL Memoire des Faits qui se sont passés sous les yeux de M. i'Evêque de Toulon, lors de l'origine de l'Affaire du Pere Girard, &c. VIII. Réponse à l'Ecrit qui a pour Titre Memoire des Faits qui se sont passés sous les y eux &c.—Vol. 7. I. Second Memoire pour le Pere Girard, &c. IL Réponse à la premiere partie du second Memoire du Pere Girard, &c, III. Réponse de ladite Cadiere, à la seconde partie du second Memoire du Pere Girard.—Vol. 8. L Second Memoire pour Messire Cadiere, Prêtre, &c. IL Réponse au second Memoire imprimé sous le nom du Pere Girard, pour le Pere Estienne- Thomas Cadiere, &c. III. Démonstration des Impostures sacrilèges des Accusateurs du Pere Girard, & de l'innocence de ce Pere, &c. IV. Reflections sur les prétendues contradictions que le Pere Girard oppose à la Cadiere dans ses Réponses &c. V. Réponse à tous les Factums faits contre le Pere Girard. Vi. Observations sur l'Ecrit intitulé : Brieve Réponse aux divers Memoires faits contre le Pere Girard, &c. VIL Observa- tions pour Cadiere, &c, contre Girard. VIII. Paralelle des Sentimens du Pere Girard avec ceux de Molinos, &c. IX. Con- clusions de M. le Procureur General du Roy au Parlement d'Aix, du 11. Septembre 1731, &c. X. Les veritables Senti- mens de Cadiere, tels qu'elle a donné à son Confesseur, hc, XL Copie du Prononcé de la Cour du Parlement de Provence,

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADlÈRE. U2Ç

du io. Octobre 1731. . Copie de la Lettre écrite d'Aix le 2î. Octobre 1731, XIII. Dénonciation des Factums de Maître Chaudon, à Messieurs les Avocats du Parlement de Provence.

Although the Recueil General is the fullest collection, it does not embrace all the contemporary pieces in the French lan- guage concerning the Girard-Cadière scandal. I note the following :

 UU  entre Demoiselle Cadiere, & Pere Cadiere Jacobin, Mre Cadiere Prêtre, Pere Nicolas, Prieur des Carmes Déchaussés de Toulon, d'une part ; & le P. Girard Jésuite, Recteur du Séminaire Royal de Toulon, de l'autre.

8vo. ; pp. 36 ; with a finely executed frontispiece, designed by Vanlo, and engraved by N. de Larmessin, signed ; and a folding page containing the Jugement du Proces.

9ttttfacttim IVÍtUtOmíqm du Pere Girard, ou Réponse Anticipée aux Ecrits que M. Pazery donnera un jour au Public avec Faide du Ciel, &c.

8vo. ; pp. 11. These two pieces appear to come from the press of Joseph David, and to be intended as supple- ments to his 5 vol. edition, already mentioned.

fc'flPntrie triomphant* im  Øimvb aujr infero,

suivi de son Retour sur la Terre, &c*

  • See Bibliografi ie № auftrage* relatifs à Tumour, vol. 3, p. 181 ;

23O TROCES DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIUrE.

it $OUfa*aU Carqtim, Comedie en trois Actes.*

©ramen bt la Çausie ou | êmvù ãtosuíte, A l'Oc- casion de l'Arrêt du Parlement d'Aix, rendu en sa faveur; avec La Critique d'un Ouvrage intitulé Le nouveau Tarquín.^

33 tbïtû tacque ÌSt &ùhtì\nt, art. 3782, where mention is made of " 2 dessins à l'encre de Chine et en couleurs, 7 gravures très-singulières, 5 belles estampes grav. par Diacre, etc." While we are on the subject of illustrations to the Girard-Cadière trial we may note the following : "  SietvÇauer bon £aêchntaten fceforgte einen Æityfertcmb in ^ol , ben man afcwed) feínb bem SRatqutè d'Argens, bem ©reifen Caylus unb bem berühmten Mirabeau $\, &." £)et 8;íagelíantt3nutê, p. 105, note.

  • Fully noticed in the 33 tb ito gr api) te Krá ®ubvã%z$ relatifs àT&mour, vol. 5,

p. 229 ; ÍSíblfotpçue isn Cíjtâtte íffvmçaía, vol. 3, p. 323. 33ffltot$ìgu* dramatique bt £aleíntu, arts. 3781 and 3782. î3tbUotï)cque ÏBramattcru* ist $3ont bt Vtält, art. 1973.

t This criticism upon the Girard-Cadiere affair, and more particularly upon the decision of the Parliament of Aix in Girard's favour, is in form of a dialogue between the following

" Interlocuteurs.

" Armande, Dame Quéneliste.

"Henriette, Demoiselle Moliniste.

"Dorise, Dame Quéneliste, Devote de M. Piteux.

"Dorante, Homme d'Epée, Frère d'Armande.

" M. Bigot, Directeur Quéneliste.

"Lisette, Femme de Chambre d'Armande."

Armande, Dorise, Bigot are opposed to Girard, the two women being of opinion that he ought at least to be burned alive ) on the other hand Henriette and Dorante are in his favour, the latter making light of the affair, while the former endeavours to lay the whole blame on the unfortunate Cadiere. The book, which was evidently written for the moment» is very dull, and the only claim it can now have on our attention is the light it throws upon the opinions

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADlÈRE. 231

A La Haye, Chez Henry Prud, Marchand Libraire, à la Chanté, m. Dec. xxxn. Small 8vo. ; pp. 72, ex title and

of the middle class at the time concerning the conduct of Girard, and the Jesuits in general.

The Critique d'un Ouvrage intitule Le Nouveau Tarquín is curious, and I venture to make an extract from it :

" On fait courir ici un Ouvrage intitulé, le Nouveau Tarquín, Comedie en trois Actes. Le titre ferait croire que c'est une Comedie dansles regles. Il n'en est rien. Le début ressemble à celui d'un mauvais Opera. Le milieu est une espece d'alliage d'Opera & de Farce. La fin degenere en Farce toute pure. Le couronnement de l'Oeuvre est un Rendez-vous general de tous les Acteurs, où l'on chante des fables sur un vieux Corbeau, un Dindon, un vieux Merle, un Sansonnet rusé, un tendre Silence. Le Ramier & la Pie, le Moineau & le Renard se trouvent dans la Musique avec un Coq de Village. Tout cela cousu bout à bout fait un Etre de Theatre tout nouveau, dont on cherche le nom propre, & sur quoi l'on ne peut être d'accord. Quelques-uns l'ont nommé par similitude un Ouvrage à la Mosaïque d'un goût inoüi. D'autres un Hochepot de prose & de vers, assaisonné de saletés & de boufonneries. Ce dernier nom le caractérise assez bien. En effet la Piece prise dans son tour est obscène & plate. Les fades turlupinades & les plus sales équivoques y tiennent lieu de sel. Les Demons y sont de fête, & y parlent pêle-mêle en François & en Italien. Au moyen de cela l'Auteur y brille par une fécondité merveilleuse à varier ses sotises & ses ordures. C'est un Tabarin licencieux, qui exhale d'un air aisé les cruditez les plus grossières. Qu'on me dispense d'en produire les preuves. Les libertins ne manqueront pas de s'en convaincre eux-mêmes par leurs propres yeux ¿ & les honnêtes gens me sçauront gré d'avoir negligé une preuve, que l'on ne peut mettre sous les yeux sans choquer la pudeur.

" Ce nouveau Tabarin se dit habitant des Déserts, & coureur des Parties de Campagne. Il avertit que son Tarquín est l'ouvrage d'une après dînée campagnarde, & qu'il a mis plus de jours à l'écrire qu'à le composer ; tant sa facilité boufonne l'emporte sor la rapidité de sa plume........ .

" On sçait que le Heros de la piece est le Pere Girard, caché sous le nom de

át32 PROCÈS DU PURE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADlURE.

i page with names of the Interlocuteurs ; small square fleuron on title page.

it  tëirarö et ëa penitente <£♦ Ca&tke, s. i.

ΐ732· 8.*

ïa Mainte b'$llÍ0\Üt&, ou éclaircissemens sur le rapport mystérieux entre le P. Girard et la demoiselle Cadière. Par. 1732. 8.* There is the following modern publication :

Uetaífó ÖtÖtOriquesï sur le P. Girard et mademoiselle Cadière, de Toulon; Paris 1845, in 12.*

The three following volumes, 8vo., with impress, A La Haye, Chez Henri Scheurleer, are reprints of pieces com-

Tarquin. Collatinus, Amant de Lucrèce, est le Pere Nicolas de Saint Joseph -, & il est à remarquer que Colfatinus, à une lettre près, n'est que l'anagrame de Nicolaus. Le mot Italien Scarpino, qui veut dire, Soulier, fait deviner celui qu'il a caché sous le nom de Scarpinello. ökauderon, Pass tron & Guioline ne sont pas assez déguisez. Le nom de Festales est parlant. L'Auteur fournit du sien les Demons & les Archers de l'Ecuelle, pour donner du relief à son Ouvrage. Tel est l'avis qu'on a crû devoir au public sur le Nouveau Tarquín, soi-disant Comedie en trois Actes.

