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 ALUMNI LIBRARY, 
 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 
 
 Princeton, n. j. 
 
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 I Shelf, Se^o.^^>^L\ ^ 
 
 
\ 
 
FEMALE CONVENT 
 
 SECRETS \ 
 
 OF ^ 
 
 NUNNERIES DISCLOSED. 
 
 COMPILED FROM THE 
 
 AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS 
 
 OF 
 
 SCIPIO DE Rice I, 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF PISTOIA AND PRATO. 
 
 BY MR. DE POTTER. 
 
 EDITED BY THOMAS ROSCOE. 
 WITH AN 
 
 INTRODUCTORY ESSAY AND APPENDIX. 
 
 AgU^O, (5el|w (foi T>]V (Xr]TS^a TWV -TTOpVCOV. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 D. APPLETON & CO., 200 BROADWAY 
 
 18 3 4. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1834 by 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO., 
 
 In the clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of 
 New \ ork. 
 
 VVM. VAN NCRDEN, I HIST. 
 

 
 NOTICE 
 
 The onsuing disclosures respecting Monachism and Pope- 
 ry are selected from the " Memoirs of Scipio de Ricci, late 
 Bisaop of Pistoia and Prato, Reformer of Catholicism in Tus- 
 cany, during the reign of Leopold. Compiled from the auto- 
 graph manuscripts of that Prelate. Edited from the original 
 of Mr. de Potter, by Thomas Roscoe." London, 1829. 
 
 Almost one half of the two original volumes are filled with 
 the history of Italy during the period subsequent to the 
 French revolution in 1789, and with incidental notices of 
 Ricci's private life, and that of his numerous friends and cor- 
 respondents. Nearly all those political and military details 
 are omitted ; because the sole objects designed by the present 
 publication are these; to unfold the genuine and unvarying 
 practices of male and female convents ; and to demonstrate, 
 that the claims of the Papacy are totally incompatible with 
 civil and religious liberty, and equally destructive of indi- 
 vidual dignity, social decorum, and national intelligence 
 and enjoyments . 
 
 As the present work is reprinted from' the ** Memoirs of 
 Scipio de Ricci," with those alterations only which were in- 
 dispensable to preserve the continuity of the narrative ; the 
 English editor's preface imparts all requisite information con- 
 cerning this most valuable andlnteresting development'of the 
 character of nunneries, the motives and arts of the Papal 
 priesthood, and the immutable and universally mischievous 
 and detestable policy of the Pontiffs and ecclesiastical Court 
 of Rome. 
 
 ii^ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/femaleconventsseOOricc 
 
PREFACE BY THOMAS ROSCOE. 
 
 Scipio DE Ricci deservedly ranks among the sincere and 
 venerable defenders of religious truth and liberty : and Mr. de 
 Potter, in collecting these materials, has performed a task 
 very acceptable to the students of contemporary history. 
 
 During the agitating and fearful drama of the eighteenth 
 century, when liberty herself was desecrated by being allied 
 with Atheism, and made the enemy of outraged humanity, 
 the Bishop of Prato and Pistoia planned a system of reform 
 winch would have established the freedom of his countrymen 
 on true moral, intellectual, and religious improvement. The 
 most zealous enemy of injustice in states and governments 
 was not more opposed to oppression, nor more fervent in his 
 desire of seeing mankind emancipated from every species of 
 tyrannous thraldom ; but he was superior in his design to thef) 
 ! spirit of the age. He desired reform civil and ecclesiastic;'' 
 land endeavored to pursue a line of action, which, if success- 
 ,'ful, would have led to the establishment of religious and moral 
 / improvement in the Italian States. 
 
 The narrative of the struggles, of the hardships and afflic- 
 tions, which this prelate had to encounter in carrying on his re- 
 forms, is a most interesting biography. Emancipating himself 
 from the trammels of falsehood and superstition, he appears 
 to have been carried forward by the purity and moral correct- 
 ness of his feelings, and by the exercise of an ingenuous 
 mind in the defence of truth and right. But Ricci, though 
 possessing all the virtues of humanity, and all the sincerity 
 which should form the character of a reformer, was wanting 
 in those sterner elements which are requisite to a man stand- 
 ing in the situation that he occupied. His good sense and 
 his love of truth excited his hatred of the base and enslaving 
 
 1* 
 
k 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 superstitions with which he saw religion corrupted. His hu- 
 manity made him wish to see his fellow creatures freed from 
 such degradation; but his spirit, never bold enough to main- 
 tain such a situation, failed him. His ideas of the duty of 
 submission, united with the natural mildness of his character, 
 confounded the plain and obvious reasoning which a stronger 
 mind would have employed ; and he fell a victim to his own 
 want of determination, and to the artifices of the common 
 enemies of himself, of liberty, and of religion. 
 
 Many papers of the immense mass of documents which the 
 original Editor of Ricci's Life has printed, could only be valu_ 
 able to those who require to be told, that where superstition 
 and political profligacy reign in their most degraded foj 
 morality and decency must be entirely forgotten. As the 
 vices of the monks and nuns are sufficiently exposed, we have, 
 therefore, spared the reader the disgusting toil of perusing 
 details which would add no additional proof to a truth already 
 known. 
 
 The original work, of which all the valuable and importanl 
 parts are here presented to the reader, was composed from 
 the autograph manuscripts and private memorials of Ricci. 
 They were furnished to the Editor by the nephew of the^ 
 Prelate ; and no doubt exists respecting their authenticity. 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY 
 
 Among " the signs of the times," no one is more replete 
 with melancholy forebodings, than the rapid extension of the 
 monastic system, both in these United States and in Britain. 
 Three hundred years ago, the English Monasteries and Nun- 
 neries were demolished by act of parliament ; the preamble 
 of which alleged as the cause of their dissolution, the inde- 
 scribable turpitude and innumerable atrocities, which were 
 inseparable from Iheir very existence. Throughout all the 
 protestant countries, since the reformation of the sixteenth 
 century, male and female Convents have been abhorred, not 
 only by all Christians, but by every wise and good citizen. 
 They have almost disappeared from France, and in Spain they 
 are hastening to extinction ; in Portugal they have been de- 
 stroyed ; and in no country on earth, except in this Federal 
 Republic and the British dominions, are they viewed in any 
 other aspect, than as objects of detestation, domicils of inor- 
 dinate wickedness, or dungeons of unmitigable despair. 
 
 During the last five years, many ineffectual attempts have 
 been made to arrest the attention of American Protestants 
 to the true character and pernicious results of the monkish 
 life. The conflagration of the Ursuline Nunnery at Charles- 
 town, however, has elicited a regard to the subject, which it 
 is proper should be improved ; and to impress and enlighten 
 the public mind, no mode seemed to be equally adapted, as a 
 selection from the authentic materials of which the ensuing 
 work is composed. The testimony is unexceptionable ; being 
 that of a Roman Catholic Prelate, who was commissioned by 
 a Prince subject to the Papal jurisdiction, expressly to inves- 
 tigate the arcana of conventual life ; and it was compiled by 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 a Civilian connected with the Roman hierarchy. The docu- 
 ments, therefore, cannot be objected to as of Protestant origin ; 
 because every fact is affirmed upon the authority of the Roman 
 Prelate, and his Papal coadjutors, or of his deceitful and fero- 
 cious persecutors. 
 
 The succeeding narrative illustrates the two most impress- 
 ive topics appertaining to popery, which American citizens 
 can contemplate. Very little reference is made in this work 
 to the theological portions of Romanism. Proselytes to Je- 
 suitism are not collected in this country by the exhibition of 
 the Popish idolatrous ritual, or the blasphemy of the Mass, or 
 the absurdities of transubstantiation, or ludicrous delineations 
 of purgatory, or the obscenities of auricular confession, or 
 the usurped claim to govern conscience and to pardon sin, or 
 even by the all absorbing assumption of infallibility. The 
 primary allurement is, the fraudulent pretext of a superior 
 education, to be obtained through their instrumentality, and 
 the crafty adhesion to the strongest political party, which may 
 temporarily gain the ascendency. Thus it is demonstrated, 
 that the community of Papists in every Protestant country, are 
 a distinct and isolated body, having no common interests with 
 the other part of society ; and always prepared to seize every 
 opportunity to grasp power, and extend their pestiferous in- 
 fluence. 
 
 Scipio de Ricci, from whose memoirs the subsequent de- 
 scription of Nunneries is compiled, has also unfolded the 
 unchangeable turpitude and stupendous artifices which now 
 characterize tlie infernal policy of the Roman Pontiffs and 
 their court of Cardinals. This part of the volume is of equal 
 importance to us, as his developments concerning Monks and 
 Nuns. By the most undeniable historical details, and by other 
 authentic documents, pontifical bulls, decretals, and canons, 
 the fact is incontestable, that the Popes ever have claimed, as 
 Gregory XVI. the reigning •* Man of Sin," does now arrogate 
 to wield the destinies of all mankind, upon penalty of the 
 greater excommunication for rejection of his iniquitous au- 
 thority, or disobedience to his accursed mandates. The dis- 
 cussions concerning the Bull " In Ccena Domini,'' and the 
 Decretals, are invaluable expositions of the inflexible spirit 
 which guides and determines all the measures that are adopted 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. IX 
 
 by the Roman hierarchy. They testify beyond all cavil, that 
 the dissemination of Popish principles, and the fearful increase 
 of Romanists in this country, endanger the whole frame of 
 civil society ; and threaten, unless their progress be efficiently 
 arrested, to subvert the whole fabric of the rights of con- 
 science, and the government and constitution of the United 
 States. European history, and the annals of Canada, Mexico, 
 and South America, attest, that Popery in power, and true 
 freedom as it is understood in this republic, cannot possibly 
 exist together. The present volume renders that state- 
 ment morally certain. Our grand design by this publication, 
 however, was this ; to unfold the principles, character, and 
 doings of Female Convents. It may probably be objected, 
 that some of the disclosures which the Roman Prelate has 
 made, are so disgusting that they ought not to have been re- 
 printed. In ordinary cases the plea would be admissible — but 
 in reference to Popery it is invalid. A destructive incredulity 
 exists respecting the horrible impurity and deadly practices of 
 Nuns, who are cloaked under various bewitching appellatives, 
 and decorated in meretricious garbs expressly to ensnare and 
 seduce our citizens. That mischievous fascination, it is essen- 
 tial to the public welfare, as well as to the security of the 
 Christian Churches, to unravel and expose in lucid display. 
 Leopold, Prince of Tuscany, merits the gratitude of the whole 
 civilized world, for his attempts to exterminate the Convents 
 in his dominions ; and Scipio de Ricci, the Roman Prelate 
 who endeavored to cleanse those *' holds of every foul spirit," 
 indescribably more filthy than even the fabulous Augean sta- 
 ble, "being dead, yet speaketh." After due consultation 
 with the most competent judges, and some of the prominent 
 champions of evangelical truth, in the present *' war upon the 
 Beast ;" it was resolved, that the revolting discoveries which 
 the Bishop of Pistoia and Prato made, should be presented to 
 the public unmutilated ; with anxious solicitude that the hide- 
 ous pictures of Nuns and Nunneries which he has delineated, 
 might tend to the exclusion of that part of " the mystery ot 
 iniquity," from this nominally Christian republic. 
 
 What, therefore, are the principal instructions which we 
 derive from the researches that Scipio de Ricci made into the 
 secrets of the Italian Female Convents ? and what arguments 
 
X INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 can be adduced against the continuance and extension of the 
 monastic system in the United States 1 
 
 It is irrelevant now to review the origin and progress of 
 monachism ; nor is it of any importance to inquire into the 
 supposititious benefits and certain injuries, which in former 
 generations Monasteries and Nunneries are alleged to have 
 produced. Our investigation applies to the present period, 
 and to our own country ; and in this aspect, it may justly be 
 propounded for consideration, whether it be not the incumbent 
 duty of the legislatures of the different States to prohibit those 
 institutions by law 1 
 
 The perusal of the ensuing pages fully sanctions four general 
 propositions, either of which is amply sufficient to justify the 
 utmost repugnance to Popery, which Christianity inculcates ; 
 and all of which combined evidently demand, that every good 
 citizen should strive by all legitimate methods, to stop this 
 enemy which cometh in like a flood ; and that every sincere 
 Christian should lift up the standard of the spirit of the Lord 
 against him. 
 
 I. Nunneries and the conventual mode of life, are altogether 
 contradictory to the Divine appointments respecting the 
 order of nature, and the constitution of mankind and human 
 society. 
 
 That declaration of Jehovah, which constitutes the founda- 
 tion of all human existence, and especially of all our domestic 
 ties and endearments, is coeval with the creation of mankind ; 
 " Ifc is not good that the man should be alone." In his allwise 
 benevolence, the Lord of life made " a help meet for him." 
 The law of Paradise is corroborated by the express mandate 
 of Christianity ; 1 Corinthians, vii. 2. ; " let every man have 
 his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband." 
 This appointment of God, and this recommendation of the 
 gospel, are both founded, we are assured, upon the same prin- 
 ciple, and are proposed for the identical result ; " to avoid 
 fornication." 
 
 In all cases whatever, to violate these laws of creation and 
 providence which are manifestly written upon man and his 
 terrestrial existence, endangers our safety, either in its phy- 
 sical, mental, or moral relations. That the monastic system 
 destroys life, entombs the intellect, and engenders inordinate 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XI 
 
 corruption of the most direful species, is a fact too notorious 
 now to require proof. 
 
 " The monastic life is unnatural, for it is in direct opposition 
 to an original principle of the human mind, by which our 
 species are connected among themselves, the desire of society; 
 and the professed and primary object of monastic institutions 
 is preposterous, because their existence is one continuous 
 crime against God, and against human society, increasing 
 every hour in magnitude and atrocity." 
 
 " Go, teach the drone of ghostly haunts, 
 That wastes in indolence his time, 
 Though superstitious hymns he chants. 
 His life is one continued crime." 
 
 The monastic system, if universally adopted, would be 
 general suicide. Not merely is the practice opposed because 
 it is unnatural, but because it is unjust and ruinous. Respect- 
 ing investigations that combine the very existence of man- 
 kind, we have no concern with individual exceptions, and 
 especially in cases where no evidence can be proffered to sus- 
 tain the alleged singularity ; and in truth, where no proof can 
 be valid against the original appointment of God, and the 
 essential constitution of mankind. To all arguments which 
 are based upon the exemplary purity of the voluntary celibate 
 life of men, and the unavoidably coerced unmarried state of 
 many lovely and refined women, there is the Divine retort, 
 ** it is not good that the man should be alone." There is uni-' 
 versal testimony arising from the constant experience of the 
 human family, that a life of celibacy is a course of unceas- 
 ing impurity ; and there are historical records which verify 
 that the system of monachism is directly at war with all the 
 benevolent designs of God, and with all the essential inter- 
 ests of mankind. 
 
 The original constitution of human relations, as appointed 
 by God, also determines that a life of celibacy is a course of 
 injustice. No man either has a right to live unmarried, or 
 can be justified for his palpable infringement of the Divine 
 law ; and consequently, there is a prior argument of Divine 
 authority against the contrivance of Monks and Nuns which 
 no negative evidence can possibly invalidate. The two chief 
 
Xll INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 points upon which reliance is placed as exoneration of the 
 Roman Priesthood, and their cloistered sisters, from the charge 
 of sensuality, are most perversely alleged. One is, their se- 
 clusion from the world and its temptations ; and the other is, 
 their abstinence, fasting and macerations. Although it could 
 be evinced, that both those principles were fully carried out, 
 and in their most extensive operation ; nevertheless, the fact 
 would not be demonstrated, that the monastic system could 
 control that attraction between the sexes, which like the other 
 animal instincts, is indispensable to the preservation of human 
 life. But the reverse is the fact. In all ordinary cases, no 
 persons live more luxuriously than the Papal Ecclesiastics, 
 both male and female : and their severance from the world 
 and its fascinations is more nominal than real. 
 
 That the abodes of Monks and Nuns are perfectly unnatural ; 
 and as the unavoidable tendency, that they are the prolific 
 sources of the most horrid uncleanness, the ensuing pages 
 awfully prove. Without a constant miracle, they could not be 
 otherwise. The attachment of the sexes towards each other, 
 is indispensable and universal ; without it the race of man in 
 one generation would be extinct. The monastic system viti- 
 ates all the social affections, and incarcerates man in a cage 
 of selfishness, and circumscribes all his affections within the 
 restricted limit of iiis own personal gratifications. Were that 
 unholy device to attain any extension and protracted supre- 
 macy, the moral hemisphere would speedily be subverted, and 
 the Gospel of Christ, which is totally opposed to all the monk- 
 ish infatuation, would again disappear in the more than Egyp- 
 tian darkness that would overspread the world. The monastic 
 system necessarily demands, that they who adopt it, should 
 be persons deprived of every capacity for general usefulness, 
 and also be men and women destitute of all the usual sensi- 
 bilities of humanity. Whatever the inmates of convents may 
 have been individually ; whether an occasional Friar may have 
 been gifted with continency, or whether some Nun or novi- 
 ciate, under almost unparalleled circumstances, may have re- 
 sisted the evils of the confessor, and the seductive influence of 
 the licentious examples continually around her, is of no im- 
 portance in deciding this question. This result could not 
 uniformly follow, without the immediate direct interposition 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. Xlll 
 
 of the " Lord of all." A miraculous intervention of the 
 most extraordinary character, and in comparison with which 
 all the stupendous works of Jesus, the " Son of God," are 
 profoundly eclipsed, must ever be directed in the choice, im- 
 pulse, and restraint of a few individuals, contrary to the ex- 
 press universal and immutable appointments of God at crea- 
 tion, and the divinely constituted arrangements which he has 
 made for the increase and preservation of mankind, and the 
 blessing of the Church and the world. 
 
 II. The monastic system is opposed to personal piety, know- 
 ledge, purity, and usefulness, and invariably tends to debase 
 its victims in ignorance, sensuality, crime and anguish. It 
 would not be practicable to present a more lucid view of the 
 character of Nunneries, than in the picture drawn of them 
 by Mackray, in his Essay on the effect of the reformation upon 
 civil society. Every feature of the hideous and appalling 
 view is graphically correct, as proved by the more recent de- 
 lineations of Scipio de Ricci. Appendix A. 
 
 It would be superfluous to attempt an elaborate proof of 
 the proposition, that evangelical piety is incompatible with 
 monastic life. What might be the effect of the system under 
 any possible modifications, it is irrelevant to inquire. Un- 
 varying testimony assures us that " pure religion and unde- 
 filed," has never yet been exemplified in claustral life. Gloomy 
 superstitious forms, and sanctimonious mummery have been 
 practised with apparent austerity ; but communion with God, 
 love of the brethren, practical piety, and Christian holiness, 
 are profound strangers to the monastic system. In truth, the 
 celibate life, which is its primary and cardinal ingredient, 
 extirpates all that is pure and good. Of this fact, the two 
 English Universities are a remarkable demonstration. In 
 those splendid endowments, it is required that the " fellows," 
 as they are called of the Colleges, shall be unmarried men. 
 The consequence is this, that probably Oxford and Cambridge 
 embody more notorious and inordinate dissoluteness, than any 
 other towns in Britain. This is the legitimate result of re- 
 taining, as is still done in England, so large a portion of the 
 antiquated usages and popish corruptions of the dark ages. 
 
 The boasts which are so often made of the learning of an- 
 terior generations under the papal supremacy ; and the lamen- 
 2 
 
XIV INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 tations that have been offered over the supposed literary losses 
 to the world, by the demolition of the monasteries, are merely 
 idle affectation. The author already quoted has supplied us 
 vi^ith an illustration upon this topic not less instructive than 
 convincing. Appendix B. 
 
 Of all the drones who ever infested the world, none surpass 
 in perfect uselessness, and its inseparable attendants, vice and 
 misery, the inhabitants of convents. Indolence is their best 
 characteristic. Incarcerated in a gloomy mansion, with no 
 duties to fulfil, no motives to activity, no sympathy or re- 
 lationship for the exterior world, and no anxiety for its im- 
 provement, or feeling for its desolations, of what value are 
 those excrescences upon society? 
 
 " In shirt of hair, and weeds of canvass dress'd, 
 Girt with a bell-rope that the Pope has bless'd ; 
 Wearing- out life in his pernicious whim, 
 Till his mischievous whimsy wears out him." 
 
 No man has a right to absolve himself from all the duties 
 which he owes to the world. No woman can be justified for 
 abandoning all the obligations which she owes to society. No 
 Christian, thi^refore, possibly can be a Friar or a Nun. 
 
 III. Monachism directly counteracts the progress of intelli- 
 gence, civil and religious freedom, commercial prosperity, and 
 national improvement. It is the peculiar property of Ro- 
 manism to defile and curse every thing with which it comes into 
 contact : and if there be any part of that " working of Satan," 
 called Popery, which possesses more deleterious qualities than 
 the rest of" the mystery of iniquity," it is the monastic sys- 
 tem. An irresistible argument might be framed from the 
 spirit of monkish institutions, which would demonstrate that 
 they must deteriorate the human character, and obstruct all 
 the stable interests of the body politic. Every incentive to 
 progress under its mischievous influence is extirpated. In 
 former ages, when the edifices devoted to Friars and Nuns 
 were found in every district of the European nations, what 
 was their character, and what was the result of their establish- 
 ment ? Universal barbarism, penury, wretchedness, and 
 crime. All the annals of the thousand years prior to the Re- 
 formation, bear the same decisive and unequivocal testimony 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY XV 
 
 to the benighted, and impoverished, and degraded condition 
 of the then existing people. Could it possibly be otherwise"? 
 All the impulses to enterprise and personal and social eleva- 
 tion, under the government of the Papacy, and especially 
 within the cloistered battlements, are utterly unknown. Any 
 other knowledge than that which can be made subservient to 
 priestly aggrandizement, is pronounced accursed ; and subjects 
 the possessor of it to imprisonment, torture, and death. Pro- 
 bably the dark dungeons of Popery scarcely unfold a more 
 demonstrative proof, that hostility to science was not the error 
 of one age, but that it is the crime of the Papal system, than 
 the history of Galileo. His experience is undeniable evidence 
 that an inveterate and perpetual warfare is waged by the Pon- 
 tifical Court, not against pure religion only, but also against 
 true philosophy and the noblest science. 
 
 '* Galileo had become a convert to the Copernican astrono- 
 my ; and, by a succession of most splendid discoveries, had 
 demonstrated the motion of the earth around the sun. The 
 ignorant Pope and besotted Cardinals, and the ferocious Inqui- 
 sitors, accused that dignified philosopher and the greatest 
 scientific scholar of his age, of the crime of heresy ; and Gali- 
 leo was cast into a dungeon of the Inquisition. His sublime 
 knowledge was condemned by priestly bigots, all whose intelli- 
 gence was restricted to the most voluptuous mode of gratify- 
 ing their inordinate sensual appetites, and who were too 
 grovelling and carnal minded to comprehend his lofty specula- 
 tions and etherial soarings ; and to that superlative astronomer 
 was presented the alternative, either to deny self-evident 
 mathematical propositions, or to be burnt as a heretic. At 
 seventy years of age, on his knees, and with his hand on the 
 Gospels, he condemned, abjured and cursed his own infallible 
 opinions, and swore before the infamous Inquisitors, that he 
 would never more hold or assert in word or writing the doc- 
 trines which he had demonstrated, that the sun is the center of 
 the solar system, and that the earth moves. From that day 
 he never afterwards either wrote or talked upon the subject of 
 astronomy." 
 
 What is the Index Expurgatorius, but a pontifical law, 
 which dooms the whole dominions over which the Pope's 
 jurisdiction extends to Egyptian darkness ? All books, in every 
 
XVI INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 department of literature, theological, scientific, historical, and 
 upon the ornamental arts, unless they directly or indirectly aid 
 the despotic claims of the Roman Court, are condemned to be 
 burnt. The catalogue begins with the Holy Bible, and includes 
 almost every genuine book which is truly worthy of perusal, 
 either ancient or modern. That prohibition of books is most 
 sedulously complied with in all convents ; and the explorations 
 of Scipio de Ricci among the monasteries and priesthood of 
 Tuscany, convince us that the boasted literary lore of Jesuit 
 seminaries, and Ursuline convents, must necessarily be an im- 
 posture ; because all the means of their attaining knowledge 
 are most sedulously and authoritatively, by the Pope and his 
 prelates, and equally by the voluntary design of the monastics, 
 totally excluded. 
 
 Popery decrees that " ignorance is the mother of devotion ;" 
 and, of course, of every good quality — but Protestantism pro- 
 claims, that " knowledge is power." The monastic system is 
 destructive of illumination, and consequently of liberty. Des- 
 potism, of the most abhorrent attributes, is both the very main- 
 spring and aliment of conventual life. It gilds the cross which 
 surmounts the principal turret, — it is the steam-pump by 
 which, at auricular confession, every secret of the heart is 
 evolved, and it is the iron key which locks up in impenetrable 
 darkness the doleful mysteries of those dungeons of despair. 
 The tyranny of the convent extends to every spiritual emotion, 
 as well as to the language, features, demeanor and conduct ; 
 and they must be moulded according to the imperious dictates 
 of the superior and the chaplain. 
 
 All this is irreconcilable with freedom ; and it is an indis- 
 putable fact, that girls and boys, in this country, who have 
 been trained up in a convent or monastery, unless the grace of 
 God very powerfully operates upon them, exemplify the 
 prominent features of the monastic system. Many persons 
 now well known in society, exhibit such extraordinary varie- 
 ties, that their companions realize great difficulty in attempt- 
 ing to unravel their complex characters. They are blustering 
 and servile — apparently candid, and yet profoundly deceitful- — 
 they mingle the fawning of a parasite with the stubbornness of 
 a .Tmle — and can assume so many forms, that no man can 
 place any reliance scarcely upon their personal identity. It is 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XVll 
 
 the natural effect of a monastic education. They were in the 
 basest bondage, and cannot shake off its habits ; they are in 
 freedom, and know not how to improve it. That system which 
 thus necessarily despoils citizens of their best qualities, ought 
 to be execrated : for it is evident, that if extended so as to 
 predominate throughout our country, all genuine freedom 
 would be extinct. 
 
 The superiority of Protestantism to Popery, in reference to 
 mercantile enterprise, is so palpable that it requires neither 
 illustration nor proofs. The wisdom of divine Pro*^idence is 
 remarkably illustrated in the close connection which, in point 
 of time, exists between the three grand events which have been 
 the instruments, in the dispensations of the merciful Jehovah, 
 in some measure to renovate the world : and the order of their 
 occurrence was not less admirably planned, than the stupen- 
 dous results which have flowed from them. The art of print- 
 ing rendered universal the principles of nautical science ; the 
 discovery of Columbus opened a way for adventurous spirits to 
 realize the dignity of emancipation from the Pontifical 
 shackles, by a removal where the thunders of the Vatican did 
 not reverberate ; and Luther, Zuingle, Calvin, Knox and 
 Cranmer, broke to atoms the extinguishers which had so long 
 concealed the true light, and liberated man soon commenced 
 to traverse all latitudes and longitudes in search of knowledge 
 and in quest of opulence. The contrast only between Protes- 
 tant and Papal countries during the last 250 years, discloses a 
 testimony against convents, which it is impossible to gainsay. 
 Monks and Nuns in no form participate in the active duties 
 which cultivate those products that are wafted into all lands, 
 and from which, in return, the comforts and luxuries of life 
 are obtained. Hence it follows, that the indolent life of 
 Monks and Nuns is a barrier to all national improvement. 
 The existing deplorable state of Tuscany, as portrayed in the 
 ensuing pages, was, three hundred years ago, the state of all 
 Europe. The swarms of Friars, and their cloistered paramours, 
 consumed the vitals of every land. Their example encouraged 
 sloth among all orders of the people. Poverty, wretchedness, 
 debasement, and pillage characterized the whole community. 
 It was either a gorgeous display of barbaric magnificence, by 
 the feudal lord of the district, or the most appalling dependence 
 2* 
 
XVIU INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 and necessity. The history of every country which has ever 
 been cursed by the Papal predominance, and especially the 
 present condition of those who have been emancipated from 
 its thraldom, when contrasted with their anterior state, veri- 
 fies, that, to indulge any expectation of general benefit from 
 the monastic system and from the predominance of Popery, is 
 just as wise as to attempt to " gather figs from thistles, and 
 grapes from thorns." 
 
 IV. The monastic system nullifies all the requirements of 
 the Christian religion. Its duties are prohibited, its consola- 
 tions intercepted, and by the operation of monachism, the 
 exertions of gospel philanthropy are abrogated, and the uni- 
 versal diffusion of the Kingdom of God, which is righteous- 
 ness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, is totally impeded. 
 
 It may probably be objected to this allegation, that the 
 Monks of former ages were the persons by whom the Roman 
 Court enlarged the pontifical sway. The fact is admitted, and 
 it redounds still more to the disgrace of Popery and the Friars, 
 that instead of propagating^the glorious Gospel, they only sub- 
 stituted their own more refined idolatry and superstitions for 
 the offensive abominations of Paganism. But transfer men 
 and women to the cells of the convent, its sloth and secrecy, " 
 its constant mummeries and restless anxieties for freedom 
 and enjoyment, its insatiable longings, and its constant iden- 
 tity of voluptuous and unsatisfying indulgence : and would 
 you look for evangelical missionaries in those dens of igno- 
 rance, sloth, and corruption ) 
 
 All the monasteries on earth could not produce a Brainerd, 
 a Svvartz, a Vanderkemp, or a Martyn, with the rest of the 
 glorified servants of Christ, exclusive of the living laborers in 
 the vineyard of the Lord. Neither idiotism nor lunacy would 
 dream of going into a convent to procure the counterparts of 
 Anne Chater, Harriet Newell, Anne Judson, and the other 
 intrepid and devoted women, who will live in everlasting re- 
 membrance when the monastic system, with " the beast and 
 the false prophet, shall be consumed in the lake of fire, burn- 
 ing with brimstone." 
 
 When the monkish system commenced, it was merely a 
 flight into the desert, ancHf temporary abode in solitude, until 
 the infernal storm of malignant persecution had dissipated its 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XtX 
 
 fury. The crafty " Man of Sin " speedily perceived, that the 
 monastic life and vows might easily be transformed into an 
 irresistible machine to support his usurped despotism. Erro- 
 neous opinions respecting the superior sanctity of the celibate 
 life, and infatuated whims concerning the refining spirituality 
 of years devoted to contemplation, enlarged the number of 
 Monks ; until their independence of the Prelates permitted 
 them to pass their time in one continuous scene of sensual 
 indulgence. Notwithstanding all the indescribable corruption 
 which characterized the Convents of Friars, and the Nun- 
 neries, they maintained their ascendancy over the benighted 
 and superstitious multitude. When we remember the pro- 
 found ignorance, even of all the residents in the monastic 
 edifices, we cannot feel surprise, although we must abhor their 
 delusions and iniquity, that persons who were given over to 
 " strong delusion," and who commingled all that was good 
 on earth with tlie Pope's passport to heaven, should have 
 yielded themselves to the support of a pretended, imposing, 
 gaudy ceremonial, which allows every vicious indulgence for 
 money, and which guaranteed an admission into Paradise to 
 all who can purchase the title, sealed by the Pontiff of Rome. 
 
 But the monastic system in modern times, and especially 
 in the United States, in its essentially deceptive character, 
 appears masked under the name and in the garb of literary 
 institutions. In all those parts of Europe w^here the astound- 
 ing wickedness of the male and female convents was divulged, 
 it was impossible to protract their duration ; their mexpressi- 
 bly flagrant dissoluteness rendered it absolutely impracticable, 
 either to extenuate their turpitude, or prolong their existence. 
 
 But as the number of persons devoted to celibacy, severed 
 from the world, and in inalienable alliance with the Pope, is of 
 vast solicitude to the Roman Court, the Pontiffs of the sixteenth 
 century permitted the priests and their sisters, whose crimes 
 were so odious that he dared not pardon them, and yet whose 
 ungodly services were so valuable, that he could not dispense 
 with them, to imbody themselves under a new and unsuspi- 
 cious title. Thus many of the unprincipled mendicant Friars 
 became Jesuits, and the most wicked Nuns were embodied 
 under the name of Saint Ursula. The two orders are brother 
 and sister. They are governed by the same principles — 
 
INRTRODUCrORY ESSAY. 
 
 ostensibly pursue the same object — the education of youth. 
 Always, however, professing great solicitude to teach Protest- 
 ant children, but exhibiting no regard for the benighted and 
 perishing souls of the Papists ; and they have ever exempli- 
 fied an artifice which certifies, that with " cunning craftiness 
 they lie in wait to deceive." 
 
 But the grand inquiry is this — Are the spirit, principles, and 
 practices of the monastic orders changed in modern times 1 
 The answer may be found in the following portraiture of Tus- 
 can convents. It is the perennial boast of all Romanists, 
 both ecclesiastical and their disciples, that Popery is identical, 
 and what it ever was, it is now, and always will be. This 
 fact all history certifies ; consequently, Popery in the United 
 States, in the nineteenth century, is the same as it was in 
 Britain three hundred years since. But the Monks and Nuns 
 are the staff" of the Roman Court; and therefore, under what- 
 ever vizors concealed, or by whatever name disguised, they 
 are now the counterparts of their ancient atrocious predeces- 
 sors. 
 
 The monastic system comprises a total paralysis of all 
 Christian good, in devotion, zeal and morals; and substitutes 
 childish superstitions, with the most debasing sloth and vice. 
 But probably the worst effect of conventual institutions is 
 the profoundly artificial character which they invariably pro- 
 duce and nurture. Jesuitical dissimulation is an inseparable 
 associate of the monkish life. Deception fills the unholy edi- 
 fice from the foundation to the capstone ; it is the air which 
 Monks and Nuns breathe, and the highly seasoned sauce which 
 gives a relish to all their food, and by the operation of which 
 their other privations are rendered tolerable. The ensuing 
 details of the researches made by Scipio de Ricci demonstrate 
 the truth of an inference, which in its application is most 
 startling, that an inmate of a monastery or nunnery cannot 
 retain the predominance of Christian principles and integrity. 
 With the very few exceptions of those who have since be- 
 come the subjects of redeeming grace, it is undeniable, that 
 nearly all the young men in our country who have been trained 
 up in the Jesuit Colleges, are either avowed or secret infidels, 
 and not less licentious in practice than irreligious in princi- 
 ple. There is not an instance to be found, unless those in- 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XXI 
 
 eluded in that exception, even among the women, which is not 
 conformable to the above statement. Every girl who has been 
 educated in an American nunnery has departed from it — either 
 a determined sceptic, or a hardened opponent of all religion, 
 or a disguised and dispensed Papist ; and assuredly with every 
 refined feminine sensibility destroyed, and most probably 
 deeply versed in all those artifices that she has learned from the 
 Jesuit confessor, by which she can deceive every person, and 
 elude all discovery of her genuine character and secret dissi- 
 pation. 
 
 The hypocrisy which is stamped upon all the Jesuit Con- 
 vents, whether superintended by Roman Priests or their Ursu- 
 line sisters, is so undisguised, that it is astonishing our citizens 
 do not indignantly repel the daring imposture. Those wily 
 craftsmen, and their priestesses, proclaim that their sole object 
 is to educate youth in a superior manner; and they boast of 
 their extraordinary qualifications for that object. But the 
 solemn inquiries may be propounded — why are those Priests 
 and Nuns so anxious to teach Protestant chiidren only ] Why 
 will they not receive them after they have passed the years 
 of mere juvenility ? Why do they maintain all the strictest 
 regulations of the ancient orders, whose very crimes were 
 produced and perpetuated by the operation of those rules and 
 customs ] To these questions should be added the conside- 
 ration, that Protestants have erected a system of education 
 in almost all parts of our republic ; and although in many re- 
 spects imperfect, yet the elementary principles of knowledge 
 can every where be obtained ; while in many of our colleges, 
 a course of literature is studied co-extensive with the acquire- 
 ments of any similar foreign institution, and as far superior 
 to all that any Jesuit seminary imparts, as the difference be- 
 tween the oratory of George Whitefield, and the song of a 
 Roman Priest, chanting a mass for a soul in purgatory. Pro- 
 testant female institutions also arc dispersed throughout our 
 country, between which, for the purpose of literary tuition, 
 and especially in point of Christian morals, and the nunneries 
 established by the sister Jesuits, there is no more likeness 
 than there is similitude between Hannah More, and the su- 
 perior of the Ursuline community at Charlestown. 
 
 Now it is certain, that a very large and disproportionate 
 
XXll INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 
 
 mass of ignorance, and its consequent immorality and debase- 
 ment, is found among the Papists. Very few of them, com- 
 paratively, can read or write ; and it is still more deplorable, 
 although consistently mischievous, that the Roman Priests 
 will not permit the popish youth to attend the schools of the 
 " cursed heretics," as they den(5minate the Protestants. 
 Why, therefore, if they are so extremely benevolent and phi- 
 lanthropic as they profess, do not the Jesuits and the Ursu- 
 lines dedicate their labor to the melioration of the moral cha- 
 racter, and the improvement of the mental condition of the 
 hundred thousand children of their own society, who are 
 growing up to maturity, groping in darkness, and untamed as 
 a wild ass's colt ] 
 
 The only answer to this question is this — that the sole 
 object of all the monastic institutions in America, is merely 
 to proselyte youth of the influential classes in society, and 
 especially females ; as the Roman Priests are conscious that 
 by this means they shall silently but effectually attain the 
 control of public affairs. No girl long attends auricular con- 
 fession, either to the superior of the Nunnery or the Chaplain, 
 before she is lost. Her will is subdued. She has surrendered 
 herself to the control and implicit direction of two unspeaka- 
 bly artful profligates, who have her reputation entirely at their 
 disposal — and the declaration of Flavia Peraccini, Prioress of 
 the convent at Pistoia, page 92, of this volume, may be in- 
 fallibly affirmed of every one of them. The confessors " de- 
 ceive theinnocent, and even tJiose that aremost circumspect ; 
 and it would need a miracle to converse with them and not 
 
 to fall r 
 
 With this knowledge of Monks and Nuns, and the official 
 testimony of a prince and prelate, both subject to the Roman 
 court, as narrated in this work, the appeal must solemnly be 
 made to all Protestants — Can you justify before God and 
 your country, your patronage of monastic institutions 1 Do 
 you not endanger the virtue and usefulness of your children 
 in this world, and also jeopard their everlasting welfare, by 
 transferring your sons, and especially your daughters, to the 
 management of Jesuit Priests and Ursuline Nuns? From 
 their primary organization about three hundred years ago, 
 when they embodied the very refuse of the ancient orders. 
 
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. XXIU 
 
 whose habitually nefarious course, the Papacy itself, which 
 emphatically lieth in wickedness, would no longer tolerate; 
 those Roman ecclesiastics, the Jesuits, and their Ursuline 
 sisters, have been uniformly the most loathsome examples of 
 unnatural licentiousness, whose vitiosity is recorded in the 
 annals of mankind. 
 
 To all such blinded or deluded Protestant parents, may 
 aptly be applied the pungent mandate and expostulation, 2 
 Corinthians, vi. 14 — 18. " Be ye not unequally yoked together 
 with unbelievers : for what fellowship hath righteousness with 
 unrighteousness ]" Therefore, hear the voice from heaven, 
 which says, " Come out of Babylon, that ye be not partakers 
 of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." 
 
 The ensuing portraiture of Jesuit monasteries, and the 
 Roman priesthood, and the pontifical hierarchy, and of female 
 convents and nuns, is recommended to all those who are anx- 
 ious to comprehend the genuine character and the uniform 
 and universal practices of those institutions. Here are no 
 high-wrought romantic fictions, no eloquent imaginative tales 
 worked up forefFect, and naught "set down in malice," byinimi- 
 cal Protestants. The ensuing pages comprise grave and una- 
 dorned testimony, furnished by a Popish prelate and his breth- 
 ren, acting officially by the authority of a prince, subordinate 
 to the Roman court ; and narratives prepared by the nuns 
 themselves ; consequently, as the evidence cannot be impugn- 
 ed, the description of ancient Judah and Jerusalem, by the 
 prophet, may be correctly applied to the entire monastic sys- 
 tem. Isaiah, i. 4, 5, 6. " Ah ! people laden with iniquity, a 
 seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters ! From the 
 sole of the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in 
 it, but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores." 
 
 From this pestilential curse, may the God of mercy deliver 
 our republic, and the American Churches ! 
 
 New York, 10th October, 1834. 
 

 I 
 
 SECRETS 
 
 FEMALE CONVENTS 
 
 DIS CLOSED. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Scipio de Ricci studies among- the Jesuits.— His Renunciation of the 
 Principles of that Society. — His Ordination as Priest.— He inherits the 
 Property of the last General of the Jesuits.— Suppression of the Order 
 and Confinement of the Ex-General at Rome.— Death of Pope 
 Gang-anelli.— Narrative proving- that Pope to have been poisoned. 
 
 Scipio de Ricci was bom in Florence on the 9th of 
 January, 1741. He was the third son of the senator 
 president, Peter Francis de Ricci, and of Maria Louisa, 
 daughter of Bettina Ricasoli, baron of La Trappola, 
 and captain of the Swiss guard in the service of the 
 Duke of Tuscany. 
 
 His family, one of the most ancient and distinguish- 
 ed in Tuscany, was not at that time in favor with the 
 House of Lorraine, who had been but recently seated 
 on the Grand Dacal throne. His grandfather had 
 professed republican principles, and his uncle had 
 taken the side of the Bourbons against the House of 
 Austria. They were too proud to seek for court favor 
 under these circumstances, and looked for preferment 
 to other quarters. Young Ricci, Avho had lost his 
 father, was therefore sent by his uncles to Rome, at 
 the age of fifteen ; and, in spite of the protestations 
 of his mother, and of the priest who had hitherto 
 directed his studies, a man in his principles of religion 
 
2G SECRETS OF 
 
 and morality strongly opposed to Jesuitism, he was put 
 under the care of the Jesuits. 
 
 Catholic Europe was at that time occupied with the 
 quarrels of that too famous body. Its insatiable ambi- 
 tion, its immense riches, its terrifying power, the infor- 
 mation diffused among its members, the great men of 
 all kinds which it had produced and was every day 
 producing, its doctrines subversive of the independence 
 of governments and the morality of the people, — all 
 these characteristics had divided the Roman com- 
 munion into obstinate partisans of its system and its 
 existence, already attacked on all sides, and into 
 adversaries who thought only of its destruction. Scipio 
 de Ricci had been bred in the very bosom of the order 
 and by its members, and he had been initiated in their 
 maxims, of which he knew the very smallest details ; 
 but he was surrounded on the other side by the many 
 antagonists which it had raised even in the metropolis 
 of Catholicism. It was not long before he ranged 
 himself among the most zealous and enlightened of 
 those who hastened, with all their efforts and all their 
 wishes, to promote the dissolution of this formidable 
 society ; and who never ceased to pursue its remains, 
 and mark out its spirit, as often as they thought there 
 was any danger of a revival of the evil which it had 
 caused to the great Christian community. 
 
 Ricci was superstitious. While he was among the 
 Jesuits, a tumor, which resisted all the remedies of art, 
 appeared upon his knee. An amputation was decided 
 upon ; when, as he informs us, he applied with fervor and 
 constancy to the diseased part an image, representing 
 the venerable Hyppolito Galantina, one of the brothers, 
 called Bachettoni, and he was completel y cured. Strange 
 contradiction in the human mind ! that such ideas 
 should co-exist in the same head with the rational, 
 true, and solid principles, which made Ricci afterwards, 
 to a certain extent, a religious reformer, a wise citizen, 
 a zealous patriot, and a friend of the arts, literature, 
 and humanity. 
 
 In the house of the Canon Bottari, who was regard- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 25 
 
 ed by the Jesuits as the chief of those who were 
 accused of Jansenism, this miracle took place. The 
 Canon made his own use of it ; and his conversation 
 and that of the persons who frequented his house, 
 cured Ricci of the ideas he had formed concerning the 
 sanctity and doctrine, which he confesses up to that 
 time he had allowed in the highest degree, and almost 
 exclusively to the Jesuits. 
 
 What he learned among these fathers did not tend 
 less to prepare him for the aversion he was doomed 
 to ieel for them hereafter, than what he had heard 
 from their adversaries. The Irish Jesuit who was 
 charged with teaching him the precious art of reason- 
 ing, taught him nothing but a sophistical and captious 
 logic — the sole end of which was " among a thousand 
 useless questions and logomachies without number, to 
 take for granted in all their extent, and in all the clear- 
 ness of which they were susceptible, the fundamental 
 principles of molinisni and cotigridsm^ by means of 
 the ideas of the ?7iedial science ; that is, of the means 
 by which God sees conditional futures.'^ It would 
 be useless to explain this jargon. In the middle of 
 his course he took a fancy to become a Jesuit, and 
 consulted his family on the subject. He embraced the 
 idea in order to prepare himself for a place in the other 
 world, beheving that this had been promised in a pro- 
 phecy of Francis Borgia, to all members of the Society 
 of Jesus, " A man," says he, " desirous of his eternal 
 welfare would not neglect a passport of this nature ; 
 and I had not the information necessary to perceive 
 the vanity and nullity of such a pledge." 
 
 The answer of his relatives was an order to return 
 immediately to Florence. His mother had no partiality 
 for the Jesuits ; and his uncles, whose ambition it was 
 that he should rise to the highest chgnities of the 
 church, neglected nothing to hinder him from burying 
 himself, with such hopes, in the den of a cloister. 
 Scarcely had Ricci returned into Tuscany, in 1758, 
 before he forgot his vocation, and thought of nothing 
 
28 SFXRETS OF 
 
 but concluding his studies at the university of Pisa, to 
 which he was sent. 
 
 He pursued a course of theology at Florence, under 
 the Benedictines of Mount Cassino, among whom P. 
 Buonamici was at that time lecturer. He then became 
 a Jansenist, or rather Augustinian. The sectaries of 
 that name frequently join to their speculative and 
 indifferent dogmas, the active and very important 
 quality of being what is called regalists — that is, they 
 make of religion what it really is, a matter of con- 
 science, and leave the care of government to those who 
 are charged with it. Augustin did not preach this 
 doctrine any more than the other Christian writers of 
 2n's time, who could not even doubt the horrible abuses 
 which must in the course of ages arise from the infer- 
 nal confusion of the temporal with the spiritual power. 
 But the Jesuits had made themselves decretalists^ that 
 is to say, they were the apostles of these abuses ; and 
 the Jansenists were obliged to combat these errors not 
 only with the body which sustained them, but with 
 the Popes, for whose particular advantage they were 
 calculated. It was only gradually that these sectaries 
 came to the degree of hardihood requisite openly to 
 affront the prejudices so solidly established on the 
 superstitious habits of the one party, and the inter- 
 ested ambition of the other. Ricci, who in the course 
 of his life ran round the whole circle of Jansenism, 
 complains of it in these terms : " In the course of 
 theology, the doctrine of Augustin was maintained 
 with the greatest vigor ; but the respect which they 
 still had for certain decretals, and the fear of offending 
 the Court of Rome, did not permit the Benedictines to 
 say all that perhaps they thought, but which cn'cum- 
 stances compelled them to keep silent." 
 
 Ricci was ordained priest in 1766, and appointed 
 almost immediately canon and auditor to the nuncia- 
 ture of Tuscany. 
 
 In 1772, he inherited the property of Corso de Ricci, 
 canon-penitentiary of the cathedral at Florence, a 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS, 29 
 
 relative of his father : and though the brother of the 
 last General of the Jesuits, he was very much 
 opposed to the morality which they taught. 
 
 This circumstance brought Ricci in contact with 
 the General of the Jesuits. After the suppression of 
 the society, the General begged from him an asylum 
 in his hotel at Florence, or in one of his country 
 houses in Tuscany, for himself and a la^^-brother. 
 Ricci went to Poggio-Imperiale, to communicate the 
 request to the Grand Duke Leopold, who said at once, 
 '^Let him come; it is of no consequence to me whether 
 he sojoui'Rs in my States or elsewhere ; but," ad<led he 
 laughing, ^' I don't think they will let liim go." This 
 answer he communicated to his relation, but the 
 General was not allowed to take advantage of it. He 
 was at first confined in the English college, under the 
 care of Cardinal Andrew Cursini, and of Signer 
 Foggini; but the congregation of Cardinals transferred 
 him to the Castle of Angelo, where he underwent 
 many examinations, and where without leaving it, he 
 died. The death of the Pope who had suppressed the 
 order, had preceded his. Ricci adds his testimony, 
 that he was poisoned- Among his papers was found 
 the following curious and interesting document, 
 
 ^' Narrative describing the last illness and death of 
 Pope Clement X/F., sent by the &'jjanish Minister 
 to his Court. 
 
 *'In 1770, a country girl of Valentino, whose name 
 was Bernadine Beruzzi, first began to spread her pre- 
 dictions respecting the Jesuits. There were a great 
 number of other prophecies afloat, by means of which 
 that society endeavored to rouse the superstition of the 
 multitude for the evident purpose of restraining Clement 
 XTV. from issuing the fatal decree of suppression. 
 This Bernadine became notorious by her impostures. 
 She predicted that the Society would not be extin- 
 guished ; that one of its most celebrated members 
 would be raised to the purple by Clement XIV. him- 
 
 3* 
 
30 SECRETS OF 
 
 self ; that the Jesuits would in a short time be restored 
 to the states from which they had been expelled ; that 
 the Pope would undero^o a total change of sentiments 
 towards them ; with a variety of other falsities. On 
 the 24th of March this deluded prophetess announced 
 the death of Clement XIY., and persisted in repeating 
 the false intelligence, until after being convinced that 
 he wa^ still alive, she returned to her predictions 
 respecting the honors and favors prepared for the 
 Jesuits. After the suppression of the society in August 
 1773, the prophecies still went on, in an altered tone ; 
 that the society would be re-established ; and that the 
 Pope and all those who had assisted him would die. 
 Various punishments were denounced against them. 
 The real propagators of these predictions were some 
 Jesuits who systematically employed themselves in 
 that object : aj)plica ut fiat syste7na is a phrase used 
 in a letter by these fanatics. 
 
 " Notwithstanding these rumors, the Pope lived in 
 health and quiet more than eight months after the 
 society had been abolished, though he always sus- 
 pected the intrigues of the Jesuits, and mentioned 
 his apprehensions. He resigned himself to the care 
 of the Almighty, to whom he willingly offered himself 
 a sacrifice, since, in suppressing the Jesuits, he had 
 done what appeared to him absolutely necessary and 
 just, after numerous and fervent prayers addressed to 
 Heaven. 
 
 " The Pope was of a robust habit ; his voice was 
 strong and sonorous ; he walked with the agility of a 
 young man ; his disposition was gay, and he carried 
 his affability so far, that some persons considered him 
 too familiar. His penetration was so quick, that a 
 single word was sufficient to make him perceive the 
 object and the end of a discourse addressed to him ; he 
 enjoyed a good appetite, and slept regularly every 
 night. One day in the Holy Week of the year 1774, 
 at the conclusion of dinner, Clement XIY. felt a great 
 uneasiness of the chest, stomach, and intestines, ac- 
 companied with a chill. The first evil symptom 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 31 
 
 which showed itself was a weakness of voice, indicat- 
 ing some extraordinary kind of catarrh ; in consequence 
 of which it was resolved, that during divine service on 
 Easter Day, the Pope's seat should be guarded against 
 the cold air. Everybody present observed the change 
 in his voice. An inflammation of the mouth and 
 throat soon succeeded, and gave him a great deal of 
 pain, obliging him to keep his mouth almost always 
 open. Then followed vomitings at intervals, with 
 excessive pains in the bowels, renal obstruction, and a 
 gradual weakness in the body and legs ; so that he 
 lost his sleep, and with it his alacrity in walking. He 
 concealed these indications, though there is no doubt 
 that he had resorted to the use of antidotes to the 
 poison which he was persuaded had been adminis- 
 tered to him. The Pope continued in this state during 
 the months of May, June, and July, concealing the 
 decay of his strength and his other symptoms, whilst 
 a rumor was gaining ground that he could not long 
 survive. Some persons went so far as to appoint the 
 16th of July as the day of his death ; and after that 
 time had passed over, October was fixed upon, in 
 conformity with letters from Germany and other parts. 
 " In July he began the use of medicinal waters, 
 which itwas his annual custom to drink. Itwas remark- 
 ed that this year his usual eruption, an acrid humor, 
 did not come to his relief, in sufficient abundance, till 
 the beginning of August ; and he continued the habit 
 of holding his mouth open, suffering also from weak- 
 ness and the sore throat, together with excessive perspi ra- 
 tions. He gave audiences to the ministers towards the 
 end of August, notwithstanding the pain and feeble- 
 ness occasioned by his illness, which had deprived him 
 of his natural cheerfulness and affability ; so that it 
 required the united force of a cultivated understanding 
 and apious temper, to moderate the pressure of his bodily 
 infirmities, and to restore his habitual urbanity. At 
 this juncture a letter was received by the Secretary 
 for the " Affairs of Jesuits," from the Vicar-general 
 of Padua, informing him that some ex-jesuits had 
 
32 SECRETS OF 
 
 appeared before him, and had indulged in the most 
 violent imprecations against the Pope, asserting that 
 the month of September would terminate his existence. 
 
 " An engraving was also published in Germany, 
 exhibiting, on the left hand the figure of Death, with 
 the likeness of Christ on a flag : on the right side 
 was a staff, supporting a sort of tabernacle, in which 
 was represented an ex-jesuit, dressed in the habili- 
 ments of a secular priest. At the top were the letters 
 IHS, and at the bottom, the inscription /Sic finis erit ! 
 Behold the end ! There were, besides, some German 
 verses, declaring that although the Jesuits had been 
 compelled to alter their dress, they never would 
 change their opinions, and immediately afterwards, 
 the following text from 1 Kings, xxxv. 18. — qYoD 
 bonVM est, In oCVLIs sYIs faCIet. The letters 
 printed in capitals, when joined together, give the 
 number MDCOLYVVVIIII, 1774, the year in which 
 Clement died. 
 
 " A fever supervened to those symptoms. This 
 happened on the evening of the 1 0th September. It 
 was accompanied by a sort of fainting, and an excess 
 of debility, which seemed to threaten the speedy 
 extinction of life. Ten ounces of blood were taken 
 from him the same night, without any sign of inflam- 
 mation ; nor did his breathing, his chest, nor his 
 bowels, give any cause for alarm. The coagulation of 
 the blood took place in a satisfactory manner, not- 
 withstanding the declared opinion of his physician, 
 that the complaint arose from a deficiency of serum, 
 caused by the profuse perspirations he had undergone. 
 He was free from fever on the morning of the 11th, 
 and continued so during the whole day ; he had so 
 much recovered on the 12th, that he took his usual 
 walk on the 14th and 1 5th, and even thought himself 
 equal to the fatigue of going to the Castel Gandolfo, 
 where he seemed to enjoy the prospect of spending his 
 time in the country, according to his custom at that 
 season. 
 
 "But on the 15th he relapsed into his former weak- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 33 
 
 ness, to which was added a deep sleep, night and day, 
 till the 18th, when he awoke for a few minutes. On 
 the 19th it was perceived that he had fever, together 
 with a swelling of the abdomen and retention of water. 
 Some blood was taken from him, which, however, gave 
 no sign of inflammation. Besides which, the bowels, 
 when pressed, caused him no uneasiness, and his 
 breathing and chest were perfectly unencumbered. 
 An access of fever in the evening made it necessary 
 to repeat the bleeding, and the same operation was 
 renewed on the 20th, although the pulse had become 
 softer, and the swelling had abated. But the inflam- 
 mation returned in the evening, and the hope of his 
 amendment had so far disappeared, as to make it appear 
 proper to present him with the viaticum. 
 
 " He passed a night of great agitation. On the 21st 
 he was bled again. The fever, the swelling, and the 
 retention still continued. At length the extreme unc- 
 tion was administered to him that evening, and about 
 half past seven o'clock, on the morning of the 22d 
 September, 1774, he surrendered his soul into the 
 hands of its Author. 
 
 " About the same hour on the succeeding day, they 
 proceeded to open and embalm the body, when the 
 countenance was livid, the lips and nails were black, 
 and the back had assumed a dark complexion. The 
 abdomen was swelled, and the whole body emaciated, 
 with a sort of cedar color approaching to the appear- 
 ance of ashes, but which, nevertheless, allowed here 
 and there to be seen some livid spots beneath the skin 
 about the arms, the sides, and the lower extremities. 
 
 " On dissection, it was discovered that inflammation 
 and gangrene had commenced in the left lobe of the 
 lungs, adhering to the pleura ; the opposite lobe was 
 also inflamed. They were both loaded with blood ; 
 and when the knife was put into them a sanguineous 
 discharge took place. The pericardium was opened, 
 and the heart was diminished in size by the total want 
 of those humors which are found in that membrane. 
 Beneath the diaphragm, the stomach and intestines 
 
34 SECRETS? OF 
 
 were in the last stage of mortificatioD . The oesophagus 
 was inflamed throughout its whole interior, as far as 
 the pylorus and the small intestines, with an evident 
 tendency to gangrene, as well as the upper and lower 
 divisions of the stomach ; and all these parts, as well 
 as the intestines, were covered over with a fluid which 
 the physicians call black bile. The liver was small, 
 and in its upper portion contained some particles of 
 serum ; the gall-bag was unusually distended, and Avas 
 observed to contain a great quantity of atrabilious fluid; 
 a large deposit of lymph had also taken place in the 
 cavity of the belly; the dura mater was swelled, but 
 presented no remarkable appearance in itself, except 
 that of flaccidity. The intestines and viscera were 
 placed in a vase, which burst open about an hour after 
 sunset, filling the chamber with an insufferable stench, 
 notwithstanding the embalming had only been finished 
 a few hours before. On the next morning, 24th Sep- 
 tember, it was considered necessary to call in a physi- 
 cian ; he found the smell unabated, the countenance 
 swelkd and discolored, and the hands quite black. 
 On the back of the hands bladders had risen as high 
 as two fingers, running across each other, and filled 
 with lixivial matter, as if blistered with some boiling 
 or ardent fluid. 
 
 "Besides this, a great quantity of serous humor, 
 mixed with clotted blood, trickled down the lower side 
 of the bed, and spread profusely over the floor. This 
 circumstance very much surprised the professional 
 attendants, especially considering that life had not been 
 extinct four-and-twenty hours, and that every precau- 
 tion had been resorted to, by cleansing the body and 
 removing the viscera, as well as by embalming. It 
 was consequently proposed to enclose the body in a 
 coffin, but the master of the house suggested that such 
 a step was likely to have a bad effect upon the public 
 mind, and prevailed upon them to be satisfied with 
 such means as their art afforded. The pontifical 
 habiliments, when removed, carried awa}^ with them a 
 large portion of the ski7i and even of the cutis. The 
 
FEMALE CONVSNTS. 35 
 
 thumb nail on the right hand was detached, and on 
 trying the other, every person present was convinced 
 that the sUghtest movement was sufficient to separate 
 all the nails in succession. 
 
 " In the dorsal region all the muscles were disunited 
 and decomposed to such a degree, that towards the 
 middle of the back and by the side of the spine, for 
 the size of three fingers, there was found a large lump 
 formed of the snpercostal and intercostal muscles — on 
 making two incisions the embalming was seen entire 
 in the chest. 
 
 " Except on the legs and thighs, a sort of breaking 
 out was observed all over the body. Various additional 
 precautions were employed^ and the incisions that were 
 made caused a discharge of fluid which had the ap- 
 pearance of bubbles. 
 
 •' It was also remarked, that a great part of the hair 
 of the head had adhered to the pillow ; and, in short, 
 notwithstanding the bod^^ was embalmed afresh, and 
 every endeavor was made by the assistants, it was 
 found absolutely necessary to enclose it, after its re- 
 moval to St. Peter's, in spite of the suspicious caution 
 with which the medical examiners expressed them- 
 selves. Many of the circumstances here related were 
 rumored throughout Rome ; and the people were 
 shocked to the last degree, by the full persuasion that 
 the Pope had been poisoned by means of the Acquetta, 
 which is made in Calabria and Perugia, and which has 
 the property of destroying life in the gradual manner 
 I have described. 
 
 ''Intelligent persons compared together the various 
 prophecies which had been set afloat. In addition to 
 which, we must bear in mind the false reports, the 
 engravings, the threats, the internal commotion that 
 seized Clement XIV., the inflammation of his throat 
 and mouth, the gradual decay of his strength, the chill, 
 the swelling of the belly, the renal obstruction, the 
 hoarseness, the vomitings, and, finally, the livid dis- 
 coloration of the flesh and nails, the loss of their tena- 
 city, and that of his hair, the dry state of the heart, cUid 
 
36 SECRETS OF 
 
 the other symptoms. After all these facts, it seems 
 hardly conceivable that an inflammatory disorder, as 
 the physicians named it, without some violent cause, 
 should leave the blood without any indication of fever 
 during nine successive days. Those persons thought 
 themselves authorized in applying to the case of Cle- 
 ment XIV. the distinguishing signs of poison, pointed 
 out by Paul Zacchia, a celebrated Roman physician." 
 
 CHAP TE R II. 
 
 Pius VI. elected Pope. — Ricci refuses to enter into the Prelacy.— Corres- 
 pondence of Ricci with the last General of the Jesuits. — Trial of the 
 ex-General, and his Protestations of Innocence. — Ricci appointed Vicar- 
 General of the Archbishop of Florence. — Efforts of the Grand Duke 
 Leopold for the diffusion of Knowledge, and the opposition of the See 
 of Rome. 
 
 Angelo Braschi ascended the pontifical throne 
 upon the death of Ganganelli. He owed his fortune 
 to the General of the Jesuits, who had obtained for him 
 the situation of Treasurer of the Court of Rome, under 
 the reign of Clement XIII.; but he could not do any 
 thing for the society, or its imprisoned chief It is 
 supposed that the Bourbon princes, before the dissolu- 
 tion of the Conclave, obtained from him a promise to 
 that effect. When it was discovered that he was on 
 the eve of pubUshing a decree, by which he annulled 
 all the acts and rescripts granted by the deceased Pon- 
 tiff, on the ground that the weakness of his intellect 
 afforded opportunities of abusing his signature, these 
 courts took the precaution of having the Jive or six 
 last months specified. By this means, they hindered 
 the epoch of the Brief of Suppression from being com- 
 prised in this measure, as might have been the case, 
 if an indeterminate or too long a period had been 
 named. 
 
 Ricci went to Rome in 1775, to attend to the rejoicing 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 37 
 
 consequent on the exaltation of the new Pope. His 
 relation to the ex-general, the friendship of the Tuscan 
 cardinal, Torrigiani, who was devoted to the Jesuits, 
 his reputation for moderation and impartiality, which 
 he had attained by his prudence in not taking any part 
 in a quarrel then so important, caused him to be re- 
 quested to enter into the prelacy. He resisted the 
 temptation, giving these reasons for his disinclination : 
 " I saw the danger of such a career, and having well 
 examined the intrigues and cabals of the Court of 
 Rome, I perceived that no where so much as there, 
 is the possibility of continuing to be an honest man 
 incompatible with the idea of what is called making 
 one's fortune, and rising to elevated situations. If any 
 one has succeeded there in preserving his honor, and 
 remaining a Christian, after having entered into the 
 career of the prelacy, he is the rara avis in terris. 
 I made a resolution not even to think of it. So great 
 a horror had I conceived for the tricks and dissimila- 
 tion which I saiD openly j)7Xictised in the prelacy^ that 
 I could not conceal from my friends the disgust which 
 I felt, at seeing the vileness and the courtier-like adu- 
 lations to which they were compelled to debase them- 
 selves." This is said by a zealous Roman Catholic, 
 and a prelate. 
 
 Ricci, during his stay at Rome, applied for liberty to 
 see his confined relative ; but in vain. In the course 
 of the interview which he obtained with the Pope, 
 Pius yi. could not conceal his chagrin at the ecclesi- 
 astical reforms carrying on by the House of Austria, 
 and by Leopold. He then referred the matter of his 
 request to Cardinal Giraud, who refused the required 
 permission. But, in spite of all their precautions, 
 Ricci contrived to carry on a correspondence with the 
 General, by means of a soldier named Serafini, who 
 was his guard ; and, through his agency, he received 
 from his unfortunate relatve a copy of his examination 
 at the Castle of Angelo. These documents furnish 
 authentic evidence of the pertinacity with which the 
 last leader of that formidable body denied the crimes 
 
 4 
 
38 SECRETS OF 
 
 imputed to himself and his society. His imprisonment 
 only terminated with his life. 
 
 The death of the ex-General of the Jesuits took place 
 at the Castle of Angelo, in No\^ember, 1775. His con- 
 fidence in his relative Scipio de Ricci appears to have 
 been unbounded, if we may judge from the duty which 
 he imposed upou him by his dying wish, that Ricci 
 would recommend him to the Almighty by as many 
 masses as he could say, seeing that he was deprived of 
 about 22,000, which would have been performed had 
 he expired as General of the Society of Jesuits. 
 
 After his visit to Rome, in 1775, Ricci returned 
 to Florence. He had scarcely arrived, when he was 
 made Yicar-General, and Yicar ad causas to the Arch- 
 bishop Incontri. This prelate had been formerly an 
 enemy to the Jesuits ; but of late years he was one of 
 their party. About the time when Ricci was created 
 Vicar-General, he had given the liberty to the suppress- 
 ed Jesuits to preach and confess ; but their seditious 
 behavior awoke the attention of the Government, and 
 the Prince, by a letter to the bishops, adopted the cir- 
 cular of Clement XIV., by which these duties had been 
 foi'bidden to the Jesuits. 
 