" On m'a voulu persuader que l'Auteur de cette Production originale, est le même que 1' Auteur de la Gazette Ecclésiastique. Je n'en ai rien crû. Ces deux Inconnus ne se ressemblent pas. En effet le style du Tabarin a quelquefois du feu 3 celui du Gazetier est toujours glacé. L'un varie ses tours j & Fautre n'en a point. Le premier paraît être d'humeur à dire quelquefois vrai ? le dernier ment toujours. Il faut en un point rendre justice au Gazetier sur le Tabarin. Celui-ci est un Athée j celui-là n'est qu' Hérétique.

  • SHbltographie î3togrti|)î)tquf, vol. 1, cols. 227 and 632 ; poubelle îSto-

grap|ú omerale, vol. 20, col. 654.

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÈRE. 233

prised in the Recueil General The titles are : Jfartttrø  ülar(e Catherine Cabtere contre le pere Jean-Baptiste Girard, &c. Sur la Copie imprimée A Aix, chez Joseph David. m. Dee. xxxi. pp. 164, with 4 unnumbered of title, Avertisse- ment, &c; jïiemm're ïnötrurttt pour ïe pere 3ean**apttôte

ΘίΐΗΧύ, &c., contre Marie-Catherine Cadiere ; . Sur la Copie imprimée A Paris, chez Gissey & Bördelet.

m.dcc. xxxi. pp. 284 ex title; á>utte beø Cnicrtureø ire

Catherine Cautère, contre le R. Pere Girard, &c. Sur les Copies imprime'es A Aioc, chez yoseph David, Imprimeur du Roi, & chez d'autres Libraires. 1731. pp. 181, plus 3 unnum- bered pages of title and Table. The title pages of all three volumes are adorned with a fleuron, signed B. Picart. Gay notes that there should be engravings.* I may yet add :

Ca Eeltffteuôe en Cöemtoe et le Sføuftr tout mu

In this pamphlet, of 16 pp., printed by E. J. Carlier, at Brussels, about 1870, the story of Girard is briefly narrated, without any details; and towards the end, a comparison is drawn between his unfortunate victim and Louise Lateau^ of Bois d'Haine. The author is Antoine Rocher, formerly

  • 33tblio2πφί)ύ, vol. 3, p. 263.

t Information concerning this arch-impostress—a description of her malady, notice of her death, and a long list of books about her—will be found in flote*  , 5th S., IV., 513» V., $$, 78, 117, *77; and in ï'fcittriw&taiw, IX., 59.

FF

234 TROCÍS DU PURE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADlÎRE.

employed on the Paris and Marseilles Railway, and author of a great number of political and anti-clerical pamphlets.*

The Recueil General has been translated into German, Coeln, 1732. 8/f~ In the Dutch language there are: iHfttlQrfe bOOr baUtr % 35* <§írarU tegen Maria Catharina Cadière. Amsterdam. 1731· 8 £ and the following very remarkable volume which demands a more special notice :

£t£tOr<0Cf>e Çríttt-m ©ft&fcCaftmtøt, van Jan Baptist Girard, en JuiFrou Maria Catharina Cadiere. mdccxxxv.

4to. ; pp. 56 in all, of which 24 are numbered, and 32 not ; title printed in red and black ; there are 32 line engravings,5f

  • These pamphlets, issued by Rocher between 1870 and 1875, either at

Brussels or Geneva, without possessing much literary merit, are frequently very curious ; I add a list of those which relate to scandals and crimes of the church :  &mourettefl au €ûïiUMionnal par Un Renégat du Célibat sacerdotal. * 3'mounf ΊΜ Captif par Belzébuth.  Charlatanisme ¿aterUøtal par un

FARCEUR EN THÉOLOGIE. %t&  ÖeSf Sføtlttø par  DaMNÉ. *

Crimes" Üeá 30ape¿ par un Damné.  fàbtqut en Calf con par Rocher. lia ¿friponnerie Bea KBbîquH et tíe¿ 2)retrt¿ par Un Apostat.  $Uuitø anioumtj; par Un des Leurs. Ee¿ afBføiiteretf * la Confession par Lucifer. Ee¿ f&i)átèteíí Ke la Capatiti par un Echappé du Vatican.  Cape % 6 âouá par un ffiR&riauE.  fïape en ¡Pal Ì9'€nfant La Papesse Jeanne. Eco §uuU fce la Compagnie lie & par un Maudit. Ea Vît Ou Citoyen 3røu&C$rføt par le Citoyen Satan. t 33tblíop;rapf>te JÖiograpftfque, vol. 1, col. 632. j Idem.

% These I take to be identical with the "32 planches, très-habilement des- sinées/' noted in art. 3782, of the 33tbltotf)tÇUt lie Solemne.

PROCÈS DU PURE GIRARB ET DE MARIE C. CÀDlÈRE. 235

bold and effective ia drawing, though rough in execution, all numbered, Nos. 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23 are either obscene or very free, the remainder are not so, each engraving is ac- companied with a page ofletter press in verse.

In England, translations have been issued by several pub- lishers. I have before me :

Crgal Of jTatfter 30Ìm*35apttót €?trarïï* On an Accusation of Quietism, Sorcery, Incest, Abortion and Subornation, Be- fore the Great Chamber of Parlement at Aix, At the Instance of Miss Mary-Catherine Cadiere. Containing,

I. Minutes of each of the VL The Harangue of his

Cases, as they were taken Advocate in his Defence.

TT f°Lrthe Use of the Judges. VII. The Confrontation of

II. The Speech of the Presi- Father Girard and Miss

dent at the Opening of Cadiere.

the Proceedings. lrTT. __, ^ . -_ ^.

III. The Speech of M. Chau- VIÎI- Jhe \ of M.Chau- don, Advocate for the Jon to all urged in the Complainant, in Mainten- Defence.

ance of the Charge. IX. The Recapitulation of

IV. The Examination of the Monsieur, the President, several Witnesses. and his pronouncing the

V. The Interrogatory of Definitive Judgment of

Father Girard. that Assembly, &c.

With a Preface by Monsieur -----, a learned Refugee at the

Hague. London : Printed for J. Isteb, at the Golden Bail

in Fleet street; T. Astley, in^ St. Paul's Churchyard; E.

Nutt, at the Royal-Exchange ; A. Dodd, without Temple-

2$6 PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADlÈRE.

Bar; and J. Jolliffe, in St. James's-street. mdccxxxii. [Price One Shilling.] 8vo. ; pp. 48.

C&e €mt of ákarg Eat&m'ne Caliere, Against the

Jésuite Father John Baptist Girard : Wherein He is accused of having seduced her by an abominable Quietism, into the most Criminal Excesses of Lewdness ; and is also charged, by his said Fair Votary, Mary Katherine Codiere, with Inchantment, Rape, Spiritual Incest, Abortion, and Subornation* of Wit- nesses, To which is Subjoyn'd, A true State of the Cases of the famous Guiol, La Gravier, La Baterelle, L'Allemande, La Reboul, and La Laugier, six other Fair Votaries, whom he is likewise charged with deluding, under the Veil of the highest Mystical Devotion, London : Printed for the Pro* prietor, and sold by J. Crichley, at the London Gazettee, (sic) Charing-Cross ; and by the Book-sellers and Pamphlet-sellers of London má Westminster. 1731. Price One Shilling. 8vo. ; pp. via and 47. Somewhat curtailed.

Wbt Ca** of ffîr&  Catôm'ne Caute», Against

the Jesuit Father John Baptist Girard. In a Memorial pre- sented to the Parliament of Aix. Wherein that Jesuit is ac- cused of seducing her, by the abominable Doctrines of Quiet-

  • I have before me a second copy of the above volarne, same edition, in

which this word is spelt *€ Sofonation.'*

PROCis DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÈRE. 237

ism, into the most criminal excesses of Lewdness, and under an appearance of the highest mystical Devotion, deluding into the same Vices six other Females, who, like her, had put their consciences under his direction. With a. Preface by the Pub- lisher, containing a short and plain Account of the Rules of proceeding according to the Laws and Customs of France in Cases of this Nature. The Fifth Edition. London : Printed for and sold by J, Roberts in Warwick-Lane, and by most Booksellers in Town and Country,  dcc xxxii. [Price is. 6d.] 8vo. (counts 4) ; pp. vi and 96 ex title.

 Sefnue Of #♦ $0 Sapttót ëÎVUVb, Jesuit, and Rector of the Royal Seminary of Chaplains of the Navy in the City of Toulon ; Against the Accusation of Mary Catherine Cadiere. Part I. Containing his State of the Case. London : Printed for and Sold by J. Roberts, &c. m. dcc. xxxil (Price Six-pence.) 8vo. (counts 4) ; pp. iv and 40.