 In his new situation, Ricci soon displayed his Jan- 
 senist principles. At that period Rome saw with great 
 displeasure the Grand Duke applying himself entirely 
 to encourage education, and to destroy the reign of ig- 
 norance, which she had consolidated under her false 
 pretensions. She opposed his views as much as she 
 could ; endeavored to put down the obnoxious cate- 
 chism of Colbert, to stop the printing of the Ecclesi- 
 astical History of Racine, under the auspices of the 
 Government ; and made efforts to check an edition of 
 Machiavel. 
 
 Among the services rendered by the Jansenists to 
 philosophy, one of the most important was their con- 
 tending for liberty of thought and writing. The pub- 
 lication of those writings in Tuscany was a benefit, so 
 far as it sapped the despotism of the priesthood, and 
 was a victory over that redoubtable power, of which 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 39 
 
 it was above all necessary to destroy the reputation of 
 being invincible. A daring publication of Machiavel, 
 that inflexible historian of the Popes and their court, 
 whom Rome has particularly prohibited, and the free 
 reading of whose works proved the contempt enter- 
 tained of the Pontifical index — this act alone was a 
 benefit to the world. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Elevation of Scipio de Ricci to the Bishopric of Pistoia and Prato. — 
 Discontent of the Pope at the Ecclesiastical Reforms of the Grand 
 Duke Leopold. — Differences between the Civil and Spiritual Govern- 
 ment of Tuscany, previous to the accession of Leopold. — The Senator 
 Rucellai labors to free Tuscany from the despotism of the Court of 
 Rome. — His Memoir on the famous Bull In Coena Domini. 
 
 In 1780, the destiny of Ricci was changed by the 
 death of Ippolite, Bishop of Pistoia. Ricci had no 
 desire to undertake the labors of the Episcopal office, 
 but he was in a manner forced to do so by his friends. 
 He was received very flatter in o^ly by the Pope, who, 
 however, could not avoid repeating frequently: " Your 
 Grand Duke will have to render an account to God, 
 for so many of his actions which are hurtful to the 
 Church." Ricci replied, " that he hoped he should 
 always enjoy from the Duke full protection in favor of 
 relio^ion, and that he did not believe him capable of 
 doing any thing against the interests of the Catholic 
 Church." But the Pope would not be persuaded, and 
 added in a grave tone, " You are young, but in time 
 you will see it !" and with these words he dismissed 
 him. 
 
 Before we proceed to the very curious and interest- 
 ing details of the ecclesiastical abuses which Ricci was 
 the great instrument in detecting, and of the reforms 
 which he labored to establish, in opposition to the 
 Court of Rome, amongst a corrupt and depraved 
 
40 SECRETS OF 
 
 priesthood, it may assist the reader to collect, into one 
 view, the History of the Ecclesiastical Reforms in 
 Tuscany, which preceded the election of Ricci to the 
 Bishopric of Pistoia and Prato. 
 
 The Medici had always been very desirous of the 
 friendship of the Court of Rome, and had made it the 
 principal object of their ambition to possess influence 
 with it. The election of the Popes, in their time, had, 
 in consequence, almost always depended on the will 
 of that family; and all the Catholic princes, who had 
 any points of importance to carry with the See of 
 Rome, regularly endeavored to secure its good -will. 
 In return for that species of glory, the Medici permit- 
 ted the Popes to exercise an extensive authority in 
 Tuscany. 
 
 The Emperor Francis followed the same course in 
 the beginning of his reign ; but in a short time Count 
 Richecourt was sent from Vienna, to put himself at the 
 head of the Regency, and to govern Tuscany. Power- 
 fully aided by Senator Rucellai, Secretary of the Juris- 
 diction, or Rights of the Crown, a species of minister 
 for affairs connected with the Catholic worship — a 
 man distinguished for his learning, his integrity, his 
 firmness, and his zeal for the Government — Richecourt 
 resisted every attempt at usurpation on the part of the 
 Court of Rome, and opposed without intermission its 
 iniquitous pretensions. From that moment the two 
 courts were at open war. 
 
 The first rupture which took place between them 
 arose from the acquisitions of property in mortmain, 
 which had been strictly forbidden, without the express 
 permission of Government, by a law published in 1751. 
 The Counsellor of State, Pompee Neri, and Senator 
 Rucellai, accompanied the publication of this law with 
 instructions and explanations^ in regard to the neces- 
 sity of preventing an increase of the prosperity of arti- 
 ficial families^ meaning corporations, collegiate bodies, 
 convents, &c. at the expense of natural families^ or 
 individuals, and the accumulation of wealth on the 
 part of the clergy. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 4l 
 
 ' These instructions and explanations^ with the law 
 alluded to, are in the archives of the Ecclesiastical 
 Tribunal at Florence. 
 
 This important measure, by means of which the 
 insatiable cupidity of the priests was checked, was fol- 
 lowed by an edict relating to the censorship of printed 
 works, which the Government alleged ought to be sub- 
 mitted to the inspection of the civil power, instead of 
 the Inquisitor General of Religion, who, until this 
 period, had possessed the exclusive management of 
 that powerful engine for retaining the Tuscans in 
 ignorance. 
 
 To the complaints of Rome, the Regency of Tuscany 
 replied by other complaints ; accusing the Florentine 
 Inquisition of abusing its authority, and the Inquisitor 
 at Pisa of having almost murdered a man, whom he 
 had succeeded in passing off as a heretic, although he 
 had only been guilty of preventing his daughter from 
 yielding to the seductions of the Inquisitor. 
 
 This event, with others of similar atrocity, induced 
 the Emperor to order the prisons of the Inquisition to 
 be shut, and to demand the consent of Rome to the 
 addition of two lay assessors ; a measure which de- 
 stroyed the inviolable secrecy hitherto maintained in 
 regard to the proceedings of that dreadful tribunal, 
 and deprived it of the means of continuing its iniqui- 
 ties. 
 
 The reluctant consent of Rome was also procured 
 to the suppression of several convents of nuns by the 
 Government. The Emperor, being desirous of dimi- 
 nishing the excessive number of cures at Florence, on 
 account of their inutility, their poverty, the indecency 
 with which they were managed, the small number of 
 parishioners, the short distance intervening between 
 one church and another, and the great facility which 
 they afforded to criminals of escaping from the arm of 
 the law, ceased to nominate curates, and the parishes 
 remained vacant. 
 
 Such is the substance of a very luminous memoir, 
 drawn up by Rucellai, on the differences with the 
 
 4* 
 
42 SECRETS OF 
 
 Court of Rome. Mention is also made in it of the In- 
 quisition, of which the Government had a short time 
 before recognised the legaHty, upon condition that it 
 should be oro^anized on the same footino- as at Venice. 
 That tribunal at Florence had established, without 
 any privilege to that effect being conferred upon it, not 
 only prisons but an armed police at the public expense ; 
 and it succeeded easily, notwithstanding measures taken 
 to prevent it, in eluding every restriction which was 
 attempted to be put on its authority. This was accom- 
 plished by means of a tacit understanding on the sub- 
 ject between the Inquisitor and the Archbishop, who 
 remitted to the nunciature those cases of an inquisi- 
 torial nature, of which they did not choose that the 
 Government should take cognizance by means of its 
 assessors. 
 
 Piccolomini, Bishop of Pienza, pretending that he was 
 subject to the Pope only, and not to the Emperor, had 
 carried his extravagance so far as to excommunicate 
 several of the officers of Government in his diocese, and 
 among others, a communal chancellor of Pienza, Ruti- 
 lus Gini. He had declared him liable to the censures 
 of the Bull "/?i Coena Domini f and as he had at the 
 same time expressly forbidden those priests who were 
 under his authority, to administer to Gini any of the 
 sacraments of the Church, so long as he should persist 
 in, what the Bishop termed, "the public scandal of 
 obeying the Government," he was, from his inability 
 to obtain absolution, prevented also from marrying. 
 
 After twelve years' endurance of his conduct, the 
 Emperor had this prelate conducted to the frontiers of 
 the Grand Duchy, under a guard of soldiers. Picco- 
 lomini's turbulence caused him to be received with 
 much distinction by the Pope, Clement XIII., who 
 warmly embraced his cause, and permitted him, within 
 his own states, to excommunicate the Emperor and all 
 his ministers, and to post up the sentence in the usual 
 places. 
 
 There were also some differences between Tuscany 
 and the Court of Rome, which arose out of certain 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 43 
 
 places being" considered as asylums to which criminals 
 might repair for evading the punishment of the law. 
 These asylums the Government had frequently been 
 obliged to violate for the sake of public justice ; and 
 the Court of Rome had promised to conclude a con- 
 cordat in regard to them, upon condition that they 
 should all be respected by the civil authorities during 
 the time the negotiations were pending. The Govern- 
 ment kept its promise ; but no progress was made in 
 the negotiation, and the asylums were full of criminals. 
 
 Such was the posture of affairs at the accession of 
 Leopold to the Grand Ducal crown. Both parties 
 were dreadfully exasperated. Tuscany looked upon 
 Cardinal Torrigiani, Secretary of State, as an artful 
 and faithless priest ; while Rome considered Rucellai 
 as her mortal enemy. 
 
 The measures adopted by Leopold, and the motives 
 which induced him to become a reformer of the exter- 
 nal worship and ecclesiastical discipline of his States, 
 demonstrate that he laid down as the principle of all 
 his operations, an invariable resolution to separate dis- 
 tinctly what was spiritual from what was temporal ; 
 never to intermeddle with the former in any respect, 
 and at the same time never to permit the clergy to in- 
 terfere in the smallest degree with the latter. 
 
 He was always willing to yield to the clergy in 
 things which Avere strictly spiritual ; but at the same 
 time he fully determined not to succumb to them in 
 those which were not within their province. He wished 
 that his bishops should apply directly to him in all 
 their difficulties ; and showed himself ready to assist 
 them to the utmost of his power, whenever a proper 
 and useful end was in view. But they lost all claims 
 to his protection, and even to his esteem, whenever 
 they sought to interfere in matters belonging to the 
 State, with which, he said, they had no concern. 
 
 Senator Rucellai, who, previous to the accession of 
 Leopold to the throne of Tuscany, appears to have 
 been the most consistent and determined enemy to the 
 abuses of the See of Rome, drew up for the information 
 
44 SECRETS OF 
 
 and guidance of his sovereign, several very important 
 and interesting memoirs, not only on minute points of 
 ecclesiastical discipline, but on the right of the spiritual 
 power to interfere in matters of civil government. The 
 most remarkable of these documents is that bearing 
 date the 14th of July, 1769, in which Rucellai combats 
 the pretensions of the Pope to interfere with the civil 
 obedience of the priests, by the celebrated Bull In 
 Coena Domini. This memoir presents many points 
 of peculiar interest to the whole Christian community ; 
 particularly at this period, when attempts are making 
 to revive that dominion of the Roman priesthood, which 
 might have been expected to have been swept away in 
 the great conflict of opinions which has marked the 
 last forty years. 
 
 Secretary Rucellai insists particularly upon the spirit 
 which dictated that eternal monument of priestly am- 
 bition, the Bull In Cce/^of, upon the consequences of its 
 being put in execution in Tuscany, on the means of 
 opposing it, and of resisting at the same time the at- 
 tempts of the Court of Rome against the rights of the 
 Crown. 
 
 " A sovereign," says he, " owes it to his own dignity, 
 and to justice, to defend both himself and his rights 
 against the invasion of the Bull In Cwna, and his sub- 
 jects against the evil consequences of the measures 
 with which it threatens them." 
 
 The foundation of the Romish authority is contained 
 in the " Body of Canon Law," and especially in that 
 part of it entitled " Pontifical Authority." It is com- 
 posed of bulls, letters, and replies of the Popes, and of 
 decrees of Assemblies of his Court, and is the instru- 
 ment by means of which Rome is enabled to convert 
 the priesthood into an engine for the attainment of its 
 political views, even in the States of others. 
 
 The Bull, known by the name, In Coena Domini., 
 is a summary of all those ecclesiastical laws, which 
 tend to establish the despotism of the Court of Rome ; 
 a despotism of many ages, which was watered with 
 the blood of millions of human creatures, founded with 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 45 
 
 the spoils of debased sovereigns, and raised on the ruins 
 of overturned thrones. The principles of that Bull 
 pervade, and are interwoven with, every part of the 
 canon law, which is publicly taught in Romish semi- 
 naries. 
 
 The Ball In Cmna was the origin of those scanda- 
 lous differences between the priesthood and the Empire, 
 which happened in the eleventh century ; differences 
 totally unknown until the Church began to speak a 
 language invented by the Court of Rome, in order to 
 abuse with impunity the power of the keys, by means 
 of the factions of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, which 
 she brought forth and fostered. It was the origin also 
 of the Inquisition, which it supported in its greatest 
 enormities, of the crusades, of its censorships, inter- 
 dicts, (fee. (fee. ; all these it employed, first to balance, 
 and then to pull down the diiferent powers of the 
 Empire ; to strip it of one part of its States in Italy, 
 and out of them to erect itself into a species of new 
 monarchy. 
 
 Sovereigns not unfrequently deposed by their sub- 
 jects, or rather by the subjects of the priesthood, and 
 being incessantly threatened by fanatics who were de- 
 voted to the Church, were compelled by necessity to 
 trust their defence to the pens of civilians. Their 
 rights were ably supported by Pierre Cugnree, Paris, 
 Pierre des Yignes, Marsile of Padua, and Dante, of all 
 of whom the Court of Rome found little difficulty in 
 getting rid, by declaring them attainted and convicted 
 of heresy — at that period, the most dreadful of all 
 crimes. 
 
 This attempt, which ended so unfortunately for its 
 first promoters, was the origin and beginning of that 
 religious reformation, which was finally adopted, with 
 the exception of France, by every nation which was 
 not inclined to remain in a state of slavery. The kings 
 of France, who dreaded a reform, succeeded in avoid- 
 ing it, by allowing their subjects to be harrassed by 
 those civil wars which Rome lighted up under the 
 pretext of religion ; by maintaining endless disputes 
 
46 SECRETS OF 
 
 with her; and at length by accepting a system of 
 rights, professedly granted to them alone, under the 
 name of the " Privileges of the French Church," 
 which the Court of Rome abhors at heart fully as 
 much as reform and heresy. 
 
 Italy, where the love of political liberty had rendered 
 the people almost vassals of the Court of Rome, which 
 they defended against the Emperors, not because they 
 thought its pretensions well founded, but because it 
 defended them in its turn, with the only weapons 
 which could be advantageously employed against 
 those of the Empire, — excommunications and inter- 
 dicts, — Italy was subjected to all the abuses arising 
 out of the sacerdotal system. From the mercantile 
 spirit which the Italians of those times considered as 
 the main spring, both of political principles and events, 
 they conceived themselves interested in supporting the 
 Court of Rome in every measure and enterprise, how- 
 ever unjust, in order to secure to it that supreme 
 authority over the Catholic world, which attracted to 
 them the riches and wealth of all Europe. 
 
 Rome, considered in a political point of view, was 
 at that period the bulwark of Italian liberty ; in a mer- 
 cantile point of view, the source and cause of Italian 
 prosperity. To maintain this character, it was neces- 
 sary she should preserve her power, and this she could 
 only do by means of the gross delusion of pontifical 
 authority. 
 
 Scarcely had the new Italian Governments been rid 
 of all fear, in regard to their independence from abroad, 
 than they began to dread encroachment on the part 
 of the sacerdotal body, and changed immediately their 
 system and their conduct. Without openly declaring 
 their opposition to the intolerable pretensions of the 
 Court of Rome, they endeavored to invalidate them by 
 means of new laws, all passed about the same period, 
 whose object was to restrain the papal authority, and 
 the personal immunities of the clergy. 
 
 To speak only of Tuscany. About that period, the 
 bishops and the tribunals of the Inquisition were de- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 47 
 
 prived of their prisons and armed servants, and steps 
 were taken to prevent the latter, as much as possible, 
 from doing mischief The power of the bishops was 
 hmited, and the court of Rome restrained from appoint- 
 ing them according to her caprice. The temporal 
 portion of the benefices became dependent on the pub- 
 lic authority ; opposition was indirectly made to the 
 too frequent transferance of property into the hands 
 of the clergy, and measures were taken to subject any 
 new acquisitions, which they might be enabled to 
 make, to the same changes as other property similarly 
 situated. 
 
 This indirect method, however, of opposing the 
 Court of Rome, was soon neutralized by men so well 
 skilled in the art of invention. She brought forward 
 what she termed " Ecclesiastical Privilege," — an ocult 
 right, comprehending every pretension which Rome 
 has put forth to the present time, or which she may 
 wish to put forth in future. By means of this pre- 
 tended right, it is impossible to imagine a single hu- 
 man action, over which she may not exert her influ- 
 ence and authority, if it is in any conceivable way 
 connected with her interests. 
 
 Every thing that was in the least degree inconsist- 
 ent with, or contrary to this ecclesiastical privilege, 
 either directly or indirectly, was from that moment 
 comprised in the Bull In Coena, and anathematized. 
 
 In regard to the laws of which we have just spoken; 
 the Court of Rome maintained that they were null 
 and void, because they had not been passed by legiti- 
 mate authority. The states in which they had been 
 promulgated were excommunicated, laid under an in- 
 terdict, and attacked by the temporal forces of the 
 reigning pontiffs, or by the subjects of other States, 
 whom the Court of Rome had armed against their so- 
 vereigns, because these sovereigns had ordered the 
 laws passed in favor of their subjects to be put in 
 force. 
 
 Rome extended in this way its despotic authority 
 over all the States of Italy, and in a special manner 
 
48 SECRETS OF 
 
 over the Republic of FlorencCj until it adopted the 
 system pursued by the Spanish civilians. These au- 
 thorities, taking the pretensions of the Court of Rome 
 for what they were, without any examination of their 
 merits, guarded the Government against any abuse 
 which might result from them, by demanding that 
 every order or prohibition, and, generally speaking, 
 every writing or document emanating from that court, 
 whether of a spiritual or temporal nature, should be 
 subjected to a censorship. It was the duty of the cen- 
 sors to examine whether they were contrary to any 
 existing law of the State, and to take care that they 
 should not become binding until, with due consent 
 from the sovereign, they had been lawfully published 
 in his dominions. 
 
 The necessity of the Exequatur^ or legal publica- 
 tion^ is the basis of the jurisdiction and rights of the 
 Crown, in every state where the Roman religion pre- 
 vails ; and if the law were strictly executed, and 
 every infraction of it regularly punished, the power 
 of Rome would cease to be a subject of alarm, as well 
 as a source of mischief. 
 
 The Court of Rome was the first to perceive the 
 consequences which would necessarily result from en- 
 forcing this law, and consequently to condemn it. It 
 declared all those who ordered its execution, or who 
 should execute it themselves, to be under the censures 
 of the Bull In Ccena ; but even this produced not 
 the desired effect, and Rome was obliged to tolerate 
 the existence of the ExequaUir. 
 
 All its cunning is now employed in endeavoring to 
 elude it, which it sometimes does, even in the case of 
 the most enlightened Governments. The Govern- 
 ment ought, consequently, to be always on its guard, 
 in order to detect its attempts, and to restrain the 
 clergy who abet them. 
 
 The difficulty lay in finding out in what way those 
 who transgressed the law of the Exequatur should be 
 punished. Extra-judicial and sunmiary punishments 
 would be unjust, because they savor so much of arbi- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 49 
 
 trary authority, which forms no part of a sovereign's 
 rights. 
 
 Besides summaiy judgments are forcible means, 
 whicli the stronger party employs against the weaker, 
 because he cannot proceed against him in a legal 
 manner ; or, because those against whom he puts them 
 in practice, are not liable to the operation of the law. 
 Rucellai consequently does not judge it prudent to al- 
 low, even tacitly, that the clergy are in either of these 
 predicaments ; as its only effect would be to render 
 the clergy more interesting and venerable in the eyes 
 of the people, and to augment its authority by a dimi- 
 nution of that of the sovereign. 
 
 Rucellai was desirous that the priests should be 
 punished as transgressors of the national laws, and 
 that their obedience to the Bull In Ccena should 
 cease to operate as an excuse for them ; not because it 
 was not published with the Exequatur^ for it has been 
 'published every ichere, is still jnihlisJied, and its priii- 
 ciples taught in the schools, and iiicidcated on peni- 
 tents by their confessors, but because it was demon- 
 stratively unjust, subversive of all the rights of sove- 
 reignty, of law, of good order, and of public tranquil- 
 lity. 
 
 The priests who are the principal executors of the 
 Bull In Ccena in the penitentiary chair, are only per- 
 mitted to decide according to the orders of their Bish- 
 op. The Bishop, in his turn, is only an instrument of 
 the Court of Rome, and the wretched slave of her ca- 
 price ever since she succeeded, by means of false de- 
 cretals, in changing into an oath of fidelity and vas- 
 salage, that profession of faith which is made before 
 being admitted a member of the Church. 
 
 That oath is, in fact, a solemn i^romise, not only to 
 be unfaithful to one^s lanful sovereign, but even to he- 
 tray hhn, as often as the interests of the Court of 
 Rome may render it necessary. 
 
 Governments, by allowing such an oath to be taken, 
 thereby recognise it as obligatory. 
 
 The priests who observe it, by putting in force the 
 5 
 
50 SECRETS OF 
 
 Bull In Ccena^ and refusing absolution to those who 
 violate it, or who do not repent of having violated it, 
 are rebels to the Government of their country^ which 
 .has proscribed it ; those who do not observe it, are 7ie- 
 cessarily perjuredc 
 
 If the priests who have to decide between such dis- 
 agreeable alternatives are objects of pity, much more 
 so are those people deserving of compassion, who con- 
 sider it their duty to surrender their judgment into the 
 hands of their pastor. 
 
 Rucellai proposes, as a remedy for all these contra- 
 dictions, to consider the Bull Li CcBiia as an unjust 
 civil la,w, enacted by the Pope, which he would wil- 
 lingly put in force in the dominions of other sove- 
 reigns, and to forbid its direct or indirect publication. 
 
 It appeared preferable to Rucellai, that, by a decla- 
 ration on the part of the ecclesiastical power itself, 
 both the priests and their hearers shot. Id be freed 
 from the obligation, in for o co?iscienti(B, of observing 
 the Bull ; but such a declaration could only emanate 
 from the Pope, who would never make it, unless he 
 were compelled to it by an union of all the Catholic 
 Governments ; or, unless he saw clearly, that it was 
 as much his interest to annul it, as it was formerly his 
 interest to establish it, in despite of religion and every 
 thing that was sacred. 
 
 In the mean time, it will be necessary, says Rucel- 
 lai, to adhere to the proposed law, which may be com- 
 municated to the Court of Rome, in order that it may 
 prevent its publication by the only means in its power, 
 the abrogation of the Bull. In the event of adopting 
 this plan, it will be necessary to convince the Court of 
 Rome that Government has taken its determination, 
 and that no negotiation or species of treaty can take 
 place on the subject." 
 
 The order of the Grand Duke to suppress entirely 
 the Bull In Ccena Domini^ and the command never 
 to mention it in future in Tuscany, became the law 
 of the land. But this law, before it could be brought 
 into full force, had to be frequently renewed. In a cir- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 51 
 
 cular letter of the Secretary of Jurisdiction, addressed 
 to the bishop of Pistoia, Ricci's predecessor, in 1772, 
 it is asserledr that the Government had been apprised 
 of the Bull In Ccehci^ proscribed in every Catholic 
 state, being still affixed to the sacristies and confes- 
 sionals of some churches of the Grand Duchy, and 
 of some persons having had the hardihood to publish 
 it from the pulpit or the altar, during the holy week. 
 
 An anecdote relating to this Bull will illustrate the 
 retrogression which every pretended restoration causes 
 in the people under the dominion of arbitrary legiti- 
 macy. 
 
 "In 1815, Ruifo, Archbishop of Naples, a relation 
 of Cardinal Ruffo, published a list of reserved cases, 
 among which were infractions of the Bull In Ccena 
 Domini. Ferdinand IV. having been informed of this 
 violation of the laws of the kingdom, ordered his mi- 
 nister for ecclesiastical affairs to cause the list of re- 
 served cases to be suppressed by the Cardinal whose 
 name it bore, and to reprimand in severe terms the 
 monk who had drawn the prelate by his perfidious 
 counsels into such an act of disobedience, threatening 
 him at the same time with banishment from the Nea- 
 politan territory, if he attempted again to disturb the 
 public tranquillity. The minister, in executing the 
 orders of his sovereign, employed one of his principal 
 assistants, Luc Cagnazzi, a priest and archdeacon, to 
 write to Cardinal Ruffo. 
 
 After the fall of the Neapolitan constitutional Gov- 
 ernment, when Ferdinand had been restored a third 
 time to the plenitude of his sovereign good pleasure, 
 Luc Cagnazzi was stripped of his office, solely because 
 agreeably to the instructions of the minister, who 
 only obeyed his sovereign, he had composed the letter 
 in question : his dismissal was demanded by the Car- 
 dinal. 
 
 We have given this abstract of Rucellai's memoir, 
 because the Bull In Ccena is actually invoked by the 
 Court of Rome ; because it regards it as still existing 
 in full force, and because it grants to its ministers, 
 
52 SECRETS OF 
 
 even now^ power to absolve those who might be weak 
 enough to beUeve tliat they had incurred its penahies. 
 Rucellai adds, that all that he has proposed is merely 
 a precautionary measure ; and that the sole political 
 purpose of every measure relating to religious juris- 
 diction ought to be to put the clergy on a level with 
 the laity, in as far as relates to the duties of citizens, 
 and to abolish all their immunities, both real and per- 
 sonal ; and while that end remains unaccomplished, 
 there will always be " a State within the State," and 
 an everlasting source of controversy and dispute. 
 
 In order to attain sooner and more certainly this 
 end in Tuscany, all the inferior prelates possessing 
 jurisdiction, such as abbots, priors, guardians of con- 
 vents, (fee, should be obliged to exhibit their election- 
 patents, to obtain their confirmation by Government, 
 which should keep them as much within its control as 
 possible. They should be subjected, as well as the 
 bishops, to an oath of fidelity which should bring 
 both them and their jurisdiction within the immediate 
 influence of the civil authority. By the adoption of 
 these measures, there will be nothing to dread from 
 those prisons, which can scarcely be refused to seve- 
 ral religious orders, and which are tolerated by the 
 State. The special point is to prevent them from pos- 
 sessing clandestine prisons, which would be infinitely 
 worse than allowing them legal ones ; or permittinof 
 them to elude the prohibition to possess them, by any of 
 those equally criminal means, which their immorality 
 may suggest to them. In the present state of things, 
 the superiors of certain orders, which hold a middle 
 rank between cynicism and stoicism, make frequently 
 a very bad use of their prisons, concerning which no 
 regulation has been made by the civil authority, and 
 which they nevertheless cannot do without, because 
 reason alone is insufiicient to secure to them a proper 
 degree of respect. It is therefore an indispensable 
 duty of the Government to keep a watchful eye on 
 these prisons, in order to insure the safety of those in- 
 dividuals who are obliged to live under a despotism, 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 63 
 
 more uncontrolled and absolute than that of an Afri- 
 can tyrant. 
 
 The oath which must be required of them is only 
 the means of recalling to the minds of the priests who 
 take itj their natural duties as citizens — duties which 
 are born with them, and from which the ecclesiastical 
 profession which they have since adopted, cannot 
 emancipate them. The oath must be so clear as that 
 those who conscientiously believe it their duty to ob- 
 serve the Bull In Ccena^ may refuse to take it, and 
 also to accept the bishopricks and preferments which 
 can only be obtained by taking it. 
 
 The sacerdotal power will remain invulnerable as 
 long as those who exercise it believe that they have a 
 right to be distinguished by peculiar privileges and 
 immunities from their fellow-citizens. Every thing 
 which reduces them to a level with the laity, dimin- 
 ishes in the mind of the public the idea of their in- 
 dependence, and consequently destroys what is in re- 
 ality the true basis of Romish grandeur. The oath 
 by which they will be bound will certainly produce 
 that effect, and will besides furnish a strong ground 
 for proceeding against them in case of their infringing 
 the law. 
 
 The Court of Rome will oppose the taking of the new 
 oath ; and perhaps go so far as to prohibit its being 
 taken ; allow the bishopricks to remain vacant, and by 
 that means render the administration of the sacraments 
 more unfrequent and more difficult ; but she will in 
 that case have to contend with the whole body of 
 priests, whose preferment and mcrease of revenue, the 
 only thing really interesting to them^ it may have 
 been the means of checking. If the Court of Rome 
 can once be convinced that the Government is deter- 
 mined not to yield in the struggle, nor even not to en- 
 ter upon any negotiation for the purpose of accommo- 
 dating matters, from which, by means of her usual 
 chicanery, she could hope to obtain any advantage ; 
 she will give up the point, lest she should lose the 
 whole of her rights in endeavoring to preserve a part 
 
 5* 
 
 -i^' 
 
54 SECRETS OF 
 
 of them. From the moment that she takes such a step, 
 the promises which her clergy may make to her, will 
 appear to them only obligatory in so far as they are not 
 in opposition to the oath which they had taken to Go- 
 vernment with the consent of Rome herself. 
 
 During the five centuries that Romanists have been 
 governed by pontifical authority, the Court of Rome 
 has employed all the means in her power to fix as an 
 irrevocable principle, that " the clergy are not under 
 the authority of the State in which they reside," and 
 that they are the subjects of Rome alone^ in as far as 
 relates to their persons and property. She never will 
 dare to avow such a principle openly ; all that she re- 
 quires is, that the clergy on whom she inculcates that 
 belief should be fully persuaded of its truth. They, on 
 their part, pride themselves upon avowing themselves in 
 publ ic the subjects of Government, whenever i t sui ts their 
 interest to profess it — that is, whenever they are desirous 
 either of bread or of honors. Rome, on her part, can- 
 not condemn the oath which is proposed, on the score 
 of novelty ; for it has been taken in France and in 
 other countries : nor can she condemn it on the score 
 of its being imposed, upon individuals who are not sub- 
 ject to the general laws of the kingdom ; for such a 
 proposition would be odious in the extreme, and rouse 
 the attention, even of the most careless Governments, 
 to such unheard-of impudence and audacity, especially 
 at a time which is by no means favorable to any usur- 
 pation on the part of Rome. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 55 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Anxiety of the Grand-duke to procure information on the abuses of the 
 Church. — Letter from Villensi, pointing out some necessary changes. — 
 Letter from a Nun, complaining of tlie irregularities of her Convent. — 
 Memoir of RuceUai, on the scandalous conduct of a Confessor. — Men- 
 dicant Priests. — Abolition of the privileges of Sanctuaries. — Letter of 
 Rucellai on the abuses of tlie Religious Orders. 
 
 The vigilant attention of Leopold to ecclesiastical 
 abuses in his dominions, was kept alive by the com- 
 munications which he invited and received from pri- 
 vate persons, 
 
 Villensi, Friar of Santo Yito, addressed to the Grand- 
 duke, in 1768, a letter, in which he suggests the best 
 means of diminishing the abuses which disgraced the 
 religious system. 
 
 He requests his Royal Highness to keep his name 
 secret unless he wishes him to run the risk of being 
 stoned to death. He proposes the extirpation of men- 
 dicity amongst the priesthood, which would render the 
 people more active and industrious. The most vigor- 
 ous and robust of the mendicants, says the Prior, might 
 be sent to work in the marshes^ and the lame and in- 
 firm deposited in houses of seclusion, for the main- 
 tenance of which, the convents ought to pay what they 
 formerly disbursed, ii we may believe them, in the way 
 of charities. 
 
 He complains of the insults offered to the Councils 
 of the Church by the numerous bulls and briefs which 
 are constantly manufactured in the Datary's office at 
 Rome, in favor of all who pay for them ; and quotes, 
 among other examples, the permission, contrary to the 
 regulations passed by the Council of Trent, of saying- 
 mass before the age of twenty-five ; that of contracting 
 marriages within the prohibited degrees, <fec. (fcc. 
 
 With regard to the Convents, it was his wish that 
 their excessive wealth should be employed for the be- 
 nefit of the State, and the support of the indigent; that 
 the 300 crowns per annum which the carriage of the 
 
56 SECRETS OF 
 
 Abbot cost, with the money expended on his domes- 
 tics and furniture, should be appropriated to the use of 
 the hospitals ; that the monks should no longer go out, 
 except in company with some one of their order, under 
 pain of banishment ; and that they should be prohi- 
 bited from transacting the business of their establish- 
 ments, and be released from the necessity of holding 
 any intercourse with the laity, either male or female, 
 in buying or selling ; and that a secular person attach- 
 ed to the convents ought to be intrusted with the ma- 
 nagement of these matters, so as to allow the monks to 
 devote their attention to the rules of their order. For 
 the same reason, the monks should be released from 
 the spiritual care of souls, which continually dis- 
 tracts their attention from the duties of their pro- 
 fession. They must also be prohibited from either 
 demanding or accepting, from the Court of Rome, 
 brevets or privileges which drain their purses, and au- 
 thorize them to violate their by-laws. Superfluity of 
 every kind ought to be banished from the churches 
 and sacristies, the simplicity of religion only demand- 
 ing what is absolutely necessary for the proper per- 
 formance of its rites. The importunate and scan- 
 dalous crowds of begging friars ought to be sup- 
 pressed ; the visits of generals, vicar-generals, pro- 
 vincials and inspectors, which have always been a 
 great source of expense, and have never given rise to 
 the least reform, prohibited ; and no one allowed to 
 make profession in any order, except at a very 
 advanced age. 
 
 It would also be highly proper to suppress six or 
 eight convents of nuns, there are more than sixty in 
 Tuscany, and apply the funds arising from them to 
 the maintenance of the poor. Those which remain 
 ought to be governed by a layman, that their re- 
 venues, which are constantly augmenting by addi- 
 tional portions, may not decrease. It would be even 
 more useful to dispose of the property of the female 
 convents, and to form it into a bank ; which, after 
 paying twenty per cent, to government, would aftbrd 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 57 
 
 them the two per cent, which they were in the habit 
 of drawing- from it. 
 
 The Prior complains bitterly of the great number of 
 priests resident in Florence, who neither knew^ nor 
 could do any thing beyond saying a mass ! Want, 
 says he, compels them to employ themselves as inten- 
 dants and preceptors in large families, to buy, to sell, 
 to manage the domestic affairs of their masters ; to 
 conduct their children to the promenade, and even to 
 take charge of a stable at so much per month, as if 
 they were grooms ; all in the hope of obtaining a 
 benefice from the family by which they are employed. 
 The proper method of remedying such disgraceful 
 practices, is to refuse benefices to all those who had 
 descended to such degrading services. The poorer 
 priests might be allowed to confess the nuns, after the 
 monks had been deprived of the office, and they would 
 gain by that means what the latter icere in the habit 
 of receiving for it,' Those ecclesiastics who are con- 
 stantly in pursuit of honors and dignities ; who busy 
 themselves in intrigues to obtain them, and then 
 recruit themselves from the fatigues of their despicable 
 intrigues in places of public amusement ; might under- 
 take, gratis, the administration of hospitals, visit them 
 for the purpose of seeing that the duties were properly 
 discharged, &c. This would be a great saving to 
 these useful establishments, and a subject of noble 
 emulation for the young priests, who would thereby 
 be led to consider the practice of virtue and zeal in the 
 cause of beneficence, as the only way of accomplishing 
 their desires. 
 
 The scandal which arises from those priests, de- 
 nominated coachmen, and postilio?is, dec, from their 
 saying mass as if they icere running 2J0st, and who 
 are constantly in a hurry to go from one church to 
 another, in order to do as much business as possible, 
 ought to be ended. The sacristies might also be served 
 by laymen, which would diminish the useless and 
 frightful number of clerks of the lower classes ; who, 
 like the two hundred clerks of the Metropolitan 
 
58 SECRETS OF 
 
 Church, waste their time till the age of twenty-five, 
 without learning any thing, and then get themselves 
 consecrated as a reward for their pretended services. 
 People would not then make it a subject of remark, 
 that Florence, out of a population of 80,000 inhabit- 
 ants, maintained 3000 priests, whilst out of a popula- 
 tion of 400,000 at Vienna, there are only 300. The 
 theatres, coffee-houses, and other places frequented by 
 monks, would also be less encumbered with their 
 presence. 
 
 He is also anxious that the Archbishop of Florence 
 should keep a watchful eye on the tax-office for bulls 
 and benejices, in order to put an end to every thing in 
 the shape of arbitrary impositions, by means of an 
 invariable rate for each act of grace. 
 
 He demands a reform of the festivals. By transfer- 
 ring the observance of the festivals to the Sunday fol- 
 lowing the day on which they are held, twenty-five 
 days more labor could be performed in the course of 
 the year ; and the twenty vigils, which occasion such 
 an enormous expense, would be suppressed ; while the 
 festivals would be more decently observed. 
 
 The other letter to the Grand Duke exhibits, in a 
 singular manner, the enormities committed in the 
 female convents through Tuscany. It was addressed 
 to Leopold by a nun of Castiglion Fiorentino ; and 
 led the way to those investigations of the scandalous 
 abuses, by which Ricci subsequently rendered his 
 ecclesiastical career so remarkable. 
 
 " Our convent," she says, "is under the direction of 
 the Minor Observatines, and is consequently in a 
 state of the greatest irregularity and disorder. The 
 superior and the old nuns confine themselves entirely 
 to their cells, and occupy themselves in various em- 
 ployments, without paying the least attention to 
 \ what goes on between the other nuns and those 
 persons who have the privilege of admission within 
 the walls of the cloister. I had for a long tii^~ol 
 served that the factor of the convent carried on in- 
 trigues with the young nuns, and that his intercourse 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 
 
 with one of them was indecent in the extreme. Irr 
 order, however, not to form too hasty and unjust a. ^ 
 judgment of them, I concealed myself in a neighboring^) 
 apartment, and discovered that they were in the habit 
 of committing the most indecent actions. Since that 
 time, whenever the factor makes liis appearance, 
 always remain, under pretence of age, being nearly 
 fifty, below with my work, and walk backwards and 
 forwards, in order not to allow him an opportunity of 
 being alone with the nuns. The Abbess was the 
 means of engaging that factor, which she did almost 
 by force, against the opinion of others who thought 
 him too young. She is very angry with me, and will 
 certainly not fail to punish me in some way or other. 
 
 " I cannot complain to the Provincial ; for the 
 monks will not listen to any complaints of the kind. 
 Their answer uniformly is, when any are made, that 
 they proceed from malignity and calumny ; while 
 those who speak to them concerning them, are declared 
 to be foolish, scandalous, and turbulent persons, who 
 spy the actions of others, who do not behave like true 
 nuns, and who ought to be imprisoned, etc. The 
 nuns are therefore obliged either to allow such enor- 
 mous irregularities to go unchecked, or to run the 
 risk of imprisonment for life, under some false pretext. 
 No one cares whether a nun remains alone with the 
 factor. If any amusement is going forward, the factor 
 is invited to the convent, where he shuts himself up in 
 'k room with one of them, and sometimes with two, if 
 they are intimate with him. 
 
 " The monks, to insure themselves against dislike 
 on the part of the nuns, overlook the whole ; for our 
 confessor, who is always selected from that body, is 
 supported by the nans, who must supply him with 
 every thing which he desires, during the time that he is 
 obliged to occupy a dwelling in the neighborhood of 
 the convent. Finding themselves well provided with 
 every thing which they want, these monks do not give 
 themselves the least trouble about the abuses which 
 prevail in the convents. There are even some of them 
 
I 
 
 60 SECRETS OF 
 
 who make love to the nunSj and render them much 
 more impudent than the lay members who are guilty 
 of the same practices. Some years ago, a monk was 
 found in the convent during the night, and expelled 
 from it by tlie bailiffs. The affair, in consequence, 
 became universally known." 
 
 The nun is of opinion, that the case of the factor 
 was much more blameable, inasmuch as his duties 
 provided him with constant opportunities of sinning. 
 She therefore supplicates the Grand Duke to order a 
 nobleman, on whom the factor was dependent, to recall 
 him to Florence, without allowing it to appear that he 
 was at all acquainted with the irres^ularity of his con- 
 duct : " For/' says she, " if what 1 now write to you 
 were known, it would be sufficient to cause me to be 
 poisoned by my companions, who are totally given up 
 to vice." She requests the prince to speak to the pro- 
 vincial, and to tell him, that "if she is punished under 
 any pretext whatever, he will take from him the 
 direction of the convent, and transfer it to the bishop." 
 
 The above letter is dated May, 1770, from the con- 
 vent of Jerome, at Castiglion Fiorentino, and signed 
 Lucrece Leonide Beroardi. 
 
 Leopold dismissed the factor. *"*" 
 
 The scandalous wickedness of some members of (\ 
 the priesthood, under the cloak of religion, and by 
 perversion of its authority, was known to the grand 
 duke in 1766. Senator Rucehai then addressed to his 
 Prince a memoir relating to the intrigues of the Tus^ 
 can Inquisitors, of the higher orders of the clergy of 
 the Grand Duchy, of the Nunciature at Florence, and 
 of the Court of Rome ; all of whom labored in concert 
 to elude the wise laws of the late Emperor. 
 '' A lady of the name of Maria Catherine Barni, of 
 Santa Croce, declared on her death-bed that she had 
 been seduced through the medium of confession, and 
 that she had, during twelve years, maintained a crimi- 
 nal intercourse with a priest, Pierre Pacchiani, Prior 
 of St. Martin at Castel-Franco-di-Sotto, who was her 
 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 61 
 
 Df X 
 
 confessor. She denounced him to the Bishop of 
 Miniato, May, 1764. I 
 
 He had assured her that, by means of the super- / 
 natural hg-ht which he had received from Jesus and / 
 the Holy Virgin, he was perfectly certain that neither / 
 of them were guilty of sin in carrying on that corres*/ 
 pondence. '*^ 
 
 Maria Magdalen Sicini, of Santa Croce, whom she\\ 
 had pointed out as being in the same predicament ^ 
 with herself, deposed ; that generally about an hour J 
 after the confession was over, Pacchiani had a crimi- / 
 nal intercourse with her in the vestry ; that she knew^ 
 well enough that she was committing sin, and that she 
 made confession of it afterwards to Pacchiani himself, 
 who excused her because it had been done with good 
 intentions. 
 
 This lady named another, Yictoire Benedetti, who, 
 at her examination, made a declaration to the same 
 effect ; only adding, that she had not had the least 
 scruple in regard to her connexion with Pacchiani. 
 
 The trial of that priest for heretical propositions 
 belonged properly to the Inquisition ; but, after much 
 intrigue and manoeuvring, the affair got into the hands 
 of the Archbishop ; next into those of the Nuncio ; 
 then into those of the Court of Rome ; and Pacchiani, 
 who had been dismissed, finally returned to his parish. 
 
 The Government was made perfectly acquainted 
 with the whole transaction ; but in such a way as to 
 be unable to take any notice of it. It was also aware 
 that Pacchiani had been guilty of several disgraceful"^ 
 [s; that he was in the habit of compelling the 7^. 
 dying to make wills in his favor, by threats of refusing / ' 
 to administer the sacraments; that he had used his 
 endeavors to prevent Barni from making any confes- 
 sion on her death-bed ; that his Bishop had been 
 obliged to imprison him, in order to remove him from 
 a convent of nuns ; and that he had delivered from the 
 pulpit a discourse full of sedition. The Grand Duke 
 caused him to be dismissed. 
 
 The scandal brought on the doctrines and professors 
 6 
 
62 SECRETS OF 
 
 ■ f of religion, by the wretchedness and demoraUzation of 
 I the mendicant priests, was brought before the Grand 
 r\Duke by Rucellai, in 1766. He rephed to the in- 
 ^v;[uiries of his sovereign, by detaiUng various consider- 
 ations, as to the best means of diminishing the exces- 
 sive number of those wandering drones, who, without 
 either nomination or benefice, swarmed in Tuscany, 
 ■ and especially at Florence, on account of the college 
 or seminary of the cathedral. That seminary was 
 composed of a hundred and thirty young men, who 
 were employed in the service of the church, and of 
 whom no fewer than sixty-six were annually conse- 
 crated, as a reward for their services. Rucellai was 
 of opinion that a diminution of the number of young 
 men in the seminary, would give rise to a great out- 
 cry, and would fail in accomplishing the end in view. 
 It is the patrimony of the Church which we must 
 diniinish, says he, if we wish to diminish the number 
 of those who live by it ; and who would become dis- 
 ciples of Mohamed, if the revenues which they enjoy 
 were appropriated to Mussulmans. A diminution of 
 the wealth of the clergy, under existing circumstances, 
 was altogether impossible, without a complete over- 
 throw of the political system. To fix it definitively in 
 such a way as to prevent its increase, appeared to him 
 extremely difficult, on account of the tendency of 
 every body of men towards prosperity, and more espe- 
 cially of every sacerdotal body; it being but too true, 
 that superstition and wealth go hand in hand together. 
 The only part of this measure which could have 
 been easily executed, was prohibiting the priests fl^^^ 
 accepting additional foundations for perpetual masses, ' 
 which they increased in number by every pious fraud . 
 which they could devise. These foundations infected 
 Florence, more than any other place, with the refuse 
 of the clergy, who were attracted from the neigh- 
 boring dioceses by the profits arising from the masses. 
 There was also another method of accomplishing 
 the object in view ; to unite all the simple benefices 
 and obligations, &c., upon which the useless part of 
 
FEMALE CONV^ENTS. 63 
 
 the clergy lived, and who, in this way, would soon 
 have disappeared ; but the consent of Rome was 
 necessary to the adoption of that measure ; and it 
 would, undoubtedly, have refused to co-operate in the 
 execution of a plan contrary to its policy, prejudicial 
 to its finances, and destructive of its authority. 
 
 The Senator r. onr.lnrlps h v giving it as his opinion, 
 that it would be much better to make use of the means 
 already at the disposal of Government, — which, 
 though they might be slow in accomplishing the end 
 in view, would attain it much more certainly and 
 quietly; — considering always the increasing wealth of 
 the clergy as an evil necessarily connected with the 
 present system — as a malady inseparable from the 
 political body. For this purpose it will be necessary,' 
 says he, to oppose, both constantly and vigorously, 
 that maxim of the Church, so contrary to the Gospel, 
 to the Councils, and to the writings of the Fathers, 
 " that the Church forms a State within the State ;" to 
 treatjhe^^ersons^^aiid property of ecclesiastics in the 
 same, way as the persons and property of other 
 citizens ; to return to those Christian times, during 
 which" the property of the Church was considered as 
 public property, belonging to the State, and entirely at 
 the disposal of the civil authority. The clergy and 
 their property were not more dangerous to the State, 
 than other wealthy persons and their property ; be- 
 cause they were then undistinguished by any pre- 
 rogatives, privileges, or immunities. Rucellai coun- 
 selled Leopold to put his authority in force ; to exercise 
 a real jurisdiction over his clergy, by exercising it 
 over their property ; to prevent the augmentation of 
 their territorial wealth, by applying the law of the late 
 Emperor, concerning the acquisition of property in 
 mortmain, which had already restored much land to 
 commerce and circulation ; to keep the clergy in 
 check by the dread of extra-judicial and summary 
 sentences of banishment and sequestration against 
 their persons and revenues ; and to avoid endless and 
 fatal quarrels with the Court of Rome. 
 
64 SECRETS OF 
 
 One of the greatest abuses of the power of the 
 Church in Tuscany, and the most shameful obstacle 
 to the progress of civil justice, was the number of 
 asylums reputed sacred, whose privileges had filled 
 the churches of Tuscany with vagabonds and disturb- 
 ances. The Grand Duke was perfectly awai'e of his 
 right and authority to abolish this abuse, without the 
 consent or intervention of any one ; but he was willing 
 to concede, and proposed a concordat, which should 
 confer upon him the same privileges which had been 
 bestowed on the other Catholic powers, or the adoption 
 of some provisional measure. He was determined not 
 to suffer any longer, in his dominions, disorders which 
 Rome herself, notwithstanding her desire to protect 
 them in those of others, would not tolerate in her 
 own ; and which, being beneficial to criminals only, 
 were a disgrace both to religion and. to the Govern- 
 ment. A memoir of Rucellai, of 1764, shows that 
 Tuscany was completely filled with churches. Flo- 
 rence alone reckoned 320, of which the farthest from 
 one another were not above 300 paces ; they occupied 
 one half of the ground which had been built upon in 
 the town, and had enjoyed for more than 163 years 
 all the privileges granted by the Bulls of the different 
 Popes. 
 
 Leopold caused the reflections which Rucellai had 
 made on the concordats concluded by Rome, relative 
 to asylums, with Naples in 1741, with Sardinia and 
 Piedmont in 1742, and with Austria for the states of 
 Lombardy in 1757, to be submitted to his considera- 
 tion. The inconveniences of those concordats, and of 
 every concordat whatsoever, by means of which the 
 Court of Rome succeeded in procuring from sovereigns 
 a recognition of the legality of the pretended rights 
 which are the object of the treaty, are clearly pointed 
 out in that document. Rucellai preferred to these 
 different concordats, the scheme of a provisional regu- 
 lation presented by the Abbe Neri. 
 
 That scheme, which received Leopold's consent did 
 not admit of the inviolability of the asylums in any 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 65 
 
 case whatever ; but provided for the remission of 
 capital and mutilating punishments, in the case of 
 those who might be taken from the asylums ; and also, 
 for the remission of a third part of every other punish- 
 ment of a lesser degree. By this means the objection 
 was removed which existed in regard to the exceptions 
 and explanations admitted in the concordats ; excep- 
 tions of which the tortuous policy of the Court of 
 Rome, which decided upon them, enabled her always 
 to take advantage, and of which she never permitted 
 any one to foresee the intention. 
 
 The abolition of capital punishments would certainly, 
 says Rucellai, have displeased those who work upon 
 punishment as the basis of all government, and the main 
 spring of every political system. Neri observes that 
 capital punishments had been dispensed with in several 
 States, without the least inconvenience ; and that it is 
 the certainty of punishment and not the measure of it, 
 which restrains mankind within the line of their duty, 
 and checks the commission of crime. 
 
 The Grand Duke, in consequence, gave orders to 
 Baron Odile, his minister at Rome, to commence nego- 
 tiations on this subject with zeal and promptitude, and 
 not to rest satisfied either with the words, or the dila- 
 tory and uncertain promises, with which that court 
 always colors its refusals. The reiterated orders and 
 numerous couriers of Leopold could not, however, get 
 any thing satisfactory from the Cardinal Secretary of 
 State, to whom he caused it to be announced, that if 
 he would not condescend upon a clear and categorical 
 answer, he was determined to proceed with it. "-^ 
 
 The court of Rome in spite of the continued remon-\ 
 strances of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, evaded for / 
 several years any settlement of the question of asyluni^ 
 Leopold at last determined to act for himself ; and tne 
 year 1769 was remarkable for the great reform intro- 
 duced by him, which at length restored to Justice both 
 the strength and the liberty which she required for th« 
 prevention of crime, by the salutary terrors of unavoid- 
 able punishment, and re-established order and security 
 
 6* 
 
66 SECRETS OF 
 
 in his States, under the protection of impartial laws, 
 which allowed neither privilege nor exemption. 
 
 The Grand Duke who had communicated to the 
 Court of Austria the documents which related to the 
 diiferences existing between him and the Pope in 
 regard to asylums, and the plan which he had formed 
 for repairing the mischief which the inviolability of 
 these refuges had engendered, received the approbation 
 of the Empress ; and consequently, he informed the 
 Court of Rome, that he had caused the malefactors in 
 his dominions to be taken from the asylums and 
 immured in prisons. 
 
 On the same day his plan was put in execution at 
 Florence, at Sienna, and at Grosseto, and the next day 
 in the rest of the Grand Duchy. 
 
 Leopold, surrounded with the most learned and 
 enlightened persons in Tuscany, and well skilled 
 himself in ecclesiastical history, was perfectly aware 
 that during the first nine centuries of the Church, the 
 clergy took no part in civil matters beyond the inter- 
 cession of the bishops and priests with the Supreme 
 Authority, for some diminution of the punishment 
 incurred by criminals. 
 
 The decree of Gratian was the first which claimed , 
 for the ecclesiastical body the power of judging per- 
 sons who were accused of crimes ; but it was not till 
 1591, that Gregory XIV. originated the abuse and 
 scandal of asylums, by pointing out eight crimes to ; 
 which that privilege could not be accorded, and by\ 
 ordaining that the ecclesiastical tribunals should 
 thenceforth finally decide whether those who had 
 taken refuge were or were not within the excepted 
 cases. 
 
 The privilege of asylums was every where dimin- 
 ished : in France, even in the time of Leopold, the 
 Church did not interfere in behalf of criminals ; and 
 in Germany very seldom. In the Low Countries, as 
 well as in Italy, very vigorous measures had been 
 taken to do away with the abuse, which nevertheless 
 has always been more slow in these cases than other 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 67 
 
 Catholic countries, on account of its propinquity to 
 Rome. Venice had, however, given the example, and 
 it had been followed by Lombardy, Turin, Parma, 
 Naples, and even by the Pontifical States. 
 
 Tuscany, therefore, was the only country in which 
 the most atrocious crimes, as well as the most trifling 
 offences, remained not only unpunished, but even en- 
 couraged and protected by the privilege of the churches. 
 Assassins, fratricides, poisoners, incendiaries, deserters, 
 robbers, sons of the nobility who wished to withdraw 
 themselves from paternal authority ; monks who had 
 subjected themselves to punishment from their supe- 
 riors, or soldiers from their officers ; those who had 
 contracted debts, (fee. &c. — all took refuge in the same 
 asylum, were all equally well received, and lived in a 
 state of the greatest disorder. x^ 
 
 They frequently disturbed the performance of divine '-^ 
 service, and often maltreated the clergy ; committed 
 crime after crime, insulted and even wounded those 
 who attended the church, where they had been receiv- 
 ed without shame, and were supported and openly de- 
 fended. There they kept a school for the instruction 
 of the young in robbery and swindling, sold contra- 
 band goods and stolen wares. They had prostitutes 
 among them, slept pele-mele under the porticoes, and 
 not unfrequently had children born to them during the 
 time that they remained in the asylum. They ate, 
 drank, worked at their trades, and kept open shop in 
 the churches. They wore concealed arms, arrested 
 the passengers in order to ransom them, and fired at , 
 the agents of the police if they happened to pass byy^ 
 They sallied out secretly to commit fresh robberies 
 and assassinations, and returned within the sanctuary 
 of the church, in order to enjoy, without fear, the pro- 
 tection which the temple and its ministers granted 
 them. 
 
 The convents ivere, hoicever^ the greatest recepta- 
 cles of criminals, whom the monks treated remarkably 
 well, on account of the benefit which they derived from 
 their domestic labors, and because they could use them 
 
 # 
 
68 SFX'RETS OF 
 
 as instruments for the commission of those frauds which 
 they were desirous of executing, and as apologies for 
 those of which they loere themselves guilty^ and which 
 they failed not to ]3lace to the credit of their guests. 
 They employed them particularly in contraband trade 
 for the use of the convent. 
 
 A short time previous to the reform of the asylum, 
 the monks of the convent of Spirito, at Florence, car- 
 ried their impudence so far, as to allot a chamber 
 among the novices to a robber who had attempted to 
 kill his own brother. 
 
 ' Such was the deplorable state of that beautiful part 
 of Italy, There were, on the suppression of the asy- 
 lums, eighty refugees, of whom a third had been guilty 
 of wilful murder, and the rest, either for cutting or 
 maimiug the inhabitants, or of committing extensive 
 robberies. Several of them had made their escape from 
 the galleys. 
 
 It was determined, in consequence, not to allow them 
 any longer the privilege of asylum, and a law was 
 passed, which enjoined the public authority to seize, 
 for the future, every refugee, in whatever asylum he 
 might be found — civil debtors, not fraudulent bank- 
 rupts, only excepted — and to carry him before the 
 ordinary tribunals, for the purpose of being sentenced, 
 if sufficient cause was shown, to ten years' confinement 
 in irons, in case of his crime deserving capital punish- 
 ment ; to five, if it deserved ten ; and so on, always 
 mitigating the punishment, out of regard to the spot 
 on which he had been apprehended. This was the 
 only method of managing the affair, so as to preserve 
 the rights of the sovereign entire, to show respect for 
 the privileges of the churches, and to put an end to 
 irregularities and crimes, w^hich the honor, the dignity, 
 and even the conscience of the prince, forbade him to 
 tolerate any longer. 
 
 Another document illustrative of the ecclesiastical^j^ 
 condition of Tuscany, before the administration of 
 Ricci, contains some curious details of abuses, both 
 as it regards the number and discipline of the religious 
 
^, 
 
 FEMALE CONVENTS. 69 
 
 orders. It is a letter of Rucellai, December, 1770, 
 written in reply to some questions which the Grand 
 Dake had addressed to him. 
 
 Leopold had requested him to make out plans, 1, for 
 diminishing as quickly as possible the number of con- 
 vents m Tuscany, and of the individuals inhabiting 
 them, and also for preventing foreigners from becoming 
 inmates of them ; 2, for the prevention of religious 
 vows, at an earlier age than twenty-four years ; 3, for 
 prohibiting mendicants of religious orders from receiv- 
 ing novices before the age of sixteen or eighteen ; 4, for 
 suppressing all convents of mendicant orders contain- 
 ing fewer than twelve persons ; 5, for enabling the 
 secular priests only, and especially the curates, to 
 preach in the country, and for preventing the monks 
 from exercising that function ; 6, for excluding the 
 monks from the direction of female convents, which 
 ought to be regulated in spiritual matters by the ordi- 
 naries only. 
 
 Rucellai says in reply : — " The support and duration 
 of religious orders depend partly on the success of the 
 monks in procuring recruits, and partly on the interest 
 which families have in supplying them with them. 
 This could not possibly be the case if perpetual vows 
 were not taken at so early an age as sixteen ; at an 
 age which has no safeguard either against seduction 
 or violence. The monks accordingly showed them- 
 selves particularly anxious, at the Council of Trent, 
 to retain this privilege, in order, as they said, to pre- 
 vent the destruction of the monastic establishments. 
 
 This avowal, on their part, points out the line of 
 conduct which ought to be adopted by Government : 
 for as the vows which the individual takes upon him, 
 deprive him of various rights which he formerly pos- 
 sessed, and free him, much to the prejudice of his fellow- 
 citizens and of his country, according to the tenor of 
 ' e Canon law, from the performance of various duties 
 which he was bound to discharge to society, the tem- 
 poral or civil power onght to regulate every thing 
 relating to solemn vows and professions, in the same 
 
70 SECRETS OF 
 
 manner that it regulates all other civil acts, and to 
 limit and modify them agreeably to what its existence 
 and its interests appear to require. 
 
 It is absolutely necessary that the sovereign should 
 have it in his power to prohibit the putting on of the 
 religious habit without his express permission. Rome, 
 however, has always opposed such an exercise of au- 
 thority, to the utmost of her power. She saw clearly 
 that the establishment of such a regulation would, in 
 the end, destroy, or at least greatly weaken, her reli- 
 gious communities, " which she justly regards as so 
 many collective bodies of her subjects ; as armed le- 
 gions, which she maintains abroad at the expense of 
 the countries in which they so blindly execute her or- 
 ders. These orders she veils with the mantle of reli- 
 gion, and has the art of getting them as well executed 
 by those to whom she intrusts them, as if they had 
 a personal interest in doing what not unfrequently 
 exposes them to all the vengeance of their Govern- 
 ments." 
 
 Rome will be just as clamorous against the adoption 
 of any measures for regulating the time and mode of 
 taking Vows, as if these measures were offensive to the 
 Almighty himself. 
 
 Rucellai would not fix any age, as the lawful one, 
 for the solemn profession of vows, unless Rome con- 
 sented to it ; this he does not believe that she would 
 do, even though she were compelled, for the purpose 
 of giving a refusal, to recognise the superior authority 
 of the Council of Trent, to which she would probably 
 have recourse under such circumstances, although she 
 has violated its decisions in so many others. The ul- 
 terior obligation of vows, taken canonically at the age 
 of sixteen, would therefore still remain; while the sove- 
 reign would only have succeeded in obliging his sub- 
 jects to deceive him. 
 
 He proposes to prohibit the adoption of the ecclesi-. 
 astical and religious habit, under any pretext whatever, 
 before the age of twenty-one. 
 
 Children who submit to the tonsure at the age of 
 
'A 
 
 ( 
 
 FEMALE CONVENTS. 71 
 
 seven, and young people who enter the convent at fif- 
 teen, although not bound by any particular obligation, 
 do not afterwards leave off their religious profession. 
 " That profession, in the present state of things, is onei 
 which is expressly made for those whom circumstances \ 
 had designed for a life of industry ; namely, for the i 
 great mass of mankind. From the age of seven or ten, ( 
 till twenty-four, young people, destined for profession, 
 are only taught the service of the church, a little Latin, 
 and some theolog-ical defmitions — a kind of knowledo^e 
 which cannot be exchanged to much pecuniary advan- 
 tage, except by the clergy.'' They must embrace this 
 profession, therefore, either voluntarily or by force ; 
 and even when they are totally incapable, and thei 
 conduct has been such as to render them utterly un 
 worthy of being admitted into it, the bishops, through 
 compassion for them and their family, make no scruple 
 in letting them pass. 
 
 One might almost say, that they had become monks 
 or priests, from the very moment they put on the livery 
 of the Church, which, by depriving them of all other 
 means of making a livelihood, necessarily condemns 
 them to the exercise of the ecclesiastical profession. 
 Thus they have bound themselves to become priests 
 when they should be of age to embrace the profession, 
 in the same way as an apprenticed mason, by exercis- 
 ing his trade in his early years, binds himself to it for 
 the rest of his life. Rucellai shows that his scheme, 
 so fit for rooting out, at a single blow, the whole of the 
 inferior clergy — the greatest part of the ecclesiastical 
 hierarchy — would give great offence to the Court of 
 Rome, terrify the people, and be productive of embar- 
 rassment to the Government. 
 
 In regard to diminishing the number of nuns, he is 
 of opinion, that nothino- can be done in that way 
 without previously facilitating marriages, or having 
 procured for women some middle resource between 
 marriage and religious profession — a resource which 
 did not exist in Tuscany. The Government will there- 
 fore be obliged to rest contented, with prohibiting the 
 
 ^ 
 
72 SECRETS OF 
 
 superiors from receiving more novices than they have 
 the means of supporting, the number of which ought 
 to be fixed ; as well as from receiving any portion 
 alons: with them at the time of taking^ the vows. 
 
 If the sole question relate to diminishing the number 
 of monks, great care ought to be taken in endeavoring 
 to accomplish that object, lest the means employed 
 should have any tendency to fill the Tuscan convents 
 with foreign monks ; to incite the Tuscans to adopt 
 the profession elsewhere ; or, finally, to prevent young 
 students from other countries from repairing for their 
 education to the Tuscan monasteries. 
 
 The step which ought to be adopted, is to cause an 
 ^xact account to be given of the temporal wealth of 
 ^he monks ; and when that has been procured, to fix 
 the precise number of individuals whom they are able 
 * to maintain, and, consequently, to receive in each es- 
 tablishment. This ought to be accompanied by an 
 order to observe strictly the injunctions of the Bulls, 
 the rules, and institutes of the different orders ; by 
 which means those small convents in the country, 
 which are prohibited by the Bulls, and which, besides 
 being totally useless to religion, are a source of scandal 
 to the people, and of impoverishment to a very valuable 
 class of the community, the villagers, will be at length 
 abolished. The funds arising from this source ought, 
 whatever may be the clamors of the Court of Rome, 
 to be appropriated to beneficent institutions, as is the 
 case at Venice and other places. 
 
 There are various religious orders who live solely by 
 begging alms ; such as the Capuchins, the Observan- 
 tines, the Barefooted Carmelites, the Augustinians, and 
 others, who, though originally mendicants, scarcely 
 retain any trace of their profession, beyond the mere 
 name and the pontifical privilege attached to it. Francis 
 intended his disciples to live by the labor of their hands, 
 and only to implore the aids of charity when they 
 found themselves unable to earn what w^as necessary 
 for their subsistence. The Pope and the theologians 
 declared, that the only labor which had been ordained 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 73 
 
 for them was entirely spiritual ; while the Council of 
 Trent, departing from the strictness of their rule, gave 
 them power, like the rest of the mendicant orders, the 
 Capuchins and Observantines only excepted, to acquire 
 and possess property. The income of those monks 
 must be exactly ascertained, by calculating the product 
 arising from their masses, the charities which they re- 
 ceive, and the profit accruing from the direction of the 
 convents. When that has been done, their numbers 
 must be restrained, and every species of begging, espe- 
 cially in the country, forbidden, as well as all the pious 
 frauds which they employ in the churches for making 
 money ; such as enrolment in the third order, devotion 
 to the name of Jesus, to Anthony, &c. 
 
 Wherever the existing revenues are found insufficieni 
 to maintain such a number of those parasitical plants 
 as it may have been deemed necessary to support, not- 
 withstanding the progress of civilization, Rucellai ad- 
 vised the Government to make up the deficiency by 
 means of pensions. Society will thus purchase, says 
 he, by the sacrifice of a small sum of money, a deliver- 
 ance from the dangerous influence, both in a moral 
 and political point of view, to whch the scandalous 
 beggary of the clergy subjects it. Besides, by giving 
 them a pension, the Government will acquire an au- 
 thority over them, which it never could have obtained 
 in any other way, and will have the power to diminish 
 their numbers as it may deem proper, by diminishing 
 their salaries." 
 