Part II, 1731, pp. 82 ex title, contains his Refutation of the Charge,

Part III, MD c c xxxi., pp. vi and 105, contains his Account of the secret Springs and Motives of the Prosecution against him.

The edition of J. Roberts is not altogether uncastrated. The compietesi and most correct version is in the 4 volumes, 1 amo., issued by J. Millan as follows :

 Compleat Crarøflatiott of tfte Casi* of áWarg

238 PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÈRE.

Cat&erme Cattiti?, against the Jesuit Father John Baptist Girard, &x.#

 Compleat Cransrtatt'on of toe ¿Memorial of tfte

SeSiUtt Jfatfter  ãaapttót ØiraVb, &c. Against Mary Catherine Cadiere &c. London : Printed for J. Millan, near the Horse-Guards, m. dcc. xxxir. pp. 143.

 Compleat Cranslatton of tt)t Sequel of tbt pnu reeïrtugö of ¿Warp Catherine Cautère, Against the Jesuit

Father John Baptist Girard. Containing Many Curious Pieces &;c. Impress and date as above; pp. 255.

€ï)trtï> ttøO Píeres, Never before Translated, of the Proceed- ings upon the Try al of M. Cadiere, and F. Girard. Which, with the 3 Vols. Intituled, The Compleat Translations, is a full Account of that extraordinary and unparalleled Jesuitical Affair. &x. From the Compleat Paris Edition, in 8 volumes. &c. Impress and date as above ; pp. 164.

Throughout the Memorial several of the errors and omissions of J. Roberts's edition are pointed out, and on the verso of the title page of that volume we read :

"N.B. All that is printed between [ ] is left out in the Translation printed for J. Roberts ; besides numberless little Omissions whereof we shall not take notice; whereas this

  • I am unable to describe this volume j the title Í take from the publisher's

list of books, not from the volume itself.

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADlÈRE. 239

Translation does not want a single Sentence of the Original." Lowndes notes " with plates."*

The story of Girard and Cadière has been so frequently told,~f~ and is so well known, that it may seem superfluous to repeat it ; were I however not to do so, I should be departing to some extent from the system adopted in the present com- pilation, the more especially as I have already made a super- ficial mention of the affair.^

I propose then to narrate, as briefly as possible, the facts of the case, and in so doing I shall borrow somewhat largely

  • ) Bibliographer'^ ¡{Manual, vol. 2, p. 896. In an imperfect copy of the

work before me there is one engraving, for Vol. 2, well executed, and copied, although not exactly, from one of those designed by Vanlo, already mentioned.

t I add a list of a few of the books in which the history of Girard and Cadière will be found : entoura et Intriguen tø $3retre¿ ¿Francata.—% to ffrapïjie Pittoresque tø — Biographie .—Cauáeá Celebre*, Amster- dam, 1772, vol. 2.—Compendium Co&e btâffîauiUo.—δenonciationtøCrimea et attentata  par íes! feáuíteá.—dictionnaire (ontmant Irá ^necifoteá í)tfiitortqtteá fce l'&mour, vol. 3.·—2iíctúmnaive infernai—-5) er dïiagettantiömuS η nb bie Seftutenbeic^te.—ìnsito ire  ffivanct, Michelet, Louis X F.—Histoire  1  en ¿Trance.—% $ of tïje , Cooper.—%tö ^eáuítcá btpuU leur origine jusqu'à, noá )ourá.—fïoubeau Dictionnaire tømoereel, Watkins.—poubelle öiograpf)« 6eneraje,  fer.—îta Jfcorcim.—C¡)erke ^, part ι.—Ε« Tføtalttf Öe l'égltøt. 33uUetfu Hu Bibliophile, I864, Ρ· 734»wbere is noted (art, 149) an unique copy of the folio edit, of 173 j, which "contient non-seulement toutes les pièces imprimées, mais aussi les chansons, complaintes, pont-neufs, épigrammes, etc.," in M.S. Consult also Bibliothèque tø éfríbatnsf öe la Compagne ïe 3Uuéf S. vi., p. 178.

$ flirter ïtbrorum IhOfjibítorum, p. 415.

240 PROCÈS DU PÉRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIERE.

from the great historian Michelet, who has given to this trial more than ordinary attention, and from whose words may frequently be drawn a juster notion of the affair than could be gathered from the less concise terms of the proceedings.

Jean Baptiste Girard was born at Dole, in Franche - Comté, about 1680, and died there July 4, 1733. He acquired a reputation as a pious man and an eloquent preacher, and in 1718 was sent to Aix, where he remained 10 years ; thence he was removed to Toulon, in April 1728, and was appointed " recteur du Séminaire Royal de la Marine." Girard did not possess personal advantages ; " c'était un homme de quarante- sept ans, grand, sec, qui semblait exténué ; il avait l'oreille un peu dure, l'air sale et crachait partout."* He had nevertheless a good voice, an agreeable delivery, and great powers of persuasion.

The younger brother of Marie Catherine Cadière was a student at the Jesuit College, and a great admirer of Girard, in whose praise he had frequently spoken to his sister, who meeting the holy man one day in the street exclaimed in- wardly, " Ecce homo." The following Saturday she went to him to confess, when he received her with: "Mademoiselle je vous attendais."

Marie Cadière was then about 17 years old, having been born Nov. 12, 1709, during the famine. She was delicate,

  • Ha doreur«, p. 3*1.

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADlÈRE. 24I

and rather sickly, with a sanctified face, slightly marked with the small pox ; she lived quietly with her parents in a narrow street of Toulon, and was entirely absorbed by devotion and charity. " On ne sait si elle fut belle. Ce qui est sûr, c'est qu'elle était gentille, ayant tous les charmants contrastes des jeunes Provençales et leur double nature. Vive et rêveuse, gaie et mélancolique, une bonne petite dévote, avec d'innocentes échappées.*

The constant perusal of books of Saints had so far upset her mind that she too had visions, to which Girard gave countenance and pretended faith, the more easily to enchain his victim ; but he gained the mastery over her gratitude as well as her imagination when, by his influence, he extricated the elder brother, the Jacobin, from a difficulty he had fallen into by distributing a satire upon the Jesuits entitled La Morale des Jésuites. When Marie applied to him on her brother's behalf he replied : " Rassurez-vous ; votre frère n'a rien à craindre, j'ai arrangé son affaire," and then, perceiving the advantage he had gained over his penitent, added : " Remettez- vous à moi ; abandonnez-vous tout entière." To which the artless girl simply answered : " Oui," imagining, in her innocence, that Girard desired her to accept him as her only director.

In his designs upon the young saint, Girard was aided by

  • Ea &milxt, p. 329.

GG

^ procès du pìre Girard et de marie c. cadiere.

one Guiol, a vile woman, entirely devoted to him, and who had served him in other instances.* At first he was prudent, allowing himself to be conducted to the chamber door of his penitent by her younger brother, but he nevertheless remained alone with her, and even closed and bolted the door. These visits lasted from December 1729 to June 1730. The catas- trophe is easy to understand.

Elle était alors très-malade. Il la traitait comme un enfant ; il l'avançait un peu sur le devant du lit, lui tenait la tête, la baisait paternellement. Tout cela reçu avec respect, tendresse, reconnaissance. Très-pure, elle était très-sensible. A tel contact léger qu'une autre n'eût pas remarqué, elle perdait connaissance j un frôlement près du sein suffisait. Girard en fit l'expérience, et cela lui donna de mauvaises pensées. Il la jetait à volonté dans ce sommeil, et elle ne songeait nullement à s'en défendre, ayant toute confiance en lui, inquiète seule- ment, un peu honteuse de prendre avec un tel homme tant de liberté et de lui faire perdre un temps si précieux. Il y restait longtemps. On pouvait prévoir ce qui arriva. La pauvre jeune fille, toute malade qu'elle fût, n'en porta pas moins à la tête de Girard un invincible enivrement. Une fois, en s'éveillant, elle se trouva dans une posture très-ridiculement indécente ; une autre, elle le surprit qui la caressait. Elle rougit, gémit, se plaignit. Mais il lui dit impudemment " Je suis votre maître, votre Dieu . . . Vous devez tout souffrir au nom de l'obéissance !'* Vers Noël, à la grande fête, il perdit la dernière

  • " Elle (la Cadière) n'étoit pas la seule qu'il (Girard) avoit mise dans ces

états ; car il y avoit encore plusieurs autres dévotes & surtout la Lau gier, la Batarelle, la Gravier, PAllemande, la Reboul, & la fameuse Guiol, qui avoient part à l'affection de ce Directeur." Memoire instructif pour Demoi- seiie Cadiere, p. io. Edition of Swart.

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADlÈRE. 243

réserve. Au réveil, elle s'écria : " Mon Dieu ! que j'ai souffert !"—" Je le crois, pauvre enfant !" dit-il d'un ton compatissant. Depuis, elle se plaignit moins, mais ne s'expliquait pas ce qu'elle éprouvait dans le sommeil.*

The Jacobin brother became suspicious, and determined one day to remain with his sister during the priest's visit/ but Girard without hesitation turned him out of the room. A scandal appeared imminent, and the hypocrite resolved upon a miracle.

Il connaissait bien sa victime. Il avait vu la trace des scrofules qu'elle avait eues enfant. Cela ne ferme pas nettement comme une blessure. La peau y reste rosée, mince et faible. Elle en avait eu aux pieds. Et elle en avait aussi dans un endroit délicat, dangereux, sous le sein. Il eut l'idée diabolique de lui renouveler ces plaies, de les donner pour des stigmates, tels qu'en ont obtenus du ciel saint François et d'autres saints, qui, cherchant l'imitation et la con- formité complète avec le Crucifié, portaient et la marque des clous et le coup de lance aü côté. . . . Pour faire ces plaies, comment le cruel s'y prit-il ? Enfonça-t-iî les ongles ? usa-t-il d'un petit couteau, que toujours il'portait sur lui. Ou bien attira-t-il le sang la première fois, comme il le fit plus tard, par une forte succion ? Elle n'avait pas sa connaissance, mais bien sa sensibi- lité 5 nul doute qu'à travers le sommeil, elle n'ait senti la douleur. Elle eût cru faire un grand péché, si elle n'eût tout dit à Girard. Quelque crainte qu'elle eût de déplaire et de dégoûter, elle dit la chose. Il vit, et il joua sa comédie, lui reprocha de vouloir guérir et de s'opposer à Dieu. Ce sont les célestes stig- mates. Il se met à genoux, baise les plaies des pieds. Elle se signe, s'humilie, elle fait difficulté de croire. Girard insiste, la gronde, lui fait découvrir le côté, admire la plaie. " Et moi aussi, je l'ai, dit-il, mais intérieure/'f

The natural consequence arrives, the poor girl is with child.

  • Ea dordere» p* 34*·

£44 PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE  CADlÈRE.

Les dégoûts, les tressaillements de la femme enceinte auxquels elle ne com- prenait rien, elle les mit sur le compte des violences intérieures de l'Esprit.

.....N'osant y aller tous les jours, Girard la faisait venir souvent à'iéglise

des jésuites. Elle s'y tramait à une heure, après les offices, pendant le dîner. Personne alors dans l'église. Il s'y livrait devant l'autel, devant la croix, à des transports que le sacrilège rendait plus ardents. N'y avait-elle aucun scrupule ? pouvait-elle bien s'y tromper? Il semble que sa conscience, au milieu d'un

exaltation sincère et. non jouée, s'étourdissait pourtant déjà, s'obscurcissait.....

Pendant presque tout le carême, elle ne put presque pas manger j elle rejetait le peu qu'elle prenait. Aux quinze derniers jours, elle jeûna entièrement, et arriva au dernier degré de faiblesse. Qui pourrait croire que Girard, sur cette mourante qui n'avait plus que le souffle, exerça de nouveaux sévices ? Il avait empêché ses plaies de se fermer. Il lui en vint une nouvelle au flanc droit. Et enfin au Vendredi saint, pour l'achèvement de sa cruelle comédie, il lui fit porter une couronne de fil de fer, qui, lui entrant dans le front, lui faisait couler sur le visage des gouttes de sang.*

But his hypocritical cruelty did not end here ; he had yet other acts of barbarity to perform upon his unfortunate victim. One day he informed her that she would be raised into the air, and that he would come to her chamber to be the only witness of this new prodigy. The poor girl could not avoid resisting what, in the state in which she was then, must have been most distasteful and unpleasant to her. Girard flew into a passion, and left her. Afterwards he sent La Guiol to repeat to her his displeasure, and to induce her to ask his pardon.

La premiere fois que la Demoiselle Cadiere fut se confesser (May 22), le Pere

  • % » pp. 34U 348.

PROCÈS Dû PURE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIERE. 245

Girard ne manqua pas de lui faire comprendre qu'elle avoit commis en cela un peché énorme, & que pour l'expier, il iroit le lendemain à sa chambre lui imposer une penitence proportionnée à la qualité de l'offense. Le lendemain il va chez elle, commence à se fermer seul à clef avec elle dans sa chambre ; là il la fait mettre à genoux devant lui, & tenant une discipline à la main, il lui dit : La justice de Dieu exige de vous, que puisque vous avez refusé d'être revêtue de ses dons, vous soyez mise à nud : vous mériteriez que toute la terre fut témoin de ceci, cependant le bon Dieu veut bien quii ny ait que cette muraille, CSf moi qui ne puis pas parler, qui en soit témoin ; mais auparavant jurez-moi fidélité que vous me garderez'un secret inviolable; car mon enfant si vous veniez à en parler, vous me perdriez.*

Ignorant as she was of his Design, she promised him Secrecy : Whereupon he ordered her to get upon her Bed, and clapping a Cushion under her Elbows to raise her up a little, he gave her several Lashes with the Discipline ; after which he kiss'd the Place he had scourged, and then making her get of the Bed and kneel before him again, he told her, That the gracious God was not satisfied, but she must strip herself naked before him : But this putting her into a Fright, she screamed out, and fainted away. No sooner did she come to herself, but he made her undress herself to her Shift, and then embraced her. And when she was out of her Trance, she ask d him the Cause of those Fer- vencies, to which he reply'd, That they were new kinds of Martyrdoms which his good God had order'd.f

The unfortunate Cadière was now three months gone with child, and it became necessary to destroy the proof of her dishonour and her seducer's guilt.

Le Directeur qui en fut effrayé, persuada à sa Pénitente qu'elle avoit le sang

■* ¡røimotre pour Catofert, p. 17.

t  Cm of fu. . Cãbim. Crichley, p. iz.

<χφ PROCÈS DU PERE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÈRE.

allumé, & que pour le temperer, il falloit que pendant huit jours, elle bût une écuelle d'eau, dans laquelle il mettroit un peu de poudre rafraîchissante. Elle qui n'entendoit rien dans tout cela, lui répondit qu'elle feroit tout ce qu'il vou» droit ; & ce charitable Directeur alloit tous les jours prendre lui-même à la cuisine une écuelle d'eau, qu'il ne vouloit pas laisser porter, ni toucher à la Servante, ni même à la Mere de-la Demoiselle Cadiere, & après y avoir mis un peu de poudre dedans, qui donnoit à l'eau une couleur rougeâtre, il la lui faisoit prendre lui-même. Ce breuvage réitéré pendant environ huit jours, lui causa une grande perte de sang, qui lui dura plusieurs jours, & lui fit faire une petite masse de chair ou de sang caillé ; & un de ces jours qu'elle avoit fait un plein pot de Sang, le Pere Girard fut pendant deux fois examiner près la fenêtre avec des yeux curieux ce qu'il y avoit dedans j & lorsque la Demoiselle Cadiere dit à la servante de le jetter par la fenêtre, & qu'elle le portoit, il s'emporta contre sa Penitente de ce qu'elle confioit un pareil secret à sa Servante, & lui dit, quelle imprudence I*

By this time Girard's desire for his victim appears to have cooled, if not to have changed into aversion, and he caused her to be removed to the Convent of Sainte Claire at Ollioules, a few miles distant from Toulon, where she remained from June 6, to September 17, 1730, and where he obtained permission to continue visiting her alone ; but the scandal beginning to ooze out, the wily priest was desirous of regaining his letters which would, in case of a publicity of his doings, be the most damning evidence against him. To this end he sent his tool La Guiol to Ollioules, and the guileless Cadiere gave her not

  • Øimoirt pur Cafctett, p» 18.

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÈRE. 247

only the letters she had received from Girard, but even the minutes of hers to him.

Il eut à la fois et ces minutes écrites par le jacobin et les copies que l'autre frère faisait et lui envoyait. Dès lors il ne craignait rien. Nul contrôle possi- ble. Il put en ôter, en remettre, détruire, biffer, falsifier. Son travail de faussaire était parfaitement libre, et il a bien travaillé. De quatre-vingts lettres il en reste seize, et encore elles semblent des pièces laborieuses, fabriquées après coup.*

One letter however, which happened not to be with the others, was not returned to him ; it is very remarkable, and throws more real light upon his relations with his penitent and the kind of influence he had over her than could do any amount of evidence of witnesses. It is dated July 22, 1730, is addressed to Cadière at Oilioules, and contains the following passages :

Je rends mille graces à notre Seigneur de la continuation de ses miséricordes : pour y répondre, ma chère fille, oubîiés-vous, & laissés faire : ces deux mots

renferment la plus sublime disposition.......Mangez gras comme on le

veut, je vous l'ai écrit : oui, ma chère enfant, i'ai besoin d'assurance, vous n'en serés pas la victime ; n'ayés point de volonté & n'écoutés point de repugnance ; vous obéïrés en tout comme ma petite fille, qui ne trouve rien de difficile quand  est son pere qui demande. J'ai une grande faim de vous revoir & de tout

  • Ea torciere, p. 379. The letters of Mary Cadière were generally written

by her brother, " car elle lisait, mais elle savait à peine écrire." p. 365.