74 SECRETS OF 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Examination of Ricci before Pius VI. — Ricci in his Dioccss. — Disorderg 
 of the Dominicans. — Disputes of Ricci with the Dominicans on th 
 subject of their Convents. — Contests with the Ex- Jesuits. — Superstition 
 of the Sacred Heart. — Difl'erent attempts at Reform. 
 
 rg 1 
 
 Ricci underwent the customary examination of a 
 bishop before Pius VI. The ceremony appears to 
 have been very disagreeable to him, for he afterwards 
 repeatedly complained of its humiliating nature, and 
 of the conduct of the Court of Rome in insisting on 
 this and similar things, to bring the bishops more com- 
 pletely under its authority. In this examination the 
 tjandidates for episcopal orders are obliged to be on 
 their knees, in the midst of a numerous assembly, 
 presided over by the Pope, while the examining 
 prelates, chosen from the regular priests, ques- 
 tion them. Ricci says : "Whoever knows the formal- 
 ities, knows that the examiners communicate the 
 questions beforehand, and even tell them from what 
 author they wish the answers to be taken ; because 
 they have no less fear of being themselves embarrass- 
 ed, and making a sorry appearance before the assem- 
 bly, than the examined can have ; who, if he blunder 
 a little, is always sure of being excused." The cere 
 mony of his consecration, as Bishop of Pistoia and 
 Prato, took place on the 24th of Jane, 1780. 
 
 Prato had formerly been divided from Pistoia. "At 
 the commencement of the seventeenth century," says 
 Ricci, " during the discussions on the dismemberment 
 of the diocese of Pistoia, the city of Prato was scarce- 
 ly recovered from the frightful pillage which it had 
 suifered, Avhen it was taken by the sokiiers led by the 
 Cardinal John de Medici, afterwards Leo X., against 
 his country, the Republic of Florence, This Cardi- 
 nal, who was as bad a citizen as he was a cruel in- 
 strument of the projects of Julius 11. whom he served 
 as legate, placed himself, it is said, at a short distance 
 from the city, whilst the soldiers assaulted it. He 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 75 
 
 there ran great risk of being- killed by a shot from a 
 culverin, which struck the window, from which, Uke 
 another Nero, he enjoyed the frightful spectacle. 
 Even in my time they exhibited to the curious, in the 
 convent of Anne, near Prato, both the window and a 
 part of the wall broken by the shot. They show also, 
 in the middle of the court of the ancient house of the 
 Provosts, Avhich I afterwards used as my episcopal re- 
 sidence, a lar^e well, now filled up, which is recorded 
 to have swallowed up about six hundred innocent vic- 
 tims to the fury of the soldiers, as well women as 
 children and old men, which the sanctity of the 
 church, in which they had taken refuge, could not 
 save from the massacre. Their bodies, dragged away 
 from the precincts of the temple, had been heaped to- 
 gether, like the flesh of the shambles, and were thrown 
 into this horrible grave, till it became necessary has- 
 tily to clear the place of so many carcasses, when 
 the victor Cardinal was about to make his triumphant 
 entry. That prince of the church, by a rare act of 
 generosity, granted his pardon to a small number of 
 unhappy wretches, who remained alive after that fear- 
 ful catastrophe." 
 
 Ricci had not yet gone to Pistoia, when he learned 
 that a canon of that city had been imprisoned for 
 robbery ; and before leavins^ Florence, he obtained an 
 order from the Grand Duke, that the culprit should 
 be shut up in his convent to do penance there. By 
 this means he avoided a proceeding which would 
 have been scandalous to the clergy. 
 
 His first care, on arriving at Pistoia, was to employ 
 all the means in his power to reform the Dominican 
 nuns of the convent of Lucia. Before his time, the 
 Bishop Alamanni had been obliged, in 1764, to take 
 the spiritual management of the convents of Cathe- 
 rine and Lucia at Pistoia into his own hands, on ac- 
 count of the disorders reisfning in them. He had re- 
 ceived the express order of his Government to do so, 
 and had obtained the consent of th6 uoUege of Cardi- 
 nalsj the See of Rome being at that time vacant. He 
 
76 SECRETS OF 
 
 deemed it necessary, at the same time, to remove from 
 the convent the Dominican monks, who had been 
 their former directors. The nnns of Lucia were so 
 mnch aifected by this unexpected attack, that he never 
 could succeed in reducing- them to obedience. After 
 his death, the Bishop Ippohti, for four entire years la- 
 bored in vain for the accomphshment of the same ob- 
 ject. These unhappy victims of monachal seduction 
 obstinately refused to listen to the authority of their 
 pastor ; and some of them preferred giving up the 
 sacraments altogether, to receiving them from the 
 hands of the secular or regular clergy, whom the 
 Bishop had marked out to administer, after the Prince 
 had prohibited the Dominicans from approaching 
 them. There was among them a novice who never 
 would make her vows before the Bishop, because she 
 would not promise obedience to any one but the Gen- 
 eral of the Dominicans. 
 
 When Ricci complained at Rome of these disorders 
 to the Pope, and avowed his suspicions that the monks 
 alone were the cause of so much obstinacy on the 
 part of the nuns : " Can you doubt it ?" said Pius YI, ; 
 and immediately afterwards he uttered a violent sally 
 against the General of the Dominicans, whom he 
 painted as a troublesome and obstinate man. He 
 charged Ricci to assure the nuns, that it was his for- 
 mal intention to leave them, for the future, subject to 
 their bishop, and not to the friars ; and that they 
 should have no scruple, on account of the obedience 
 which they had promised to their General. 
 
 Fortified by this pontifical authority, the new Bish- 
 op gradually brought the Dominican nuns under his 
 jurisdiction ; made them accept a new confessor, and 
 even prevailed upon the novice to make her vows. He 
 confesses, however, that there was need of constant 
 vigilance to guard against the underhand intriguing 
 of the Dominican friars. 
 
 In Prato, he abridged their power, and made them 
 submit to his episcopal jurisdiction ; but the affront 
 which wounded them to the quick, was an order 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 77 
 
 which he issued, that no friar should go into a convent 
 of nuns, unless solely in case of necessity, and always 
 with surplice and stole, to administer the sacraments. 
 They used every effort to obtain the repeal of that 
 order. 
 
 The Jesuits, though abolished as a body, still kept 
 up their intrigues. With that zealous and pertinacious 
 sect Ricci had a violent dispute, on a superstitious ob- 
 servance, called, the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of 
 Jesus ! That order had always been very zealous in 
 the cause of candidates. Pope Clement XIII. had 
 supported them ; but Clement XIY. utterly destroyed 
 their plans. The Jesuits at Pistoia had sounded Ricci 
 on his inclinations with respect to this, their favorite 
 devotion, while he was at Rome. A man at Prato 
 had wished to establish an annual festival, to found a 
 perpetual mass, and to obtain indulgences in honor of 
 the Sacred Heart. Cardinal Rezzonico granted the 
 request, and sent a brief to that effect to Prato, whence 
 it was returned by the Pro-vicar to Ricci, who kept it 
 in his hands, without giving it currency. 
 
 The first abortive attempt was followed by a sec- 
 ond, after he had taken possession of his bishopric. 
 In April, 1781, he was at Prato on occasion of the 
 soletnn benediction of several hells destined for the ca- 
 thedral of that city. When he came into the church, 
 and at the very moment of commencing the office pre- 
 scribed for that superstitious ceremony, he was warned 
 that it was intended to deceive him ; but there was no 
 time to inform him in what the snare laid against him 
 consisted. Accustomed to the intrigues of priests, he 
 promised that he would not let himself be surprised; 
 and suspecting that some fraud lurked under the re- 
 quest that he should baptize the largest of the bells in 
 honor of Jesus Christ, he refused to do it. The pre- 
 text he alleged was, that as all bells were dedicated to 
 God, there was no need of a particular ceremony for 
 that, and he gave the bell the name of Stephen, the 
 patron of the town. When the office was concluded, 
 he went to admire the workmanship of the new bells, 
 
78 SECRETS OF 
 
 in order to have time to examine them ; and he dis- 
 covered under the garland of flowers with which the 
 principal bell was rather covered, than ornamented, 
 the inscription In honorem &'S. Cordis Jesu. At the 
 sight of this he conld not contain his indignation ; he 
 caused the inscription to be effaced, and complained 
 of it to the Grand Duke. For this recourse to ttie 
 civil power, Ricci was bitterly blamed by his enemies, 
 and those of social order. 
 
 That devotion to the Sacred Heart caused Ricci still 
 farther trouble. Salvi, a man deeply imbued with the 
 spirit of the suppressed order, exposed throughout Pra- 
 to, his native place, where he was Prior of the church 
 of Notre Dame, pictures of the Sacred Heart, which he 
 surrounded with rich ornaments, calculated to keep up 
 the superstition of the people. He added indulgences, 
 obtained from Pius VI. in favor of this new devotion, 
 although it had not been previously verified and recog- 
 nised for authentic by the Bishop, as the Council of 
 Trent requires. Finally, he openly supported a frater- 
 nity illegally formed and introduced into Tuscany, in 
 honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 
 
 " Every body knows," says Ricci, " and fatal expe- 
 rience has too fully proved it during the troubles which 
 still agitate Europe, how many machinations the Je- 
 suits set on foot, under the protection of Pius VI. to re- 
 es-tablish their society. They imagined that this doc- 
 trine of the Sacred Heart would be the most proper 
 centre and point of union for all who should labor to 
 that end ; with this view, they neglected no means, no 
 artifice, to promote and establish this worship. The 
 Popes before Clement XIII. had generally opposed it on 
 religious grounds. After the suppression of the Jesuits, 
 this superstition made little progress, on account of the 
 vigilance and firmness of Clement XIV.; and in all 
 probability, had that pontiff lived longer,* it would have 
 been buried with the suppressed order. ''' But God," 
 
 * Thn historian of the Life of Ricci here inserts a note which has for 
 its ol)ject to prove the authenticity of the letters of Ganganelli. The 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS, 79 
 
 says Ricci, " wished to try his church, in order to pu- 
 rify it and has permitted that this devotion of the Sa- 
 cred Heart should revive in all its force under Pius VI. 
 who scattered indulo:ences in handfuls on the Cordi- 
 coles : the worshippers of the Sacred Heart." 
 
 Salvi was their apostle at Prato. He was cited to 
 Florence by the Senator Bartolini, to answer for his 
 conduct, but that cunning Jesuit seduced this magis- 
 trate from his duty, and Leopold had to reprimand him, 
 and order him to apologise to Ricci for his conduct. 
 The Bishop treated him on this occasion with the great- 
 est attention, but could not win the obstinate heart of 
 the Jesuit. 
 
 The city of Prato was entirely under the influence 
 of the monks. The Jesuits and the Dominicans exer- 
 cised there the most absolute power, the former direct- 
 ing the education of the youth of all the principal fa- 
 milies of the neighborhood, and the latter managing 
 the female convents. The Bishop was considered as 
 little more than the chief personage of the place ; his 
 spiritual authority was nothing. In this situation of 
 things, Ricci, jealous of his power, and especially so 
 when religion and morality demanded its rigorous ex- 
 ertion, could hardly remain long without a dispute 
 with the monks. Their first difference originated in the 
 nomination of a Dominican confessor and preacher, in 
 which dispute Ricci saw himself overcome by the want 
 
 Abbe de Belgarde tbus expresses himself on this curious point of literary 
 history, in two letters to Ricci, written in 1 776 ; 
 
 "Have you seen the letters of Ganganelli ? there are a orood number 
 of them addressed to the late iNlessieurs Lauri and Cerati. You and M. 
 Martini ought to have read them. You are, of course, aware that there 
 are some persons who throw doubt upon the authenticity of these letters ; 
 some through passion and interest, as the ex- Jesuits and infidels ; and 
 others through a fastidious spirit of criticism. For myself, I have not the 
 slightest doubt on the subject. Independent of the evidence derived from 
 the work itself, 1 have seen in the original, the letters of many persons of 
 authority in Rome, of which transcripts had been furnished, which, in 
 other points too, prove the truth of this publication." In another letter, 
 the Abbe de Belgarde adds, " I have the satisfaction of knowing, that 
 persons who have the best means of judging, particularly the Cardinal 
 de Berni, regard the letters of Clement XIV. as authentic." 
 
80 SECRETS OF 
 
 of discretion in the Vicar-general, who took part with 
 his opponents. 
 
 For a century and half previous to this^ the total 
 corruption of the Dominican order had been a matter 
 of scandal throughout Tuscany. The spiritual direc- 
 tion which those monks had of the female convents 
 had degenerated into the basest profligacy. A peti- 
 tion, dated 1642, still exists, in which the Gonfalonier 
 of that period, and other representatives of the people 
 of Pistoia, address the reigning Duke, praying for a 
 reformation in the convents of the Dominicans of Lu- 
 cia and Catherine. Ferdinand, however, did nothing, 
 and the honor was reserved for Leopold. 
 
 Two nuns of the convent of Catherine of Pistoia, 
 who had exposed the execrable principles and doctrines 
 of the Dominican monks, their directors, gave rise to 
 his wise reforms. They proved how much the profit 
 which the monks, and above all, the Provincial and 
 the Confessor drew from their convent, as well as from 
 others, hurt the temporal interests of those religious 
 houses, and were gradually ruining them. They gave 
 equally strong proofs of the spiritual ruin produced by 
 the familiarity of the monks with the nuns, and the 
 easy communication which they had with them. They 
 ate and drank with their favorite sisters, remained 
 alone with them in their cells whenever they chose, 
 and whenever they could find a pretext, slept during 
 the niofht in the cloister. Lonof habit had in fact so ac- 
 customed them to the greatest license, that scarcely any 
 respect for public decency remained. We here insert 
 the declaration of the nuns of Catherine of Pistoia, 
 which was presented to the Grand Duke Leopold in the 
 year 1775. 
 
 " Instead of allowing us to remain in our simplicity, 
 and protecting our innocence, they teach us, both by 
 word and action, all kinds of indecencies. They fre- 
 quently come to the vestry, of which they have almost 
 all the keys ; and as there is a grate there, they com- 
 mit a thousand indecorous acts. 
 
 " If they get an opportunity of coming into the con- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. SI 
 
 vent under any feigned pretext, they go and stay alone 
 in the chambers of those who are devoted to them. 
 They are all of the same stamp ; and they are not 
 ashamed to take advantage of the circumstance of the 
 visitation for those purposes. They utter the worst 
 expressions, saying that we should look upon it as a 
 great happiness that we have the power of satisfying 
 our appetites without being exposed to the annoyance 
 of children. They say that when this life is ended, all 
 is ended : and they add that even Paul, who wrought 
 with his own hands, should teach us ; and that we 
 should not hesitate to take our pleasures. 
 
 •' They allow every kind of indecency to go on in 
 the parlour. Though often warned by us, they do not 
 break off the dangerous intimacies that are formed ; 
 and hence it has often occurred, that men who have 
 contrived to get the keys have come into the convent 
 during the night, which they have spent in the most 
 dissipated manner. They also sutler the nuns to ne- 
 glect the sacraments : they never think of introducing 
 the practice of mental prayer, and they preach nothing 
 but the pleasures of this life. The sisters who live ac- 
 cording to their maxims are extolled by them and in- 
 dulged in every extravagance ; and the others must 
 either go with the stream, heedless of conscience, or 
 live in a state of perpetual warfare, as is actually the 
 case with us now. 
 
 " This is the real truth. We the undersigned attest 
 it, without passion, and on our conscience. 
 
 '' Anna Teresa Merlin i, Madre di Consiglio. 
 
 "Rosa Peraccini, Madre di Consiglio. 
 
 " Flavia Peraccini, Madre di Consiglio. 
 
 " Gaetana Poggiali. 
 
 " Candida. Gioconda Botti. 
 
 " Maria, Clotilda Bambi." 
 The intercourse of the monks and nuns, according 
 to Ricci, was arrived to such a pitch of infamous licen- 
 tiousness, that topics of the most disgusting nature 
 formed the usual subject of their conversation ; while 
 the greater part of the sisters deprived themselves of 
 
S2 SECRETS OF 
 
 their money and every thing else to satisfy the rapacity 
 of their lovers, performed for them the most servile of- 
 fices, and even sometimes went by the name of their 
 wives. A person who had been in the service of the 
 Dominicans, told the Bishop many other things of a 
 still worse kind, and that his principal employment had 
 been that of a confidential messenger in their love-in- 
 trigues. Leopold, already well informed of this con- 
 dition of the convents, to obtain still farther information, 
 had the fahriciens of the establishment examined, and 
 found every thing he had before heard confirmed. He 
 next had all the nuns themselves examined by the Lieu- 
 tenant of Police ; and seeing the necessity of some 
 prompt and vigorous measure, appointed Bishop Ala- 
 manni to take Avithout delay the spiritual superintend- 
 ence of all the Dominican convents of Pistoia, and pro- 
 hibited the Dominican monks, on pain of imprison- 
 ment, from approaching them. While Ricci was Vicar 
 of the Archbishop of Florence, it was reported to him 
 that in a convent of that diocese where the nuns all 
 slept in a common dormitory, the two last beds were 
 for the father confessor and his lay brother, that they 
 might have them in case of being called to assist any 
 sick sister during the night. 
 
 Alamanni resided at Florence, but, though at a dis- 
 tance from his diocese and eighty years old, he ren- 
 dered an exact account of every thing which occurred, 
 and gave minute directions on every occasion of diffi- 
 culty or doubt. Neither his gentleness, however, nor 
 his kind feelings for the nuns, could overcome their 
 pride and obstinacy. They constantly refused to re- 
 gard him as their superior, or to show the least confi- 
 dence in the confessors he appointed. They asserted 
 that, by acting in a contrary manner, they should have 
 incurred the excommunication of Pius V. ; and the 
 dread of this was so strong with many, that one who 
 was dangerously ill at Lucia, never requested the sa- 
 craments. With some, this was the eftect of igno- 
 rance ; but in many, it arose from vicious passions and 
 the desire of their safe indulgence. The monks, the 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 83 
 
 nuns, and even the Cardinal-protector of the order, 
 omitted no opportunity of assuring them, either by let- 
 ters or secret emissaries, that if they continued firm, 
 the tempest which menaced them would in a little time 
 gradually be dispersed. By this means the nuns were 
 confirmed in their obstinate resistance, in which they 
 persevered. 
 
 A short time after the death of Clement XIV. in 
 1774, Alamanni addressed the Court of Rome to obtain 
 the power and means for reducing the Dominicans of 
 Pistoia under his authority. The Cardinals, assembled 
 in conclave, granted his request, and confided to him 
 a conmiission for governing the convents of Lucia and 
 Catherine, and requested him to communicate such 
 farther information as might be useful to the future 
 Pope. He satisfied their demand, and added to the de- 
 tails already given, a lively picture of the abuse of au- 
 thority of which both the priors and confessors in the 
 convent of Pistoia were guilty. 
 
 The nuns, says Alamanni, nearly all declare the same 
 thing respecting the dissoluteness and libertinism of 
 their directors, of their materialism in doctrine, and the 
 brutality of their sentiments ; and that he had in a great 
 degree a personal experience of the truth of these as- 
 sertions, as he had been charged with their spiritual 
 administration. 
 
 In the mean time the disorders increased at Lucia. 
 The nuns uniformly united in opposing the Bishop, in 
 refusing the sacraments, and remaining without a su- 
 perior ; since, after the death of the one who had go- 
 verned them according to the direction of the Domi- 
 nicans, they were determined to elect no other without 
 their co-operation. They believed, or pretended to be- 
 lieve, that the provisionary power given by the Cardi • 
 dinals to their Bishop to replace the monks, was either 
 supposititious or insufficient. At Catherine, the demon 
 of discord reigned without restraint. Those who had 
 been reclaimed were regarded as guilty of apostacy, as 
 schismatics, and excommunicated" The party opposed 
 to them was, although less numerous, the most turbu- 
 
84 SECRETS OF 
 
 lent and determined. The threats of poisoning- or stran- 
 ghng the complainants were nearly every day renewed, 
 and no authority availed to suhdue the pride of those 
 miserahly depraved nuns. The actual condition of 
 those persons appears from the report which the three 
 churchwardens signed and presented to Leopold, and 
 from a letter of one of the nuns to the Rector Camporini. 
 
 " The Prior and the Confessor take the liberty of 
 going, whenever they please, into the vestry to con- 
 verse with their favorites ; whereas, according to the 
 tenor of the Bull, they should not even communicate 
 with them ad loquendum honum : they have parties 
 of pleasure there, and eat with the nuns. One time, 
 on Easter day, the other nuns going in a body to divert 
 themselves there, surprised two other monks along 
 with them, each passing his time with his favorite 
 nun. 
 
 " The said Prior and Confessor, when they come 
 into the convent to visit the sick, do not go to them 
 recto tramite, as the Bulls direct, but wherever they 
 please, and even alone with the nuns into their cells, 
 and they walk together in the garden. 
 
 " If they are attending on any nuns that are dying, 
 they eat and sleep in the monastery, which is pro- 
 hibited, and they eat with whom they please, even 
 with the sextonesses. 
 
 These irregularities are imputed not only to the 
 Prior and Confessor, but to all those destined from time 
 to time for these employments, who are guilty of con- 
 stant ill conduct. 
 
 In a letter of Flavia Peraccini to Comparini, written 
 August, 1775, she thus expresses herself: 
 
 "I learned yesterday morning that the fratesses^ 
 monkesses, had a letter last Friday from the Cardinal 
 Protector of the order, in which he desires them 
 to beseech the Lord to give them patience ; that he 
 would do all in his power for them, but that they 
 should not be in a hurry, for the aifair would be 
 tedious. At all events, both they and the monks keep 
 up their hopes, and make every effort to prevent any 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. S5 
 
 change. No one can have any idea of the extent of the 
 intrigues of the monks ; and the devices to which they 
 have recourse to secure themselves, are astonishing. 
 
 " Every time I think of the plan of the Provincial 
 to make us all communicate, and then to make us all 
 sign a declaration that we attended the sacraments, 
 and that every thing was done in good order, and thus 
 make liars of us, I am perfectly unable to restrain my 
 astonishment." 
 
 The reader is now well acquainted with the Domi- 
 nican nuns and the monks their seducers. It would 
 be useless to make any observation on the interest 
 Avhich one of the princes of the church testified so openly 
 for them, as well as the high protection which he 
 promised them to aid them in resuming, as soon as 
 possible, their claustral amours, and returning to their 
 libertine habits, against the will of their Prince and 
 their Bishop ; of those who were charged, as they say, 
 hy divine rights to oblige them to live in a way the 
 most useless or .most innocitons to society. 
 
 Some letters of the nuns of Catherine of Pistoia, prove 
 how far the immodesty of the refractory nuns, and of 
 the monks their paramours, went. The former openly 
 threatened the lives of such of the sisters as had ven- 
 tured to reveal that tissue of debauchery, and to call 
 on the Government to re-establish order and good 
 morals. 
 
 In May, 1775, Marianna Santini, Prioress of Cathe- 
 rine, wrote to her diocesan, Alamanni, to say that she 
 and her sisters submitted themselves to him uncondi- 
 tionally, and promised every thing that he required of 
 them, '• except a change of sentiment, as we are deter- 
 mined to die rather than live out of our holy order. 
 The greater part of my nuns are determined to go into 
 some other monastery of the order, and there is no 
 other course to adopt. — Ours is a single will, most 
 free and resolute, which will always make us adhere 
 immutably to what we freely choose in the act of our 
 solemn profession.-' 
 
 The complainants presented a petition to the Vicar 
 8 
 
SECRETS OF 
 
 of Bishop Alamanni, praying that he would dehver 
 them from their turbulent companions. 
 
 "The poor nuns of Catherine of Pistoia salute the 
 Vicar, and entreat him, by the bowels of Jesus Christ, 
 to remove five nuns and two converses, lay sisters, 
 who oppose the resolutions formed by his Koyal 
 Highness ; otherwise there will result great mischief. 
 They never cease to ill-treat the complainants by 
 words, and they threaten to come to acts. We conceal 
 ourselves through fear. Complainants know not what 
 to do, whether they should quit the convent to save 
 their lives. They pray you to adopt some measures 
 before evening, or, as they have said, they will go out, 
 ifec. — Anna Teresa Merlini — Rosa Peraccini— Maria 
 Caterina Rossi — Candida Botti — Anna Luisa Saccardi 
 — Gaetana Poggiali." 
 
 June, 1775, they wrote to the Bishop Alamani him- 
 self: 
 
 " You must be already acquainted with the treat- 
 ment that we experienced yesterday from Mother 
 Ganucci, that is, her calling one of us a fool, because 
 a sigh escaped her at dinner, in so loud a voice as to 
 be heard at a great distance. She then, after dinner, 
 called us jades and audacious wretches, and threatened 
 to have us put to death. La Biagiola and La Campioni 
 are always planning to do us jnichief, and to poison us. 
 We who know the sort of persons they are, and their 
 little fear of God, live in terror all day and night. — 
 They laughed at the communications made by you ; 
 and said quite loud in the garden — pardon us, and do 
 not impute it to want of respect — that you were a 
 knave and a dolt, that wanted to play the braggadocio, 
 because you knew your power would soon be at an 
 end, (fee. Yesterday morning they read a book at the 
 table, in which it is said, that the Emperor Charles IV. 
 exempted the monks from the power of princes, and 
 that they are only subject to the Empire, and in spirit- 
 uals immediately to the Pope." 
 
 Maria Caterina Rossi, when calling for a new prior- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 87 
 
 ess for the convent of Catherine, thus expressed herself 
 on the subject of the refractory nuns : 
 
 " Suffice it to say, that even in places requiring 
 silence, they presume to bawl out at the bottom of the 
 doors, even during the hours of repose ; and say that 
 we put ourselves in the hands of the Devil, when we 
 put ourselves in those of the priests ; and, finally, 
 threaten to strangle us." 
 
 Anna Merlini wrote to the Bishop : 
 
 " The monks, as well as the nuns, have obtained 
 what they desired ; they wished for the ruin of the 
 monastery, and they will see it. As soon as possession 
 was taken by the Vicar, the Provincial went to Flor- 
 ence, and the Prior to Rome ; for if they could do 
 nothing else, they would succeed in having us dis- 
 placed, and that the Confessor himself said to more 
 than one of us. They commenced a suit at Florence, 
 and at Rome. The lay-brother belonging to the last 
 Provincial remained here to give all the news to the 
 nuns, and to extract from them every thing they knew, 
 to communicate it to his superiors." 
 
 Alamanni in vain addressed the Court of Rome ; 
 in vain did he call for aid, and paint in the liveliest 
 colors his affliction at finding his power altogether in- 
 sufficient for the difficulties of the times. He obtained 
 not even an answer. 
 
 In June, 1775, he wrote to the Congregation of 
 Bishops and Regulars ; and in July, to Cardinal Ca- 
 raffa ; but the same silence continued. In the mean- 
 while, the nuns laughed at the menaces, as well as the 
 exhortations of their pastor. Alamanni wrote again, 
 in September, to Cardinal Torrigiani, his old friend. 
 He told him all the anxiety of his mind, and how much 
 he suffered in seeing himself so deserted ; but the only 
 consolation he received from Torrigiani was an assur- 
 ance, that he pitied his situation, and that he would 
 do all in his power to bring the subject again into con- 
 sideration. " It is not," says Ricci, " that Alamanni 
 knew not in what manner, or to what extent he might 
 use his authority ; but he was not willing to hurt the 
 
8S SECRETS OF 
 
 prejudices either of his flock, which was favorable to 
 Rome, or of the nobles of Pistoia, the daughters of 
 whom peopled the two refractory convents. Nor was 
 he willing to embroil himself in a quarrel with the See 
 of Rome. He communicated to the Grand Duke the 
 motives for this restraint; and the latter, who loved him 
 ardently, assured him that he had no personal reason 
 to fear either the intrigues of the monks, or the snares 
 of the Nuncio. Finding that the Cardinal Torrigiani 
 obtained nothing from the Congregation of Bishops, 
 Alamanni prayed him to address Pius YI. himself. 
 Torrigiani did so, and the month following he returned 
 Alamanni an account of the Pope's reply. " The Holy 
 Father," he said, "was not willing, in any way, to ap- 
 prove of the innovations illegally introduced into the 
 two convents ; and especially the design of the Tuscan 
 Government to take away the direction of the convents 
 from all the regular orders, the abuse of which the 
 Pope declared he believed to be dictated by calumny." 
 The Bishop of Pistoia died in the same month. 
 
 Ippoliti, his successor, the compatriot of the refrac- 
 tory nuns, and the relation even of many of them, 
 hoped to overcome them by patience and kindness ; 
 but he was no more successful than Alamanni. He 
 succeeded also as little in obtaining any assistance 
 from the Congregation of Bishops ; till at length the 
 disorders increased to such a height, that Leopold 
 himself interposed his authority. Intending to pursue 
 more general measures, in the hope that they would 
 be more efficacious, he addressed a circular to the 
 Tuscan bishops, desiring them to demand of the See 
 of Rome the removal of the convents from the direction 
 of the monks, and their submission to the spiritual 
 government of the ordinaries. This measure had been 
 constantly desired from the time of Cosmo I., and the 
 Grand Duke conceived the project of effecting it. The 
 circulars were sent in 1776. The bishops who receiv- 
 ed them, were not ignorant of the excesses which the 
 Prince wished to extirpate. They knew also that the 
 direction of the convents by the monks, was in direct 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 89 
 
 opposition to all the reforms which he intended to in- 
 troduce for the good of rehgion throughout the States ; 
 and they had^ consequently, no excuse for resisting his 
 orders. But the Avocat Fei, the charge-d'affaires for 
 Tuscany, was not a fit negotiator in such a business. 
 Of narrow views, blindly attached to the Court of Rome, 
 and the devoted friend and admirer of P. Mamachi, he 
 permitted himself to be blinded by the pontifical govern- 
 ment. Although, therefore, he pretended to assist the 
 reform, he rendered his concessions of no avail, by the 
 conditions with which it was burdened, namely, that 
 every Tuscan bishop should give an account of the 
 convents, the spiritual direction of which was in his 
 hands, in order that a proof might thus be afforded of 
 the necessity of the transfer. This was the true method 
 to carry on the disputes without end. The Bishop 
 Ippoliti imagined that nothing should prevent the 
 renewal of his complaints, or his demands to have all 
 the convents committed to his power. But he soon 
 discovered his mistake : the Court of Rome grants 
 every thing to submission, and by favor ; nothing to 
 justice, to right and demand. Ippoliti receii^ed, in 
 January, 1777, a letter from the Pope, in which he 
 not only refused what the prelate had requested, but 
 heaped reproaches upon him for having recalled an 
 affair to the recollection of his Holiness, which he 
 hoped had been forgotten since the death of Alamanni. 
 The Bishop is, moreover, especially rebuked with hav- 
 ing contributed to the execution of the plan of the 
 Grand Duke to take the direction of the convents from 
 the hands of the regulars, a plan, it is said, opposed to 
 the canons, and hurtful to rehgion and the monastic 
 orders. The only attempt at softening the refusal of 
 this, and Leopold's request, was the putting of a few 
 neglected and altogether vicious convents into the 
 hands of some Tuscan bishops. 
 
 Ippoliti had another ray of hope ; but he had too 
 much good sense to be a favorite with the See of Rome, 
 and the only concessions he could obtain, was a per- 
 mission to transfer the refractory nuns of Catherine to 
 
 8* 
 
90 SECRETS OF 
 
 the convent of Clement of Prato, which was under the 
 direction of the Dominicans, and where they were re- 
 ceived in triumph. 
 
 Still s^reater disorders than those which had been 
 supposed to exist at Pistoia, were soon discovered at 
 Prato. Ricci had his attention directed towards the 
 latter by the disgraceful incontinency of two of the 
 nuns. All the evil which existed was attributable to 
 the Dominican monks. For many years, says the 
 Bishop, those women lived, plunged in the most infa- 
 mous debauchery. The name of the one was Catherine 
 Irene Buonamici, sprung from a noble family in Prato, 
 aged fifty years ; the other, Clodesin de Spighi, of 
 equally noble descent, aged thirty-eight years. Every 
 means had been employed by the Dominicans to pre- 
 vent any of the circumstances from transpiring. When 
 Ricci, however, received the government of the diocese, 
 and Vincent Majocchi was appointed confessor to the 
 convent of Catherine, the dreadful situation of its mem- 
 bers became exposed to public notice. At the feast of 
 Pentecost, Majocchi, more scrupulous than his prede- 
 cessors, refused those two nuns absolution. In an in- 
 stant the affair became known abroad. The Yicar of 
 Prato, Lorenzo Palli, was informed of it, and Ricci 
 himself hearing it reported, sent to obtain the details 
 from the Yicar. The latter answered, that the nuns 
 believed neither the sacraments of the church, nor 
 the eternity of another life ; that they denied certain 
 criminal actions to be sins, and especially those of the 
 flesh. Not content with what he had done, Majocchi 
 went himself to Pistoia, to give the Bishop, and the 
 Penitencier of the cathedral, who was the uncle of 
 Spighi, an account of what had passed ; but so op- 
 pressed was he with the difficulties which presented 
 themselves to a reform, that, notwithstanding the re- 
 monstrances of Ricci, he resigned his office. 
 
 Ricci wished to do nothing in this affair without the 
 concurrence of the Dominicans themselves ; but the 
 rudeness and obstinacy with which they replied to his 
 overture, are almost past belief The Bishop, however. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 91 
 
 had to congratulate himself afterwards that no com- 
 promise took place, and that he was left to pursue his 
 reformation to the utmost. The Grand Duke, having 
 been informed by him of what had occurred, began by- 
 giving the most severe orders that no communication 
 should take place between the convent of Catherine 
 and the Dominican monks. He also collected what- 
 ever documents might tend to prove the complicated 
 baseness of the Dominicans, and that also of the Domi- 
 nicans at Pistoia in 1774, and which might enable him 
 to examine the affair in all its ramifications. He sub- 
 mitted the measures which had been taken, two years 
 after, 1776, to the Court of Rome, to obtain for the 
 bishops the direction of the convents, but which mea- 
 sures the intrigues of the Dominicans at Rome totally 
 destroyed. 
 
 Tlie monks perceived the danger of their situation, 
 and could discover no other method of lessening it, 
 than that of exciting the people in their favor against 
 the Government. For this purpose they prepared a 
 nun of the convent of Vincent, at Pistoia, and obliged 
 her to feign an ecstacy before the shrine which contains 
 the body of St. Catherine. When this was done, a 
 report was spread that the city was menaced, by this 
 celestial sign, with some dreadful scourge. Instantly 
 the church of the RecoUets was filled with Vv^omen, 
 thinking the world was at an end, and demanding con- 
 fession ; nor was the tumult appeased till it was said 
 that the misfortune only threatened the children of 
 Saint Dominic. 
 
 The disorders discovered at Prato were only the 
 sequel of those which the Government had rooted out 
 of the convents of Pistoia. In two letters of Flavia 
 Peraccini, Prioress of Catherine of Pistoia, to Compa- 
 rini, rector of the episcopal seminary in the same city: 
 the nun relates what passed before her eyes in her own 
 convent, what had passed there before she wrote, and 
 what still continued to take place in other convents, 
 particularly at Prato. 
 
 " It would require both time and memory to recollect 
 
92 SECRETS OP 
 
 what has occurred during the twenty-four years that 
 1 have had to do with monks, and all that I have heard 
 tell of them. Of those who are gone to the other world 
 I shall say nothing ; of those who are still alive, and 
 \have little decency of conduct, there are very many, 
 among whom there is an ex-provincial named Ballendi ; 
 then Donati, Pacini, Buzzaccherini, Calvi, Zoratti. Big- 
 liacci, Guidi, Miglietti, Verde, Bianchi, Ducci, Serafini, 
 Bolla, Nera di Lucca, Quaretti. With the exception 
 of three or four, all that I ever knew, alive or dead, 
 are of the same character ; they have all the same 
 maxims and the same conduct. They are on more 
 intimate terms with the nuns than if they were married 
 to them. 
 
 " It is the custom now, that, when they come to 
 visit any sick sister, they sup with the nuns, they sing, 
 dance, play, and sleep in the conv^ent. It is a maxim 
 of theirs, that God has forbidden hatred, but not love ; 
 and that the man is made for the woman, and the 
 woman for the man. They teach us to amuse our- 
 selves, saying, that Paul said the same, who wrought 
 with his own hands. They deceive the innocent, and 
 even those tliat are most circumspect ; and it would 
 need a miracle to converse with them and not to fall. 
 
 " The priests are the husbands of the nuns, and the 
 lay-brothers of the lay-sisters. In the chamber of one 
 of those I have mentioned, a man was one day found ; 
 he fled, but very soon after they gave him to us as 
 confessor extraordinary. How many bishops are there 
 in the Papal States who have come to the knowledge 
 of some disorder, have held examinations and visita- 
 tions, and yet could never remedy it ; because the 
 monks tell us that those are excommunicated who 
 reveal what passes in the order ! ' Poor creatures ! said 
 I to an English provincial, they think they are leav- 
 ing the world to escape danger, and they only meet 
 with greater. Our fathers and mothers have given us 
 a good education, and here we learn the Ave Maria 
 backwards.' He knew not what reply to make to me. 
 God is my witness, I speak without passion. The 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 93 
 
 monks have never done any thing to me personally to 
 make me dislike them; but I will say that so iniqui- 
 tous a race as the monks no where exists. Bad as the 
 seculars are, they do not at all come up to them ; and 
 the art of the monks with the world and their superi- 
 ors baffled description. 
 
 " When they notify the death of a nun, they make 
 a panegyric on her in the circular letter, to show that 
 they know how to direct these poor graceless creatures ! 
 God only knows if they are not utterly lost. How ill 
 they are attended when on the bed of death ! That; 
 indeed, is carnaval-time. 
 
 " When they gave us the holy-water every year, 
 they threw every thing, even the beds, into disorder. 
 What a racket they used to make ! One time they 
 washed Father Manni's face, and dressed him like a 
 nun. In short, it was a perpetual scene of amuse- 
 ment : — comedies and conversation for ever. Every 
 monk who passed by on his way to the chapter they 
 found some means of showing into the convent, and 
 intreated a sick sister to confess herself Everlasting 
 scandal about husbands, — of those who had stolen the 
 mistress of such a one ; hovv^ others had avenged 
 themselves in the chapter ; and how they would not 
 have forgiven even in death. 
 
 " Do not suppose that this is the case in. our con- 
 vent alone. It is just the same at Lucia, at Prato, at 
 Pisa, at Perugia ; and I have heard things that would 
 astonish you. Every where it is the same, every 
 where the same disorders, every where the same abuses 
 prevail. Let the superiors suspect as they may, they 
 do not know even the smallest part of the enormous 
 wickedness that goes on between the monks and the 
 nuns." 
 
 The next day the Nun Peraccini, who had been 
 interrogated respecting Friar Buzzaccherini of Lucia, 
 replied by the following letter. These details had 
 been required of her because it was known that that 
 monk had been sent as confessor to the nuns of Vincent 
 of Pistoia, where it had been ascertained, the confes- 
 
94 SECRETS OF 
 
 sors were in the habit of stayinof every day till midnight, 
 to the knowledge of the whole town. 
 
 " With respect to Biizzaccherini, he acted just like 
 the rest, sitting up late, diverting himself, and letting 
 the usual disorders go on. There were several nuns 
 who had love affairs. His own mistress was Odaldi 
 of Lucia, who used to send him continual treats ; and 
 he was in love with the daughter of our factor, of 
 whom they were very jealous here. He too, like the 
 other monks, used to send us his dirty linen. He ruined 
 poor Cancellieri, who was sextoness, for he was always 
 asking something from her, and almost every morning 
 she had to dress him some nice dish. They are all 
 alike." 
 
 Some years ago the nuns of Vincent, in consequence 
 of the extraordinary passion they had for Father Lupi 
 and Father Borghigiani, were divided into two parties, 
 one calling themselves Le Lupe, the other Le Borg- 
 higiani. 
 
 He who made the greatest noise in Lucia was Donati, 
 but I believe he is now at Rome. Brandi too was also 
 in great vogue. He is now prior at Gemignano. 
 
 '' It is true, that the temporal is not oppressive, but 
 the nun who is always giving to the friar, how does 
 she observe her vow of poverty ? — At Vincent, which 
 passes for a sanctuary, they also have their lovers." 
 
 The direction of the female convents by the regu- 
 lars, usually produced corruption of morals. In a 
 letter written from Rome, October, 1781, by the Advo- 
 cate Zanobetti to Bishop Ricci, he hopes that it will 
 end with the general adoption of withdrawing the 
 nuns from the spiritual direction of the monks ; "espe- 
 cially in the states, where, some years ago, it was neces- 
 sary to raze from the foundations one of men be- 
 longing to the barefooted Carmelites, the other of 
 women of the same order, which were joined, and in 
 which, by means of subterranean passages, they led the 
 ordinary life of men and women." Zanobetti had been 
 five years employed in the office of assessor of the 
 Inquisition, and knew much more about monks and 
 nuns than the Bishop of Pistoia. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 95 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Examination of the Nuns of Prate. — Obstinacy of the Pope. — Ricci's visit 
 to LaMontagne. — Improvements in that district. — Reform of ecclesias- 
 tical studies. 
 
 The nuns of Lucia, in Pistoia, had voluntarily sub- 
 mitted themselves to their new pastor. Weariness, 
 ennni^ and principally their beino^ deprived of the sup- 
 port of the convent of Catherine, had induced them to 
 believe that no efforts they could make, would bring 
 back the monks. This was not the case at Prato. 
 The pride and madness of the Dominicans, opposed 
 to the firmness of the Prince and the Bishop, drove 
 things every day to greater extremity. The resorts of 
 cunning remained, and a monk attempted to employ 
 them. At tlie period when he was least expected, 
 Calvi, a Dominican, arrived at Prato, authorized by 
 an order from the Grand Duke to co-operate with 
 Ricci in the examination of the existino- abuses. He 
 had been warmly recommended to the Prince by Ser- 
 atti, his secretary ; who hoped, by this measure, to 
 moderate the zeal of Ricci. But Calvi spoiled all, by 
 acting his part improperly ; and Ricci, informed of his 
 conduct, inmiediately made Leopold acquainted with 
 his character, and had him recalled. 
 
 A Servite, named P. Baldi, had been commissioned 
 by Ricci to examine the nuns and boarders of the con- 
 vent of Catherine. During this affair, every one con- 
 nected in any way with the Dominicans, was in the 
 greatest agitation. "It is more easy to imagine, than 
 to describe the fury of the monks and tlieir adherents, 
 at Prato. Tumults and secret machinations were 
 formed, to free the accused nuns, and destroy every 
 proof of their guilt. These turbulent monks had also 
 a powerful assistant in the Papal Nuncio for Tus- 
 cany. He afforded them aid and protection, because 
 
96 SECRETS OF 
 
 he knew that their dishonor would fall on the Court of 
 Rome. He defended and prohibited the ex- Jesuits, 
 whom his court also supported, because it saw that ijf 
 it would continue to be a court, it must not allow these 
 vigorous satellites of its despotism to be crushed. 
 
 June, 1781, Ricci wrote to the minister Seratti : 
 
 '' The Dominicans are in motion ; the Nuncio does 
 not relax in his eiforts to save them. It is not at all 
 unlikely that he will endeavor to have the cause 
 brought before himself, under the pretext of having 
 received a special commission from his court, and in 
 the hope, that the affair going on tediously, according 
 to the usual policy of the Holy See, people will at last 
 get tired, and the matters remain in statu quo. 
 
 " They say at Rome, to defend the monks, that the 
 two nuns are mad ; but, up to the present hour, no one 
 has ever taken them for such. Besides, Buonamici 
 was prioress of her society ten or twelve years ago. 
 She and Spighi were, in 1775 or 1776, the one mistress, 
 the other second mistress of the novices. Finally, 
 they have been always admitted to partake of the 
 sacraments, and that alone is enough to condemn the 
 monks." 
 
 As protector of the licentiousness of the monks, the 
 Nuncio thought he might at least partake of their less 
 scandalous pleasures. In a letter of the Abbe de 
 Bellegarde, one of the heads of the Jansenists at 
 Utrecht, to the Bishop of Pistoia, March, 1782, he com- 
 plained of this unclerical conduct : " What a scandal," 
 replied the zealous Abbe, " to see monks at Florence 
 giving in their convents, comedies, masqued balls, (fee; 
 and to see the Nuncio of his Holiness present at them !" 
 
 But nothing could damp the courage or zeal of Ricci. 
 The examination was continued, and the report of it 
 was sent to Leopold, who commissioned his charge 
 d'affaires at the Court of Rome to bring the subject 
 before the Pope with all diligence. 
 
 The Grand Duke testified his impatience for a reply 
 to his demands, by sending a courier extraordinary, 
 who was not to quit Rome without an answer. The 
 
FExMALE CONVENTS. 
 
 97 
 
 result was expected as anxiously by many of the nuns, 
 as by Leopold ; and the examination into the abuses 
 of the convent of Clement was stopped, till it should 
 be known. In the mean time, fresh proofs were every 
 day sent to Ricci of the licentiousness of the monks 
 and nuns. The public places and the shops of Prato 
 resounded with reports of their excesses ; and there 
 was not a female who had been on an errand to the 
 convent, who had not some anecdote to tell of their 
 conduct. The boarders bore the same testimony to 
 the barefaced vices of the nuns ; and one mentioned 
 that she had seen a play of Goldoni's, "La Vedova 
 Scaltra,'' performed much better by the nuns of Cathe- 
 rine than at the theatre. The Confessor was the most 
 conspicuous of the spectators, and the performance 
 was followed by conduct not fit to be related. 
 
 Ricci had taken every precaution in his power to 
 stop the evil of this public scandal, but in vain ; and 
 he Avas obliged at last to have recourse to sending the 
 two accused nuns to Florence. This was the more 
 necessary, as the sisters had been seized with the spirit 
 of proselytism, and, having lost the opportunity of 
 spreading their opinions through the convent, they 
 made an effort to corrnpt the persons appointed to at- 
 tend them in their confinement. Before their depart- 
 ure from his diocese, Ricci had them again examined, 
 together with their companions, and made them sign 
 their confessions in a formal manner before the proper 
 legal authorities. What Vv^as most remarkable, was 
 this, that Buonamici, in making her deposition, kept 
 adding explanations of the most indelicate nature, to 
 develop the system of impiety and mysticism which 
 had led her into error. She and Spighi were sent to 
 Florence by night in separate carriages, attended by a 
 priest, a layman, and an aged female : they were put 
 into the Hospital des Insenses at Florence, where their 
 behavior was tranquil and settled. 
 
 Ricci has given a full account of the wretched men- 
 tal condition of the unfortunate sisters. Buonamici 
 was endowed with great natural ability, and had com- 
 
 9 
 
98 SECRETS OF 
 
 posed several pieces of poetry of considerable merit. 
 She liad read Voltaire and Rousseau, and had stored 
 her mind with their opinions. But her understanding 
 had been chiefly perverted by the corruption of her 
 manners. Imbued with both the impurities and the 
 errors of the Gnostics, she began to make converts of 
 her companions to her own ideas^ but was contented 
 with their becoming accomplices in her licentious con- 
 duct without penetrating farther into the mysteries of 
 her system. Spighi, on the contrary, she believed to 
 be more capable of comprehending her whole scheme 
 of doctrine ; but the latter was of an inferior mind to 
 her teaclier^ and was not equally able, when examined, 
 to elude the questions which were intended to lay open 
 their conduct and opinions. Buonamici had sufficient 
 subtlety and knowledge of the scriptures to torment her 
 examiner. Longinelli, who afterwards acknowledged 
 that there were many of her sophisms put so inge- 
 niously, that at the time he was unable properly to 
 combat them. Ricci said, "it is impossible to consider 
 the frightful errors into which these deluded women 
 had fallen, without horror." The holiest rites of reli- 
 gion had been subjected by them to the most disgusting 
 obscenities ; every doctrine of scripture was interpreted 
 by them so as to authorize some shameful indulgence ; 
 and they pretended that for whatever they did or be- 
 lieved, they had the s|)ecial illumination of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 The Bishop of Pistoia remitted to Rome whatever 
 information he obtained on this important affair. At 
 first this attention seemed to be well received, but it 
 soon became different. Cardinal Pallavicini, the only 
 one who had induced the Court of Rome to act at all 
 reasonably, was obliged, on account of his health, to 
 retire into the country, and leave the office of Secretary 
 of State to Cardinal Rezzonico. The first indication 
 which the latter gave of his disposition, was in his re- 
 ply to Cardinal Corsini, who had asked him to confer 
 upon Ricci, without delay, authority over the Dominican 
 convents in his diocese. His answer was only virulent 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 99 
 
 abuse of the Bishop, and of his conduct respecting the 
 devotion of the Sacred Heart. 
 
 Cardinal Rezzonico was at the head of the Jesuit 
 faction ; the Dominican party joined it, and the league 
 was strengthened by the common dangers and interests 
 of both. A powerful party was thus formed against 
 Ricci ; but his resolution remained unshaken. He con- 
 tinued to write to Rome, and to every one whom he 
 thought able to assist him in obtaining the consent of 
 the Pope to his reformation of the convent of Catherine. 
 His letter to Cardinal Corsini^ dated July, 1781, is as 
 follows : 
 
 " What I have ascertained by means of the examin- 
 ation held by the LK^uisitor-extraordinary, fills me with 
 horror; and the two unfortunate wretches have not 
 only confirmed what was said by the nuns and the 
 boarders, but have even, with unspeakable impudence, 
 said still more, confessing even a most horrible abuse 
 of the sacrament of the eucharist. With the exception 
 of a Portuguese ex-jesuit, BottillO; who conversed with 
 them every day for an entire summer, after they had 
 been already infected, 1 have not been able to discover 
 with certainty any others guilty of teaching them such 
 wicked principles ; and even on him nothing can be 
 positively fixed, except indecent acts and language. 
 Ricci adds, that the two nuns only sought in their re- 
 plies to exculpate the Dominicans from the charge of 
 being their accomplices ; which is also apparent from 
 their original examinations. We have the testimony 
 of Flavia Peraccini to fill up that void in their con- 
 fessions. Taken with the information given by Buo- 
 namici and Spighi themselves, it serves to establish 
 irrefutably the truth of what was indeed most probable, 
 that tlie confessors and priors whom they name, were 
 the sole teachers of the Spinozism, materialism, quiet- 
 ism, and hcentiousness, with which these nuns were 
 infected." 
 
 A letter of Ricci to the same Cardinal, July, 1781, 
 says : 
 
 ^' The conduct pursued by so many provincials. 
 
100 SEC11ET3 OF 
 
 priors, and confessorSj in this and in other conventSj 
 would make one apprehend that the evil was in the 
 body, and that they systematically held opinions con- 
 trary to the law of Jesns Christ With what con- 
 fidence can bishops admit these men to the office of 
 confessors, among whom we know that such evil 
 prevails ?" 
 
 The Bishop of Pistoia also wrote to the Pope, and 
 sent him a detailed report of the principles which form- 
 ed the doctrine maintained by the two nuns of Cathe- 
 rine of Prato. These principles were all deduced from 
 the answers made by the two nuns themselves in their 
 examinations already given. 
 
 In another letter, Ricci informs the Pope that the 
 two nuns, who had been removed to Florence, as well 
 as those who remained at Prato, refused to accuse any 
 monk of their order, and that they even complained 
 bitterly of the suspicions entertained against their con- 
 fessors. They maintained that they had no need either 
 of books, or of instructions, written or verbal, to form 
 into a system the doctrines they professed, and which, 
 they asserted, arose spontaneously in their mind. The 
 Bishop of Pistoia added to his letter the depositions of 
 the nuns of Catherine of that city, made in 1775, when 
 that convent was taken from under the direction of the 
 Dominicans, — depositions of which the subjects display 
 the same errors as were afterwards found among the 
 nuns of Prato, and which were ascribed to the instruc- 
 tions and insinuations of the monks. He relates this 
 circumstance as a newproof of what it was so import- 
 ant to demonstrate fully, that these monks were alone 
 guilty of all the disorders in the convent of Prato, 
 whither they had gone to take the spiritual direction 
 of the nuns of their order, after having perverted those 
 oi Pistoia. 
 
 In 1781, Ricci also wrote to Vasquez, General of 
 the order of the Augustinians, to beg of him to have 
 Buonamici's brother, who was under him, examined, 
 and whom the depositions showed to have been in a 
 very intimate relation with the convent of Prato, 
 
FEMvVLE CONVENTS. 101 
 
 Vasquez replied, that this monk was very simple, and 
 even scrupulous ; so much so, that he thought one time 
 he ought to denounce his sister, for having spoken in 
 his presence some suspicious words on the suhject of 
 religion. 
 
 In the above-mentioned letter to Vasquez, Ricci says: 
 ^' The two unfortunate wretches, and especially Buona- 
 mici, have deposed, at Florence, several additional cir- 
 cumstances, and have mentioned the Dominicans as 
 being their teachers and encouragers in that school of 
 iniquity." 
 
 The suspicions of the Bishop of Pistoia were thus 
 completely confirmed, and there remained not the least 
 doubt of the moral and religious depravity of the entire 
 order of Dominic, — a depravity which the monks had 
 incessantly labored to propagate, by initiating in the 
 system of the most impious materialism, the nuns who 
 were afterwards to minister to their sensual pleasures. 
 This order was not the only one which had thus or- 
 ganized licentiousness by means of false opinions. In 
 a letter from Signor Foggini to the Bishop of Pistoia, 
 Rome, July, 1781, are these words : ~~~^'%. 
 
 '^ " I was told yesterday, that the first seducer of this 
 convent was a Jesuit. I know a monastery in which 
 a Jesuit used to make the nuns lift up their oiothes, 
 assuring them that they thereby performed an act of 
 virtue, because they ov^ercome a natural repugnance." 
 
 It had been falsely reported at Rome, that neither 
 the General of the Dominicans, nor the Pope, who 
 were the natural superiors of the nuns, had been in- 
 formed of any thing with which they should have been 
 made acquainted. This, it was said, was a suflicient 
 proof that unlawful means had been taken to assist the 
 usurpation of the rights and authority of the Holy See. 
 Ricci, who saw all the importance of such an accusa- 
 tion, lost no time in proving that the Dominican nuns 
 had made frequent aj^peals to Rome and to their supe- 
 riors, without obtaining a reply. They had especially 
 addressed Pius VI., and the General Bonadois, but in 
 vain. 
 
 9* 
 
102 SECRETS OF 
 
 One of the most important circnmstances in this sin- 
 gular affair, is the manner in which the Pope and the 
 General of the Dominicans were implicated in a matter 
 of heresy, profanation, sacrilege, impiety, and licen- 
 tiousness, — a matter of which they knew all the details, 
 but which they seem to have regarded as calling for 
 concealment rather than punishment. This circum- 
 stance will make every truly religious mind shudder. 
 Besides the wrath of the head of a monastic order of 
 shameful celebrity, and of the hea,d of all Catholics, 
 against those who could not extirpate errors and put 
 an end to turpitude, except by making them public, 
 the following pieces will serve to demonstrate com- 
 pletely what we have advanced — the authority of the 
 pious Bishop of Pistoia. 
 
 Pius VI. in his insolent brief to Ricci, dated May, 
 asserted that he himself would not have dared to con- 
 ceive suspicions against the most holy order of the 
 Do7?iinicans. Abbe Mengoni had but little trouble in 
 turning this childish fear into ridicule. He proves 
 that the Pope might easily have satisfied himself of 
 the exact truth of all that the Bishop of Pistoia and 
 Prato had written to him relative to the Dominican 
 monks and nims. He had only to direct his Nuncio 
 at Flctfence to search the archives of Pistoia, and he 
 would have found all the disorders in the convents of 
 Tuscany spiritually directed by the monks of Dominic, 
 disorders that had been known to prevail during one 
 hundred and forty years. Moreover, should not the 
 Pope have recollected the reasons which induced him 
 to take from under the government of the Dominicans 
 five convents of Siena, Pisa, and Pistoia, a little after 
 the denunciations of the year 1774, of which he had a 
 perfect knowledge ? 
 
 It is clear from a letter of Foggini to Ricci, written 
 at Rome, July, 1781, that there had been seen a sort 
 of confession made to the Pope by a nun of Catherine 
 of Prato, before Ricci was informed of what was pass- 
 ing in that convent, and which had undoubtedly been 
 put into the hands of the pontifical Secretary of state. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 103 
 
 Teresa di Gesu, a nun of Sepolcro, wrote, that she had 
 made Sister Spisfhi write a similar confession to the 
 General of the Dominicans; that she had herself ad- 
 dressed the General relative to that affair, and had 
 concealed from him nothing of all that had come to 
 her knowledge. This did not prevent Pius YI. from 
 asserting in his hrief ; " That, in the Secretary's office, 
 there was nothing of the disorders now discovered." 
 
 In a letter from Ricci to Seratti, secretary of the 
 Grand Duke, written August, 1781, he says, there had 
 just been found the letters of a Capuchine nun of 
 Borgo, or Sepolcro, and of a lay sister of Spighi. It is 
 plain from them, " That the facts were known to 
 many; that they had recourse to abjurations with the 
 greatest facility ; that Monsignor Ippoliti, who was 
 almost immediately assured that they had laid down 
 their errors, had found out something wrong," &c. 
 
 Other letters of the Capuchine, prove that Spighi 
 had endeavored to seduce her ; that she had other 
 companions besides Buonamici ; that these were also 
 friends of the Capuchine, and ceased to write to her 
 when she spoke plainly to Spighi, and dropped the 
 correspondence. These letters, moreover, prove that 
 information was given at Rome ; and that the General, 
 who says that he finds nothing in his archives, must 
 have known it from that time. 
 
 The Advocate Zanobetti, in a letter to the Bishop of 
 Pistoia, written from Rome, October, 1781, says : 
 "Every week this haughty General, F. Quinones, of 
 the Dominicans, is at a dinner-party of infidels and 
 libertines." Zanobetti pitied the Pope, w^ho seemed 
 ignorant '-of what human wickedness is under the 
 veil of hypocrisy, and with the certainty of impunity." 
 \ "It was his wish to praise the Dominicans, in his 
 famous brief of reproach to Ricci ;" adds the Bishop's 
 correspondent, " that made the Pope engage so warmly, 
 and with so much discredit to himself, in a matter that 
 makes him an object of pity." 
 
 In a letter from Paul Delmare to Ricci, Genoa, 
 August, 1781, he says : " In Rome itself, whither the 
 
104 SECRETS OF 
 
 recrular orders send their youths to study, there is a 
 college where infidelity is systematically inculcated." 
 
 Cardinal Corsini, M. Foggini, the Avocat Fei, and 
 the Abbe Martini, who was at Rome to be consecrated 
 Archbishop of Florence, and who feared the same dis- 
 orders in his diocese, determined on obtaining from 
 the Pope a remedy for the convents of Pistoia, and 
 such a remedy as might be applied to any, where a 
 similar evil should be discovered. But they were 
 diverted by Fei, who was himself devoted to Mamachi 
 and the Minervites ; their conduct was, in conse- 
 quence, so uncertain, that the Pope thought he should 
 be able to take advantage of tlieir feebleness ; and he 
 signed a brief addressed to Ricci, entirely drawn up by 
 Zaccaria, an ancient Jesuit, and by Mamachi, the most 
 violent of the Dominicans, devoted to the Roman Court. 
 
 We have spoken of the singular propositions con- 
 tained in this brief of the Pope, and particularly of the 
 misplaced and unseasonable eulogy which he there 
 passes on the order of Dominic. This eulogy is fol- 
 lowed by one on the Inquisition, still more absurd 
 than the first. " These may appear paradoxes," says 
 Abbe Mengoni, "but it is certain that the Pontiff has 
 commended a tribunal that is a dishonor to our holy 
 religion." Pius VI. wished to withdraw the two nuns 
 of Catherine from the inexorable public justice of the 
 Bishop, to give them to the secret procedures of the 
 Inquisition. There a general confession, in the style 
 of those they had already made so often, would have 
 not only obtained them entire pardon, but also have 
 procured them the means of resuming their old course; 
 as that tribunal is only severe towards those u-hose 
 conduct and known sentiments migJit influence public 
 opinion^ so as to diminish the authority/ and the reve- 
 nues of the clergy. Mengoni well observes, the Inqui- 
 sition was, under the wise Leopold, only a vain name 
 in Tuscany ; " where, far from giving a sanguinary 
 monk the power to burn people, and cruelly persecute 
 them, this tribunal is curbed." 
 
 The other injurious passages of the Pope's letter to 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 105 
 
 Ricci, may be deduced from the reply which the 
 Bishop of Pistoia made him, August, 1781. 
 
 After having complained bitterly of being treated by 
 the Pontiff as a man of bad faith, as a fanatic, a har, 
 a calumniator, a seditious person, a usurper of the 
 rights of others, &c. ; Ricci endeavors to evince again 
 what he had already proved so often respecting the 
 Dominicans, who must be regarded as the seducers of 
 the nuns. 
 
 " It is certain, that the connivance of the provincials, 
 priors, and confessors, who have been for so many 
 years with this society, and who were all informed of 
 its evils, is inexcusable. If I became apprehensive of 
 such evil having spread to other convents, I had very 
 great reason for it, since, from the depositions made 
 six years as^o by the nuns of Catherine, and of which 
 the originals are in the Secretary's office, it appears 
 that the same impious opinions entertained by the two 
 unfortunate nuns, were held and taught, though not 
 so completely reduced to system, in that convent, by 
 some Dominican monks, who afterwards went as con- 
 fessors and priors, or were some way else intei'ested 
 in the government of these other convents." 
 
 "He then repeats, that the confessor, on taking pos\ 
 session of his office, used openly to choose a Qnistress \ 
 among the nuns ; and that, when any of them were / 
 sick, there was a fete at the convent. The confessor / 
 made the nuns attend him at table, and there he playecy 
 cards and danced with them, &c. " Need we be 
 astonished," said he, " if the disorders of so many nuns, 
 who had been all tempted, and many seduced, should 
 eventually have spread through the town, or if their 
 scandalous opinions and actions should have been the 
 subject of conversation in public circles ?" 
 
 Ricci immediately carried the brief he had received 
 to Leopold, who, enraged at its contents, determined 
 upon replying- to it himself He sent a very strong 
 remonstrance to Rome. He complained in it of the 
 Pope's conduct to the Bishop, whom he determined 
 to protect with all his power. He added, that he 
 
106 SECRETS OF 
 
 would never consent that the nuns should be delivered 
 over to the ecclesiastical authority, as the Pope had 
 ordered ; and he openly threatened to provide for the 
 reformation of all the convents in his dominions accord- 
 ing to his own discretion, if the Pope refused to sub- 
 mit them to the spiritual authority of their ordinary. 
 
 The Court of Rome immediately replied, that the 
 Grand Duke might follow his own discretion Avith 
 regard to the two nuns, and that the other convents 
 in Tuscany should in future be under the power of 
 the bishops only. The pope found himself compelled 
 to write to Ricci in terms totally opposite to those ex- 
 pressed in the brief, and to grant him all he asked. 
 This unexpected proceeding of Leopold confounded 
 both the Holy See and its partisans in Tuscany, whose 
 steps it was necessary incessantly to watch, in order to 
 take away the possibility of their re-union. 
 
 Ricci mentions, that the Spanish minister at Rome 
 sent the papers relative to this affair to his court, to 
 serve as a model for the reforms of a similar kind 
 which they proposed to undertake in Spain. Notliing 
 is more useful than thus to show that correct actions 
 are at the same time honorable, and that, in proportion 
 as they extend their beneficial efforts, they increase the 
 reputation of their authors. The circumstance just 
 mentioned is also of importance in showing that Rome 
 never yields but to necessity ; and that feebleness and 
 timidity find justice and right of no avail, in a contest 
 with that vain and selfish court. 
 
 The Pope, who had been completely overcome in the 
 affair of Ricci, took his revenge on the General of the 
 Dominicans, whom he punished by two terrible repri- 
 mands for having disguised the true state of things at 
 Prato, and thus brousfht his court into such ahumiliat- 
 mg situation. He also reproached him with having 
 permitted certain bad theses to be discussed in the 
 convent of Mark at Florence ; and in fact, so terrified 
 the poor monk, that he left the pontifical audience in 
 such a condition of grief and fright, as to be unable to 
 find the door of the apartment. The Grand Duke, on 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 107 
 
 his part, ordered the Avocat Fei before him, and gave 
 him a similar castigation for his want of good service. 
 
 As soon as Ricci had obtained his authority, he did 
 every thing in his power to soften the affliction which 
 the nuns felt from his success. He gave them permis- 
 sion to choose their own confessor out of a hst he laid be- 
 fore them of seculars and regulars. They expressed 
 the most lively desire to have, at least, a chaplain of 
 their own order ; but Ricci resisted all their solicita- 
 tions. He had been too well taught the dissolute 
 character of these monks, to remit his severity ; and 
 Leopold had himself prohibited any indulgence of the 
 kind requested. So determined was he, therefore, in 
 his resistance, that he refused the permission to the 
 convent of Vincent, to which the Archbishop of Flo- 
 rence had promised this favor in the name of Ricci, 
 who, he falsely said, had given him his word on this 
 subject. The affair terminated in the disgrace of the 
 Archbishop. From this epoch Ricci dates the enmity 
 of Martini, and as a consequence, that of Seratti ; 
 whom the prelate had no difficulty in irritating against 
 the protegt of their common master. 
 