248 PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADI ÈRE*

voir j vous sçavés que je ne demande que mon bien, & il y a long-tems que je n'ai rien vu qu'à demi. Je vous fatiguerai : eh bien ne me fatigués-vous pas aussi ? il est juste que tout aille de moitié ; je compte bien qu'enfin vous devi- endrés sage, tant de graces & d'avis ne demeureront pas inutiles.*

Let me abridge. The connection of Girard with his dupe begun to be talked of, and, during a journey which Girard made to Marseilles, the bishop of Toulon removed Cadière into the city, and appointed Father Nicolas, an upright, sincere man, as her director. The poor girl reluctantly revealed every- thing. The Jesuits rose in a body against her, and Girard became her most implacable enemy. A public examination of the matter became inevitable. Witnesses were tampered with by the Jesuits ; and others, who would have spoken the truth, were by them kept out of the court room altogether. The Jesuits gained the day ; the tables were entirely turned ; Girard, the cunning, worldly, astute priest " avait été le jouet d'un enchantement" by a poor child who even at that moment scarcely comprehended what had really happened. Judgment was pronounced, xith of September (or October) 1731 ; Girard was acquitted, and the abused Cadière condemned to be " préalablement mise à la question ordinaire et extraordinaire, ensuite ramenée à Toulon, et, sur la place des Prêcheurs, pen- due et étranglée."

  • ífíemotrt pur tf attuti, p. 24.

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÊRE. 249

But the populace would not suffer so foul and unjust a sentence to be put into execution; Marie and her brothers were escorted from the prison to their own home by a hundred gentlemen and citizens, while Girard fled in a closed carriage. The mob however discovered him, and would doubtless have torn him to pieces had he not found refuge and sanctuary in the church of his order. He escaped, and retired to his native place, Dole, where he died, 1733, " en odeur de sainteté," deny- ing to the last his guilt.

The case of Father Girard is important as illustrating the immense influence which the jesuits possessed at that time in France, and the audacity and duplicity which they were ready to employ to uphold their power, or cloak one of their mem- bers, That a simple, weak minded girl should be debauched and abused by a wily confessor, is neither surprising, nor perhaps very important to the world at large, and it would certainly not be deemed a weighty matter by the order. The importance of the case lies in the protection afforded by the Jesuits to one of their guilty members, the unscrupulous conduct they displayed in their endeavours to pervert justice, and their success in obtaining a verdict in favour of the culprit. It is indeed surprising that, in those days of Jesuitical omnipotence, the scandal should ever have come to light. This was occa- sioned by the very sense of security, and the too great confi- dence which the jesuits felt in their own might. On this

HH

250 PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÈrE.

account the Girard-Cadière trial is of greater importance than it would at first sight appear to be. I cannot better conclude my article than by transcribing a few of the eloquent, tren- chant, truthful words in which Michelet* sums up the abominable affair :

Miracle ! un vieux jésuite, disciplinant son écolière, Mlle Cadière de Toulon, la transfigure. Elle est stigmatisée à l'instar de Notre-Seigneur. Le sang dégoutte, et surtout de son front. On croit, ou fait semblant. Nul n'ose examiner.

Miracle ! la grâce est féconde. L'ange de Dieu, Girard, a beau être vieux, laid. Un matin la sainte a conçu, et non-seulement elle, mais d'autres sont enceintes, de toute classe, marchandes, ouvrières, dames. La grâce ne tient compte de la qualité.

Girard est-il un ange ? Les jansénistes jurent que c'est un diable, que ses galants succès, surnaturels, sont ceux d'un noir sorcier. C'est encore Gauffridi, que l'on vit en 1610, et que brûla le Parlement. Serrés de près, les jésuites répondent que, si le Diable est là, il est dans la Cadière qui a ensorcelé Girard.

Les deux partis jurent pour et contre. La Provence se divise avec fureur, tout l'emportement du Midi. Le concert le plus dissonant, un enragé charivari de farces, de chansons, t éclate. Et Paris fait écho avec un rire

  • ÜHátotr* bt dfrance, Louis XV, pp. 102 to m.

t I give one specimen, a Sarceilade, comprised in the Recueil de la Calotte, and reproduced in % §&otútté 33attúw¿, vol. 2, p. 313»

" Sçais tu, Collin, ce qu'on dit à Paris ?

te Par la morguienne ! ys sont biau ébaubis.

"Te souviant il de cette la Cadière

" Dont ys lisions les ƒaitons n'aguière ?

" Comme al d i soit que ce Père Girard,

" Dès qu'il étoit avec elle à l'écart,

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE  CADIÍVRE. 2¿I

immense. Dans cette affaire burlesque, un terrible sérieux était au fond, une question vraiement politique. Le roi d'alors étant le prêtre, son avilissement est l'aurore de la liberté. Ne vous étonnez pas de voir en ce procès à Aix, u Marseille et partout, ces assemblées de tout le peuple par cent mille et cent mille que vous ne reverrez qu'au triomphe de Mirabeau.

" Après avoir biau varouillé sa porte

" La visitoit comme une bête morte ;

" Qu'il la tatoit et la lantiponnoit,

"Tant qu'un biau jour ce vilain maladret

" L'avoit rendue, à ce qu'ai disoit, mère . . .

" Moi, je disians : si ç'atoit calomnie

" Cette chienne devroit être punie,

(C Mais si c'est vrai, tout ce qu'aile nous dit,

" Faudroit griller ce Lucifer maudît.

" Au diable-zoc ! ces monsieurs de Provence

" Avons à tous, baillé pleine indulgence ;

" C'est la besogne à Jean Cogne-Festa :

" Qui plus a mis et plus y a pardu.

" Et qui pis est, on dit que les Jésuites

" De ça, pour rian, n'avons pas été quittes,

" Qu'il a fallu pour ce biau jugement,

" Aux juges d'Aix lacher biaucoup d'argent."

Voltaire has exercised his powers of versification on the subject. Twice m Ea Cuccile (chants 2 and 3) he introduces Girard, who

" En confessant la gentille Cadière,

(( Insinuait de son souffle paillard

" De diablotaux une ample fourmillière. The following couplet was written by him on an engraving in which Girard and his penitent were represented together :

i( Cette belle voit Dieu ; Girard voit cette belle : "Ah! Girard est plus heureux qu'elle 1"

2¡2 PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÈRE.

On avait rï d'abord, mais bientôt on frémit (septembre 1731), en apprenant que les jésuites couvraient le crime par le crime, qu' à Aix même et au Parle- ment, les gens du Roi proposaient "d'étrangler . . . . " Girard sans doute ? Point du tout .... sa victime !

Voilà ce qui souleva le peuple, et fit ces grands rassemblements. La pitié, le bon cœur, l'humanité s'armèrent. Les pierres, au défaut d'hommes, se seraient soulevées !

On se demande comment, sous ce sage Fleury qui craignait tant le bruit, les choses purent aller jusque-là, comment dès les commencements on ne sut étouffer l'affaire. C'est là le miracle réel, que sous ce gouvernement de ténèbres la lumière ait jailli, monté d'en bas, en perçant tout obstacle. Cela tient justement à ce que le jésuites, étant si forts, crurent à chaque degré du procès, pouvoir en rester maîtres. Mais l'affaire échappait, montait toujours plus haut. Elle se développa lumineuse et terrible, comme à la lumière électrique, montrant dans ses laideurs, dans ses parties honteuses, l'autorité régnante, si fière, et qu'on vit par le dos.

Révélation très-forte, largement instructive, ne portant pas sur un fait singulier, mais vulgaire et banale. Que Girard abusât d'une pauvre innocente, d'une petite fille malade, dans ses crises léthargiques, cela n'apprenait rien. Ce qui en dit beaucoup sur les facilités libertines du jargon mystique, c'est qu'un jésuite vieux, laid, en six mois eût gagné si aisément ses pénitentes. Toutes enceintes. On connut la direction.

On connut les couvents. Girard les savait bien discrets, puisqu'il voulait y cacher ses enceintes (comme on a vu plus haut Pi card, directeur de Lou vi ers). Le couvent d'OUioules, où il mit la Cadière, montre à nu ce qu'ailleurs on eût vu tout de même : une abbesse fort libre j des dames riches, utiles à la maison, fort gâtées, servies par des moines j ces moines effrénés jusqu'à souiller les enfants qu'on élève j la masse enfin, pauvre troupeau de femmes, dans un mortel ennui et des amitiés folles» douloureuse ombre de l'amour.