 The two affairs, that of the Sacred Heart, and that 
 of the Dominicans, united both the disciples of 
 Dominic and those of Loyola against Ricci. He was 
 attacked on all sides, and it was only the esteem and 
 particular protection of Leopold, that enabled him to 
 resist the intrigues and mischievous intentions of his 
 adversaries. Even this, however, was another cause 
 of enmity against him; for it made him disliked by all 
 the ambitious members of the Tuscan court, among 
 whom especially may be mentioned Seratti, the friend 
 both of Martini and the Nuncio. 
 
 About this time Ricci had several disputes, both with 
 Rome and the prelates, about the keeping of Lent. It 
 was his constant desire to bring the church as much as 
 possible back to its ancient dicipline. His attempts in 
 this respect appear to have been dictated by the same good 
 sense, which guided him in his other reforms. He in 
 some measure succeeded, but brought on himself, as in 
 
108 SECRETS OP 
 
 the other affairs he took in hand, a whole host of oppo- 
 nents. Another circumstance also, which gave him a 
 great deal of uneasiness, was the dangerous and fanat- 
 ical conduct of the Lent preachers, whose manner of 
 exercising their ministry had obtained them, in many- 
 places, the name of Sacred Comedians. These men 
 carefully sought the most frequented churches, the 
 pulpits most in repute, and used every means to get 
 themselves chosen by the magistrates, or by those who 
 had the appointment. It was yet worse in the country. 
 They preached sermons there, which they had received 
 by inheritance, or which were drawn from the archives 
 of their convents. From his first arrival at Pistoia, 
 the zealous Bishop opposed these missionaries, and 
 succeeded in deterring the timid from continuing their 
 mischievous practices. 
 
 During- the Lent of 17S2, the monk who preached 
 at the cathedral had the bokhiess to abuse the pro- 
 ceedings of the government in no very measured terms. 
 Kicci admonished him to refrain from all such expres- 
 sions in future. The missionary promised to obey the 
 injunction ; but he almost immediately broke his word. 
 The Bishop believed himself called upon to put a stop 
 to this scandal. The preacher was strongly repri- 
 manded. He, on the other hand, threatened to leave 
 the city, which he knew would give rise to con- 
 siderable disturbance ; but at the moment measures 
 were about to be taken against him, he was seized 
 with a panic, submitted himself, and gave a promise 
 of never again committing the same error. About 
 that time, the Archbishop Martini, being opposed in 
 all his conduct to Ricci, imposed upon the regulars in 
 his diocese who had no cure of souls, the duty of cat- 
 echising in the churches on Sundays and feast-days. 
 This order was given, says Ricci, to astonish all those 
 who knew the just complaints which had been made 
 at the Council of Trent, against the teaching of mordis. 
 The Secretary for the jurisdiction of the Prince cited 
 the example of the Florentine prelate with much ap- 
 probation to the other bishops, and Ricci saw himself 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 109 
 
 obliged to appeal to Leopold. Having received re- 
 newed promises of protection, he issued a decree, for- 
 bidding any regular's preaching in his diocese, before 
 his doctrine and his principles had undergone an 
 examination. The result was, that the monks no 
 longer presented themselves as preachers ; and the 
 greater part of those already engaged, retired. He 
 also obliged the regulars before preaching, even in 
 their own churches, to 2^0 and receive the benediction 
 of the cures. This raised more enemies against him 
 than all he had before done. 
 
 In supplying the void which the want of sermons 
 had left, he ordered the cures and their assistants to 
 give expositions of the sacrament. Another means 
 employed for the instruction of the people, was the 
 publication of a good catechism. Ricci chose from 
 among all the Jansenist catechisms that which seemed 
 the best adapted for his purpose : those of Colbert and 
 of Mesenguy, otherwise so excellent, were rejected, for 
 fear of giving unnecessary otfence to the Court of 
 Rome, from which it was necessary to keep all sus- 
 picion of false doctrine. He preferred the catechism 
 of Gourlin, which had received the approval of the 
 Inquisition, and had been recommended by Ippoliti, 
 his predecessor. Ricci prepared the publication by a 
 pastoral letter, in which he attacks the various errors 
 which had crept into the Church by departing from 
 the study of the Scriptures. 
 
 Rome could scarcely retain her indignation, when 
 Leopold suppressed the taxes, all of which Tuscany 
 had hitherto scrupulously paid into her treasury. She, 
 however, entirely lost her patience at the abolition of 
 the tribunal of the Inquisition. This tribunal had 
 been always held by the Frlres Mineurs Conventnels. 
 The imprudence of an Inquisitor, contributed to de- 
 prive it of its i^ower under the government of the 
 House of Lorraine. Thomas Crudeli, a man of letters, 
 at that time a prisoner in the dungeons of the Holy 
 Office, found means to inform his friends of his situa- 
 tion, and to assure them that, if he was not speedily 
 
 10 
 
no SECRETS OP 
 
 freed, the bad treatment which he received, acting upon 
 a dehcate and feeble frame, would inevitably prove 
 fatal to him. Count de Richecourt, the head of the 
 Regency, was informed by those who had the boldness 
 to interest themselves in the affair, of all that had 
 occurred. He instantly delivered Crudeli from those 
 wretches, and demanded of the Court of Vienna the 
 abolition of the odious Inquisition. A long negotiation 
 was entered into with Rome. The Tuscan Govern- 
 ment would not interfere, and was contented with 
 modifying the power of tlie Holy Office. Pius VI., 
 however, would yield nothing; and his resentment 
 against Joseph and Leopold became so violent, that he 
 suffered the most inflammatory pamphlets to be pub- 
 lished against them. But his anger was chiefly di- 
 rected against Ricci ; who, it was believed, had insti- 
 gated the Duke to all these things : but the Duke was 
 too enlightened to brook such a submission, and was 
 not willing to share the credit of his measures with 
 any one. 
 
 The spring of the year 1782 was so excessively 
 rainy, that the crops were near being all destroyed, 
 and every measure which superstition could invent, 
 was employed to remove the threatened calamity. 
 Ricci opposed these superstitious practices, and took 
 occasion to give many salutary instructions on the 
 subject of image-worship, many of the greatest errors 
 of which he endeavored to extirpate. A long contest 
 with the monks was the consequence. At first it w^as 
 only a war of words, but his adversaries at last had 
 recourse to the lowest kind of abuse. The priests who 
 were attached to Ricci, were abused in the public 
 streets, and insulted with popular songs containing 
 every species of invective. Out of Tuscany, the whole 
 order of the Franciscans took part in the dispute, till 
 at last even the friends of the Bishop began to suspect 
 that his procedure was imprudent, and calculated to 
 favor the sect of the Phantasiasts. 
 . About this time the Grand Duke siguified his ap- 
 proval of Ricci's plan for the establishmeut ot nn 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. HI 
 
 Ecclesiastical Academy at Pistoia ; and that he might 
 have a fit situation for it, gave him the convent of the 
 Olivetains, which he was on the point of suppressing. 
 Armed with this decree, the Bishop, for fear of fraud, 
 unexpectedly signified it to the monks when they were 
 assembled for dinner in the refectory. At the same 
 time he took possession of the convent, and of the 
 country-houses which belonged to the monks. He put 
 his seal upon all the papers, and had an inventory 
 made of the difterent efiects, and of the furniture, with- 
 out causing any noise or disturbance. The nobles of 
 Pistoia could not repress their chagrin at this event, 
 which deprived them of a retreat where they placed 
 their children who interfered with their ambitious 
 projects ; and furnished them with the means of dissi- 
 pating, either by gaming or conversation, their languor 
 and sloth. 
 
 Some proofs exist of the amusements followed by 
 those devout nobles. The Abbe's tables du quartier 
 were found covered with the reckonings of a game, 
 which showed the manner of passing their evenings. 
 At another place cards were discovered ; and the 
 library of the convent, which consisted of only about a 
 hundred volumes, was in the most miserable state of 
 filth and confusion. The /Scriptures, divided into 
 several little volumes, were not even complete. Such 
 was the state of the library, that there was nothing in it 
 of any value, but some editions of the year 1400 ; the 
 rest consisted of the old casuists, and other such au- 
 thors, so that Leopold said he would not give Jive shil- 
 lings for the whole ! Such was the state of this estab- 
 lishment, as respected its interior ; but the building 
 itself had been just repaired, and Ricci was overjoyed 
 at being enabled by the acquisition of it to open his 
 academy. His first object, after obtaining this situa- 
 tion, was to find a good theological professor ; and not 
 hoping to obtain one in Tuscany, he applied to the 
 celebrated Tamberini, head of the new theological 
 school at Pavia, who sent him Jean-Baptistc Ganzi, of 
 the same school, on whose principles he might rely. 
 
112 SECRETS OF 
 
 In all his subsequent measures he did nothing without 
 consulting his friends, — the Jansenists of France and 
 Holland. The success of the institution answered his 
 labor ! and when at his own fall, the institution also 
 fell, he expressed the deepest regret at the event, and 
 at the barbarous conduct of those by whom it was 
 occasioned. 
 
 Ricci was extremely desirous of establishing moral 
 conferences in his diocese, not merely formal, as they 
 had hitherto been, but such as were likely to produce 
 real practical good. This was at the epoch when 
 Leopold had reduced the regulars within the jurisdic- 
 tion of their bishops. Ricci took advantage of it to 
 make them assist the seculars in the monthly confer- 
 ences ; and succeeded beyond his expectation. The 
 order he had received to inspect the studies of the re- 
 gulars, induced him to visit the convent of the Mineurs 
 Observantiiis at Giaccherino, near Pistoia, in order to 
 examine the library. The collection of books in this 
 convent was valuable and well chosen ; ^' but such," 
 says Ricci, ''was the sloth and bad management of 
 the monks, that it was left in a state which rendered 
 it perfectly useless to the pupils. The room where the 
 books were kept was the least known, and the most 
 seldom frequented in the house. There were even 
 some superiors of convents v'ho could not sciy xohere 
 the library was^ and who followed Ricci to discover in 
 what 2J'^f^'>^t of the convent the hooks were to he found. 
 At Giaccherino, the library was in a little room devoted 
 to the reception of all old and useless papers. The cob- 
 webs which hung from the ceiling covered the unfor- 
 tunate visitor every step he set, and which he had been 
 prepared to expect, from the difficulty experienced by 
 the monks in finding the key of the room." A promise, 
 however, was given of amendment, and the Bishop 
 went away satisfied. A similar circumstance took 
 place at the convent of the Paolotti at Pistoia ; from 
 which the Provincial, thinking that hooks icere a use- 
 less kind of furniture^ had sent all it possessed to the 
 convent of the same order at Florence, to obtain the 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 113 
 
 thanks of the monks in the capital. It will not cause 
 surprise, to find that the regulars were not much de- 
 voted to study ; so far, indeed, was this from beins: the 
 case, that they gave themselves up to every kind of dis- 
 sipation, and when some of them were not so disposed, 
 they were even fvohibited by the superiors from iising 
 hooks purchased with their own money. 
 
 Ricci examined some of the students at Giaccherino, 
 to discover the state of reli odious knowledofe amonor 
 them, and found them in deplorable ignorance. Ques- 
 tions the most useless were discussed in the most bar- 
 barous style of scholastic folly, while the great doctrines 
 of religion were treated in a manner so ridiculous, that 
 even Molina himself professed himself offended. The 
 infallibility of the Pope, his absolute temporal power 
 over princes, and all the most silly doctrines of the 
 Court of Rome, were stoutly defended by them, and 
 made to support the most preposterous opinions. 
 
 " The Franciscans," says Ricci, '• are for the most 
 part, in the present day, without the least learning, 
 even without the principles of grammar. Latin is al- 
 most entirely unknown among them, and when tried, 
 they were unable to translate the decisions of the 
 Council of Trent, the Roman Catechism, or the tiis- 
 torical books of the Scriptures. They were obliged to 
 employ a dictionary to construe their commonest les- 
 sons ; and the cleverest among them never thought of 
 looking into the subjects v:hich they were appointed 
 to teach^ till they were made doctors^ or professors of 
 theology I Others less clever, were made preachers or 
 confessors ; in which capacities they only consulted 
 some old and well-known casuist, or preached the ser- 
 mons they had found in the convent." Ricci employed 
 every means in his power to remedy these abuses, but 
 in vain ; and he saw his best and most useful projects 
 either eluded by art, or stopped by the power of the 
 monks, or the bad conduct of Leopold's ministers. 
 
 The Bishop found, that to commence an attack on 
 the 7nonks is to bid farewell for ever to all peace and 
 tranquillity. The first antagonist he had to meet, in 
 
 10* 
 
114 SECRETS OF 
 
 his endeavor to do away with the prerogatives of the 
 monks in his diocese, was the monk Lampredi, to 
 whom, very imprudently, had heen given the power 
 of visiting the convents of his order, in quahty of Pro- 
 vincial. Ricci opposed him, and succeeded in prevent- 
 ing Lampredi from making his fortune, which a visitor 
 on such an occasion is almost sure of doing. The 
 same man wished, on some foolish pretence, to remove 
 the college of Giaccherino elsewhere ; but the Bishop 
 prevented any such change taking place, saying, that 
 such a thing could not be done without an express or- 
 der from the Prince. Every victory which Ricci thus 
 obtained, furnished him with a reason for writing to 
 Leopold, whom he a.ssured of the possibility of reform- 
 ing the whole monkish system, which was principally 
 to be done by taking away all the privilegss of the par- 
 ticular monastic dignities, and by making every con- 
 vent a separate isolated establishment ; thus doing 
 away with that vmperhim in impcrio. 
 
 The Bishop was diligent, notwithstanding all oppo- 
 sition, in scattering abroad the most useful books. One 
 of these was the Opiisculum, in which the Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Pistoia pretended that the opinions of 
 Calvin and Zuinglius were supported. The question 
 was judged by the theologians of Florence ; and being 
 decided in the negative, the Lieutenant only got a sharp 
 rebuke from Leopold for his officious zeal. Ricci was 
 next charged with the superintendence of three con- 
 gregations of priests at Pistoia ; and either to reform 
 or suppress them, as he saw fit. He employed the 
 gentlest means to bring these ecclesiastics to reason, 
 but in vain ; and was then obliged to have recourse 
 to compulsion. He also reformed an abuse which had 
 been long existing. The prebendaries of the cathedral 
 of Pistoia enjoyed a very rich revenue Avithout perform- 
 ing any service, which they got done for them by 
 chaplains, to whom they paid a very small stipend, 
 and who were, consequently, th^ most ignorant of the 
 clergy. 
 
 This took place in 1782. The following year, Ric- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 115 
 
 ci's enemies commenced their attacks with renewed 
 violence. Placards were put upon the cathedral gate, 
 with the inscription " Orate pro episcopo nostro hetero- 
 doxo" — Pray for our heretic hisJtop ! He was accused 
 of heresy, and anonymous letters were sent to him full 
 of menaces and abuse. Nor were these threats alto- 
 gether without meaning ; for his domestics had been 
 bribed to admit people into his study; and he was as- 
 sured that, on his going to his seat in the country, a 
 conspiracy had been formed to take aw^ay his life, 
 which design an assassin had offered to put in execu- 
 tion for five hundred crowns. So many dangers alien- 
 ated from him his friends and relatives. The ministers 
 of the Grand Duke, and even his colleagues, took ad- 
 vantage of it to oppose his designs, and to raise against 
 him new enemies at court. Rome also entered into 
 the conspiracy, and condemned his Catechism ; but 
 the Bishop, taking advantage of the approbation which 
 the Inquisition had expressed respecting that of Venice, 
 retained his Catechism in use, without taking notice 
 of the prohibition. 
 
 Leopold wished to render his reform general, and 
 every where sent the same instructions and the same 
 orders, but he was not always seconded and obeyed. 
 About this time he addressed a circular to all the 
 bishops of his states, sending them at the same time 
 the pastoral letter of the Archbishop of Saltzburg, of 
 June, 1782. " Leopold intended," says Ricci, "to lead 
 the people committed to his care, gradually to remove 
 from the forms of worship all the superstitious observ- 
 ances that their own ignorance, or that of the clergy, 
 or the ambitious and avaricious spirit of the latter, had 
 mingled with them ; and if he succeeded, he hoped to 
 overcome the indifference of reasoners, and the incre- 
 dulity of the learned towards religion^ the natural re- 
 sults of the gross debasement of the jjopular ivorship .'" 
 
 This was equally the object of Ricci, who, as soon 
 as he received from the Grand Duke the pastoral letter 
 of the German Archbishop, hastened to follow up the 
 views of the Prince his protector. He reprinted the 
 
116 SECRETS OF 
 
 letter, and sent a copy to each of the clergy, whom he 
 begged to inform him of what was wanting to be done 
 in his diocese, in order that God might there be wor- 
 shipped " in spirit and in truth." The cures replied 
 immediately ; and it was on their answers that Ricci 
 founded the reforms he introduced into his diocese, and 
 organized those which he afterwards reduced into a 
 system, and which he fixed definitively on occasion of 
 his famous synod. 
 
 He hmited himself, for the present, to " restricting 
 the functions of the priests to the explanation of the 
 Gospel during high mass, to the Catechism before and 
 after vespers, and to benediction at the end of the cere- 
 mony. He moreover ordered, that the litanies should 
 be sung in the vulgar tongue, and that not more than 
 fourteen candles should be lighted !" The people, thus 
 deprived of the splendors of the ceremony, murmured 
 more loudly than ever. Besides this, the Bishop, that 
 the people might be induced to frequent their own 
 parishes, ordered private chapels to be shut on Sun- 
 days and holidays ; and forbade certain splendid cere- 
 monies to be performed, which attracted the people 
 from their labor, and from attending their parochial 
 churches. 
 
 The Grand Duke, seeing that all went according to 
 his wishes in the diocess of Pistoia and Prato, loaded 
 them with his favors. He granted to the seminary of 
 Prato the convent of the RecoUets, and gratified the 
 new seminary of Pistoia with the suppressed convent 
 of Claire. He gave the Dominican convent to the 
 Dominican nuns, for the purpose of being employed 
 as a school, under the protection of the Government. 
 He inspected the improvements made by Ricci in his 
 diocess, and was delighted to see that he had suppress- 
 ed the number of altars, allowing only one in each 
 church. " He encouraged me," says Ricci, " to make 
 the same reforms in all my diocess. The project, 
 however, was interrupted." 
 
 The institution for the women styled Abb and 07i ate, 
 was now removed to the convent which the Dominican 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 117 
 
 nuns had quitted. Ricci, hoping in time to form use- 
 ful women and good mothers of famihes, obtained per- 
 mission of the Prince to restore that institution to its 
 original simplicity. The women were now seen pub- 
 licly at church on Sundays and other holidays. Op- 
 portunities were afforded them to marry, and to vend 
 silk handkerchiefs, for the manufacture of which they 
 were famous. The noble governors of the hospital 
 thought these reforms too radical, and addressed them- 
 selves to the Grand Duke ; but the latter ratified all 
 Ricci had done. 
 
 Unfortunately, all the measures which had been taken 
 to produce a reform by the suppression of the cures of 
 the old congregations, were eluded, or falsely interpre- 
 ted, in Tuscany, where their execution was committed 
 to persons who brought them into contempt. Rome 
 forgot not to assist in this. Defamatory libels were 
 every where circulated against the Grand Duke and 
 the Emperor, and sedition was preached from a variety 
 of pulpits. Leopold was accused of changing, like 
 Henry VIII. of England, the ancient faith ; and the 
 doctrine of Ricci was represented as full of heresy. 
 None of the benefits produced by the new law were 
 acknowledged by these blind bigots ; and it was only 
 fear which prevented their opposing its execution, when 
 Leopold showed himself decidedly resolved to main- 
 tain it. "When a nation," says Ricci, "has blindly 
 submitted for ages to the domination of priests and 
 nobles, these latter do not neglect to profit by their 
 respective situations. Although naturally adverse to 
 each other, they league together to attack those who 
 put their privileges in danger, and who endeavor to 
 break the spell by which the people are bound." 
 
118 SECRETS OF 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Ecclesiastical Assembly at Florence. — Acts passed by it. — Answers of the 
 Bishops. 
 
 The Episcopal assembly of Florence is less known 
 out of Tuscany, than the Synod of Pistoia ; yet its 
 history and its acts, will be interesting to those who 
 are desirous of knowing the principal opponents of the 
 ecclesiastical reforms projected by Leopold. We shall 
 add to it a few documents relative to the jurisdiction 
 over the church iDhicJt was exercised by the civil 
 powers. They Avere printed during the lifetime of 
 Leopold, and were intended to enlighten his clergy, 
 and prepare the way for those measures to which he 
 was desirous that they should agree, for the general 
 welfare of the Tuscans. 
 
 I. One of the seven quarto volumes which contain 
 the acts alluded to, is entitled, "History of the Assembly 
 of the Archbishops and Bishops of Tuscany, held at 
 Florence in 1787." It was printed at Florence, in 
 1788 ; and drawn up as well as the other six volumes, 
 by the Abbe Reginald Tanzini. 
 
 The preface contains a deplorable picture of the 
 ignorance and servility of the Tuscan priests at that 
 period. 
 
 " The famous constitution Umgenitus^^ it is observed, 
 "which encountered so much opposition in France, was 
 received in Tuscany without the slightest objection or 
 hesitation ; for in a synod of Pistoia held in 1721, it was 
 placed immediately after a short confession of faith. 
 
 " Not only were the Bulls of the Popes considered 
 as so many irrevocable laws, which were not subject 
 to the smallest explanation ; but also, all the decrees 
 and consultations of the Romish Congregations. If a 
 book Avas inserted in the Index Expurgatorius, it was 
 a sufficient reason for ordering it to be burned, or for 
 locking it up in some inaccessible corner, to serve as 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 119 
 
 food for worms, with the Koran, and writings of atheists 
 and sceptics. 
 
 " Every action, and every faulty and inconsiderate 
 expression, which had happened to give offence to any 
 hypocritical or ignorant female, were viewed in the 
 li2:ht of crimes which it was proper to bring to the 
 knowledge of the Inquisition, and to punish in a more 
 terrible manner than ordinary offences against the laws 
 of civil society. 
 
 " The Count delta Gherardesca, Archbishop of Flo- 
 rence, with Incontri,the able opponent of the Casuists, 
 and even Martini, who were his successors, labored 
 to dissipate such gross ignorance. The first had 
 the Catechism of Montpelier translated into Italian, 
 and distributed throughout his diocess. Rome con- 
 demned the translation, and the prelate died of chagrin." 
 Bishop Alamanni exerted himself in the same way to 
 diffuse information through Pistoia and Prato. "The 
 ignorance in that diocess was so deep-rooted and scan- 
 dalous, that many of the priests not only did not under- 
 stand, but could not even read Latin." Alamanni's 
 vicar, who had the character of being the most learned 
 person in his diocess, warmly opposed the plan of insti- 
 tuting a theological professorship, under pretence "that 
 it Avas dangerous to alloiv the young clergy to investi- 
 gate the evidences of religion^ and become acquainted 
 with the arguments which had been employed in 
 attacking it." 
 
 It was the doctrine of Probabilism with which 
 Alamanni had to contend ; and which he resisted suc- 
 cessfully, though not without much disagreement, by 
 opposing to it the morality of Concina. Such was the 
 ungovernable violence of the two parties, that they 
 had recourse not only to calumny, but to blows ; and 
 the Government was finally obliged to banish the heads 
 of the Anti-Concinniste faction. 
 
 Ippoliti, who succeeded him, followed his example. 
 The writings of the monks of Port-Royal, Arnauld, 
 Nicole, Duguet, Gourlin, and duesnel, were dissemi- 
 nated during the time that he was Bishop ; and Ricci, 
 finally completed their triumph. 
 
120 SECRETS OF 
 
 The diocesses of Colle and Chiusi followed the same 
 example. 
 
 Next follows a statistical account of the ecclesias- 
 tical state of Tuscany. In 17845 the Grand Duchy- 
 con tained the astonishing number of 7,957 secular 
 priests ; 2,581 persons in orders of an inferior rank ; 
 2,433 regular priests, with 1,627 lay-brothers, distri- 
 buted over two hundred and thirteen convents; besides 
 7,670 nuns, occupying a hundred and thirty-six estab- 
 lishments of seclusion. 
 
 Then succeeds a long enumeration of reforms eifect- 
 ed by the Grand Duke, before convoking that assembly, 
 which was to put the finishing stroke to his ecclesias- 
 tical designs, to prepare their ratification, and to give 
 notice to the approaching national council of the 
 measures which he intended it to complete and put in 
 force. 
 
 Leopold endeavored to give fresh vigor to ecclesias- 
 tical studies by the foundation of academies, which 
 should be strictly confined to such an object ; and he 
 strongly inculcated on the bishops the necessity of 
 keeping a vigilant eye on the morals of the clergy, and 
 of admitting no one into the priesthood, who was not 
 in every respect worthy of becoming a member of it. 
 He farther adopted every possible measure for prevent- 
 ing the too great poverty, and consequent contempt, of 
 the clergy ; he rendered the curacies perpetual, and 
 compelled the curates to reside, and to perform their 
 duties with punctuality. Next, he abolished the ex- 
 emptions and noxious privileges enjoyed by the regu- 
 lar clergy ; and it was his desire that they should 
 neither be dependent on Rome, or any superior, or on 
 any bishop residing without the limits of the state. 
 He never appointed any superiors but such as were 
 Tuscans and natives of the kingdom ; he suppressed 
 the class of hermits ; and he was anxious to prevent 
 the payment of taxes to any one not residing within 
 the kingdom. He prohibited females from assuming 
 the religious habit before the age of twenty-five, and 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS, 121 
 
 from making formal profession before they were thirty. 
 He reduced all the female convents where the com- 
 munal life was not, or could not be strictly observed ; 
 and converted them into conservatories entirely depen- 
 dent on the Government, except in spiritual matters, 
 in which no vows were required, and in which they 
 were obliged to instruct young females, and to keep 
 open school. He diminished the pomp of the church 
 festivals and ceremonies, as well as their numbers ; 
 abolished all societies denominated Pious, all congre- 
 gations, confraternities, and third orders, &c.; and 
 substituted for them a single confraternity, called the 
 Confraternity of Charity, which was ordered to assist 
 in the discharge of religious functions, in succoring 
 and relieving the sick, in accompanying the viaticum, 
 c^c. He suppressed the Inquisition, and restored to 
 the bishops the right of trying spiritual causes, exhort- 
 ing them at the same time to conduct themselves with 
 clemency and mildness. He forbade, in the strongest 
 terms, the publication of any address, censure, or ex- 
 communication, which had- not been sanctioned by the 
 royal Exeqitatiir ; he totally prohibited and suppressed 
 the bulls In cmna and Ambit Iosce ; abolished the privi- 
 lege enjoyed by the priests of trying laymen in their 
 courts ; subjected every one in holy orders to the 
 jurisdiction of the civil tribunals, when the oifence 
 charged was of a criminal character ; and left to the 
 ecclesiastical courts, merely the cognizance of matters 
 of a purely spiritual nature. 
 
 In a preliminary discourse, the author informs us, 
 that the Tuscan bishops, in obedience to the orders of 
 the Grand Duke, prepared to hold their diocesan 
 synods, when they received from Leopold fifty-seven 
 theological points, which he desired them to consider, 
 and to send him their answers. 
 
 The same was signified in a second circular, dated 
 January, 1786, which contained a declaration of the 
 intention of Leopold to purge religion of the abuses and 
 superstitions by which it was disfigured, and to restore 
 it to its primitive purity and perfection. He at the 
 
 11 
 
122 SECRETS OF 
 
 same time implored them to express their sentiments 
 fearlessly and boldly on that head. " The intelligence 
 and information of the Grand Duke were every where 
 admired, and his fifty-seven points were reprinted in 
 France." 
 
 Ricci availed himself of this circumstance to hold a 
 diocesan synod of Pistoia. 
 
 The answers of the bishops to the fifty-seven points 
 being far from uniform, the Grand Duke adopted the 
 resolution of calling, previously to the convocation of 
 the national council of which he had sketched the 
 plan, an assembly of bishops, in which the matters in- 
 tended to be agitated, should be prepared and discussed 
 in such a way as to leave no pretext for opposition or 
 discord. In March, 1787, the bishops were convoked ; 
 and their assembly opened in the following April. 
 
 The whole of Tuscany was occupied with this 
 event, and more particularly those persons who had 
 either been delighted with the suppression of the Je- 
 suits, or who deplored that unexpected catastrophe. 
 The former opposed, with the Prince and some Tus- 
 can prelates, the pretensions of the Court of Rome and 
 the superstitious notions of the vulgar, particularly the 
 Worship of the Sacred Heart, Cordicoles^ which was 
 the rallying sign of the secret Society of the Jesuits, 
 iJte impenetrctble Qiiystery of vcliose jiroceedings con- 
 cealed the contlmud additions ichich it made to its 
 inemhers. The others, on the contrary, employed 
 every means in tlieir pov/er to support that society, and 
 were aided in their pernicious designs by the populace, 
 the monks, and the Court of Rome. 
 
 Three archbishops and fourteen bishops attended 
 the first session, and were, each of them, accompanied 
 by two or three legal advisers. A violent dispute took 
 place in regard to the manner of expressing the opin- 
 ion and will of the assembly, or rather on the canonical 
 mode of procedure in councils of a similar kind ; the 
 resolutions of the assembly, on that point, naturally 
 serving as a model for the guidance of the approaching 
 national council. The opposition party, that is five- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 123 
 
 sixths of the assembly, loudly called for the plurality of 
 votes, which were in their favor, as the best mode of 
 expressing it ; the other party insisted on the unan- 
 imity which the Grand Duke had demanded in his 
 circular. The question was finally determined in 
 favor of a plurality of votes, and the Bishops of Pistoia, 
 of Colle, and of Chiusi, were obliged to content them- 
 selves with an insertion of their protest against this 
 irregularity. 
 
 The second session opened by a recommendation of 
 secrecy in regard to the proceedings of the assembly, — 
 a secrecy which had been violated in so scandalous a 
 manner, in regard to what had taken place at the first 
 meeting of the bishops, that the speeches of each of the 
 members had been very currently reported in almost 
 every house at Florence. 
 
 They next proceeded to an examination of the three 
 first points proposed by the Grand Duke. All the 
 members agreed in the opinion expressed by the 
 Prince, except in regard to the deliberative voice 
 which he conferred on those who were only priests ; 
 and which the assembly, with the exception of the 
 Bishops of Pistoia, Colle, and Chiusi, and the canons 
 and theologians Vecchi, Tanzini, Palmieri, Lon- 
 ginelli, (fee, would only recognise as consultative. In 
 the very animated discussion which took place on the 
 subject, the Bishop of Pescia behaved with the greatest 
 violence, and allowed himself to be so transported with 
 passion, that he accused Palmieri of heresy, because he 
 had proposed an examination of the right of the priests 
 to sit as synodal judges. Lampredi, the adviser of the 
 Archbishop of Pisa, gave the appellation of conventi- 
 cles to those councils which had permitted such an 
 irregularity; notwithstanding his opponents distinctly 
 proved that such had been the practice in the councils 
 which were held in the times of the primitive Church. 
 
 In the third session, the subject of the plurality or 
 unanimity of votes, as necessary for guiding the deci- 
 sions of the approaching council, was renewed. The 
 fifteen bishops of the opposition party declared in 
 
124 SECRETS OF 
 
 favor of a plurality, in all cases whatsoever ; the re- 
 maining three, only in cases relating to the discipline 
 of the Church, strict unanimity being always required 
 in matters of faith. 
 
 These three prelates gave in their vote, concerning 
 the deliberative right of the priests in synodal assem- 
 blies, for insertion among the acts. 
 
 The assembly next proceeded to an examination of 
 the fourth point, on which no discussion took place ; 
 the necessity of correcting the missal and breviary 
 having been agreed to by a resolution. The three 
 metropolitans were ordered to execute this duty with 
 as little delay as possible. 
 
 The proposal for using the language of the country 
 in the administration of the sacraments was not so 
 well received ; and the opposition, in endeavoring to 
 combat its propriety, gave proofs of their ignorance, 
 which were very carefully exposed. However, after 
 showing the opponents of the measure that the Latin 
 language was universally understood and spoken, at 
 the period of composing the liturgy, all of the^n agreed 
 that it ivoidd be j)roper to employ a language lohich 
 %o as familiar to the people. 
 
 In regard to the fifth point, the fathers were unani- 
 mously of opinion, that the bishops possessed the pri- 
 vilege of granting all lawful dispensations. The op- 
 position party maintained that the privilege of granting 
 them, enjoyed by the court of Rome, ought to be re- 
 spected ; but became divided as to whether it would 
 be sufficient to demand from the Pope power to resume 
 their ancient rights, or whether it would be most pro- 
 per to receive at his hands the power necessary for 
 granting dispensations. The three bishops of the 
 adverse party refused to agree to this last proposition, 
 because it would have the effect of making the episco- 
 copal body be looked upon as merely the delegates, in 
 that respect, of the Court of Rome, which ever after- 
 wards, whenever it might think proper to repent of the 
 concession, would resume the privilege under pretence 
 of its being merely a temporary grant. These three 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 125 
 
 prelates having finally agreed, for the purpose of attest- 
 ing it by a specific act, to request permission to resume 
 the exercise of their ancient rights, of which they only 
 considered themselves the depositaries, and which they 
 consequently could not give up, the Bishops of Sam- 
 miniato and of Soana joined them. The others con- 
 tinued their opposition, principally at the instigation 
 of the Archbishop of Pisa. 
 
 By order of the Grand-duke, the affair of the Bishop 
 of Chiusi and Pienza was taken into consideration. A 
 pastoral letter in regard to the hidden truths of sound 
 doctrine, which he had addressed, in April, 1786, to 
 the clergy and the orthodox part of his diocese, had 
 been approved by several theologians of the highest 
 merit and reputation, and was afterwards printed and 
 published. Rome condemned it in the course of that 
 year by a brief, which it transmitted to the prelate, 
 accusing him of evil intentions, and enjoining him to 
 retract. The prelate, in his reply, cleared himself 
 from the accusation as to the purity of his intentions, 
 of which, he said, no one had any right to judge ; 
 demonstrated the absolute impossibility of retracting 
 the whole of what he had advanced in his pastoral 
 address, inasmuch as it contained many unquestion- 
 able articles of belief; and requested that the errors 
 of which he had been guilty might be pointed out to 
 him as soon as possible, as he only waited to be made 
 aware of them, in order to retract them. Next year 
 the Pope despatched another brief, much more violent 
 than the first, and full of the grossest abuse, not only 
 of the Bishop of Chiusi, but of the whole episcopal 
 body of Tuscany, of the Government, and of the 
 Prince who was at its head, who, it was there alleged, 
 was tinctured with heterodox opinions. The prelate, 
 after such a gross personal insult, in despair of receiv- 
 ing any justice at the hands of the Court of Rome, 
 communicated the whole affair to the Grand Duke. 
 
 There is also an excellent memorial by Ricci, which 
 was read in the assembly, concerning the inalienable 
 rights of the clergy to full and absolute jurisdiction 
 
126 SECRETS OF 
 
 over their diocesses — rights of which the councils nei- 
 ther wished nor could deprive them, and which they 
 have only explained by the canons ; rights which all 
 pastors are obliged to claim in full, and which they 
 must exercise for the good of those committed to their 
 charge. This is the passage which relates to the re- 
 servations of the Court of Rome. 
 
 " During the early ages of the Church, no instance 
 occurs of any general and perpetual reservation by 
 the councils in I'avor of the Pope, nor of any limitation 
 of the power of the bishops prescribed by the Popes 
 themselves. What now remains of the applications 
 which were made to Rome at that time, are in fact any 
 thing but reservations or limitations. The practice 
 then was, to communicate to the Bishop of Rome the 
 most difficult and important cases which occurred ; to 
 inform her of the fortunate or unfortunate state of the 
 churches which were spread abroad in different parts 
 of the world, and to request her to interest herself in 
 regard to them. The Church of Rome communicated 
 in the same manner her affairs to the other chu relies, 
 particularly to those which were the most celebrated 
 and most respectable. As they only formed altogether 
 one body and family under the authority of one su- 
 preme and invisible head, Jesus Christ, every thing 
 which occurred, whether fortunate or unfortunate, was 
 considered as aflecting the whole. The communica- 
 tions to the Church at Rome were naturally of more 
 frequent occurrence than to any other, from its being 
 the most important and respectable. That circum- 
 stance, however, does not by any means prove a right 
 of reservation on her part, which is contradicted by 
 what- actually took place on such occasions; the most 
 authentic of the ancient decretals being only simple 
 advices or exhortations. 
 
 " Rome herself did not even pretend to the posses- 
 sion of any legislative authority. The Popes, when 
 they were consulted on any point, either solved the 
 doubts which were proposed, or jDrescribed the obser- 
 vation of rules, not on the authority of any laws en- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 127 
 
 acted by themselves, or any right of reservation, but 
 on that of tradition and the canons, to which they 
 acknowledged themselves bound to yield obedience. 
 Whenever they attempted a departure from these prin- 
 ciples, or sought to convert them to any bad purpose, 
 the rest of the churches protested against the irregu- 
 larity of the proceeding, and boldly applied to it the 
 proper remedy. 
 
 '• Tliere can be no doubt that the attempt to legislate 
 for, and to command the rest of the churches, took its 
 origin after the period of the false decretals^ and that 
 it was not made either immediately or at once ; for, in 
 general, even the decrees of Innocent III., and Alex- 
 ander III. retained, for a long time after that period, 
 the mere character of exhortations and advices. The 
 frequency, however, of these consultations, the univer- 
 sal ignorance which prevailed every where except at 
 Rome, and the political circumstances of the times, 
 made the advice of the Popes to be carried into effect 
 without the slightest hesitation or modification. Hence, 
 in the course of time, they were considered as of equal 
 authority with the laws ; while the Popes themselves, 
 not finding any resistance to their injunctions, and 
 pretending to believe that they were invested with 
 authority to pronounce them, went so far as to arrogate 
 that every thing relating to the church was within the 
 cognizance of their jurisdiction. 
 
 " Nothing is more common than to see absolute and 
 unlimited power degenerating into excess and tyranny; 
 and such was the case with the authority of the Popes. 
 The extravagances of the despotism of the Court of 
 RomC; gave rise to murmurs and dissatisfaction. The 
 power which they enjoyed was never a source of 
 peace and tranquillity. The concordats of Germany 
 and France, the pragmatic sanctions, the liberties of 
 the Gallican Church, as they were called, are all of 
 them to be considered as so many proofs of the opposi- 
 tion which was made to the attempts of the Court of 
 Rome, and as so many bulwarks raised by the bishops 
 and the people, with the view of preserving to them- 
 
129 SECRETS OF 
 
 selves some portion of their primitive and indestruc- 
 tible rights. 
 
 " The councils of Constance and Basle wished to 
 strike at the very root of the evil ; that of Trent at- 
 tempted to restore to the bishops as much of their 
 authority as the preponderance of the Court of Rome 
 would permit. AH these attempts have been unsuc- 
 cessful ; and Rome, by the creation of its various Con- 
 gregations, has devised so many methods of multiplying 
 its reservations, that they have become so numerous as 
 scarcely to leave at the disposal of the bishops a shadow 
 of the authority which originally formed a part of the 
 episcopal character." 
 
 The seventh article was next taken into considera- 
 tion. The opposition spent but little time in combat- 
 ing the uniformity of instruction and doctrine de- 
 manded by Leopold, that it might let loose all its fury 
 and violence against Augustin, whom it used every 
 effort to blacken, as being the only source of that uni- 
 form doctrine. Lampredi went so far as to declare the 
 author a hot-headed declahner ! The opposition 
 bishops, not knowing either how to avert the blow 
 with which they were threatened, or how they could 
 deny the authority of a father of the Church so cele- 
 brated as Augustin, offered to admit it, on condition 
 that his works should always be accompanied by those 
 of his faithful interpreter, Thomas. The Dominicans 
 had succeeded in making that scholastic writer speak 
 the language of the Jesuits, and they were desirous of 
 making common cause with them. 
 
 It was objected, however, that the consequence of 
 such a proceeding, would be a return to all the ab- 
 surdities of the ancient school ; that the writings of 
 Augustin had been perfectly well understood until the 
 time of ThomaSj who had rendered them obscure by 
 his attempts to explain them; that Baius, Jansenius, 
 and Q,uesnel, to whom it was pretended that he had 
 given birth, made their appearance after his inter- 
 preter ; and finally that the proposition of Mamachi, 
 Augiistinus eget Thoma interpreter Augustin requires 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. ' 129 
 
 the explanations of Thomas, had been tacitly con- 
 demned by the See of Rome. It was only in conse- 
 quence of this partial concession on the part of the 
 Court of Rome, that Vasquez, general of the Angus- 
 tins had recalled the prohibition which he had 
 issued four years before, to quote or name Thomas in 
 any disputes which might arise in future : " the time," 
 said he, " is gone by, in which there is any ground for 
 dreading the bugbear accusation of being tinctured 
 with that chimerical heresy, denominated Jansenism." 
 
 The necessity, however, of accompanying Augustin 
 with the explanations of Thomas, was decreed by a 
 majority of the assembly ; and a commission named to 
 regulate the method of instruction, and to point out the 
 authors who had been most successful in expounding 
 the doctrines of that writer. It is not a little remark- 
 able that a work was proposed, in which the adver- 
 saries of the opposition proved that the writer had in- 
 culcated the seditious maxims of Pope Gregory VII., 
 by applying to sovereign princes the epithets of " ser- 
 vants of the Pope ;" by decrying the authority of gen- 
 eral councils, and converting the Roman Pontiff into 
 an absolute despot. The Archbishop of Florence de- 
 nominated these grave errors '' trifling blemishes," an 
 expression on which Ricci commented with much 
 warmth and severity." 
 
 The measures recommended by Leopold in his 
 eighth article for preventing any persons from receiv- 
 ing ordination, except those who had been properly 
 instructed, whose morals were unexceptionable, and 
 whose vocation could not be called in question, as well 
 as for preventing a greater number from being ordain- 
 ed than was absolutely required for the service of the 
 Church, gave the opposition some reason to fear that 
 he wished to diminish the number of the clergy. They 
 accordingly employed their utmost efforts to prove that 
 Tuscany instead of having too many priests, or any 
 who were useless, rather stood in need of some addi- 
 tion to its present number; and urged that opinion with 
 such determined obstinacy, that if became necessary to 
 
130 SECRETS OF 
 
 allow each bishop to regulate his diocess in that matter 
 as he might deem most proper. The consequence was, 
 that while all agreed to the truth of the principle that 
 no useless priests should be ordained, each reserved to 
 himself the right of ordaining as many as he chose. 
 The clergy denominated Eugenian, belonging to the 
 cathedral of Florence, who were made priests for no 
 other reason than the services which they had rendered 
 to that church, were exempted from all reform. From 
 thirty-three clerks who composed it at its commence- 
 ment, that body had increased to one hundred and fifty. 
 The grand argument employed throughout the whole 
 of this discussion was, that bishops ought not to tie up 
 their own hands. 
 
 The same argument was made use of to combat the 
 ninth point, concerning the necessity of fixing eighteen 
 as the proper age for receiving the tonsure, and enter- 
 ing into the clerical profession ; as well as of ridding 
 the churches and the service, of the children employed 
 in the choir, who went through their duty with as little 
 decency as fervor. The fear of seeing the numbers of 
 the clergy diminished by the lopping off of any one of 
 the shoots fromwhich it was increased, was so great, that 
 it became necessary to leave this article also to the dis- 
 cretion of the bishops. 
 
 Testimony was given by Longinelli, who was di- 
 rector, during eleven years, in regard to the Eugenian 
 clergy of Florence, the most numerous collegiate body 
 perhaps in the whole of Europe. Speaking of their 
 disorderly habits, he says, " At the time that I resided 
 in that city, I used my best endeavors to eradicate, at 
 least, the most apparent causes and occasions of the 
 irregularities which were committed ; such, for exam- 
 ple, as the nocturnal service; but T dare not flatter my- 
 self that I succeeded in extirpating the whole. The 
 admixture of so many little boys of very tender years, 
 opens so many sources of disorder, that the utmost 
 vigilance of the most attentive master is incapable of 
 detecting them. Tlie children who enter into the society 
 of these young clerks, find these disorders in full ope- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 131 
 
 ration, and in a short time they also become infected 
 with the contagion." Longinelh reckons four hundred 
 persons in orders, at Florence alone. 
 
 The tenth, the eleventh, and the twelfth articles, fur- 
 nished but little food for dispute. The opponents of 
 the measures promised to conform themselves to them 
 as far as possible ; and the other bishops declared that 
 they would regulate their conduct by the expressions 
 of Leopold, in the same way as with the two preceding 
 articles. 
 
 The thirteenth article presents nothing remarkable, 
 except the unanimous adoption, after some little debate, 
 of the principle put forth by the Grand Duke, "that 
 the right of patronage in the case of churches, cannot 
 justify any one in nominating a pastor who is disagree- 
 able to the congregation ; and that due deference must 
 be paid in every case, to the right which the people 
 have to good spiritual directors and solid instruction." 
 
 The fourteenth article gave rise to a very interesting 
 and very animated discussion on the practice of asking 
 charity for saying masses ; a means employed by an 
 avaricious j)riesthood for retaining the people in igno- 
 rance^ and inducing them to believe that they thereby 
 liurchase the holy sacrifice and, its spiritual effects. 
 The practice had been permitted when the clergy were 
 poor, and was consequently obliged to procure their 
 support from the charity of the people ; but since they 
 have possessed in abundance what is necessary for 
 their maintenance, it only served to increase the num- 
 bers of the useless clergy, who looked upon their pro- 
 fession merely as a trade and means of subsistence. 
 The opposition, from an opinion that the Church had 
 not enough of property to support all its ministers, 
 without reflecting whether there was not a superfluous 
 number, caused a resolution to be adopted, that the 
 bishops should each of them regulate that matter ac- 
 cording to the necessities of their diocesses. 
 
 The fifteenth article was treated in the same manner. 
 The opposition party agreed as to the incompatibility 
 of more than one benefice requiring personal residence, 
 
132 SECRETS OF 
 
 being conferred on one clergyman ; but they would 
 not consent to the cession of several simple benefices, 
 until their joint incomes should amount to sixty crowns, 
 as the C4rand Duke proposed, for the support of a chap- 
 lain or curate. They saw also in this proposal the 
 much dreaded diminution of the numbers of tlie clergy, 
 and even openly avowed their fears, saying, that out 
 of five small benefices given to five ecclesiastics, there 
 was always a certainty of finding one really good 
 priest — a circumstance which could not so certainly 
 have been relied on, if they had all been united in one. 
 This reasoning was easily refuted by their adversaries, 
 who insisted on obedience being yielded to the com- 
 mands of the Prince, by excluding from ecclesiastical 
 orders all the lazy, and consequently useless priests, 
 and by ordaining those only who deserved to be ap- 
 pointed. 
 
 In regard to the seventeenth article, the opposition 
 resisted the declaration, that the person promoted to 
 the enjoyment of a benefice in a diocess should in all 
 cases have been ordained within it; but it allowed, 
 nevertheless, that it would be much better that such 
 were the case. 
 
 The twentieth and twenty-first articles furnished 
 matter for a discussion, in regard to those who were 
 merely priests, not attached to any particular Church, 
 and were only obliged to say mass, and to recite the 
 breviary. The opposition party agreed to the propriety 
 of doing away with that abuse. 
 
 Oratories and private chapels were attacked with 
 much warmth in the course of the discussion, which 
 took place on the twenty-second and twenty-third arti- 
 cles. The bishops of the opposition party would not 
 hear of their being abolished : they consented, how- 
 ever, to join in prohibiting the celebration of divine 
 service in them on Sundays and festival days, except 
 by permission of the ordinary. The three JDishops, 
 and also the Bishop of Soana, demanded their entire 
 suppression ; particularly on the ground of the in- 
 justice of always granting the privilege to wealth 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 133 
 
 and rank, which possess no merit in the eyes of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 The twenty-fifth, and following articles, in regard to 
 the decency of conduct required from priests, which 
 necessarily prohibits them from hunting, frequenting 
 the theatres, (fee. ; the dignity of the service of the 
 Church, without either expense or shows ; the cere- 
 monies, fetes, <fec. ; were entrusted, as regards their 
 execution, to the prudence of the bishops, according to 
 the particular circumstances of their diocesses. 
 
 The affair of the Bishop of Chiusi and Pienza was 
 resumed. Notwithstanding the explicit orders of the 
 Grand Duke, and the formal request of the prelate him- 
 self, the opposition party, consisting of his colleagues, 
 peremptorily refused to examine the pastoral address 
 in question, as well as the briefs of the Pope, through 
 dread of offending the latter by re-judging not only 
 what he had condemned, but also the sentence of con- 
 demnation itself. At last, they came to a resolution, 
 in which the Bishops of Pistoia and CoUe, with those 
 of Sepolchro and Arezzo joined, that each should give 
 in his opinion in writing, and transmit it immediately 
 to the Grand Duke, with a proviso, that their opinions 
 should be communicated to the Bishop of Chiusi — an 
 injunction which Leopold faithfully observed. 
 
 The discussion on the twenty- eighth article brought 
 under the attention of the bishops the small curtains, 
 veils, or mantles, which it had been the practice to 
 place before particular images. All the arguments of 
 the bishops, theologians, and canonists, who spoke in 
 favor of the proposal of the Grand Duke, however 
 striking and well-founded, could only prevail on the 
 opposition party to agree on the unveiling of the 
 images which were held in the smallest estimation. 
 According to their opinion, the ancient images might 
 remain veiled, without producing the least incon- 
 venience ; provided always that the bishops took care 
 to instruct their flocks not to attach any material or 
 superstitious idea to that mark of respect. 
 
 The twenty-ninth article brought under their review 
 12 
 
134 SECRETS OF 
 
 the anniversary masses for the repose of the dead, 
 which had increased beyond all bounds ; the exorbi- 
 tant number of masses generally; the gross indecency 
 of saying several 7nasses at the sa^ne time in the same 
 church; the hurry with which masses are said by 
 those who celebrate them, who are driven to this inde- 
 cent conduct, in order to make room for others ; the 
 quarrels which take i^lace on that subject in the sa- 
 cristies ; the high or low rate charged for saying 
 masses, according to the greater or lesser number of 
 the candidates ; the application of some masses to a 
 particular person, either living or dead, according to 
 the intention of the celebrator, or his constituent ; the 
 privileges attached to particular altars, days, and 
 priests, (fee. The Archbishop of Florence was the 
 most obstinate in denying the existence of such abuses, 
 and in wishing to preserve ail these matters as they 
 were. All the other prelates allowed that the abuses 
 existed ; but would not consent to bind themselves to 
 do any thing more than merely to instruct their flocks 
 to do away with the existing errors, as far as had been 
 required by the Council of Trent. 
 
 In the course of this discussion, there occur several 
 very pointed remarks on the personal and local privi- 
 leges of the clergy ; on the Gregorian altars, to which, 
 it was pretended, the power of rescuing a soul from 
 purgatory at will, was attached, <fec. 
 
 ''An error so very gross as that of the privileged 
 altars, is connected with a great number of others in 
 regard to indulgences. The condescension shown by 
 the Church in granting absolutions, is in reality only 
 a diminution of a part of the punishments pointed out 
 by the canons of the Church : a diminution which, 
 during the first ages, was only granted on account of 
 extraordinary fervor in the penitent, or from a consi- 
 deration of the impossibility of his undergoing the 
 whole of the punishment which had been imposed on 
 him. That favor now passes for a complete remission 
 of sins ; while the absurd and false ojnnion every- 
 where prevails^ that whoever has departed this life in 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 135 
 
 possession of a i^enai-y indulgence^ has no sin to ex- 
 jriate, and is received immediately into the regions of 
 eternal glory! Under the impression of these and 
 other equally ridiciilons and exorbitant ideas of the 
 power of the Pope, both in this and the other world, 
 people have not hesitated to declare that the souls of 
 the dead were equally capable of receiving the benefit 
 of indulgences."^^ 
 
 The fundamental principles of religion are not 
 known or recognised, and they either will not or 
 dare not investigate them. They do not even per- 
 ceive, that the excessive number of privileges of which 
 they boast, are a sufficient proof of their being ill 
 founded. 
 
 ''If it were true, as is stated by some persons, that 
 a soul was delivered from purgatory each time that a 
 privileged mass, whether local or personal, was said, 
 purgatory ought not only to be alicays einpty^ but to 
 have a very large sum at its debit ^ in behalf of the 
 souls who have not yet made their appearance there. 
 In every parish church, by an indulgence of Clement 
 XIII., the grand altar is privileged. There is always 
 one of the same kind in every church of the regular 
 monks, possessed of seven altars ; and in every other 
 the privilege exists, at least for some particular day in 
 the week. The number of priests possessing the pri- 
 vilege personally is very great. On a moderate calcu- 
 lation, the privileged masses which are said every day 
 in the city and diocess of Florence alone, amount to 
 several hundreds, and consequently exceed, to a consi- 
 derable degree, the number of persons who die in the 
 course of the day. The same may be said to be the 
 case proportionally in all Catholic countries." 
 
 The thirty-seventh article gave rise to the display of 
 much sound argument and erudition, in support of, 
 and of much obstinacy, bad faith, and ignorance, in 
 opposition to the desire which the Grand Duke had 
 expressed of prohibiting more than one mass from 
 being said at the same time, and of permitting only 
 one altar in the same church. The opposition party 
 
136 SECRETS OF 
 
 would only promise to abolish those altars which were 
 useless, or indecorously situated. 
 
 On the fortieth article, the dispute in regard to the 
 jurisdiction of the curates was renewed. The oppo- 
 sition party would not consent to their possessing any, 
 and maintained that they were, and ought to be, en- 
 tirely dependent on the bishops. 
 
 The theologians and canonists delivered their opin- 
 ions in regard to the affair of the Bishop of Chiusi and 
 Pienza. All of them agreed in praise of his pastoral 
 address, which they declared to be fauhless, and in 
 censuring the replies of the Pope, as well as the ca- 
 lumnies, and vague and undefined accusations which 
 were preferred against the whole of the episcopal body, 
 the Tuscan Government, cfec. 
 
 Ricci took up the defence of the Bishop of Chiusi 
 with much warmth, insisted on the bishops coming to 
 a determination on the matter as soon and as clearly 
 as possible, and on demanding from the See of Rome 
 ample reparation for the injury ; maintaining that if 
 its error was once pointed out, the Court of Rome 
 could not fail to yield to their remonstrances. The 
 boldness of Ricci is so much the more remarkable, as 
 he had just received intelligence of an insurrection 
 which had been excited at Prato, in honor of the Gir- 
 dle of the Holy Yirgin. 
 
 The fifty-fourth article gave rise to a discussion in 
 regard to the books prohibited at Rome, among which 
 were found, some of those which the Grand Duke pro- 
 posed to form part of the curate's library. The oppo- 
 sition party rejected the whole, after having declared, 
 that they did not thereby pretend to condemn either the 
 authors or their writings. The argument by which it 
 attempted to justify their conduct in that respect was, 
 that it was much better to give the priests those works 
 only which were exempt from all suspicion, stain, or 
 censure. The three prelates who were of a contrary 
 opinion, accepted the article proposed by Leopold with- 
 out the smallest hesitation or modification. 
 
 Among other books which were pointed out, were 
 
FEMALE COX VENTS. 137 
 
 the writinofs of Q^iiesnel, Le Tourneux. (fee, to which 
 Ricci added those of Nicole. " The Provincial Letters," 
 Godeau, Diiguet. &c. 
 
 The fifty-sixth article was more favorably received. 
 The bishops agreed generally in the necessity of cur- 
 tailing the privileges of the regular orders, so as to re- 
 duce them to the situation of mere coadjutors of the 
 curates, and to render the possession of their properties 
 dependent on their making themselves useful in their 
 parishes, instead of injuring the service of the churches, 
 and attracting the people to themselves solely for their 
 own advantage, as had hitherto been the case. 
 
 The fiftieth article required the convents to be inde- 
 pendent of their provincials and generals. That inde- 
 pendence appeared to the greater part of the opposition 
 to have been sufficiently secured by the laws which 
 already existed in full operation in the Grand Duchy. 
 The bishops of Pistoia and Colle declared that they 
 preferred, according to Leopold's proposal, that each 
 convent should form a separate community, subject 
 only to tlie control of the bishop of the diocess in which 
 it was situated. 
 
 The Grand Duke added four new questions to his 
 fifty-seven articles, which furnished matter for some 
 interesting discussions. One of those related to the 
 baptisteries, which the opposition party would not con- 
 sent to grant to all parishes, principally at the instiga- 
 tion of the two archbishops of Florence and Pisa ; an- 
 other, to the abolition of the mendicity of the religious 
 orders. The opponents of these measures did not deny 
 the inconveniences resulting from the license which 
 these orders had to beg ; but they exaggerated the im- 
 possibility, on the other hand, of providing in a proper 
 manner for the support of the mendicant orders. 
 
 The important subject of marriage presented one pe- 
 culiar feature. The opposition party would not agree 
 to the nullity, in a civil point of view, of mere promises, 
 whether written or verbal, as the bishops of Pisioia, 
 Colle, Chiusi, and Soana would have wished them. 
 They agreed, however, with those enlightened prelates. 
 12^ 
 
138 SECRETS OF 
 
 in admitting that there was a distinct difference be- 
 tween the contract and the sacrament, and even allow- 
 ed that the sovereign possessed all authority in regard 
 to the former. 
 
 The commission which had been appointed to draw 
 up a plan of ecclesiastical study which would render 
 the doctrine of the Church both sound and uniform, at 
 length delivered the fruits of their labors to the assem- 
 bly. The disputes in regard to Augustin and Thomas, 
 and to systems of theology containing propositions in- 
 jurious to the rights of sovereign princes, were in con- 
 sequence renewed. 
 
 The opposition party displayed their ill-will on the 
 subject of useless oaths, which they would not consent 
 to abolish, notwithstanding the powerful reasons urged 
 in behalf of such a measure. 
 
 This obstinacy brought on a discussion in regard to 
 the oath of vassalage to the Pope taken by the bishops, 
 which Tanzini denominates a feudal remnant of Hil- 
 debrandine i^folicy. 
 
 The opposition party had neither the boldness to 
 support, nor to forbid the taking of it in future ; but 
 found the means of getting out of the dilemma, without 
 compromising itself with the Court of Rome, by saying 
 that they had nothing to suggest to the Grand Duke 
 on that head. The bishops of Pistoia, CoUe, Chiusi, 
 and Soana implored the Prince to take the matter into 
 serious consideration, and stated their conviction that 
 a simple promise of canonical obedience was all that 
 was required. 
 
 The plan of a uniform course of study for the whole 
 of Tuscany was considerably amended by the sugges- 
 tions of the Bishops of Pistoia, Colle, and Chiusi : the 
 opposition party would not, however, consent to the 
 abolition of the scholastic method of instruction, which 
 those prelates were anxious to extirpate as an invention 
 of the dark ages, and to substitute for it the scriptures, 
 tradition, and the fathers. Neither would they depart 
 from the necessity of employing the writings of Tho- 
 mas for the interpretation of those of Augustin. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 139 
 
 Several memorials from the synod of Pistoia to the 
 Grand Duke were transmitted by the latter for exami- 
 nation to the assembly. Notwithstanding the opinion 
 of the Prince, which on the whole was favorable to 
 them, the assembly received them very coldly. Among 
 other matters, they refused a request in one of them 
 to refer all the fetes to the Sunday following the day of 
 their occurrence, to abolish the necessity of abstaining 
 from labor on these days, and on the evenings preceding 
 fasts, with that of attending mass not only on these days, 
 but also on the festival days which had been abolished, 
 but which were still attended with that obligation. 
 
 Another memorial contained the project of a general 
 reform of the religious orders of every description, 
 which Ricci was desirous of uniting under one single 
 institute, namely, that of Benedict. In that case there 
 would only have been one convent, always situated in 
 the country, for each town, and containing, with the 
 exception of one or two priests required for the admi- 
 nistration of the sacraments, only lay monks. The 
 opposition party would not, however, agree on any 
 terms to the execution of that plan. 
 
 The nineteenth and last session was held in June, 
 1787. 
 
 The Grand Duke gave orders that the acts of the 
 assembly should remain open during eight days, for 
 the purpose of affording an opportunity of inserting re- 
 plies to the articles already deposited. He gave audi- 
 ence to the assembly in a body, and testified to them 
 his vexation at the malignant spirit with which they 
 had misrepresented his intentions, and the selfishness 
 which had induced them to reject his proposals ; at the 
 little harmony and concord which existed among 
 the bishops, and at the spirit of prejudice and party 
 which had actuated them, <fec. 
 
 The Prince afterwards prohibited in his states the 
 " Journal of Rome," the " Projet dc Bourg-Fontaine^'' 
 and other periodical and defamatory publications, 
 which, after being composed at Rome, were dissemi- 
 nated throughout the whole of Tuscany, " for the pur- 
 
140 SECRETS OF 
 
 pose of excitinp^ sedition, and increasing the supersti- 
 tion which gave birth to it." 
 
 The writer terminates his vokmie with some very- 
 appropriate and just reflections on the progress of know- 
 ledge ; a progress which had taken place much against 
 the wish of the assembly itself, which, although deter- 
 mined to delay the intellectual revolution which was 
 operating, as much as possible, could not prevent that 
 body from coming up to that which had already taken 
 place. Although there was a predominant party ini- 
 mical to reform, many resolutions were passed, which, 
 a century before, would have been considered as so 
 many heresies. Without paying the least attention to 
 the Court of Rome, the studies of the regular clergy 
 were distinctly pointed out and determined ; them- 
 selves subjected to the control of the ordinaries, and 
 the principle of yielding obedience, and rendering 
 themselves useful in the spiritual duty of the parishes, 
 was formally recognised. A uniform system of eccle- 
 siastical instruction, for which Augustin was chosen 
 as the model, was established ; the reform of the mis- 
 sals and breviaries was resolved on ; all taxes for ad- 
 ministering spiritual aid were abolished ; and the lux- 
 ury, dissipation, and gross irregularities of the clergy, 
 were openly condemned. 
 
 II. The second volume of the Collection of the Acts, 
 is entitled " Ecclesiastical Points compiled and trans- 
 mitted by his Royal Highness to all the Archbishops 
 and Bishops of Tuscany, with the replies of those pre- 
 lates :" Florence, 1787. 
 
 The fifty-seven points proposed by the Prince relate 
 to the necessity of holding diocesan synods ; to the 
 right of the curates to sit and vote in them ; to the in- 
 dispensable necessity of reforming the missals and 
 breviaries ; to the abolition of useless oaths ; to the 
 reclaiming of the authority of the bishops which had 
 been usurped by the Court of Rome, especially the 
 power of granting dispensations, and more particularly 
 dispensations in matters relating to marriage ; to the uni- 
 formity of doctrine and study according to the writings 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 141 
 
 of Augustin : to the prohibition to ordain priests to si- 
 necures, to permit their receiving the tonsure and be- 
 ing admitted to the rank of a clergyman before the age 
 of eighteen, and to crowd the churches and ahars with 
 the children belonging to the choir, as had formerly 
 been the case ; to the absolute necessity of ordaining 
 none but priests worthy of being intrusted with the 
 ministry ; to the abolition of begging for saying 
 masses ; to the impropriety of one individual holding 
 and doing the duty of several benefices ; to the neces- 
 sity of attaching each incumbent to a particular church 
 in the district of his benefice ; to the suppression of 
 private oratories ; to prohibiting the priests from hunt- 
 ing, frequenting inns, coffee-houses, theatres, gaming- 
 houses, &c., trading, employing themselves in com- 
 mercial speculations, 6cc. ; to a reduction of the ex- 
 travagant luxury of the temples, and of the theatrical 
 pomp of festivals and religious ceremonies ; to pro- 
 hibiting the celebration of more than one mass in the 
 same church ; to the examination of all relics, denomi- 
 nated sacred, and the elimination of those which were 
 false ; to the unveiling of covered images ; to the in- 
 struction to be given to the people relative to the com- 
 munion of saints, and to sufii'age inbehalf of the dead; 
 to the duties of curates ; to exhorting the people in the 
 language of the country on the Gospel for each day, 
 and the explanation of the Latin prayers which are 
 repeated ; to the books to be furnished by the Govern- 
 ment to the curates ; to the submission of the regular 
 monks and nuns to the curates and bishops ; and to 
 the invalidity in Tuscany of orders, permissions, dis- 
 pensations from Rome, unless accompanied by the 
 Ex equator from Government. 
 
 The first answer is from the Archbishop of Florence, 
 Martini, the chief of the opposition party in the national 
 ecclesiastical assembly. That prelate principally com- 
 bats the proposal for correcting the missals and bre- 
 viaries, the administration of the sacraments in the 
 common language of the country ; the validity of dis- 
 pensations granted by the ordinaries, all innovations 
 
142 SECRETS OP 
 
 tending to diminish the solemnity and splendor of the 
 external part of religious worship, or the number of 
 priests, clerks, or festivals. 
 
 The answer of Sciarelli, Bishop of Colle, and one 
 of the three prelates who favored a thorough reform, 
 follows next. He approves of all the proposals of the 
 Grand Duke ; advises following the example of Ricci 
 after his council, both as to the nature and the mode 
 of the reform to be eifected ; quotes, as one of the oaths 
 which ought to be abolished, that which is taken to 
 the See of Rome at the time of consecration ; considers 
 ordinary bishops possessed of sufficient power, without 
 having recourse to the Pope, to govern their diocess, to 
 grant dispensations in all lawful cases, <fcc. ; shows a 
 disposition to abolish all ceremonies, processions, fetes, 
 &c., and to eject all images which might have been 
 adjudged dangerous or useless ; adds several books to 
 those which had been selected, to form the curates' 
 library, and among others, the works of authors 
 accused of Jansenism; and proposes the suppression 
 of some of the very few convents existing in his 
 diocess. 
 