La justice ecclésiastique apparut dans son jour. L'évêque de Toulon, grand seigneur bienveillant qui un moment défendit la Cadière, eut peur, quand les jésuites lui reprochèrent certaine chose infâme. Et, dans sa lâcheté, il se mit avec eux......

Le dix-huitième siècle n'était pas plus sévère. Nos philosophes, largement indulgents, dispensaient le clergé de soutenir cette gageure d'un miracle ïinpos-

PROCÈS DU PÈRE GIRARD ET DE MARIE C. CADIÈRE. 253

sible. Aux faiblesses du prêtre, ils appliquaient leur mot, leur commode formule : Retour à la nature. L'affaire, de la Cadière, à ce tolérantisme opposa la réalité : l'anti-nature barbare, l'excentricité libertine, le sauvage egoïsme, le rut impitoyable et tout à coup féroce pour étouffer, enfouir, ensevelir.

In addition to the works already mentioned,* in which the story of Girard and Cadière is told at greater or less length, it has inspired other writers. The Marquis de Sade no doubt had it in mind when writing several of his cruelest chapters. One of the most forcible scenes in Gamiani is directly imitated from it ; and Les amours de Sainfroid Jésuite, et UEulalie Fille Devote^ (with its English translation) is evidently founded upon it.

  • P. 239, note, ante.

t Fully noticed at pp. 64 and 70 of the \  Çro^tbttorum.

Note.—" The power of Confessors of disciplining their penitents, (writes Dblolme) became in process of time so generally acknowledged, that it obtained even with respect to persons who made profession of the Ecclesiasti- cal life, and superseded the laws that had been made against those who should

strike an Ecclesiastic......Attempts were, however, made to put a stop to

these practices of Priests and Confessors ; and so early as under Pope Adrian I. who was raised to the Purple, in the year 77a (which by the by shews that the power assumed by Confessors, was pretty ancient) a regulation was made to forbid Confessors to beat their Penitents : Episcopus, Presbiter 05* Diaconus, pecamtes jideles diverberare non debeant. But this regulation proved useless : the whole tribe of Priests, as well as the first Dignitaries of the Church, never- theless continued to preach up the prerogatives of Confessors and the merit of flagellations j &c."

It will then be readily understood that Adriaensen and Girard are not the

254 PROCÈS DU R. P. DUFOUR ET MME. DE VALMONT.

Tribunal Correctionnel de Brest. Wiltt (SjrtrabaffailTF

Suirtriatrø Çrimsf im &+ $♦ ©uumr rt ¿Kabame ín

* ìfc WulXUÙÌXt i° Réquisitoire ;—fc° Inter- rogatoire ;—3° Plaidoiries ;-—40 Jugement ;—50 Apprecia- tions. Reproduction Interdite. Chaque exemplaire est revêtu da ( sic) cachet ci-dessous. Nota.«—Pour recevoir franco cette brochure, en Belgique, envoyer Un Franc en timbres-poste, à l'adresse de M.-J. Poot et Cie, impri- meurs, 37, rue aux Choux, à Bruxelles.—Pour la France: fr. 1-50»

This small tract, of 47 pp. in all, is printed on very thin paper, and has the title turned inwards in order to economise

only instances of confessors who have applied the discipline to the naked bodies of their penitents. A long list, indeed, might easily be made of priests -who have held the doctrine inculcated by Cardinal Pullus that the nakedness of the penitent was an additional merit in the eyes of God : Est ergo satis/ tio qucedam, aspera tarnen, sed Deo tanto gratior quanto humUior, cum quìlìbet sacerdotìs prostratus ad pedes, se cædendum ν ir gis exhihet nudum. Passing over, as foreign to our immediate purpose, such holy men as St. Edmund, Bishop of Canterbury, the Capucin Brother Mathew of Avignon, and Bernardin of Sienna, who chastised, in Jemoribus, clunibus, ac scapulis, the several women who had tempted them to carnal sin, I may, with appropriate- ness, note the following : Abe lard took delight in the recollection of the corrections he had given to his pupil Heloise j the Jesuit, Johannes Acker- bom, was caught whipping a young girl who had come to confess to him—

PROCÈS DU R. P. DUFOUR ET MME. DE VALMONT. 255

and facilitate its expedition by post. Of some of the copies the edges are so closely cropped that the concluding letters of many of the lines are cutoff. It contains, we are informed in the introduction, " tout ce que nous avons pu recuelhr sur le scandaleux procès appelé 'Affaire du jésuite Dufour dAstqf- ford et de la vicomtesse de Valmont ! ' " Althougii this trial will

ßagellabat virginem ut nudam conspiceret ; his companion, Petrus Wills, merrily followed his example—-frater, ejus socius, ludendi, flagellanti, potitanti aderat ; Peter Gersen was even less discriminate—vir gines suas nudas caede- bat flagris in agris.  quale speculum  spectaculum, videre virgunculas pülcherrimas rimas imas. To these Τ might add Fathers Nunnez and M al agri da, who had much influence over the ladies at the courts of which they were the confessors, and used the disciplines with diligence. We have yet a more remarkable modern instance in the Capucin Monk P. Achazius of Düren, who emulated very closely brother Cornells, forming a kind of society of women who were foolish enough to submit to his caprices $ he did not how- ever, like Adriaensen, confine himself to flagellating them while in a state of nudity, but he satisfied his lust to the last degree. When his practices were discovered, the scandal was, by order of Napoleon, smothered as far as possible \ and although the matter came afterwards before the court of Liege, it was, in deference to the families compromised, suppressed. Achazius had not the advantage of a handsome person : " €>o fcumtfdj feine Spanieren, f0 ^άβΐίφ feine ©efMjtêpige mann, f  u6er¿eugenb mar ber \ son feiner ©erebfamrett unb ereni^tarifc^en Shrôtrmtlgfeit." His proceedings with one of his penitents are thus described : "φα bie Jungfrau ηοφ ftattïidje  genug Befa§, um ben 2fypetit beø $ater$ ju meto, fø fd)íitg er  eine $ínbací?t öor, in bie fíe aíafeaíb einging. 9ΐαφ $øfl6ra($ter ^etcfjt mufjte fie sjor 3t$a$iu3 nieberfnieen unb bemüt^ig 93et$eu)mtg für  @unben erfïeijen, barauf   an bie iteren entWößen.  ¿pater natym mm eine grof e SftutÇc unb  fie bamtt ;  Befriebigte er feine tÇierif^e £ufi an

2¡6 PROCÈS DU R. F. DUPOUR ET MME. DE VALMONT.

doubtless be fresh in the memory of many of my readers, and in spite of the fact that the accused persons were legally acquitted, it appears to me sufficiently curious to warrant its reproduction here, especially as it is a further illustration of Jesuitical morality and influence.

The persons implicated were " J. Dufour d'Astafford,

i$t. @íe mufíte Beim Sorteen &etfyted?en, audj anbete fttauengimmet tÇtet éefanntfcÇaft gu gewinnen, íDtefí geftyaÇ in bet $Çat ) mit einigen ftteunbinnen »on ttotgetutftem  watb bet Anfang gemalt unb  bet 2Beg aud) ju Jüngern, meifi betÇeitatÇeten, geBaÇnt. (gBenfo nmfíte man eine 5ln$a$í anbetet ©eiflttdjen mit in bie @ ju jieÇen. TOmäljUg Btfbete  ein fôtmítdjet abamittfäjet ¿lagel* lantenïütBB, wotin afleo ®tàulidje gettieBen watb, wa3 ntebetjufdjtetben, wtt ettöttyen røutben." One of the women, wife of a paper-maker, who gave evi- dence against him, when asked how it was possible that she could give herself up to such an illfavoured, filthy fellow as Achazius, replied : n betfelBe Çutte ff e ganj BejauBett, fo baf fie mit unenbttdjet Øleigung  juget^an røotben unb wifleníoS, wie ein Æinb, $u aflem  ÇetgegeBen ÇaBe; mit ben geweiteten ØtuiCen (he kept them steeped in vinegar and salt) ÇaBe et fie [  gefdjlagen, bafí fie Btóweiíen gejwungen gewefen fei, untet itgenb einem anbetn $otwanbe üBet btei 2Öoä)en lang baö SÖette ju Cuten. £>te üBttgen SDinge,  bie íDame anaBg, finb ntdjt mtttÇeiíBat, bod) matten fie fefljft bet *P$antafle bet (sic) lutotôbet Suftine " Achazius's only punishment was confinement for life in a monastery.

It may not be altogether inappropriate to conclude this note with the mention of the Rev. Zachary Cbofton, curate of St. Botolph, Aldgate, London, and author of numerous doctrinal and controversial works, who, about the year 1660, "was prosecuted in Westminster-Hall for giving the correction of a School-Boy to his Servant-Maid, and was bold to print his defence."—See Cf)t fltøtar» of  dFTagelüuittf, p. 228, &c. j SDet №8, pp. 90 and 99 î & ÎÉUgtatet aitø €|r*rødt, p. 797.