 Mancini, Bishop of Fiesole, and one of the most 
 violent of the opposition party, follows next. Before 
 giving his answers, he puts forth several general prin- 
 ciples, in which he declares all reform dangerous and 
 unlawful. " It would be highly culpable," says he, " to 
 attempt to re-establish the ancient discipline of the 
 Church, by virtue of which the diocesses had no dis- 
 tinct boundary, the priests were not obliged to lead a 
 life of celibacy, and lived from day to day on the offer- 
 ings of their flocks, and the communion was adminis- 
 tered in both kinds." 
 
 He is also of opinion, that it would be excessively 
 ridiculous to deny the right of the Pope to the univer- 
 sal superintendence and control of the Church, since 
 the Protestants themselves had confessed that he was 
 the true basis of the stability of the Catholic religion. 
 " The sole aim of those writers who attack the supre- 
 macy of the Pope," says he, " is to sever every political 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 143 
 
 and religious tie, and to destroy, in the first place, the 
 authority of the Popes by the agency of crowned 
 heads, and in the next, to overturn the thrones of 
 sovereigns themselves, by means of the united power 
 of the people." 
 
 Mancini reduces almost to nothing the authority of 
 the diocesan synod, deprives the curates of all right to 
 vote, rejects the proposal for correcting the breviaries, 
 and the use of the vulgar tongue in the liturgy ; will 
 not hear of the bishops reclaiming any of their rights 
 which might have devolved to the see of Rome ; de- 
 fends all religious festivals, the pomp of the churches, 
 and the splendor of the images ; rejects from the list of 
 books which had been proposed, all those which were 
 suspected of a leaning to Jansenism, and substitutes for 
 them others, which he reckons better ; and testifies great 
 dread of intermeddling with the privileges and exemp- 
 tions of the monks, &c, 
 
 Ricci approves of every thing which had been pro- 
 posed ; quotes the synod of Jansenists at Utrecht in 
 1763, as a model for the Tuscan bishops in their 
 diocesan synods, to which their curates ought to be 
 admitted as judges ; and advises the adoption of the 
 greatest caution " against the intrigues o'f the Court of 
 Rome, which will make use of the monks, or the Nun- 
 cio, to overturn the plans of those synods." He hopes 
 that the bishops will not so far forget either their 
 duties or their rights, as to request authority from the 
 Papal Court for granting dispensations, or to square 
 their conduct, in condemning books, by the Index of pro- 
 hibited books published at Rome — an Index whose 
 authority is not recognised in Tuscany. He requests 
 the immediate assistance of Government in extirpating 
 all abuses and superstitious practices, proposes several 
 books, the greater part of them prohibited, to be given 
 to the curates, (fcc. 
 
 The answers of Franseschi, Archbishop of Pisa, are 
 the most fanatical and intractable of the whole body. 
 He carefully keeps out of view, or openly condemns, 
 all measures tending to diminish in any way the rights 
 
144 SECRETS OF 
 
 or pretentions, the privileges and prerogatives of the 
 Court of Rome, and its usurpations of the rights of the 
 bishops ; the encroachments of the latter on those of 
 the curates; the bhnd respect of the people towards 
 religious prejudices ; the power and wealth of the 
 clergy; the superstition of their flocks, &c. 
 
 Borghesi, Archbishop of Siena, also shows himself a 
 zealous opponent. Among other things, he utters ex- 
 clamations of regret at the boldness which could have 
 prompted any one to insert in the list of books for the 
 curates, the writings of duesnel, and pronounces a 
 pompous eulogy on the Bull Unig-enitus, which had 
 condemned him. 
 
 Pannilini, Bishop of Chiusi and Pienza, joins frankly 
 in the principles professed by the Government. He 
 dissuades the Grand Duke from assembling his bishops, 
 with whose opposition to his maxims, and attachment 
 to prejudices of every description, he professes to be well 
 acquainted ; and gives as his opinion, that they ought 
 not to be permitted to hold diocesan synods, except with 
 the assistance of two deputies from the Government, and 
 on condition that they should adopt for their model, a 
 synod which had already been approved, such, for ex- 
 ample, as that of Pistoia. He distinguishes clearly, in 
 the affair of marriage, the nuptial contract from the 
 nuptial benediction. " In the quality of a civil con- 
 tract it always remained under the control of the 
 princes, and of the laws of the different countries ; and 
 was only withdrawn from that control since the time 
 when the Church added the nuptial benediction to the 
 civil formalities required by Government." 
 
 The Bishop of Chiusi, in deciding on the different 
 points, always embraces the views of the Grand Duke, 
 and sometimes even goes beyond them. 
 
 The answers of Franci, Bishop of Grossetto, and 
 one of the most unreasonable of the opposition party, 
 are scarcely any thing else than an apology for all the 
 abuses, all the superstitious practices, and all the usur- 
 pations of the Court of Rome, and of the bishops. 
 That prelate pretends that the suppression of the 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 145 
 
 society for liberating souls from purgatory, and of the 
 practice of begging for their support, had given rise to 
 doubts in the minds of the people as to the very exist- 
 ence of purgatory itself 
 
 Santo, Bishop of Soana, wholly devoted to the prin- 
 ciples professed by the Augustinians or Jansenists, and 
 by the canonists or politicians, approves and even 
 extends Leopold's plans of reform, especially those for 
 erecting in Tuscany an independent national church. 
 He insists with much earnestness on the necessity of re- 
 forming the "breviary, which is so full of fabulous and 
 foolish stories;" and proposes the tenth synod of Charles 
 Boromeus, and the synod of Jansenists at Utrecht in 
 1763, as the best models for the diocesan synods of 
 Tuscany. " The privileges of the Court of Rome," he 
 denominates, are " constantly pernicious," and con- 
 fesses that " the books proposed by the Grand Duke 
 for the curates are undoubtedly possessed of merit, 
 whatever the partisans of the Court of Rome may say 
 to the contrary ;" but requests some little indulgence 
 for his own diocess, which fell in with the jurisdiction 
 of the Pope, was consequently infested with great pre- 
 judice, and in which " a book prohibited by the Court 
 of Rome was held in the utmost abomination." 
 
 The Bishop of Arezzo, Marani, opposes the schemes 
 of Leopold, but as it seems through policy and timid- 
 ity, as he gives us to understand in the general consid- 
 erations, with which he has prefaced his answers. 
 Sudden and unexpected reforms would, in his opinion, 
 disturb the consciences of the simple ; and perhaps by 
 that means the tranquillity of the state. 
 
 Alexander Ciribi, Bishop of Cortona, acknowledges 
 the necessity of several reforms, and agrees to the 
 execution of some of them. 
 
 The most complete and decided opposition was ex- 
 pressed in the answers of Pecci, Bishop of Montaleino. 
 His general objection to all the proposed reforms is, 
 " that the doctrines which circulate under the garb of 
 true piety are the most pernicious, because they tend 
 
 13 
 
146 SECRETS OF 
 
 to overthrow^ hy little and little^ the Christian j^eligion 
 itsel/y 
 
 Franzesi, Bishop of Montepulciano, was the most 
 obstinate defender of the Court of Rome, and the most 
 zealous enemy of all change or innovation in the shape 
 of reform. Some idea may be formed of this, from 
 a letter which he addressed to the Grand Duke, at the 
 time of sending his answers to the fifty-seven ecclesi- 
 astical points. 
 
 In that letter he describes Leopold as surrounded 
 with a set of bishops who had shamelessly intro- 
 duced the most pernicious projects, and who scrupled 
 not to make a tool of the Prince for inflicting on reli- 
 gion the most fatal blows, with the view of entirely 
 overturning it. "They have almost succeeded in car- 
 rying their designs into effect in Tuscany," says he, 
 "where they have introduced heresy and schism, 
 which are slowly destroying some diocesses, and 
 where they support that party which, by and by, will 
 separate the Grand Duchy from the Church of Rome. 
 
 " They have already succeeded in making the Tus- 
 can church take several steps towards complete inde- 
 pendence. We see monks and nuns reduced to a 
 regular state by the sole authority of bishops, who 
 really are apostates, perjurers to God, and rebels to the 
 Church." 
 
 He next proceeds to make several violent attacks on 
 the changes introduced into the calendars of different 
 diocesses, on all licenses, and especially on matrimonial 
 dispensations granted by those only holding the rank 
 and authority of bishop. " What is the consequence of 
 these things? In the dominions of your Royal Highness 
 there are apostates and rebels to God, persons who keep 
 concubines, and who live in that state of damnation, 
 without the smallest remorse." 
 
 He next attacks what he calls the "schismatic Synod 
 of Utrecht, which one party, says he, praised in the 
 highest degree, and endeavored to disseminate copies 
 of its acts among the people. Speaking of the "Eccle- 
 siastical Annals of Florence," — " I protest before God, 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 147 
 
 that they are sufficient to inspire any true Catholic with 
 horror, and that they are a scandal to the whole 
 Church." 
 
 He complains in the bitterest terms of the suppres- 
 sion of the convents. ^' It is disgusting, to hear ene- 
 mies exclaiming every where with all their might, that 
 the monastic orders are useless." 
 
 He endeavors to prove that the Jansenism of Tus- 
 cany, which he terms the growing heresy, was making 
 every imaginable effort to establish "natural religion, 
 which, to say the truth," adds ha, " is only a brutal 
 deism." This is the end aimed at by all these new 
 deists, Avho have, by deceiving them, contrived to glide 
 in among the Catholics : their sole aim is, to degrade 
 the church of Tuscany to a level with the deism of 
 Holland, of England, and a great part of Germany." 
 
 The Bishop of Montepulciano, in his answers to 
 the fifty-seven points, instead of consenting to the 
 correction of the breviary and Romish missals, which, 
 in his opinion, have no occasion to be altered, implores 
 the Grand Duke to give orders for re-establishing them 
 in their ancient form in all the diocesses in which, to 
 the great scandal of true believers, they had attempted 
 to reform them. He represents the doctrine of Augus- 
 tin as extremely dangerous, since '-Luther, Calvin, and 
 Jansenius, with all his adherents, have erroneously pre- 
 tended that their false doctrines were founded on the 
 writings of that father of the Church." These inno- 
 vators, says he, easily convert his doctrines to the 
 worst purposes, " especially those relating to grace and 
 free-will, whenever they wish to deprive man of that 
 same free-will, in order to set down every thing to the 
 account of grace." He proscribes even the celebrated 
 work of Muratori, " Devotion Regulated," that writer 
 having, in his opinion, shown himself, in that work, 
 "equally deficient in talent and in genius." 
 
 It may easily be conceived, that, after condemning 
 Muratori, he does not hesitate to threaten with dam- 
 nation "all the rash projectors and enemies of the 
 Catholic religion, who have had the effrontery to pro- 
 
148 SECRETS OF 
 
 pose the reading of books prohibited by the Court of 
 Rome." The ''Moral Reflections of auesnel,"— " in 
 which," says he, " the Church, by a decided and un- 
 alterable sentence, has borne testimony to a hundred 
 and one heresies, errors, and dangerous opinions," &c. ; 
 the Treatises of Tamburini, " a declared enemy of the 
 Holy See ;" and the " Ecclesiastical History of Racine," 
 which fills the mind with false and mistaken prejudices 
 against the Court of Rome, <fcc. — he terms, the most 
 venomous books. 
 
 III. The opposition which Leopold encountered 
 from the majority of the higher order of the clergy, 
 at the time of the ecclesiastical assembly of Florence-, 
 ought to be set down to the account of corruption and 
 knavery. 
 
 The Prince, on his accession to the throne, had 
 adopted every possible means for diffusing information 
 and knowledge among his subjects, and particularly 
 among those who are entrusted with the guidance and 
 instruction of others. 
 
 In 1770, he ordered to be begun the publication of a 
 work, entitled " Collection of Writings relative to the 
 dependence of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction on Civil au- 
 thority." The work contained all the reports, memoirs, 
 and consultations, composed in difl?erent Catholic coun- 
 tries by order of their governments, with the view of 
 turning the lights of reason and philosophy to the 
 maxims and conduct of the clergy, and of setting 
 honnds to the insatiable cupidity, and inextinguish- 
 ahle thirst after power, which the Court of Rome had 
 always manifested, and which had proved an invin- 
 cible obstacle to the jjolitical, 7noral, and religious 
 improvement, both of the people and of their sove- 
 reigns. 
 
 We quote from this collection what appears to be 
 most in unison with tlie principles of Ricci, of Leopold 
 himself, and of the enlightened men of his age, who 
 were desirous of seeing, in the homage rendered to the 
 Almighty, a guarantee for the practice of all the social 
 virtues, — and in the ministers of religion, the comfort- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 149 
 
 ers of man, the messengers of peace, the friends of good 
 order and humanity. 
 
 IV. In the defence of Cecile Fargo, who had been 
 accused of sorcery, pronounced at Naples by the 
 Counsellor Joseph Raffaele, March, 1770, we read as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Christians yielded the most complete obedience to 
 the civil authority, whilst they were weak. As soon, 
 however, as they felt themselves less dependent on its 
 protection ; when they became more numerous, and 
 more wealthy, they still professed fidelity to the civil 
 authority, and allowed that it had a right to exact it 
 from them ; but they used this profession of humility 
 and obedience, merely for the purpose of increasing 
 those immunities and privileges which inconsiderate 
 princes were so imprudent as to offer to them, and 
 which ended in releasing them from the performance 
 of every duty towards society, or its members. 
 
 " When the world became Christian, the people 
 ceased to enjoy any prerogatives, or privileges, and 
 became what the mass of the population of heathen 
 countries had formerly been, and what the mass of the 
 people in most countries still is — the useful and ener- 
 getic, but despised and oppressed portion of society. 
 The only chosen and privileged class, the only one 
 that enjoyed the pleasures and comforts of life, was 
 the clergy, which dictated its own privileges, but re- 
 cognised the performance of no duties. 
 
 "The transference of the seat of empire to Constan- 
 tinople was the origin of the power of the western 
 clergy, and of the Bishop of Rome, the most powerful 
 prelate in the liatin Church. The heresy of the Icono- 
 clasts was adroitly employed by him to render himself 
 entirely independent of the Greek goverrmient. 
 
 " The obligations contracted towards the Court of 
 Rome by the Carlo vingian race, which had been es- 
 tablished, or rather legitimated in the possession of the 
 throne of France by the Bishop of Rome, who had not 
 as yet the hardihood to call himself its sovereign, with 
 the gratitude evinced by the same race in return for 
 
 13* 
 
150 SECRETS OF 
 
 the Empire of the West, which they soon after received 
 at his hands, rendered the Popes formidable, first to the 
 Lombards, who were masters of Italy, and next to the 
 Emperors of the West themselves. 
 
 ^' Gregory XL mounted the Papal throne, and re- 
 duced into a regular system, the whole of that hitherto 
 unshapely mass of privileges and exemptions, which 
 had been slowly constructed, partly on the ignorance 
 and superstition of the people, and partly on the weak- 
 ness and cowardice of the diiferent governments. In- 
 stead of considering, or allowing others to consider, 
 those prerogatives and privileges as derived from the 
 good-will of those emperors who had been recognised 
 as their sovereigns, the Popes boldly laid claim to them 
 as original and incontestable rights ; became, hy divine 
 right, what it was now impossible to prevent them from 
 becoming ; and even carried their unfounded and ridi- 
 culous pretensions so far as to grasp at absolute uni- 
 versal empire. The two Councils of Lateran sanctioned 
 this gigantic system, by the adherence, believed to be 
 infallible, of deputies from the whole Church, who, 
 they said, had been assembled in the name and by the 
 authority of the Holy Spirit. From that period, who- 
 ever ventured to attack either the persons or the pro- 
 perty of the clergy, was threatened with the spiritual 
 thunder of the Church, and its awful consequences, 
 both in this world and the next. The energies and 
 the intelligence of mankind were thus completely para- 
 lyzed, and society, in the very period of its infancy, fell 
 into the weakness and decrepitude of age. ' ^^ 
 
 " The clergy, now constituting an immense army ^ 
 without either restraint or moderal;ion, formed in every 
 kingdom a kind of separate state, which did not recog- 
 nise the control of the sovereign, and was consequently 
 superior to him. At first, it only yielded obedience to 
 its immediate chiefs, the bishops and archbishops; but 
 by their means connected itself in a very short time 
 with the supreme head of all, the Bishop of Rome ; ■. 
 and a theocracy, in consequence, gave law to the whole h 
 Christian world." 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 151 
 
 V. The twenty-fourth number, in which Bianchi 
 demonstrates that the clergy are subject to the civil 
 power, and that they ought to bear a part in contribut- 
 ing to the expenses of the Government, proves, that 
 the privileges granted to the clergy, through the weak- 
 ness of sovereigns, were in a short time converted 
 into canons, which contained what it denominated its 
 rights. By degrees, new canons were enacted for the 
 extension of the old, and new rights created by the 
 priests themselves, in aid of those which they owed to 
 the indulgence or concessions of Government. In this 
 manner was the enormous edifice of sacerdotal power 
 constructed ; a power supported by civil and religious 
 laws, composed of the real and personal immunities of 
 the clergy, and declared by it to be sacred and inviola- 
 ble. To attempt the least encroachment upon it was 
 high treason — a crime at all times dreadful, but more 
 especially so, when the clergy are invested with the 
 supreme authority, and are considered by the ignorant 
 and superstitious multitude as the avengers of that God 
 whose will they profess to declare. 
 
 YI. It was, however, more especially the Bull 
 CGena Domini^ as containing a sketch of all the pre 
 tended rights of the Pope, which irritated the Catholic 
 governments of that period ; particularly after the scan- 
 dalous affair of the Duke of Parma, in which the Pope 
 had the impudence to bring forward that Bull in sup- 
 port of his insolent proceedings. The Senate of Venice 
 had a report of the whole draAvn up for their inform- 
 ation, March, 1769. 
 
 In that document it is proved to demonstration, by 
 a minute and careful examination of each article of the 
 anti-social Bull In coena Domini^ that in many of its 
 points it is destructive of all civil authority, and that 
 it wounds it deeply in the others ; that if it were scru- 
 pulously observed by the clergy and their flocks, all 
 government would be at an end, and the Pope would 
 be sole master both of the actions and consciences, the 
 persons and the property,of every people, who, in conse- 
 
 Od I, 
 
 In /^ 
 
132 SECRETS OF 
 
 queiice, would be alike destitute of princes and magis- 
 trates, of councils and bishops. 
 
 The Republic of Venice never consented to receive 
 the Bull In coena, and proscribed it frequently, not- 
 withstanding the remonstrances of the Pontifical Nun- 
 cios ; rejecting on all occasions the interference of the 
 confessors employed by the Court of Rome to relieve 
 its subjects from the censures incurred by contravening 
 the provisions of the Bull, and preventing them from 
 executing their functions. 
 
 The Court of Rome, which never blushed to employ 
 any means which had been useful to them in former 
 times, and might still be so in future — Rome, to this 
 very day, delegates authority for granting absolution ^ 
 in those cases which it has reserved in the Bull In ] 
 coena Do7nini : and there are priests, subjects of anti- 
 Catholic govern7nents, v'ho are not only furnished ivith 
 that authority J hut who also exercise it without hesita- 
 tion. 
 
 VII. The Republic of Venice ordered an account 
 to be drawn up, by an ecclesiastical commission of its 
 own appointment, of the amount of money which was 
 annually extracted from its subjects by th e pprpirimis 
 o rganiz ation of the clergy. The Court of Rome still 
 continuesto levy the same contribution as it formerly 
 did on the inhabitants of Catholic countries. 
 
 The annual revenue of the ecclesiastical benefices 
 held by the subjects of the republic, and not situated 
 within its territories, amount to 260,000 francs. 
 
 The ecclesiastical pensions payable to foreigners, to 
 75,000 francs. 
 
 Twenty-eight bulls, for canonical induction to patri- 
 archal, episcopal, and archiepifscopal sees, obtained in 
 the course of ten years, had cost nearly 5,000,000 
 francs; without reckoning in that enormous sum, the 
 very great expense incurred by those who had been 
 nominated, in making a journey to Rome for the pur- 
 pose of being consecrated. 
 
 During the same ten years, 50,000 francs had been 
 
 I 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS, 153 
 
 paid for forty-two Bulls for abbeys, priories, and pro- 
 vostships. 
 
 One hundred and ten Bulls for pensions, which had 
 been granted, amounted to 78,800 francs. 
 
 Two hundred and twenty-five Bulls for parish 
 churches, had been worth to the Pope 130,000 francs, 
 without reckoning what the curates must have paid 
 privately to the cardinals, if they had been maintained 
 during the months reserved for these princes of the 
 Church. 
 
 Twenty-seven Bulls for canonships, collegiate church- 
 es, &c. cost more than 80,000 francs. 
 
 Forty-five Bulls for collations to one hundred and 
 fifty simple benefices, amounted to 12,600 francs. 
 
 During the year 1768, there arrived from Rome 1130 
 rescripts, indulgences, privileges to altars, dispensations 
 relative to the granting of holy orders, permissions to 
 maintain private chapels, displomas conferring the title 
 of coimt, (fee. ; the whole for the sum of 44,500 francs. 
 
 Rome granted, during the same year, 589 dispens- 
 ations for marriages, which brought an enormous and 
 unknown sum into its treasury. All that it was pos- 
 sible to discover as to its amount, was, that those dis- 
 pensations which Avere requested and obtained without 
 any good reason being alleged, cost ten times, and even 
 twenty times, more than those for which any real cause 
 was assigned. The report reckons all these dispens- 
 ations, on an average of the highest and lowest rates, 
 at a sum of 1,050,000 francs. 
 
 The report also states, that the conduct of the Court 
 of Rome, in this respect, is contrary to the recommend- 
 ations of the Council of Trent, which in the fifth chap- 
 ter of its twenty-fourth Session on reform, gives its 
 advice to grant dispensations of marriage as seldom as 
 possible, and orders them to be issued, in all cases, free 
 of expense. The same Council forbids granting them 
 in the second degree, unless for reasons of a grave and 
 public nature, and in favor of princes and kings only, 
 whose marriage may affect the interests of religion or 
 the state. The Court of Rome, without paying the 
 
154 SECRETS OF 
 
 slightest regard to that prohibition, granted in the 
 course of a single year, twenty-four dispensations to 
 citizens of the RepubUc, whose only claims to the in- 
 dulgence of the Papal Court were the large sums of 
 money which they were willing to place at its disposal. 
 
 YIII. " At first," says another memoir, addressed to 
 the Yenetian Senate, " the Popes graciously entreated 
 the bishops, to confer some ecclesiastical benefice on 
 the poor priests, whom they recommended to their 
 protection ; but in a short time these entreaties were 
 changed into exhortations, the exhortations into admo- 
 nitions, the admonitions into orders, threats, excommu- 
 nications, pecuniary fines, and finally, into an absolute 
 despotism, which overthrew the whole system on which 
 benefices had originally been granted. By these means 
 not only were mandates, expectations, anticipations, 
 and all the other stratagems devised by the Court of 
 Rome for its own advantage and the ruin of others, 
 introduced ; but a large field was opened for keeping 
 alive every abuse by which the Church was disfigured, 
 and the patrimony of the poor exhausted, and which 
 have given rise to so many grounds of difierence in the 
 last general councils. The regulations of the Roman 
 chancery, the plurality of benefices, translations from 
 one living to another, resignations in favor of particu- 
 lar individuals, assistantships, with a clause for future 
 succession, commendams, resignations in court, first 
 fruits, dispensations from possessing the qualifications 
 required by the canons, and a great number of other 
 irregularities and abuses deplored by the pious, and 
 condemned by the decrees of the Church, are still in 
 existence, and still practised in the same way as they 
 formerly were. 
 
 " So far all this only relates to the interests of reli- 
 gion. But is the civil authority less injured by this 
 overthrow of principle and good order? Ought it to 
 sit in patience and allow a foreign prince to distribute 
 its revenues and its wealth, to levy contributions, and 
 to attach to him by an oath of fidelity those with whose 
 government it is intrusted, without his having any 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 155 
 
 title to allege in favor of such authority-, or being able 
 to exhibit the least claim for such sovereign dominion?" 
 
 IX. The abuses caused by the excessive number of 
 masses, were attacked in a vigorous and unanswerable 
 manner, in a memoir on that subject. 
 
 Perpetual foundations for saying masses, and lega- 
 cies destined for their support, were unknown in any 
 part of the Church during several centuries, and still 
 are so in the East, where the maxims and customs 
 prevalent in primitive ages, have been more strictly 
 maintained. Devout persons occasionally bequeathed 
 gifts to the Church for the remission of their sins, but 
 without imposing any particular condition or obliga- 
 tion. 
 
 The parish mass was, for a long time, the only one 
 which was celebrated ; and Christians were bound by 
 the canons of the Church to assist at it. Until the 
 sixth century, bread and wine, intended to relieve the 
 most urgent wants of the Church and of the poor, 
 were the only oiferings presented to the priest who 
 celebrated mass. In the ninth century private masses 
 began, and they came into great vogue, principally by 
 means of the monks. The secular clergy showed 
 themselves eager to take advantage of them, and great 
 murmuring and dissatisfaction were occasioned by 
 such an unheard-of innovation on the established 
 practice of the Church. These murmurs redoubled, 
 when the private masses became solitary^ that is, 
 when they were celebrated by a single priest, without 
 the presence or assistance of any one. 
 
 The great increase in numbers of the clergy gave 
 rise to such an increase in the number of masses, that 
 it at last became necessary to say several at the same 
 time in the same church. The parish masses were in 
 consequence given up, and the people were obliged to 
 accustom themselves to join bodily and mentally in the 
 masses which were said by the priests for a particular 
 purpose, either expressed or understood. 
 
 Hence arose the practice of asking charity in behalf 
 of masses, and next that of paying a salary to the 
 
156 SECRETS OF 
 
 celebrator, or the price of the sacrifice^ as they impu- 
 dently termed it. Popes Eugenius II. and Leo IV. 
 made the most vigorous exertions to prevent this 
 strange abuse, which did not come into general practice 
 till after the twelfth century. 
 
 " To complete our shame and extreme wretchedness, 
 the sacrifice of the mass has been profaned to such a 
 degree both by the regular and secular clergy, that 
 they have had the impudence to establish fixed rates 
 for saying masses, like so many mechanics and mer- 
 cenaries ; rates which vary according to the fatigue 
 and quantity of time required for celebrating them. 
 The practice came so much into vogue, that nothing 
 was so common as to augment the price for masses 
 which were chanted, and for those celebrated at a 
 privileged altar. The priest turned every circum- 
 stance to account — the devotion of the people towards 
 a particular saint, a relic, an image reported to be 
 miraculous," &c. 
 
 This devotion, powerfully stimulated by the innu- 
 merable contrivances which the avarice of the monks 
 suggested, caused a great influx of masses into their 
 convents. They had consigned to them, in the course 
 of a very short time, more than they could celebrate ; 
 but being reluctant either to put a check upon the 
 credulity of the public, or to restore what had only 
 been given them upon conditions with which they 
 were unable to comply, they addressed themselves to 
 the Court of Rome, which agreed to divide with them 
 what they had no title to, and allowed them to retain 
 the remainder with a clear conscience. '' The monks 
 were thus released from all obligation to repair the 
 evils, of whatever magnitude, which they had origi- 
 nated, by celebrating one or more masses, which the 
 common people ironically termed the great mass ; or, 
 by paying a money tax for the support of Peter's at 
 Rome, which the agents of that court denominated the 
 Composition tax." 
 
 The people requested to be informed if a single mass 
 was equivalent to many? and in case of its being so, 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. I57 
 
 why the priests burthen themselves with so many at 
 the same time, and collected the price of celebrating 
 them? If on the other hand one is not as good as 
 several, they requested to know why these pri'ests did 
 not restore the money which they had received on 
 promises which they would not keep ? 
 
 After this question, to wliich it would be very diffi- 
 cult to reply in a satisfactory manner, the memorialist 
 enters into various details in regard to the different 
 indulgences granted by the See of Rome at different 
 periods, to the religious orders which had been charged 
 with the celebration of more masses than they could 
 perform, and from which they desired to be released. 
 In the seventeen century these indulgences came into 
 fashion ; in the eighteenth they were multiplied 
 beyond all precedent, by the prodigality of Bene- 
 dict XIV. 
 
 / In the church of the Dominicans of the order of 
 / John and Paul at Venice, there were found in arrear 
 in 1743, 16,400 masses ; and the following year, in the 
 church of Lady dell-Orto, the duty of which was per- 
 formed by Cistercian monks, no fewer than 14,300. 
 
 X. In a memorial presented to the Junto of the Ten 
 Sages, commissioned ad fais causas^ June, 1767, we 
 read that, until tlie time of Gregory VIL, the very few 
 oaths which had been taken to the Bishop of Rome by 
 the other bishops, were only simple promises of canoni- 
 cal deference. Hildebrand exacted Avith rigor as 
 duties of fidelity, what his predecessors had very rarely 
 solicited as pledges of union. He changed the formula 
 of the oath, and exacted that homage from his col- 
 leagues, whom he was desirous of reducing to the 
 situation of vassals to the Roman See, whose subjects 
 they become at the very moment when the authority 
 which they acquire over their fellow citizens ought to 
 leave them free from all obligations except those due 
 to their country. 
 
 The next paper proves, by the most natural inter- 
 pretation of each article in the oath taken by the 
 bishops to the See of Rome, that it is nothing else but 
 
 14 
 
158 SECRETS OF 
 
 an express and solemn ^promise on oath to betray their 
 respective sovereigns^ and that each clause of the oath 
 imposes an obligation to commit high treason. 
 
 XL The canon ]aw is attacked by a monk named 
 Francis- Wenceslaus Barkovich. " Tiie letters which 
 we have quoted, the decretals of Mercator, are full of 
 maxims unknown before that time : dictated by the 
 grossest io^norance, they abound in the most glaring 
 anachronisms ; are wholly unworthy of the majestic 
 simplicity of the first ages of Christianity, and entirely 
 contrary to its ancient practice. The discovery of the 
 imposture came too late. The Court of Rome, taking 
 advantage of the ignorance which everywhere pre- 
 vailed, laid hold of it at once, first for establishing, and 
 afterwards for consolidating and extending beyond all 
 precedent, the authority which she arrogated to herself 
 
 '^ The principal doctrines inculcated in that fraudu- 
 lent collection are, that the Pope is bishop of all Chris- 
 tendom; that all causes of importance ought to be 
 brought by appeal before the See of Rome ; that 
 causes relating to bishops belong exclusively to the 
 Pope ; that he ought to convoke and preside in all 
 general councils ; that no council, Avhether general or 
 particular, is binding unless approved of by the Pope ; 
 that he has authority to allow bishops to give up the 
 churches to which they have been appointed, for the 
 purpose of being translated to a richer and more illus- 
 trious See ; that apostolic appeals to the See of Rome 
 were usual before the Council of Sardica ; that metro- 
 politans were never allowed to enter upon the exercise 
 of their functions before obtaining the pallium at the 
 hands of the Pope ; that from the very origin of Chris- 
 tianity, it was an established and undisputed maxim 
 that every church which departed from the usages and 
 ceremonies adopted by the Church of Rome, ought to 
 be considered as heretical, &c. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the measures adopted in latter 
 times for checking the excessive power of the Popes, 
 that power is still sufficiently enormous to encourage 
 the hope of re-establishing and enlarging it. Sove- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 159 
 
 reign princes will have always grounds for fear whilst 
 the bishops are treated as subjects by the Court of 
 Rome ; whilst money shall continue to flow in abun- 
 dance towards Rome, and while the favors which these 
 princes allow her to distribute with such profusion, 
 shall have the power of procuring for her partisans 
 and abettors.-' 
 
 XII. An important and excellent memoir was drawn 
 up by the commission which the Republic of Yenice 
 intrusted with the reform of the public institutions for 
 education. 
 
 The redactor of the memoir proves that the Go- 
 vernment had done but little towards the emancipation 
 of the civil authority by proscribing the Bull In Ccena 
 Domini. " The reform which is most required," says 
 he, " is that of the studies of ecclesiastics, in order to 
 prevent anti-social principles from becoming the reli- 
 gion of those who are destined by their profession to 
 instruct and direct the people. For this purpose it is 
 necessary to abolish the canon law and the decretals, 
 which are the real sources of that monstrous system — 
 the Bull In Ccena Domini being only a natural and 
 necessary consequence of it. ^ ---— 
 
 " In these decretals a doctrine is taught, which is 
 contrary to every law both human and divine. By 
 these decretals a monarch is set up who recognises no 
 other limits to his dominion than the universe ; whose 
 laws and commands the kings and princes of the earth 
 are bound to obey; and if any of them shall dare to 
 maintain his right to sovereignty, he is declared guilty 
 of treason and rebellion ; his subjects are released from 
 their oath of fidelity, and his territories exposed and 
 abandoned to the invasion of foreigners. 
 
 " This despot is also declared to be the legislator of 
 the universe ; to be possessed of authority to alter, re- 
 form, or abolish, the laws of all kingdoms and of all 
 states ; to be a judge, to the decisions of whose tribu- 
 nal all the sovereigns of the earth must submit ; whose 
 decrees are infallible, and admit of no appeal, because 
 those which he pronounces are held to be the decrees 
 
160 SECRETS OF 
 
 of God himself; and those who appeal from them, are 
 declared to be rebellious and refractory, and are de- 
 prived of all communion with the pious. 
 
 "This code has no other end in view than that of 
 establishing despotism and universal monarchy through- 
 out the whole earth. All sovereigns are hound to yield 
 homage and obedience to that formidable monarch ; 
 and if the least opposition is exhibited, rebellions, wars, 
 and insurrections, are the consequence ; while the sove- 
 reigns, who, in defence of their just rights, have had 
 the misfortune to offend this priest-king, are deprived 
 at once of their kingdoms and their lives — a melan- 
 choly prediction of the misfortunes and premature 
 death of Joseph the Second and Leopold. 
 
 " A bold and enterprising militia," the Roman priests, 
 "animated by fanaticism, cupidity, and ambition, bound 
 by vows and solemn oaths, and always ready, on the 
 slightest signal from that monarch, to whom, by the 
 rules of its institution, it is called upon to yield the 
 most blind and slavish obedience, to excite the storm 
 of rebellion and insurrection, — that militia, which is 
 spread over every state in Christendom, is fraught with 
 danger and alarm ; because, by taking advantage of 
 the superstition and ignorance of the people, whose 
 good opinion it has acquired by a false character for 
 piety and knowledge, it is sufficiently powerful to give 
 just cause of dread, mistrust, and jealousy, to every 
 Government in whose states it is placed. 
 
 " The Jesuits, a veteran and zealous troop, have 
 obtained from this grateful monarch the most signal 
 rewards and privileges: in granting which, the people 
 have not only been deeply injured, but their rights 
 have been sacrificed, because the Jesuits have shown 
 themselves more anxious and careful than any other 
 to extend the limits of the new empire, and in every 
 state have not scrupled to excite discord and sedition 
 for the purpose of maintaining and defending it. Even 
 in our day, though nearly overcome by the repeated 
 attacks which have been made upon them, they are 
 both terrible and formidable to the most powerful mo- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 161 
 
 narchs of Christendom, who do not believe that they 
 can be secure from those just fears, suspicions, and 
 jealousies, with which they have hitherto been ha- 
 rassed, until the order be completely abolished. 
 
 '• The code of decretals was received by Raymond 
 de Pennafort, without examination, judgment, or in- 
 quiry, in ages which were darkened by superstition 
 and ignorance : and was compiled, according to the 
 prejudices of these unhappy times, with no other view 
 than that of investing the spiritual power with an ab- 
 solute, despotic, and arbitrary authority. All the de- 
 cretals attributed to the first three centuries of the 
 Church are clearly false ; while many of those said to 
 belong to succeeding ages, have evidently been falsified 
 to suit and accommodate the new system of Govern- 
 ment." 
 
 These decretals have regularly been invoked when- 
 ever it became necessary to employ a pretended de- 
 fence of the rights of God as a pretext for invading 
 those belonging to Caesar. These latter rights were, 
 however, recognised by our Savior himself in the pre- 
 sence of Pilate ; were supported by the Apostles in 
 their preachings ; respected by the early saints ; and 
 their lawfulness inculcated by the fathers of the 
 Church. They were exercised by the Emperors until 
 the eleventh century ; and if they were at length over- 
 thrown by the wars between the priesthood and the 
 empire, and weakened by the factions of the Guelfs 
 and Ghibelins, who stained with blood both the Church 
 and the state, the priesthood alone is accountable for it 
 to religion and humanity. 
 
 '• To these decretals, and to the unfounded principles 
 of divine right, are to be attributed the abuse which 
 was made of the power of the keys, as well as the 
 doctrine of direct and indirect dominion, which was 
 hatched to establish a despotism infinitely more abso- 
 lute and horrible than was ever witnessed in any east- 
 ern monarchy. To the same source are to be traced 
 those interdicts which were employed to excite, to aid, 
 and to justify the people in rebelling against, murder- 
 
 14* 
 
162 SECRETS OP 
 
 ing, deposing, and banishing, their sovereigns : — that 
 universal government of the Church which deprived 
 the bishops of that authority which was conferred 
 upon them by Jesus Christ, the only supreme head and 
 shepherd of the Church ; those personal and real im- 
 munities so hurtful and injurious to the lawful jurisdic- 
 tion of princes and magistrates ; as well as all those 
 other monstrous doctrines which have destroyed every 
 idea and principle of human and divine right. 
 
 "Gregory YII. was the author of this new doctrine, 
 and of the differences which took place between the 
 priesthood and the empire. Supported by the forces 
 and the fanaticism of the Countess Matilda, he carried 
 on for several years an unjust war with the Emperor 
 Henry IV., merely because he would not relinquish his 
 rights. For these reasons, which ought to have ren- 
 dered his memory odious both to the Church and to 
 the State, Gregory was placed on the list of martyrs, 
 as is attested by the lessons in his Office, which were 
 published in 1728." 
 
 That Pope is praised in the office alluded to, as the 
 one who, since the time of the Apostles, has done most 
 service to the Church, which he governed, not accord- 
 ing to human wisdom, but in accordance with the dic- 
 tates of the Holy Spirit. The author of the memorial 
 remaj'ks, that the doctrine which he inculcated was 
 not that spirit of peace, of charity, of concord, of obe- 
 dience and submission to established authorities, which 
 the Gospel recommends to the practice of its disciples. 
 
 Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, was also in- 
 serted in the catalogue of saints, because he taught 
 that the Pope had absolute authority over bishops, and 
 that the bishops were completely independent of the 
 civil power, to which he would not allow them to take 
 the usual oath of fidelity. 
 
 " In our days a Cardinal found it necessary to throw 
 all his influence and energy into the scale, in order to 
 prevent Bellarmin, the most ferocious abettor and de- 
 fender of that anti-christian doctrine, from being raised 
 to the rank of a saint. The only title which that 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 163 
 
 haughty prelate could possibly have to such distinc- 
 tion, was this ; that he extended the despotism of the 
 spiritual power farther than had been imagined before 
 his time, either by human pride, by fanaticism, or by 
 the adulatory spirit of his brethren, the Jesuits." 
 
 The memorial next presents us with a just and en- 
 ergetic description of the evils which were accumu- 
 lated by the spiritual power, on the heads of those 
 princes who were bold enough to attack these absurd 
 pretensions ; and also with a striking picture of the 
 extravagant proceedings of the successors of Grego- 
 ry VII. \ 
 
 '•'Louis IX. of France was threatened by the Pope 
 with ah the terrors of an interdict, because, in an as- i 
 sembly of the principal lords of his kingdom, he had I 
 given orders that none of his vassals should be re- ■ 
 sponsible to the ecclesiastical tribunals in matters i 
 purely civil, and that the clergy should appear before | 
 the se'cular judges in all causes relating to their fiefs. | 
 A few years afterwards, the Pope's legate sanctioned I 
 in a council, held in France itself, the usurpations of / 
 the clergy, notwithstanding their being so hurtful and " 
 injurious to the authority of the sovereign. The kings 
 and princes of the earth had indeed good reason to 
 dread even the sio-ht of these domineering- ministers of 
 the spiritual power ; for by their mandate, councils 
 were annually assembled, without the knowledge or 
 consent of the sovereign, in the very heart of his do- 
 minions, which, under the specious names of the liber- 
 ties and immunities of the Church, confirmed the des- 
 potism and independence of the clergy. In these 
 councils, war, peace, alliances, trade, policy, laws, 
 modes of government, judicial systems, the rights of 
 monarcJis — every thing was discussed and regulated , 
 according to the views and interests of these formida- 
 ble monarchs. Supported by that bold and enter- 
 prising militia which every where fomented war, dis- 
 cord, sedition, rebellion, ignorance, superstition, and 
 fanaticism among the people, they were sure of their 
 
164 SECRETS OF 
 
 laws and commands being received and respected by 
 every sovereign of Christendom. 
 
 "Rome, during those ages of darkness and super- 
 stition, saw all the sovereigns of Christian states within 
 her walls : some of them imploring pardon for having 
 undertaken a just war in defence of their most sacred 
 rights ; others declaring themselves the vassals and 
 tributaries of the Church ; many receiving a preca- 
 rious investiture of those states which they had ob- 
 tained either hy conquest, by consent of the people, or 
 by inheritance through a long succession of ancestors ; 
 and all of them obliged to submit, in full view of the 
 people, to the vilest and most humiliating acts of 
 degradation." 
 
 The priests, tliough called upon by their profession 
 to be the messengers of indulgence and universal cha- 
 rity, were only the instruments of Popes for excom- 
 municating their enemies and opponents. 
 
 " In these latter times, during which ignorance and 
 superstition began to be diminished, interdicts have 
 become less frequent, notwithstanding the attention of 
 the Popes to preserve and confirm in their Bulls that 
 sanguinary and antichristian doctrine to which they 
 are indebted for their exorbitant power. The Bulls of 
 Alexander III., of Boniface YIII., and Innocent III., 
 cannot be perused without feeling the utmost horror 
 and indignation. Paul IV., that ferocious and violent 
 Pope, who with so much audacity and insolence cited 
 before his terrible tribunal at Rome, the two Empe- 
 rors, Charles Y. and Ferdinand III. his brother, be- 
 cause one of them had resigned, and the other accepted 
 the imperial authority without his consent, — this Pope, 
 in a Bull signed by all his cardinals, decreed, that in 
 future, every count, baron, marquis, duke, king, or em- 
 peror, who had fallen into or should be convicted of, 
 heresy and schism, should be totally deprived of their 
 dominions ; that they should be incapable of possessing 
 any in future ; and that they could never be restored 
 to their former condition. Every action, however in- 
 nocent, which did not favor his system of despotism 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 165 
 
 and universal monarchy, was declared by that Pope to 
 be heresy. His pride made him reject the obedience 
 which Ebzabeth of England proffered to him, and his 
 threats confirmed that kingdom in its separation from 
 Rome. 
 
 " The interdict lately fulminated against the Duke 
 of Parma, ought to awaken the dread and jealousy, 
 formerly entertained by every sovereign prince, of the 
 Court of Rome. Such a recent example of the exer- 
 cise of the authority which she arrogates to herself, 
 over a meniher of a family which holds the first place 
 in Europe in point of authority^ grandeur^ and power ^ 
 and in times so critical and difficult for herself ought 
 to inspire every sovereign with a just dread, lest, taking 
 advantage of those opportunities with which more fa- 
 vorable circumstances may supply her, she again at- 
 tempt to put her despotic power in force against them. 
 
 '' Such is the doctrine contained and taught in de- 
 cretals — a doctrine both sanguinary and seditious — a 
 doctrine which establishes the despotism of the spi- 
 ritual power, and the slavery of every sovereign — a 
 doctrine which foments the ambitious and independent 
 spirit of the clergy, and excites rebellion among the 
 people ; a doctrine which has caused and will continue 
 to cause constant dread, suspicion, jealousy, and dis- 
 trust in the bosom of every sovereign. It is one which 
 strikes at the root of every natural and divine right ; 
 a doctrine which overturns the most solid foundations 
 of human society, and which, in bringing back the 
 times of ignorance and superstition, will renew those 
 scenes of discord which took place between the priest- 
 hood and the empire. It is, moreover, a doctrine which 
 must have hindered, and will continue to impede, the 
 propagation of the Gospel among those heathen and 
 idolatrous nations when they become aware that there 
 is in Christianity a power which can excite, at plea- 
 sure, sedition, war, and rebellion among the people ; 
 which foments and nourishes fanaticism and supersti- 
 tion ; and which has extended the spiritual empire 
 even beyond the limits of the known world. 
 
1G6 SECRETS OF 
 
 " The line of demaTcation pointed out by Pope Alex- 
 ander VI.5 who diso^raced the Church by so many 
 horrible crimes and such abandoned wickedness, is 
 well known. In order to prevent war and discord be- 
 tween the Spanish and Portuguese, he fixed the limits 
 within which they might carry on their conquests in 
 regions altogether unknown, over which he could have 
 no other rights than those of fanaticism and universal 
 monarchy, and the new conquerors none but those ac- 
 quired by force, by violence, and usurpation. This 
 doctrine of the decretals, has more than once obliged 
 Christian princes to violate treaties which they had 
 entered into with infidels, and confirmed with oaths — 
 the strongest bands of human society ; and it has en- 
 slaved the church which was free in tmies of the 
 fiercest persecution. It is a doctrine which was totally 
 unknown in those ages of the Church most celebrated 
 for their piety ; it is a doctrine completely at variance 
 with the spirit, and with the precepts of the Gospel." 
 
 In continuation of what he had said in regard to 
 the false titles by which the sacerdotal power is main- 
 tained, the author of the memoir expresses himself m 
 the following terms : which we copy, as even in our 
 days these same titles exist, because the ecclesiastical 
 authority shows a strong desire to turn them to ac- 
 count, and because imprudent Governments are labor- 
 ing to procure it the means. 
 
 " It was during the eleventh century that those false 
 decretals were published, in which, besides the inde- 
 pendence of the clergy, it was distinctly inculcated 
 that the orders of the Court of Rome, were to be obey- 
 ed every where, and by every class of persons without 
 delay or contradiction, and that no civil law had any 
 force or authority against its canons and decrees ; that 
 the tribunal of the church is superior to that of the so- 
 vereign ; and that the laws of the state ought only to 
 be obeyed when they are not contrary to those of the 
 church. About this period also were falsified those 
 ancient laws and canons which militated against this 
 monstrous system. The clergy supported by these 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 167 
 
 false documents, not content with the independence 
 which they had acquired by open rebeUion, and ren- 
 dered audacious by the ignorance and attachment of 
 the people, usurped a great part of the authority which 
 belonged to the magistrates. After this usurpation, 
 the authority of sovereigns was overthrown and demo- 
 lished by means of false documents, which taught the 
 superiority of the spiritual over the temporal power ; 
 that princes were inferior to bishops, and that they 
 ought not to undertake or regulate any thing except 
 according to their advice. 
 
 '' Such was the monstrous system, so totally contra- 
 ry to the doctrines of the Gospel, and before that time 
 miknown in any age or nation, by means of which 
 Gregory VII. pretended that the temporal power was 
 subordinate to the spiritual ; that the Church alone 
 had the power of conferring crowns and judging sove- 
 reigns, and that all princes were vassals of the Court 
 of Rome, and ought to take an oath of fidelity to her, 
 as well as pay her an annual tribute." 
 
 The Bishop's plans for religious reforms were put 
 in execution. Chevalier Banchieri, who was appoint- 
 ed administrator of the estates belonging to the sup- 
 pressed monasteries, fully concurred with him in all 
 his measures, and a manufactory was established for 
 the employment of the poor, which soon acquired con- 
 siderable importance. Pistoia has a population of 
 eight thousand souls. Ricci divided it into eight par- 
 ishes each governed by a cure or prior, who received 
 three hundred crowns a year, and by four chaplains, 
 who were paid a hundred and forty crowns. Having 
 thus united every kind of church property to the ec- 
 clesiastical patrimony, which was charged with the 
 payment of the ministers' salaries, and the expenses of 
 public worship, he severely forbade the priests from 
 receiving money from the people on any pretext what- 
 ever. They were obliged to officiate, to marry, bap- 
 tize, and bury grcetis^ and the expenses of all religious 
 ceremonies were definitively fixed. The number of 
 tapers put round the dead was the same for both poor 
 
163 SECRETS OF 
 
 and rich : and when the sum appointed by the defunct 
 person, or his heirs, exceeded the expense, the surplus 
 was devoted to purposes of charity. Many of the 
 clergy voluntarily submitted to these ncAv regulations, 
 and the Bishop had the satisfaction of finding that the 
 diffusion of knowledge had begun to work efiects, 
 which he trusted could never be destroyed. 
 
 The Grand Duke augmented the funds of the eccle- 
 siastical patrimony instituted by Ricci, and bestowed 
 on it all the wealth of the suppressed monasteries. 
 "These institutions," says the Bishop, "afforded in 
 early times, retreats for men wearied with the barbari- 
 ties and vices of war. But they have since been made 
 the asylums only of idleness and sensuality. The 
 convents became intolerable by their numbers, and 
 served as places of confinement, where one half of the 
 people was condemned to celibacy. Leopold saw the 
 abuses which had been introduced; and notwithstand- 
 ing the anger of the Papal Court, determined on effect- 
 ing a reformation. With the riches of the monks he 
 endowed poor parishes, whose priests almost failed of 
 subsistence. He founded new ones where they were 
 wanted. He assisted and established hospitals : found- 
 ed places of education, and conferred such benefits on 
 Tuscany, that his name deserves to be eternally com- 
 memorated." With the powerful assistance of Leopold, 
 Ricci found no obstacle sufficient to retard his comple- 
 tion of the seminary of Pistoia. The edifice employ- 
 ed a considerable number of hands, formed a new fea- 
 ture in the appearance of the town, encouraged indus- 
 try, and even tended to the revival of the Fine Arts. 
 The petty intrigues which were sometimes employed 
 against him, he immediately made known to Leopold, 
 and they were as immediately stopped by the active 
 and zealous determination of that Prince. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 16J 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Miraculous Image. — Matrimonial Dispensations.— Abolition of Ecclesi- 
 astical Courts. — Diminution of Convents. — Attempts ag-ainst Ricci. 
 
 Ricci, having organized the seminary of Pistoia, 
 extended his reforms to that of Prato ; but though he 
 met with great opposition on all accounts, tfie single 
 altar was what excited the loudest murmurs, when- 
 ever it was proposed. After alluding to a pretended 
 miraculous image of the Virgin in a church at Arezzo, 
 he says, that " it served as a pretext for pillage, mas- 
 sacres, and all kinds of impieties, of which the image 
 was thus rendered an accomplice ;" for which reason, 
 when he withdrew a similar imaire of the Virj^in from 
 its hiding-place at Prato, he had it newly painted, that 
 it might not deceive the people, as it had foriuerly done, 
 into errors and excesses, ;^^^ 
 
 Ricci was highly ol!ended at the manner in whici 
 the Court of Rome dealt in dispensations of marriage, 
 styling the trade -^ id fame bottega,'[/An infamous shop. 
 He determined on thB' authority of Leopold, to gi 
 dispensations in the diocess of Pistoia and Prato : his 
 diocesans applied to him instead of the Papal Court^ 
 and contracted with conlidence any marriages which 
 he authorized. His dispensations cost nothing, while 
 those of the Pope were enormously dear. In the 
 course of five years he granted three himdred and 
 seventeen dispensations. His conduct in this was par- 
 ticularly displeasing to the Papal Court, though he 
 receiv^ed pompous eulogies from the Pope on occasion 
 of the report he made of the state of his diocess ; and 
 the Pontifical Secretary of State, Cardinal Pallavicini, 
 exhorted him strongly to hold a diocesan synod. But 
 while Ricci was endeavoring to regulate his diocess, 
 and watch over its interests, the monks and nuns per- 
 sisted in contradicting him on all points, and disobey- 
 ing him in matters which he judged of the hiohest 
 
 15 
 
170 SECRETS OF 
 
 importance. They resumed acting plays, and dancingX 
 in the convents of the nnns, though he had rigorously 1 
 forbidden them, from the period of his becoming a / 
 bishop. 
 
 The next object of Ricci was to reduce the number 
 of monasteries in each diocess to one or two, in order 
 to subject them to the jurisdiction of the bishops. But 
 this was attacking the monks in their strong-holds, and 
 the opposition he met with from them lasted the rest 
 of his life. They particularly did all in their power to 
 withhold from the knowledge of Ricci, their plans of 
 cloister studies, which, says Ricci, were composed of 
 '' peripatetic philosophy and tScottism. taught in the 
 most barbarous Latin."' 
 
 Ricci had dispensed licenses of marriage, &c. gratis^ 
 but he could not please all parties. A family of mer- 
 chants called Piccioh, wished that the widow of one 
 of them should espouse her late husband's brother, in 
 order that the property should be kept in the family. 
 For this purpose they applied to Ricci ; but he, not 
 judging a dispensation proper under the circumstance, 
 refused it. On this, the parties applied to Rome, where, 
 by dint of bribes, they obtained permission to marry ; 
 but as the authority did not extend to Tuscany, they 
 could not be acknowledged as married persons there. 
 The Grand Duke, moreover, was enraged at their ob- 
 stinacy, and exiled them from his territories. In this 
 extremity, they once more addressed themselves to 
 Ricci, who, touched by their submission, obtained their 
 pardon, and married them anew. He was always open 
 to the petitions of those who demanded to be freed 
 from such religious vows as they had taken while 
 under age ; and both male and female religious persons 
 found in him an advocate in such cases for their secu- 
 larization. 
 
 The reforms of Ricci met with the most determined 
 opposition ; but he waited with patience for the time 
 when men should become enlio^hteiied, and endeavored 
 to hasten that time, by furnishing his diocesans with 
 good books. He sent the curates copies of them, per- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 171 
 
 suaded that the taste for their perusal would spread 
 from them among their parishioners. The peasants ^ 
 used to purchase those books, to read them in the eve- 
 ning to their families; and in order to propagate this 
 taste, the Grand Duke banished all the hawkers of tlie 
 printed indulgences of the Court of Rome. 
 
 Among other projects of Ricci, was that of the abo- 
 lition of the htigious and contentious Ecclesiastical 
 Courts ; but though he failed, he succeeded in reform- 
 ing their practice. He endeavored, but in vain, to have 
 the bishops and other high functionaries of the Church 
 paid by salaries, like the inferior orders of the clergy, 
 as being the only means of preventing the property of 
 the Church from being wasted or expended by a prodi- 
 gal predecessor. The progress of the French revolu- 
 tion, however, absorbed all the attention of Leopold ; 
 and the constant opposition of the bishops to the mea- 
 sure prevented the meritorious designs of Ricci from 
 being carried into execution. 
 
 The Dominicans of Maria Novella at Florence, in 
 the mean time, neglected nothing to recover a portion 
 of the influence they had lost in Pistoia. Ricci opposed 
 them, and was seconded by the Grand Duke, who, by 
 an edict, abolished for ever the lotteries for giving 
 dowries to girls, on .occasion of the various festivals, 
 accompanied by the promise of indulgences as exces- 
 sive as they were scandalous and absurd, by which 
 large sums were gained, especially in the country. 
 The laws which existed against the begging clergy in 
 Tuscany, had not been observed. Ricci now enforced 
 their execution ; employed the money which had till 
 then been spent in dowries, in a wiser manner ; and 
 instituted conservatories for women, who were to be 
 brought up from the age of eight to twenty-four, with 
 the view of becoming industrious and good wives. 
 At the latter age, however, they were obliged to leave 
 the institution, lest, as Ricci apprehended, such places 
 shonld grow into real nunneries, through the bigotry 
 of the elder members. 
 
 In 1785, the Secretary Seratti was created Counsel- 
 
172 SECRETS OF 
 
 lor of State. He opposed all the plans of Ricci. in 
 which he was warmly seconded by the Civil Lieuten- 
 ant of Pistoia. This opposition obliged Ricci to look 
 for a co-operator with him in his beneficent projects. 
 He thought of Martini, Secretary for the Rights of the 
 Crown ; and in the hope of rendering him an all^r, he 
 showed more respect for Martini than he deserved. 
 He seemed at first to have succeeded. Martini required 
 of the bishops an account of their revenues, but they 
 either refused to answer, lest they should lose the 
 Pope's favor, or they replied that their diocesses were 
 poor, and destitute of the resources with which Pistoia 
 and Prato abounded. Ricci unveiled the falsehood 
 of these assertions, pointed out the real sources of the 
 wealth of the clerg^y, and recommended a more equal 
 distribution of it. 
 
 Ricci gives us an account of his vigilant attention to 
 the plan of studies pursued by the monks of Giac- 
 cherino, the only place of study which the regulars had 
 in his diocess. The monks opposed all his plans of 
 improvement, in which they were supported by the 
 practice of the other bishops : for though Ricci drew 
 up a list of the books which he wished to be employed 
 in the instruction of the youth of his diocess, he was 
 the only bishop who took any vigorous or decided 
 measures. The Grand Duke did not think proper to 
 pass any general law on the subject : so that Ricci 
 only gained by his projects the reputation of an eiitJiv- 
 siast, and an enemy to the Court of Rome. He was, 
 however, unmoved by these clamors ; and, in order to 
 overcome the bishops' resistance to the reforms of Leo- 
 pold, which he thought had its source in their fidelity 
 to their oath of consecration, he addressed himself to 
 Seratti on the subject. The affair, however, dropped, 
 and no measures were taken to remedy the existing 
 evils. 
 
 The Bishop made a new attempt by sending to Leo- 
 pold some original document proving thr^t the Court of 
 Rome abused the power which the oath taken by the 
 bishops gave it, by "obliging them to resist their 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 173 
 
 sovereigns," says Ricci, "whenever they touch upon 
 the false rights of the pretended Papal monarchy." 
 Leopold's reforms were not intended to intrench upon 
 the Pope's rights ; but he did not go to the root of the 
 evil in all cases. One of the most grievous disorders 
 lay in " cases of conscience," of which the bishops had 
 reserved for their own decision a great number, — and 
 in which they alone had the power of absohition. 
 " They have become the slaves, instead of the brothers 
 of the Pope ; and usurp the rights of the priests and 
 curates, as Rome has usurped theirs, by despoiling 
 them of their natural and legitimate authority." 
 
 It was with the utmost delicacy towards the bishops 
 that Leopold attacked this abuse ; but he was not 
 obeyed in the greater part of the diocesses, or for any 
 length of time. All the bishops were opposed to him, 
 and their advisers still more so. Ricci gives us the 
 character of the latter. " They were," says he, '• some 
 ignorant advocate, invested with the character of 
 chancellor, or a serving priest, without any knowledge 
 of ecclesiastical affairs, and puifed up with their Roman 
 vanity." The reserved cases of conscience, which 
 were generally indecent or absurd^ were decided on, 
 not by a synod, but arbitrarily ; and these continued 
 to exist as before. 
 
 The list of excommunications and cases still actua,lly 
 reserved for the decision of the Archbishop of Pisa, 
 who can alone grant absolution for them, contains the 
 common absurdity of confounding indecencies and 
 real crimes with actions indifferent in themselves. 
 The eating of meat on days prohibited by the Church, 
 and other offences against its particular ordinances, 
 are placed upon a level with the worst crimes of which 
 men can be guilty, such as seduction and rape, bearing 
 false witness, and wilful murder. 
 
 It moreover contains an absurdity peculiar to itself 
 — that of having classed with forgers and assassins, 
 " those who fell trees in the forests of the archiepiscopal 
 menscB, called Tombolo, Tomboletto, Poggio a Padule, 
 and other farms in Migliarino, without the permission 
 15* 
 
174 SECRETS OF 
 
 of the Archbishop, or of his procurator." These ex- 
 communications and reserved cases are printed at Pisa, 
 at the Archbishop's press, by Rainier Prosperi, with 
 permission of the Superiors. Tliese reserved cases 
 differ in each diocess. A most revolting crime has 
 never been pronounced more than a misdemeanor at 
 Florence. At Fiesole, which is situated at the gates 
 of that city, it becomes a reserved case, and has been 
 there distinguished, by the compiler of the catalogue 
 of these exorbitant sins, into a crime proper, and a 
 crime improper. 
 
 The person who carried this senseless absurdity in 
 the distinction of these reserved cases to the greatest 
 length, was one of the last of the Stuarts, Cardinal 
 Henry York, Vice-chancellor of the Roman Church, 
 and Bishop of Tusculum, Frascati. In a diocesan 
 synod, which he held in 1763, assisted by a Jesuit as 
 manager, the acts of which synod he published at 
 Rome, the following year, with the approbation of the 
 Pontifical Government, he specified in the most offen- 
 sive and absurd manner every species of unnatural 
 crime as requiring his special and personal absolution. 
 
 We give the Latin title of the singular book which 
 contains these ridiculous abominations, and which we 
 also preserve in the original for the sake of decency. 
 
 "Appendix ad Tusculanam S^modum a celsitudine 
 regia eminentissima Henrici episcopi Tusculani, S. R. 
 E. vice-cancellarii, Cardinalis Ducis Eboracensis, in 
 Tuscuiano cathedrali templo apostolorum principis S. 
 Petri celebratam, diebus viii. ix. et x. Septembris, A. D, 
 MDCc]>xiii. Excudebat Romse Generosus Salamoni, 
 anno 1764, superioribus annuentibus." 
 
 Num. 12, cap. 10, art. 9, § 9. — "Casus quorum ab- 
 solutionem sibi reservat regia celsitudo eminentissima 
 dominus Cardinalis Dux Eboracensis episcopus Tus- 
 culanis.*' 
 
 The Grand Duke, desirous that the women who 
 devoted themselves to a monastic life, should at least 
 be aware of what they were about, ordained that the 
 mmimiim of the age for pronouncing the vows should 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 175 
 
 be twenty-two. He also forbade the practice of asking 
 or receiving dowries with the nuns ; but in order to 
 prevent that regulation from having the eifect of 
 crowding the nunneries, he directed that the parents of 
 each nun should pay, according to their ability, some 
 considerable sum to the Hospital of the place. He 
 allowed those who entered his conservatories to choose, 
 within a certain time, between an ordinary and a 
 cloistered life ; if they chose the latter, they were 
 bound to devote themselves to the instruction of poor 
 girls in some manual work, and in the Christian doc- 
 trines. His aim, moreover, was to augment the num- 
 ber of good housewives and mothers in his states, and 
 to diminish that of '•Hhe unfortunate victims of a 
 forced celihacyP 
 
 Ricci endeavored to diminish the number of con- 
 vents, and proved to the Nuncio Crivelli, who opposed 
 him, that Florence held within its walls more convents 
 than Rome itself, though the population of the former 
 was not much more than half that of the capital of 
 Catholicism. He maintained that the multitude of 
 convents tended only to render some persons rich at 
 the expense of the unhappy nuns ; and he proved, 
 through the examination of some of them by confi- 
 dential priests, that they were generally ignorant of 
 their duties and the force of their vows, " which they 
 observed judaicallyP 
 
 The greater number of the convents was converted 
 into conservatories ; and their reformation was of infi- 
 nite service to Tuscany in general, by the instruction 
 they spread among the poor, and by giving birth to 
 hospitals and other charities. The convent of Marcel, 
 however, was the only one which fully conformed to 
 Leopold's wishes ; and in return for spreading so much 
 good around it, it was persecuted by the successors of 
 Ricci, and "the nuns were accused of being as proud 
 as so many Lucifers." 
 
 The enemies of Ricci were not yet weary of perse- 
 cuting him. They ordered him to furnish the sum of 
 12.000 crowns to the diocess of Pisa. But this endea- 
 
176 SECRETS OF 
 
 vor to entrap him was eluded, by his addressing him- 
 self to the Grand Duke, to whom he proved how in- 
 consistently his enemies acted, in accusing him at one 
 moment of wasting his ecclesiastical patrimony in new 
 buildings, and coming upon him the next with de- 
 mands to cover expenses with which he had nothing 
 to do. Leopold ordered the Archbishop of Pisa to look 
 elsewhere for the money he required, and never to 
 think of making tise of any sum belonging to Ricci 
 without his formal consent. New force was added to 
 the malice of his enemies by a report, which was in- 
 dustriously spread by the Pope, that a synod of Cardi- 
 nals was assembled at Rome to judge of the conduct 
 and doctrines of Ricci : which had the double effect of 
 destroying any inclination in the other bishops to fol- 
 low his example, and of exciting still farther the irri- 
 tation against the Emperor Joseph, which had been 
 already powerfully awakened by the monks. 
 
 Ricci speedily experienced the effects of the enmity 
 of his adversaries, when he wished to free the property 
 of his diocesans from the obligation of paying for 
 masses and other religious ceremonies, which had de- 
 'generated into a traffic. For this purpose, he pub- 
 lished and circulated tracts relative to the sacrifice of 
 the mass, and some writings proving the justice and 
 ability of Leopold's measures, as they regarded eccle- 
 siastical matters. The Grand Duke seconded his 
 Bishop's endeavors to cause the money, which was 
 employed in masses, to be used for the poor, and the 
 education and maintenance of their children : and the 
 good to which this led, encouraged Leopold to attempt 
 the suppression of all benefices which were in the 
 hands of certain families for the benefit ot the younger 
 members, and who made them sinecures, paying 
 strangers for services rendered not to the Church, but 
 to themselves. 
 
 But the good intentions of the Grand Duke on this 
 head were rendered vain, by want of co-operation in 
 the bishops, who were, for the greater part, violently 
 opposed to all innov^ation in matters ecclesiastic : the 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 177 
 
 rest remained neuter, contenting themselves with not 
 opposing or obstructing the intentions of the Prince. 
 
 The next step of Leopold Avas to order all the bishops 
 "to hold a diocesan synod at least once in two years, 
 conjointly with the curates, in order to examine into 
 the abuses in discipline, and to apply the necessary 
 remedies." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Formation of new Parishes. — Results of this measure in reg-ard to the 
 inhabitants of La Montag-na. — r^etter of the Grand Duke. — Ecclesias- 
 tioal Synods. — Riots at Frato.— Retirement of Ricci.— Letters. 
 
 After Leopold had succeeded in removing some 
 useless or hurtful members of the clergy, he wished to 
 augment the number of those whose labors, he thought, 
 would instruct the people. For this purpose, he created 
 new parishes wherever it was probable that the pre- 
 sence of the curate would improve civilization. The 
 suppressions which he made had been blamed by his 
 ministers as irreligious ; his additions were blamed as 
 impolitic. -'• The jieople^ said they, " are the better 
 for being ignorant o ^natters of religion— a bishoj) 
 or priest, who shoula be appointed to bless a nation 
 from the top of a tovj^7 is equal to all their wants' 
 
 The inhabitants of L.a Montagu a were deeply in 
 want of curates, who should not only act the part of 
 faithful pastors, but also that of heads of families, 
 when the men were gone to work at the Maremma. 
 This Ricci signified to Leopold : his jolan was ap- 
 proved, and immediately acted upon. 
 
 On this occasion, Ricci relates an adventure he met 
 with in the course of this diocesan visit, undertaken 
 in order to gain information for the Grand Duke. 
 Some of his enemies had caused to be dug in the stony 
 and narrow roads of La Montagna a deep pit, which 
 
178 SECRETS OF 
 
 was covered with leaves, into which it was hoped Ricci 
 and his horse would fall and perish there. The curate 
 of the place had discovered this, by means of confes- 
 sion, and hastened to inform the prelate's secretary, 
 who communicated the fact to the magistrate. The 
 latter removed the danger, and Ricci, finding the road 
 in good condition, suspected nothing ; nor was he in- 
 formed of this attempt on his life, till several months 
 afterwards. 
 
 How necessary it was to have priests residing at La 
 Montagna, may be guessed from the fact, that the roads 
 are so bad in winter, that twenty-three families, forming 
 a whole village, lived six months of the year without 
 priests or sacraments, until it was changed into a 
 curacy. The priest of the next parish had, till then, 
 been accustomed to ofliciate till the month of Septem- 
 ber, and then to bid them adieu till the next Sprii]g. 
 
 Ricci's plan, and his zealous execution of it, pleased 
 the Duke so much, that he invited the Bishop to din- 
 ner at his villa, with his sister the Queen of Naples, 
 and King Ferdinand, then in Tuscan^r, to whom he 
 related all the good that Ricci had done in his diocess, 
 particularly in the Mountain of Pistoia : to which Fer- 
 ditiand listened with attention and interest, and ex- 
 pressed a wish to introduce similar improvements into 
 his own States. 
 
 The visit of these royal persons, and Leopold's ill 
 health, seemed to give the ministry a good opportunity 
 of destroying Ricci's plans relative to La Montagna ; 
 but their attempts to prejudice Leopold against him 
 were vain. The ministers were provoked to find 
 Ricci's plans succeed so easily, after they had pro- 
 nounced them impracticable ; and the other Tuscan 
 bishops were puzzled how to proceed. They ventured 
 not to follow the example of Ricci, lest they should 
 make enemies of Rome and the monks ; and they 
 hated him the more, because he was so disinterested 
 as to provoke perpetual comparisons with them, greatly 
 to their disadvantage. 
 
 Ricci was indignant at the Tuscan bishops for their 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 179 
 
 meanness in compelling the priests, at whose houses 
 they lived while visiting their diocesses, to entertain 
 them magnificently, and to make presents to their sec- 
 retaries, 6cc., to their own ruin. He proved to the 
 Grand Duke, who was displeased already at this 
 splendor, which by rendering the prelates inaccessible, 
 made their pastoral visits useless — that these visits 
 ought to be held at the expense of the prelates them- 
 selves, and that, made as they ought to be, they ought 
 not to exceed one hundred crowns a year — a sum 
 which every bishop was in a condition to pay. 
 
 Ricci's principal aim was uniformly the reformation 
 of his own diocess ; and having remarked that the re 
 ligious ceremonies performed during the night, gave 
 rise to numerous disorders, he forbade them, under 
 severe penalties, during the entire week preceding 
 Christmas. 
 
 In the year 1786, the Grand Duke, satisfied with 
 Ricci's examination of Mancini's letter, submitted to 
 him a circular, which he intended to address to all the 
 Tuscan bishops, proposing to them several questions 
 on ecclesiastical points, requesting them to reflect ma- 
 turely on them before sending him their answers. 
 Ricci altered and retrenched it as he thought best ; 
 but his corrections arrived too late, and the greater 
 part of them could not be adopted. At the assembly 
 of the Tuscan bishops at Florence, nevertheless, it was 
 publicly said that Ricci was the author of the Points, 
 in order that they might be the more odious to the 
 clergy. The Grand Duke granted six months' delay 
 for answering these questions, declaring it to be his 
 intention to submit them to the national council, and 
 to obtain a perfect unity in doctrinal matters. 
 
 The Court of Rome, at this time, absolutely dictated 
 the answers which the bishops were to make to their 
 Government. It had always done so, as Ricci had 
 proved to Leopold, urging the obedience which the 
 bishops owed to the Pope, and to none else. 
 
 The reforms which Ricci wished to introduce into 
 the church, were constantly opposed by the ministry. 
 
180 SECRETS OF 
 
 in spite of the support of Leopold, whose weakness 
 was as remarkable as his benevolence. The bishops 
 and the Court of Rome lent their powerful aid to his 
 enemies, and his plans relative to education were per- 
 petually frustrated by the monks. " Slander and cal- 
 umny," says he, " the usual arms of Rome, were put 
 in action to overwhelm me." He was accused of hav- 
 ing turned to his own profit the property of the sup- 
 pressed convents — of having destroyed relic-worship — 
 of having profaned images — of having falsified pray- 
 ers, <fec. Pretended priests of his diocess were sent to 
 Rome to beof advice asfainst the dansferous errors of 
 their Bishop, (fee. One of the canons of Pistoia wrote 
 a defence of all the pretensions of the Church of Rome. 
 But though these things were knov/n to Leopold, he 
 only punished the secondary actors in them, and never 
 the principal. Rome had now begun the war which 
 she meant to carry on against Rlcci and his synod — 
 the convocation of which she dreaded above all 
 things. 
 
 The Synod assembled in September, 1786. The 
 celebrated Professor Tamburmi,of Pavia, and Palmieri, 
 who were to arrange the subjects of discussion, with 
 several others distinguished for tlieir talents, were pre- 
 sent. Ricci endeavored to give his council all the 
 solemnity possible, and the utmost conformity with the 
 iTiost celebrated synods. The clergy of Pistoia had 
 already agreed on the points to be discussed, and were 
 prepared to pass into a law what-was already believed 
 and professed. The council was held in the Church 
 of Leopold, and consisted of 234 members. Ricci had 
 not acquainted the Pope with any thing relative to his 
 diocesan synod ; but, as he had signified his intention 
 of holding one, it would certainly have been much 
 more honorable in Pius VL to have then declared his 
 displeasure, than to undermine him. and after the 
 death of his protector, Leopold, to persecute him vio- 
 lently. 
 
 The council opened with the recitation of Pius the 
 Fourth's Confession of Faith. Some of the members 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 181 
 
 refused to sign the opinions of the council on grace, 
 predestination, &c. ; and at the head of the opposition 
 was a canon, an emissary of the Court of Rome. The 
 matter most debated was that of the civil contract of 
 marriage, which it was necessary to distinguish from 
 the sacrament and the nuptial benediction ] and the 
 Duke was applied to for his decision on it as a civil 
 act. 
 
 Leopold was delighted with the labors of his council. 
 He encouraged the members by his letters; and having 
 learned that Rome was making efforts and intrigues to 
 disturb the assembly, and sow discord among its mem- 
 bers, he took the necessary measures of precaution 
 against them. The nobility of Pistoia, however, were 
 opposed to the council, which was denounced at Rome 
 as a conspiracy, and Ricci was defamed in numberless 
 libels. 
 
 About this time arrived the answers to the fifty-seven 
 questions which had been propounded by the Grand 
 Duke to the Tuscan bishops. They were suiFiciently 
 contradictory, but they showed a wish to satisfy the 
 Prince. Leopold was deceived by their apparent readi- 
 ness; and wishing to carry the same perfect unanimity 
 of sentiment into the details, as he thought he saw in 
 the principal views, he determined on convoking a 
 general council at Florence, which he believed was to 
 put an end to the intrigues of Rome. Ricci endeavor- 
 ed to persuade the Duke that this meeting would have 
 fatal consequences, especially if it took place in the 
 capital. 
 
 The enemies of Ricci had already obtained the sup- 
 pression of the acts of his synod until after the close 
 of that of Florence. Having succeeded in this, they 
 whispered that the publication of them had been for- 
 bidden by the Government, and the Grand Duke him- 
 self The Bishop of Pistoia, hearing of this, urged 
 Leopold to change his resolution, and to allow the 
 acts of the assembly to appear, as his best protection 
 against the intrigues of Rome and the calumnies of its 
 creatures. 
 
 16 
 
182 SECRETS OF 
 
 Leopold objected to this, that it was reported that the 
 acts themselves were to be severely examined in an 
 assembly of Cardinals ; therefore, fearing their publi- 
 cation would only serve as a pretext for farther opposi- 
 tion, he contented himself v/ith writing a letter to Ricci, 
 expressive of his entire satisfaction, and his approba- 
 tion of his synod. 
 
 The council of Florence was convoked, by order of 
 the Grand Duke, in April, 1787. From the very be- 
 ginning of its sittings, the bishops imposed silence on 
 the Duke's theologians, by saying, Nos 9nagistri, vos 
 discipuli: " We are the masters, ye are hut the scho- 
 lars^ They engaged the assistance of the advocate 
 Lampredi, a man of talents luid eloquence; and believ- 
 ing themselves wholly assembled for the purpose of 
 deciding on the fate of Ricci, his synod, and his re- 
 forms, they soon changed the council into a mere con- 
 spiracy against the la.tter, and all innovation whatever. 
 
 All this opposition did not discourage Ricci. His 
 enemies had, therefore, but one expedient left ; this 
 was to excite the people to a riot, and, by intimidating 
 the Grand Duke, remove Ricci's principal support. 
 
 At Pistoia it soon became known that the great body 
 of the bishops were decidedly opposed to the reforms 
 of Ricci. Several curates petitioned the Secretary to 
 the Crown, and their metropolitan, the Archbishop of 
 Florence, to abolisli the innovations made at Pistoia 
 and Prato, and to restore every thing on its former 
 footing. The Archbishop Martini, and the Secretary 
 of the same name, were the principal movers in this 
 plot ; but as the Grand Duke opposed these plans, they 
 found that a revolt would be the only method likely to 
 produce the destruction of reform in Tuscany. 
 
 At that time the question of the worship of images, 
 <fcc. was in agitation at Florence. Ricci was said, by 
 his enemies, to entertain erroneous ideas on that head ; 
 and it was whispered that he intended to pull down 
 the altar where the Girdle of the Yirgin was preserved, 
 and to attempt other innovations equally dreaded by 
 the people. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 18S 
 
 It had been intimated to the Grand Duke that his 
 support of Ricci and his reforms might have fatal 
 political consequences ; but he refused to yield, and 
 the riots were resolved upon. On the 20th of May, the 
 tumult of Prato took place. In the evening, the mob, 
 armed with sticks and hatchets, proceeded to the prin- 
 cipal church to prevent the demolition of the Altar of 
 the Girdle. They mounted the tower, rang the alarm- 
 bell for several hours, tore down the Bishop's chair and 
 arms, and burnt them in the market place, with seve- 
 ral books which they found. The church was illumin- 
 ated during the night, by order of the rioters, and the 
 Holy Girdle was exposed to the reverence of the 
 devout. 
 
 From the church they proceeded to the spot where 
 the images were placed, which had been removed from 
 the suppressed monasteries, and carried them in pro- 
 cession to the cathedral, holding in one hand a torch, 
 and in the other a bottle of wine. They paid the same 
 honors to the saints whose worship Ricci had abolished, 
 and tore from the missal the masses for those whose 
 worship he had introduced, which they burnt, together 
 with the books he had distributed among his clergy. 
 They pulled down the new baptisteries — threatened 
 the heads of the seminary and the curates who were 
 known to favor Ricci — made the priests get out of 
 their beds and accompany them in their shirts to the 
 different churches, to replace before the images the little 
 curtains which Ricci had removed. The churches 
 were soon all lighted up like the cathedral, and each 
 went to pray or sing in them, as he pleased. 
 
 The next morning all the peasants of the neighbor- 
 hood arrived in the town, and ran from church to 
 church, to pay their devotions to the images of the 
 suppressed saints, and the images which, now that 
 they were covered with a veil, had become, in their 
 eyes, far more respectable. Pistoia would soon have 
 followed the example of Prato, had not Leopold sent a 
 detachment of soldiers from Florence, who soon re- 
 stored order. The gates of Prato were closed, the 
 
1S4 SECRETS OF 
 
 Streets barricadoed, the houses and shops shut, and a 
 number of persons were arrested and sent to the capi- 
 taL The Grand Duke gave orders that every thing 
 should be restored to the footing on which it was be- 
 fore the revolt. 
 
 On hearing this distressing news, Ricci was deeply 
 grieved. Nevertheless, he went to the assembly of the 
 bishops, where, though he was warmly received by the 
 few partisans and friends he had, he was greeted only 
 with insulting murmurs by the bishops, his adversaries, 
 who did not even speak to him. 
 
 Prato had now returned to a sense of its evil con- 
 duct. The town and the clergy sent a deputation to 
 Leopold, who received them with kindness, stating, 
 that he knew the root of the evil existed in Florence 
 itself, though the revolt had been fomented by evil- 
 designing priests at Prato ; that this formed only a 
 part of a general rising, which had failed in conse- 
 quence of their declaring themselves too soon ; and 
 that Rome was mainly interested in the affair, and was 
 in the confidence of the conspirators. 
 
 But it was only in consequence of the reiterated 
 requests of Ricci that the Grand Duke consented to 
 forgive his undatiful subjects. The Bishop not only 
 obtained the liberation of the chief actors in the revolt, 
 but at his own expense supported the families of those 
 of the poorer classes who were imprisoned. He then 
 seriously resolved to abdicate ; and in a long letter 
 which he wrote to the Grand Duke, after defending 
 himself against the misrepresentations of which his 
 conduct had been made the subject, and begging the 
 Prince to pardon the insurgents, and to publish the 
 acts of his synod, he tendered his resignation. To this 
 he received a very affectionate answer the same day, 
 sympathizing with him, and granting pardon to the 
 revolters, but refusing to accept his resignation, as be- 
 ing a step likely to produce consequences quite differ- 
 ent from those contemplated by Ricci. 
 
 Leopold next resolved upon dismissing the assembly. 
 In June, 1787, he convoked the bishops, and told them 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. ]85 
 
 ill a severe tone how much he was displeased at their 
 conduct ; exhorted them to show an example of sub- 
 mission, instead of revolt, to their flocks ; and warned 
 them, that if they did not choose to reform abuses, he 
 would use his right of doing it himself 
 
 The fifty-seven articles had been discussed, but the 
 latter ones in great haste, on account of pressing cir- 
 cumstances. The Grand Duke submitted them to 
 Ricci, who refuted all the memorials which the bishops 
 had contrived to insert in the acts. Leopold caused 
 the whole to be printed in spite of the wish of Ricci, 
 that for the sake of the honor of the Tuscan bishops, 
 they should not be made public. 
 
 The Grand Duke, irritated by the opposition of the 
 clergy to his reforms, determined to wait no longer, 
 and to begin them himself Ricci, at his desire, fur- 
 nished the plan ; but they were not proceeded in, on 
 account of the revolutions which then began to agitate 
 Europe. 
 
 Several interesting letters are found in Ricci's me- 
 moirs, illustrative of the state of the Continent at that 
 period. 
 
 July, 1787, the Abbe de Bellegarde wrote from Paris 
 to Ricci : 
 
 " The public newspapers will have informed you of 
 the seditious movements in the Austrian Low Coun- 
 tries. The principal instigators of them are, without 
 doubt, the ex-jesuits, and the fanatical partisans of the 
 Court of Rome. For many years they have been pre- 
 paring the way for them by their discourses, their 
 intrigues, and above all, by their alarm-cries, and the 
 seditious writinos with which they have inundated, 
 and still continue to inundate the country. They en- 
 deavored to persuade the public, that the Emperor's 
 object was to overturn rehgion and the constitution of 
 the state ; and unfortunately the changes in the alTairs 
 of government have served as a pretext to this latter 
 calumny." 
 
 In November, he announced the flight of the Aus- 
 trians^ and the report of the taking of Brussels by the 
 
 1(3* 
 
186 SECRETS OF 
 
 insurgents. " If this last intelligence be true, the rebels 
 
 are now masters of the country In the mean time, 
 
 till they are dispossessed of it, Jesuitism and curialism 
 will triumph there ; for it is in their favor that this re- 
 volution is chiefly made. It is evidently a religious 
 war. the principal pretext of which is all that the sove- 
 reign has done to deliver the country from it ; this is 
 what the fanatics call wishing to destroy religion." 
 
 M. J'Abbe Y. at that time entrusted with an import- 
 ant mission at Rome, wrote to the Bishop of Pistoia, 
 October, 1790 : 
 
 '' You will probably have learnt the late events in 
 Brabant. Scapularies and Capuchins' cords form part 
 of the booty made by the conquerors, the Imperialists. 
 I figure to myself the fine exploits of the bearded gen- 
 try; and this idea alone would excite my laughter, did 
 not humanity and religion make me weep for the eftu- 
 sion of the blood of so many unfortunates, so strangely 
 seduced and led to the slaughter by these villains of 
 furious Papists — Papalmi. Shall I tell you a very 
 singular circumstance? The same Abbe de Tonger- 
 loo, who had promised in vu ln erability to the Flemish 
 crusaders, had been, previously to*IIfi§^period , abbe of 
 the church of Norbert des Brabancons at Rome, and at 
 this moment still keeps up a regular correspondence 
 with people of the same stamp." 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Kicci's Apology and Retirement. 
 
 The priests of Ricci's own diocess sent petitions to 
 Florence, entreating the abolition of the reforms intro- 
 duced into Pistoia and Prato. Secretary Martini was 
 the instigator of these attempts, as Ricci proved to 
 Leopold, who tlireatened Martini with the loss of his 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. Jgy 
 
 place in case of their continuance. The Court of 
 Rome had its emissaries at all the Catholic courts, en- 
 deavoring to excite a revolt of the people against their 
 princes in its favor ; and the revolt of Prato was evi- 
 dently a part of this vast plan. The people of Pistoia 
 first petitioned for the restoration of the ancient order 
 of things ; from supplications they proceeded to acts, 
 and insisted upon having the ceremonies of the Church 
 performed according to their pleasure. 
 
 In October, 1787, Ricci published his eloquent 
 " Apology." The Court of Rome was more irritated 
 than ever at the success of this piece ; and its emis- 
 saries, by their continued charges of heresy and inno- 
 vation against Ricci, even succeeded for a moment in 
 leading Leopold to doubt him, though these doubts 
 were soon effaced. Ricci had the courage to return to 
 Prato, in spite of being menaced with assassination ; 
 and his mildness had the effect of restoring a momen- 
 tary calm in that city. 
 
 The publication of the Acts of the Assembly of 
 Florence and of the Synod of Pistoia, produced a great 
 effect throughout Catholic Europe ; and Ricci received 
 from all parts the most flattering letters and sincere 
 compiiments relative to the Council of Pistoia. Amongst 
 other acts of adherence to this council, Ricci received 
 that of the Jansenist Archbishop of Utrecht, of the 
 bishops his suffrages, and of all his metropolitan 
 chapter, — an act which was officially transmitted to 
 him by the Abbe de Bellegrade, accompanied by a 
 letter dated Utrecht, November, 1789. 
 
 A letter, equally remarkable, upon the same subject, 
 is that of Le Bret, professor at Tubingen, written 
 August, 1789. 
 
 After having given Ricci every possible assurance 
 of esteem and veneration, and testified the sincere in- 
 terest he took in the persecutions to which that prelate 
 had been exposed, the professor says that he has an- 
 nexed to his letter, an academical dissertation com- 
 posed by his pupils, relative to the affairs of the diocess 
 of Pistoia, '•' in order to convince the Bishop of the 
 
188 SECRETS OF * 
 
 lively interest with which Protestants themselves are 
 inspired by the unworthy treatment to which malice 
 had subjected him." 
 
 The Abbe wrote from Rome, December, 1790 : 
 
 " The Spanish envoy, of the order of Augustin, 
 having been questioned respecting the synod, whether 
 he found heresies in it, and what was thought of it in 
 Spain, candidly answered, that the Collection of its 
 Acts was a holy book, and that in Spain it displeased 
 none but the monks ; that the ministers considered 
 it excellent, and that, in spite of monkish intrigues, the 
 reprint of it in the Spanish language has been allowed; 
 but that, notwithstanding all this, the book will be pro- 
 hibited at Rome, because the Pope listens to none but 
 the Molinists. 
 
 Leopold suppressed the residence of the Nuncio at 
 his Court ; ordered that the monks, &c. of his states 
 should be subject only to their bishops ; banished for- 
 eign monks from Tuscany ; recalled the absentee ec- 
 clesiastics ; and removed from Rome his minister Fei, 
 who had been completely gained over by that Court. 
 Rome was astonished at these proofs of firmness ; but, 
 not daring to attempt any thing against him, directed 
 all its endeavors to the destruction of Ricci. 
 
 With this view, a congregation of Cardinals was 
 called, for the examination of the Synod of Pistoia. 
 Nothing reprehensible was found in its acts : and a 
 second, more severe, was assembled. This congrega- 
 tion found some unimportant scruples only, relating 
 to the meaning of terms, which they were ashamed to 
 allege as complaints against it to the Tuscan Govern- 
 ment. A third congregation was convoked; but though 
 the Pope had promised to communicate the opinions of 
 the assembly privately to Leopold, before taking any 
 public steps, this was never done, and the congregation 
 continued to sit, merely for the purpose of spreadino- a 
 belief that there was something reprehensible in Ricci's 
 synod, and of keeping the Bishop and his friends in 
 perpetual fear of his arrest. 
 
 Ricci continued to be calumniated ; and the intrigues 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 189 
 
 of the Archbishop of Florence, his enemy, succeeded in 
 obtaining his abandonment by the priests of his own 
 diocess, and their recantation of the decisions of the 
 synod, which they had themselves signed. The peo- 
 ple began to be persuaded that the sacraments adminis- 
 tered by Ricci and his partisans were null : and most 
 of his diocesans sent their children to Florence to be 
 baptized or confirmed. Ricci could not help making 
 complaints of the way in which he was persecuted ; 
 so that he passed for a turbulent and violent person. 
 
 In the pontifical states, and still more at Rome, the 
 old examples of clerical immorality were renewed. 
 
 "I do not recollect whether I have already told you 
 of the bad conduct of the Bishop of Foligno, who is 
 publicly accused of being a sharper and unclean ! 
 He is a worthy ^xotQge of Cardinal Buoncompagni." 
 
 Cardinal Busca, at that time one of the chief and 
 favored, lovers of the Princess Santa Croce, former 
 mistress of the French Ambassador, Cardinal de Ber- 
 nis, dined at that lady's, in company with Pierre Paul 
 de Medicis, son of Alverardo de Medicis, of Florence. 
 
 " The partiality of that old Polixena for the charm- 
 ing young man, excited the jealousy of the overgrown 
 Cardinal, who gave way to the most indecent excesses. 
 He abused his own footman at the table, for pouring 
 out wine for Medici, saying, 'Are you also in the plot 
 for coniuting me V Shortly after this, he threw a glass 
 of wine in Medici's face, who immediately started up 
 with a menacing air, brandishing a plate in his hand ; 
 he, however, repressed his rage, and spoke with much 
 prudence. The Roman Helen interposed, as the Sa- 
 bines did after their ravishment." 
 
 Public opinion, a circumstance worthy of reflection, 
 which since the long occupation of the states of his 
 Holiness by the French, was much more severe at 
 Rome than formerly, had forced a young prelate to 
 leave that city, to whom a husband had made over 
 his wife hy contract. 
 
 Shortly afterwards, the prelate who was governor of 
 Rome, Avas obliged to fly in order to escape the punish- 
 
190 SECRETS OP 
 
 ment due to his dilapidations, the forgeries he had 
 committed to a considerable amount, and his unbridled 
 libertinism, backed by every species of violence. 
 
 A third prelate, the relation of one Cardinal, and 
 confidential agent in the affairs of another, was taken 
 by some gendarmes, at the moment he was about to 
 commit the most detestable of vices, under the colon- 
 nade of a palace. 
 
 The method now resorted to for the purpose of 
 diminishing these disorders, is the same which was 
 employed thirty years ago, with such little success. 
 
 Under these circumstances, Ricci lost all the little 
 authority which he formerly possessed in his diocess. 
 The people abolished all his reforms, and restored the 
 ancient splendor of the worship ; while the ministers 
 of the Grand Duke endeavored to remove from Ricci 
 his only partisans, the curates of his diocess, by depriv- 
 ing them of their salaries. 
 
 In February, 1790, the news of Joseph's death arrived. 
 The certainty of the departure of Leopold awakened, 
 on all hands, the spirit of revolt ; and the populace, in 
 a state of sedition, clamored loudly against their Bishop. 
 The canons, whose pretensions he had diminished, 
 exclaimed against the illegality of his reforms, and 
 gradually made all traces of them disappear. 
 
 Leopold, however, did not yield. He renewed his 
 orders for the observance of all that Ricci had done, 
 and assured him of the protection of the Regency. 
 But it was not probable that those who had opposed 
 him while in power, should now obey him. The new 
 regents sowed fresh disorders in Pistoia. They said, 
 that the popular feeling should be left to its natural 
 course, and declared all interference of the Govern- 
 ment on Church matters not only dangerous, but 
 illegal. 
 
 Matters were still worse when Leopold quitted Tus- 
 cany. Pistoia then became the prey of the fanatics. 
 The Regency, through crafty motives, exceeded the 
 intentions of Leopold, in order to irritate the people. 
 Leopold had ordered the suppression of all splendor 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 191 
 
 in the Church ceremonies, which they interpreted to 
 mean the aboUtion even of the cross and tapers at bu- 
 rials. The priests were forced, by the clamors of the 
 people, to replace these, and the Government seized 
 that pretext for punishing them severely. This absurd 
 and ill timed rigor increased the general irritation. 
 
 Count Lonis Gianni, brother of the Minister of Tus- 
 cany, thus wrote to Ricci from Rome, August, 1789 : 
 
 " The French strike at the root of the evil, and give 
 us a strong and prompt example for imitation. By 
 depriving the clergy of their riches, they prepare them 
 for the acquirement of knowledge and the reformation 
 of morals ; the pensioning of monks and nuns will en- 
 sure the destruction of the orders. Rome is silent, and 
 will ever continue so, when opposed by vigorous and 
 Avell digested measures. Would to God that other 
 sovereigns would imitate so salutary a reform !" 
 
 There soon was but one party, — that of the enemies 
 of the Bishop. People began to talk of his approach- 
 ing condemnation at Rome, and of the sentence he 
 was to undergo — a sentence which would have caused 
 him to be called before the Inquisition, and imprisoned 
 in a fortress for the rest of his da^^s. 
 
 In order to hasten the explosion, Fabroni, the prin- 
 cipal magistrate of Pistoia, caused one of the altars 
 which had been rebuilt at the wish of the people, to be 
 thrown down in the night. This measure was attribu- 
 ted to Ricci, whose personal safety was now menaced 
 by a furious populace, on account of an event of which 
 the Bishop knew nothing. The Emperor consented, 
 at that time, to the abolition of the greater part of the 
 reforms which been effected during his reign. But this 
 was not sufficient for his adversaries. They hated 
 even the person of the reformer, and left no means un- 
 tried to make him abandon his diocess, and deprive 
 him of his title. 
 
 At Prato a report had been circulated that the Bishop 
 intended to make a pastoral visit, for no other purpose 
 but that of the altar of the Holy Girdle. 
 
 At Pistoia, similar means produced similar effects. 
 
192 SECRETS, OF 
 
 It was said that the Bishop wished to whiten the image 
 of the Virgin of Himiility^ whose pretended miracles, 
 closing^ of the eyes, tears, &c., raised the pubUc fanati- 
 cism into fury. In April, 1790, the revolution broke 
 out. The magistrate who had removed the altar was 
 one of its directors, and so managed the ferment as to 
 produce what was ardently desired, the departure of 
 Ricci, who quitted Pistoia. 
 
 Scarcely was he gone, when the people had, in a 
 ie\Y days, abolished many years' work of reformation. 
 The altars which had been demolished were rebuilt, 
 the images were replaced and veiled, the abolished 
 ceremonies were resumed; with all the pomp of the 
 church festivals and ceremonies, the books recom- 
 mended by Ricci were burnt, the monasteries re-estab- 
 lished, ifcc. The ie\Y partisans of the Bishop who 
 remained, were styled Scipionists^ and pointed out to 
 the popular fury, and forced to retire from the town. 
 Every thing was replaced on the old footing. 
 
 Ricci, on his retirement, preserved all his firmness, 
 which was joined with resignation. His curates testi- 
 fied their admiration of and regard for their Bishop, 
 and informed him of the evils under which they were 
 suffering. Some of them, who had recanted the prin- 
 ciples they professed under Ricci, again confessed their 
 belief in them, as publicly as they had once retracted 
 them. 
 
 But the retreat of Ricci had not the efiect of restoring 
 order in the diocess of Pistoia. His adversaries were 
 supported by the Regency and the local magistrates, 
 who even refused him permission to publish a circular 
 addressed to his curates, because he therein called them 
 his brethren. This culpable condescension on the 
 part of the Government to the wishes of the mob, 
 speedily rendered the revolt general throughout Tus- 
 cany. It broke out at Florence, June, 1790, and the 
 people found no difficulty in procuring, with other 
 privileges which they demanded, the abolition of all 
 the ecclesiastical reforms. 
 
 At that time, an English Roman Catholic lady, be- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 193 
 
 lieving Ricci's life in clanger, offered him letters and 
 money to enable him to seek protection elsewhere. 
 He retired, however, to his villa when he received in- 
 telligence that the Emperor Leopold had given up the 
 Grand-duchy to his son Ferdinand, and that he had 
 no longer any hope of suppressing the disorders. 
 
 As soon as the new Grand Duke's arrival was an- 
 nounced in Tuscany, the enemies of Ricci siezed the 
 opportunity of demanding that Ricci should be deposed. 
 But as the Emperor had signified his order for the re- 
 installation of the Bishop before he should arrive in 
 Tuscany with his son, the Regency thought this would 
 be a good opportunity to raise anew the popular dis- 
 contents, by publishing that fact. Instead of doing 
 any thing to quell them, they sent orders to Ricci 
 desiring him to return to Pistoia. 
 
 The prelate replied, that before he decided on ex- 
 posing himself to new affronts, the Government ought to 
 punish the rebels, and calm the spirits of the populace; 
 that his departure from his diocess had been forced, 
 and that his return, in like manner, depended on their 
 acts, and not on himself. 
 
 Ricci had no wish fo return to his diocess ; but he 
 wished, if this were insisted on, that his residence there 
 might at least be rendered jyossible. He refused to do 
 any thmg that might dishonor himself, or consent to 
 make any confession which should hurt his conscience; 
 and though strongly pressed by Leopold, he remained 
 firm in his ancient opinions, and '-continued to hold 
 fast the doctrines which he had always professed." 
 
 The Emperor reiterated his orders to the Regency 
 in the most formal terms ; but no steps were taken to 
 put an end to the troubles. The Government gave 
 orders a second time, however, for Ricci to return to 
 Pistoia, as Leopold and his son were daily expected ; 
 and this order created a great efiervescence throughout 
 the whole of Ricci's diocess. 
 
 The Emperor arrived in April, ]79L The malcon- 
 tents of Pistoia presented a request to his Majesty, that 
 he would deliver them from their Bishop ; but they 
 
 17 
 
194 SECRETS OF 
 
 were very coolly received. The Bishop was received 
 in a very different manner by Leopold, as well as by 
 the Prince, who gave him a public audience, in which 
 he assured him of his support. This encouraged his 
 adherents in the two diocesses, who earnestly demanded 
 the return of their pastor. But it was already deter- 
 mined that the repose of the country should be 
 purchased by the dismission of Ricci, and Leopold 
 hinted this to him distinctly in their last interview. 
 
 The moment for accomplishing his utter ruin was 
 not yet come. His enemies, however, continued to 
 keep up the cry against him, and repeated till they 
 fancied they understood their own meaning, that Ricci 
 did not believe in the Pope. 
 
 The Grand Duke addressed himself to the persecuted 
 prelate, and desired to know what it was his intention 
 to do. Ricci left the decision of the question entirely 
 to Ferdinand, and wrote to him to that effect. The 
 Grand Duke sent him a form of resignation, which 
 Ricci only modified so far as to render it canonical, 
 and signed it the same day. 
 
 When Ricci was about to leave his diocess for ever, 
 all those who were not quite his enemies expressed 
 their regret at losing him, either in person or by letter; 
 and this was the only consolation now left to him. In 
 vain he retired from public life. While a public man, 
 only his system and his enterprises had been attacked: 
 now, the attacks were turned upon him personally. 
 The first attempt made on him was in the shape of a 
 long lawsuit, to deprive him of the pension which had 
 been promised him. He refused, however, to plead the 
 cause, and preferred renouncing the salary. 
 
 Another source of regret was, to see his successor^ 
 Falchi, confirm all that had been perpetrated by the 
 ignorant and turbulent persons of his diocess ; the 
 banishment of all attached to his person or opinions ; 
 and the desolation of the ecclesiastical patrimony raised 
 for the payment of the clergy. 
 
 The ex- Bishop, amidst all these events, led a retired 
 life, forgetting the promises which had been held out 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 195 
 
 to him by the Government, as a compensation for the 
 loss of his bishopric, as easily as those promises had 
 been foro^otten. 
 
 The death of the Emperor, in March, 1792, removed 
 all restraint upon the enemies of Ricci, and especially 
 from Falchi, who immediately invented a report, that 
 the late diocesans of Ricci, whom Falchi had banished, 
 had kept up a correspondence with their late Bishop, 
 on the best means of poison insf Falchi ; and he drew 
 up an absurd declaration, which only published to the 
 world the folly of his atrocious suspicions. 
 
 The Court of Rome now determined to interfere in 
 these persecutions of Ricci, especially when it discover- 
 ed that the Synod of Pistoia had served as a model for 
 the civil constitution of the clergy, recommended by 
 the French Constituent Assembly. Pius YI. began by 
 fulminating the most outrageous declarations against 
 the French. Afterwards he attacked the Bishop of 
 Pistoia ; and it was determined, at one time, to cite 
 Ricci before the Papal Court. The success of the 
 French arms, however, and the indignation they felt 
 at the interference of the Pope, stopped this for a time. 
 
 Of the extravagancies and horrors then perpetrated 
 at Rome, Ricci received the following account : 
 
 " The principal efforts were directed against the 
 Ghetto^ the quarter of the Jews, whose pillage had 
 been promised to the Roman mob, as a reward for 
 the murder of the Republicans, and whom fanaticism 
 held forth to the blood-thirsty Catholics as the enemies 
 of their God. M. Y. informs us, that it required all the 
 efforts of several thousands of soldiers to prevent all 
 Jews, who had shut themselves up in their houses, 
 from being burnt to death. The Romans demanded, 
 with loud cries, permission to ''burn them in honor of 
 Peter and Paul, of religion and his Holiness :" the 
 shouts of hatred and death to the French were min- 
 gled with these transports of ferocious devotion. 
 " The outcries commenced in the midst of gangs of 
 barbers and postilions, among whom were also some 
 Abbes of respectable families. To satisfy the people. 
 
196 SECRETS OF 
 
 Pius yi. subjected the Jews again to all the restrictions, 
 duties, penalties, exactions, and to the distinguishing 
 and infamous marks to which Pius V. had condemned 
 them, and which the progress of civilization, of know- 
 ledge, of justice, and of humanity, had abolished." 
 
 Ricci now resolved to live altogether in private, in 
 order to avoid giving his enemies any pretences for 
 farther persecution. His buildings and his occupations 
 "were devoted to the benefit of the poor ; and while he 
 employed himself in furthering the welfare of his fel- 
 low creatures, he could not help being grieved at the 
 conduct of those whose duty it was to meliorate their 
 condition, instead of rendering it more perilous and 
 painful. 
 
 It was in this light that he regarded the conduct of 
 the Roman Court, which was then preaching up a 
 crusade against the French, and inflaming the people 
 by noisy and turbulent missions. This produced the 
 massacre of Basseville, and the popular tumult which 
 was excited by the priests, who determined, "in the 
 name of the Virgin, the Apostles, and the Pope," to 
 murder all the French, and burn all the Jews who 
 were to be found in Rome. Such infamous policy as 
 this only rendered the situation of the Pope more criti- 
 cal, and tended to hasten the fall of the Papal throne. 
 
 While the French conquests were threatening the 
 temporal monarchy of the Pope, the Spanish ministry 
 was menacing its spiritual despotism, by announcing 
 the publication of the Acts of the Council of Pistoia. 
 
 " The reprinting of the Synod of Pistoia, which was 
 about to be published in Spain, has decided the issuing 
 of the brief, Auctorem Pide'i^ in order to prevent it. 
 The non-publication of the acts of Ricci's synod was 
 in consequence of the fears with which Rome still in- 
 spired Spain at that period. The germs, however, of a 
 reform^ similar to the one effected by the Grand Duke 
 Leopold, did not on that account spring up the less; 
 and, when the change of circumstances had operated 
 a total revolution in ideas, when it had emboldened 
 the old Governments of Europe by humbling the 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 197 
 
 Court of Rome, their ancient enemy, the courage of 
 the Spanish bishops appeared to revive, the Minister 
 resumed his former plans, and the Concordat he was 
 then desirous of conchiding, seemed to be entirely con- 
 formable to the principles of modern canonists. The 
 Pope trembled, and the Janseiiists mutually communi- 
 cated their hopes." 
 
 " It consoles me to see that good principles begin to 
 find their way into Spain, where several bishops think 
 of reforming many abuses." 
 
 '' It is not the Svnod of Pistoia which raises its voice, 
 but men who are at length aroused from their profound 
 sleep, lashed by the tyrannical despotism of the cursed 
 Babylon, Rome ! I hope that the synod thus severely 
 treated, will become the model for this portion of Spa- 
 nish Catholicism." 
 
 " The arrival at Rome of the Spanish ministers, 
 causes as much alarm there, as. a short time ago, did 
 the approach of the French army. The latter, at the 
 worst, only exacted a temporary contribution. The 
 former threaten the fixed funds and revenues from 
 which that court draws wherewithal to support its 
 hixury and splendor." 
 
 The Papal Court, as usual, tried to operate a diver- 
 sion in its faA^or, by ordaining a final examination of 
 the Council of Pistoia, intending to issue a formal con- 
 demnation of it. 
 
 Accordinofly, in April, 1794, Ricci received an fhti- 
 mation from Rome, that the Pope would be graciously 
 pleased to hear a defence of his synod, if he should 
 appear at Rome before the Bull was issued against 
 him. This letter Ricci communicated to Ferdinand, 
 representing that the Pope had violated his promise 
 towards Leopold ; but Ferdinand, who was unwilling 
 to give up Ricci on the one hand, and on the other 
 dreaded the vengeance of Rome, recommended Ricci 
 to refuse going to Rome, on the ground of his ill health. 
 He was enjoined to declare his devotion to the Pope, 
 and to insinuate that it was surely unnecessary for his 
 
 17* 
 
193 SECRETS OF 
 
 Holiness to occupy himself Avith the acts of a synod, 
 which were now no where in force. 
 
 The object of the Spanish Government, in wishing 
 to publish the Acts of the Synod of Pistoia, was, that 
 they might serve as a basis to the reforms which it 
 contemplated ; and this was the cause of the anxiety 
 of the Papal Court for their suppression. With this 
 view, the Pope caused his Nuncio to g^ive the Spanish 
 Court notice of the approaching condemnation of the 
 assembly of Pistoia, and this sufficed to stop the pro- 
 jected printing of them. Without replying farther to 
 Ricci, the Pope issued, August, 1794, the famous Bull 
 Auctorem Fidel^ of which none of the articles were 
 communicated to Ricci, notwithstanding the Pope's 
 promise to that eifect, given to Leopold. Ricci, who 
 had received no notice of his own condemnation, was 
 resolved not to reply to what he was not supposed to 
 know. Ferdi]iand approved of his conduct, and the 
 Bull was forbidden to be sold or published in any of 
 the Tuscan States, though the Pope's Nuncio contrived 
 to circulate it surreptitiously among the people. 
 
 The Bull did not, however, produce all the eflects 
 which the Papal Court expected. It was suppressed 
 at Naples, Turin, Venice, Milan, in Spain, Portugal, 
 and France ; and even at Rome it was despised. 
 
 " At Rome, this aifair, the condemnation of the Sy- 
 nod of Pistoia by the Bull Ai/ctore7?i, is spoken of still 
 less than at Florence ; that is to say, it is not spoken 
 of at all." 
 
 Bat Rome, though deprived of the triumph she ex- 
 pected, contrived, by her intrigues, to excite against 
 Ricci the envy and hatred of all his old colleagues, 
 particularly Falchi ; and however retired the ex-bishop 
 lived, he could not but feel the effects of them. The 
 people dispersed when he mounted the altar, even his 
 confessor refused him absolution, and he was very near 
 passing for one of the most dangerous heretics. 
 
 It was at that time sufficient to bear the name of 
 Jansenist, to be overwhelmed with all the implacable 
 hatred of Rome, which saw in the Jansenists its most 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 199 
 
 dangerous enemies ; and to be exposed to all the per- 
 secutions and vexations which fanatics, bigots, fools, 
 and hypocrites are capable of inflicting. The success 
 of the French revolution, which was regarded as the 
 completion of Jansenism, whilst both of them were but 
 the result of the greater or less extension of knowledge, 
 had rendered this religious furor much more ardent 
 than it had been before this epoch. 
 
 Sciarelli wrote from GoUe, September, 1794 : 
 
 " I find several propositions condemned, which pre- 
 viously to this Bull my limited understanding had con- 
 sidered Catholic ones. The Bishop of Pistoia and his 
 followers condemned the propositions condemned by 
 the Roman Court, in the very sense of the Bull — a sense 
 which never had been either theirs, or that of the dio- 
 cesan synod. Did not those sectaries themselves, like 
 the primitive .lansenists, know what they believed, or 
 what they ought to believe ? Or rather, did their greater 
 or less degree of faith depend, not upon tlieir more or 
 less share of piety or knowledge, but upon the greater 
 or less strength of their character for resisting the 
 caresses and the menaces of the Court of Rome ?'' 
 
 Camillo Albergotti Pezzoni wrote from Arezzo, Sep-^ 
 tember, 1794: 
 
 " The mania for universal dominion always renders 
 the Court of Rome more and more obstinate in the pro- 
 fession of her pernicious, lax and LoioUstical maxims; 
 puifed up with papal infallibility, she declares war 
 against the defenders of the v/holesome doctrine of the 
 Church, which is that of Auguslin. In the present 
 situation of Europe, the Pope excites pity, when he is 
 seen hurling forth decrees of condemnation one after 
 another, which wound the sovereign authority. He 
 speaks of the Bull Auctore??i, and guarantees maxims 
 of laxity. This is the work of the Bolegni, Cuccagni, 
 Marchetti, Zaccharia, (fee. This slow surprise made 
 upon the Pope by the shameless Molinists, against the 
 Augustinian doctrine, is a fresh infallible argument of 
 the fallibility of his Holiness." 
 
 The Abbe D. sent Ricci the decree of the Inquisition 
 
200 SECRETS OF 
 
 of Genoa, printed at Genoa, and bearing the following 
 date : Ex edibus S. Inqiiisitionis Genna3, die 19 Sep- 
 tembris, 1794, from the Palace of the Holy Inquisition 
 of Genoa, 19th Sept. 1794. That decree was directed 
 against the acts of the Synod of Pistoia, which had 
 been proscribed, as it was expressed by the Pontifical 
 Bull. The Abbe adds to this document, so remarka- 
 ble for the period, the copy of a letter written by Frd 
 Benedetto, brother Benedict Solari, Bishop of Noli, to 
 the Senate of Genoa, to disprove and combat the said 
 decree, and the condemnation of the acts of the Coun- 
 cil of Pistoia, which he declared he would not receive. 
 
 In the mean time, the influence of the French was 
 daily more and more felt in Italy, by means of the 
 Republican arms. 
 
 It was in Italy as in Spain. The new opinions, 
 equally favorable to the governments and the national 
 clergy, no longer finding th€ same resistance on the 
 part of Rome, which was reduced to defend its own 
 existence, were rapidly propagated, and received with 
 welcome, especially by those who had hitherto been 
 denominated the lower clergy. The French Consti- 
 tutionalists seconded with all their energy this moral 
 revolution, by disseminating their opinions and max- 
 ims, in proportion as they extended their communica- 
 tions, with their correspondence, the only method of 
 at length rendering their Church, if not more respect- 
 able in the opinion of the Roman court, at least more 
 formidable, which produced the same results. 
 
 The character of cannibals had been generally 
 given to the French in Italy, by all the weak and timid 
 Governments, who hoped to inspire the people with 
 the courage of despair against pretended kinds of 
 monsters whom they had held up as objects of terror 
 in the tales of the nursery. The Papal Government 
 particularly distinguished itself by those puerile follies. 
 It caused it to be reported throughout all its States, 
 that the French Republicans were impious men, and 
 barbarians ; that they married several wives, and 
 adored several gods, amongst others the idol called 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 201 
 
 the Tree of Liberty : that they violated women and 
 young girls, and devoured children. This is asserted 
 in a pamphlet published by Annibal Mariotti, who, 
 upon the entrance of the brigands of Arezzo into Pe- 
 rugia, was arrested, for having refuted these absurd 
 Papal calumnies. He was one of the twenty individ- 
 uals detained for Jacobinism^ whom the regency of 
 Perugia selected from amono^ a thousand victims 
 which crowded then- prison, and whom it granted to 
 the Aretins, who had only asked for ten, to grace their 
 triumphal return to Arezzo. 
 
 As the civil constitution of the French clergy had 
 been modelled upon the reforms of Leopold, it was 
 neither judged proper to condemn them at Florence, 
 nor to persecute their partisans. Ricci, therefore, 
 thought he might now come and inhabit the capital. 
 
 The Court of Rome seemed driven to its fate by a 
 khid of insanity. It issued new Bulls against the 
 French Directory more furious than the first. Another 
 method it adopted was, to excite the mob, by the exhi- 
 bition of pretended miracles, to renew the Sicilian 
 Vespers throughout Italy. The shutting and opening 
 of the eyes of the Madonnas in the churches and streets 
 were tricks principally resorted to, and were interpreted 
 by the priests as irrefragable proof of the victory 
 which the soldiers of the Roman Court would infallibly 
 gain over the troops of the Republic. 
 
 We shall notice the miracle of the famous Madonna 
 of Ancona. From a work published a few years ago, 
 we can see the spirit of those who governed at the 
 period connected with this history, and the nature of 
 that which they are endeavoring to establish in the 
 present day. This work is entitled : — " A moral and 
 historical picture of the invasion of Italy in 1796, and 
 of the miraculous and simultaneous opening of the 
 eyes of the holy image of the most blessed Maria, 
 reverenced in the Cathedral of Ancona : Assisi, 1820 : 
 With license." 
 
 The author is the Abbe Vincent Albertini, professor 
 of eloquence at Fermo. After his portrait, which is 
 
202 SECRETS OF 
 
 immediately followed by that of the Madonna, is the 
 author's Dedication to the most blessed Yir2:in. Then 
 comes the introduction. "Modern policy, it is said, is 
 wholly occupied with the most moderate plans and 
 systems, with the most salutary amnesties, and with a 
 most sincere and unreserved oblivion of the past, with 
 the conviction that this will be found not a momentary, 
 but a lasting panacea for all the evils which have so 
 long afflicted Europe." 
 
 Albertini commences his subject by a long disserta- 
 tion upon the eyes so full of tenderness of the Vir- 
 gin. " Hitherto nothing had been so common as to see 
 those eyes turn towards us, but then it was only from 
 the summit of the Heaven where she dwells." It was 
 for Ancona that the rare happiness was reserved of 
 possessing the first image of the Virgin which visibly 
 opened and shut eyes painted upon the cloth, and this 
 at a time when the presence of the French kept up the 
 violent agitation of men's minds. 
 
 He attributes that agitation, which he calls a con- 
 vulsion, to "the abominable race of anti-social misan- 
 thropes, self-styled philosophic regenerators ;" and 
 maintains that history will confound them with the 
 Ravaillacs, the Crom wells, the Mirabeaus, the Marats, 
 and the Robespierres. 
 
 He speaks of the miracle of Ancona, which took 
 place June, 1796; at the very time when the news, 
 which had been spread about, of the defeat of the 
 French in Germany and Upper Italy, had made the 
 subjects of his Holiness believe that all that was want- 
 ed to effect a complete riddance of the presence of the 
 Republicans was a small quantity of popular fanaticism, 
 very easy to be aroused by means of some pretended 
 prodigies. " The angels," says the author, " who, 
 upon their heavenly throne, worship with profound 
 veneration their mighty sovereign — the angels, whose 
 countenances we are not permitted to behold, envy, in 
 some degree^ your lot." 
 
 All the inhabitants of Ancona flocked to this image 
 of the miraculous Virgin, and manifested the most 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 203 
 
 sincere signs of penitence, joy, and devotion. Cardinal 
 Ranuzzi showed himself among the foremost. 
 
 There was a plausible motive for the Virgin per- 
 forming her miracle at Ancona, in preference to any- 
 other place : which Albertini thus explains : — 
 
 '^ Ancona, placed m the centre of Italy, is a sea-port; 
 vessels might, therefore, carry in a short time the news 
 of this miracle from the Adriatic Gulf to the most 
 distant nations of the two hemispheres." Our author 
 assures us that Jesus Christ conceived the first idea of 
 this anti-republican miracle ; and spake to his Mother 
 in the following strange manner : " Go, O conciliating 
 and mediating between God and man, whom thou hast 
 conquered ! In thee have I placed the seat of my 
 power. By thy means I grant the favors asked at my 
 hands. As thou gavest to me the essence of man, so 
 will I give to thee that of God, my omnipotence, with 
 which thou canst assist all who recommend themselves 
 to thee !" 
 
 Albertini desires, he says, not the death, but the con- 
 version of the sinner. He would even have wished 
 that the Emperor Julian, whom Christian historians 
 have named the Apostate, and whom he calls the im- 
 pious iconoclast, could have seen only once the miracle 
 which the most noble city of Ancona enjoyed for seve- 
 ral months together. 
 
 The famous restoration of the absolute Governments, 
 which is also a miracle, could not be passed over in 
 silence by the historian of the miraculous image. 
 '' All the Italian princes, with the exception of the 
 overthrown Republics, are stupified, as at\er a long 
 sleep, in seeing themselves reinstated in their feudal 
 dominions, — an event which no human power could 
 have calculated.'' 
 
 Then follows the history ol the miraculous image 
 placed in a magnificent chapel of Cyriac at Ancona : 
 
 '• So unheard-of a prodigy was attested by more than 
 eighty thousand ocular witnesses, and by legal inqui- 
 ries. A true account of it was published, by order of 
 Cardinal Ranuzzi. Besides this, the deputy Betti made 
 
204 SECRETS OF 
 
 it a duty to transmit this fact to posterity, by means of 
 an inscription engraven upon stone, and which, for the 
 purpose of preserving the recollection of it for ever, 
 was placed in the cathedral. 
 
 " In November, 1796, was finished the jjroces verbal 
 which had been drawn up of the proofs of this miracle, 
 under the strictest regulations. 
 
 " The Pope, by his brief of November, had just 
 instituted a pious brotherhood in honor of this image, 
 under the name of the Sons and Daughters of Maria. 
 After this miracle, it was found impossible to close the 
 church for twelve successive nights, so great was the 
 concourse of people attracted by the prodigy." 
 
 " In July, three painters, the Vicar Pacifici, the 
 notary Francois Vallaca, and the attorney Bonavia, 
 accompanied by several witnesses taken from the 
 canons, by many noblemen and some foreigners, went 
 to examine the manner in which the holy image was 
 painted, in order to ascertain with certainty whether 
 some imposture, the work of human malice, had not 
 been introduced by means of the change of colors, &c. 
 Scarcely had they taken off the glass which covered 
 it, when the image opened its ever blessed eyes twice 
 successively, to a greater extent than it had ever be- 
 fore done, and then closed them again, as a still farther 
 proof of the truth of the first miracle." 
 
 It is not exactly clear whence arose the incredulity 
 of the examining commissioners, since at the time of 
 the solelmn procession of June, the day after the mira- 
 cle, the Virgin did nothing but open, shut, and turn 
 her eyes on all sides, to the great delight of the inhabit- 
 ants, who wept tears of joy. In June 1800, and Au- 
 gust, 1817, this same procession took place, by way of 
 thanksgiving ; but the Virgin did not vouchsafe to open 
 her eyes. It appears she had seen enough ! 
 
 Pius VIL crowned the miraculous image in May, 
 1814, an event which was commemorated by an in- 
 scription. He fixed its anniversary on the second Sun- 
 day of the same month, and attached to it the benefit 
 of a plenary indulgence. Albertini says, that it would 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 205 
 
 require too much time to make a catalogue of the 
 plenary and partial indulgences granted by the Popes 
 Pius VI. and Pius YIL, in favor of this image. 
 
 Bonaparte, who arrived at Ancona a short time after 
 the pretended miracle had been worked, caused the 
 miraculous image to be brought by the canons of the 
 Cathedral to the Palace Trionfi, where he was lodged ; 
 and to be stripped of all its rich ornaments and jewels, 
 which he gave over into the hand of the President of 
 the Municipahty, in aid of the poorest hospital in the 
 city. The lawyer Bonavia, a partisan of the French, 
 then related to the General all that had taken place, 
 and corroborated his account by the testimony of one 
 hundred thousand persons, all present at the perform- 
 ance of the miracle. Bonaparte took the image, and 
 looked at it with the greatest attention for a long time. 
 
 " It cannot be precisely asserted," says Albertini, 
 " that the Virgin opened her eyes in his presence, but 
 one cannot help at least supposing soJ^ That great 
 man continued looking at the image steadfastly, and 
 suddenly was seen to change color. He also made 
 gestures indicative of trouble and surprise. " He fin- 
 ished by restoring to it all its jewels and ornaments — 
 to the great detriment of the hospitals and the poor, 
 whom this new miracle again plunged into misery — 
 and had it replaced upon its accustomed altar, where, 
 for greater awe, he ordered it to be covered with a 
 veil." 
 
 The Memoirs of Antommarchi prove to us, that in 
 his last moments, the Emperor spoke with very little 
 reverence of the Italian Madonnas. 
 
 "The miracle was afterwards attested by persons of 
 all classes, by rich and poor, by magistrates and pri- 
 vate citizens, by ecclesiastics and laymen, by the devout 
 and the incredulous, by Catholics and Protestants, by 
 Infidels and Jews, by all nations, by all climes, by all 
 ranks, as is stated in the certificate which is preserved 
 among the archives of the venerable church of Ancona.-' 
 The incredulous, Protestants, Turks, and Jews, as lit- 
 tle expected to figure among the witnesses of a miracle, 
 
 18 
 
206 SECRETS OF 
 
 operated by and for the profit of the Court of Kome, as 
 Napoleon himself. 
 
 In September, the miracle continuing to be regularly- 
 shown to the curious, the Emperor of Germany caused 
 a solemn procession to be made, offered a rich gift in 
 wax-lights, and appropriated a large sum of money for 
 the celebration of masses. Amelia, Duchess of Parma, 
 embroidered with her own hands some valuable tissues, 
 and sent tliem to the Holy Virgin. 
 
 " The miracles of the images of Ancona, Rome, 
 Civita Yecchia, Maurata, and Ascoli, occupy every 
 person's attention to such a degree, that the French are 
 no longer spoken of" 
 
 The wish to see prodigies naturally terminates in 
 the belief of them, and the report of the Madonna 
 miracles soon reached Florence. Some withered lilies, 
 placed before an image of the Virgin, were found next 
 day blown ; and the Archbishop Martini, thinking this 
 a favorable occasion to give himself importance with 
 the multitude, went in procession to transport the pre- 
 tended miraculous image to the metropolitan church. 
 
 From that time, the Archbishop Martini became the 
 apologist for, and propagator of, all the miracles ; in 
 which he reposed not the least faith ! but it was a 
 certain method of keeping up the ignorance and su- 
 perstition of the people, and of enabling him, by this 
 means, to let loose their fanaticism, which it was very 
 easy for him to direct according to his interests or de- 
 sires of vengeance. 
 
 Of two of these pretended miracles, we give the titles. 
 It is remarkable that it was always before the entrance, 
 or after the departure of the French troops, that the 
 miracles took place. While Tuscany was in the pos- 
 session of the Republicans, the laws of nature were 
 carefully respected by the saints, and by the souls of 
 the other world. 
 
 1. '"'An apologetic letter respecting the apparition 
 of a Spirit, which happened in the month of August, 
 1800, near the Hills of Rosan, not far from the city of 
 Florence, written by the curate of Villamagna, with 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 207 
 
 the approbation of the Archbishop Antoine Martini, 
 Florence, 1800, with hcence." This was the spirit of 
 a female peasant, who appeared, we are assured, in a 
 meadow to a shepherdess to ask her for some paters 
 and aves^ which she said she was in want of, in order 
 to get out of purgatory. As many as ten thousand 
 persons at a time repaired to the spot to find the shep- 
 herdess, who maintained that she had seen the spirit. 
 
 2. " A succinct account of the miraculous production 
 of oil, which took place, or was discovered, May, 1806. 
 in the monastery of Maria deafli Angeli and IMaria 
 Maddalena de Pazzi, at the intercession of Maria Bar- 
 tolommea Bagnesi, a Florentine viro^in of the third 
 order of Dominic, authentically confirmed by a decree 
 of the Archiepiscopal Court of Florence, December, 
 1806. Florence, 1807, with approbation." The eager 
 devotion of the Florentines, who were all desirous of 
 procuring the oil of the lamps of Bagnesi, exhausted 
 the convent. Santa Pazzi, its abbess, created seven 
 barrels at a time. The dueen Regent of Etruria has- 
 tened, at the first intelligence, and got herself anoint- 
 ed. Martini g^uaranteed the miracle, and the faithful 
 prostrated themselves. 
 
 These unworthy means, however, did not succeed ; 
 and Rome, theocratic as it was, found herself, after all 
 her efforts, forced to become a democracy. Ricci sin- 
 cerely lamented the fate of the Pope ; but not wishing 
 to range himself with either party, he retired to his 
 villa, occupyino^ his leisure only with pious books, and 
 in the composition of others, up to the time when the 
 French took possession of Tuscany, March, 1799. 
 
 Ricci, speaking of the changes which had taken 
 place at Rome, recently become a democratic Republic, 
 says, that he never doubted " that this great good, of 
 which we are now spectators, would happen to the 
 
 Church The opprobrious name of Court is at 
 
 length abolished : the haughty monarchy is now anni- 
 hilated. Would to God that all the old despots of the 
 Vatican lived contemporaries v/ith Pius VI., because, 
 chastised in their own pride, they might prepare them- 
 
208 SECRETS OF 
 
 selves better than they have done for their passage into 
 eternity !" 
 
 He gives an account of the fanatical tumult of the 
 Roman populace, especially that part of it on the other 
 side of the Tiber, against the Republicans, to the cries 
 of '■^Long live Mary^ religion^ and the Pope /" Many 
 lives were lost in it. " What most astonishes me is, 
 that this revolt has been entirely the work of monks 
 and priests. A Capuchin, the ringleader of rebels ! 
 These are terms that fanaticism alone is capable of 
 reconciling." 
 
 In a pamphlet by Joseph Giusti, July, 1801, is the 
 following picture of the situation of Tuscany : 
 
 " The irruption of the barbarians brought along with 
 it the triumph of ignorance, superstition, anarchy, and 
 crime. The priests taught to cover every crime with 
 the veil of religion. The vilest wretches planned the 
 fatal plot, the object of which was the annihilation of 
 religion and virtue : and a usurping Senate brought 
 back into our country the dreadful time of Tiberius — 
 nothing was witnessed but scenes of horror. 
 
 " The most irreproachable men of all classes and 
 conditions, honorable and peaceable citizens, virtuous 
 patricians, upright magistrates, brave soldiers, respect- 
 able ecclesiastics, all men of a superior talent, the glory 
 of their country, and who in numberless instances had 
 merited well of their country, perished wretchedly either 
 by the blow of the assassin, or at the stake planted by 
 fanaticism. Others were arbitrarily arrested and drag- 
 ged before a tribunal of cannibals : there, without the 
 least shadow of justice, without proofs against them, 
 without the means of defence, they were subjected 
 to the most infamous penalties, to the gallies, to im- 
 prisonment in fortresses, and to banishment. Others, 
 finally, who had with the utmost difficulty and danger 
 escaped from their ferocious persecutors, took refuge 
 in foreign countries, there to lead a wandering and 
 wretched life, carrying with them the cruel recollection 
 of the tyranny of an iniquitous government, and of 
 the ingratitude of their fellow citizens. Above thirty ^^ 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 209 
 
 thousand families were victims of these proscriptions ; 
 and Ferdinand saw with complacency, from the centre 
 of Germany, the ruin, despair, and extermination of the 
 best of his subjects. 
 
 " All idea of morality was overturned ; the public in- 
 struction was poisoned at its fountain-head, and every 
 idea of humanity and justice was annihilated. Insur- 
 rection, anarchy, and massacre, were openly preached 
 by the ministers of the sanctuary, were represented as 
 conscientious duties by a thousand inflammatory wri- 
 ters, and were authorized and encouraged by the Go- 
 vernment itself 
 
 " Such was the state of Tuscany, in October, 1800, 
 on which day the approach of the Republicans forced 
 the most notorious authors of these excesses, cowardly 
 to take to flight, leaving Tuscany to be governed by 
 their own sub-delegates, the only instructions given to 
 them being, to endeavor as much as possible to keep 
 up the system which they had themselves established. 
 
 ' Those creatures of a fugitive General and Regency 
 — creatures, whose authority was contrary to all the 
 rules of policy respected by the conqueror after the oc- 
 cupation of Tuscany, continued to foment the popular 
 fanaticism, and to prepare the country for a general 
 rising. But French generosity was at length exhaust- 
 ed, atjd it was resolved, if necessary, to join to the old 
 governors three persons more worthy of confidence." 
 
 After having seen the crimes of the insurgents of 
 faith and legitimacy, it will be well to observe the 
 solicitude of the Government to reward their horrible 
 services. 
 
 " Circular instruction to all the commissioners crea- 
 ted by the decree, Motu jii^oprio, of February, 1800." 
 The decree of last February declares, that his Royal 
 Highness has established a commission, charo;ed with 
 examining the merit of the individuals who have, 
 during the insurrection of the Aretines, or after they 
 had exhibited this great example, given proofs either 
 of military valor or of political prudence, by giving 
 birth to, fomenting and exciting the rising against the 
 
 18* 
 
210 SECRETS OF 
 
 enemy in any of the provinces of the Grand Duchy. 
 The said commission will draw up an account of the 
 deeds which have rendered illustrious, during this pe- 
 riod, not only the town of Arezzo, but also all the other 
 towns, boroughs, and villages of Tuscany, pointing out 
 the names of persons the most deserving of reward, as 
 well as those who have lost their lives during that in- 
 terval. 
 
 Ricci happened to be at Florence at the time of the 
 entrance of the French troops, and therefore could not 
 retire to his villa, as the new Government had directed 
 that no one should be allowed to leave the city, in or- 
 der to prevent emigration. This compelled him to be 
 a witness of the fanaticism of Leopold's Government. 
 The insurrection of Arezzo was a grand event for that 
 party. Religious enthusiasm made the rebels elect the 
 •pretended 7niraculous Madonna their generalissimo ; 
 and under her standard, they followed the Republican 
 stragglers, whom these wandering hordes massacred 
 without mercy, and plundered with safe consciences. 
 The linage of the Virgiii v:as the standard of assas- 
 sination, and rohhery ! 
 
 The band directed their steps towards Florence, 
 where Ricci's name was already at the head of a list 
 of victims to the monks, the priests, and the grandees, 
 formed before the arrival of the hordes of Arezzo. The 
 Leoj)oldists were especially in danger ; and the insur- 
 gents came twice to the villa of the prelate, where they 
 hoped to find him. They failed, however, in their 
 search at that place, but the unfortunate Bishop was 
 arrested at his house m Florence, in July, 1799, and 
 next day transferred to the prison da Basso, where the 
 French prisoners were confined, and where they were 
 treated by the Aretines with so much inhumanity, that 
 the prelate, in their mutinies, often ran the risk of be- 
 ing massacred. 
 