PKOCÌiS DU R. P. DUFOUR ET MME. DE VALMONT. 257

44 ans, religieux, demeurant à Brest " ; and " Lotjise-Marie- Gabrielle Carpentier, veuve de Valmont, 22 ans," further described as : " petite, d'allure vive ; elle a de la physionomie, une grande fraîcheur de teint, et, en outre de sa jeunesse, de la beauté, tout au moins celle du diable." The worthy jesuit was her spiritual director.

On the 9th of July, 1872, on his return from Quimperlé, where he had been preaching, he met Mme. de Valmont at Châteaulin, where they took the train together for Brest. Familiarities in their conduct being observed at the station, the guard of the train, Kergroën, was directed by the station- master to keep an eye upon them. This he did ; and passing along the train whilst it was in motion, he surprised them in the following equivocal positions. I quote KergroeVs de- position :

Je reconnus le prêtre, il était à gauche dans un coin et la dame en face dans le coin opposé. La dame se décoiffa, le store était tiré sur la lampe. Le prêtre avait les jambes étendues sur la banquette en face de la dame. Plus tard, je repassai devant le waggon : la situation avait changé, la dame tenait le prêtre par le cou et l'embrassait. Le prêtre n'avait plus les jambes étendues, la dame s'était mise sur ses genoux et l'embrassait toujours pendant que, lui, il la tenait par la taille.

Il me parut qu'il était temps d'intervenir. Je dis qu'on ne se conduisait pas ainsi en chemin de fer. La dame devint toute pâle. Le prêtre me dit : " Nous vous faisons nos excuses, nous sommes comme des enfants j après tout, quand on est frère et sœur il est bien permis de s'embrasser."—Oui, mais on ne s'embrasse pas de cette façon entre frère et sœur, &c.

II

258 PROCÈS DU R. P. DUF0UR ET MME. DE VALMONT.

Kergroën demanded the priest's card, which was refused, so he laid the matter before the masters of the two next stations at which the train stopped. This apparently plain statement of the case did not satisfy the president ; he required more details ; and the following dialogue took place :

M. le Président. Voas avez dit à Quimerch et à Landerneau que la dame était assise sur les genoux du prêtre ; devant le juge d'instruction, vous modi- fiez cette déclaration en l'aggravant. Vous prétendez qu'elle était à cheval, c'est-à-dire les jambes écartées, dans une position plus inconvenante. Ces variations ont de l'importance au point de vue de la caractérisation du délit. Dans votre procès-verbal vous dites que vous avez été témoin d'un outrage public à la pudeur.

Le Témoin. Oui, pour moi, il y a outrage à la pudeur, quand une femme est assise sur les genoux d'un prêtre et quand j'ai dû, pour l'avertir, frapper sur la cuisse nue de cette dame.

M. le Président C'était là de votre part un acte reprehensible et lui-même contraire à la pudeur j il suffisait de l'avertir de la voix et vous l'avez assez haute pour cela.

Le Témoin. Pardon, le train était en marche et la constatation était plus complète quand je constatais ainsi la nudité de la dame.

In answer to questions put to him by the station-master of Landerneau and others, the Rev. Father Dufour replied in a strain worthy of his order :

Après avoir donné son nom, il n'a pas persisté à dire que sa compagne de voyage fût sa sœur j il a prétendu qu'il la connaissait depuis long-temps, qu'il lui avait rendu des services et que, dans sa reconnaissance, elle l'avait embrassé.

PROCÈS BU R. P. DUFOÜR ET MME. DE VALMONT. 2¡g

" Où est le mal? ajoutait le prêtre$ si nous avions été Jrère et sœur, nous le pouvions. Supposez, a-t-ii encore dit' au brigadier, deux jeunes mariés qui voyagent en chemin de fers ils peuvent s'embrasser et même faire autre chose. .',·.■. .Nous η avons fait aucun mal. Tous les jours de jeunes mariés se permettent des libertés quand ils voyagent ; où est le mal ?"

At his trial Father Dufour excused himself in the follow- ing unmanly, hypocritical manner :

Si j'ai, une fois en chemin de fer, tiré le store sur la lampe,—ce que je ne crois pas avoir fait,—c'est que je suis grand dormeur en chemin de fer, J'eus le tort de m'étendre sur la banquette, bien qu'en voyage on se permette cette privauté. Mrae· de Valmont, placée d'abord à l'autre extrémité du waggon, s'approcha parce que le bruit du chemin de fer empêchait de s'entendre. Elle me remercia de m'être arrêté pour elle à Chåteaulin, et dans l'expansion de sa reconnaissance, elle rapprocha sa tête de ma poitrine, si bien que sa figure a pu toucher mon menton. &c»

The case was tried on the 4th, and judgment given on the 10th September, 1872. The parties were acquitted.

 CÍOtóterô 1 ©J)W, or, Adventures of the Priests and Nuns. With Some Account of Con- fessions, and the lewd Use they make of them. Containing a Series of diverting Stories. Also, CÍK 9C0beUtUreÔ Ot tfyt 35atl> t Containing, The Amours of Theresa and the Dwarf, the Love Letters of the Count Luciano, and the Tragedy of the Baron Casanatta. London : Printed for Meanwell, near Dutchey-Lane. [Price Three Shillings.]

Large ι amo. (counts 6) ; pp. 142, with  unnumbered of title, preface and contents ; two lines on the title page above the impress ; published probably during the latter half of the last century. There is a carefully engraved frontispiece, repre- senting a nun confessing to a priest, who has his left hand under his frock in a very suggestive manner; the following lines are underneath :

View the lascivious Priest, Religion's Jest ! By whom th' obedient Damsel is confestj With whom she clears the long contracted Score Of former Sins, and ticks with Heav'n for more.

The pieces contained in this volume are not all original;

THE CLOISTERS LAID OPEN. 201

" many (observes the compiler in his preface) are of my own certain Knowledge, and the rest collected from the Testimony of Authors of most undoubted Credit." Some of the Ad- ventures are taken from Boccaccio, while many of the Confes- sions are extracted from Gavin's Master Key to Popery. The following is perhaps sufficiently curious to warrant repro- duction :

The Adventure o/* Isabella with a Fryar, who, under Pretence of making an Oblation of her Virginity to the B. Virgin, debauched her before an Altar, at Thirteen Years old.

I was bora at Sora, in the Abruzzo, of Parents not very eminent for Fortune or Birth ; yet my Father's Employment was sufficient to give me a genteel Education.

I am of Opinion, there is some Impulse of Nature, or Influence of the Stars, which pushes some more than others on the Confines of Venus. I confess, I did not know what it was that Men and Women were joined for ; yet, by that time I was turned of Twelve, I had a great Inclination to Marriage j that is, I had a mighty Mind to a Husband. To this End, I frequented the Convent of the Fryers, where my Mother, and all our Family, ever chose their Confessors, to pray to the Virgin Mary to send me a good Husband, according to my Desire. I had continued this Prayer almost a Year, when finding no Effect of all my Orisons, I began to suspect I had made a sinful Demand, and full of this Fear I applied myself to my Confessor, a grave, old, religious Fryar in Appearance, but, in Effect, without either Religion or Gravity.

He finding my Simplicity, told me, he would pray to the Virgin to know her Will in that Particular, and ordered me to come to Confession again in a Day or two, and he would give me her Answer. I was over joyed in my Mind, that I had so good an Advocate in my Cause, and was punctual to a Minute, to know the Result. When I came to him in the Confessional, " Cease, said he, my pretty little Daughter, to ask a Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who being herself a Maid, will have you have no Husband at all." Since you tell me, replied I, that it is the Will of the Blessed Virgin, I will give and dedicate

 THE CLOISTERS LAID OPEN.

my Virginity to Heaven. The good Father commended my pious Resolution, and told me, the Virgin had ordered I should dedicate it to her in some Church. I then replied, since the Virgin had commanded so, his Church seemed to be the fittest for the Oblation. " I approve of your Devotion, my good Daughter, said he, and now therefore depart in Peace, and return in the Morning, for this Night I will spend in Prayer to our Lady, that she would vouchsafe to ratify the Dedication of thy Virginity j and having washed your Body all clean in the Morning, and put on clean Linen, return to me ; for it's not lawful for any thing unclean to be offered to the Virgin by her Priests. Take care to be here in good time, and alone 3 for there are to be no Witnesses of the Consecration of those things of which the Virgin takes possession."