 The Aretines had no sentiments of hatred towards 
 Ricci, of whom they had perhaps never heard ; and 
 he thought he might probably obtain his release by 
 writing to the Archbishop of Florence and the Bishop 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 211 
 
 of Fiesole, to explain his situation, appealing to them 
 as one of their brethren. The dark counsellors of 
 Martini advised the Archbishop to pay a visit to Ricci, 
 and to try by threats, promises, or reproaches, to en- 
 gage him to a recantation of his opinions, and thus to 
 remove from him all that was left him — his honor. 
 
 Martini followed this advice ; and after describmg 
 to Ricci the dangerous feeling in the public mind, he 
 recommended him to accept the Bull Auctorem Fidei; 
 and concluded by reproaching him with the sanction 
 he had given to the civil constitution of the French 
 clergy, &c. 
 
 Ricci began to be intimidated, and asked counsel of 
 Martini himself, who, seeing what might be made of 
 the prisoner, paid him a second visit, in which, with 
 extreme mildness, he urged the same arguments, which 
 gained over the unfortunate prelate so far, as to lead 
 him to consent to write a letter declaratory of his co- 
 incidence with Martini's opinions. 
 
 This document, however important to the defenders 
 of the old abuses, was not regarded as strong enough. 
 Martini took it upon him to say to Ricci in what it 
 was deficient; and the Bishop had the weakness not 
 only to yield, but to request that Martini would correct 
 the letter in his own way. After this was obtained, 
 Martini refused^ to take any concern in Ricci'' s affairs: 
 he even refused to send Ricci^s letter to the Pope, and 
 altogether ceased his visits to him ! The ex-Bishop 
 was detained nearly a month at the fortress da Basso. 
 
 The excesses committed by the Aretines had roused 
 even theindigDation of the Germans, for whose advan- 
 tage they committed them. General Klenau ordered 
 them to quit Florence, under the pretence that they 
 were required to raise the siege of Perugia, which. was 
 still in the power of the French. But they liked better 
 to pillage the Jews, and to remain in excellent garri- 
 sons ; accordingly they said openly, that as they had 
 fulfilled what they styled their glorious mission, they 
 had no reason to march farther. They soon however 
 
212 SECRETS OF 
 
 dissolved^ as it was likely, from their want of disci- 
 pline, they would. 
 
 The commandant of the fort where Ricci was con- 
 fined, finding no charge against him, ordered his liber- 
 ation ; but the Senate of Tuscany seemed to hRve 
 aroused all the fury of the brigands of Arezzo ; for 
 when Ricci, after recovering from his prison malady, 
 went to visit the Archbishop of Florence, the latter, 
 after cruelly boasting of the absolute authority which 
 had been granted him over the arrested ecclesiastics, 
 told him that the people were not well pleased to see 
 him at liberty, and recommended him to retire to any 
 convent of the capital which he might choose. Ricci 
 proposed to go to the Fathers of the Mission ; but they 
 were cowardly enough to refuse him. He next chose 
 the Convent of the Dominicans, at Mark. 
 
 Here Ricci was treated exactly like a prisoner of the 
 Inquisition. He had only a miserable cell allowed 
 him ; all the comforts of life were refused him ; the 
 monks fled from his presence, and he could scarcely 
 obtain the privilege of saying mass in one of their 
 private oratories. This was an inner chapel, which 
 the Dominicans of Mark had caused to be magnificendy 
 constructed and embellished, in honor of Savonarola, 
 close to the little rooms which had formerly been his 
 cells. Over the entrance-door is still to be read this 
 Latin inscription : " Has cellulas Ven. P. P. Hiero- 
 nymus Savonarola^ vir aiJostolicus, inhahitavitP — 
 •' These cells were inhabited by the apostolic Hierony- 
 rtius Savonarola^ 
 
 During his stay at the Convent of Mark, the Bishop 
 of Pistoia made some extracts from the manuscripts 
 which he found in the library, relative to that Jieretic 
 saint ! 
 
 Amongst others, is a letter written March, 1495, by 
 the magistrates of the Republic of Florence, to Richard 
 Becchi, its ambassador at the Court of Pope Alexan- 
 der YL, to thank him for the pains he had taken to 
 procure permission that Savonarola might continue to 
 preach in their capital. Mention is therein made of 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 213 
 
 "falsities and calumnies which envious and wicked 
 men are continually inventing and disseminating 
 abroad, respecting Brother Jerome Savonarola. Not 
 only, add the magistrates, has this brother been 
 attacked, but we ourselves have been strongly sus- 
 pected, as you write us, of suffering Brother Jerome, in 
 his sermons, to speak to us in no very honorable terms, 
 and without any respect in public, of the Church, and 
 of our Lord, the Pope. Wherefore it appears to us 
 just, as it is necessary, to let you clearly understand, 
 that Brother Savonarola, in his sermons, has never to 
 this day overstepped the limits traced by propriety, and 
 which a kind of tacit convention generally opposes to 
 the boldness of preachers. This, however, does not 
 prevent these orators from condemning vices in gene- 
 ral, pointing out the errors of the great, and making 
 sinners tremble, by a lively and seasonable description 
 of the Divine punishments which threaten them. If 
 Brother Jerome had, in the least degree, exceeded the 
 limits of which we have just spoken, in all which con- 
 cerns the sanctity of our Lord, we would not have 
 permitted him on any account to have preached in 
 future." 
 
 In April of the same year, the magistrates wrote to 
 the Neapolitan Cardinal, the patron of the order of 
 Dominic, that they had so great a veneration for the 
 Prior of Mark, Brother Savonarola, that they thought 
 they could do no good thing, unless exhorted to it by 
 that monk. " For the piety of this man is admirable, 
 his life spotless, his doctrine excellent. But what is 
 above all that can be said, a still rarer merit, and one 
 which we equally acknowledge in him, is, that he is 
 inspired by a Divine spirit. He has not only predicted 
 the common and ordinary things which have hitherto 
 happened to us, but has forewarned us, in his sermons, 
 of the most extraordinary events, such as we could 
 have least expected, long before they took place. It is 
 impossible to express how useful his sermons are to us, 
 as much for the salvation of our souls, as for the 
 tranquillity of our Republic." 
 
214 SECRETS OF 
 
 A third letter from the Florentine magistrates is 
 addressed to Pope Alexander YI. himself, entreating 
 him to allow Savonarola to reside among them. It is 
 the most honorable testimony of the piety, learning, 
 purity of morals, and holiness of life of Brother Jerome, 
 and a refutation of the calumnies invented for his de- 
 struction. This letter is dated September, 1495. 
 
 Then follow the fragments of some letters from 
 Anthony Magliabechi to Theophihis Spizelius, a Pro- 
 testant minister of the Church of Auofsburo: : 
 
 " With respect to the accusations against Savonarola, 
 they are futile, and without the least foundation. As 
 a man, as a Christian, as a monk, as a preacher, he was 
 compelled to take part in public aifairs ; for all was 
 hastening on to ruin ; and not only were the morals 
 much relaxed, but even atheism triumphed so auda- 
 ciously, that many writings, whose sole object was to 
 turn the Holy Scriptures into ridicule, were printed 
 over and over again, such as the Sonnets of the Canon 
 Pulci and others. Thousands of holy men have done 
 the same thing, in times much less demanding their 
 interference than those in which Savonarola lived. 
 
 '' To say that he was desirous of courting interest 
 and favor, is one of the greatest falsehoods ever heard. 
 Had he desired honors, he would have flattered the 
 House of Medicis, and the Sovereign Pontiff Alexan- 
 der VI., who had promised him, if he retracted, a car- 
 dinal's hat, 
 
 " The trial of Savonarola now in circulation, is falsi- 
 fied and garbled. That was the reason why it was 
 not read in Savonarola's presence — a circumstance 
 which scandalized the people much, but in which his 
 judges took not the least concern. I have made every 
 possible effort to get a sight of the genuine trial, but 
 always in vain. Patriarca, who was employed in the 
 fiscal chamber, and who had all these documents in 
 his trust, told me he had seen in some old memoirs, 
 that this trial had been immediately taken away, and 
 that the enemies of the monk had either torn it in 
 pieces, or burnt it. They then published an interpo- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 215 
 
 lated and altered trial ; and in order to prevent their 
 fraud froin being discovered- they destroyed the real 
 one, in order to remove every possibility of comparing 
 the two trials, and discovering their iniquity /" 
 
 la the midst of the Bishop's sufferings, Pius VI. died. 
 Martini advised Ricci to write to his successor ; and 
 one of the Dominicans engaged the Nuncio to visit 
 him, in order to procure a dishonorable recantation of 
 all his opinions. Ricci refused the Nuncio's inter- 
 ference : the latter withdrew in anger. Martini was 
 jealous of the Nuncio, and refused any longer to inter- 
 est himself in the fate of his colleague. 
 
 The health of Ricci was visibly injured, owing io 
 the suspense in which he was held, and the perfidy of 
 his pretended friends. He also heard that it was at 
 the Archbishop's instigation that the Dominicans re- 
 fused to allow him to officiate in their Church, thus 
 authorizing the Florentines to regard him as a danger- 
 ous heretic, a person to be shunned. However, ho 
 bore all patiently, and passed the greater part of his 
 time in the library or his cloister, in perusing the works 
 of those fathers who most coincided with his opinions. 
 
 Under these circumstances, instead of receiving any 
 assistance or consolation from his family, he was per- 
 secuted even by his OAvn brother, the Senator Ricci, 
 Avho finally succeeded in suspending the payment of 
 the pension assigned to him by the Grand-ducal 
 Government till after the decision of his trial. All 
 these vexations had such an effect on the spirits of 
 Ricci, that his physicians, dreading a long and danger- 
 ous malady, applied to the Senate for permission 
 to have Ricci transported to his country-house, as 
 good air and quiet were the only remedies for his 
 disorder. 
 
 The Senate declared that they had never given 
 any orders for the arrest of Ricci. The physicians 
 then addressed themselves to the Archbishop, who had 
 always pleaded orders from Government to that effect; 
 but he referred them again to the Senate, as Ricci's 
 affair regarded a prisoner accused of revolutionary 
 
216 SECRETS OF 
 
 opinions. This was the first time such an accusation 
 had been made ; for Martini had assured the Bishop, 
 when detained at Basso, that he was only suspected of 
 erroneous opinions on religion. 
 
 But the difficulties made by Martini to Ricci's en- 
 largement, were not the only ones he had to encoun- 
 ter ; for his brother required that, before allowing him 
 to quit Mark, all the examinations should be gone 
 through of all the persons suspected, about 32,000, in 
 order to be sure that the Bishop was not implicated 
 with some of them. This delay must have occasioned 
 the death of Ricci, had not some senators, less cruel, 
 taken advantage of the temporary absence of Martini, 
 to set the Bishop at liberty on the following condi- 
 tions, and allow him to return to his villa : — 
 
 That he should leave the convent in the night. — 
 That he should only stay a few hours at his house at 
 Florence. — That he should not keep up any corres- 
 pondence whatever. — That he should promise to yield 
 himself prisoner, whenever he should be required by 
 the Senate. 
 
 The extensive correspondence of Ricci would natur- 
 ally alarm the tyrants, who could ouly work in that 
 darkness to which they are indebted for their existence. 
 
 The follavving singular letters bear testimon^^ to the 
 truth of what we advance. 
 
 Isacarus, a Bethlemite, wrote to Ricci from Rome, 
 March, 1798. 
 
 He requests Ricci's answers to Marchetti's A?inota- 
 tions Pacifiques. He then complains of the persecu- 
 tions to which he is himself exposed at Rome, from 
 priests who were there called ^oo^ Christians, but who 
 were in reality only Freethinkers, es'pr its forts. 
 
 From Caietan Victorin de Faria, a Paulist monk, at 
 Lisbon ; 1798. Faira was a Brahmin, and was con- 
 verted to Catholicism. His wife being dead, he and 
 his two sons entered into the priesthood at Genoa ; his 
 third son was made Deacon. All four went over to 
 Lisbon, where they lived in the convent of the 
 Paulists. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 217 
 
 " The regular clergy in India," says he, '• have be- 
 comej towards the end of the 18th century, what the 
 bonzes were at Japan : the nuns were the disciples of 
 Diana, and their nunneries seraglios for the monks; as 
 I have proved to be the case in Lisbon, by facts which 
 I have produced respectinor those nuns, who were more 
 often in the family-way than the common women." 
 
 " The Jesuits made themselves Brachmans in the 
 Indies, in order to enjoy the privileges of that caste, 
 whose idolatrous rites and superstitious practices they 
 had also adopted." He then explains in what consist- 
 ed the principal privileges which the religious mern- 
 bers of that society had acquired by this means ; 
 namely, ''of having free ingress to all the Indian 
 Courts ; of being never put to death for any crime 
 whatever ; and of enjoying the favors of every wo- 
 man who i^leased them., it being commonly received, 
 that a Brachman jjriest sanctifies the looinan ichoni 
 he honors with his attentions''^ The Paulist monk 
 speaks from experience, for he had himself been a 
 Brachman before embracing the Christian religion. 
 
 Ricci had scarcely arrived in the country Avhen he 
 recovered his health. He wrote to Martini, who replied 
 only by a few lines, requiring a recantation. Ricci 
 replied, that he was still of the same opinion he had 
 expressed to him and in the letter he had written to 
 the Pope ; and concluded by professing the purity of 
 his intention in all his reforms, and expressing his 
 regret if they should have been premature or the cause 
 of scandal. 
 
 Martini replied, that he had not had time to read 
 the long letter of Ricci, but urged him to write to the 
 new Pope. Ricci was grieved at the way in which 
 he was treated by his former colleague, but promised 
 to follow his advice as soon as the new Pontiff should 
 be elected. 
 
 After this, for several months he continued an iso- 
 lated being, shunned by every one, and persecuted by 
 his enemies, who wished to deny him even the conso- 
 lation of performing his devotions in the church. This 
 19 
 
218 SECRETS or 
 
 tyranny lasted a year ; and then they began to prepare' 
 false documents, and bribe false witnesses, to support 
 their accusations and justify their ill-treatment of Riccij 
 on his approaching trial at Florence. Tho Archbishop 
 wished to have Ricci condemned as a person guilty of 
 holding antimonarchical opinions ; but if this should 
 fail as was likely, he reserved to himself the right of 
 sending him to Rome to be punished by his natural 
 enemies. On his trial, impunity was promised to the 
 guilty of all descriptions toho sJiotdd 77iake any accu- 
 sation against Ricci ! He was to be found guilty, in 
 some way or other ; but in spite of these infamous and 
 illegal proceedings, the Chancellor was obliged to 
 acknowledge that there was no crime proved against 
 R. His persecutors were not yet satisfied : he was not 
 yet set at liberty ; for they adjourned the trial in order 
 that their victim might not escape them ; and this proof 
 of their malignity gave a shock both to the health and 
 mind of Ricci, which he did not recover for the remain- 
 ing ten years of his life. 
 
 The wretched intrigues employed to disturb the last 
 moments of Abbe Mengoni, who spontaneously and 
 publicly declared his orthodoxy and unalterable attach- 
 ment to the unity of the Church, proves to demonstra- 
 tion that the spirit of the Court of Rome and its agents, 
 is the same in all times and in all places^ and that it 
 avails itself of the most trifling circumstances, as well 
 as of the most important events, to extend the fatal 
 influence of that ignorance and fanaticism, upon which 
 is founded the Papal power. 
 
 Canon Joseph Mancini, now Bishop of Massa, and 
 at that time Yicar-general of the Archbishop of Flo- 
 rence, commissioned a priest named Mirri, a speculat- 
 ing theologian, to avail himself of the weakness of the 
 sick man in order to obtain a recantation. 
 
 The formula he was required to sign, contained the 
 acceptation of all that had been determined upon at the 
 Council of Trent; of all that the Church had decided 
 upon respecting grace and ivQe will ; tlie Bulls of Pius 
 v., Gregory XHL, Urban VHL, Alexander VII., &c., 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 219 
 
 and especially those known by the names of Unigeni- 
 tiis super Soliditate and Aiictorein Fidei ; the confes- 
 sion of the belief that the Pope has the precedence in 
 honor and jurisdiction over all the Church, and that 
 the Roman Chnrch is the mother and mistress of all 
 the others ; finally, the condemnation of the errors of 
 the incredulous and licentious in matters of religion, 
 in the same manner as they are condemned by the 
 Church, as well as that of the propositions anathema- 
 tized by the said Bulls, in the same plain and natural 
 sense as has hitherto dictated anathemas of the Sove- 
 reign Pontiffs. 
 
 Abbe Mengoni resisted ; and having learnt, by the 
 reports spread among the people at the instigation of 
 his vindictive colleague, that he was made to pass for 
 an excommunicated person, to whom the Archbishop 
 even intended to deny the administration of the viati- 
 cum, he wrote to that same Archbishop, October, 1815, 
 and said, that he not only had always been, and still 
 was a good Catholic, but that his most earnest wish 
 was to die in the communion of the faithful, in which 
 he had always lived. 
 
 He wrote the same day to the Yicar Mancini, and 
 asked him "if he required him to disgrace himself by 
 a falsehood, by confessing himself guilty of a crime, 
 of which indeed he was accused, but which he was 
 convinced he had not committed : a circumstance 
 which no one could know better than himself." 
 
 Morali, the then existing Archbishop, insisted upon 
 obtaining the required retractation, which it ivas hoped, 
 might he coupled loith that of Bishop Ricci, in order 
 to complete the victory gained by the Court of Rome. 
 Seeing, at length, that all his efforts were useless, he 
 dared not take farther advantage of the restoration of 
 legitimacy in his country. The Abbe Mengoni re- 
 ceived the viaticum from the hands of his confessor, 
 the Curate of Gervais. The Prior of Marco Yecchio 
 alleged many frivolous excuses to avoid performing 
 this office, and requested the curate to be his substi- 
 tute on the occasion. 
 
220 SECRETS OF 
 
 Another retractation took place ; that of an Abbe 
 Panieri, a canon of the cathedral of Pistoia, Avho con- 
 demned and reproved the doctrine which he had taught 
 under Ricci, concerninof the sacrament of marriao^e 
 and the dispensations from ecclesiastical hindrances. 
 
 This retractation, written by the canon's own hand, 
 March, 1S20, was addressed by him with a letter to 
 Marchetti d'Empoli, the apologist for the miracles at 
 the close of the last century, which were both imme- 
 diately printed at Rome, by De Romains, ivith permis- 
 sion of the higher powers ; and several hundred copies 
 were sent to Florence. It did not, however, succeed 
 in stirring up ancient feuds for a long time forgotten. 
 The Government, aware of its turbulent intentions, 
 ordered the packet to be seized on the frontiers, and 
 committed to the flames. 
 
 As soon as he heard of the election of Pius YII. as 
 Pope, Ricci, who knew the moderation of his disposi- 
 tion as Cardinal, conceived some hope of a termination 
 to his sniferinofs. He wrote a letter to the PontiiF, in 
 which he expressed his entire submission to the Apos- 
 tolic Chair, and the Pope occupying it, and justified 
 his opinions as orthodox. His letter was dated March, 
 1800. 
 
 Gonsalvi, the Pro-secretary of State, acknowledged 
 the receipt of this letter, but made no reply to its con- 
 tents. The answer was deferred for ten whole months, 
 — an interval which was not unemployed by the ene- 
 mies of the Tuscan prelate, who did every thing in 
 their power to render Ricci odious to the new Pope. 
 The Florentine Senate was equally active in prepar- 
 ing contradictory evidence of all kinds against Ricci ; 
 and the Nuncio, thinking the opportunity favorable, in- 
 sisted that the Government should send him to Rome. 
 It was precisely at this time, that the " menacing letter" 
 of Gonsalvi arrived. It required of Ricci a recanta- 
 tion of his errors, and those of his Synod — his ac- 
 knowledgment of the Bull Auctorem Pidei — of pro- 
 found submission to the Pope, and a confession of his 
 repentance. The Nuncio's secretary, who delivered 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 221 
 
 the letter, was to add to it verbally^ that the contents 
 were known to the Tuscan Regency, who ur^^ed the 
 ex-Bishop to comply with its demands, under pain of 
 being- given up to the Nuncio, and shut up for life in 
 the Castle of Angelo. 
 
 Ricci was unwilling to declare all the acts of his 
 episcopacy improper, seeing that they had all been 
 sanctioned by the Grand Duke. He communicated 
 his scruples to the Government, but no answer was 
 ever given ; so that he must have been betrayed into 
 the snare laid for him, had not the victorious French 
 re-entered Italy, and saved him from the danger. This 
 was the more imminent, as Ricci was now rather dis- 
 posed to diminish the concessions he had made, than 
 to make others. 
 
 Eleven days before the French entered Florence, he 
 received a copy of the political accusations made 
 against him : to which he replied immediately by a 
 letter, in which he protested hjs attachment to his 
 Prince, and complained of the aifferings he had en- 
 dured so long. 
 
 On the entrance of the French into Florence, Octo- 
 ber, 1800, all the persecutors fled, together with the 
 Pontifical Nuncio, who was at their head. That 
 emissary had been charged to extort from Ricci, with 
 the aid of the Tuscan Government, a dishonorable re- 
 cantation of all his acts and opinions ; but times had 
 now changed, and fear of the victorious French led 
 him to write a very mild letter to Ricci, requesting 
 merely a simple assurance of his submission to the 
 Pope. This he imm2diately complied with, adding his 
 acknowledgments of entire accordance with the Roman 
 Church in matters of faith, and his abhorrence of 
 schism. He occupied his time during his respite from 
 persecution, in preparing a reply to the Bull Anctorem 
 Fide?, in which he proved, that this Bull only con- 
 demns what was condemned by the Synod of Pistoia. 
 
 The weak xVustrian Government o^ four was, about 
 that time, replaced by a French triumvirate ; who, as 
 soon as thev discovered the 32,000 processes and accu- 
 
 19* 
 
222 SECRETS OF 
 
 sations, condemned them to be publicly burnt. Ricci's 
 was sent to him, and " from it," says he, " I discovered 
 that I had been detained at Mark's by means of the 
 Archbishop of Floren ce. Nihil tarn occultuni quod non 
 revelahitur. — Nothing is so hidden that it shall not he 
 revealed P'' The French Government expressed the 
 utmost esteem for the person of Ricci, and regrets for 
 the unworthy persecutions of which he had been the 
 victim. Ricci demanded an acknowledgment of the 
 falsehood of the accusations against him, which the 
 Secretary of the Crown could not refuse. He then re- 
 tired to his villa, where he employed himself in his 
 usual occupations, with country amusements, and in 
 the improvement both of the face of the country, and 
 the indigent laborers on his land. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Louis I., King" of Etruria. — Treaty with the Pope for Ricci. — Their 
 Reconciliation. 
 
 Ricci had formed the best opinion of Louis I. of 
 Etruria ; but that King, entirely governed by his 
 courtiers, Ventura and Salvatico, instead of showing 
 the philosophical virtues which had been ascribed to 
 him, appeared from the time of his entry into Florence 
 a bigoted fanatic and tyrant, whose character soon re- 
 vived the popular murmurs which had before disturbed 
 the capital. 
 
 The public was menaced with all the dangers which 
 could result from the evil influence of the Capuchin 
 Turchi, a prelate as violent and ambitious in his ex- 
 alted station, as he had been mild and reasonable as a 
 priest. He had signalized his episcopacy by seditious 
 homilies, which had been published at Parma, against 
 the ecclesiastical reforms of the Grand Duke Leopold, 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS, 223 
 
 and Ricci. The new Court, on entering Tuscany, 
 appeared to take no step without expressing its wrath 
 against this devoted land. The ancient Bishop of 
 Pistoia had no reason, therefore, to be astonished, on 
 finding himself refused, by the Counts Ventura and 
 Salvatico, the audience which he had requested them 
 to obtain for him from the King their master. The 
 latter, on hearing the name of Ricci pronounced, had 
 already, with some degree of naivete, asked his courtiers 
 if it was Ricci the heretic. 
 
 Scarcely had the reign of ignorance and impotence 
 thus commenced, when Rome boldly preferred all her 
 former pretensions to authority. The Nuncio Morozzo 
 imperiously demanded of Ricci the accustomed recan- 
 tation. The Government produced a plan for an In- 
 quisition of the Faith, on the same footing as the fero- 
 cious Inquisition of Spain ; it was proposed that the 
 reading of controversial works should be forbidden, and 
 that the partisans of the ancient reforms should be 
 driven into exile. Happily for Tuscany, the French 
 Minister at Florence never ceased exclaiming against 
 the absurd measures of this unenlightened and impru- 
 dent Government. The fear which his influence oc- 
 casioned, prevented the monks from precipitating their 
 designs, and raised -an insurmountable obstacle to the 
 machinations of the Nuncio against the ex-Bishop of 
 Pistoia. 
 
 This, however, could not prevent the publication of 
 the law of April, 1802, which the fanatical party had 
 taken care to keep secret, in order to avoid opposition. 
 This law had for its end the destruction of all useful 
 reforms and the ruin of all reformers. It abolished at 
 one blow the ecclesiastical rules, of whatever kind 
 they were, which had been published since the time of 
 the Emperor Francis I. They loaded the Govern- 
 ments which had shown any inclination to religious 
 reform, with the most injurious epithets. They de- 
 prived the Prince for ever of all power and influence 
 over the persons and possessions of the clergy ; they 
 took from the bishops their legitimate and inalienable 
 
224 SECRETS OF 
 
 Spiritual authority, to give them a temporal authority 
 which they can and ought never to possess ; they ex- 
 posed the Tuscans to the twofold despotism of the 
 Roman Court ; they declared the reforms which had 
 been made in Tuscany to be illegal and heretical ; and 
 lastly, the Inquisition of the Nuncfo's jurisdiction was 
 established on a firm and indestructible base. 
 
 It is difficult to describe the alarm which the unex- 
 pected publication of such a law occasioned. The 
 ministers of France and Spain, however, firmly resisted 
 measures which, as well as the principles which had 
 dictated them, were so opposed to the treaty recently 
 concluded between the French Republic and the Court 
 of Rome. But the blow was struck; the only thing 
 which was gained by the public disapprobation, was 
 the universal contempt of the law, and the proof which 
 was given, in the eyes of all Europe, of the weakness 
 of the Prince who had introduced it. The law of 
 April was not revoked, nevertheless, the ancient eccle- 
 siastical laws of the Grand Duchy, although abrogated 
 by the new disposition of the Sovereign, remained in 
 full vigor and activity ; and the Minister, who sought 
 to restore the deplorable times of Cosmo III., was unable 
 to resist them. 
 
 Fanaticism lost about that time her two principal 
 supports in Italy, the Duke of Parma, and Turchi, the 
 Bishop of that city. Louis of Etruria survived them 
 but a short time ; he died March, 1S03. 
 
 The Glueen Maria Louisa was declared Regent 
 during the minority of her son. " Without experience, 
 vain and bigoted, and above all, entirely dependent on 
 the former ministry, and on the intriguing and ignorant 
 Morozzo, the Nuncio, she desired nothing so much as 
 to form a close alliance with them, in order to found at 
 Florence a Catholic Academy, the design of which 
 was to maintain what they called the purity of the faith 
 in the capital and throughout Tuscany, and which 
 took for its rules those of the Holy office itself It was 
 composed entirely of the enemies of Leopold's reforms. 
 
 Their first endeavors were to abolish the decrees 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 225 
 
 and the laws relating to discipline and education, 
 which had been established by that Prince, and for 
 which they substituted superstition with all its attend- 
 ant follies. 
 
 This frightful commencement gave notice of opera- 
 tions still more disastrous, and of a destructive activity 
 which nothing seemed able to resist. France and 
 Spain hastened to publish an order for its being abo- 
 lished ; and on their proclamation the Catholic Aca- 
 demy was dissolved. The ministers of those two 
 powers were at the same time directed to represent to 
 the dueen that she must moderate a zeal as pernicious 
 as it was ill advised. 
 
 Ricci, who again saw himself delivered from the 
 evils which menaced him, regarded his safety as a mi- 
 racle, which he attributed to the manifest protection of 
 Catherine, his relative ; and to testify his gratitude, he 
 associated her as patron with the tutelary Saint of the 
 Church of Rignana, which he repaired on the occa- 
 sion, and greatly beautified ! Not content with these 
 external signs of his personal devotion to Saint Cathe- 
 rine de Ricci, he endeavored to animate the devotion 
 of the people, and composed hymns in her honor, which 
 were sung by the superstitious. 
 
 Scarcely had the Queen learnt this, when she con- 
 ceived a better opinion of the ex-Bishop of Pistoia 
 than if she had been really convinced of his being the 
 most enlightened and the most virtuous of men. She 
 began by suspecting that he was not irrevocably lost ; 
 that it was yet, perhaps, possible for him to be recon- 
 ciled with the Pope, for till that period she had thought, 
 with the generality of her subjects, that he was an in- 
 fidel. To form this hope, and the wish to succeed in 
 the project of mediation, was the same thing with Ma- 
 ria Louisa. And she prepared her way by a measure 
 as strange as the project itself. She ordered prayers 
 to be made in several convents, that Heaven would 
 soften the heretical heart of the prelate : lastly, she 
 persuaded the Pope to come to Florence, as he return- 
 ed from his journey into France to crown Napoleon. 
 
226 SECRETS OF 
 
 This circumstance gave rise to another, Avhich com- 
 pleted the comedy. Pius YII. was in close league with 
 the Arch Duchess of Austria, the foundress of a con- 
 servatory of girls called Paccaiiaristes^ in Rome ; and 
 having spoken of the invitation he had received from 
 the Q,ueen of Etruria, and of the desire which that 
 Princess manifested of having Ricci received into his 
 good graces, the mystical Arch Duchess conceived a 
 wish to play a part in this pious enterprise. 
 
 " The Arch Dnchess was by natui^e ingenuous, but 
 was seduced by those who surrounded her. She was 
 under the spiritual direction of Paccanari, an ex- Jesuit, 
 a man immoral, intriguing and unenlightened." The 
 proof of these assertions has been furnished by Pius 
 himself, who was obliged to suppress the conservatory 
 of girls which Paccanari had instituted and supported 
 at the exj)ense of the Austrian Princess, while Pacca- 
 nari was confined to a convent for the rest of his days. 
 The Arch Duchess addressed a letter to Ricci, Octo- 
 ber, 1804. In this she accuses him of having led Leo- 
 pold to do many things inimical to the interests of true 
 religion. She assures him that he had occasioned the 
 eternal destruction of many ; and exhorts him to seek 
 his safety by throwing himself at the feet of the Pope, 
 with her letter in his hand. Ricci replied by a letter 
 full of dignity and respect, in which he endeavored to 
 undeceive her with regard to Leopold. " The inten- 
 tions of that great Prince, your father," said he, " were 
 as pure as the greater part of his actions were visibly 
 and eminently directed towards the good of religion." 
 With regard to that which personally concerned him, 
 Ricci contented himself with saying that he had con- 
 stantly lived in unity with the Church, before which 
 he had often protested, and should again be willing 
 to offer, his submission ! 
 
 The Pope returned no answer. He had formed 
 the resolution of terminating this affair by a perso- 
 nal interview with Ricci. The Queen of Etruria 
 assured the latter of the pleasure his reconciliation 
 with the Pontiff would give her. Ricci immediately 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 227 
 
 proceeded to the Q.ueen, thanked her for the interest 
 she took in tiis affairs, and promised to present him- 
 self before the Pope, as soon as he should arrive at 
 Florence, 
 
 Ricci had great confidence in the Pope, especially 
 after what had occurred in France. He reflected 
 not that it is precisely when the Court of Rome is 
 obliged to yield to the powerful, she increases her op- 
 pressions of the weak, to compensate in some measure, 
 by her excessive despotism on the one side, the sacri- 
 fices she is obliged to make on the other. 
 
 The Pope, well prepared for the character he in- 
 tended to play, arrived at Florence, May, 1805. Three 
 days after, on the eve of his departure for Rome, he sent 
 the Vicegerent to Ricci's residence to assure him of his 
 desire to embrace him, which, however, he gave him 
 to understand, could not take place unless Ricci signed 
 the declaration which the Vicegerent presented. This 
 formula required him to declare that he accepted from 
 his heart and soul the apostolical constitutions passed 
 against Baius, Jansenius, and Q^uesnel, from the Pon- 
 tificate of Pius V. to the present time ; that he espe- 
 cially accepted the Bull Aiictorem Fidei, and that he 
 desired this declaration to be made public. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the trouble into which 
 Ricci was thrown by this unforseen circumstance. 
 He had time neither for private reflection, nor for con- 
 sultation with his friends. All his representations to 
 the Vicegerent were of no avail. The only reply that 
 he could obtain was, that there was no longer any room 
 for discussion ; that he must at once submit himself to 
 the Pope, or never after expect a reconciliation. 
 
 Some hours passed in the inexpressible misery of 
 deliberations, hesitation, and anxiety, till at length 
 Ricci decided, at the instigation of his friends Palmieri 
 and the Abbe Fontani, the only persons present at this 
 deplorable scene, that he would yield to the unfortu- 
 nate necessity of the times. He mournfully obeyed 
 those persuasions so foreign to the dictates of his own 
 heart, and gave, for the love of peace and unity, a proof 
 
22S SECRETS OF 
 
 of feebleness, the dishonor of which had been concealed 
 as much as possible ; he gave it to free himself for 
 ever from the persecutions of ignorance and fanaticism, 
 which were every day gaining an increase of power in 
 Tuscany. 
 
 The following are some of Ricci's reflections written 
 after the event, October, 1805, and which prove that 
 his energy failed not on this occasion through any of 
 the motives which generally render the inconstancy of 
 men in their language or conduct culpable. The 
 opinions of the ex-Bishop remained throughout the 
 same ; his apparent change, and it is his best excuse, 
 procured him neither places nor honors, for w^hich he 
 had no desire. He lost by this conduct the esteem of 
 the men whose regard he most valued, and he did vio- 
 lence to his own conscience ; but this same conscience, 
 which never spoke to him in vaio, persuaded him that 
 he ought, at the price of any sacrifice, to cease to be 
 the cause of discord in the Church and of scandal to 
 simple believers. It was a false idea of Christian hu- 
 mility, a virtue productive of the most amiable graces, 
 but compatible with and favorable to the highest 
 virtues of fortitude and resolution, which had the 
 greatest influence in leading him to this step. 
 
 The two friends of Ricci had also considerable influ- 
 ence in bringing him to his decision. " They per- 
 suaded me," says the Prelate, "that the Pope had de- 
 termined to conduct me to Rome as an obstinate rebel, 
 if the affair were not brought to an immediate conclu- 
 sion. They knew the character of the Cardinals who 
 exercised the chief influence over the Pontifl"; and they 
 saw me exposed to the most imminent peril, without 
 protection or support," 
 
 Ricci, having signed the deed, which was immedi- 
 ately carried to the Pope, was directly conducted by his 
 order to the palace, where he was then residing. 
 Pius Vn. received him. with considerable tenderness. 
 Ricci hastened to protest the unalterable purity of his 
 intentions and his views, especially those which re- 
 garded the assembly of his Synod, in which he intended 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 229 
 
 to support those propositions in an orthodox and 
 Catholic sense, which had been condemned as taken in 
 a heretical one by the Bull Aiictorem ; and he then 
 presented the Pope a declaration which he had written 
 and sig-ned in testimony of the truth of these assertions. 
 The Pope read it attentively ; and in returning it to 
 him said, that it was not at all necessary, and that he 
 was convinced of all that the Bishop had said. " He 
 added, that, since no one could know my internal 
 feelings, and since I had declared that my opinions 
 liad always been Catholic, the subject ought no longer 
 to admit of a doubt : and that he should himself be in 
 future the defender of Ricci's orthodoxy and honor, and 
 that he should support them at all times, and wherever 
 he might be." 
 
 During this conversation, the Q,ueen of Etruria and 
 the Confessor Menocchio entered the apartment where 
 Ricci and the Pope had met. Both of them compli- 
 mented Ricci on his reconciliation with the Holy See, 
 which gave occasion to the Pope's Confessor to observe, 
 that the Synod of Pistoia was the sole cause of all the 
 revolutions which agitated Europe, and that the Bishop 
 had done well in agreeing to its condemnation. Ricci 
 thought it right not to make any answer to a proposi- 
 tion as ridiculous as it was misplaced. 
 
 That Confessor of Pius YH. passed for a saint, and 
 even for a saint endowed with the power of working 
 miracles. It had been reported, that, on his first jour- 
 ney to Florence, in his way to Paris for the coronation 
 of the Emperor, he had performed a miracle on a man 
 afflicted with an hitherto incurable malady ; but this 
 prodigy having had only a momentary effect, the im- 
 portance whiclrhad been given to it vanished with the 
 influence he had on the disease. 
 
 The Pope showed himself very sensible of the pains 
 which Ricci had taken to clear himself from having 
 supported the obnoxious articles in the sense in which 
 they had been condemned by the Bull Aiwtore7?i ; and 
 appeared inclined to change the words, /o?' a remedy 
 of the scandal^ into these,/or general edification. But 
 
 20 
 
230 SECRETS OF 
 
 Menocchio, abusing the influence which he possessed 
 over the Pope as his spiritual director, prevented this 
 change; "because," said he, "the Synod of Pistoia 
 was guilty of the total overthrow of discipline, and of 
 the opposition which was then made to religion." 
 
 Of the motives which determined Ricci to sign the 
 declaration, it is said : " he was firmly resolved to ex- 
 culpate himself from the accusation of his not believing 
 in the Pope, which his refusal to vist him, would have 
 confirmed beyond doubt. Besides which, Ricci was 
 pressed by the Queen Regent, who ardently desired to 
 effect, through any means, a reconciliation between 
 them. He considered that, had he refused, he should 
 have every thing to fear, and that he could only ex- 
 pect either a new imprisonment, or a perpetual exile, 
 as the consequence of persevering in what was called 
 schism, or of his wounding the pride of the Princess, 
 by making her negotiation useless. On the other hand, 
 the Pope had manifested his determination to cut short 
 all disputes, and he had the declaration drawn up as 
 the only method of terminating the difficulties. Ricci, 
 v/ho was an ardent lover of peace and unity, believed 
 it to be his duty to sacrifice his self-love in an act of 
 submission and obedience, which would not in any 
 way wrong the depot of faith. 
 
 " He reflected, that, if he yielded on some points of 
 discipline, he did but accommodate himself to circum- 
 stances. These had totally changed ; it was necessary 
 that a man should change with them, and that, still 
 desiring to effect good, he should be willing to seek it 
 by other means more adapted at the time to eflfect his 
 purpose. 
 
 "He reflected, above all, that, being reduced to the 
 station of a private man, he ought to give up the inno- 
 vations and reforms which he had made as a l^ishop, 
 without the consent of the Pope. It had been told him 
 that the whole Church was in opposition to him, and 
 he therefore submitted his will to the decisions of the 
 Bull Aitctorem, that he might not appear an ambitious 
 and obstinate innovator." 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 231 
 
 The news of his reconciliation with Pius VII. , pro- 
 cured him a great number of visits and comphmentary 
 letters from all the prelates of Tuscany. The public, 
 from that period, shewed him the most distinguished 
 esteem and veneration. But he hastened from that 
 universal attention, which had no charms for him, to 
 the solitude of his country-house. 
 
 There he learnt the judgment which was pronounc- 
 ed on the decision he had taken. Some saw in it only 
 a proof of inconstancy and feebleness ; others regarded 
 it as a true recantation and abjuration of his errors. 
 Ricci cared for neither : but considered that he ought 
 to be judged more according to his intentions than his 
 actions. It was with the same feeling that he wrote 
 to the Pope, May 1805, to compliment him on his 
 return to his capital, to ratify anew his declaration, and 
 to protest his sincere submission and gratitude. 
 
 His part was irrevocably taken ; nothing could make 
 him recall a determination of this kind. Since he had 
 sacrificed his conscience, it was a proof that he believed 
 the resolution indispensable. He was blamed for it by 
 those who considered his recantation as the unworthy 
 price of a few years' inglorious repose : he was praised 
 for it by those who considered it a true and praise- wor- 
 thy conversion. He merited neither the praise nor the 
 blame ; he knew that he had no want of conversion, 
 and he expected not any worldly peace on the part of 
 those who had troubled his tranquillity and happiness. 
 Deceived with regard to the true state of the Church, 
 Ricci sincerely desired to serve the cause of religion, 
 but he perceived not that the Court of Rome made use 
 of him only for its own purposes. The ex-Bishop of 
 Pistoia, without doing any good, was the cause of much 
 evil which his adversaries did in his name, and he lost 
 the reputation of that firmness and strength of soul, of 
 which he had given many brilliant proofs during his 
 career. In a moment he destroyed his own work. His 
 enemies, freed from all fear, had now only to mention 
 Ricci as the submitted and repentant child of Rome. — 
 Ricci the courageous and enlightened reformer of Tus- 
 
232 SECRETS OF 
 
 cany ! After having been the scourge of the in- 
 triguing, and terror of the hypocrites, he finished by 
 becoming their sport and their dupe, and by furnishing 
 them with arms which he had so often broken in their 
 hands. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Ricci's Recantation — Illness — and Death. 
 
 Different was the conduct of the Pontiff from 
 that of the persecutors of Ricci, and, among others, of 
 the Cardinal Gonsalvi, who repaid the eflforts of the 
 prelate to confirm the reconciliation, with harsh and 
 severe treatment. Pius YIL, when Bishop of Imola, 
 and " when Tuscany labored for the reorganization of 
 its ecclesiastical regime, through the care of the inde- 
 fatigable and sage Leopold, — Pius VII., who, as is ge- 
 nerally known, did not see with an evil eye the spirit 
 of the new legislation of the Grand Duke," would not 
 expose himself by condemning in others, what he had 
 formerly approved in himself 
 
 Scarcely had the Pontiff received the letter from 
 Ricci, than he charged Fenaja to thank him in his 
 name, and to promise him an answer from his own 
 hand. 
 
 The letter of the Pontiff contained expressions of 
 joy, which their reconciliation had caused him, in 
 consequence of the sincere adherence of the prelate to 
 all the sentences emanating from Rome against Jan- 
 senism and the Synod of Pistoia, and, above all, the 
 spontaneous confirmation of the declaration which he 
 had signed at Florence. In speaking to Ricci of this, 
 the Pope added malignantly : " By which act you de- 
 clare that you condemn all the evil you have done." 
 
 The consistory was held in June. Pius YIL, after 
 having given an account to the Cardinals of the aftairs 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 233 
 
 of France, passed to that of the ex-Bishop of Pistoia. 
 He related what had taken place at Florence, during 
 his last abode there, and reported the precise terms of 
 the declaration which the ex-Bishop had signed : but 
 the PontiiF, in relating the protestations which Ricci 
 had made at their first interview, said that the prelate 
 had assured him that, '• even in the 7nidst of his errors^ 
 his mind had always remained attached to the ortho- 
 dox faith and to the apostolic see ;" and since his re- 
 turn to Rome, Ricci had written to him to ratify "the 
 recantation made at Florence." 
 
 Ricci openly accused the Cardinal Gonsalvi of the 
 base design of having wished to persecute him, even 
 after his entire defeat. 
 
 " Cardinal Gonsalvi," says the unfortunate Bishop, 
 " was very much piqued at my affair having termi- 
 nated without his interposition or approbation ; and 
 habituated as he is to treat the Pope with a superiority 
 which does not belong to him, I do not doubt but he 
 has made known his vexation." 
 
 The Pope's answer to Ricci's letter was sent from 
 Rome, to the Pontifical Nuncio in Tuscany. The 
 Nuncio paid the ex-Bishop of Pistoia a visit, " and by 
 order of the Cardinal Secretary of state, he wished," 
 said Ricci, "to make me feel the general disapproba- 
 tion caused by my letter to the Pope, as if it had been 
 a proof of my dissimulation in regard to the signature 
 of the formula. He added, that the Pope was very 
 discontented Avith it; that he wished to make me feel 
 his indignation ; that the reconciliation had been on 
 the point of being destroyed, but for the observations 
 which the Pope had made on my letter in his address 
 to the consistory. Finally, he told me, always how- 
 ever, in the name of the Secretary of state, that the 
 Pope was kind, and that he had been surprised ; but 
 that I must pay attention and regulate my conduct 
 with circumspection for the future." 
 
 Ricci answered these vain menaces with a smile. 
 He proved to the Nuncio that Pius VH. was perfectly 
 satisfied with what had taken place, and he proved it 
 
 20* 
 
234 SECRETS OF 
 
 even by the letter of the Pontiff, which was written in 
 the most obliging and flattering terms. 
 
 " At length," says Ricci, '' having taken a more se- 
 rious and decided tone, I informed him that M. the 
 Cardinal offended me ; that my rank, the education I 
 had received as a Christian and a citizen, and above 
 all, the character which I possessed, made me abhor 
 with detestation, every kind of dissimulation and false- 
 hood. I made him understand that the affair had been 
 begun and completed by the Holy Father himself, with 
 the intervention of the dueen, and that he had not 
 been surprised into it." 
 
 Having thus succeeded in proving that the Pope 
 fully approved his conduct and sentiments, and that 
 he had clearly made this known by his letter, as he 
 had also done to the whole Church by his address to 
 the consistory of Cardinals, notwithstanding the ex- 
 pressions by which a hostile hand had found the means 
 of disfiguring those two convincing proofs, Ricci re- 
 quested the Nuncio to give particular attention to a 
 passage in the letter of Pius Yll. thus worded : — 
 
 " Would to Heaven you had long ago put us in a 
 situation to afford you this consolation. If we our- 
 selves had been alone personally concerned, it would 
 have been afforded you long before. We have ])een 
 always disposed not only to press you to our heart, 
 and to receive you with all possible tenderness into our 
 favor, but we have always most ardently desired it, 
 and we only waited for that one indispensable requi- 
 site to our reconciliation, w^hich you have at length 
 decided to aflbrd us." 
 
 " I might say," continues the ex-Bishop, after having 
 read this passage to the Nuncio, "that my first letter 
 to the Pope, written March 1800, to compliment him 
 on his elevation, was never presented ; I might add, 
 that the uncivil reply which the Cardinal Gonsalvi 
 made me in the name of the Pope, was given un- 
 known to the Pontiff, and was conceived in opposition 
 to his maxims and sentiments ; that it was fabricated 
 by a person who produced a false letter from me. en- 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 235 
 
 tirely different to that I had written, that he might ad- 
 dress me an injurious reply, and one full of all the 
 animosity and abuse which a base mind and an igno- 
 rant man is capable of conceiving." 
 
 Ricci contented himself with answering the Nuncio 
 in this dignified manner. Silence and resignation were 
 now the only arms he could oppose to his enemies ; 
 for had he used others^ he would have aided tlieir de- 
 signs, and at once produced a fatal rupture with the 
 Roman Court. 
 
 The direct correspondence between the ex-Bishop of 
 Pistoia and the Pope, rendered all the endeavors of his 
 intriguing persecutors vain. 
 
 When the prelate received the last letter from the 
 Pope, he called on the Nuncio. "He told me,"' says 
 Ricci, " with much politeness, that he did not doubt 
 my sincerity, and that he could not conceive why the 
 Cardinal Secretary of State continued to insist upon 
 the necessity of watching my conduct. I answered by 
 a smile ; and I asked if it was very warm at Rome ? 
 This indifferent question disconcerted the Nuncio a 
 little, who, from that time, never entered into a similar 
 conversation." 
 
 Religious studies became Ricci's chief occupation. 
 He composed some theological works ; among which 
 were, " Des Considerations sur les Epitres de Paul, sur 
 rOraison Dominicale," dec. dec' The interest wiiicli 
 he took in promoting the worship of Catherine de Ricci, 
 who, says he, had so ardently contemplated the myste- 
 ries of our Saviour's passion, induced him to ask of the 
 Pope himself a plenary indulgence for the festival of 
 that Saint. Ricci's letter was written January, 1806 ; 
 and he received an answer from the Pope in February 
 following, granting him all he had asked. 
 
 He thought of nothing from that time, but of cele- 
 brating, with the greatest pomp, the feast of the Saint, 
 his relative. He had prayers printed for the people to 
 address to her, and he added instructions for the de- 
 vout, to merit the pontifical indulgence ; he had medals 
 struck with the image of Catherine, and pious inscrip- 
 
236 SECRETS OP 
 
 tions and prayers upon them, to be distributed among 
 the faithful. 
 
 It is scarcely possible to recognise in this idolatrous 
 conduct the enlightened co-operator of Leopold, and 
 the eloquent author of the discourse against the abuse 
 of indulgences, pronounced at the assembly of the Tus- 
 can Bishops. 
 
 Those superstitions triflings of Ricci had not stifled 
 his virtues. He conducted himself with much great- 
 ness of soul towards the family of Senator Ricci, ever 
 since the death of his brother, who had for a long time 
 shown himself the most fanatical of his persecutors. 
 
 He was very bountiful to the poor ; but his fortune 
 was considerably decreased by the union of Tuscany 
 with the French empire in 1SU6. 
 
 Ricci felt his end approaching. He wished again to 
 enjoy the country; and lest he should be taken ill un- 
 awares, he arranged his aflairs, and made his will, 
 before quitting Florence. 
 
 He w^as scarcely settled at his villa, before he had 
 two severe attacks of epilepsy, which caused so much 
 fear for his life, that he returned to Florence. There 
 he appeared to regain his health and strength, when 
 suddenly his malady returned with more violence than 
 before. Humors, which at Ih^st covered the whole of 
 his body, at length fixed in his legs, and made him 
 suffer severely. 
 
 His patience, resignation, and gentleness, durmg a 
 long illness, and dreadful sufferings, edified every one 
 who approached him. 
 
 The religious feelings which he evinced during his 
 last moments, convinced those, who had hitherto doubt- 
 ed it, of the sincerity of his belief. But he showed no 
 remorse for his past actions, he never spoke of his re- 
 forms, and he was only heard to implore the pardon 
 of God, for having mixed any human motives with 
 the maxims which had guided him during his episco- 
 pacy. 
 
 The author of the life of Ricci answers those who 
 fj.ccused the prelate of being alone in his reformations. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 237 
 
 and appropriating rights to himself, which belong ex- 
 clusively to the Holy See. He proves that the reforms 
 which had been undertaken, related to certain abuses 
 existing in Pistoia and Prato, which kept the people in 
 ignorance, superstition, and fanaticism, and nurtured 
 the ambition, avarice, and dissipation, of both the high 
 and inferior clergy, — abuses indeed, which, when Ricci 
 had lost all influence, were extirpated for the most part, 
 to the great contentment of pious and rational people, 
 the rest seeming to take no interest in the aftair. " In 
 these latter times," says the writer, '• we applaud the 
 opinions and maxims which were received with horror 
 as the actions of the Synod of Pistoia ; and we now 
 pursue in tranquillity, and even with zeal, a consider- 
 able number of those same reforms which were detested 
 at the epoch of that assembly." 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Survey of the Life and Prelacy of Ricci. 
 
 The education which Scipio de Ricci received in 
 childhood gave his mind a devotional character ; but 
 the cultivation of his reason and temper would not 
 allow him to become either fanatical or grossly super- 
 stitious ! He was born a Roman Catholic, and destined 
 for an ecclesiastic. 
 
 His reflections upon the Pontifical Court, which he 
 visited, — a servile, intriguing, and egotistical court — 
 are precious from the mouth of so sincerely obsequious 
 a priest ; his refusal to make a fortune through it, 
 when he entered on the career of the prelacy, shows 
 the disinterestedness of his noble mind. He wished 
 to remain an honest man. 
 
 Ricci assisted in the destruction of the Jesuits, whom 
 he detested as a political body, whose existence threat- 
 
238 SECRETS OF 
 
 ened governments and kings, corrupted the morality of 
 the people, and prostituted rehgion. He beheld among 
 them tlie falsifiers of holy doctrines, the satellites of 
 the monstrous Papal monarchy, the enemies of every 
 one whom they could not make subservient to their 
 ends, and the poisoners of Ganganehi. 
 
 From the time he was named Vicar-general of Flo- 
 rence, he manifested his firm intention to be a patriot 
 priest, ever ready to second the Prince who then reign- 
 ed for the happiness of Tuscany. The first proof 
 which he gave of it, was by co-operatinof in the repub- 
 lication of books which unveiled the ambition, lusts, 
 infamy, and crimes of several Popes, — books which 
 Rome had condemned, as irreligious and impious. 
 
 When he became Bishop of Pistoia and Prato, he 
 traced out with severity the line of his duties ; and 
 remained constantly and courageously attached to it, 
 till the fury of his enemies obliged him to quit the 
 diocese. 
 
 The commencement of his episcopal government 
 was the origin of all the evils which he suffered to- 
 wards the close of his life, and of the persecutions under 
 which he sank. He had irritated the powerful and 
 dangerous body of monks ; and by attacking their 
 privileges, and unveiling their turpitude, he threaten- 
 ed the Court of Rome with the loss of the greatest 
 number, and the most zealous, of her emissaries : from 
 that time his ruin was decided. 
 
 A philosopher would have tolerated the superstitious 
 worship of the sacre catur, added by the Jesuits to pre- 
 ceding superstitions, till human reason complaining of 
 it, should confound it with the mummeries already 
 consecrated to ridicule. A philosopher, if he had 
 known the cloisters to conceal individuals of both 
 sexes, who had vowed to violate the laws of Nature, 
 and not to fulfil the duties of society, would have 
 considered it of very little importance, whether these 
 persons lived according to the strange rules of their 
 order or not, or whether they preserved the chastity 
 they believed to be agreeable to God. 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 239 
 
 But Ricci was a Catholic from his infancy, and his 
 office as pastor oblio:ed him to inspect the rehgions opi- 
 nions of his sect. The worship of the sacre ccBur was 
 an abominable idolatry in his eyes, so much the more 
 dangerous, because it was introduced by the authors of 
 every error, those destroyers of morality, the Jesuits ; 
 to whom it was destined to give credit and powder. 
 
 He could not behold, without horror, the disso- 
 luteness of manners in the convents of the Domi- 
 nican nuns, where the monks of that order openly 
 taught atheism, encouraged the most disgraceful li- 
 bertinism, and filled them with impurity, sacrilege, 
 and debauchery of every kind. He could not help 
 expressing his indignation at the indifference of the 
 superiors, of the chief of the order at the Court of 
 Rome, and against the Pope, wlio, though they had 
 been for a long time instructed with regard to those 
 turpitudes, refused to take any step towards putting 
 an end to them. Had he not every reason to conclude 
 that those people must be of a different religion to him- 
 self, and to despise them, because they pretended to 
 persecute him on account of his zeal for that reli- 
 gion ?" 
 
 What relio^ious soul would not shudder at seeing 
 immorality thus added to profanation, and corruption 
 bringing forth impiety ? Bj tolerating these crimes, 
 the Pope plainly announced his indulgence of them ; 
 but by encouraging their commission, he made himself 
 an accomplice. 
 
 The hatred of the numerous party, whose interest it 
 was to keep up these abuses, did not prevent Ricci's 
 continuing steadily in the route he had marked. Doing 
 away with several pernicious practices, he labored con- 
 stantly to make the languag-e of reliijion more respect- 
 able, and his priests, men of exemplar}^ conduct, fa- 
 thers of the people. He intended to instruct them in 
 their conduct, and to console them under their misfor- 
 tunes. Animated by these holy views, be banished 
 itinerant missionaries, and improved the catechism 
 enjoined by the Court of Rome, which increased the 
 
240 SECRETS OF 
 
 favor of the multitude for the absurd prerogatives of 
 the Papacy. 
 
 Ricci was tolerant, because he was a just and reason- 
 able man, rather than a blind reformer. This was to 
 contradict himself as a Roman Catholic, but the time 
 was come when such inconsistency was inevitable. 
 
 Ricci, who detested the conduct and opinions of the 
 two perverted nuns of his diocess, detested still more 
 the cruelty of the Archbishop Martini, who had used 
 violence to convert them. 
 
 The decree of Leopold for abolishing even the In- 
 quisition in Tuscany, was attributed at the time to the 
 Bishop of Pistoia — the greatest praise which could 
 have been given to that philanthropic pastor. Public 
 instruction was a great object with Leopold and Ricci, 
 as it is with all true friends of humanity. The Bishop 
 labored more particularly in forming enlightened and 
 wise ecclesiastics ; because through them the people 
 would gain knowledge, and the peace and prosperity 
 of the State would be ensured as the natural result of 
 good management. 
 
 Pistoia had its ecclesiastical academy ; and if the 
 studies of the regular monks had been reformable, the 
 activity of Ricci, excited by the exhortations of Leo- 
 pold, would have introduced a better method of in- 
 struction. But the monks, were only ignorant, and 
 inclined to evil, and attached by interest to the Court 
 of Rome, which supported them by numerous sacrifices, 
 as being its most devoted and redoubtable soldiery. 
 Having endeavored to correct them, to make them 
 useful priests, and good citizens, was a great crime in 
 the Bishop of Pistoia ; and in order to destroy this 
 dangerous enemy to error, efforts were made by the 
 Court of Rome, and by the monks, to assassinate him. 
 
 The establishment of the ecclesiastical patrimony 
 caused no little uneasiness at Rome. Some of the 
 ministers, whose salaries were thus made entirely in- 
 dependent of its influence, began to lose sight of its 
 interests in their desire to diffuse the principles of mo- 
 rality and religion. This revolution, as desirable for 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 241 
 
 Tuscany, as it was inimical to Rome, whose grandeur 
 and elevation were established on the servility and 
 blind adulation of all around her, seemed by the un- 
 remitted care and exertions of Ricci, about to produce 
 a speedy and important improvement. 
 
 Not content with merely instructing his clergy on 
 the inalienable rights of the civil power, on those of the 
 clergy, and on the usurpations by which Rome had 
 weakened both the one and the other ; he showed them 
 still farther by his example, how those rights should 
 be restored to their legitimate possessors, more espe- 
 cially as the Prince who then reigned in Tuscany, 
 made it an imperative duty. Authorized by the 
 Government, which Ricci recognized as the only power 
 possessing the right of regulating the civil contract of 
 marriage, Ricci dispensed with many points deemed 
 essential by his diocesans ; and no longer permitted the 
 Roman Dataiy to possess any authority in Tuscany. 
 
 The priests, deprived of their ecclesiastical perqui- 
 sites, were thus also divested of all their temporal juris- 
 diction, of all authority in secular affairs ; and were 
 obliged to submit with resignation, by the example of 
 the Bishop himself, who voluntarily renounced privi- 
 leges which had been accorded to the clergy in ages of 
 barbarism and ignorance. 
 
 The object nearest Ricci's heart, was the deliverance 
 of the clergy from the influence of the Court of Rome; 
 and he exposed to the Prince the abuses of the oath of 
 fidelity, which the Pope requiresof every Bishop when 
 he grants his Bulls. With regard to most of them, this 
 oath is a fatal bond : it retains them in the most deadly 
 opposition to all legislative measures, which, having no 
 other object than the happiness of the people, would 
 diminish the overgrown authority of the Holy See. 
 With these designs constantly in view, Ricci used every 
 endeavor to enlighten his diocess by the difl\ision of 
 such books as seemed most calculated to produce this 
 effect. Many of these taught them to controvert the 
 idea of an infallible authority; and demonstrated to 
 
 21 
 
242 SECRETS OF 
 
 them the absurdity as well as the iDJiistice of the 
 greater part of its boasted procedures. 
 
 The reforms in the diocess of Pistoia alarmed not 
 only the Court of Rome, but the Tuscan ministry ; it 
 was incessantly employed in alleging- dilficulties, and 
 inventing obstacles to disgust the Grand Duke with 
 the idea of innovation ; but it saw all its attempts 
 overthrown by the skill and attention of the Bishop. 
 They feared, at the same time, the penetrating observa- 
 tion of their master, and that of the public, which the 
 new legislation had awakened to reflection. This Avas 
 to sap the very foundations of despotism and ignorance ; 
 but, notwithstanding the eftbrts of the Prince, they 
 continued perseveringly in their machinations. 
 
 The similarity of interests between the Tuscan 
 Ministry and the Court of Rome, formed the band of 
 an alliance, the principal eflect of which was to pro- 
 long the evils of humanity, by perpetuating the dark- 
 ness in which its enemy stood protected. The vain 
 and haughty aristocracy hastened to take part in a 
 league, which promised them the preservation of all 
 the prejudices on which their exorbitant privileges 
 were established ; and Ricci, thus in open war with 
 the Pope and his monks, the nobility and the Govern- 
 ment, had no support but the esteem of Leopold and a 
 good conscience. 
 
 But the projects of the Grand Duke and the Bishop, 
 induced the natural enemies of reform to concentrate 
 their means of attack and defence, and dispose them 
 to the best advantage against their courageous and in- 
 defatigable adversary ; whilst the latter, by incessantly 
 unveiling their chicanery and incapacity, exposed them 
 to the anger of the Prince, and to the irreparable 
 destruction of themselves and their evil influence. 
 Ricci was not deceived by the majority of the priests, to 
 whom he restored their dignity and their rights, while 
 he resumed his own. The populace alone remained 
 exposed to the intrigues, and to the powerful means of 
 corruption, which the ministers, the nobles, and the 
 emissaries of the Pope brought into action. Ricci's 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 243 
 
 success deceived Leopold. He committed the inexcus- 
 able error of inviting to his councils the dignified 
 clergy of Tuscany ; a body necessarily interested in 
 resisting the intentions which he had manifested to 
 effect their good ; and he imprudently furnished that 
 dangerous party with an occasion of making their 
 opposition popular, and of openly professing them- 
 selves to be the support and guide of the wandering 
 multitude. 
 
 The issue of the ecclesiastical assembly of Florence 
 was the signal of a tumult at Prato. This popular 
 rising was repressed without trouble ; but the example 
 was given ; the multitude of hypocrites and fanatics 
 had seen how easily superstition inflames a people 
 long subdued by despotism. Rome dared to conceive 
 the vast plan of arming the people against all sove- 
 reign reformers of abuses. Already had her projects 
 been made manifest in the affairs of Belgium, where 
 she preached the sovereignty of the people, to the great 
 profit of avaricious monks and imbecile nobles, as well 
 as her own. 
 
 The revolt of several Tuscan cities was fomented in 
 the same manner, and by the same agents. That of 
 Prato was followed by another at Pistoia, which was 
 only appeased by the flight of Ricci, by the abolition of 
 the religious reforms which he had established, and by 
 the restoration of all the abuses of superstition and 
 servility towards Rome. The same spirit extended to 
 Florence, where the minister lost no time in completing 
 his work of darkness. He effected his design without 
 trouble. Fanaticism everywhere obtained a complete 
 victory, and brought back in triumph her usual com- 
 panions. Ignorance and Superstition. 
 
 During these events, the French revolution took 
 place ; and from its commencement the eyes of all 
 Europe were riveted too closely on the spectacle it pre- 
 sented, to be diverted by any object of minor interest. 
 Rome seized the opportunity for persecuting Ricci, 
 who was enjoying the repose he had obtained by the 
 resignation of his diocess. A Bull, a monument of had 
 
244 SECRETS OF 
 
 faith., was issued against him. But, although far from 
 the world and its storms, Ricci conceived himself 
 equally obliged to assist liis brethren who were ex- 
 posed to their fury, and all his decisions were a new 
 homage to sincerity. Thus, in answer to some ques- 
 tions from France, he replied, that the clergy ought to 
 take the national oath prescribed by the representatives 
 of the people ; and that the people should regard the 
 priests so obeying, as their legitimate spiritual gfuides. 
 
 Rome and Tnscany were, at that time, under the 
 power of the Republican arms, which they had brought 
 against them by their crooked policy. Ricci lived in 
 voluntary exile, but was forced from his retreat in the 
 most unjustifiable manner. Some brigands took pos- 
 session of the Tuscan capital in the name of the 
 Emperor of Austria, and the pretended miraculous 
 Virgin of the city. They committed every excess, and 
 every crime, of which the fanaticism of priests, or the 
 folly of an imbecile government could be guilty. The 
 ex-Bishop of Pistoia w^as thrown into prison, with all 
 the partisans of Leopold, and with every Jansenist 
 who had not sacrificed the interests of his country to 
 the despotism of Rome. The long list of persecutions 
 which Ricci had suffered, show the infamy of his per- 
 secutors, their intrigues, their machinations, and cruel- 
 ties. Nothing was neglected to satisfy the implacable 
 vengeance of Rome and its partisans, and to sooth the 
 vanity of the nobles whom Leopold had driven into the 
 obscurity to which nature had condemned them. 
 Whilst the persecutions were at their greatest height; 
 Ricci, by turns flattered and menaced, wearied by 
 measures the most adapted to exhaust the patience and 
 courage of an isolated old man, attacked on the most 
 feeble side, which his unsuspicious soul offered to his 
 cunning and malignant enemies^Ricci was by degrees 
 prepared for an act of condescension, to which he 
 would never have consented, had he been able to see it 
 under the same light in which it appeared to his best 
 friends. 
 
 The victories of the French in Italy had snatched 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 245 
 
 the unfortunate Bishop from the Court of Rome^ which 
 re^2:arded him as its prey ; but soon after, the Tuscans, 
 sacrificed to a deplorable policy, became by the most 
 illegal measures, the allies of a weak and superstitious 
 despot, of a wild and extravagant woman, and of a mi- 
 nister equally devoid of talents and virtue. Rome, ex- 
 isting but by evil, and only triumphing in darkness^ 
 hoped to regain in Tuscany all the ground she had 
 lost. The abolition of the liberal institutions of Leo- 
 pold and the French, and the establishment of the 
 abuses which had been extirpated, preceded the fall of 
 Ricci. Overwhelmed with evils without end, terrified 
 by preceding atrocities, seduced by every thing which 
 could make him mistake a feeble for a virtuous action ; 
 he signed an instrument, which he believed was but 
 consigning the past to forgetfulness, but which his dis- 
 sembling enemies took care to convert into a condem- 
 nation of his whole previous conduct, and of the mo- 
 tives which had directed it. 
 
 The humiliation of Ricci was the only thing of 
 which Pius VII. could boast, on his return to Rome 
 after the coronation of Napoleon. After this circum- 
 stance, the ex-Bishop led a languishing life, till death 
 put an end to his sorrows and his misfortunes. 
 
 The entire life of Ricci was a continued series of 
 attacks against the Court of Rome, whose pretensions 
 to the inprescriptible rights of governments and of 
 people, and its spiritual despotism over the clergy, he 
 never ceased to combat. He unmasked its hypocrisy, 
 he exposed its ambition, cupidity, intrigues, and cabals^ 
 and citing it before the bar of the civilized world, in 
 the name of reason, justice, and religion, he menaced 
 it with near and inevitable destruction. It was utterly 
 impossible, however, that any agreement could exist 
 between a power which flattered, caressed, and exalted 
 the Jesuits, by every means it possessed, and a prelate, 
 who exposed their pernicious system of morality, their 
 principles subversive of society, and their dangerous 
 practices of superstitious devotion. 
 
 The zeal of Ricci, while only Yicar-o-eneral of Flo- 
 21* 
 
246 SECRETS OF 
 
 rence, for the re-establishment of ecclesiastical studies, 
 according to a more rational plan than that in vogue, 
 was another vexation, which the Court of Rome was 
 not more ready to pardon than his contempt of the Je- 
 suits. All the doctrines which they received were fa- 
 vorable to a system of that universal priesthood they 
 had contributed to establish, and to the power of the 
 Popes, which they sustained. Every attempt against 
 the scholastics and the modern casuists, was an act of 
 hostility against the Court of Rome. Every attempt 
 to direct the attention of the clergy to the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, and to give some authority to the canons ai]d 
 the fathers of the primitive Church, was a breach 
 made in the temporal authority of the Pope. It was 
 a victory ov^er those pretensions to spiritual infallibility, 
 which are continually contradicting the words of those 
 fathers who liv^ed before the invention of this absurd 
 dogma. 
 
 The same observation may be made in respect to 
 Ricci's activity in circulating good books, " which," 
 said this enlightened Bishop, '• all the world ought 
 to be acquainted with, as the province of truth is the 
 patrimony of all men without exception." His whole 
 episcopacy was a train of operations to exalt learning, 
 and to furnish materials proper for its successful pur- 
 suit. 
 
 But that which most of all tended to confirm the 
 enmity of the Roman Court against Ricci, was the 
 affair of the Dominicans of his diocese. Having prov- 
 ed to the whole world that the false or forced virtues of 
 the monks and nuns are but a tissue of hypocrisy, and 
 most frequently become a stimulant to the most odious 
 vices ; having shown that the institutions called Virgi- 
 nales were generally schools of corruption and liber- 
 tinism ; having at length brought to light the infamous 
 viciousness of the soi-distant tribunal of penitence ; 
 these were unpardonable crimes in the eyes of one, 
 whose existence as well as authority depended on the 
 blindness of men who yielded themselves to the impu- 
 ,dent jugglers that surrounded his throne. But how 
 
FEMALE CONVENT^'. 247 
 
 much was this enmity increased, when the activity of 
 Ricci made it appear that the nuns, the monks, their 
 superiors, even the chief of the order, and the Pope 
 himself, not only tolerated these disorders, but took no 
 measures to arrest the Dominicans in their incredulity, 
 impiety, and atheism, or to prevent their everyday 
 adding new victims to those they had been making for 
 nearly a century and a half! 
 
 Ricci openly assumed the ensigns of opposition to 
 the Roman Court. He frankly entered into a league, 
 the ranks of which were soon filled by all who consid- 
 ered the existence of Rome incompatible with the 
 actual state of society, and even with the existence 
 of the religion on which the Popes founded their 
 authority. 
 
 Ricci was in public correspondence with this party, 
 scattered through France, Spain, Germany, and Italy. 
 He was nominally so with the Church which the Jan- 
 senists had established in Holland, and which, by offer- 
 ing its friendship to Rome, amply revenged the ana- 
 themas hurled against it. Now Rome could not refuse 
 this offer, from any other motive than because she was 
 determined to trouble every State in which the Roman 
 clergy were recognised as the spiritual guides of the 
 people, and the Pope as the absolute chief of the 
 clergy. 
 
 All the exertions of Ricci seemed to render him 
 odious to the bigoted Papists. The reclaiming of his 
 Episcopal rights, which had been usurped by Rome, 
 and the restoration of those of the Cures, were dan- 
 gerous examples to the other prelates, who had any 
 idea of the democratic organization of the principles 
 it inculcated, menaced the Popes with a revolution 
 which would make them, the brothers of Bishops, the 
 brothers of their cures ; and which, by depriving them 
 of the power of riches they had so long enjoyed, would 
 render it necessary for them to obtain virtues and 
 talents, which could alone make them the first among 
 their equals. 
 
 The project of making the monks useful as priests 
 
243 SECRETS OF 
 
 and honest citizens, as also that of reforming the cate- 
 chism, tended to deprive the Popes of their most fanat- 
 ical emissaries, and to free rehgious persons from the 
 danger of being deceived by their glosses and artifices. 
 The plan of an ecclesiastical academy completed Ricci's 
 system ; and that of the patrimony of the clergy deli- 
 vered the pastors and their flocks for ever from all 
 foreign interference. The purifying of public wor- 
 ship from superstitious practices, was a consequence of 
 this system, and was not less disagreeable to Rome 
 than the other reforms ; for the mummeries with which 
 the worship of the Church had been debased, formed 
 a fruitful source of gain. 
 
 Rome had not only to reproach Ricci with what he 
 had thus done. She saw him voluntarily resign the 
 excessive and abused authority which had been given 
 to the bishops, as the head»-of the ecclesiastical tribu- 
 nals, called officialites, which were entirely under the 
 control of the Popes, to whom the former were hound 
 hy an oath, as anti-religious as it was anti-national. 
 Ricci, to extirpate the evil, root and branch, boldly ex- 
 claimed against this oath, "by which," said he, "bishops 
 oblige themselves to obey a foreign jwince f" 
 
 But the grievance which Rome made a reason for 
 the most violent persecutions of its author, was his 
 having reduced all his principles, maxims, and plans^ 
 into one entire system, which he got sanctioned by a 
 synodal assembly of his diocess, and had formed into 
 canons after the usage, recognised as regular and legal, 
 of the primitive Church. 
 
 This bold enterprise brought down upon Ricci's 
 head the thunders of the Vatican, and persecutions 
 which were directed sometimes by cunning, at others, 
 by perfidy, violence, and cruelty. The superior clergy 
 of Tuscany were united against him from the time that 
 Leopold had convoked the ecclesiastical assembly. 
 That prince, called to the imperial throne, only lived 
 long enough to see his cherished work of Tuscan re- 
 formation overthrown ; and Ricci exposed, without 
 
FEMALE CONTENTS, 249 
 
 defence, to the hatred of his enemies, who triumphed 
 in the name of superstition and fanaticism. 
 
 From that period, the ex-Bishop remained without 
 authority, and in voluntary exile. When, worn out by 
 lonof suffering, terrified by frightful menaces, and de- 
 ceived by false promises, he was induced to condemn 
 his past conduct, and sacrifice his reputation ; — when 
 even the Pope himself felt touched at his humble resig- 
 nation and self denial, even then his chief persecutors, 
 the zealots of the part^r, would not leave their prey ; 
 and the unfortunate Prelate, yielding at length to the 
 maladies which had been brought on by the persecu- 
 tions he had suffered, expired, after having experienced 
 most of the evils which Popish vengeance could invent. 
 
 The concurrence of circumstances which abolished 
 the reforms of Leopold, and brought on the destruction 
 of Ricci, produced important consequences in favor of 
 Roman despotism, to which' great credit was given in 
 the eyes of the people, who seldom judge of enterprises 
 but by their issues. The bark of Peter again floated 
 into Tuscany on the waves of fanaticism, superstition, 
 and ignorance. By an avaricious aristocracy, and a 
 vain ministry, that bark — the sails of which were 
 spread Avider than ever ; thanks to those who too in- 
 cautiously endeavored to sink it, and to the military 
 chief who made use of it to help him out of the stormy 
 sea of revolutions — appeared sustained on the waters 
 by a supernatural power ; and it began again to inspire 
 respect for every species of abuse. 
 
 Liberty, who had shown herself for an instant, was 
 soon banished, and the extraordinary man who, with- 
 out chaining her entirely, had fettered her as much as 
 his designs required, himself soon disappeared. Again 
 the sacerdotal power obtained its full authority ; but 
 what opprobrium too great can be cast upon men, 
 who, united to their fellow-creatures neither by senti- 
 ments^ principles, interest, nor natural ties, seem^ to 
 have only one object, that of deceiving them to despoil 
 them ; that of terrifying them with a false character of 
 the Divinity, that they may be venerated as his inter- 
 
SECRETS OF 
 
 preters, and of abusing them with an affectation of 
 humihty, that they may make them their servile fol- 
 lowers ! 
 
 Ricci is a proof of this. His memoir teaches us, 
 not to regard the monastic life and the Roman Court 
 as distinguished by the ordinary vices of men, but as 
 rendered odious by the worst of crimes ; as not mere- 
 ly affording much to excite regret, and rouse the bold 
 hand of reform, but as a vast and terrifying system of 
 the lowest debauchery and infamy. We see monks 
 employing the name and authority of God to seduce 
 the young females under their care, and their own 
 nominally most sacred rites polluted by their attempts. 
 Those priests stand before us as atheists ; not even re- 
 garding, for a moment, any one of the natural move- 
 ments of the heart in favor of virtue. 
 
 The General of the order of Dominic, an order by 
 whom so much innocent blood has been spilt, and 
 which has precipitated so many estimable men into 
 the flames, for venturing to declare they thought not 
 as the Dominicans — the General of that order, in 
 Ricci's time, was fully aware of the wickedness of 
 which the latter complained. His indifference to them 
 is sufficient evidence, that his opinions were in con- 
 formity with the worst abuses, against which Ricci 
 invoked the assistance of the civil power, whose first 
 duty is to watch over the morals of the people. But 
 the General and his Dominicans professed, in toto, 
 la croyance an Pope — subjection to the Pope ; that 
 they would commit any crime publicly^ to support the 
 dogmas on which the pontifical authority rested, and 
 the depraved instruinents of tohich they in secret were. 
 Ricci, by exposing the iniquities of the order, scandal- 
 ized, but could not injure the Court of Rome ; and 
 having been accused of not helieving the Pope^ his 
 destruction followed as the consequence. 
 
 The Pope himself was at the head of that dark con- 
 spiracy against a bishop, whose greatest crime was his 
 sincerity. Knowing, as well as the General of the 
 Dominicans, the infidelity of the order, and its fatal 
 
FEMALE CONVENTS. 251 
 
 effects ; notwithstanding, he showed no feehng of hor- 
 ror, and was equally enraged against the prelate, who 
 sacrificed all human respect, honors, and advantages, 
 to the interests of virtue. 
 
 Such is the Papacy, which is again suffered to es- 
 tablish itself; which men fortify again with its ancient 
 and pernicious errors ; which is still surrounded with 
 its fanatical and yet most dangerous adherents, the 
 Jesuits ; and which is permitted once more to arm 
 itself with the scourges, that have for so many ages 
 degraded men, and devastated the world — the scourge 
 of the ferocious and frightful tribunal of the Inquisition. 
 This fatal blindness of several European governments 
 to their true interests, this false policy, this spirit of 
 baseness, which makes them prefer the passive sub- 
 mission of a people, degraded by superstition, to the 
 acquiescence of a free people in the policy of a prince, 
 can hardly be conceived possible at such a period as 
 this — a period which has been preceded by half a cen- 
 tury, during which the examination of every question 
 interesting to humanity and nations has been debated 
 in the most profound manner. 
 
 For the honor of humanity, we trust that the people 
 at least will recoil from the chains of superstition again 
 forged for their minds. Every species of liberty is fal- 
 lacious, that is not founded on the basis of truth and 
 knowledge ; for no human power can preserve men in 
 a state of slavery, but when the belief is current, that 
 some of their fellow-creatures are destined by Provi- 
 dence to render the rest of mankind miserable. 
 
 Let us suppose for an instant, that we could annihi- 
 late the rising spirit of the times ; let us suppose in- 
 fancy subjected to the Ignorantins, youth to the 
 Jesuits, mature age to the Inquisitors, — what horrors 
 would not follow ! How many steps would not civi- 
 lization retrograde ! 
 
 Who will deny, that the people have made immense 
 progress in solid improvement, since the year 1789 ? 
 Who does not believe, that the French at the end of 
 the eighteenth century, were as much above those of 
 
252 SECRETS OF FEMALE CONVENTS. 
 
 the age of Louis XIV., as the wise and just Leopold 
 was superior to the degraded Cosmo IIL ? 
 
 Why does not reform continue to proceed from the 
 throne? It was the duty of kings to continue the bril- 
 hant reforms of the philosophical Joseph and Leopold. 
 Unfortunately, in their time, the people were not pre- 
 pared to receive their excellent systems ; but now, that 
 they are so, will kings refuse to establish their freedom 
 and happiness on the immovable basis of humanity 
 and truth ? 
 
 It was a Roman Catholic Bishop, who called for re- 
 form in the time of Leopold, who confessed that this 
 reform was absolutely necessary, because society was 
 menaced with evils which demanded a sure and im- 
 mediate remedy. His predictions have been verified. 
 The people have been driven to extremity ; their go- 
 vernments have resisted their just desires, and confu- 
 sion has been the consequence. But the struggle is 
 not at au end ; and whatever be the obstacles, the 
 cause of justice and humanity must at length prevail. 
 
 Why are there no more Riccis? — why are the men 
 who are moved by a like spirit, without power or in- 
 fluence ? They would give new force to the benevo- 
 lent religion of Christ ; a religion which a false zeal, 
 a base superstition, and the intolerance of the priest- 
 hood, have tended so materially to debase. 
 
 A party wliich labors for the restoration of darkness 
 and superstition, carries the germ of its own destruc- 
 tion ; for the only base on which it could establish 
 itself is wanting — the ignorance of the people. That 
 change will take place ; but it has on the one side 
 many obstacles to overcome, combats to sustain, and 
 sacrifices to make ; on the other, there are many inte- 
 rests to destroy ! Bat the whole subject resolves itself 
 into a simple question : Is any government authorized 
 by a divine law, to debase its subjects into ignorant 
 slaves ; or any priesthood to convert them into imbe- 
 cile monsters ? 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 A.— Page 13. 
 
 "The history of monastics, " observes Mr. Mackray, " exhibits in 
 full view the melancholy truth, that their hearts were corrupted with 
 the worst passions that diso-race humanity, and that the discipline of 
 the convent is seldom productive of a sinorle virtue. The prelates ex- 
 ceeded the inferior clergy in every kind ofproflio-acy, as much as in opu- 
 lence ind power; and, of course, their superintendino: and visitorial 
 authority was not exerted to lessen or restrain the prevalence of those 
 vices, which their evil example contributed so largely to increase. If 
 a really pious, vigilant, and austere prelate arose amidst the general 
 dissoluteness of the a^e, his single efforts to reclaim those sohtary 
 ecclesiastics were seldom attended with success. 
 
 " Boccace, by his witty and ingenious tales, very severely satirized 
 the licentiousness and immorality which prevailed during his time, in 
 the Italian monasteries ; but, by exposing the scandalous lives, and 
 lashing the vices of the monks, nuns, and other orders of the Roman 
 priesthood, he has been decried as a contemner of religion, and as an 
 enemy to true piety. Contemporary historians have also delivered the 
 most disgusting accounts of their intemperance and debauchery. The 
 frailty, indeed, of the female monastics, was even an article of regular 
 taxation ; and the Pope did not disdain to fill his coffers with the price 
 of their impurities. The frail nun, whether she had become immured 
 within a convent, or still resided without its walls, mi^ht redeem her 
 lost honor, and be reinstated in her former dignity and virtue, for a {ew 
 ducats. This scandalous traffic was carried to an extent that soon 
 destroyed all sense of morality, and heiij-htened the hue of vice. 
 Ambrosius of Canadoli, a prelate of extraordinary virtue, visited 
 various convents in his diocess; but, on inspecting their proceedings, 
 he found no traces even of decency remaining in any one of them ; 
 nor was he able, with all the sacracity he exercised on the subject, to 
 reinfuse the smallest particle of these qualities into the degenerated 
 minds of the sisterhood. The reform of the nunneries was the first 
 step that distinguished the government of Sixtus IV., after he ascended 
 the Papal throne, at the close of the fifteenth century. Bossus, a 
 celebrated canon, of the strictest principles, and a most inflexible dis- 
 position, was the agent selected by the Pontiff for that arduous 
 achievement. The Genoese convents, where the nuns lived in open 
 defiance of all the rules of decency and the precepts of religion, were 
 22 
 
254 APPENDIX. 
 
 the first objects of his attention. The orations which he pubUcIy 
 uttered from the pulpit, as well as the private lectures and exhortations 
 which he delivered to the nuns from the confessional chair, were fine 
 models, not only of his zeal and probity, but of his literature and elo- 
 quence. They breathed, in the most impressive manner, the true 
 spirit of Christian purity ; but his glowing representations of the 
 bright beauties of virtue and the dark deformities of vice, made little 
 impression upon their corrupted hearts. Despising the open calum- 
 nies of the envious, and the secret hostilities of the guilty, he pro- 
 ceeded, in spite of all discouragement and opposition, in his highly 
 honorable pursuit ; and, at length, by his wisdom and assiduity, 
 beheld the fairest prospects of success daily opening to his view. The 
 arm of magistracy, which he had called upon to aid the accomplish- 
 ment of his design, was enervated by the venality of its hand ; and 
 the incorrigible objects of his solicitude having freed themselves, by 
 bribery, from the terror of the civil power, contemned the reformer's 
 denunciations of eternal vengeance hereafter, and relapsed into their 
 former licentiousness and depravity. A few, indeed, among the great 
 number of nuns who inhabited these guilty convents, were converted 
 by the force of his eloquent remonstrances, and became afterwards 
 highly exemplary by their virtue, but the rest abandoned themselves 
 to their impious courses; and, though more vigorous methods were, 
 in a short time, adopted against the refractory monastics, they set all 
 attempts to reform them at defiance. The modes, perhaps, in which 
 their vices were indulged, have changed with the character of the age ; 
 and, as manners grew more refined, the gross and shameful indul- 
 gences of the monks and nuns have been changed into a more elegant 
 and decent style of enjoyment. Fashion has rendered them more 
 prudent and reserved in their intrigues, but their passions are not less 
 vicious, nor their dispositions less corrupt." 
 
 Such is the record of monastic profligacy and corruption; and, 
 when we think how the monks were regarded by the people with the 
 profoundest reverence, and, moreover, with what swarms of them 
 Europe was filled — "friars, white, black, and gray ; canons regular, 
 and of St. Anthony; Carmelites, Carthusians, Cordeliers, Dominicans, 
 Franciscans Conventual and Observanlines, Jacobines, Remonstra- 
 tensians. Monks of Tyronne and of Valhs Caulium, Hospitallers, or 
 Knights of John of Jerusalem ; Nuns of Austin, Clare, Scholastica, 
 Catherine of Sienna; with Canonesses of various clans," — we cannot 
 entertain a doubt, that the contagion of their example operated with 
 most debasing and corrupting efl^ect upon the character of mankind. 
 What must have been the condition of morality, when its professed 
 teachers were so immoral ? What, in the view of the God of truth 
 and purity, must be the turpitude of that system, or of that widely ex- 
 tended institution, which, for more than a thousand years, spread its 
 unhallowed influence over a great portion of the world, and triumphed 
 in the overthrow of all that is virtuous and noble in the character of 
 man? 
 
 B.— Page 14. 
 
 At the period of the Reformation, learning had ceased to dwell in 
 the solitudes of monachism. The age of darkness had passed away, 
 never more to return ; the art of printing had unlocked the storehouses 
 of ancient literature, and sent abroad their treasures for the good of 
 
APPENDIX. 255 
 
 mankind ; and thus there was not left the shadow of reason for the 
 longer endurance of these incumbrances on the states of Europe ; — 
 and, preni'nant as they palpably were with many very serious evils, 
 there was the most urgent necessity for their removal. This the pro- 
 gress of knowledge effected. These institutions, the birth of an igno- 
 rant and superstitious age, fell before the brightness of the light of 
 truth; and, at their dismemberment, was unfolded more strikingly 
 than ever had been done before their incorrigible depravity. 
 
 Great have been the lamentations respecting the alleged outrages 
 of the Reformation ; that literature will never recover from the 
 disaster which it sustained by the loss of the thousands of precious 
 volumes, which, with the monasteries that contained them, were, 
 by the barbarous fury of the Reformers, consigned to destruction ; 
 and that the demolition — occasioned by the Reforniation — of the 
 splendid edifices appropriated to monachism, inflicted a misfortune on 
 the fine arts which is absolutely irretrievable. Those stately fabrics, 
 it is said, the illustrious produce of immense labor and expense — on 
 which all the taste and genius of the world were lavished, and which 
 seemed destined to perpetuate through all time the triumphs of art, are 
 now in ruins; and the superb arches, the lofty columns, the moulder- 
 ing walls, of those once glorious structures — the melancholy remains 
 of such a magnificent creation of art and genius — present to the eye 
 of the seientific observer, a scene of devastation, for which all the 
 benefits of the Reformation will never atone ! 
 
 Now, much of this expression of regret is groundless, and with it 
 we cannot sympathize. That the monastic libraries, at the time of 
 the Reformation, were furnished with many — or, indeed, with any very 
 valuable works, is a mere unwarranted assumption. For more than 
 half a century had the press been in vigorous operation, and, during 
 that period, all in literature that was really valuable had been drawn 
 from obscurity ; nor, distinguished as the Reformers were for their 
 regard to learning, and, in several very splendid instances, for their 
 literary acquirements above all their contemporaries, is there the 
 smallest ground to doubt, that, if any of these literary monuments re- 
 mained, they would have been the objects of their search and careful 
 preservation. We have positive information respecting the state of 
 some of the monastic libraries, which, in the absence of contrary evi- 
 dence, may be regarded as a specimen of the condition of the rest. 
 "[n the life of Knox, the Scottish Reformer, we have an enumeration 
 of the contents of several of these pretended receptacles of learning, 
 which appear to have been despicable in the extreme. Legends of 
 saints, pastorales, graduales, missals, breviaries, and other writings of 
 a similar description, were the precious stores, for destroying which 
 the Reformation has been branded with epithets of the most odious 
 kind," 
 
 AWFUL CONSEQUENCES OF PAPAL INFLUENCE AND PAPAL 
 DOMINION. 
 
 Proh Dolor I hos tolerare potest Ecclesia Forces 
 Duntaxat Ventri, Veneri, Somnoquc, vacantcs ? 
 It is amazing that the Christian religion, whose characteristic is 
 ove and humility, should be so far debased, as to carry no other 
 
 AT 
 
256 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 marks than those of cruelty and pride ; that vows of poverty should 
 entitle men to the riches of the whole world ; that professions of chas- 
 tity should fill countries with uncleanness ; that solitary anchorites 
 should eno-ross the pomps of the city ; and that the servant of servants 
 should become the kin^j^ of kinoes ; but what contradictions are not 
 designincr men capable of, when the enlarD:ement of their power is in 
 view? For this end, auricular confession was introduced; a new 
 hell of purgatory was invented ; and the power of creating even their 
 own God, was blasphemously assumed. By these arts, came the 
 secrets of families into the hands of the priests ; by these arts, they 
 seized on the purses of whole nations ; and by these arts, they arrived 
 to be idols of the people, who were glad to part with their estates, with 
 their liberties, and their senses also, to these spiritual usurpers. 
 
 Not to mention the follies of other nations. British chronicles in- 
 form us to what a degree bigotry once prevailed, of which let this in- 
 stance suffice. John Bab, an author of unquestioned fidelity, who 
 was himself a Carmelite friar, informs us, in his acts of English Vo- 
 taries, that in the year 1017, King Canute, by the superstitious coun- 
 sel of Achelnotus, then Archbishop of Canterbury, was prevailed 
 upon to believe that monks' bastards were his own children, and that 
 Fulbertus, the old Bishop of Carnote in France, was even then suck- 
 led by the Virgin Mary : nor did he stop here, but after having bur- 
 dened the land with the payment of that Romish tribute called Peter's 
 pence, he went to Winchester, where, by the aforementioned Bishop's 
 advice, he formally resigned his regal crown to an image, constituting 
 it then king of Englancl ! 
 
 Thus was a mighty king converted to be the tool of his priests, 
 and thereby became the darling of the Church, whose practice then 
 was, not only to feed upon the spoils of the people, but even to make 
 their monarch a prey to their ambition. And in those times a prince 
 acquired the title of good or bad, not from his conduct in the secular 
 government of his subjects, but according as he was either more or 
 less, a promoter of the grandeur of his clergy. Thus Canute, though 
 an usurper and a tyrant could merit a canonization ; whilst John, 
 from whom was received that great security of their liberties, the 
 Statute of Magna Charta, merely for not encouraging the corruptions 
 and spiritual tyranny of the Romish Church, was branded with the 
 name of Apostate, and forced at length, by an usurping priesthood, 
 to hold his crown as tributary to the see of Rome. When the kings 
 were thus managed, it is no wonder that the laity followed their ex- 
 ample submitting- their necks to the same priestly yoke. 
 
 The reader will be curious to know, how the spiritual societies came 
 to possess such prodigious temporal estates : for the amount of the 
 property owned by the monks prior to the Reformation included from 
 fourteen to seventeen parts out of twenty of the whole land of the dif- 
 ferent nations. The first monks we read of were in the middle of the 
 third century ; men whom the persecution of the heathen emperors 
 compelled to live in deserts, and who being by a long course of soli- 
 tude, rendered unfit for human society, chose to continue in their mo- 
 nastic way, even after the true cause of it ceased. 
 
 The example of these men was soon followed by a number of crazy 
 devotees, who were so ignorant of true religion, as to think that their 
 way to heaven lay through wild and uninhabited deserts, and who, 
 finding that they had not charity enough to observe the precept of 
 Christ, of « loving their neighbor as themselves," were resolved to 
 
APPENDIX. 257 
 
 have no neighbors at all ; thereby frustratinor the design of Chris- 
 tianity, which was to establish the ^ood of society. 
 
 The next monks were a set of worthless, but ambitious wretclies, 
 who, havinor no way of making themselves famous in the world, re^ 
 tired out of it ; where they reverenced idle ceremonies of their own 
 institution, where they pretended conference with angels, with the 
 Virgin Mary, and even with God Almighty ; not unlike Numa, the 
 high-priest of the heathen Romish Church, who abused the people 
 with stories of his nightly interviews in a cave with the goddess JEge- 
 ria. At length, these holy cheats, to gain yet more veneration, began 
 to practice on their bodies the most cruel severities, till at last they 
 were worshipped by the thoughtless mob as saints : imitating, in 
 some measure, the example of that heathen monk, Empedocles, who, 
 to be thought a God, leapt into the burnino- mount ^tna. 
 
 After this, designing men, who saw how great an influence these 
 pretended saints had over mankind, took upon themselves the same 
 exterior form of godliness, thereby not only to raise an empty name, 
 as the former had done, but to enrich themselves at the expense of 
 the J deluded multitude. Hence flowed those many profitable reli- 
 gious maxims : — " that to give to the Church, was charity towards 
 God, and as such, would atone for a multitude of sins, were they ever 
 so heinous, — that the Church was not the congregation of the faithful, 
 as Paul fancied it to be, but the body of the priests : — that the priest, 
 though ever so like the de%nl, was God's representative, and ought to 
 be honored as such : — that there was such a place as purgatory, and 
 that the prayers of monks like Orpheus' harp, was the only music 
 that could mollify the tyrant of that place, who, being their very good 
 friend, would release a poor soul at any time for their sake : that whis- 
 pering all secrets in the ear of a priest, was the only cure for a sick 
 soul : — that every priest had the power of pardoning- all sins, except 
 those only which were committed against himself: — that indulgences 
 purchased in fee, could entitle a man and his heirs to merit heaven by 
 sinning : — and lastly, that the priest could by virtue of a hocus pocus, 
 quit scores with his Creator b>' creating him.'''' These, and such like 
 money-catching tenets, soon drew the whole wealth of the laity into 
 the hands of these contemners of the world, and all its pomps and 
 vanities ; who not only flourished in l^gypt and Italy, where they first 
 sprang up, but were spread through all Christendom, and began 
 quickly to vie in power and riches with the greatest monarchs, even 
 in their own territories, till, at last, kings and princes themselves, were 
 proud of becoming monks and abbots. 
 
 A minute detail of the divers religious orders which swarmed in all 
 parts of Europe is unnecessary. The portraiture of those who de- 
 voured and consumed Britain will exhibit a correct specimen of the 
 whole fraternity. 
 
 Benedictines. — The first of these that prevailed, was the order of 
 the Benedictines, whose rule was introduced into Britain by Augus- 
 tin the monk, in the year 596. The founder of this order was Bcnnet, 
 who in his own life time erected twelve monasteries. The rules that 
 he left behind him, although the papists afiirm that they were dictated 
 to him by the Holy Ghost, are stuftied with the most trifling and su- 
 perstitious ceremonies ; and his whole seventy-three chapters contain 
 but four wholesome precepts, two of which only, that relate to eating 
 and drinkino;, his followers observe ; neglecting the other two, which 
 are the fundamentals of their order, enjoining humility and poverty ; 
 22* 
 
258 APPENDIX. 
 
 for in his Beventh chapter, Bennet assigns twelve degrees of humility 
 for his monks to practice t which how well they comply with, you 
 may find by the humble titles of the abbots of Mount Cassin, the 
 head monastery of his order, of which himself was first abbot! "Pa- 
 triarch of the Sacred Religion, Abbot of the Sacred Monastery of 
 Mount Cassin, Duke and Prince of all Abbots and Religions, Vice 
 Chancellor of the kingdom of both the Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of 
 Hungaria, Count and Governor of Campania, and Terra de Lavoro, 
 and of the Maritime Province, Vice Emperor, and Prince of Peace." 
 In his fifty-ninlh chapter, he enjoins poverty to all his disciples ; and 
 in obedience to this rule, the above mentioned monastery of Mount 
 Cassin have so renoimced the world, as to be possessed but of " four 
 bishopricks, two dukedoms, twenty counties, thirty-six cities, two 
 hundred castles, three hundred territories, four hundred and forty vil- 
 lages, three hundred and six farms, twenty three sea ports, thirty-three 
 islands, two hundred mills, and one thousand six hundred and sixty- 
 two churches." This was their holy poverty ; and thus you may see 
 how religiously these ten rules have been observed, and how spiritu- 
 ally the followers of Bennet retreated from the world in Italy ; who 
 were soon imitated in some of these kinds of holy self-denials, by 
 their pious brethren in England, as you may learn from the vast num- 
 bers of rich abbeys which the Benedictines possessed. These were 
 the humble priests from whom King Henry II. received the disciphne 
 of eighty lashes, for having like an undutiful son of the Church, dared 
 to contend in power with their patron Thomas-a-Bccket, whose stirrup 
 he had been obliu^ed to hold, whilst that meek prelate mounted. 
 
 As these monks began to be notorious to the world for their obsce- 
 nities and luxur}- ; in the year 912, Oden Abbot of Cluny, took upon 
 him to correct their abuses, and gave rise to the Clnniacs ; who were 
 the same year translated by Alphreda, Glueen of England ; for who 
 more proper to promote superstition than a zealous ignorant woman ! 
 However, to show how thoroughly these men reformed upon Bennet's 
 followers, especially in point of humility, they were not settled one 
 whole century, before the Abbot of Cluny contested the title of Abbot 
 of Abbots, with those of Mount Cassin, 
 
 Carthusians. — The next order was that of the Carthusians, first 
 established in the year 10S6, in the desert of Chartreuse in Grenoble, 
 by one Bruno, who was thereunto moved by hearing a dead man cry 
 out three times, " That Iv was condemned by the just judgment of 
 God ;" which was a very plain precept for building monasteries ! This 
 man professod^To follow the rule of Bennet, adding thereunto many 
 great austerities by way of reformation ; amongst others he ordained, 
 that they ought to be satisfied with a very little space of ground about 
 their ceils, after which, let the whole world be offered unto them, they 
 ought not to desire a foot more. This, they have construed to signify 
 a foot .more than the whole world : for their cells even in Bernard's 
 time, became stately palaces, and their little spaces of ground, stretch- 
 ed them.selves into great tracts of land. They first settled themselves 
 in England in the year 1180, and in a very short time had gained as 
 much wealth by their vows of poverty as any other order. 
 
 Cislerclans. — -They were so called from Citeaux, where they first 
 assembled ; and soon after admitted Bernard for their head, whence 
 they are styled Bernardines, who were another reformation upon the 
 Benedictines. 
 
 Bernard himself founded one hundred and sixty monasteries ; who 
 
APPENDIX. 259 
 
 at first would have no possessions, but lived by alms, and the labor 
 of their own hands ; which being too apostolic a life for monks, they 
 soon grew as weary of poverty and industry as their neighbors ; and 
 in a little time rivalled those, upon whom they pretended to reform, 
 in wealth, luxury, wantonness, and such like monkish virtues. At 
 their first institution, they wore black monkish habits, till the Virgin 
 Mary, out of her great love to these fat friars, came down from 
 heaven on purpose to reform their dress, as being the most essential 
 part of their order. She appeared herself to their second abbot, 
 bringing a white cowl in her hand, which she put upon his head, and 
 at the same instant, the cowls of all the monks, then singing in the 
 choir, were miraculously turned to the same color. Thus did the 
 Virgin change the habits of the Cistercians from black to white, as 
 they had before altered their lives, from a sad, melancholy retirement, 
 to a merry, jovial society — black being no more fit for a jolly priest, 
 than white is for a mournful penitent. Besides, the '■^ old monk Satan" 
 being represented as black, the Virgin was unwilling that her friends 
 should be like him in dress, though they resembled him in every 
 thing else. These locusts swarmed first in England, about the year 
 1132, and continued there in the exercise of their sanctity; a remark- 
 able instance of which was their poisoning of King John at Swines- 
 head, in Lincolnshire, an abbey of the Cistercian order. 
 
 Canons. — There was another sort of religious order in the Church 
 of Rome, who were called Canons. These were to live in common, 
 and to have but one table, one purse, and one dormitory. But as 
 many of them began to abate of the strictness of their first rules, a 
 new sect sprang up, that pretended to reform upon the rest, and these 
 were called Regular, whereas the others, by way of reproach, were 
 styled Secular. When Canons began, is not certain ; but the first 
 Regulars we read of, are those whom Pope Alexander II. sent from 
 Lucca to John Lateran. The Regular Canons were so irregular, 
 and guilty of such abominable crimes, that even Pope Boniface VIII, 
 was forced to drive them away, and for the peace of the Church, to 
 place Secular Canons in their room. Beriners, in the year 636, first 
 introduced those Augustinians into England, who strictly followed 
 the example of their brethren of John Lateran. 
 
 Prcemonstraienses. — They followed the same rule with the former, 
 were founded by Norbert, about the year 1120, at a place which the 
 Virgin pointed out to him, and which therefore was pre-monstre, or 
 foreshown. These monks, to get a greater esteem in the world after 
 the death of their founder, published ihat he had received his rule, 
 curiously bound in gold, from the hands of Austin himself, who 
 appeared to him one night, and said thus: " Here is the rule that 
 I have written, and if my brethren observe it, they, like my children, 
 need to fear nothing at all in the day of judgment." Indeed, those 
 fathers, for their great security in the last day, have firmly adhered to 
 one of his precepts, that commands them to love one another. What 
 confirms this suspicion is, their declaration in the year 1273 ; in 
 which, after having acknowledged that women are worse than the 
 most venomous aspics and dragons, they resolved never to have any 
 more to do with them. 
 
 Gilbertlnes. — The next order is that of Gilbert, a little crooked 
 schoolmaster, born in Lincolnshire, who, by reason of his deformity, 
 despairing to bring the women to answer his lewd inclinations in a 
 secular manner, was resolved to make religion subservient to hie 
 
*260 APPENDIX. 
 
 purposes ; and to this end he founded thirteen monasteries, coritaining 
 both sexes together, to the number of seven hundred men, and fifteen 
 hundred women. This order of the Gilbertines;, was estabhshed at 
 Sempringham, in 1148, and was thence called the Sempringham 
 order ; but their disijustinH' characteristics exhibit such an outrasfe on 
 common decency, that dehcacy compels us to suppress further par- 
 ticulars. 
 
 Mnthxirines. — They were so called from their founder John Matha, 
 were likewise styled Trinitarians, because they lay under an obliga- 
 tion of dedicating all tlieir churches to the Holy Trinity ; they pro- 
 fessed the rules of Austin, and added to them several others ; among 
 which is that remarkable one of ridinof upon an ass, the only thing 
 in which I can find that those fathers imitated Christ. They were 
 instituted in the year 1257. The professed original design of their 
 establishment, was for the enlargement of captives; and whatsoever 
 substance fell into their hands, was to be divided into three equal 
 parts ; one of which was to be remitted to Christian slaves for their 
 redemption, whilst the other two were to remain in possession of these 
 charitable bankers, as a satisfaction for their great pains in making 
 such a return, which a merciful Jew would have done more faithfully, 
 and for a tenth part of the reward. But, two parts in three beino^ too 
 scanty a recompence for the great toil of a lazy friar, those Mathu- 
 rines, having no other God but money, to approve themselves true 
 Trinitarians to that deity, often cheated the poor captive of his thiid 
 part, rather than they would divide the substance. 
 
 This was the ceremony of the Ass. In several churches in France, 
 in early ages, they celebrated a festival in commemoration of the 
 Virgin Mary's fliglit into Egypt. It was called the Feast of the Ass, 
 A young girl richly dressed, with a child in her arms, was set upon 
 an ass superbly caparisoned ; the ass was led to the altar in solemn 
 procession ; High Mass was said in great pomp ; the ass was taught 
 to kneel in proper places ; a hymn, no less childish than impious, 
 was sung in his praise ; and when the ceremony was ended, the 
 priest, instead of the usual words with which he dismissed the peo- 
 ple, brayed three times like an ass; and the people, instead of their 
 usual response, we bless the Lord, brayed three tiines in the same 
 manner. 
 
 This ridiculous ceremony was not, like the festival of fools and 
 some other pageants of those ages, a mere farcical entertainment 
 exhibited in a church, and mingled, as was then the custom, with an 
 imitation of some reliirious rites. It was an act of devotion performed 
 by the ministers of Romanism, and by the authority of the Church. 
 
 Those eight religious orders grasped the greater part of the property 
 in England. Four other monkish tribes held no possessions of their 
 own, but being like the frogs in Egypt in numbers and ubiquity, 
 virtually were masters of the island, as it was deemed a crime equal 
 to sacrilege, to deny them admission to any place which they con- 
 descended to honor with their presence. 
 
 Franciscans. — The Franciscans, or Gray Friars, were instituted in 
 the vf^ar 120o, by Francis, whose first prank of holiness was robbing 
 his father, for which pious act being disinherited, he, like a true 
 ranter, stript himself stark naked, and ran away towards a chapel 
 near Assisy in Umbria, where being a beggar himself, he began a 
 begging order ; which being founded on sloth and idleness, drew in 
 so many convents, that Francis, even in his life time, saw two thou- 
 
APPENDIX. 261 
 
 sand convents of his own monks, all mumpers, gypsies, vagrants, 
 and such hke persons, taking upon him his profession of sanctity, 
 which agreed so well with their own inclinations. It were endless 
 here to enumerate those many ridiculous and blasphemous miracles, 
 with which his lying legend is filled j such as the bearing the marks 
 of Christ upon his body, which were imprinted there by Christ him- 
 self; such as his conversing intimately with the Virgin Mary; such 
 as his healing the lame and' blind, nay, and even raising the dead to 
 life. Miracles, upon the strength of which, his blind followers have 
 not hesitated to publish him greater than John the Baptist, and to all 
 the apostles, and to affirm that a roll from heaven declared him to be 
 the " Grace of God." Nay, they have not been ashamed to call him 
 " Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." Relying upon the sincerity 
 of the author of his legend, I mean Lucifer, whose seat this great 
 saint fills in heaven, who being once abjured by a priest, answered, 
 that " there were only two men marked alike, Christ and Francis." 
 
 Dominicans or Black Friars. — They took their rise in the year 1216, 
 from that godly butcher, Dominick, whose catholic zeal was first 
 manifested in the barbarous crusade which he set on foot against 
 those innocent people, the Albigenses, of whom above one hundred 
 thousand were massacred at once, by that saint's instigation ; for at a 
 smaller price of blood he could not hope to purchase a canonization in 
 a Church, which was so well stocked with such kind of saints before. 
 To give yet a farther instance of his Christian charity, when he saw 
 how the number of heretics were diminished by his wholesome seve- 
 rities, like a true high-church champion, he listed into his order a set 
 of merciless ruffians, whom he styled the militia of Jesus Christ ; 
 whose employment ^'as to cut the throats of all those who were so 
 schismatical as to dissent from him in opinion. It was he also who 
 founded that merciful Court of justice, called the Inquisition, nor did 
 he want for miracles any more than his brother Francis : for though 
 he had no such bodily marks, yet he received the Holy Ghost with 
 the same glory of a flaming tongue as the apostles did ; and whereas 
 Christ being Verbum Dei, only proceeded from the mouth of God, 
 Dominick was seen to come from his breast. Nay farther, he like 
 Paul was ravished into the third heaven, where seeing none of his 
 own order he complained to Jesus Christ of it ; who exhibited his 
 mother, the Virgin Mary, cherishing vast numbers of his followers in 
 a manner that delicacy compels us to conceal. This diabolical sect 
 pretended to follow the rule of Austin, and multiplied so fast, that in 
 the space of two hundred and seventy years, they had one thousand 
 one hundred and forty-three convents. 
 
 Carmelites, or White Fria7's. — They pretend that the prophet Elias 
 was the first Carmelite, who obtained of our Saviour at the time of 
 his transfiguration on Mount Carmel, this grand privilege, that his 
 order should remain till the end of the world. The true time of their 
 foundation, was in the year 1122, by Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, 
 who gathered together a few Hermites, that lived on Mount Carmel, 
 and gave them the pretended rule of Basil. When Palestine was 
 taken by the Saracens, they flocked into Europe, where Pope Hono- 
 rius IV. altered their habits, and for an indication of their humility, 
 dubbed them Christ's Uncles, ordering them to be called Brothers of 
 the Virgin Mary. Innocent IV. upon their parting with that heretical 
 clause in one of their rules, " that they only ought to hope for salva- 
 tion from our Saviour," like a true Pope, granted them many immu- 
 
262 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 nities and priviles^es ; whose example was followed by Pope John 
 XXII. he being thereunto moved by a vision of the Blessed Virgin, 
 w'ho according to his pretended usual familiarity, accosted 'him 
 in these words : "By express command of Me and my Son, thou 
 shalt grant this privilege, that whosoever enters this my order shall 
 be free from guilt and punishment of their sins, and eternally saved." 
 Urban IV. was likewise favorable unto them : as was Eugenius VI. 
 who mitigated their rule, and permitted them to eat flesh, as a reward 
 for their having burned alive one Thomas, brother of their own order, 
 for blasphemously affirming, that the abominations of the Church of 
 Rome needed a reformation. 
 
 This successive friendship of Popes to them, increased their con- 
 vents to a number not inferior to that of any other order. And they 
 made such good use of the Virgin Mary's favor in exempting them 
 from the guilt of sin, that Nicholas of Narbona, general of their 
 order, after having reproached them with their hypocrisy and abomi- 
 nations, in the year 1270, retired from their society, being no longer 
 able to bear with their scandalous lives. They passed over into Eng- 
 land about the year 1265, and had for their general Symon Stock, so 
 called from his living in a hollow tree. 
 
 Austin Friars. — They derive their original from the same person 
 with the Regular Canons, and by the same forger}'. Their beginning 
 was founded on this ridiculous story, from their own legends. It hap- 
 pened on a certain occasion, as Pope Alexander IV. lay half asleep 
 and half awake, that the great Augustin, though dead and rotten 
 some hundred years before, appeared to him under a dreadful figure, 
 having a head as big as a tun, and the rest of his body as small as a 
 read ; by which mysterious form, the Pope immediately knew the 
 saint, and concluded that he ought to found an order to this Holy 
 Father, whose head could not be at rest in the grave for want of a 
 body. And this gave rise to these mendicant Augustinian Friars, 
 who being confirmed by following popes, increased so prodigiously 
 as to have in a few years above two thousand convents of men, and 
 three hundred of women. They passed from Italy into England, in 
 the year 1252 ; and at their arrival a raging sickness broke out in 
 London, and spread over the whole kingdom, as a presage of the de- 
 struction and plague, which these vermin would in tmie bring upon 
 the nation. 
 
 Hospitallers of John of Jerusalem, and Knight Templars. — They fol- 
 lowed the rule of Augustin in many points, but were wholly excluded 
 from the exercise of the canonical office : their vow was to receive, 
 to treat and defend pilgrims, and also to maintain with force of arms 
 the Christian religion in their country ■ none weie admitted amongst 
 them, but those v\-ho were of noble extraction, whilst the religious 
 societies were for the most part composed of the dregs of the earth ; 
 and they acquired to themselves such immense treasure, as procured 
 them the envy and hatred of all orders ; which was the true cause of 
 the total extirpation of the Templars, and contributed to the diminu- 
 tion of the power and revenue of the Hospitallers, who are now called 
 Knights of Malta. 
 
 Not inserting therefore these two military societies, we shall find 
 that the number of religious orders amounted exactly to twelve ; two 
 plagues more than ever Egypt felt, and of a much more dreadful na- 
 ture. For Moses only turned their rivers into blood ; whereas the 
 monks, by their persecutions converted the whole nation into a sea of 
 
APPENDIX, 263 
 
 blood : he sent frogs, lice, and flies into all their quarters, much less 
 troublesome vermin than those mendicant friars, who swarmed in all 
 the private families : he called for murrain upon the Egyptian cattle, 
 and for boils upon the flesh of their inhabitants ; and what were the 
 religious orders less, than the consumers of the substance, and the 
 corruption of the people? He commanded hail and locusts, which 
 destroyed only one season's crop ; but those sanctified caterpillars 
 devoured the land for ages together. He caused a darkness which 
 soon passed away ; but the eclipse which these men brought upon 
 the light of the Gospel, endured for more than twelve hundred years. 
 And lastly, the first-born only, in that unhappy land were slain by the 
 angel of God ; whereas in that, then much more miserable country, 
 those messeuijers of the devil sacrificed whole families to their cove- 
 tousness and lust. That men should desire the onions of Egypt is no 
 wonder ; but that they should long for its very plagues, is a folly pe- 
 culiar only to superstition. 
 
 The rules of the Nuns were exactly the same with those of their 
 brethren, the Friars, in each respective order, to whom they served 
 only as an appendix or house of ease. All that may be truly aflSrmed 
 of them is, that they were a set of silly, superstitious women, who 
 thought it to be a piece of spiritual devotion to be subservient to the 
 monks, in gratifying the lusts of the flesh; and bore to the world the 
 face of chaste Christian sisters, whilst, like a Turkish seraglio, they 
 carried in private the teeming marks of the labor of their ghostly 
 fathers. 
 
 Jesuits. — A plague exceeding all the rest succeeded the Reform- 
 ation, and was contrived by the^Iother of Abominations of the earth 
 to overthrow the consequences of that glorious event. The Jesuits 
 sprang up in the year of our Lord 1540. Their first founder was 
 Ignatius Loyola, a Spanish soldier, who collecting together all the 
 different monastic rules of preceding orders, added thereunto some 
 extraordinary ones of his own, particularly this : "that the general, 
 provincials, and superiors, of this order, may dispense with all laws, 
 human and divine, dissolve all oaths and vows, and free men from the 
 obligation of all rules and decrees." They were called Jesuits, from 
 a pretended vision of God the Father, who appeared visibly to Igna- 
 tius Loyola, and desired his Son Jesus Christ, who stood by laden 
 with a heavy cross, to take a special care both of him and his com- 
 panions, which Christ promised he would not fail to do at Rome. 
 This pestiferous sect multiphed so fast, that in the year 1608, Riba- 
 diniera reckons that they possessed thirty-one provinces, twenty-one 
 professed houses, thirty-three noviciates, ninety-six residential houses, 
 and two hundred and ninety-three colleges, besides their first college, 
 which they pretend w^as in the womb of the Virgin Mary. These 
 Jesuits are much the most dangerous vermin of all those who pretend 
 to the name of Religious, inasmuch as they declare, no villainy, no 
 treachery nor cruelty, to be criminal, provided it tends to the benefit of 
 their society. And by this means, whenever a nation is so unfortunate 
 as to be overrun with this diabolical crew, no one member of the com- 
 munity can promise to himself security either to his life, honor, or 
 estate. Nay, the person of a monarch is not exempted from danger, 
 when he is once become an object of Jesuistical spleen ; as was 
 notoriously manifested in the whole series of the reign of King 
 Henry IV. of France, whose life was many times attempted by these 
 ghostly fathers, before they accomplished their wicked ends. I shall 
 
264 APPENDIX. 
 
 only mention three of their most remarkable conspiracies. The first 
 was that of Peter Barriere, a soldier, engaged to commit the murder 
 by Christopher Abre, curate of Andre des Ares, and by Varade, the 
 rector of the Jesuits' College. The former told him, " that by such 
 an act, he would gain great glory, and paradise." The latter, 
 " that enterprise was most holy, and that with good constancy and 
 courage, he ought to confess himself, and receive the blessed sacra- 
 ment," which he accordingly did ; and being thus Jesuistically pre- 
 pared, he embarked in the attempt, but, whilst he was watching an 
 opportunity to put his bloody design in execution, was timely dis- 
 covered, and received the due reward of his villainy. 
 
 The second conspirator was Jean Chastel, son to a draper in Paris, 
 and by his own confession, bred up among the Jesuits in their king- 
 killing doctrine ; and being persuaded by them, that the murder of 
 king Henry IV. would atone for all his past sins, and merit heaven, 
 he attempted it by stabbing that monarch in the mouth with a knife ; 
 which occasioned this remarkable saying of the king's — "It seems 
 then, that it is not enough that the mouths of so many good men have 
 testified against the Jesuits as my enemies, if they be not also con- 
 demned by my own mouth." It was for this fact that these ghostly 
 fathers were banished France, and a column was erected on the very 
 place where the parricide's house stood, in memory of them, and of 
 their assassin disciples. 
 
 The last and most effectual regicide, whom these fathers employed, 
 was the bold and bloody villain Ravaillac, who gave Henry IV. his 
 mortal stab, on May 14, 1610, after he had escaped above fifty con- 
 spiracies, most of them contrived by priests against his life. That 
 the Jesuits employed this murderer, we have the testimony of Father 
 Paul, who lived at that time ; and, as he was counsellor of state to the 
 republic of Venice, was perfectly well acquainted with the intrigues 
 of all the courts of Europe. He tells us that the Jesuits were the 
 trainers up of Ravaillacs and king killers, and that they were the 
 authors of the death of that great prince. 
 
 It were tedious to enumerate the murders, treasons, rebellions, blas- 
 phemies, and such like crimes, for which that society has been banish- 
 ed out of France, from Dantzic, from the Venetian territories, out of 
 Thorn and Cracovia, and Bohemia; not to mention that inhuman 
 contrivance of theirs in England, to blow up both a king and parlia- 
 ment at once. 
 
 The following is the Jesuits' manner of consecrating both the per- 
 sons and weapons employed for the murdering of kings and princes, 
 by them accounted heretics. 
 
 " The person whose silly reasons the Jesuits have overcome with 
 their more potent argument, is immediately conducted into their 
 Sanctum Sanctorum, designed for prayer and meditation. There 
 the dagger is produced, carefully wrapt up in a linen safeguard, in- 
 closed in an ivory sheath, engraven with several enigmatical charac- 
 ters, and accompanied with an Agnus Dei ; certainly a most mon- 
 strous copulation, so unadvisedly to intermix the height of murderous 
 villainy, and the most sacred emblem of meekness, together. 
 
 "The dagger being unsheathed, is hypocritically bedewed with 
 holy water ; and the handle, adorned with a certain number of coral 
 beads, put into his hand ; thereby assuring the credulous fool, that 
 as many effectual stabs as he gives the assassinated prince, so many 
 souls he should redeem out of purgatory on his own account. Then 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 265 
 
 they deliver the dagger into the parricide's hands, Vvith a solemn re- 
 commendation in these words : — 
 
 "Elected son of God, receive the sword of Jephthah, the sword of 
 Samson, lohich tons the jaw-bone of an ass, the sword of David where- 
 with he smote off the head of Goliath, the sword of Gideon, the sword 
 of Judith, the sword of the Maccabees, the sword of Pope Julius 11., 
 wherewith he cut off the lives of several princes, his enemies, filling 
 whole cities vvith slaughter and blood : go prosper, prudently coura- 
 geous ; and the Lord strengthen thy arm." Which being pronounced, 
 they all foil upon their knees, and the superior of the Jesuits pro- 
 nounces the following exorcism : "Attend, O ye cherubims ; descend 
 and be present, O seraphims ; you thrones, you powers, you holy 
 angels, come down and fill this blessed vessel, the parricide, with 
 eternal glory, and daily offer to him, for it is but a small reward, the 
 crown of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of all the holy patriarchs and 
 martyrs. He is no more concerned among u?, he is now of your ce- 
 lestial fraternity. And thou, O God most terrible and inaccessible, 
 who yet has revealed to this instrument of thine in thy dedicated place 
 of our prayer and meditation, that such a prince is to be cut off as a 
 tyrant and a heretic, and his dominions to be translated to another 
 line ; confirm and strengthen, we beseech thee, this instrument of 
 thine, whom we have consecrated and dedicated to that sacred office, 
 that he may be able to accomplish thy will. Grant him the habergeon 
 of thy divine omnipotency, that he may be enabled to escape the hands 
 of his pursuers. Give him wings, that he may avoid the designs 
 of all that lie in wait for his destruction. Infuse into his soul the 
 beams of thy consolation, to uphold and sustain the weak fabric of 
 his body ; that contemning all fears, he may be able to show a cheer- 
 ful and lively countenance in the midst of present torments or pro- 
 longed imprisonments ; and that he may sing and rejoice vvith a more 
 than ordinary exultation, whatever death he undergoes." 
 
 " This exorcism beng finished, the parricide is brought to the altar, 
 over which at that time hangs a picture containing the story of James 
 Clement, a Dominican Friar, with the figures of several angels pro- 
 tecting and conducting him to heaven. This Clement was accounted 
 a blessed martyr for his barbarous murder of Henry 111., king of 
 France. This picture the Jesuits show their cully ; and, at the same 
 time presenting him with a celestial coronet, rehearse these words — 
 ' Lord, look down and behold this arm of thine, the executioner of thy 
 justice ; let all thy saints arise, and give place to him:' which cere- 
 monies being ended, there are only five Jesuits deputed to converse 
 with, and keep the parricide company ; who, in their common dis- 
 course, make it their business, upon all occasions, to fill his ears with 
 their divine wheedles ; making him believe that a certain celestial 
 splendor shines in his countenance, by the beams whereof they are so 
 overawed, as to throw themselves down before him and kiss his feet ; 
 that he appears no more a mortal, but is transfigured into a deity ; and 
 lastly, in a deep dissimulation, they bewail themselves, and feign a 
 kind of envy at the happiness and eternal glory which he is- so sud- 
 denly to enjoy ; exclaiming thus before the credulous wretch — 'Would 
 to God, the Lord had chosen me in thy stead, and had so ordained it 
 by these means, that, being freed from the pains of purgatory, 1 might 
 ^o directly without let to paradise!' but if the persons whom they 
 imagined proper to attempt the parricide, prove any thing squeamish, 
 or reluctant to their exhortations, then, by nocturnal scarecrows and 
 
 2.3 
 
S66 A.PPENDIX. 
 
 affrighting apparitions, or by the suborned appearances of the Holy 
 Virgin, or some other of the saints, even of Ignatius Loyala himself, 
 or some of his most celebrated associates, they terrify the soon re- 
 trieved misbeliever, into a compliance, with a ready prepared oath, 
 vi^hich they force him to take, and thereby they animate and encourage 
 his staggering resolution. Thus these villainous and impious doctors 
 in the arts of murder and parricide, sometimes by the terrors of punish- 
 ment, sometimes b}' the allurements of merit, inflame the courage of 
 the unwary, and, having entangled them in the nooses of sacrilegious 
 and bloody attempts, precipitate both soul and body into eternal 
 damnation." 
 
 This is the method bij tohich the Jesuits clear themselves from their ene- 
 mies ; hoiv happy then mrist that nation be u'here Loyalists flourish ! 
 
 This account of the religious orders in the Papal Hierarchy, is com- 
 piled from statements which the monks themselves have recorded, and 
 for the truth of which they are witnesses and vouchers ; and if so 
 ridiculous a scene of superstition, falsehood and blasphemy, as that 
 which appears in the original and progress of every order, be not suf- 
 ficient to create an aversion from Popery, even in its most zealous advo- 
 cates, they must have lost all sense both of Liberty and Relig"ion. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abuses of the Church, 55 
 
 Alexander VI. Pope, 166 
 
 Altars privileored, 134 
 
 Anna Merhni^ Nun, 87 
 
 Anniversary Masses, 134 
 
 Apparition of a Spirit, 206 
 
 Assembly of Florence, 118 
 
 Asylums, 64 
 
 Auctorem Fidei, Bull, 196 
 
 Augustin's doctrine, 12S 
 
 Austin Friars, 262 
 
 Bellarmine, 161 
 
 Benedictines, 257 
 
 Benediction of Bells, 77 
 Bishop's oath to the Popes, 157 
 
 Bonaparte, 205 
 
 Books in the Monasteries, 11 1 
 
 Books prohibited, 136 
 
 Borghitriani, Priest, 94 
 
 Bribes for perjurv, 218 
 
 Bull, Auctorem Fidei, 196 
 
 Bull, In Coena Domini, 44 
 
 Buzzacherini, Priest, 93 
 
 Cambridge, 13 
 
 Canon Law, 158 
 
 Canons, 259 
 
 Cardinal Busca, 189 
 
 Cardinal Ruffo, 51 
 
 Carmelites, 261 
 
 Carthusians, 258 
 
 Cases of conscience, 173 
 Catharine Irene Buonanichi, 
 
 Nun, 90 
 Cistercians, 258 
 Clement XIV. Pope, 20 
 Clerical immorality, 189 
 Clodesia de Spighi, Nun, 90 
 Coachman Priests, 57 
 Confessor of Pope Pius, 229 
 Consequences of papal domi- 
 nion, 254 
 Convents — 
 
 Castiglion Fiorentino, 58 
 
 Catharine, 60 
 
 Lucia, 75 
 
 Santa Croce, 60 
 
 Convents suppressed, 56 
 
 Council of Florence, 182 
 
 Crudzli, Professor, 109 
 
 Dancing Nuns, 170 
 
 Death of Pope Ganganelli, 29 
 
 Debt for Masses, 157 
 
 Decretals, 159 
 Despotism of Rome, 127 
 Devotion to the heart of Jesus, 77 
 Diminution of Convents, 175 
 Dispensations, 153 
 Dominican Monks, 80, 261 
 Ecclesiastical Courts, j^l71 
 Ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 148 
 English Universities, 13 
 False decretals, 127 
 Faria, Monk, 216 
 Festival of Ricci's Saint Ca- 
 tharine, 235 
 Festivals, 132 
 Flavia Peraccine, Nun, 84 
 Florence, Council, 118, 182 
 Franciscan Monks, 113, 260 
 Galileo, 15 
 Genoese Convents, 253 
 Gilbertines, 259 
 Girdle of the Virgin, 136 
 G-egory VII. Pope, 163 
 Hospitallers, 262 
 Ignorance of Priests, 113, 240 
 Ignorance of the people, 177 
 Image crowned, 204 
 Impurity of Nuns, 253 
 In Coena Domini, Bull, 44 
 Inconstancy of Ricci, 239 
 Index expurgatorius, 143 
 Indulgences, 134 
 Indulgences for the dead, 135 
 Infidel Priests, 215 
 Influence of Monachism upon 
 
 society, 14 
 
 Inquisition, 109 
 
 Inquisition in Tuscany, 223 
 
 Insurrection of Arezzo, 210 
 
 Interdicts, 164 
 
 Jerome Savonarola, Martyr, 212 
 
 Jesuitism, 101 
 
 Jesuit logic, 27 
 Jesuits, 160, 238, 263 
 
 Jesuits turned Brachmans, 217 
 
 Knox, the Reformer, 255 
 
 Letter of Villensi, 55 
 
 Lillies withered, 206 
 
 Literature of the dark ages, 13 
 
 Louis I. of Etruria, 222 
 
 Lucia, Convent, 75 
 
 Lucrece Beroardi, Nun, 59 
 
 Lupi, Priest, 94 
 
268 
 
 Madonna of Ancona, 20] 
 
 Manni, Priest, 93 
 
 Maria Catliarine Berni, Nun, 60 
 Maria Catharine Rossi, Nun, 86 
 Maria Mai^dalen Sicini, Nun, 61 
 Marianna Santini, Nun, 85 
 
 Marriage, 137 
 
 IVIasses, price of, 134 
 
 Mathurines, 260 
 
 Matrimonial dispensations, 170 
 Memoir by Rucellai, 40 
 
 Mendicant orders, 137 
 
 Mengoni, Abbe, 218 
 
 Menocchio, Pope's confessor, 229 
 Miracle at Ancona, 201 
 
 Miracle by an image, 26 
 
 Miraculous image, 16!:> 
 
 Miraculous oil, 207 
 
 Monachism opposed to know- 
 ledge and piety, 13 
 Monasteries, 168 
 Monastic system and Chris- 
 tianity, 18 
 Money for Masses, 131 
 Money from Venice for the 
 
 Pope, 152 
 
 Monkish orders, 254 
 
 Monks and Nuns, 238 
 
 Netherlands, 185 
 
 Number of Masses, 155 
 
 Number of Tuscan Priests, 120 
 Nunneries at Lisbon, 237 
 
 Nunneries contrary to nature, 10 
 Nunneries in India, 237 
 
 Nunnery at Charlestovvn, 7 
 
 NUNS. 
 
 Anna Merlini, 87 
 
 Cath. Irene Buvnamici, 90 
 
 Clodesia De Spighi, 90 
 
 Flavia Peraccini, 84 
 
 Lucrece Beroardi, 59 
 
 Maria Catharine Berni, 60 
 
 Maria Catharine Rossi, 85 
 
 Maria Magdalen Sicini, 61 
 
 Marianna Santini, 85 
 
 Victoire Benedetti, 61 
 
 Oath of Roman Priests, 49 
 
 Oath of vassalage to the Pope, 138 
 
 Opposition to reform, ]48 
 
 Oratories, 132 
 
 Oxford, 13 
 
 Paccanaristes, 226 
 
 Pacchiani, Priest, 61 
 
 Papal arrogance, 165 
 
 Papal doctrines of reform, 141 
 
 Papal exactions of money, 153 
 
 Papal usurpations, 167 
 
 Pay for Masses, 156 
 
 Perjury bought, 218 
 
 Persecutions, 208 
 
 Pistoia, Synod, ISO 
 Pope Gaiiganelli poisoned, 30 
 Popes the greatest criminals, 239 
 
 Popish blasphemy, 203 
 
 Popular ignorance, 177 
 
 Postillion priests, 57 
 
 Power of the Papacy, 158 
 
 Proemonstratenses, 259 
 
 Price of Masses, 134 
 
 PRIESTS. 
 
 Borghigiani, 94 
 
 Buzzachinni, 93 
 
 Lupi, 94 
 
 Manni, 93 
 
 Pacchiani, 61 
 
 Priests' oath, 49, 138 
 
 Priests' quarrels, 134 
 
 Priests subject to civil power, 151 
 
 Privileged altars, 134 
 
 Prohibited books, 136 
 
 Purgatory, 135 
 
 Gluarrels among priests, 134 
 
 Reform of religious orders, 139 
 
 Ricci and PiusVII. reconciled, 229 
 
 Ricei, bishop, 39 
 
 Ricci's apology, 187 
 
 death, 236 
 
 recantation, 229 
 
 St. Catharine, 225 
 
 Riot at Prato, 183 
 
 Roman festivals, 58 
 
 Roman priests, assassins, 240 
 
 Roman priests' oath, 49 
 
 Roman stratagems, ] 54 
 
 Rucellai's memoir, 40 
 
 Ruffo, archbishop, 51 
 
 Santa Croce, nunnery, 60 
 
 Subornation of perjury, 218 
 
 Suppression of convents, 56 
 
 Supremacy of the Pope, 219 
 
 Synod of Pistoia, ISO 
 
 Tax office for Bulls, 58 
 
 Treachery of Archbishop of 
 
 Florence, 222 
 
 Tuscan priests, 120 
 
 Useless oaths, 138 
 
 Veiled images, 133 
 
 Venetian education, 159 
 
 Virgin of Humility, 192 
 
 Weakness of Ricci, 231 
 
 Wickedness of Popery, 218 
 
 Withered lillies, 206 
 
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