Returning in the Morning full of Devotion to the Virgin, he led me to his Cell ; wThere, on an Altar, I saw a Crucifix surrounded with abundance of Wax Candles, and, above all, a Picture of our Lady. The Door being fastened, we both joined in Prayer, and sung some Hyms (sic) to the Virgin, when both rising up, " My Daughter, says he, you must now take off your upper Garment, to consecrate it to our Lady :" Which having, by his Help performed, with all the Form of Devotion, praying, and he singing Hymns all the while ; he then ordered me to pull off the next, and so till I was now come to my Shift. I was a little surprized, in spite of my Ignorance 5 but the Formality of the Cere- mony, and the Gravity of his Aspect, together with a mighty Opinion of his Piety, lulled asleep all Suspicion of foul Play ; and J really believed this was the peculiar Order of the Church, since performed in such Solemnity, before the Crucifix and the Picture of the Blessed Virgin. Being now only covered with my Shift, blushing all over, my Eyes being quite shut with Fear and Devotion, he then told me, I must pull off my Shift too $ for the Virgin and the Saints being all without Cloaths, would have nothing offered to them, but what was quite naked : But I could not, with all his Threats, be prevailed with to do that Office myself, but suffered him to take it away,, who left me quite naked to his View j when, having said another Prayer, and sung an Hymn, he approached me very close, and pressing my Breasts with his trembling Fingers, " These precious little Balls, said he, are thus offered to my Church and her Patroness." Then running over my Cheeks, all blushing hot as Fire, approaching my Mouth, "This, said he, my Daughter, must be taken Possession of only by the Mouth :" Then kissing me three times, "And these ruby Lips are an Offering

THE CLOISTERS LAID OPEN. 263

to my Church." Thence having passed from my Bosom to my Belly, and making Seizure of them, as Offerings to his Church, he ordered me to kneel down before the Altar, and say after him these Words. "  ever-glorious Virgin, I here offer thee my Virginity and my naked Body, to be taken Posses- sion of by this thy Minister and Servant." Then, after a short Hymn, he ordered me to lye down at the Foot of the Altar, where my Virginity must be offered to our Lady. In Obedience to his Order, I laid me down on my Face, in that humble Posture to offer myself up to the Virgin, when he kneeling by me, and fitting himself for the cursed Encounter, with unheard of Impiety, making Religion the Pimp to his Lust, he run his Hand gently over my back Parts, and took those into his Church. Then, with some struggling, he turned me upon my Back, and pressing my Thighs and Arms with the same Formality and seeming Devotion, "  Holy Virgin, said he, who hast with so much Beauty adorned this thy Votary, formed these tremulous Thighs ! this firm round Belly ; these small round taper Arms and Fingers, with so much Angeli ck Symmetry, Proportion and Softness j behold this thy little Handmaid, and rejoice in the Possession of such a Servant." Having said this three times, and casting his Eye now to the Scene of all his Action, and the Distinction to the Sex : " And this, my Daughter, I must seize with my Hand, as the Gate to that Offering which you come to make to the Blessed Virgin ; and, as the Mouth was only to be taken Possession of by the Mouth, so must this be by what can only deliver the Offering you have brought." I struggled some time, and urged, that he certainly exceeded his Commission j but denouncing terrible Anathema's, he told me, it would be Impiety to carry back from the Virgin, the very Thing I came to immolate to her ¡ as I must needs do, unless I left my Maidenhead with him. Vanquished by these Reasons, and a sort of unknown Pleasure raised by his artful Approaches, I suffered him at last, betwixt Straggling and Consent, to take entire Possession of my Person. The first Encounter being over, I was going to dress me j but e'er I got my Shift on, he seized it with this Assurance, That, as the Mouth was taken Possession of by three Kisses, so must my Virginity by as many Embraces. The first Fear being over, and thinking it my Duty, and the Pleasure its Reward, he easily made me comply, till a great Part of the Day being now wasted in this new Sort of Sacrifice, dressing myself as well as I could, he dismissed me, with an Order of repeating the same Exorcism the next Day. In short, he

2Ó4 THE CLOISTERS LAID OPEN.

cultivated his Ground in such a Manner, that in a little Time I found myself with Child. I informed him of my Condition, and asked his Advice as well as Assistance. He amused me with Words, till finding the Secret must come out, he left Sora, and went to some Convent of the same Order, at the farther End of Italy.

My Condition was now no longer to be concealed ; my Mother soon made the Discovery, and flew into such a Rage, that had not my Father intervened, I believe that Day would have been my last j but he loving me more tenderly than my Mother, took me aside, and having fully examined the Matter, gave Credit to my Account, and vowed certain Revenge on the impious and trea- cherous Fryar, if he could by any means learn to what Convent he was fled : But for fear my Mother should treat me too harshly, he sent me to a Friend in the Country, not far from a Villa of the Duchess of Sora, where I was delivered of a dead Child, the Fright my Mother put me into having killed it in the Womb. I had, after a hard Travel, some Months of Illness, insomuch that my Life was despaired of j for, by the Indiscretion of the People, the News of my Father's unfortunate Death was brought to my Ears, while I yet laboured under the Power of a Distemper not easily removed. He had, it seems, with indefatigable Industry, found out the Fryar, and stabbed him to the Heart $ but being seized by the Fryars, and prosecuted for the Fact, he was executed at Padua. The News of it broke my Mother's Heart, and had very near dispatched me in the same manner : But Youth and Destiny preserved me for a happier End.

The Adventures of the Bath is an insipid production; Theresa, daughter of a cardinal, seduces her page or dwarf while he is assisting her at her bath, and then relates her own adventures, reading to him the letters which had passed be- tween her and her lovers.

LE ***** MONACAL, &C. 2Ó<

It 3B***** itonacal ou Vie Voluptueuse des Capucins et des Nonnes tirée de la confession d'un père de cet ordre suivie des ¿bttttrtø Aobflfetøø A Cologne Chez Pierre Le Sincere m, d. ce. lv

Square 8vo. (counts 2); pp. 119 in all; on the title page is a fleuron of a satyr's bust with children dancing round it ; throughout the volume are various wood cuts, on the page, taken from different works ; an etched frontispiece, satirical and erotic, representing a monk and devil combined; issue 150 copies, as noted on the verso of the bastard title; price fres. 20. This volume was edited, and published at Brussels, by Vital Puissant, end of 1875 or beginning of 1876 ; it is remarkable as being printed on paper which had already been used on one side, two sheets of paper being stuck together the used sides inwards ; the matter printed on the insides of these double leaves can still be read by holding the leaves up to the light.

In addition to a Notice Bibliographique on the verso of the last page, this volume contains two pieces :

1. Le £***** Monacal is a reprint of the Fie Voluptueuse entre les Capucins et les Nonnes, with the few following inter- polations : p. 16, from "Moyennant" to "gouvernement." (15 lines); p. 34, from "Le Manage" to "instructions." (30 lines); p. 44, from "Je commençais" to "échauffée." 

2Ó6 LE ***** MONACAL, &C.

(i7 lines); p. 51, from "Tout en courant" to "spirituelles." (20 lines); p. 54, from "Cependant" to "sur ce sujet." (22 pages and 27 lines) ; p. 81, from " Ce fut" to " histoire." ( lines) ; p. 88, from " Ils sont loin " to "digression." (2 pages and 22 lines). These additions appear to have been made for the purpose of introducing the illustrations which do not belong to the work. On the other hand/at p. 85 seven lines : from " Les exemples " to " vérité.," are omitted. In his notice bibliographique, the editor mentions six different editions of the work, concerning which he observes : " Toutes ces différentes éditions sont généralement incomplètes; en ce sens que les unes contiennent des matières qu'on a supprimées dans d'autres et vice-versa." This is not correct. I have collated four different editions, among which are three bearing the dates he notes, and they all correspond ; but not one of them contains the interpolations indicated above.

2. Les Fouteries Nobiliaires is not an original work ; it is merely a medley of extracts from the second part of Thérèse Philosophe, from La Fille de Joie (The Woman of Pleasure), &c, with the names generally changed, and the wording slightly modified.

Altogether, Le ***** Monacal is a " made up" book, a mere bookseller's speculation, and not worthy of the attention of a serious collector. Its greatest curiosity is the paper upon which it is printed.

LE PARC-AUX-CERFS EPISCOPAL, &C. 267

ït $m*mp€tvts éptèropal—Siøtøt're tørift'ante et Curieuöe ou Séminaire bt Wmm ou Les Fo.nes

Sacerdotales A Cythère chez Le Gardien du Temple— Année Perpétuelle

121110. (counts 6); pp. 180 in all; on the title page fleuron of a satyr's bust with children dancing round it ; 5 etchings of indifferent execution, of which four are copied from engravings inserted in L'Académie des Dames Venise Chez Pierre Arretin ; a cul de lampe on p. 9 ; and an illustration on p. 10, the same as that used for the frontispiece of the ***** Monacal ;* the bastard title is more ample than the title, and enumerates the pieces contained in the volume ; on the verso the issue is given as 150 copies, but at least 300 were struck off; price 20 fres. ; published at Brussels, in 1876, by Vital Puissant.

The volume contains, besides an Introduction, Preface Né- cessaire, and a Notice Bibliographique, the following distinct pieces :

1.  ìàùVUtl CptóíOpal ou Le Séminaire de Vénus, is a reprin

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